“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.

Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” John 15:12-13 (ESV)

Once more Jesus emphasizes His command, “love one another.” Yet this time he qualifies the command: “…love as I have loved you.” Jesus does not love us with a warm fuzzy love (like the lint you might find in your pocket just out of the dryer). No, Jesus loves with actions. Jesus loves sacrificially. True love, as Jesus loves, considers the well-being of the object of that love first and foremost. Jesus displayed this greatest love by laying down his life for us, to cover our sins. Jesus...

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser…. I am the vine, you are the branches.” John 15:1, 5 (ESV)

In the book of John, Jesus makes a series of “I AM” statements, implying that He is the Great I AM who spoke to Moses at the burning bush. In the Old Testament, YHWH (or Yahweh) is often used with another descriptive word to provide us with greater understanding of the nature of God. Here, Jesus is using an agricultural illustration to point out that he is the TRUE source of Life, particularly eternal life. Every Israelite would have been familiar with vineyards and the awareness that grape vines required the attention of pruning.

Throughout John 15:1-11, Jesus...

ALBUQUERQUE—President Russell Begaye and Vice President Jonathan Nez opened the annual Navajo Nation Division of Social Services conference July 10, with back-to-back keynote speeches that highlighted recent successes and encouraged division employees to magnify Diné cultural teachings.

About one-third of the more than 500 employees in the division’s eight programs attended the 2018 conference, which runs through Thursday at Sandia Resort and Casino. The conference includes workshops addressing some of the most critical issues facing the Navajo Nation: alcohol and drug abuse, sexual assault, human trafficking, suicide, domestic violence and cyberbullying.

Guest speakers and...

Employers who provide a space where employees can express and store milk or breastfeed a baby quickly realize the benefits of doing so.

According to the New Mexico Breastfeeding Task Force, employers who comply with state and federal laws requiring them to provide a clean and private space for lactating mothers and to offer flexible break time so mothers can breastfeed or pump milk experience less absenteeism, lower health care costs and turnover rates, higher productivity and employee loyalty and positive community perception.

In other words, businesses that support breastfeeding employees are improving their own competitiveness and profitability.

“Absences due to infant illness...