faithrunner

This is our final post for today . We pray that these thoughts have helped you in your preparation for the celebration of Christ's coming at Christmas . Join us at Legacy Church as we continue our advent conspiracy this Sunday. Love All! Read Luke 2:10, 16-20 . When we rent a fantastic movie, we can’t wait to recommend it. We’ll sit through it again because we want to experience it with those we love. The angel encourages the shepherds with the most glowing review ever: “Good news. Great joy. Tell everyone!” Not the Savior is coming or someday he’ll grow up to be the Savior, but the Savior is here . Bethlehem was packed with people, and with only oil lamps to light their homes, it’s quite possible some in the village saw the bright lights in the night sky; some may have even heard portions of the concert. This would have been the topic of conversation around the well: “Did you see the lights? What was going on? My donkey made such a ruckus we jumped out...

Welcome to our third devotional as we prepare our hearts in Advent for the coming of the Christ Child. Feel free to post your comments or prayer requests below. See previous posts to catch up, if you like. Read Luke 2: 12, 15-16 . Rewind our imaginary movie: Teenage boys are watching over the sheep, possibly bragging over a new-found whisker or teasing each other about the girls in the village. They’re bathed in light more vibrant than that in the film “Close Encounters”, and they fall on their faces as the entire sky and earth rumble from the vibrations of music. Exit angelic hosts, and the trembling boys must decide what to do . Thankfully, the angel gave them a hint in verse 12 , “This will be a sign for you”. The boys pick up on that phrase and run to nearby Bethlehem. What do you think they talked about as they traveled? Did they take the flock with them or abandon them on the hill? I picture them reliving the entire event over and over, possibly bragging about how each...

Spend L ess Read Luke 2: 7, 11-12 . Why on earth would God allow his only son to be born in a barn, the scent of dirt, animals, hay, feed, and the other aromas in the stagnant air to be the first smells he experienced? Why give him to Mary and Joseph instead of a more prosperous family? Why allow Jesus to become a refugee, fleeing to Egypt as a young toddler? Earthly rulers throughout history have been overthrown for having a disconnect with the working class. Not so with Jesus. He chose to leave the splendor of heaven to be a savior people could touch. He chose to have a physical body with all the experiences we have: laughter, hunger, frustration, exhaustion, weariness, loneliness, love, friendship, betrayal. He hit his thumb with his hammer, experienced the irritation of an insect bite, and felt the aches in his muscles after a long day’s work. He definitely knew what it was like to be rejected and displaced. Spend some time thanking God that He understands your every ...

We have set today apart at Legacy Church to pray and fast as part of our preparing our hearts in Advent. We will follow the outline in Advent Conspiracy: Worship Fully, Spend Less, Give More, Love All. I will post at 6, 10, 2 and 6 today. May the Lord bless you as you open your heart to Him. (Thanks to Patsy Weinberg for writing these devotionals.) Worship Fully Read Luke 2:8-15 . Imagine you’re with the shepherds as the events unfold. This passage makes me giggle in sympathy for the poor shepherds. Imagine these young teenage boys, sitting in the dark with a bunch of dirty, smelly sheep. They’re exhausted and bored from tedious work, yet they must remain alert to protect the flock from running away, from predators, or from robbers. Perhaps they take turns dozing, the cold hard ground for a bed. Suddenly, they’re temporarily blinded by the purest light imaginable and it’s surrounding them and an angel who announces the most glorious proclamation: the Savior of the...

This Advent, Legacy Church has joined a conspiracy, the Advent Conspiracy . We have adopted the creators' concept to fit who we are at Legacy, and this past Sunday we invited the church who is Legacy and their friends to join us to " make Christmas a world-changing event again ." We will join the AC group as they call us all to Worship Fully, Spend Less, Give More, and Love All , but we will give our folks the opportunity to invest in groups associated with Legacy. Here they are: Bolaven Farms is a coffee farm in Laos we support through purchasing and using their coffee. Our motto is "Importing Coffee. Exporting Hope." We are the first church in the world to brew Bolaven Farm coffee for its guests and members every week. The Student Aged Parent Program of PISD and Legacy have been partners for some time, and we invite people to bring gifts as they would to the baby shower of a loved one to give to the parents and their children. We are partnering with a h...

While my friends were cycling and running around White Rock Lake Saturday morning, I ventured out to Arbor Hills Nature Preserve in Plano for my first trail run in my Vibram fivefingers. I had worn them for a couple of weeks, ran to and alongside the Chisholm Trail near my home, and walked and ran in them on my parent's farm while there for Thanksgiving. But, I had not taken them out on true trails. I chose the well-worn mountain bike trail at Arbor Hills for my test run. It was closed to bikes because of the mud , but I jumped on anyway knowing I would leave few if any tracks. I made two loops (with a double loop about half way). I ran for an hour and 7 minutes total. The terrain was varied with exposed roots, rocks, mud and leaf cover . I was cautious at first, but I had gotten the feel of the non-shoes before so it was just getting familiar with this trail. The rocks, of course, slowed me down the most, and the deeper troughs left by bikes were difficult but no different than...

Legacy's English Language Program hosted its annual Thanksgiving Feast Sunday night. It is one of my favorite nights of the year because we see the extent of our ministry in the community in the faces of those who attend . Legacy people turned out to cook, carve, serve drinks, and host tables for our guests. They even love to tear down, set up and carry out the trash. I love the servant hearts of those who are Legacy. Students from the 6 level of classes ate, talked, and read Psalm 100 in their native language. We heard the Thanksgiving Psalm read in Bengali, Japanese, Gujarati, Armenian, Farsi, Tamil, Portuguese, Korean, Spanish, Malayalam, Cantonese Chinese, Mandarin Chinese, and Taiwanese. Here's a picture of some who sat at our table. So many stories from each life could fill a book. Kim is talking to Professor Wu who came to America as a Communist atheist who taught at a prestigious Chinese university. He came to our ELP ministry to learn English and in the process fou...