The Hiestand
32 years old
Warminster, PA
Male
FebruaryFeb 13 Friday Fri 09
FebruaryFeb 11 Wednesday Wed 09
links for 2009-02-11
Limitations
I turned 32 today. Not sure what to think about that. But I can confess that one begins to think more intentionally about life the older one gets. Of course, its not like I am old. There are plenty of you reading this who are much older than me!
Recently, I read a post from Bob Hyatt where he noted the following quote.
"There is something deeply spiritual about honoring the limitations of our lives and the boundaries of what God has given us to do as leaders. Narcissistic leaders are always looking beyond their sphere of influence with visions of grandiosity far out of proportion to what is actually being given. Living within our limits means living within the finiteness of who we are as individuals and as a community- the limits of time and space, the limits of our physical, emotional, relational and spiritual capacities, the limits of our stage of life... and the limits of the calling God has given. It means doing this and not that. It means doing this much and not more."
- Ruth Haley Barton
This is a good word for someone like me who has many "visions of grandiosity" and is convinced that I can change the world someday. I am realizing that, while vision and dreaming is important, I must also be very present to what is in front of me. That is my family, my job(s), my neighbor, my community, my friends and even the personal soul care.
So, while I still have dreams of changing the world, I am more fully aware of how its got to start in the daily and the normal parts of my life.
"How we spend our day is, of course, how we spend our lives. What we do with this hour, and that one, is what we are doing."
- Annie Dilard
And finally, another good word from Robert Benson in the book A Good Life.
"It is tempting sometimes, or at least it seems so to me, to think of my work here on earth in rather large and grandiose ways. It may be that writers are the only ones who suffer from such a thing, but I am not sure that is so.
I like to think of my work in terms of building the kingdom and spreading the gospel. It is not a bad thing for us to step back and try to see how the labor of our hands and hearts and minds fits within the grand scheme of things. In fact, it is the proper thing to do so.
But it is also right that we recognize that a goodly portion of the things we do can seem mundane and ordinary are the very places where we are likely to live out the gospel.
Our days and our lives are more often filled with little chances to show our love to others than they are filled with great and grand opportunities. It is in those little things that we are given to do and to say and to be what we must do the work of building the kingdom."
What are you doing today?
Who are you being today?
What are you saying today?
FebruaryFeb 3 Tuesday Tue 09
The Rule of Benedict and the Suburban Christian
In my recent post on "The Mob" I tried to bring out the idea that we need to always be aware and thinking thinking critically about our way of life. We need to constantly be allowing God, mostly through the scriptures and through prayer, reorient and reconvert our way of life. I believe this is especially true for those of us who live in Suburban America. We live extremely individualized, consumerized, busy and disconnected lives (just to name a few). Without paying attention to our way of life, we'll more than likely just go about our culture's default life without even realizing it.
With this in mind, I've been reading around the topic of the Rule of St. Benedict. I'm curious about the connection between a healthy suburban spirituality and the monastic way of life. My big question is, "what would it look like to have a suburban rule of life?"
What I don't want is a prescriptive list of requirements and duties that someone must perform. This is what frustrates me and most other people about organized religion. Often the word "rule" can be construed in that way. But, really the term "rule" (regula) is more better defined as a "guidepost" or "railing." What I like about Benedicitine Spirituality is this is the focus. Joan Chittister writes,
"The rule of Benedict is more wisdom than law. The Rule of Benedict is not a list of directives. The Rule of benedict is a way of life. And that's the key to understanding the Rule. It isn't one."
The thing I like about the Rule of Benedict is also that it is not about getting out of the world and isolating yourself from reality so you can focus on God. Rather, it is about living well and aware in the daily.
Chittister writes again in the book Wisdom Distilled from the Daily: Living the Rule of St. Benedict Today
"Spirituality is the way in which we express a living faith in a real world. Spirituality is the sum total of the attitudes and actions that define our faith" and later she writes, the Rule of St. Benedict is designed for ordinary people who live ordinary lives."
Later she writes a paragraph that cuts right into the typical suburban christian's way of life,
"Today, too, people go faithful from church to neighborhood week after week and, then, between times give themselves entirely to making money, and being nationalistic, and having fun. In the meantime, Lazarus again waits hungry for the Christians of this time to notice his deprivation and stoop down to listen to him as the Lazarus of the gospel story waited in vain for help from the wealthy and pious..."
We are all guilty of being so caught up in a default way of life that isn't out rightly evil, but is destroying our souls and our witness. What we need is to fashion a way of life that is contstantly reminding us to be present to the moment in front of us, be presetn to the person in front of us, remind us that we are part of the People of God who are here as witnesses to a risen Messiah.
I'm finding that the Rule of St. Benedict is a good teacher for me as I seek to live life more aware of my/our calling...
I am reading this book by Chittister (which I highly recommend. On Tim Keel's recommendation I am also reading a book called A Good Life: Benedict's Guide to Everyday Joy
by Robert Benson a second time and we're actually reading this book together at the leadership team retreat we have this weekend. And, finally, I figured I would go to the source and I picked up a copy of Rule of Saint Benedict in English
Any thoughts on a suburban rule?
JanuaryJan 31 Saturday Sat 09
links for 2009-01-31
JanuaryJan 29 Thursday Thu 09
links for 2009-01-28
Great post by Bob Hyatt
Paying Attention to What's in Front of Me
Those of you who visit my blog daily, whoever you are, may have noticed that I'm not posting as much as I had been recently. That's on purpose. I'm doing my best to pay attention to the things that are right in front of me and not spread myself too thin. I often, with the best of intentions, tend to get way too many sticks in the fire and then it gets hard for me to manage them.
So, I'm focusing these days on being faithful to what's in front of me while still looking intentionally at the future. That means I've got to say "no" or "not now" to some things that I really want to say yes to.
For now, my blog is getting a "whenever I get the chance" response from me. Not sure how long that will last really. I've been trying to spend more of my nights reading rather than surfing the web so I'm likely to throw a quote up or a book review here and there.
Now would be a good time to subscribe to my e-mail updates (you'll only get e-mail when I create a post and you can unsubscribe anytime) or if you are a nerd you can subscribe to my RSS feed.
JanuaryJan 27 Tuesday Tue 09
The Mob.
Who do you get when you take a poor person in a slum in Ndola Zambia and give them...
a house,
a fenced in back yard,
a two car garage,
cable television with a DVR,
two cars for that garage,
and a job that pays me well but makes me work 50+ hours a week?
You get a person who has just lost all they had going for them:
Community and relationships.
Sure. They had nothing.
But you've just replaced nothing with nothing.
That's not much of an improvement if you ask me.
Mobs do things that individuals would never do on their own.
Individuals in mobs do things that that don't make much rational sense.
Individuals in mobs climb live electric poles and flip taxis.
Individuals in mobs also live well beyond their means.
Individuals in mobs work super long hours to provide for their way of life, but in doing so have no time for their kids.
Individuals in mobs believe that if they aren't personally effected by a situation the pain of others doesn't actually matter.
Individuals in mobs have their schedules decided by television shows rather than the rhythms of prayer, caring for others and community.
Individuals in mobs think that they will have more time to care for others when they get the next raise or when their kids get out of the house.
I don't know about you.
But I live in a mob.
No, it's not very violent.
It's not like I'm flipping cars or anything.
But it is flipping lives.
It's flipping my life.
And, honestly I've pretty much bought what it is selling.
And I'm done...
At least I want to be.
But, I'm not going to leave.
Nope. I'm staying put.
I want to start a new mob.
One that imagines a new way of life.
A mob that prioritizes community...Or at least is trying to figure it out.
A mob that radically cares for their neighbor. Or, at least knows their names.
A mob that spends itself on behalf of the poor... Instead of spending ourselves on consumer goods.
I want to start a new mob that looks deeply at its way of life and filters everything through our call to be witnesses of a different King and a different Kingdom.
A mob that keeps pulling me back, giving me grace and smacking me across the head when I start putting my feet too far into the other mob.?
Mobs don't form by invitation.
Mobs don't send out e-vites and event announcements on Facebook.
Mobs form because there is something worth forming about.
Mobs form because someone just won a World Series for the first time in 35 years.
Mobs also form because Someone said that the Kingdom of God is like a treasure buried in a field...
I'm convinced it is little ideas that change the world.
I'm convinced people who are sick and tired of playing by other people's rules change the world.
However, I'm convinced that I can't change the world.
I'm convinced that you can't change the world.
Not alone at least.
I am convinced that if we do this together we have a chance.
I am convinced that you and I can live differently than we've been told we're supposed to.
In order to do that its going to take reworking some assumptions that we've carried our entire lives.
I invite you, walk with me as we seek to re-imagine our lives as residents of a new mob....
JanuaryJan 16 Friday Fri 09
ReJesus by Alan Hirsch & Michael Frost
ReJesus
JanuaryJan 14 Wednesday Wed 09
Finished Reading: Resident Aliens & The Tangible Kindgom
One of the things I have been trying to do more of in the evenings is read more.
JanuaryJan 5 Monday Mon 09
Thinking about 2009 - A More Disciplined Life
I've been processing things like resolutions and goals more than ever this year. I've been thinking through a lot of different things but the one I keep coming back to is my need for a more disciplined work week.
JanuaryJan 3 Saturday Sat 09
The Task of the Church
From Karl Barth's Church Dogmatics v.4.3.2 - The Doctrine of Reconciliation
To sum up, we may say there is committed to it the gospel, I.e. The good, glad tidings of Jesus Christ, of the real act and true revelation of the goodness in which God has willed to make and has in fact made Himself the God of man and man His man.
DecemberDec 31 Wednesday Wed 08
Books of 2008 - Theology
Last year I listed out the books I read in 2007. It was fun to look back over the year and see what books influenced me and shaped my thinking.
DecemberDec 29 Monday Mon 08
Links for 2008-12-29
End of year missional linkage. Some great blogs on the subject from David Fitch whom I greatly respect.
I need to get me some missional shampoo! that stuff looks great! seriously though, this is a great post from Bill Kinnon on the concept of "Missional"
Matt Chandler shares his weekly schedule. One of my goals this year is to continue to do a better job of scheduling my week, especially since i am bi-vocational, that makes it even more important.
An interesting article from Ed Stetzer of whom I have much respect on how we can't make people say "Merry Christmas" who don't hold the same faith as us.
Are you missional in name only? An interesting post....
A great post from my friend JR Briggs on talking with someone about Jesus with someone with very little understanding of the story of the Christian faith.
This is an interesting article on church buildings and the recent economic downturn.
DecemberDec 27 Saturday Sat 08
Resident Aliens in Suburbia
I've been reading Resident Aliens by Stanley Hauerwas and William Willimon over the break. Chapter four is brilliant. This year I have done a lot of thinking about the Church as a counter-cultural community. I think this is always necessary and I'm certain there is a desperate need for those of us in a suburban context to be intentional about re-imagining a life together that is in fact counter-cultural (in the way of Jesus). Of course, we don't have to re-imagine out of nothing, without any direction. We have the witness of Isreal, Jesus, the disciples, the church and a hope of a New Heavens and New Earth to guide this process (you know, all the stuff found in the Scriptures).
I've spoken about this idea using the concept of a mob in a post after I returned from Zambia in July.
Here Willimon and Hauerwas say it as well as I've heard it articulated:
Here [in the sermon on the Mount] is an invitation to a way that strikes hard against what the world already knows, what the world defines as good behavior, what makes sense to everybody. The Sermon, by its announcement and its demands, makes necessary the formation of a colony, not because disciples are those who have a ned to be different, but because the Sermon, if believed and lived, makes us different, shows us the world to be alien, and odd place where what makes sense to everybody else is revealed to be opposed to what God is doing among us. jesus was not crucified for saying or doing what made sense to everyone. People are crucified for following a way that runs counter to the prevailing direction of the culture...
See, I told you they were smart.
Books of 2008 - Leadership
Last year I listed out the books I read in 2007. It was fun to look back over the year and see what books influenced me and shaped my thinking. You can see the list for 2007 here.
DecemberDec 23 Tuesday Tue 08
links for 2008-12-23
This is why i connect with Tim Keel so much. My passions for life and therefore pastoral ministry fall right in line with his. The writer studio in the video at the end of the post is pretty sweet too...
DecemberDec 21 Sunday Sun 08
The Wait is Over
This is a short writing i did as I wrote my sermon for this sunday. I turned this into a reflective slideshow which you can view here.
Immanuel.
God is with us.
Wait.
Stop.
Listen again...
Immanuel.
God is with us.
God. Is. With. Us.
Wait.
God is with you.
Sure.
But God is with me?
Yes.
Really?
Yes.
You don't need to come to Jesus.
He's has come to you.
He has pursued you.
Loves you.
Yes, you.
The wait is over.
DecemberDec 20 Saturday Sat 08
The Biblical Narrative & the Significance of Christmas
The more I appreciate the narrative of Scripture (to put it simply: creation, fall, jesus, redemption) the more I have grown to appreciate Christmas. It used to be for me that Jesus' birth was kinda, well, anti-climatic. His birth is nice and all, but let's just get the presents and then get on to the cross/resurrection for what really matters.
Now, I don't want to minimize the cross at all. I don't want to de-emphasize the meaning of the resurrection. But for me, understanding the unified narrative of Scripture has helped the birth of our savior be more meaningful to me.
When you enter into the narrative, you begin to realize the desperateness at which Israel (and also the world) was waiting for a Messiah. Jesus' birth was not only the beginning of of his journey to the cross. Jesus' birth was a magnificent moment because it meant that the long awaited promised one had finally come. The narrative of the Bible hits dramatic moment and the wait as over. Jesus is here.
Today, we aren't waiting for him to come. He has already come. We're further along in the narrative. Because of this its easy to forget just how significant it was that this child was born. We are no longer awaiting a messiah who will rescue and deliver us. We've been delivered from sin and death. He has risen. Christmas reminds us of a time when this wasn't true.
Of course, we are still waiting. The story is not over. We await the world's full redemption. We desperately await for the Messiah's return. All of creation groans....
We remember the coming of the Messiah this Christmas, the long awaited one. And as we remember his coming we sing and long for his return again, "Father, let your Kingdom come and until then let your will be done here on earth as it is in heaven."
Man, I love Christmas.
About
Husband. Father. Pastor. Web Designer. Mac Addict. Tea Drinker. Washed Up Basketball Player.
I blog randomly at toddhiestand.com. I pastor at The Well in suburban Philadelphia.
I am a freelance webdesigner as well. My portfolio is in the works...
Activities
Interests
Chicago Cubs, Chicago Bears, Chicago Bulls, Apple Computers, Dr. Pepper, Double Stuff Oreo Cookies
Books and Authors
Books: Missional Church, Shaping of Things to Come, Open Secret, Transforming Mission, Search to Belong Authors: Joe Myers, NT Wright, Eugene Peterson, Kennon Callahan, Karl Barth, Darrell Guder, David Bosch, Trevor Hart, John Franke
We' re The Licitra's Now, Mar 26, 2007:
Todd, you are our only friend here on virb. I hope you feel special