Christmas Quietly

May Christmas quietly enter your home and heart as it did the first time God came as a baby laid in a manger on a star-lit, angel-choir-filled night.

May the hope and joy Jesus brings--hope and joy proven by his sacrificial love, not our wishful thinking--flood your life no matter what it looks like now.

May you trust that the Creator of the Universe who put on human flesh knows your name and has made possible your adoption into the family of God through His Son.

Christmas quietly whispers you are loved.

Merry Christmas from the Wilkes family: Graham, Gene, Kim, Ryan, Storey, Summer, and Cambell.

I'm writing on "Leader's Led by Jesus" on Lynn Anderson's, Mentor Network site for the next four weeks. Join the dialogue, and I'll look for you there.

The Conspiracy Continues Continued

The Advent Conspiracy series at Legacy continues to have an effect on all we do this year.

For example, last Sunday evening our LifeGroup gathered just to gather. (I love how everyone wants to stay together even after the semester has officially ended.) Kim had raised some money in her classes to help a family, and she had tons of wrapping to do.

She told her story, and the group immediately cleared off two tables, tore into the wrapping materials, and began to wrap all the gifts for the family! What would have taken us the rest of the week to wrap, the group did it in about 45 minutes!

That's what this whole Advent Conspiracy thing is about: with Jesus. for Jesus; Spend Less, Give More. I have heard story after story of how people have found new and creative ways to live out this Advent mission together.

Here's a note from one of our members:

Since becoming a Christian I have struggled with how to keep Jesus at the center of Christmas. I love the Advent Conspiracy series! It has really helped me think through some tangible ways we can honor Jesus as we celebrate Christmas. My family are not church goers and I don't want to turn them off by not honoring their celebration, but this year I can introduce some of the things Legacy is doing to make our celebration richer.

We will continue the Advent Conspiracy this Sunday with the call to follow Jesus to Love All. Join us!

Here's some national media attention for Advent Conspiracy: Christian Group Launches New Attach on Christmas Commercialism.

Looking Ahead:

I've been preparing for our next class with B H Carroll at Legacy. It is the Letter to the Romans. For details and how to sign up, go here. If you want some in depth study of this important letter to the church, join us starting January 12.

The Conspiracy Continues

The Advent Conspiracy continues at Legacy Church this Sunday. I am so pleased with the people's response to both the message and the opportunities to Worship Fully, Spend Less, Give More, and Love All. this Advent season.

Last Saturday, the staff and Leadership Team shared breakfast together then headed out to buy gifts for families who would not have gifts otherwise. We returned to wrap and deliver them. I'm proud to be part of a team who lives out God's call on our lives to love others in His name.



You can see the response already to the New Orleans Mission clothes drive. And we just spoke about it this past Sunday!



In the first two weeks we have sold over $778.00 of Bolevan Farms coffee, which includes individual bags, subscriptions and gift bags shown here.


We have 7 new Compassion International sponsors, and we have not even talked about them in the services!


We have also begun to see gifts show up under the Christmas tree set up for the Student Aged Parent Program.

I am humbled to see the generous outpouring of God's love in so many tangible ways! This has turned out to be one of the most special Christmases I have celebrated with Legacy in a long time. Thank you, Church, for being the tangible presence of Jesus here and around the world.

Day of Prayer and Fasting--Love All

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 of our beds!” What a perfect opportunity for our shepherd boys to give an eyewitness account, not only of the celestial visit but of the baby. Everyone who heard was amazed.

Good news for all people. No matter our circumstances. No matter our bad choices. No matter how lonely, forgotten or discouraged, the Savior is here because of God’s amazing love for all.

Reread Luke 2:19-20. What will you treasure up in your heart today either because of this study or from What God is doing for you? Thank God for his faithfulness and goodness. Ask him to give you the boldness to love others through your actions and words as you tell about the One, your Savior, who has come to rescue his creation.

(Thanks again to Patsy Weinberg for writing these devotionals.)

Day of Prayer and Fasting--Give More

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 was braver than the other. Maybe they hummed the angels’ song or commented on the angel’s appearance. At any rate, the shepherds make it to Bethlehem and the search is on to find the baby in a manger. They knew what that was and where most of them were in town. I don’t picture them worried about what they’re going to do once they find the baby. I think they went on pure adrenaline and obedience.

Do you think the shepherds felt awkward arriving without a present? Like everything else in our “movie”, there’s no right or wrong answer. If they did feel a twinge of guilt, I imagine they overcame it by seeing the look on Mary’s and Joseph’s faces. These young guests who had experienced a heavenly visit gave Mary and Joseph the best present of all—spending time with them, sharing in their joy, and possibly comparing notes on their angelic encounters.Give More is more about presence than presents.

Look at your calendar. Ask God to show you ways to adjust your schedule to Give More time with those you love and to spend time serving those in need. Mark it down on your calendar so you don’t forget to follow. Thank Him for those friends and relationships you treasure.

Day of Prayer and Fasting--Spend Less

Spend Less

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 need and emotion.

Praise Him. Ask Him to encourage you where you need Him in your life right now. Then ask Him to show you how you can be a blessing to others.

Are you willing to buy one less gift and use that money to give to someone less fortunate? Ask God to provide for you abundantly so you may give more to Legacy so we can all help people trust Jesus. (See some possible ways to give during Advent here.)

A Day of Prayer and Fasting--Part 1

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 world has been born. No wonder these poor kids are terrified. If that wasn’t enough, the entire night sky is filled with thousands of angels singing, praising God with the most beautiful music ever heard.

As soon as it began, it’s over. The angels disappear, and the shepherds are alone in the dark with the sheep as if nothing has happened.

I hope I would respond as the shepherds did. I hope I would act on faith and go to worship the newborn King. They could have stayed right where they were, but instead they went to experience God for themselves. Somehow, I don’t think they ambled into town; I think they ran to Bethlehem. Excited. Hopeful. Anticipating the chance to be with God.

Respond to God in pray as you would if you had been one of the shepherds.

Advent Conspiracy, Legacy Style

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 homeless mission in New Orleans with whom we have worked with for three years now. We are collecting warm clothing, which we will take to the mission in January.

We are also asking people to consider sponsoring a child through Compassion International. A CI representative will be present each week to answer questions and show you how to give a life of hope to an orphan somewhere in the world.

Join the conspiracy and help us bring back the life-changing celebration of God's Presence in His greatest gift to all people: His Son, Jesus.

barefoot running on trails

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 running in shoes. You can run on rocks in these things--you just run lighter over those parts.

Leaves covered some objects which I stepped on, and strikes to the instep were the worst; but, the foot has a way of recovering in a way the pain subsides fairly quickly. No sticks between the toes, and the mud did not stick to my fivefingers like it does to shoes. I never stopped to rake mud off my feet like I do with shoes.

At the end of the run the balls of my feet were somewhat sore, but no blisters or hot spots on my feet. Wearing and jogging in them two weeks plus prior was the key. I even dropped my car off for an oil change on the way home and jogged on the concrete to the house. No problems.

Don't try running barefoot on trails unless you have trailrunning experience. Foot placement is everything in trail running and more so with bare feet. I concentrated more than usual, but eventually got into the rhythm of running trails as time went on. Going uphill was easier than in shoes, but downhill slowed me down. It's mental, and I'll gain confidence as I learn how to increase my speed without fearing stepping on something.

All in all, it was a great first run, and I'll do it again. You can run barefoot in these "shoes"--even on rocky trails.

My meditation as I ran was the Psalmist's praise: He makes my feet like the feet of a deer. (Psalm 18:33) A song I have sung many times before on trails.

I set two goals today: Grasslands 50 miler in March and Wheeler Peak in May in my fivefingers.

Thanksgiving!

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 found the Lord. The room was filled with stories like his--and many who still claim the religion of their country of origin. We're okay with that.

I told the crowd as we concluded that what happened at Legacy Sunday night was not just a taste of an American Thanksgiving meal but a taste of heaven. For we are told that one day because of Jeus we would see "a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb." Revelation 7:9, 10


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