I've about recovered from our annual Spring Break trip to Panama City Beach, FL - which ended a week ago! At my age, the hours we work on that trip wear me out for a few days. The typical days run from about 9:00am - 3:00am, with maybe a short nap in the afternoon (though I didn't take one at all last week). But the hours are worth it and there is no better "lab" experience for Christian students in sharing their faith and prayer. The week is spent serving a free pancakes and giving van rides to the 50,000 or so college students who go to Panama City Beach, FL for Spring Break. As we serve, we also look for opportunities to engage them in conversation and help them take a step closer to Christ. The week helps all of us be better prepared to articulate our faith and the reasons behind it and to be more proactive in bringing spiritual issues to the forefront.

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Though Major League Baseball seems to be doing its best to disguise it by sending the Red Sox and A's to Japan last week for two games and playing one game tomorrow, the real opening day
of the baseball season is Monday. I appreciated WTBS' effort this week to get us in the mood by showing baseball movies all week. The first four were all good choices: The Rookie, A League of Their Own, Bull Durham, and Field of Dreams. But then they stuck in Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Just because they go to a Cub's game doesn't make it a baseball movie! There are so many better choices: The Natural, The Sandlot, Major League, etc.

So the question is: What is your favorite baseball movie?

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This week I entered the world of microfinance. If you aren't familiar with that term, you need to be. It is (in simple terms) loaning money to individuals in developing countries to help them start their own businesses. The goal is to help them develop economic independence. This week I loaned $25 to a man in Togo to start a bookbinding business. He needed $750 and I loaned him the last $25. I did it through Kiva. It is a pretty sweet deal and a great way to make a difference in another part of the world. You can loan as little as $25. For more info, check out Kiva's website.

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Lastly, I wanted to share this video clip with you that I first saw on my friend Mark Nelson's blog. I've never heard a sermon quite like it, nor one over the text he uses. Hopefully there aren't too many preachers around like this.