Love Without Agenda » Culture

Happy Holidays from Spencer

Jimmy Spencer Jr. — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 22:02:09 +0000

LWA FoodShares: People Changing Their Neighborhoods

Jimmy Spencer Jr. — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 19:03:35 +0000

Things change when neighborhoods work together to feed one another. It galvanizes everyones dignity and humanity.

Sometimes programs that ‘help’ people while feeding their belly’s strip their dignity. I’m happy our FoodShares encourage not just taking food but building community thru sharing food resources LWA connects them with. I’ve witnessed the personal transformation of men, women and children who were once skeptical, stand-offish and disenfranchised…become community stalwarts inspiring those around them.

Our FoodShare strategy is simple.Connect people willing to work to feed their neighborhood with socially responsible grocery stores who want to partner with Love Without Agenda.

Here is how it works. Stores like Trader Joe’s donate unsellable goods to Love Without Agenda. LWA partners with community houses, social responsible organizations, local innovators and good hearted churches. Each partner is assigned a day, store and pick-up schedule. LWA Read more...

About Rob Bell and the importance of asking questions.

Jimmy Spencer Jr. — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 00:47:14 +0000

When we as people fear people asking questions we have lost something very deeply human. Let’s learn to respect questions and strive to respectfully disagree and work together to act like Jesus. Let us be a part of the solution—not a part of the problem. Lets practice loving others who disagree with us theologically without agenda.

“> Read more...

Sometimes real needs are silent, when love looks like a vacuum

Lisa O'Brien-Wentzel — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 03:32:35 +0000

Sometimes.. The way we organize and systematize “Love”, usually in the form of primary care, is not bad, but seems to cause people to go on some sort of “care auto pilot”, and weaken our muscles of empathy and compassion. Sometimes when we think “help” we think of people in certain organizational categories “homeless”, “needy child”, “elderly”. Of course this is true, helping orphans, widows and the like, is good. But it seems that it can become hard to REALLY listen, to someone outside of the “weak box” who is REALLY hurting, and not just send them off to the ‘Democratic Dept of people who help you with our tax dollars’. Because we may get THAT feeling too. The one that cares. The Read more...

A Disney-ABC executive’s Love without agenda

Lisa O'Brien-Wentzel — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 01:03:35 +0000

It was hot, loud and crowded at Cornerstone Festival in Illinois. Young artists lined the streets to play loud but purposeful and passionate music, hardcore stuff. A lot of black clothing, a lot of tatoos and piercings, a lot of life wanting to burst forth. I love young people. The LWA kids were painting on second run t-shirts the word “Stop Consuming..”, when we met “Mama Dawn” A rocker herself, she was in a band called Crumbacher as a young adult. Now a single mom of teens and a Senior Management executive at Disney-ABC in California using her musical talents. The kids that hover around her call her Mama Dawn, she appears to have 20 or so kids. In listening to her amazing story, we found that she got her name Mama Dawn by sharing her “free Read more...

4 Men and a House

Lisa O'Brien-Wentzel — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 06:35:32 +0000

I am super lucky enough to know some great men, very great men, the kind of men that women dream of being around, the kind of men that they think are never to be found. They live with profound purpose and values, they get crap done, they are conquers for good, smashing the bad stuff all around. They protect, they model, they sacrifice, they are patient and disciplined. They are true, passionate and yet faithful. They don’t throw away money and come home drunk, they engage with all people in real ways. They do not lay around on couches with their hands in their pants, they work hard, for others. They do not wear khaki pants and fear making changes and confrontations in life, they are strong in the right way. They are generous. They are not perfect. They do not cover Read more...

One Woman’s Love Without Agenda

Lisa O'Brien-Wentzel — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 00:28:16 +0000

She is up at 5 am every morning. First, to take care of a few pets, her paying job. Then, to take care of her family. Finally, to take care of people around her in need of a little help. She wants no pay, no prize, no pictures, no converts, no business connections. Liz is part of the food redistribution process. This is what that looks like: 7am every Friday freezing rain 100 degrees pick up truck strong arms the food and the people wait Using her husbands pick up truck, off we go to Trader Joes. Outside, 20 heavy garbage bags await. They are filled with unsaleable food, still healthy but not fully fresh. Huge bags of over ripe bananas, too much weight for the bag to carry, almost too much weight for our arms to pick up. Sometimes, we knock over the grocery cart to Read more...

Valentine’s Without Agenda (at Starbucks)

Lisa O'Brien-Wentzel — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 18:16:26 +0000

I was in Starbucks talking with Katie, the barista and my friend. She was the “drink maker girl”, an outstanding one at that. An upbeat and chatty quadriplegic customer in a wheel chair came in and ordered some specially pressed iced coffee, with just the right kind of milk, and the right kind of syrup and the right amount of ice. He asked Katie lots of questions about the drink and the syrups as she was creating this special drink for him. Katie gracefully managed to care for his drink while she cared for a few other customers all at the same time. When Katie came around from the counter to had the man his drink, he requested that she give him a sip to try. He requested a tad more syrup, and then another sip, or two. Back around the counter and back out front she Read more...

Daily valentines without agenda

Lisa O'Brien-Wentzel — Sat, 15 Jan 2011 01:19:25 +0000

In a month it will be Valentine’s Day, the heart candies and dog biscuits are already at The Home Depot checkout. Inside of me and you, and everybody, even grouches and hard hearts, there is something just as sweet and love-evoking as candy. I would like for us to share it here on the Love Without Agenda blog. This ‘sweet stuff’ we humans have is a mixture of inspiration, innovation, collaboration, sacrifice and hope. These are energies that all humans and only humans are born with. Sharing them guarantees that we can keep them, while the adversaries of life seek to take them from us. Everyday I will post a ‘Love Without Agenda’ action, or valentine. I invite you to post your valentine as comment for others to see, some of these we will repost or Read more...

Jimmy Spencer Jr. @ Judson University

Jimmy Spencer Jr. — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 18:28:06 +0000

I was fortunate enough to get to speak to the students at Judson University a private Christian school outside of Chicago during one of their weekly chapel services. It was great to get to connect with the students and to talk with them afterwards—very life-giving and encouraging for the future. You can listen to the audio from the service below, and check out some shots my buddy Brad shot from around the chapel. Hope that you enjoy it (and it makes you think some too).

Read more...