The bank sent me an overdraft notice on the checking account of one of my daughters. I encourage my college-age girls to monitor their accounts. Even so, they sometimes overspend.

What should I do? Send her an angry letter? Admonition might help her later, but it won't satisfy the bank. Phone and tell her to make a deposit? Might as well tell a fish to fly. I know her liquidity. Zero. Transfer the ...

During one memorable at-bat the spring of my son's first baseball season, he repeatedly hit the tee instead of the ball. And it was obvious what the problem was. He wasn't keeping his eye on the ball; he was looking right at me instead. He was unable to get a base hit until finally I stepped out of sight.

We joked about that the rest of the season, but what the incident shows is the power of fatherly ...

Editor's note: Though you might not be persuaded by the information below, it still has great illustrative potential. D'Souza's article might provide an intriguing way into a sermon that deals with why God allows bad things to happen. It might be something you want to contend with or elevate as a possibility. It might be a way to raise several other questions about why bad things happen. Or, taking ...

Most of us would agree that singing worship songs in our gatherings is important. But do we realize just how important those songs are to our growth as believers? In a New York Times article entitled "In One Ear and Out the Other," Natalie Angier examines the limited power of human memory. She points out that while we can't quite seem to remember the birthday of a loved one, we can't quite forget ...

A couple of hunters are out in the woods of New Jersey when one of them falls to the ground. He doesn't seem to be breathing; his eyes are rolled back in his head. Terrified, his friend whips out his cell phone and calls the emergency services.

"My friend is dead! What can I do?" he cries over the phone.

In a calm, soothing voice, the operator says, "Just take it easy. I can help. First, let's make ...

Rocky Balboa is the final film in the "Rocky" series. An aging Rocky is inspired to fight his last match against the undefeated heavyweight champion. Many people, including his son, believe Rocky will be humiliated.

In this scene, Rocky and his adult son are standing outside Rocky's restaurant. His son is upset because Rocky has decided to fight again. He tells Rocky, "Now, I'm asking you, as a favor, ...

A woman in our church presented the children's sermon one February Sunday, telling the kids about Valentine's Day and how we use it to honor the people we love. At the end of the sermon, she handed out a blank Valentine card to each child with the instruction, "Give the card to your parents—or to someone you like."

When it came to building the tunnel under the English Channel connecting England with France (later called the "Chunnel"), the French had the perfect word for it: bicephele, two-headed. There were two mammoth firms built from scratch to complete the project: one charged with finance and operation, the other responsible for building it. Each of these companies was also two-headed: equally French and ...

Frederica Mathewes-Green says this about repentance:

The first time Jesus appears, in the first Gospel, the first instruction he gives is "Repent."

From then on, it's his most consistent message. In all times and every situation, his advice is to repent. Not just the scribes and Pharisees, not just the powerful—he tells even the poor and oppressed that repentance is the key to eternal life.

Calos Chereza tried to hire a hitman and got caught. The "killer" Chereza hired turned out to be an undercover detective.

Sadly, Chereza is only 17-years old. Sadder still, the person he wanted killed was his own mother. A domestic disagreement prompted the teen to ask around for someone willing to shoot his mother and make it look like a robbery. The detective volunteered and was promised $2,000 out ...