faithrunner

Sunday I tried to apply Jacob's wrestling match with God to our own struggles to be blessed by God. Here are some of my observations: We wrestle with God often out of fear and helplessness . (Gen. 32:9-12) Jacob divided his tribe into two groups and sent his servants ahead with gifts to placate his brother. He then prayed a prayer born out of fear in which he reminded God of his promises. We pray like this; when we are afraid and reminding God what He said He would do. At least, Jacob is now admitting God--not him--is responsible for his wealth and well-being. We wrestle for a blessing we realize we can no longer acquire on our own . (Gen. 32:22-24) That night, with the river Jabbok between him and his brother, Jacob wrestled “a man,” “angel” (Hosea 12), “God” (v. 30). He begged for a blessing he had already received but refused to let go of God until he knew it was his. How often to we struggle with God for a blessing He has already given us as His covenant bearers ...

Sunday, I continued Jacob's journey with God as his father-in-law, Laban, chased him down in the desert . Jacob was getting heat from his brother-in-laws and Laban, and when God said to take his family back to Canaan, he did not need to be told twice. ( Genesis 31:1-3 ) When the Jedi Deceiver caught up with his padawan , two daughters and 11 grandsons, he was fighting mad. Not only had Jacob taken a superior flock and his children from him, someone had taken his household gods. After Rachael deceived her deceiving father and kept the gods hidden, Laban and Jacob worked things out . I applied how they resolved things to the relationships we may have with our fathers or others. I suggested that sometimes you must put distance between you and those who hurt you . Jacob did just that. ( Genesis 31:17-18 ) Sometimes you have no choice but to get out of town from those who have hurt you so deeply. If that is not the solution, boundaries of engagement must surely be put in place. I also o...

I entered the matrix of facebook today ...I have resisted for some time, but I knew the number of people out there, and I could not resist connecting with them. So, I will continue to post my thoughts here , but looks like pictures and ongoing comments will go there. Continue to check in , and we'll continue the conversation.

Yesterday, I tackled the story of Rebekah and Jacob stealing Isaac's blessing from Esau as part of our new series " Waking Up in Bastrop ." I want to chew on that a bit more this morning. (If you missed my presentation, you can go here .) First, read all of Genesis 27 . As you begin to observe the events in Chapter 27, don't forget two things are already in play . One, God announced before the twin boys were born that the older will serve the younger . ( Genesis 25:23 ) Two, Isaac and everyone else in the family knew Esau had sold his birthright as the oldest son to Jacob. ( Genesis 25:29-34 ) I mention this because we usually get all over Rebekah and Jacob for their scheming but maybe they would not have done that if Isaac had not tried to give his blessing to Esau , who now did not have the right to receive it since he had sold his birthright to Jacob. Maybe Isaac is at fault (not that we need anyone to be the fall guy when dealing with His-story), and if he ...

I have to tell you again how honored I am to be the Pastor of Legacy! One of our LifeGroups began to put feet to their prayers and passions to serve children--orphans in particular. Their convictions led to a connection with a program in our c ity called My Friend's House , "Collin County’s ONLY emergency shelter for young children who have been removed from their homes due to abuse, abandonment or neglect is almost complete." (from their website) We came in partnership with this program eight years ago through one of our members, Tiffany Nierdieck, who worked with City House , the city's teenage shelter . Legacy Church has provided support through v olunteers, prayers and finances through these formative years. We joined many other organizations and churches who shared our desire to care for these children. Through the lead of the Bowen/Jones LifeGroup and support from our Missions Team, over twenty of us spent Saturday morning p...

Yesterday at Legacy we celebrated baptisms and ended our teaching series on marriage with the renewal of vows for 15 couples. The special part about the baptisms was that one child was a foster child with a family who gave a good word about the blessings of caring for children from families that can't or won't. The other baptism was the biological child in a strong, loving family who also has an adopted child who was first a foster child in their hom e. I was reminded that the real work of the church is to "widows and orphans." The vow renewal was special, too. We interviewed one of the couples who celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary this year . (You can hear their story here .) Others had celebrated their 25th and 30th. Others their 7th and 10th. Marriage is a precarious adventure these days. I'm glad we gave everyone a chance to renew their commitments to one another. My outline for the rest of us was that to build and keep trust in a marriage, you must s...

I finished teaching another term for B H Carroll last night. The course was New Testament II , Acts and the Pauline Letters . Try completing all that in eight, 2.5 hour settings! 14 people registered for the class, and all but two completed the majority of the classes. I get inspired and enthused as I walk through the inception and growth of the Jesus movement. Last night, as we walked through Paul's letters to Timothy and Titus I was reminded how we have institutionalized what were real-time, need-based instructions from an experience church planter to a wide-eyed neophyte who did not know what to do with false teaching, divisive people, widows, or rich people. Paul's quick time personal letters addressing his proteges' questions and concerns have become the basis for doctrines and practices that limit the church's growth rather than enhance it ; the reason Paul wrote it in the first place. We forget that the church, ekklesia, was an underground, illegal, grassroo...