faithrunner

We are one       in our sin and       our suffering  We are one       in our wounds and       our scars            scars from our sinful choices           wounds cut by the sinful choices of others We are one      at a table set by suffering sacrificial love      invited by One           who sacrificed his life to heal the scars of our sins           who suffered at the hands like those that wound us  We are one      by his healing love           salve for our woundS           the story behind our scars We are one      not by           color                race or    ...

--> The recent and continued racial strife in our country has deepened the division and separation among our citizens that has existed for years. As followers of Jesus, we must speak and act in ways that bring reconciliation and redemption out of the strife, not add to the disruptions. What is our narrative in days like these?             Paul, a Jewish religious leader who Jesus called out from among his people and sent him to all ethnic groups beyond the tribes of Israel, faced similar racial divisions as he carried the good news of Jesus to the global mission field. Many of the issues in the movement of Jesus centered on social and racial issues like who could share a meal with whom and who belonged and who did not by the religious rules they kept. Paul addressed the corrosive issue of race and its attending social practices when he wrote to Christ-followers in Ephesus . 14  For he himself is our peace ,...

Robert Frost began a poem about devotion with these words: The heart can think of no devotion Greater than being shore to the ocean.  I read these words while my father and I camped out together between my graduation from college and my wedding day. As we set on the shore of Red Hills Lake in East Texas , I thought maybe Robert Frost was right. Shores lay stuck to oceans, Holding the curve of one position Counting an endless repetition. This endless repetition surely had to be the clearest picture of devotion.  Then it hit me I was about to get married. Padre Island National Seashore Shores have no choice in their devotion. They are cemented to their ocean partner without the freedom to leave the relationship. Oceans, too, hopelessly pound their boundaries with no other options. A greater devotion, I thought, had to be having the choice not to be devoted to someone but dedicating yourself to that one person with all the other options still out ...

Who Are We Really? I got an email from a family friend the other day telling me of her struggles as a wife and mother to get and stay in shape. Her main question was, "How do we restore our bodies, regain that strength and health with a Godly focus on the way?"  She is not alone in her struggle. Our culture floods our psyche with images of what a "healthy" body and "successful" person looks like. Walk through the grocery store check out line and the images on the men's and women's health magazines make you wonder what the other people in line are thinking about you. Men wrestle with health and body issues, too. Right guys? So, is there anything we as Christ followers can do about this? Here were four things I told her that may help you:   Make sure your identity is grounded in who you are in Christ Jesus . In Christ you are the adopted son/daughter of the King, and the demonstration of His love for you is his Son's sacrifice for y...

Baptism is the ancient, Christ-modeled act of associating with the person and movement of Jesus, who is the Christ. For centuries follower-apprentices of Jesus have been baptized before friends and family to witness their allegiance to Jesus as their Rescuer and Leader . From the Ethiopian eunuch to the Philippian jailer, God's people have baptized those who trusted Jesus wherever there was water and witnesses . Over time, that practice was brought inside buildings with baptismal fonts and pools built into the architecture and leadership limited to credentialed, professional clergy . We know, however, that in oppressed countries Christ followers have found bathtubs, streams, and drinking troughs for animals suitable for the rite. I still witness this act in streams, homes, and lakes around the world today. But, here we usually stick to the indoor, ordained clergy rendition of the act. I love Legacy Church because several years ago we released followers of Jesus to baptize...

Team Bowen One of the biblical metaphors for how God brings us into right relationship with him is adoption. The picture is the intentional efforts of a loving parent who chooses to pay the price and meet the legal obligations to make a child part of the family . When Paul wrote to the Romans, he used this adoption language to remind them that in Christ they were children of God, which made them not only heirs but co-heirs with Christ! ( Romans 8:14-17 ) God intentionally chose those who trust him to be his adopted children. God paid the price (Jesus' death) and met the legal obligations (The Law) in order for this to happen. Today, those who trust His Son are God's adopted children through Jesus Christ. Adoption of orphans today magnifies this beautiful picture of God's love for us. Brent and Anne-Marie Bowen are in the adoption process currently, and this past weekend I ran with "Team Bowen" at the Chosen Marathon and Half Marathon in New Braunsfel,...

This past Sunday, instead of serving with the Legacy Church family, I joined 3,100+ riders in the LiveStrong Austin ride . The combined total of the fundraising for the weekend was over $3.1 million dollars. You can read a news article here . I rode with some Legacy Cyclists but also as a member of Team Family First , members and friends of Jim and Sarah Craig's family, some who came all the way from Seattle to ride. We rode 45, 65, and the 90 routes in memory of and in honor of those who have battled cancer. While the ride was hard (add hills, humidity, and wind to a ride around Plano), I finished with prayers in my heart for those who have suffered much more than me after 90 miles on the bike in their battle against this wicked disease. I will continue to ride and run as a witness to my core belief that no matter what we face in our human condition, Jesus Christ exhausted evil on the cross, defeated death as our "final enemy," and joins us as a fellow-suffer and su...