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Book Recommendation: Linking Arms, Linking Lives
Read Me.
I have received a bunch of amazon gift certificates so I’ve bought about 6 new books in the last two weeks. Soon I’ll list a bunch of them here. But I just wanted to take a quick post to recommend a book that I just started reading called “Linking Arms, Linking LIves: How …Super Christians? Nope, Just Normally Obedient.
We’ve spent the last couple days hanging out with Tim and Jenn Fidanzo who are from Portland, OR. We met them on Sunday morning when they showed up at our church. About four months ago, Tim and Jenn felt that God was calling them to give up to very well paying jobs, sell their belongings, buy a …
Wasteful Spending?
Dorie Morgan, who I am proud to call a member of our church community has written a wonderful little reflection on spending in suburbia and reminds me of how we need to continually think carefully about our way of life.
Oh, and I personally think her blog looks awesome too. (Yes, that was a shameless plug for my super-duper design skills).
Resources on Suburbia
Today I spoke at Biblical Seminary for the installation of John R. Franke as the Lester and Kay Clemens Professor of Missional Theology. Gary and I will be discussing the challenges and opportunities the church faces in the Suburbs.
In my talk I promised that I would post some resources for further reading here on my blog. So, here it is.
This is a link to the paper that I wrote that started this whole thing for me.
Books:
Al Hsu …
Bowling for Mediocrity
I have never really liked bowling. Well, I guess I have only kind of liked it. It’s always been one of those things that constantly makes me want quit. I can’t tell you how many times I leave one or two pins standing – no matter how hard I hit them, no matter how crazy they fly around down there after my ball violently strikes them. I just can’t figure the secret of this game out. I guess in some …
Embrace the Burbs. Or Get Out.
Ed Stetzer, who is a pretty good all around guy and solid thinker about the church and mission recently did an interview for the website called “The Subtext.”
I met Ed at an event in Philly and I was quickly impressed with not only his understanding of the gospel, culture and mission but also his need to constantly make jokes. It’s clear that he was the class clown in grade school! Needless to say he’s …
The Challenge of Community in Suburbia
Melanie and I were on a walk last night and we were talking for a bit about the challenge of being in community in our suburban environment. With all of our good intentions, its been hard to find a way gather with those who live around us to read scripture, pray together and just plain old be together.
There are a lot of factors that go into this. Children are a big key. We have two …
Update on the Poverty Forum, Missions Trip, Anniversaries, The Well
So, I’ve had a few crazy weeks and blogging has been on the way back burner as far as priorities go. I need a short break from working on my sermon so here we go… This will serve as a summary and update of my last two weeks.
Mission Trip To Suburbia
I posted recently about our week long missions trip to suburbia. We basically spent the week serving in Lower Bucks County. We worked with different housing groups …Interview with Al Hsu
Blogging time is hard to come by these days. Life has been crazy with the Zambia trip, our local missions trip, our poverty forum a weekend away camping and the upcoming Seminar with Al Hsu. With all of this, I have plenty to say but no time to say it. So, hopefully before too long I’ll find some time to sit down and do some writing…
But, I am getting really excited about our upcoming conference with Al Hsu this …
Bucks County Forum on Suburban Poverty
Last night we put on the Bucks County Forum on Suburban Poverty here at The Well. It was awesome. About 65 people showed up, only 23 of which were from The Well. It was not only a great turnout, it was an awesome event. The panelists did a great job and the conversation was excellent. I don’t have time to write my thoughts about it right now because we’re getting ready for a massive fundraiser garage …
A Suburban Missions Trip
A few years ago I wrote a post asking what it might look like to have a suburban missions trip. Well, in about two hours we will be begin our first missions trip to suburbia.
I’ve gotta be up front here. I’ve done very little to make this happen other than maybe share in the creation of the idea and what kinds of things we might do (I forget who thought of it and that’s really irrelevant). …
Suburban Blog Worth Reading - Gary Alloway
I would be remiss (and a jerk) if I didn’t mention that my co-pastor, side-kick, friend and all around good guy Gary Alloway is now blogging. For those of you know Gary, you know that this is a big deal.
A few thoughts about Gary and why you should not only visit his blog often, but subscribe to his blog in your RSS reader:
Gary is awesome.
Gary is funny.
Gary kicks butt as a pastor.
You can learn a lot from Gary.
Gary thinks you …Suburbia Seminar with Al Hsu Registration
Just a reminder that the seminar for the ages is coming up soon (August 9th to be exact). There has been a lot of discussion about what it means to be missional in the suburbs. Wait, forget about being missional in suburbia, let’s ask a bigger question, what’s it mean to be Christian in suburbia? Many of us are realizing it’s not as easy as we’ve thought.
So, Al Hsu had graciously agreed to come all the way from Suburban Chicago …
Why Community is so Important to Mission
So, I’m almost on two weeks since I got back from Zambia. I feel like I was pretty prepared for the “missions trip high” (for lack of better way to describe it). I’ve done this before and like most people I usually crash spritually and revert to my old self within two weeks.
I’m coming down off my cloud a bit but I’m happy to say that we have not moved away from the direction we sense …
The Great Sin of the Western Church?
Last week I wrote about the way that my Zambia has effected me and one of the things that came from it is that we’re hosting a new small group in our house on Sunday nights. We were talking in this new group about how easy it is to departmentalize our lives and so easily miss how the gospel actually calls us to live differently from how we are. Thoughts went to things such as the crusades, …
Are You Rioting with the Suburban Mob?
Okay, its been about a half a week since I’ve been back from Zambia. I’ve not done much deep writing around the trip because there is so much in my head that I am just trying to sort it all out. Sunday morning, I preached a mess of a sermon that I am hoping made sense. I really tried to share my heart and what God is doing with Melanie and I since I’ve returned. The sermon …
Forum on Suburban Poverty
We’re doing our summer missions trip this year a little differently. We’re going to the far away land of Feasterville, PA! Yes, that’s right. Feasterville. The hotbed of today’s youth culture… or something like that.
Two years ago we went to New Orleans. Last year we went to Philadelphia. Next summer looks like another trip to Zambia. But this summer we’re staying local. Gary has lined up a week full of serving …
Final Zambia Reflections
I am finally back from Zambia after two weeks of spending time with Pastor George Palo of Harvest City Church in Ndola, Zambia. I have a ton in my head and I have to say that these two weeks will likely turnout to be a watershed moment for the lives of the Hiestands.
You’ll have to be in church tomorrow to get my more complete reflections (or listen online when i post it) but here are some major themes/thoughts:
Community
Sunday night was …Missional in Suburbia Seminar in the Philly Suburbs - Time to Register
A few months ago I made an early announcement of a seminar we are hosting at The Well on the topic of the missional church in suburbia. We are honored to be able to bring in Al Hsu. Al is the author of the book, The Suburban Christian. I read this book last year and found it really, really helpful. Al not only gets the missional church stuff but also really gets the under the surface issues around the development …
Four Missional Movements for the Suburban Church
At The Well, we’ve been studying the book of Acts. Its been a very, very formative and challenging book for us to work through. For me, there have been four ways that my life, and I think our life, has been challenged so far.
Here are four movements that I’ve seen:
From Individual to Communal
As individuals we are important, very, very important. But we need to continually celebrate the individual but we must do it within the context of …
Apparently I am now friends with myself on facebook. I live in Canada too eh.
