Fewer things influence our children more than the people they hang out with, their friends. Friendships have a powerful impact. Kids want to go where their friends want to go, do what their friends do, and think the way their friends think. Knowing the impact friends have on our children, you would think parents would want to be more proactive in the “friend selection process.” I can hear a parent groaning, “I’d love to help select who my kids befriend; but where do I begin? My kids are so private about their friends.” Friendships are environmental. Whether it is physical […]

Walter L. Shaw died, at 10:30 in the morning, on July 21, 1996. Sadly, only 28 people showed up to the funeral for a man whose forward thinking mentality, combined with sheer brilliance, originality and talent, created innovations that many of us use on a daily basis. You might be asking yourself, “Who is Walter L. Shaw?” Upon learning the truth behind this man’s story, you will be asking yourself, “Why isn’t this man receiving the honor and credit that he so justly deserves?” Born in 1917, Walter L. Shaw was a man gifted with many talents. Shaw holds the […]

A conservative group that monitors the Culture industry is applauding Apple’s CEO Steve Jobs for his pledge to keep porn applications off the iPhone. So-called “apps,” or programs, are wildly popular and can be downloaded through Apple’s iTunes store. There’s an application for nearly everything – including News, sports, maps and restaurants – but Jobs says the store won’t offer porn. Approximately 5,000 sexually explicit applications were removed from the store early this year after the conservative Parents Television Council (PTC), urged citizens to complain to Apple. The PTC noted that children often browse the store looking for games.  Apple’s […]

Arizona first to officially opt out of abortion coverage in health care EP News – Gov. Jan Brewer signed a bill into law in April making Arizona the first state to opt out of the federal health care abortion mandate. The Legislature had already been working on language to keep abortion funding out of state plans. Cathi Herrod, president of the Center for Arizona Policy, said lawmakers took that language and tailored it to apply to the federal mandate. “Once Obamacare passed,” she said, “we were able to get an amendment on the bill that opts Arizona out of abortion […]

  Pennsylvania, Kentucky and Arkansas each held primaries May 18.  The results were surprising and may indicate what could happen in the November elections. In Pennsylvania, long-time Sen.  Arlen Specter was defeated by Joe Sestak.    Specter left the Republican Party a year ago to become a Democrat, but the move may have backfired.  Sestak won the primary, and Specter gave maybe the shortest concession speech in history.  “It’s been a great privilege to serve the people of Pennsylvania,” Specter said.  Michael Geer with the Pennsylvania Family Institute says President Obama helped convince Specter to switch parties and Democratic leaders […]

Can you name 10 high school students in your local church? OK, five if your congregation is small. Go ahead; write down their names and picture them in your mind. Soon they will leave the nest to enter college or the work world. In the process, a significant number of them will drop out of church. Some will never return. Why? Life experts say there are many reasons, but they all point to deficiencies in the discipleship process of many churches. Specifically, churches are 1) failing to teach the Bible as historic and propositional truth and 2) neglecting to teach […]

One summer evening, I was driving towards my small hometown on a quiet stretch of Texas highway. Just ahead of me in the next lane, traveling about 65 miles an hour, was a big yellow school bus. Suddenly, with no warning, both tires came off its left rear axle and one hurtled toward me Having no time to swerve or slow down, I ran over the top of it and literally went airborne. When my car landed, all four fenders were crunched and the front and back windshields were cracked. Although I was able to pull the car to a […]

A San Diego math teacher was forced to remove two posters from his classroom walls because they included the phrases “In God We Trust,” “One Nation Under God” and “God Bless America.” A federal judge said the Poway Unified School District was wrong to order the removal of the posters, and now the school district is appealing the judge’s decision to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Brad Johnson, who has been an educator for 32 years, told Baptist Press he began hanging motivational posters in his classroom early in his career.  As he stood with his students to recite […]