faithrunner

What are the symptoms of spiritual illness? How can you know if your religious and life activities are squeezing out your spiritual vitality? Here are some symptoms you may find in your own life.             Shortness of breath – this indicates you are able to spend only a minute or two in prayer at a time; wandering thoughts and a short-lived attention span are key characteristics.             Spiritual obesity – this symptom occurs when you spend too much time in religious activity at the church so that you have no time to minister to those Jesus has called you to serve.   Other symptoms include knowing more names of church friends than those without Christ or spending more time at potluck dinners at church than at neighborhood block parties to meet your neighbors.             High blood pressur...

Kudos for The Bible television series ! The producer of the series, Mark Burnett and his wife, Roma Downey , have invested their time, talents and treasures to bring the story of God's redemptive love as told in The Bible to television . Their faithful presentation of the story has people watching, talking, AND reading the Bible.  Thank you, Mark and Roma, for your investment in a media that is accessible to millions and vividly more appealing than my sermons. I expect many of us who tell the story week after week will use clips from the series multiple times in the future. Jesus and His disciples, Episode 4 Almost 11 million people watched the third installment, beating the previously more popular shows on ABC and CBS . Don't tell me people are not interested in what the Bible has to say. They just don't come to church to hear it as much as before. It is also reported, Every Sunday during the series, the YouVersion Bible App has been in the top 25 out o...

Hunger and thirst are two natural desires that keep us alive. Both drive us to food and water that sustain us physically.  When Jesus looked across the crowd that had gathered to hear him introduce "the kingdom of God" that was near, he blessed those who hungered and thirsted for righteousness . ( Matthew 5:6 ) And, he promised those folks would be satisfied . In my analogy of spiritual growth in my book, A New Way of Living , this Beatitude is the summit of our spiritual climb to be like Jesus. Climbing the summit of God's mighty presence is a journey that begins by exposing our tremendous lack of personal resources. And like on a physical climb, when our resources run out, we begin to hunger and thirst. The difference is that in tackling a mountain of spiritual growth, what we hunger and thirst for is refreshment only God can give our craving souls. (130) Righteousness is a characteristic of God ( Psalm 48:10 ). It describes our standing before God in Christ J...

Today at Plano Senior High School the girls are taking a risk to be themselves by not wearing makeup. As a father of two grown daughters and pastor of a local church, I know the struggle girls face throughout their lives to look a certain way. I don't have to tell you the disorders and personal pain that follow a pursuit of an image you were not created to be. My wonderful wife, who is a teacher there, is joining the girls today! This is the first time I ever remember her intentionally going into public without makeup except to workout. Her love for the girls and her support of this value motivated her to join the experience. Here she is this morning without makeup!!! I remember the first time my heart jumped when I saw her. She was walking across campus coming from a PE class without makeup .  I respect her for caring enough to look nice when she leaves the house, but I love her for the face she wears in her sleep. The Bible makes it clear that outward beauty ...

Meek? Definitely Cute! To be meek is not to be weak. When Jesus blessed--announced God's favor upon--those who had gathered that day to hear his inaugural address he pinpointed the meek ones. ( Matt. 5:5 ) He promised they would inherit the earth. Meek is not in the world's dictionary of what it takes to get things done; and, getting things done is the goal of life, right? I went into a friend's office one day several years ago and saw on his desk the sign: If the meek inherit the earth, what do we tigers get? I thought it funny at the time, but I later realized that my friend had completely misread Jesus' promise to those who followed him. What does meek mean? In my book, A New Way of Living: Practicing the Beatitudes everyday , I describe the biblical word to mean "power under control." (111) It is translated "gentle" in Jesus' famous self-description of himself. ( Matthew 11:29 ) Jesus, however, was anything but gentle as w...

Thanks to Legacy Cyclists who donated the funds Several months ago I wrote about The Bikeable Church by Sean Benesh. The idea of a bike-friendly church captured my attention, and we now have bike racks placed around our church campus. Why? Plano and North Dallas have a large cycling population. We have a cycling group connected to Legacy Church that includes over 50 riders. We provide parking places for car. Why not bicycles? Sam and Paul installing a rack The issue for me is that in our community cycling is a hobby and not part of our day-to-day lives. (Some would say our faith is like that too. ) My hope is that we can take away the excuse, "If I did ride my bike to church or work, there's no place to put my bike." My prayer is that more churches and businesses will provide for those who will ride instead of drive . You now have no excuse to ride your bike to Legacy on a beautiful day. Paul Olson, Me, Sam Montag, Jim Hoyt, Mike Tenbusch ...

When we read The Beatitudes , we are surprised at whom Jesus blessed and why. The second Beatitude may be one of those. Here's my paraphrase of it:   Happy are the unhappy because they will be comforted. ( Matthew 5:4 ) Not that we purposefully want to make ourselves unhappy or mournful so we can receive comfort, but the promise of Jesus is if we find ourselves in that condition, comfort from him is a promise. How does being unhappy (mournful) help in our spiritual growth? We try to avoid that condition, don't we? How could Jesus put value on us feeling this way? In my book, A New Way of Living , I point out that mourning is the next step in our path to spiritual wellness because it follows our awareness of our spiritual poverty . Jesus blessed those who were "poor in spirit" and promised them access to his kingdom. Mourning is evidence of our own confession of spiritual poverty . Take King David's mournful confession recorded in Psalms 51:3-5 after ...