faithrunner

Hatfields & McCoys DVD I recently watched the History Channel's mini-series Hatfields and McCoys . Anyone who is aware of Civil War era American history knows of this generational feud between these two infamous families. I recommend watching the series. Kevin Reynolds and Kevin Costner reunite to pull off an authentic, heart-tugging story of two men who preferred the taste of revenge to reconciliation . The writers tell the story of "Devil Anse" Hatfield's desertion from the Confederate Army before the war is over. Randall McCoy , with whom Hatfield served, never forgave him for deserting. Add in a child of an unwed McCoy fathered by a Hatfield, a couple of revenge killings, and rivalry over timber lands, and you have the beginnings of a feud that lasted generations. What caught my attention in the story was that Randall McCoy never let the Hatfield desertion go. He held on to it at every turn, and his hatred for Hatfield leaving him on the field of b...

I commuted this morning on my bike from my house to a men's small group and then from the group to my office . I met up with Jason along the way, and we made it without major incident from our homes to our destinations on the streets and bike trails of Plano . The reason I would blog about this is that our town is not really suited for commuting by bike on the streets .   Suburbs are built for cars, not bikes and pedestrians. Bicycles in this town are for recreation and sport, and walking is for exercise. Anything "everyday" is 99% done in a car. It's designed that way. Yes, the City of Plano is making strides to make motorists aware of bikes  on the streets (See below), but they are still dominated by motorized vehicles and angry drivers . I recently connected with a virtual acquaintance, Sean Benesh , who lives and commutes in Portland. He muses about such things as being Metrospiritual and creating a "bikeable" church. He has dipped in...

One of the hardest parts of leading is admitting you made a mistake, living with the consequences of that miss-take, and keeping followers on mission after you make it. Leaders are human, and no matter our training, experience, or talents, we can't see everything and we can't be right 100% of the time. This truth is why I appreciate the story about Joshua in in Bible . In Joshua 9 , we read how the leader of Israel was deceived into making a treaty with an enemy whom he would have destroyed. While the cleverness  of the enemy to survive is interesting, the better part of the story is how Joshua exhibited character in the midst of his failure as a leader . Read the story here . Here are some leadership lessons from this experience in Joshua's life. Take responsibility for your actions. Joshua did not play the blame game or whine he had been deceived, nor did he get into the politics of blame and point his finger at the elders who ratified the treaty by oath. ...

My new rock edging I have been nursing a stress fracture from running for a little over a month. I injured my right foot about a year ago, but I kept running on it and treating it like a bruise that would eventually go away. After a trail half-marathon , trail full marathon , and 5K on streets this spring, my foot finally said, " Not one more step until you take care of me ." So, I went to the doctor, got x-rays, and she put in a boot for three weeks. No running. No riding. I began to re-learn life without running and went reluctantly back to the pool to swim but excitedly got back on my back after the three-week required break . To add to this complete stoppage of activity , over a week ago a cable on my bike broke , and I have not ridden once during that time. More no running or riding. As you can imagine, the removal of running and riding from my life caused me to reshuffle my priorities and find different ways to stay active. I slowed way down, and gain...

ESPN.go.Dallas  I had breakfast the other day with a friend, and we shared our stuff and prayed for each other. Part of my encouragement to him was to read and get to know Ephesians 6:10-17 to help him with the spiritual warfare he faced in stepping out to trust God in every area of his life . As we left, we got on the topic of him playing ice hockey when he was growing up in Michigan, and I just popped off and suggested he translate the Ephesians passage with hockey gear since we knew nothing about armor in Paul's day . So, he did, and here is how Ephesians 6:10-17 reads to a hockey player : 10- A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power to score . 11- Put on all of God’s shoulder, thigh, knee and shin pads , so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the opposing team .12- For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this da...

In our new book, Norman Blackaby and I state the importance of the topic of character in our society today: We do not have to look far to see that character is no longer a prerequisite for success in our culture. Politicians, religious and community leaders, business leaders, and individuals have demonstrated that we live in a culture that values results above character . We have segregated our private lives from our public ones, and our faith is a matter of personal conviction and no longer a player in the public square...Character and integrity are optional to the bottom line...We depend on spin, not truth, to clear our soiled character, and we count on sound bites and news clips to be authentic portraits of those we elect to office. Companies hide unfair and unethical practices behind carefully produced advertising campaigns and, sadly, churches sometimes cover up the unseemly messes of their leaders and their spending habits in order to portray a benevolent image to the commu...

Description and Orders Character matters. We mostly hear about the topic when a leader or someone we know fails morally in some way. We know people should have it, and we are disappointed and confused when someone we respect proves they don't have it, but that leaves us with the question, "What is it, and how do you get it?" From the book, we write, What determines if a person will live out God’s full potential for his or her life? We believe it is the issue of character. Character is the single most distinguishing aspect of a person’s life . . . . God cares more about character than our skills, personality, or intelligence because, biblically, character is a matter of the ‘heart.’ Character: The Pulse of a Disciple's Heart is a collection of biblical case studies of people God chose for his purposes which can be used for personal, small group, or church-wide study. Dr. Norman Blackaby and I got the idea for this book from our shared teaching of ...