faithrunner

Dallas-Fort Worth is snowed in today so thousands of us get a free day at home. I'm happy to get these once or twice a year, but wouldn't want to live where it is like this three or four months of the year! This past Friday it was 75 degrees and spring-like . I returned from Marshall, TX, that day after speaking at the Christian Association of Student Leaders annual meeting hosted by East Texas Baptist University. You can read about it here . The future of Jesus' movement on those campuses is in good hands. On the way back I stopped at Tyler State Park and ran Loops A and  B trails in my fivefingers treksport . It was a perfect day on ideal trails for minimalist running. I discovered I don't train enough on trails in my fivefingers to run the trails with ease. I'll have to go back to trail shoes for occasional runs. Rats. The hard-packed trails were great. Only gumballs, pine cones, and some loose rocks caused any blunt force pain. (Oh, and that root I stu...

  When Matt and Lisa first suggested we host a Walk Through the Bible event as we begin The Story at Legacy Church , I admit I was a bit skeptical . "That's 'old school' stuff," I thought, and we are all up on the latest methods of doing church at Legacy. We had hosted that same event back in the 90's, and I wondered how it could be relevant to our folks a decade later. Well, I was wrong . WTB was just what we needed to refresh our knowledge of the "mega-narrative" of the Old Testament and introduce The Story to those who had no clue about what it was about. Bruce Wilkinson's DTS Master's project still works! The combination of key words, signs, repetition, and group participation in an atmosphere of fun work together to give those who participate a way to remember the entire story of the Old Testament. Yes, the sometimes tedious, obscure stories from creation to the return of the Jewish people from exile come to life through the child...

This past October while at a conference in Atlanta, a friend and I took a side trip downtown to see the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site and the surrounding buildings. I had been before, but the older I get the more I realize the significance of this man's life. I have confessed before that the Civil Rights Movement went on outside my personal, suburban experience. I knew something was going on by the news I watched occasionally at night after we ate, but I never encountered the movement firsthand. Like many white Americans, I was sympathetic to the situation of Afro-Americans in my country but let the work and death of others right the wrong. Two quotes from Dr. King caught my attention on this trip. I have not looked up their source, but they are on postcards I bought in the museum gift shop. The first is: "The true neighbor will risk his position, his prestige, and even his life for the welfare of others. In dangerous valleys and hazardous pathways, h...

The first verse of the eleventh chapter of the Letters to the Hebrews essentially says, " To trust God is what gives you the confidence to move toward what God has given you to hope for and the evidence of things God told you he would do but you can not yet see ." ( Hebrews 11:1 ; my interpretation.) When God gives you a picture of a future He has designed, faith (trust) is what gives you the confidence and certainty to start acting to make that happen.  I have been fortunate to experience that kind of trust in God in my own life with Legacy Church and in the lives of a few others who have brought into reality what God gave them the vision to do. I recently participated in the ribbon cutting ceremony of This Side Up! Family Fun Center in Plano, TX . This was one of those " trust God and work like it's real 'til you see it " sort of places. The Mayor, Chamber of Commerce Ambassadors, and family and friends of the center were present. God put on the hea...

Over the Christmas and New Year break, I read Gabe Lyon's next book, The Next Christians (DoubleDay, 2010) . I heard Gabe at the Catalyst Conference back in October and was impressed with his impassioned presentation of his observations about "the good news about the end of Christian America." (I was mostly impressed with his own family's response to their son, Cade's, Down Syndrome as an example of what he was describing.) I'm a bit of an existentialist when it comes to verifying the premise of others, so, what I had observed in larger venues like Catalyst and Right Now , I also saw in the younger generation of Christ followers at Legacy. Lyons seems to be on target: these "next Christians" want little to do with maintaining the institution of the church and following its programs, but they deeply desire to engage the bigger needs of humanity in the name of Jesus. Lyons begins his assessment of Christians response to change in similar fashion ...

About two years ago I met Pastor Smith and his wife at a church garage sale. He had just begun as the pastor of a new work, and they were there to gather as many items as possible to begin the work. We talked and shared our stories and promised to stay in touch. About a year later, I finally got down to see his ministry through the Peace of God Missionary Baptist Church in the Joppa Community , southeast of Dallas . The community was founded in the mid-1800's and has been a home for thousands since then. The church gathers in a rectangular building that was built in 1940 . Pastor Smith and his family had repaired and updated the building, which had not been used for some time, by investing their own money, time, and talents. I was honored to share his vision for his work and the potential the Gospel had in the community . (There literally is a church on almost every corner. Something I can relate to in my community, but with a few more potential participants where I serve.)...

It's getting cooler (30 degrees F this morning), and I want to stay in my fivefingers . The other day I went to our local Luke's Locker and bought a pair of injinji toe socks to see if they would fit my fivefingers. They did, and this afternoon I tested them out. (It was 52F at the start of my run.) I admit that this arrangement pushes me even farther away from true barefoot running , but I'm not quite ready to head out on a December afternoon truly barefoot. The run went well. My feet were actually a bit too warm, but I know they'll be fine in cooler weather now. After the 4.5 mile jog, I did feel my socks and fivefingers became tight. When I removed them, I felt the difference, and that is not usually the case without socks. (My feet swell when I run, so that was the issue.) While my feet were warm, I did loose some of the on-the-ground sensation I have when running without the socks. This will only be an arrangement while the weather is cold. So, to answer ...