One of the things he said is “It’s up to me to start living a life of integrity.” That made me wonder, what does integrity look like? Who are the public figures that we (and Tiger too) should try to emulate? As I thought about that, I realized that it was hard to think of many, maybe because they are by nature not the type to be constantly in the spotlight. Living a quiet life of integrity usually doesn’t get featured on the daily news.

Tiger concluded his press conference by saying “I ask you to find room in your heart to one day believe in me again.” This raises the issue of forgiveness.  When a person admits they have engaged in “selfish and irresponsible behavior” and says he wants to change, how does the process of forgiveness work? Is it different when a person is a public figure?

One of the impediments on the path to overcoming the shameful aspects of our lives is that it’s hard to admit that we have done wrong. If you feel you are struggling with “selfish and irresponsible behavior” today, or trying to find forgiveness, please contact an online mentor to talk It’s confidential, free, and you’ll received personal responses from someone familiar with your struggles.

Related reading: Rebuilding Trust – When someone betrays your trust, how can the pieces be put back together?

*Image by Keith Allison used under Creative Commons license

What’s our attraction to scandal?

The headlines proclaim the potential fall of another celebrity. Tiger Woods, who has spent his career sporting a squeaky clean image now is cloaked with scandal.  We all crave love, sex and romance. We see movie stars and politicians fall in love, and believe that beautiful relationships like theirs lie on the horizon for us as well. We crave intimacy and desperately desire meaningful relationships. So, why then are we attracted to scandal? > Read more
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Featured article: Help for growing families: Give Better Gifts this Christmas!

You said it: Ginny commented on Keeping Your Balance at Christmas saying: “As I was reading [the article], I have already decided to remove one of our social events and replace it with drinking some hot chocolate … and talking about the real “Christmas” story around the tree with my husband and kids!” What do you think? Add your own thoughts.

Video: Do you Crave Meaning? (Part 1)
Maybe these cravings for meaning aren’t there by accident. Maybe instead of denying them we should search for their source. > Read more

Holiday Feature: What are your Christmas Expectations?
Somehow we think the perfect Christmas is happening in someone else’s house, not our own. > Read more

Coming up next week: One of the topics of our upcoming online chats is “What does Christmas mean to you?” Join us in the chat room December 13th 2009 @ 12:15pm EST for this chat, and check our full chat calendar for other upcoming topics.

My only appearance on television so far (that I know about, anyways) was in the background audience of a talk show, and that’s quite enough for me. But fame is something that many people covet, and appearing on television is one way to attain some small measure of notoriety.

Lately we’ve seen shows that focus of the most intimate personal details of family life, such as Wife Swap, Trading Spouses, Nanny 911, or The Week the Women Went. We’ve also seen dubious “celebrities” created by mass media, such as Nadya Suleman, the “Octomom”, bearer of 14 children, who became famous merely for her misguided life decisions.

Often we don’t get to see the aftermath of becoming celebrities, the consequences of these families’ 15 minutes of TV fame. But on Jon & Kate Plus 8, we’re witnessing the unfortunate results after they publicly announced their divorce recently. I wonder how often this sort of thing happens after the cameras are off, once these families leave the public eye. Is fame and fortune really worth it? A great man once said “What good will it be for you to gain the whole world, yet forfeit your soul?”

To repeat our initial question: Would you ever put your family on television for the world to see? If so, why, and if not, why not?

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Paris Hilton and what we want
Free online study: Affair-proof your marriage

I am Patrick, a sinner. I am contemptible in the eyes of a great many people. My father was Calpornius, a deacon. He was the son of the presbyter Potitus. He came from the village of Bannavemtaburni where he had a country residence. It was there that I was taken captive.

My captivity

I was almost sixteen at the time and I did not know the true God. I was taken into captivity to Ireland with many thousands of people. We deserved this fate because we had turned away from God. We had not kept his commandments nor obeyed our priests, who had warned us about our salvation.

The Lord’s fury bore down on us and he scattered us among many heathen people, even to the ends of the earth. This is where I now am, in all my insignificance, among strangers.

God’s protection and comfort

The Lord there made me aware of my unbelief that I might at last turn my attention to my sins and turn whole-heartedly to the Lord my God. He showed concern for my weakness and pity for my youth and ignorance. He watched over me before I got to know him and before I was wise or distinguished good from evil. In fact He protected me and comforted me as a father would his son.

I cannot be silent then, nor indeed should I, about the great benefits and grace that the Lord saw fit to confer on me in the land of my capacity. This is the way we praise his wonders before every nation under heaven.

Take a look at your life. How would you describe it? Contented? Rushed? Exciting? Stressful? Moving forward? Holding back? For many of us it’s all of the above at times. There are things we dream of doing one day, there are things we wish we could forget. In the Bible, it says that Jesus came to make all things new. What would your life look like if you could start over with a clean slate?

Living with hope

If you are looking for peace, there is a way to balance your life. No one can be perfect, or have a perfect life. But every one of us has the opportunity to experience perfect grace through a personal relationship with God through His Son, Jesus Christ.

You can receive Christ right now by faith through prayer. Praying is simply talking to God. God knows your heart and is not so concerned with your words as He is with the attitude of your heart. Here’s a suggested prayer:

Lord Jesus, I want to know you personally. Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door of my life to you and ask you to come in as my Savior and Lord. Take control of my life. Thank you for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Make me the kind of person you want me to be.

Does this prayer express the desire of your heart? You can pray it right now, and Jesus Christ will come into your life, just as He promised.

Is this the life for you?

If you invited Christ into your life, thank God often that He is in your life, that He will never leave you and that you have eternal life. As you learn more about your relationship with God, and how much He loves you, you’ll experience life to the fullest.

Story written by Kevin Miller, story told by Eddie Kennison, #87-Wide Receiver, Kansas City Chiefs

My wife was rushed to the hospital on a Thursday night. She had started experiencing some strange symptoms the previous evening. Now she was unconscious. Things were getting serious fast.

One day passed, and then another. The doctors ran all sorts of tests, but they couldn’t figure out what was wrong. We began to worry. She was pregnant with our second child. How would this illness affect the baby?

In the midst of this crisis, I was trying to prepare for a Sunday game. On Saturday night though, my wife was still in the hospital, and my son didn’t want me to leave. I didn’t know what to do. Should I play or not?

I knew this was an important moment, a life-defining decision. What would I choose: my family or football? It wasn’t easy, but deep inside; I heard a clear voice telling me exactly what to do.

The media really beat me up for missing that game. They thought I had quit on my teammates. It hurt me to hear that, because I knew I hadn’t quit. But the most important thing was, I hadn’t quit on my family.

Eventually, my wife was diagnosed with Lupus, a chronic, debilitating disease. Dealing with it has been a struggle. But as long as we keep focused on God and each other, I know we can make it.

Do you want to know God like Eddie does?  You can join God’s team today by praying the following prayer:

Lord Jesus, I want to know You personally. Thank You for dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door of my life and receive You as my Savior and Lord. Thank You for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Take control of my life. Make me be the person You want me to be. Amen.

For the first time in my life, I encountered people who followed completely different belief systems – Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, you name it. That called my own beliefs into question. Sure, I believed in God, but why? Was Christianity merely something I was born into, or was it really true?

Taking a class in world religions helped. A confrontation between my brother and some of my Muslim friends also added a few more pieces to the puzzle. Seeing him answer every one of their questions gave me even more confidence in my beliefs. However, the clincher came a couple of years later during what I can only describe as a supernatural encounter with God. Once again, my world exploded, but this time in the best possible way.

That encounter didn’t answer all of my questions, but now my faith is stronger than ever. I know God is real not because someone convinced me of that fact through argument, but because I have experienced Him for myself. If you have questions, don’t be afraid to take them to God. But be prepared for Him to answer in ways you’d least expect!

Do you want to know God like Jason? God can handle any of your questions.  We encourage you to pray the following:

Lord Jesus, I want to know You personally. Thank You for dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door of my life and receive You as my Savior and Lord. Thank You for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Take control of my life. Make me be the person You want me to be. Amen.

More than four decades after arriving in America from his native Argentina, Luis Palau is more intent than ever to follow his calling: to spread the powerful word of God throughout the world. Whether on stage speaking to crowds of a quarter million people; through his radio messages heard daily in over 40 countries; or in counsel and prayer with leaders from the local church to the White House, Palau consistently remains one of the world’s most effective and compelling spiritual communicators.

From his early days sharing the Gospel on the streets of Buenos Aires to the “Great music & Good News” festival evangelism ministry that has had a positive impact on audiences around the globe, Luis Palau has continually inspired the millions who have heard his message of faith and hope. In 2006, Palau is keeping an ages-old faith fresh and alive for the 21st century.

Unlike many of his contemporaries, Luis Palau embraced the new millennium – and contemporary life and culture – long before it arrived. His festival evangelism ministry, which travels to numerous cities and countries each year, has all the best elements of today’s most popular music festivals (everything from hot contemporary music acts and exotic foods to a state-of-the-art action sports skate park).

Though these elements help draw huge crowds and provide free, family-friendly entertainment, Palau never loses sight of his ministry’s ultimate goal: to share to claims of Christ with a troubled world in troubled times.

“A nation will not be moved by timid methods,” says Palau, explaining why his free festivals have attracted millions of young people and families of all races and denominations. “Today’s young people understand music and technology, but few have an understanding of what a life walked in faith can produce. They don’t know the person of Jesus Christ – that He is alive, that He is divine, and that He wants every one of us to know Him personally.”

What makes Luis Palau’s ministry so effective is its non-traditional and “open arms” approach. Each year, Palau stages 4-6 major festivals in the U.S. and abroad. These world-class, full multi-media productions feature the biggest names in Christian music, from rock to rap to gospel. In addition, the Palau team – in partnership with another Palau ministry called “Livin’ It” – erects a massive skate park in each city that showcases some of the top Christian athletes in the action sports of skateboarding, BMX and motocross. For children, there is a tie-in with VeggieTales, one of the most popular family video franchises in history.

The festivals are always free and open to everyone. The finances are raised behind the scenes, and there is never a financial offering requested from the massive crowds. Palau Festivals are able to do this by overseeing a highly professional and strategically organized operation that spends nearly two years building financial and spiritual support from hundreds of area churches and businesses and from national resources as well.

Palau’s organization has over 100 full time staff people on four continents; thousands of volunteers and local supporters join in as the festival dates approach. The ministry is led day-to-day by Palau’s adult sons (Kevin, Keith and Andrew), whom he credits with helping him realize how much evangelism needed a fresh, modern approach if it was to communicate the claims of Christ in contemporary society.

”We work hard with business people, professional people,” he says. “We start with the area churches and supplement it with financial support from businesses and individuals. We work night and day to keep the operation one of total integrity.”

All of this enables Palau to keep the entire festival focused on the entertainment and the spiritual message, one that is also unlike that of many of his contemporaries.

“We emphasize Christ more than Christianity or denominations,” Palau says. “We focus on what Christians are for, not what we might be against. As an evangelist, my role is to share the Good News of our Savior: we leave the politics to others.”

“Some Biblical Christians and evangelists have made an issue out of one or two major concerns, and that’s it,” says Palau. “What we seek always to be is more than a ministry that only deals with two or three particular sins. We want them to know answers to: ‘Who is Christ? What can He do? Can He really change my life? What does it mean?’ That’s what we’re really trying to do. We want people to think of Christianity differently. And of Christ differently.”

Palau’s lively and relevant messages – and the invitation to follow Jesus Christ – are the core and heart of it all, but they’re effectively surrounded by performances by the nation’s biggest Christian acts.

“These Christian musicians are very spiritual people.” he says. “The music is contemporary and not always to everyone’s particular tastes, but the musicians are committed, grounded, and very effective at reaching people through their music. Christianity is contemporary – it’s for today. Christ is alive today! He understands and loves today’s kids and wants them to be part of God’s kingdom.”

Born into an affluent family in Argentina, Palau discovered Christ while still a child at home with his parents. His father died when Palau was 10, and Luis soon became the sole support for his mother and five sisters. He recalls days when the sole meal for the family was a single loaf of bread. While still a teenage, he began his lifelong vision for world evangelism by preaching on street corners.

He entered the banking industry, become a successful executive before entering Multnomah Biblical Seminary in Portland, Oregon, where he met his wife, Patricia. Together they embarked on a missionary journey that took them throughout Latin America. They took the Gospel to places where, all too often, they weren’t welcome.

Luis and Pat began building an evangelistic team and aiding other evangelists-—including interpreting for Billy Graham, a primary influence on Luis’ own ministry. In the 1970s, invitations started coming from Europe and other parts of the world. By the early 1980s, Luis Palau’s ministry had made a great impact in Western Europe and new doors were opening around the globe.

Not until the 1990s did Luis focus on the United States – by 1996, he’d led evangelistic crusades in 15 U.S. cities. Yet despite continuing invitations, the Palau team felt it was time for a change.

“We were on the verge of saying, ‘OK, maybe somehow God doesn’t want us in America.’ The crowds were OK, but we weren’t getting through.”

“We began to realize that the classic ‘campaign model’ – uniformed choir, the suits on the platform, the old hymns – wasn’t the way to go for us,” Luis says. “We want to attract the un-churched, and we want them to encounter God, and bring them all to Christ and to understand and to connect. We also want to unite and energize the church community wherever we go.”

Palau, at the suggestion of his sons, moved to the current method of “Festival evangelism” in 1999. Since then, over 4.5 million people have heard the Good News at a Palau Festival.

“We wouldn’t ever go back to the old method. This is for today,” he says.

Today, Palau maintains his operation in Portland, Oregon but brings his message to the world, from China to Western Europe, from South Florida to South America.=

“I’d love to see a massive breakthrough,” he says. “An international revival of Christianity. I’d love to see the nations truly reawaken where not just a few thousand, but millions discover Christ again. That is my dream.”

Have you ever felt like you’re looking for meaning in all the wrong place? Are you circling round and round but still not finding happiness? Perhaps it’s time you asked Jesus to help you take stock of your life before a crisis hits. If you don’t know Jesus, we encourage you to pray the following:

Lord Jesus, I want to know you personally. Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door of my life and receive You as my Savior and Lord. Thank you for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Take control of my life. Make me be the person you want me to be.

Do what you love
Agnes felt that God was calling her to the sisterhood to serve the poor.  She consulted experts and the priests at her church to help understand her feelings.  “If you are happy with the idea that God calls you to serve him and your neighbor,” Agnes recalled being told by a priest, “this will be the proof of your vocation.  Profound joy of the heart is like a magnet that indicates the path of life.”

Used with permission from Women of Influence by Pat & Ruth Williams with Michael Mink (Health Communications, Inc., 2003).

At a time in the 1980’s when skateboarding was exploding, two young athletes led the pack – Tony Hawk and Christian Hosoi. As the sport of “vert” skating was evolving, Hawk and Hosoi were pushing the limits, soaring higher, farther and faster. Competitions generally boiled down to a two-man face-off where jaw-dropping stunts re-wrote the record books nearly every weekend.

Two decades later, the Tony Hawk brand is on everything from skateboards to shoes, Game Boys to national tours. Christian Hosoi, once called the “Michael Jordan of skateboarding”, has found his way – by God’s grace – back from the abyss of drug addiction and a stretch in federal prison to a new role as pastor, evangelist and, yes, professional skateboarder.

Named for Fletcher Christian, the famed mutineer, Hosoi was anything but a rebel growing up.

“He was so perfect we thought there was something wrong with him,” says his father, who introduced him first to surfing, then to skateboarding.

By age 12, he was the top amateur in the nation: at 14, he turned pro. Fans who revered him as god-like nicknamed Christian “Christ,” and the young superstar accommodated them by inventing his signature trick – the “Christ Air” – which mirrored the image of Christ on the cross.

“I couldn’t find it in success, I couldn’t find it in money, I couldn’t find it in girls and relationships, I couldn’t find it in business,” he says. “Finally, I couldn’t find it in drugs.”

Perhaps as a sign of what lay ahead, he entered into a series of failed business ventures and then, when the focus of skateboarding shifted from vert to street style, the bottom dropped out for a generation of athletes. By then, he had developed an addiction to crystal methamphetamine.

“My addiction was to use crystal meth,” he says. “I wasn’t a drug dealer. I didn’t want or need money. Ultimately, I just wanted to party.”

In January 2000, Christian agreed to carry1½ pounds of the drug from California to Hawaii for a cut of the stash. He was arrested at the Honolulu Airport and charged with intent to distribute – a crime that carried a ten-year sentence. He was 32 years old.

“There we no more strings to pull,” he says. “It was done. All the lines were cut. The key was thrown away. It’s time to wake up, Christian, and face the music. Now what was I going to do?”

Jennifer, his girlfriend at the time, now his wife, opened the door to a life worth living, even behind bars.

“I just told him that he needed to get a Bible and we needed to have faith in God,” said Jennifer. “Christian’s answer was ‘God? Babe, I need a lawyer.’ ”

Just weeks after he went to prison, Jennifer’s uncle – Pastor Chris Swaim – called Christian and offered him an answer to what seemed like a hopeless dilemma. Jennifer was also on the call as the three prayed together.

“He asked me if I had ever met Jesus Christ as my savior,” says Christian. “We were crying, bawling our eyes out, and all I remember was just asking Jesus to come into my heart.”

“From that moment, even though I was in prison it was like I was the freest man in the world. When I came from freedom to prison, it was like I came from prison to freedom.”

Christian and Jennifer married while Christian was behind bars. He was an exemplary inmate, earning his high school diploma and studying his Bible for hours each day. In 2004, a judge reduced his sentence by more than half and released him. In less than two years, Christian had been ordained as an associate pastor and resumed his professional skating. He organizes skate-nights for at-risk kids in the inner city, and shares his testimony on tour with the Livin It action sports tour.

“I’m a professional skateboarder. I’ve accomplished a lot of things and I’ve gotten a lot of fame and glory but nothing compares with being a child of God,” he says.

“That’s the miracle work of God…that he can take a guy like me, a pro skater who became a drug addict, and turn his life around. For me, that’s the evidence that God is so real, that he changed my heart…he changed my mind…he changed my life.”

Have you ever felt like you’re looking for meaning in all the wrong place? Are you circling round and round but still not finding happiness? Perhaps it’s time you asked Jesus to help you take stock of your life before a crisis hits. If you don’t know Jesus, we encourage you to pray the following:

Lord Jesus, I want to know you personally. Thank you dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door of my life and receive You as my Savior and Lord. Thank you for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Take control of my life. Make me be the person you want me to be.

The fact that God has a sense of humor isn’t lost on Ralph Winter, producer of such films as Planet of the Apes, the X-Men series and three instalments in the Star Trek movie franchise. Ralph describes his road to Hollywood as a “wonderful journey of God’s mercy, humor and grace.”

That’s the only way he can explain how someone who doesn’t have any relatives in the movie business and who never even dreamed of working in Hollywood could be making such high profile films.

Strange twist of fate

Although Ralph became a Christian at age 12, it wasn’t until he reached high school that he really started asking questions about how his faith should impact his life. Thinking he would like to become a pastor or preacher or “do something significant,” Ralph started with an undergrad degree in history and planned to continue on to seminary after that. However, on the way to seminary, Ralph married his high school sweetheart and, as he puts it, “kids happened.” Thus, Ralph had to set aside further educational plans and focus on providing for his family.

Ralph’s search for gainful employment led him to Broadway Department Stores. In a strange twist of fate, shortly after Ralph began working there, his employers asked if anyone would be interested in developing some training videos for the company. Seeing as videotape was just coming onto the market and Ralph was curious about its potential, he decided to give it a go. He must have done a pretty good job at it because Ralph’s training videos garnered him national attention. Before he knew it, he was called into Paramount Pictures to begin work as a producer. This abrupt change in fortune was difficult for Ralph to process at first.

“Suddenly I’m at a place where they’re making ten TV shows each week and huge movies and I’m meeting all these players – the Michael Eisner’s, the Jeffrey Katzenberg’s and the Barry Diller’s of the world. They were all coming through the doors,” Ralph says.

Relationships are key

Right from the beginning, Ralph was fortunate enough to get involved in a number of high grossing films. These hits allowed him to go on to produce or executive produce 26 movies and TV shows, earning himself a place amongst Hollywood’s fabled A-list.

Despite his success, for Ralph, what matters most is not whether his movies succeed or fail but the relationships he develops along the way.

“Walking the Christian walk is what’s most important,” he says. “The greatest symbol of being different in this business is pursuing excellence with integrity and showing a grace and mercy to co-workers and other people around you that doesn’t get so frantic or dysfunctional like others who are desperate for their movies to work. The Hollywood myth is that you’re only as good as your last project. But these relationships are going to exist no matter what movies I work on or what my next project is.”

The path Ralph has walked is anything but typical. But he realizes God’s hand was leading him at key points along the way, even though he didn’t see it at the time.

“As I look back, I can see a little music, I can see a little acting in front of the camera, directing the Christmas play, working with youth, being a diplomat on the church board. All of these skills come into play when being a producer. That’s definitely God’s hand. I didn’t craft that flight path, but He did.”

Do you sense God preparing you for a task he has yet to reveal? Why not ask Jesus what it is? If you don’t know Jesus, we encourage you to pray the following:

Lord Jesus, I want to know You personally. Thank You for dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door of my life and receive You as my Savior and Lord. Thank You for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Take control of my life. Make me be the person You want me to be. Amen.

Ralph Winter is a top Hollywood producer who has worked on such films as The X-Men, Planet of the Apes, Star Trek IV: The Undiscovered Country, Inspector Gadget, Left Behind and more. Not bad for a History major at UC Berkeley.

After graduating from college, Ralph got a job making industrial training videos for a department store. That led to a stint with Paramount doing post-production work on old TV shows such as Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley, Taxi and Mork and Mindy. His first producing work came on the Star Trek 3 movie. Things took off at light-speed from there. With his career seemingly in cruise control, Ralph walked away from one of the biggest opportunities of his life. He was offered a chance to work on the next James Bond film. Who wouldn’t want that on their resume? But Ralph walked away from it to spend more time with his family in southern California.

After that decision, Ralph got a job, minutes from his home, producing a TV show for Steven Spielberg, High Incident. Since then he has become a top Hollywood producer involved in numerous projects including short films, television and feature films. He is a member of the Directors Guild of America and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. He is also a juror for the Damah Film Festival, a unique event focusing on spiritual experiences in film. His co-star in life is his wife Judy.