faithrunner

This past Sunday I tackled one of the most difficult topics a pastor in my faith tradition can tackle: homosexuality . It was a long journey personally for me to share my heart about such a sensitive subject in the church. God did a number on my heart along the way , humbling me to my own sinfulness and the expanse of His grace to all of us. The gist of my message was that we extend grace and acceptance to all others on the lists of sinful behaviors, but find it most difficult to extend that same grace to homosexuals . I did not go into the reasons why, but I did challenge us to stop weighing sins as if one is more serious than another . As Paul reminded us, "All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." To judge and to exclude is the opposite of God's grace shown all of us in Christ Jesus. You can hear the entire message from the Legacy website . I used a couple of references from Paul's letters generally used to condemn homosexuality , but I made sure we r...

This past Sunday we followed Jesus into the issue of racism . Whether you admit it or not, you have a response to the presidential candidates based on how you were raised to respond to another person's race or color. Some people call it your "culture," others call it "prejudice." Whatever name you give it, it is the sum total of our values and meanings that guide our behavior and emotions toward others. I started by interviewing a friend and member of Legacy, Stephen , about his perspective on the election through the lens of an African American male whose great grandparents were slaves . You can hear him here . He shared honestly and provided a perspective I would never have from my experiences. Jesus busted through every religious, class, gender and racial barrier of his culture when he sat down at Jacob's Well and asked the Samaritan woman for a drink of water. Read John's account and note each boundary Jesus crossed by his intentional actions to he...

Friday at noon Jim Craig and I loaded our bikes and golf clubs in the Element and headed out on a sports-filled weekend. We first played in the Dallas Providence Homes golf tourney with Doug Miller and Stuart Prior . We shot a 61, and with our handicaps we ended up with a 53. Not near close enough to win. Mark Hagan knows how to gather good golfers on a great course. Great fun and stories to tell later. We drove from the Castle Hills Golf Club parking lot to Waco, where we met Billy Allen, his father, Sonny All en , and four of their friends. The group was there to celebrate the "Coach's" health after beating back West Nile virus a couple of years ago. All seven of us completed the 102-mile Waco Wild West r ide around Central Texas . Billy and one of his friends finished their first century ride, a nd we all enjoyed the event together. When I got home Saturday evening, Storey and Graham were there with Cambell Grace! The perfect ending to a great two-day outing. S...

We continued our journey with "Christ on the Campaign Trail" this Sunday by " Following Jesus into the Public Square ." My desire was to answer the question, "Should Christians be involved in politics?" Given the confessions of both presidential candidates to be followers of Jesus, and with one Veep nominee without a doubt a professing Christian, we needed to answer the question. We started with an interview with Cindy DePaolantonio , a member of the Frisco Independent School District Board of Trustees . She told how she did not seek the job, but through volunteering and opportunity she ran for the position and has served there since 2003. She told us that her desire was to be a "living example of Jesus" as she served the 32,000 children of the district. She acknowledged the limitations placed on her, but she tried in every instance to be like Jesus to the children and their families. You can hear her entire interview here. I then turned to cl...

We got off to a good start with our new series Jesus for President . I am pleased with the response and look forward to the continuing dialogue about the issues surrounding being citizens of heaven in America during this historic election . Here is some of what I said yesterday. Please chime in if you like: "Jesus for President" is the confession that Jesus is our King and we are first citizens of His kingdom and always activists for the kingdom way of life, love--always love. This is a confession of where our ultimate loyalties lie and the "platform" upon which we operate. Our calling to be kingdom people with Jesus as our King should translate into every language and ethnic group. We are not seeking an American Gospel. We seek to live out the kingdom Jesus inaugurated by his incarnation . Jesus' initial message was, "Change how you think and live because the kingdom of God is here." Matthew 4:17 I confessed that I had come to interpret the word ...

This Sunday we begin a new series of messages at Legacy Church about which I am both excited and cautious. They say don't mix religion and politics, but like our Leader we will address both. We took our series title from Shane Claiborne's book by the same title. We will not follow Shane's outline or end up where he does on every issue, but we liked the title and the look (and many of his conclusions) so we copied it. Here's the teaser for the series: This year’s historic presidential election race has exposed the moral and political heart of our nation as few before it. Our message series, “Jesus for President,” will invite us to respond to people who find themselves faced with the issues both candidates and voters are talking about. How do we as “citizens of heaven” respond like Jesus to people who suffer injustice or who differ in our beliefs about religion and politics, race, same-sex marriage, the war, the solution to poverty and housing, and immigration? ...

You could not help but see the significance of last week's events in American history. The first African-American man was nominated for the office of President at the Democratic National Convention . He gave his acceptance speech on the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr's "I have a Dream" Speech, one of the finest in the English language. Obama's charisma and message of change surely gained new support and galvanized those who are ready to call him, Mr. President. The next morning, John McCain, chose Sarah Palin as his VP running mate . Mrs. Palin will the first woman nominated to a presidential ticket in the history of the GOP . Not only is she the first person from Alaska to be on such a ticket, she is a wife with five children: one, a 5-month old special needs child; another, a 17-year-old unmarried, pregnant daughter. She has her hands full at home. She now has her plate full with a vice presidential race. Her political credentials may be lacking, ...