Category: Word of the Week

Happy Monday! A shallow TV commercial got me thinking about today’s word-of-the-week… FREE It was a series of commercials, actually, each offering something for nothing—free! Seems like everything in our culture has been reduced to money. What’s it cost? Free? Cool…I’ll take two! We can buy anything—even people. Anywhere in the world, for a relatively […]

Happy Monday! Increasing age inspires thoughts about today’s word-of-the-week… LISTS Everybody knows we tend to lose our memory as we age. Old guys like me get a pass for forgetting simple stuff like phone numbers and anniversaries. But we seem to have no problem remembering when someone hurts us. We appear to have an almost […]

I’m excited about today’s word-of-the-week… JERSEY Team jerseys are cool and fun. There’s a real sense of belonging, being part of something bigger than yourself, that goes with wearing a jersey. I’m thinking about jerseys because we just finalized our team for this summer’s Front Range FREEDOM Tour 2013. It’s interesting, and a little scary, […]

HAPPY MONDAY! A random note inspires today’s word-of-the-week… ACTION I ran across a note last week that seemed worth recording on an electronic index card and sticking on my virtual bulletin board. how to change the world Start where you are Use what you have Do what you can This note seemed like a good […]

HAPPY MONDAY! Some words of comfort got me thinking about today’s word-of-the-week… COMMUNITY Against a backdrop of grief, people representing a variety of faiths gathered a few weeks ago in Boston’s Cathedral of the Holy Cross to pray for healing. The common themes were reconciliation, forgiveness, resilience, and community. I was especially struck by the simple, humble […]

Happy Monday! A four-year-old philosopher brings us today’s word-of-the-week… TRUTH My cousin has been emphasizing the importance of always telling the truth with her four-year-old daughter. Seems like a simple, straightforward concept, right? So after one particular heart-to-heart, the young philosopher got that look that said there was something spinning around in her brain. “Mom, […]

Happy Monday! This weekend’s teaching on Luke 6:38 inspires today’s word-of-the-week… FORGIVENESS I’ve told you before about my unauthorized personal version of the bible. It’s called RUV—Rich’s Unstandard Version. Occasionally I encounter a conversation with Jesus in RUV when I’m trying to make sense of words from the real bible. Jesus and His friends are […]

Happy Monday! The last couple of weeks have reminded me about today’s word-of-the-week… AGENDA I can’t seem to figure out how to quit trying to figure out God’s agenda. I keep telling myself I’m not responsible for the results. I see all sorts of evidence that my plans rarely end up being God’s plans. I […]

Happy Monday! My friend Clark Osborn inspired today’s word-of-the-week… NUANCE Clark made a simple statement: “Always” is almost always wrong. He’s mostly right. I tend to seek the central theme, the big idea, the captivating sound bite. Social media feeds this obsession—we’re all trying to capture our deepest thoughts in 140 characters. Life, of course, […]

Happy Monday! Since yesterday was Easter, today’s perfect for this word-of-the-week… AFTER After the big event—the weekend retreat, the important conference, the big bike tour—what happens after? Have you had that feeling? You come home from the life-changing experience and there’s the laundry and the bills. The next morning the alarm clock goes off just […]

Happy Monday! A tweet about a cool place inspires today’s word-of-the-week… EBENEZER One of the last stops on last summer’s IJM Freedom Tour was Ebenezer’s Coffeehouse in Washington, DC. Ebenezer’s is a very cool place, a symbol of hope in many different ways. It’s operated by National Community Church on the site of a former […]

Happy Monday! I’m often too literal, which leads in a roundabout way to today’s word-of-the-week… STUDY I’m not very good at poetry. I seldom understand the imagery and symbolism until someone explains. Then I nod appreciatively while I think, “How was I supposed to see that?” I think my literal brain explains why I struggle […]