Familiar TV stars once again will be streaming into dens in new fall series

"The Summer TV Tour has begun, and I'm in Hollywood blogging, Tweeting and occasionally typing whole newspaper columns about the 100-plus interview sessions that will fill the next several days as critics from around the country gather to learn what the broadcast and cable networks have planned for fall."

Click here for more on Dave Walker's look at the upcoming TV season.

Better than a Hallelujah: An Interview with Amy Grant

"I was able to steal away a few minutes of Amy Grant’s busy schedule to ask about her new song, 'Better than a Hallelujah.'

As with any interview, I did plenty of preparation and research about her music and her life. But I was surprised that she began by asking me about the song, as it relates to my personal experience with suffering."

To read the interview, click here.

Amazing Voice: 7-Year-Old Gospel Singer Belts Whitney And Celine Songs

"We hope Jennifer Aniston doesn't get jealous, but there's a new, younger woman in Gerard Butler's life, and she can sing, too.

Earlier this month, Rhema Marvanne, a 7-year-old gospel singer from Carrollton, Texas, taped a scene in Butler's new film Machine Gun Preacher. In the movie Butler plays a drug dealer-turned-crusader on a mission to save kids."

Click here for more on this amazing little girl.

Signature in the Cell: Information and Intelligence

"In recent years, there have been several important books about intelligent design that go to the debate about evolution and the origins of life. Bill Dembski’s The Design Inference was first. Then along came Darwin’s Black Box by Michael Behe, showing the irreducible complexity of the cell, which casts grave doubts on Darwinian evolution as an explanation for life and higher life forms."

For more of Chuck Colson's commentary, click here.

From Seedlings to Servings: 11-Year-Old Grows Tons of Veggies for the Homeless

"When third-grader Katie Stagliano inadvertently grew a 40-pound cabbage in her back yard, she decided to donate it to a local soup kitchen — feeding 275 homeless people in the process. Three years later, the inspired 11-year-old has grown more than 4,000 pounds of veggies for the needy."

To read more about this remarkable young lady, click here.

Door County, Wisconsin: Lighthouses, Cherries and More

"With its abundance of cherries and lighthouses and fish boils, Door County, Wis., is a veritable treasure trove for vacationers.

Home to 10 historic lighthouses, five state parks, 30-plus islands and more than 300 miles of shoreline, Door County is a 75-mile-long peninsula that offers something for just about everyone, from outdoor sports and cultural events to shopping and fine dining."

Click here to read more about this amazing getaway destination.

Secret sharers: How Leonard Nimoy photographed people's hidden identities

"Revealing your most personal dreams and hidden wounds can be scary, even with a loved one. Imagine revealing them to Leonard Nimoy."

To read more about Nimoy's photographic journey, click here.

Hospice patient savors chance to cook four-course meal

"Scott Crane weighed only 70 pounds last November because of complications from a rare form of muscular dystrophy. But what really bothered him was that he had lost his greatest passion — his appetite.

So when a hospice social worker asked the young man how she could help him — he'd already ruled out music therapy and a visit from the rabbi — he responded, weakly, 'Food therapy?'"

Click here for more on Scott's story.

'Tools for Better Hearing on your Cell Phone and in the Workplace'

"Brad Dodson, National Sales and Training Manager of ClearSounds Communications Inc., will lead a free webinar on behalf of the Hearing Loss Association of America. The session is scheduled for August 19, 2010 at 4:00 p.m. EDT.

Use the link on the HLAA website on August 19 to join the session."

Click here for more information on the upcoming free webinar.

'Oil-spill ambassadors' may offer clues for future rescues

"Not long ago, five American white pelicans were 'sitting ducks.'

Now they have become 'ambassadors of the oil spill,' said Tim Snyder, bird and reptile curator for Illinois' Brookfield Zoo."


For more on these feathered representatives, click here.

Warfare Rule #1: Knowing and Naming the Enemy

"Every general knows that the first rule of warfare is, 'Know your enemy.' And knowing your enemy demands that you name your enemy."

Click here for more on Chuck Colson's commentary.

Texas teen raises $1 million for hospital

"Ben Sater had vowed that before he went off to college, he would raise $1 million for the Dallas children's hospital where he had received free treatments as a child.

After eight years' worth of fundraising golf tournaments for kids, the soon-to-be Austin College freshman has reached the goal, with nearly $19,000 to spare."


To learn more about this terrific teen, click here.

Flu shot in the mail? Microneedles may make that possible, or just buy it at a drug store

"One day your annual flu shot could come in the mail.

At least that's the hope of researchers developing a new method of vaccine delivery that people could even use at home: a patch with microneedles."


Click here to read how this new development may make flu shots quick, convenient and painless in the near future.

Making it OK to sleep late

"The revolution at the Bethesda Home and Retirement Center began with sleeping in.

Letting people sleep late may not sound subversive. But in the traditional world of nursing homes, which for decades have been run like highly regimented mini-hospitals, it is a radical change."

For more on this revolution in long-term care, click here.

Wedding Thoughts

"June 21. It hardly seems possible. It has been nearly 39 years since I met the beautiful woman who would become my wife.

We were both 'juniors' at the time: I, a third year college student; Joanne, a third year high school student. But by the time that I realized I was dating a 16-year old—a 'cradle-robber,' my college buddies would call me—I was hopelessly smitten. We were married two years later, at the tender ages of 22 and 18. This past week we celebrated our anniversary."

Click here for more of Regis Nicoll's celebration and sharing.

Experts work to excavate 32-foot-long ship hull found buried at World Trade Center site

"Workers at the World Trade Center site are excavating a 32-foot-long ship hull that apparently was used in the 18th century as part of the fill that extended lower Manhattan into the Hudson River.

It's hoped the artifact can be retrieved by the end of the day on Thursday, said archaeologist Molly McDonald. A boat specialist was going to the site to take a look at it."

Click here for more on this find.

IL Governor signs deal to ship millions of pounds of Asian carp to China

"Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn hoped to spark a modern-day gold rush for fishermen on the Illinois River by signing an agreement Tuesday to ship as much as 30 million pounds of Asian carp a year to China, where the fish are a delicacy."

Click here for the rest of the story.

Black Friday at the Breakfast Table: DOMA on the Ropes

"Last Friday morning at the breakfast table, I picked up the New York Times--and lost my appetite.

There it was, a front-page headline on the New York Times: 'Judge Topples U. S. Rejection of Gay Unions.' In Boston, Federal Judge Joseph Tauro had ruled that the Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA, 'plainly encroaches' on the right of the state like Massachusetts to define marriage and ensure its benefits."

For the rest of Chuck Colson's commentary, click here.

Book Trends: Christ Among the Dragons

"If evangelical Christians have trumpeted anything throughout history, it has been truth.

Through the heresy-addressing gatherings of the great councils during the patristic era, the ad fontes (back to the sources) cry of the Reformation, the bold proclamation of the gospel during the great awakenings or the gauntlet of revelation thrown down before modernism, truth has been our bulwark."

Click here for more on James Emery Whit's book.

Federal official says Gulf oil leak could be contained Monday using new, tighter-fitting cap

"The BP oil leak could be completely contained as early as Monday if a new, tighter cap can be fitted over the blown-out well, the government official in charge of the crisis said Friday in some of the most encouraging news to come out of the Gulf in the 2½ months since the disaster struck."

Click here for more on this promising development.

US Ironman champion Chris Lieto partners with World Vision to race for a greater cause

"Chris Lieto is the fastest American Ironman and a true icon in the world of tri-athletes. Most recently, Chris won the Kansas and Buffalo Springs 70.3 races.

This year, Chris Lieto has his eyes set on first place at the Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii, but he is racing for more than himself. Through his program More Than Sport, powered by World Vision, Lieto challenges fellow athletes and fans to be ambassadors of positive change in the lives of children in need around the world through child sponsorship."

To read more about Lieto's challenge, click here.

Freedom of Worship: an anorexic description of our rights

"Chuck Colson is sounding the alarm: The government—at the highest levels—may be attempting to redefine the very meaning of religious freedom. If what Secretary of State Hilary Clinton said in a recent speech reflects a new direction in government policy, it seems the aim is clear: To kick faith out of the public square, to send Christians into the closet."

Click here to watch Chuck Colson's commentary.

The Eggsploited: When Two Markets Collide

"Louise Brown was born in the United Kingdom on July 25, 1978, the world’s first test-tube baby, conceived by in vitro fertilization.

Just five years later in Australia, fertility doctors used the first donor egg in an IVF procedure."

Don't take a vacation from exercise

"When summer vacations roll around, folks often leave their exercise routines behind with their cares. But studies show that after 10 to 20 days without exercise, most people begin to display symptoms of detraining on all physical fronts. So it's important to couple your travel with exercise, not only to burn off the extra calories a vacation tends to include but also to retain the hard-won fitness gains you've made to date this year."

Click here for more on why you should take your exercise program along with you on vacation.

What Makes America Different?

"Five decades after America gained independence, French political analyst Alexis de Tocqueville remarked on its exceptional character.

Unlike other nations that were defined by ethnicity, geography, common heritage, social class, or hierarchal structures, America was a nation of immigrants bond together by a shared commitment to the democratic principles of liberty, equality, individualism and laissez faire economics."

Click here for more on the foundations of America's greatness.

Patriotic postcards rich in symbolism and value

"On Sunday, we celebrate our country's birthday — a time for parades and flag-waving, backyard cookouts and the requisite fireworks show. It's also an ideal chance for collectors to pull out their century-old patriotic postcards and put them on display."

For a look at history through the lens of postcards, click here.

Army of 'citizen journalists' create headaches, opportunities for aid world

"The growing army of 'citizen journalists' operating in humanitarian crises who file news with great speed but often with no training present a headache for the aid community but also an opportunity to tell the story from a new angle and potentially save lives, aid workers and reporters said on Friday."

Click here for more on the story of amateur journalists and how they are challenging aid organizations.

Hiding behind the Flag

"See here the bars of red and white,
The field of blue strewn with stars.
But look behind the colored cloth, the simple fabric."


To read more, click here.

Redefining the First Freedom: More Than Worship

"As we celebrate the Fourth of July and the founding of our free nation, be sure to celebrate our freedoms as Americans -- while you still can."

Click here for more on Chuck Colson's commentary.