faithrunner

Sunday I was to be out at our granddaughter's dedication in Waco, but that got changed last week. I mentioned in front of Lisa and Markus that I had no assignments Sunday since I had Kenyon to speak in my place. You guessed it. They asked that I join the ranks of the parents who volunteer each week in the preschool area . I had no excuse, and I had written that book about servant leadership, so... I had a blast with the children and discovered the quality security, programming, and care of the children that happens each week at Legacy. Everything was planned for us--from check in/out sheets to a schedule with singing, a Bible story, puppets, and a craft--with a little time on the playground to burn off some energy--if you can do that for kindergarten age children! Dave and Natalie Elliot lead the large group session, while Lisa led us in the music portion. My experienced and enthusiastic partner was Alethea Crossman . (That's us on the playground.) All of it coordinated by Cr...

I have my first radio interview today about my new book An Angel in the Flame . It is at 3:00 p.m. CST August 12 on WORD FM 101.5 Pittsburgh, PA . I haven't done one of these since Jesus on Leadership came out over ten years ago. Thanks to Cheryl Shelton-Pruitt who is investing her talents and skills as a publicist into my book and to Jacky Johnson for handling the details. Doug Henson created the website for the book. All of them have donated what they do for my book. I'm humbled and blown away by their generosity. Yesterday was a great day at Legacy, if you are not following the current message series Heroes of the Faith , check it out . I will post later about the surprise guest we had in the service yesterday.

Several weeks ago a friend said I should read Dallas Willard's book, Hearing God Developing a Conversational Relationship with God . I wish I had listened to him then. I could have used the help. This week in our series Heroes of the Faith , I am addressing God's in-the-middle-of-the-night call to boy Samuel . ( 1 Samuel 3 ) I find myself wanting God to break into my sleep and speak as clearly as He did to Samuel, but that has not happened yet. I wake up a lot at night, but seldom to the voice of God --or, was it? Willard scans the biblical record and offers the following ways in which God addressed people : a phenomenon plus a voice a supernatural messenger or an angel dreams and visions an audible voice [like with Samuel, Moses and Paul] the human voice the human spirit or the "still small voice" (page 91) Willard describes each of these ways God communicated with people, and he concludes those are still ways in which we can hear God today . He has a healthy discu...

And you thought you had a vacation. Here are some pics from my staycation this year. Here I am demolishing our front dining room wall that had termite damage since we moved in the house in 1995. We are finally getting around to correcting it, but when we got into repairs we had to take out the entire wall . Now, I need to remember how to hang dry wall, tape and bed, texture and paint...sounds like a job to hire out. (I look like we did when we gutted houses after Hurricane Katrina. Turned out to be good training for this project.) We took a break from destroying the wall to make a visit to my parents' home in East Texas . It was a great break from all I am doing, and we had a blast. Here we are playing a form of dominoes called Mexican Train. We played it for hours ...that's Ryan next to Summer with the hat on. He's the bf. Kim won as she always does. Maybe it's because she always keeps score. Ryan also helped us split wood from a fallen tree one evening. It was still...

Saturday morning six Legacy Cyclists left the church at 5:30 a.m. to head to Cleburne for a 68.1 mile ride called tour de Goatneck . It was hot, hilly, and hard! Check out the elevation map . Okay, for those of you in Colorado or other places with real hills, stop laughing at us, but this kind of climbing is not normal for those of us in Plano. It was a good ride with everything needed for Monday morning exaggerations as we tell our stories to others. I got home in time for a shower and nap then officiate Leigh-Anne Graham and Kevin Conroy's wedding here in town. Leigh-Anne and her sister grew up at Legacy and their parents were core to who we were at the time. It was good to reconnect with the family and see their friends. The nap and Advil did the job so I could make it through the ceremony without cramping! Sunday morning was as unique as I have ever experienced. Stacey Whitt, a former youth minister at Legacy, has begun a mission outpost in his home in Humble, TX . They are ...

Someone asked me a great question about Samson after Sunday's message: Q: If it's true Samson was only thinking of himself when he pulled the supports down, why would he be in Hebrews 11 for the heroes of the faith? A: If we put everyone from the list in Hebrews 11 on the same level of their trust in God's call to them, then yes, you wonder why Samson is listed given his selfish lifestyle. When you read the passage that mentions him again, Samson is in a short list of Judges who were not so great in their faith : Barak would not fight without Debra, Gideon wouldn't trust God without the fleece miracle, and while Samson defeated the Philistines, he only prayed a couple of times--not a great sign of faith. Samuel and David are in that short list, but no details are given about their failures either. In the end, they trusted God. That's why the writer honored them. Even in their weak faith they trusted God's word in some way because they acted out God's c...

Friday I got my promotional copies of my new book An Angel in the Flame: A Tale of Two Saviors . . I am really excited about this particular book because it is the first book I wrote and then pitched to publishers. All the other books I have written someone has come to me to write. So, you can see how excited I am about this one. Thanks to Leonard Allen and Leafwood Publishers for taking the risk on me. Here's the blurb on the book from Leafwood's website: "This is a gripping tale of two saviors. Two men whom God chose to rescue his people. Two men anyone familiar with history would call heroes among their people. Two men who represent the best and worst the human experience have to offer. This tale is about Samson and Jesus. This unique book is a conversational commentary on the life of Samson with an eye to our final Savior, Jesus. Samson is an example of how most of us squander the opportunities God gives us to play a significant role in His-story. We are an angel i...