Talk about an embarrassing moment in front of lots of people. At the Inauguration Ceremony for new President Barack Obama on January 20, 2009, Supreme Court chief justice John Roberts stood wearing his black robe on the high podium in front of the Capital before over a million people in the Washington Mall and multiplied millions on television. Facing him stood Barack and Michelle Obama. Obama placed ...

Gordon McDonald, at the passing of a lifelong mentor, recalled his loyalty and the crucial counsel he gave in a crisis:

He was there when, many years later, my life fell apart because of a failure for which I was totally responsible. In our worst moments of shame and humiliation, he came and lived in our home for a week and helped us do a searing examination of our lives. We will always remember his ...

On May 17, 2008, Christian recording artist Steven Curtis Chapman and his family suffered a devastating loss. Five-year-old adopted daughter, Maria, was struck and killed when Chapman's seventeen-year-old son was backing his SUV out of the family's driveway. After much prayer and counsel, Chapman recently returned to touring in promotion for his newest album. Elizabeth Diffin, a freelance reporter, ...

I discovered the importance of healthy counsel in a half-Ironman triathlon. After the 1.2 mile swim and the 56 mile bike ride, I didn't have much energy left for the 13.1 mile run. Neither did the fellow jogging next to me. I asked him how he was doing and soon regretted posing the question.

"This stinks. This race is the dumbest decision I've ever made." He had more complaints than a taxpayer at the ...

Dead Man Walking is based on a true story about Sister Helen Prejean (played by Susan Sarandon), a nun who agrees to offer spiritual counsel to Matthew Poncelet, a man on death row. This angers Mr. and Mrs. Percy, the parents of the teenage girl Poncelet murdered, as they can't understand how she could sympathize with someone who committed such a savage act.

In one scene, Sister Helen is sitting with ...

In Change Your Church for the Good, author and pastor Brad Powell tells a story that serves as his constant reminder that the church is the hope of the world.

It was five days before Christmas. A couple of hardened criminals had staked out several jewelry stores in our area. They were looking for the big score. When they finally selected their target, they went to work. Pretending to have a delivery, ...

Chiropractor Perry Hefty and his wife, Arlys, wanted to be in what they considered "ministry" for many years. One day when Perry was crying out to God about this deep desire, he heard God speak: "Begin with what you have."

So instead of getting the $2.5 million he would have needed to start a healthcare ministry and retreat center for missionaries, pastors, and other full-time Christian workers, Perry ...

It was our first financial mistake, and it was a big one. After my wife and I said "I do" in June of 2003, we found ourselves in possession of a sizeable chunk of money (sizeable to us, anyway). We viewed this money as part of an eventual down payment on our future house, and so we knew what we had to do with it: invest.

Unfortunately, at the time, the stock market was still languishing in the middle ...

How to Make an American Quilt is the story of Finn (Winona Ryder), a young engaged woman who spends the summer with her grandmother (Anne Bancroft) and her grandmother's four friends. Finn works on her thesis as her grandmother and cohorts work on a quilt that symbolizes their life experiences. When Finn periodically joins the group, the women share the heartbreaks and ecstasy of their past romantic ...

In Spanglish, Deborah Clasky (Tea Leoni) is the neurotic wife of John Clasky (Adam Sandler), a simple and carefree man who has become a highly acclaimed chef. Deborah is self-absorbed and small-minded, a control freak who blames everyone but herself for her problems. Her selfish patterns have led her into an affair. Evelyn (Cloris Leachman), Deborah’s mother, decides to step in.

Late one evening as ...