Back in January, President-elect Barack Obama invited the Rev. Rick Warren to give the invocation at his inauguration. Those on both sides of the political spectrum took notice. Conservative evangelicals, most of whom did not vote for Obama, didn’t criticize him, so much as they did Warren, for accepting the invitation. Outrage from the homosexual-activist community, most of whom did vote for Obama, criticized the invitation, because Warren had actively campaigned for traditional marriage during California’s Proposition 8 campaign. And, of course, atheist Michael Newdow has organized a group of 11 atheist and humanist groups to file suit against the […]

If you are a parent, January isn’t really the beginning of your child’s year. It’s halftime. Your family year begins in August, as the children start school and all their other activities. The question is this: What do you do with halftime? What do coaches do with halftime? Do they take the players into the locker room and celebrate that they are almost over with the game? Do they just relax before going back on the field? No! Leaders of the team make adjustments, and that’s exactly what the first weeks in January are for, making the necessary evaluations and […]

Growing up, many of us create an image of what our lives will be like when we are older. We imagine the type of career we will have, who our spouse will be, what hobbies we will pursue, etc. We have dreams, and we set future goals to achieve them. If we haven’t become believers in Christ when we are setting up our plans for the future, we haven’t yet realized that no matter what dreams and goals we have for ourselves, God ultimately has the perfect plan for our lives. When we turn our lives over to God, and […]

As I grow older, the years seem to go by faster. I’m still in disbelief that 2010 is here already! Each year, as Christmas ends, I know I will soon be in the midst of hearing scores of New Year’s resolutions from friends, families, and even myself. As we each replay the past year in our minds, we pull out certain events or memories that spring from a desire to change something about our lives or ourselves. We look forward to the new year, because it gives us an opportunity to wipe our slate clean and start fresh. It instills […]

As we put away the Christmas decorations and head into the New Year, we should remember that this is a great time to renew our commitment to the wise management of the resources that God has entrusted to us.  As caretaker of God’s resources on this earth, “it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful” (I Corinthians 4:2).  Even though you ultimately are looking to God to make the achievement of your goals possible, He expects you to make reasonable plans.  Take a look at the seven suggestions below and consider their role in […]

Following weeks of criticism from the homosexual community, the Obama Justice Department filed a legal brief in September arguing that children do not necessarily need a mother and a father and that same-sex households are equivalent to traditional households for child-rearing. The legal brief, perhaps ironically, was filed in defense of the federal Defense of Marriage Act, although the brief made clear that the administration believes the 1996 law is “discriminatory” and it “supports its repeal.” DOMA, as it is often called, gives states the option of banning “gay marriage” and prevents the federal government from recognizing such relationships. It’s […]

I hurt my back while rock climbing recently. Hey, I really wish I could say that I hurt it while lifting an injured elderly lady to safety. But, no, I hurt my back while rock climbing. My exuberance eclipsed common sense: I tried too hard with my own strength levels (and only made it half-way up the advanced climb). It taught me a lesson: In my own strength, I fail and hurt. I may take ibuprofen, but only rest and treatment offer the answer to the pain problem. That reminds me of life. We feel pain and try painkillers instead […]

Hope can truly begin with one person. Sometimes though, we might stand on the sidelines during certain situations because we may think to ourselves, “What impact can I make as a single person?” The truth is, by stepping out in faith, the impact that one person can have on the life of another can be indescribable. One Heart Bringing Hope Tricia Heng, of Pembroke Pines, knows firsthand the difference that the helping hand of a stranger can make. Years ago, when Tricia was a divorced mother, she continuously found herself in situations where she couldn’t make ends meet. She described […]

Someone once said that statisticians are the worst form of liars. In fact, that someone said it in a way much too colorful for a family publication! Nonetheless, demographics and surveys sometimes give us a glimpse into the life of the body politic, and 2009 provided no shortage of such glimpses. Here are a few of them: Paint It BlackAs part of Black History Month, the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion and Public Life released a new analysis that paints a detailed religious portrait of African-Americans. The analysis finds that African-Americans are markedly more religious than the U.S. population […]