FATHER’S DAY In the Disney/Pixar animated feature Finding Nemo, Nemo is a little clownfish who is in big trouble. In an act of rebellion against his father, Nemo defiantly swam away from the safety of the oceanic reef where he lived to touch a boat anchored in the open ocean. Before he can return to…

Many studies have shown the benefits for those growing up in good strong families. Two Australian philosophers have a somewhat different take on good families. They believe that happy families contribute to social inequality. When children grow up in a loving family it gives them an unfair advantage.…

INFLUENCE In their book, "Lead Like Jesus", Blanchard and Hodges write, "Leadership is a process of influence. Anytime you seek to influence the thinking, behavior, or development of people toward accomplishing a goal in their personal or professional lives, you are taking on the role of a leader." —"Lead…

Minnesota teenager Erica Clark found $2800.00 in a McDonald’s parking lot in an envelope filled with $100.00 bills. She immediately called her Dad, who asked her to come home so they could turn the money into the police.—Jim L. Wilson http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUWkkU0V2o4 Proverbs 2:20-21 (NLT)…

YOUTH You could probably convince a jury to convict me of being prejudiced about this, but I think the youth of our church are the finest you'll find anywhere. They aren't the church of tomorrow, they are the church of today! I love the way they participate in the ministry of our church. From serving…

MOTHERS None of us could put a value on what our mother has taught us or for the nurture that she's provided for us. But Salary.com recently rated her monetary worth based upon the top ten jobs in a stay-a-home-Mom's job description. They valued her contribution to the family to be $134,121.00 annually.…

SEX Crystal Michelle, a 10th grader has some answers for boys who try to pressure her, if a boy says to her: "Real men are sexually active." She will say, "So is my REAL dog." If he says, "If you loved me, you'd let me." She'll say, "If you loved me, you wouldn't ask." He says, "But I want to." She'll…

Think of your dear little one at home. He cannot yet read a letter in a book; he knows nothing of the things that his elder brother studies; but he knows his father. He may not know very much about his father; he could not certainly speak to others about his father’s business or his father’s wealth,…

Baby Hazel Grace was born at just the right minute on the right day to create a very special combination for her birthday. Hazel was born at 11 minutes past ten AM on December 13, 2014. The result is a unique numerical progression for her birth, 10:11 121314. Her parents Leisha and Shawn said they knew…

Sharon Standifird served her country in the Gulf War, climbed mountains, and took care of her family, yet she found she didn’t get the respect she deserved from her children. When she would try to call them on their cell phones, her children choose to “Ignore” her calls. Rather than getting mad, Standifird…

EMPTY NEST David Beardsley, describes the empty nest years this way, "After two decades of screen doors banging, parent-teacher conferences, wet towels on the bathroom floor, and evenings at the ballfield, your time is your own again. And the house is so quiet." —The Brookline Tab, 9-16-97 Illustration…

Michelle Wilkins, a 26-year-old Colorado woman answered a Craigslist ad for baby clothes. When she arrived she was attacked by a woman who cut her seven-month fetus from her womb. The mother survived the attack, but the baby did not. The suspect faces eight felony charges, including unlawful termination…

One of the difficulties children with autism can have is an inability to make friends. They have problems with the rules of social contact. One young autistic boy, Gus, the son of New York Times reporter Judith Newman, has discovered a friend. This friend is always patient and kind. She never tires of…

Children are very apt to get into the mire. Most mothers will tell you, I think, that if there is a pool of mud anywhere within a mile, her firstborn joy and comfort will find it and get into it if he possibly can. No matter how often a child is washed he seems always to need washing again: if there…

While Ronald Reagan was president, a thirteen year-old boy sent him a letter requesting disaster relief funds because his mother asked him to clean his room. Recently, an Internet blogger rediscovered the letter and reposted it. In the original request, seventh grader Andy Smith from South Carolina wrote,…

Helping Students 'Get It' In last month's article, I argued that a major project for those of us who work with students is to help them "get" Christianity. While a significant number of Christian students reject Christianity during their university years, far more struggle to embrace a faith that is…

\\ Posted on Aug 7, 2007 | by Mark Kelly NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--Parents and churches together can help their teenagers decide to stay in church as young adults, new research from LifeWay Christian Resources indicates. Despite appearances, teens do want guidance when it comes to the decisions they face…

You who are parents know that you do not make your children offenders for a word. When they first learn to talk to you, they pronounce their words very imperfectly, and make many blunders. They break all the rules of grammar, and their prattle is often so indistinct that strangers who come to your house…

Cathy Sadler received a surprise parcel from Miss Twyford, her former teacher—a photocopy of a Mother’s Day card that Sadler’s entire class had signed and given to her on Mother’s Day in 1958. After seeing the card, Sadler said she never realized how much she and her classmates had encouraged their teacher.…

Russell Moore and his wife adopted two sons from Russia and when the legal process was finally over and they went to pick them up from the orphanage the transition proved to be harder than they had expected. Their new sons had never been outside. They had never even ridden in a car. As they pulled away…

Every year Americans take time to honor mothers with nice meals, cards, and phones calls home. While they are honoring their mothers, few people realize how much they really owe their moms. Though not all the figures are exact, the total is surprisingly large, especially for the millennial generation.…

Suppose one of you had a boy who said, “Father, I do not like my home. I do not care for you, and I will not endure the restraints of family rule; I am going to live with strangers. But father, I shall come to you every week, and I shall require many things of you, and I shall expect that you will give…

China has created a problem. For years they had a one-child policy and as a result prospective parents aborted their child when they found out it was a girl. Now they have a shortage of women that rises to the level of a crisis. Zhejiang University economics professor Xie Zuoshi has a possible solution.…

ABSOLUTE TRUTH According to the Barna Research Group,” only 9% of born again teens believe in moral absolutes and just 4% of the non-born again teens believe that there are moral absolutes.” —http://www.barna.org/cgi-bin/PageCategory.asp?CategoryID=37 Illustration by Jim L. Wilson John 14:6 NASB “Jesus…

I was noticing, in the life of that man of God the Earl of Shaftesbury, that his first religious impressions were produced by a humble woman. The impressions that made him Shaftesbury—the man of God and the friend of man—were received in the nursery. Little Lord Ashley had a godly nurse who spoke to…