Mason has become quite the singer, this is him leading is brothers in some of his favorite songs.

Sing the honest words of U2 in this song tonight as I process through the loss of a friend tonight.

Heaven on Earth, we need it now
I’m sick of all of this hanging around
Sick of sorrow, sick of the pain
I’m sick of hearing again and again
That there’s gonna be peace on Earth

Where I grew up there weren’t many trees
Where there was we’d tear them down
And use them on our enemies
They say that what you mock
Will surely overtake you
And you become a monster
So the monster will not break you

And it’s already gone too far
Who said that if you go in hard
You won’t get hurt?

Jesus can you take the time
To throw a drowning man a line
Peace on Earth
Tell the ones who hear no sound
Whose sons are living in the ground
Peace on Earth
No whos or whys
No one cries like a mother cries
For peace on Earth
She never got to say goodbye
To see the color in his eyes
Now he’s in the dirt
Peace on Earth

They’re reading names out over the radio
All the folks the rest of us won’t get to know
Sean and Julia, Gareth and Ann and Breda
Their lives are bigger than any big idea

Jesus can you take the time
To throw a drowning man a line
Peace on Earth
To tell the ones who hear no sound
Whose sons are living in the ground
Peace on Earth
Jesus sing a song you wrote
The words are sticking in my throat
Peace on Earth
Hear it every Christmas time
But hope and history won’t rhyme
So what’s it worth
This peace on Earth

Two weeks ago I posted on twitter that to be an activist without actually doing anything is hypocrisy.  I was quoting a friend and I think the statement is meant to be a little overstated to make a point.  The point is this, if you are gonna get all judgmental on other for not caring for the poor then you better be doing something.  I’m not trying to be a prick or make people feel like crap.  But, its just simple common-sense.  Let your words and your deeds match up.

So, after I posted that on twitter I had a good friend write me a message and say, “So, who are you giving your time and money to? Just trying to keep you accountable to your own words bro.”

Uh. Shoot. :)

I’m thankful for my friend because my wife and I have been talking about supporting those in need with our finances some more than we already do.  Since my trip to Africa in 2009, we especially had a heart to give to a need there.  This was a good, healthy push from a good friend for us to live out that calling we have been feeling.

One of my good friends, Chris Marlow, started a non-profit org called “HELP – Help End Local Poverty.”  Their main goal is to rescue orphans, restore their hope and renew their communities.

Chris is personally connected with a local orphanage in Zimbabwe and since HELP is small, they are able to give honest-to-goodness tangible “help” to this orphanage and to the community the orphanage is in. He’s established a strong relationship with the director of the orphanage who is a pastor and a church planter.

So, HELP was a first thought for us as we began to think about supporting a need in Africa. HELP does child sponsorship much like Compassion International so I decided we would select a child together as a family.

Doing this as together was awesome. The process was so much fun for us and I believe it was important in shaping our values as a family.  I’d recommend anyone get on the HELP site, or something similar, and do this with you kids.

I introduced the idea by saying (remember i am talking to a 6 year old and a 3 year old here), “I would like us to give to others who doesn’t have as much as we do.” Once I said that, Cole (our six year old), said “Oh, I know!” and he ran out of the room into his bedroom. Melanie and I just kinda looked at each other confused about what he was doing. But, he came back with his jar of change that we marked a while back with the words, “For Others” and said, “We can give someone this!”

So, we opened up the computer and went to the HELP website where they have a list of children you can sponsor and we had Cole pick a friend to give to. I can’t tell you how much fun it was to read the stories of the kids with Cole and let him be part of the process. Cole ended up wanting to sponsor Daniel K because they are about the same age and he thinks he is cool and he likes soccer.

We told Cole that it would be $35 a month to help give Daniel food, shelter, clothing and education.  So, Cole started counting out 35 pennies.  It was awesome.  (We didn’t have the heart to tell him that he only had 35 cents…)

Now we have a Daniel K. jar on our counter. Of course, we were able to set up the support automatically through paypal and we’re not making Cole do this himself. But the jar is a reminder that we are helping give food, clothing, shelter and hope to this child.

What is so awesome is how involved Cole (and Mason as much as he could be) was in this process. We pray together on the way to school every morning and now Daniel is part of those prayers. We pray together before bed and Daniel is part of those prayers. He isn’t part of the prayers because of Melanie and I, but because Cole wants to pray for him.

I love that our kids are learning that there are people less fortunate in the world and that we can choose to live in such a way that brings them hope. The daily decisions we make really do affect how others live. I’m excited about the fact that our $35 a month is really making a difference.

The great part about HELP is that we can communicate to Daniel via e-mail through Chris and when Chris goes to Zimbabwe he’ll shoot a video for Daniel and we’re probably going to make a video for Chris to bring along.

Oh, I haven’t told my wife yet, but there is a chance we could go to Zimbabwe and meet Daniel ourselves in 2010… we’ll see how that works out.

Our son, Mason was born three years ago, appropriately, on Mischief Night. This kid has been in our house for 2 years and 2 months after we brought him home from his birth country of Guatemala. He’s been such a blessing to our lives in ways that we can’t really even comprehend.

We’re so blessed to have him and his love for music in our family…

Thursday morning I received a phone call at 5:10am from my dad. Being that my dad lives in Chicago it meant that he was calling me at 4:10am. That’s never a good phone call. It wasn’t. He was calling me to tell me that my grandmother had passed away 20 minutes earlier. Thankfully, I had been in Chicago earlier in the week and was able talk with her and our family was able to have a special time together on Sunday evening. That made it easier but the news was still deeply painful. I grew up with my Grandma Longenecker. She’s been a very important and steadying influence in my life. I know for a fact that she prayed for me everyday. I know because she told me that and frankly, my Grandmother was definitely not a liar!

This was fresh on my mind later in the day when headed to my first ever U2 concert. Now, I have always loved U2 (just like everyone else) but I had yet to be able to see them live. So, needless to say, I loved the concert. Somehow, even with the high expectations I had, the whole experience still blew me away.

I was asked recently what my favorite moment of the night was. That’s an easy answer. I have always loved their song “I Sill Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For,” its simply a classic. But its not the musical genius that gets me in this song, its the lyrics.

I remember when I was in college I had some friends who didn’t like this song. They used it to try and prove that Bono couldn’t be a Christian. Their point was simple: if he really had Jesus in his life, he would have found what he was looking for. Now, I get that and I understand what they were trying to say. Knowing Jesus makes my life worth living. But I think this response to this song shows a hole in many people’s theological framework, most specifically their understanding of hope.

Now, I might be wrong on my interpretation of this song, but that is the great thing about music, its often multilayered in meaning. But, I interpret these lyrics, “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” as a cry for the New Heavens and New Earth.

The song begins with the idea that the songwriter has gone through great lengths to strive after God and moves on to the idea that he’s even tried finding ultimate meaning in the “lower” parts of this world (I hear the voice of the writer of Ecclesiastics in these lyrics).

The point is, he’s still looking for something that he has not yet attained… He even believes that, “You broke the bonds, And you loosened the chains, Carried the cross, And all my shame….” And yet he is still running and longing after something.

How is this possible? How can someone still be longing for something more even if they understand the significance of the cross?

Well, I have a pretty good sense of the significance of the cross. Of the resurrection.

And frankly, I long for something.

I long for the New Heavens and New Earth.

For all things to be made new.

For their to be no more wars.

No more famine.

No more crying.

No more pain.

I long for a world where my grandmother would not have to go through what she did.

I long for a world where my grandfather would not have to watch the love of his life die.

I long for a New World.

The Apostle Paul longed for it too in Romans 8:19-24,

The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.

We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved.

So, in that moment in the concert, fresh of the experience of death, I was able to sing and cry out with 60,000 people a song of longing and a song of hope. There were chills. There were deep emotions. There was even some holding back of tears.

The more I understand this full redemption of our broken world as the ultimate understanding of hope, the more I long for songs like this one. Songs that sing of our longing for the Kingdom to come in all its fullness.

We sing a similar song as Israel.

They sang of their longing for the Messiah. We should be singing of our longing for the Messiah to come again and make all things new and heal this broken and fractured world.

So, song writers, write me some songs…

You’ve got a pretty high standard to live up to though!

*Photos of the concert by my good friend Laurence Tom. Unfortunately my camera was dead. :(

Since our middle son is adopted from Guatemala, we’ve developed a heart and passion for the Latino Community locally and abroad. This past week I’ve made some interesting and hopeful connections with some Latino leaders in Bucks county. I’m excited to see how these relationships will develop and unfold. I’m down in DC at the Idea Camp conference and was just introduced (and am actually sitting next to) the founder of Lemonade International. Lemonade International has been working with orphans in the town of La Limonada in Guatemala. Seems like they are doing some great work in an area of huge need. Take a look at their website and if your heart is moved, get involved, sponsor a child or just get to know the story.

It’s hard to believe but I have been a pastor at The Well for about nine years now. In those years, I’ve served at The Well on a part-time-paid basis. This has been an intentional model for us as it allows our church to have a more diverse staff and leadership. This has served us very well as our other part-timer, the one and only Gary Alloway, complements my gifts really well. I can truly say that being “bi-occupational” has been a great asset to the mission of our church community.

(By the way, I use the term “bi-occupational” instead of “bi-vocational” because I believe that my vocation as a Christian is “witness.” What I do for pay does not change my vocation. My vocation is witness, my job is pastor. Your vocation is witness, your job is… well whatever you do for a living).

The bi-occupational approach to church leadership sounds pretty sexy to a lot of people these days. And, while I am a believer in it, I’ll be the first to admit that it isn’t always easy. The biggest challenge is finding another job/career that can support your family and still make it possible for you to serve your church well.

In these last nine years, I’ve worked at UPS, Starbucks and for the last three years I have been a freelance web designer/developer. I’ll be honest, UPS was a terrible job. I worked midnights there and it was probably one of the darkest times of my life for a few different reason that I won’t get into. Starbucks was a great experience and web designing has been pretty awesome because it has given me an extremely flexible schedule and I love the work.

I am not sure if it’s the “economy” or what but I have not been getting enough design work lately to complement my salary at The Well (which, by the way, is a good part-time salary. They take care us well). So, over the last few weeks my wife and I have been talking about what to do. And it looks like God is leading me back to work at Starbucks part-time.

I’ll still be doing some design work, but now I’ll have less pressure to make so many sales each month. My hope is to find one or two steady clients that I can concentrate on serving and sell some of my template sites that don’t require a lot of set up work.

Starbucks will then be a good base for us to work from each month, especially as the benefits kick in after a few months.

I’ll be honest, this was a very hard decision to come to for many reasons.

First, I lose some of the flexibility of my schedule. Thankfully, I’ll have set hours (only mornings) and will be able to plan my weeks in advance. But, I lose a lot of the freedom that I get from being my own boss. This freedom is nice, but I understand that the freedom that I’ve had for the past three years is pretty unique so I am willing to part with it for the time being to care for the needs of my family.

The second reason it was hard honestly revolved around my ego. On some level it feels like a giant step backwards to head back to the Starbucks world. This is not meant as a slight on Starbucks my any means, I wouldn’t be going back there if I didn’t have a high respect for the company. Being totally honest here, as a pastor of a growing church that is doings some incredible ministry, its easy to fall into the trap of thinking that I am too big of a deal or too important to work as a barista at Starbucks. I’m not really sure how cool it is to show up at pastors conferences and say that you are only paid part-time at your church and you spend your mornings steaming milk. But, when it comes down to it, my family is more important that my ego and, well, if my ego really suffers from this job then maybe my ego needs to be put in its place!

While there are some things that made taking this job hard, there are some very appealing aspects to it.

First of all, I finally get to use my college degree. You see, i got a degree from PBU which Gary and I have recently dubbed “Pre-Barista University.” This is because I have so many friends who have graduated from PBU (Philadelphia Biblical University) end up working at Sbux. Now I get to tell this joke more often! :)

Second, and more seriously, I can’t think of a better connection point to the local community. Starbucks really is a third place. That isn’t just a cliche that they come up with as some marketing jargon. I remember when I ended my employment the first time I worked there I thought to myself, “I could probably start a church with 25 non-christians from my relationships at this store.” No, it’s not because I was preaching all the time (Starbucks is not the place for that and I make great efforts to respect the environment they have there). Rather, it was because I built so many actual friendships with both customers and partners that extended beyond the counter and into the real world. I have dreams of someday seeing The Well plant a church in the area I live so this is a great way for me to get connected to my local community.

Third, Starbucks is just a great company to work for. The workplace is business-like but its also filled with great people. As a pastor, I need a second job that is not going to wear me out emotionally. Starbucks is just that: enjoyable.

Finally, I need the extra cash. By working at Starbucks I can decline the health benefits at the church and essentially give myself a quick raise in that check in addition to the hourly wages from my time at Starbucks.

So here we go. Back to Starbucks. I’m honestly very at peace about the decision. I start tomorrow morning and I’ve committed to being there for at least a year so if you are ever in my area, stop by and you’ll get to best latte you can find in the area…

But I can’t. I have a lot to say but just not enough time to say it.

In other news I am testing out a blog theme that i am designing for release. What do you think so far?

Today, my son and I took a (now annual) trip to Dover, DE to see the NASCAR Nationwide Series race. It was a beautiful day and a great race. Since I had a zoom lens, I took the opportunity to take some pictures that give you a little picture of the diverse group of people who attend these races.

Mullet + Stache = Awesome.

This guy is rocking this classic look with total confidence. Well done my friend, well done…

The Mullet II

Add in the Oakley’s with the flames on the side and you’ve got yourself an awesome combination!

Down Home

You can’t see it but this stylish woman is knitting. I wonder if she’s knitting a #88 on a flame pattern. Oh, and I just love this hat.

Unashamed

Where else can you go where sporting a rockin farmers tan like this is not only be accepted, but in style?

Make Sure They Know Who You Root For!

What better way than shaving your favorite drivers number in the back of your head? Makes total sense doesn’t it?

You know you are a redneck if…

…you look anything like this guy.

Free Samples!!!

Of Red Man?!?! Seriously? I know this isn’t fashion but I just had to share this. It doesn’t get any better than this right here. Where else could you go to get a free sample of snuff?

Who Let These Guys In?!

At least we’re wearing the right clothes with our favorite numbers on them. Too bad we don’t have the right hair styles. Maybe next year. While we may not fit in with the fashion I have to say it doesn’t seem to really matter. NASCAR fans are some of the nicest people on the face of the earth. It’s like one big family. I’m afraid to say, many churches could learn a thing or two about hospitality from these people… just saying…

At Bat: Cole Hiestand from Todd Hiestand on Vimeo.

Cole is 5 1/2 and has been hitting like this for about a year and a half. He loves baseball and he asks to play almost everyday. Since we watch the Cubs all the time, his swing is a combination of Derek Lee and Alphonso Soriano. What impresses me most is that I have not really taught him how to swing the bat. He has pretty much learned from watching MLB players.

The only thing I have taught him are my four keys to hitting (which I made up one day while we were playing) in the yard:

1. Elbow up
2. Bend your knees
3. Watch the ball.
4. Whack!

I figure if he gets these down, he’ll be all set.