August 18, 2009
If you are to love your neighbor as yourself, who is your neighbor? This is of course what the Parable of the Good Samaritan is all about, and it’s fascinating to me. Christ says we are to love everyone without regard for race, nationality or any other trait or characteristic. That’s powerful, isn’t it?
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June 14, 2009
I got married a week ago to the love of my life, and thus I’ve been thinking a lot about love lately. In fact, I’ve only recently come to understand that loving each other is the most important thing we can do in life, second only to loving God. The idea seems simple, but the more I think about it, the more I realize how big that concept is.
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May 18, 2009

I’m a big fan of Kiva. Kiva is a web site that allows you to make small loans to entrepreneurs in parts of the world that really need your help. For example, I just gave $25 to a man selling food in Palestine. It’s a small amount of money to me, but it goes further there. And when multiple people give, it really adds up.
It’s important to note that this is not a donation in the traditional sense – it’s a loan. So the money will be paid back eventually. And this is the power of Kiva.
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May 11, 2009
If you had one word for someone in pain, someone suffering from insecurities or guilt or shame, what would it be? Mine would “gone.”
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April 26, 2009

Photo by Vicki & Chuck Rogers
God calls us to have leisure. In Psalm 46:10 He says, “Be still, and know that I am God.” In his book, Leisure: The Basis of Culture, Josef Pieper says this can also be interpreted to mean, “Have leisure, and know that I am God.” For those of us who work fifty or sixty hours a week, this is a welcomed message.
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April 20, 2009
Giano is a rapper who writes rhymes about things bigger than himself. “It’s not about the fame, cuz if that’s the case, then we’re really barking up the wrong tree!” Rejecting braggadocio, Giano focuses instead on an uplifting message of God’s love. “The love He has for us is immeasurable, incomparable to anything we could ever experience.”
Read more about Giano at Leisure Lab.

Do you have a song that, on those days you wish you’d stayed in bed, really lifts your spirits? “Sing” by Roni Size and Jocelyn Brown is that song for me.
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April 19, 2009
In his song “Be,” Commons says:
Never looking back
Or too far in front of me
The present is a gift
And I just want to be.
The word-play alone is great, but there’s a point to it, and the message is powerful. Live today, and don’t worry about tomorrow.
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April 17, 2009

Do you ever find yourself caught up with the things you don’t have? Maybe, from time to time, you think, “I deserve more than this.” Maybe it’s been a while since you got a raise, and you’re thinking, “I work hard every day, and it’s about time I got some more money.”
If you’re like me, it’s about the time you’re dreaming of that new flat screen when you hear about someone close to you struggling to pay her rent or buy groceries. And you get that sinking feeling – that realization that you got so caught up in yourself and your wants that you forgot about somebody who was struggling just to get by.
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