• Christmas shopping made easy

If you don’t want to be at the mall at 5 am “Black Friday,” visit the JamesWatkins.Commissary for my latest books, T-shirts, totes and coasters. All proceeds go to XarisCom: Communicating Grace. (And you won’t have to fight the mob at the mall!)
And visit the all new, tenth annual Twelve Sites of Christmas with Ho! [...]

• Indian massacre extends beyond Mumbai

Indian school children mourn deaths in Mumbai terrorist attacks (Reuters)
Today, while Americans celebrate the Pilgrims sitting down with American Indians on the first Thanksgiving, Indians in Mumbai are mourning over 100 deaths, 300 injuries and numerous hostages in Wednesday’s terrorist attacks. The Associated Press reports terrorists targeted ten locations tied to India’s financial district [...]

• Get The Cure

My friend, Dennis Hensley, and I wrote the devos for The Cure, the American Bible Society’s Contemporary English Version of the Bible for students.
The 52 full-color devotionals tackle current issues that teens are facing in today’s world. It includes the Old Testament and New Testament as well as 12 introductory pages on why the Bible [...]

• Top ten reasons to give thanks

Did you know that if Benjamin Franklin had gotten his way, the proud symbol of the United States would have been the turkey? Yep! You can read more at my turkey trivia page.
And did you know, that despite the extreme economic times around the world, if you’re reading this, you have at least [...]

• World copping Christian vocab

So, what kind of “disciple” is this sultry-looking woman wanting to make you? Turns out it’s a come-on for an online bar where you can, and I quote, “Get someone drunk by buying them a virtual Corona or shot of whiskey.”
Is that even possible?! (What’s the cure for a virtual hangover?) And, most of [...]

• ‘Random rant Friday’

God holds news conference (Sistine Chapel photo)
God angrily clarifies ‘don’t kill’ rule
From TheOnion.com
“NEW YORK—Responding to recent events on Earth, God, the omniscient creator-deity worshipped by billions of followers of various faiths for more than 6,000 years, angrily clarified His longtime stance against humans killing each other Monday.
“‘Look, I don’t know, maybe I haven’t made [...]

• Waiting

I just finished a week of devos for the Upper Room’s 2010 Disciplines book. Here’s a sample of what I wrote:
Read Psalm 4
Waiting is hard work!
Sitting in a “waiting” room mindlessly thumbing through old magazines as you wait for the nurse to call out the name of your sick child. The numbness of waiting for [...]

• Ten benefits of a recession

Michael Hyatt is the CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers, and his From Where I Sit blog always has something of interest to writers—and normal people. I especially appreciated his Ten Benefits of a Recession:
1. It causes you to get more creative.
2. It forces you to make the tough decisions.
3. It thins out the [...]

• Gays against polygamy?

So much for tolerance! I think the gay rights movement is beginning to figure out that straights are worried if same-sex marriage is legalized, then other non-traditional marriage groups will be in line for their rights as well. It seems to me, a bit hypocritical that gays are demanding their rights for non-traditional marriage but—at [...]

• ‘Random Rant Friday’

I’m up to my mustache in a deadline, but I’m taking a quick break for a few rants on . . .
Connecticut connects same-sex couples
On October 10, the Supreme Court of Connecticut ruled same-sex unions legal. This week, a lower court finalized the decision and gay couples began marrying. After California voters banned same-sex unions, [...]