One of my former interns, Dylan Hope, used to greet me when I came off stage with a funny little recap of my message he liked to call, “Why Runks, Why.” Sometimes it was serious, sometimes it was hilarious but it was always fun and every once in a while it was productive. So I’ve decided to bring a revamped version of “Why Runks, Why” to the Runks.com experience by expanding it from a recap of a few minutes on stage to a recap of my events and experiences on the road.

So join me now for the first installment of a little thing I like to call, “Why Runks, Why.” – March 14, 2010

-Cross Training Weekend • First Baptist Church • West Memphis, AR

-Wanting to cancel and stay home with Nick after his car wreck last week.

-Going anyway because I knew God wanted me to.

-Ministering to two students dealing with some deeply painful junk and leading them from hopelessness to hope.

-Making a “quick” Starbucks run with the seniors that turned into a trip to another state and an encounter with a gangbanger fond of inappropriate gestures.

-Student Pastor Matt Neyman a.k.a. “Cracka Wit Attitude”

-Crosstraining man????

-Taking care of business with a quick trip to Graceland on the way to the airport.

-A bunch of teens getting saved!

-God moving powerfully. Students ministering to students in the most genuine way I think I’ve ever seen!

-Sharing with parents about Nick’s wreck and challenging them to love on their teens and never take them for granted.

I can’t wait to see what God does next week!!

God Bless Y’all – Runks

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Sometimes I wonder if it would be easier to die on a cross than it is to die to myself.  Not to belittle in anyway the brutality Jesus endured for us on the cross but sometimes it seems like it would be a lot easier for me to take up my cross and follow Jesus if somebody would just nail me to it.  The sad fact is that I don’t really have a problem taking up my cross, I have a huge problem with laying it down.  Denying myself, taking up my cross and following Jesus (Luke 9:23) is way too often traded in for indulging myself, crawling off my cross, and following my own selfish desires.  Bottom line, I love Jesus with all my heart and I follow after him as hard as I can but I’m just not very good at it.  The key is to not beat myself up for a week when I lay my cross down but confess my sin, climb back up on my cross as quickly as I can, and try again.

I doubt very seriously anybody is going to nail any of us to our crosses any time soon so we’re going to have to get better at getting back in the saddle every time we fall off. For that to happen takes a strength much greater than we have so we must daily not only take up our cross but also learn to live weak by daily recognizing our weakness, choosing to trust in God’s grace, and absolutely depending on God’s strength and not our own.  We still have to climb back on but we are not alone, and never without help.

Hang in there!! – Runks

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Here is a stupid video about eating turkey, giving thanks, and Tony Romo.

Have fun, I know I did!


Stuff I’m thankful for:

Jesus for loving me enough to die for me and live in me!

More freedom every day from the baggage of the abuse in my past!

A really awesome wife who loves me even though I’m an idiot!

Both my kids love Jesus!

Elli because she is so much fun and always makes me laugh!

Elli, thanks for riding go karts! hahaha

Nick because he loves the things I love!

Dude, thanks for going hunting with me and Wreck’em Tech!!

A godly Mom who has always been such an amazing example of who Jesus is!

Joanna still sorta thinks I’m funny!

God walking with us through the loss of my Dad to cancer 11 years ago!

An awesome Dad that invested his life in me!

Thanks Dad for always taking me with you!  Tell Jesus I said what up!

Joanna for believing in me and supporting my ministry completely!

That God still lets me do what I do!

The privilege of pouring my life into teenagers!

I got to go to India this past summer!

Joanna for being everything I could ever need or want!

Mike Pinkston!

I get to live in Levelland, Texas!

I have legs, dude!

I’m finally learning to love myself!

Friends that love me and hang out with me!

And Jesus for providing this stuff and these people I have to be thankful for!

Happy Thanksgiving everybody!!!!! – Runks


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My son Nick, aka @BigRunkDaddy in the twittosphere, and I are on our annual Thanksgiving week deer hunt. We’re sleeping in a ratty old camper, eating insanely unhealthy food, and having the time of our lives! It is one of the coolest blessings of my life that my 15 year old son wants to spend a week in the woods with his Dad.

Having a shared passion with your teenager is one of the greatest parenting tools any parent can have. It gives you the opportunity to have the “quantity” of time required to open the door for “quality” time to happen. I think the old adage, “quality time is more important than quantity time” is a load of bull because you can’t just decide to have quality time and magically make it happen. If you want to have quality time with your kids you have to make the effort to spend a ton of “quantity” time to get there. That’s why a shared passion is so important.

When I was a teenager I always thought my Dad was the biggest dork on the planet except when we were hunting together because we both loved it so much. Somwhere in the middle of all that “quantity” time in the woods the walls would come down and “quality” time happened. Some of the most important talks I ever had with my Dad during my crazy teen years took place over the hood of a pick-up in the middle of nowhere. Now I’m having that same experience all over again from the other side of the pick- up. As cool as I like to think I am I’m almost certain that Nick thinks I’m an idiot most of the time but when we’re out in the boonies sharing our passion for hunting I’m still his hero and that has opened the doors to some pretty awesome life changing conversations.

If I have any parenting advice to offer its this: include your kids in the passions of your life. Never leave them at home when you go do whatever it is you love to do. Figure out what they’re passionate about, get passionate about it, and get ready for some awesome, life changing experiences with your kids. Trust me, it is so worth the effort for them and you!!

Now, I’ve got to get out of this deer blind and go help Nick clean the hog he just shot. Maybe we’ll get to have a talk about life while we’re at it.

God Bless Y’all – Runks

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“Me Too”

November 20, 2009 Deep thoughts from a Dumb guy

I’m sitting on an airplane with my 6’6” totem pole body crammed into a regular, no leg room, non-exit row, teeny, tiny airplane seat. I’m sitting next to a guy who is also circus freak tall and we’re both cramped, crunched, and fighting for leg and elbow room like sardines in a tiny can [...]

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“Mercy in the Middle”

November 13, 2009 Deep thoughts from a Dumb guy

The song in the video – “Ask Me” by Amy Grant has served as an incredible sense of encouragement and hope to me in my recovery from childhood sexual abuse. I cannot tell you how many times I have listened to it, over and over again, celebrating the hope and freedom Jesus has brought [...]

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Youth Revivals: Dinosaur or Dynamite?

November 12, 2009 Youth Ministry Resources

Youth Revivals, hmmm, does anybody really do those anymore?  Do they still work?  Will students really invite their friends to one?  Yes, Yes, and Yes! I know in a lot of youth ministry circles the youth revival is thought of as just another dinosaur of youth ministry programming but I beg to differ.  I do [...]

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Live Weak

November 11, 2009 Deep thoughts from a Dumb guy

We live in a society that tells us we need to be independent and self-sufficient, pull ourselves up by our boot-straps (whatever that means??), and do everything in our own strength.  It sounds good on the surface but in reality it is so contrary to the way scripture says we are to live our lives.
II [...]

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“At Least you got legs, Dude!”

November 10, 2009 Crazy stuff

I had pretty major shoulder surgery back in December and had my arm stuck in a dang sling for 6 weeks! It was horrible! It was my right arm and I’m right handed so I had to do everything with my left hand! And I mean, EVERTHING! Use your imagination. It was [...]

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Funny Name, Funny Guy, Deep Message???

November 9, 2009 Creative Journey

Funny guy with a Deep message?? Is that even possible?  Can anybody really be funny and at the same time really have something valuable to say??  Apparently a lot of people don’t think so.  I’ve heard a ton of Youth Ministers say that they’re not big fans of “funny speakers” because most funny speakers are [...]

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