One of my dearest friends in the world is a pastor in Cuba. He and his congregation prayed for our oldest son as he was undergoing cancer surgery some years ago; our son is well and I will be grateful for the rest of my life. My pastor friend has had many opportunities to leave Cuba over the years. He would undoubtedly be an enormously popular and successful pastor in America if he chose to relocate here. But he has... Read more

Let’s begin with some good news on the pandemic: Santa Claus does not have COVID-19. In fact, he does not need to wait for a vaccine like the rest of us since he has “a lot of good innate immunity,” according to Dr. Anthony Fauci. In addition, the North American Aerospace Defense Command has announced that despite the pandemic, it will track Santa on December 24 just as it has done for sixty-five years. You can visit their website, noradsanta.org,... Read more

Who will succeed Alex Trebek as the host of Jeopardy!, one of the longest-running shows on television? Trebek filmed enough episodes to go through Christmas, but the producers will have a decision to make in 2021. Former champion Ken Jennings, who begins filming future shows today as the interim host, may be the front-runner. Journalists Anderson Cooper and George Stephanopoulos may be on the shortlist. Trebek himself nominated Betty White in a 2018 interview, but the ninety-eight-year-old actress might be... Read more

Americans spend $800 million a year on Thanksgiving turkeys, according to Forbes. Eighty million of us watched NFL games yesterday as well. However, it takes an estimated nine hours for a 180-pound adult to walk off an average three thousand-calorie Thanksgiving meal. In other words, we will do well to do more than watch television today. We could bake cookies to give to essential workers, following the example of two dads in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, who have now delivered fifteen thousand... Read more

Listen to The Daily Article Podcast, then subscribe. A seventy-four-year-old magazine editor named Sarah Josepha Hale wrote a letter to President Abraham Lincoln on September 28, 1863, urging him to have the “day of our annual Thanksgiving made a National and fixed Union Festival.” The United States had held such observances sporadically across our history, beginning with a proclamation by President George Washington on October 3, 1789. However, each state scheduled its own Thanksgiving holiday at different times. Of all the years... Read more

Imagine a day when lights come on as you walk through your house while the ambient temperature adjusts room by room. The kitchen table moves out of your way as you step toward the refrigerator, then moves back when you’re ready to eat. If you fall while getting into bed, your furniture shifts to protect you as an alert goes out to your family and the local monitoring station. This is “spatial computing.” According to Scientific American, it “could be... Read more

This story could be more than two thousand years old: A farmer’s horse ran away. His neighbor commiserated with him on his loss, but the farmer replied, “Who knows what’s good or bad?” This proved true when the horse returned the next day, bringing with it a group of wild horses it had befriended. The neighbor reappeared to congratulate the farmer on his windfall, only to hear the same reply, “Who knows what’s good or bad?”  The farmer was right... Read more

Gunner is a three-month-old Cavalier King Charles spaniel owned by Richard Wilbanks of Estero, Florida. “We were just out walking by the pond,” Wilbanks told CNN, and an alligator “came out of the water like a missile. I never thought an alligator could be that fast.” The animal grabbed Gunner and dragged him underwater. Richard said adrenaline or instinct kicked in, and “I just automatically jumped into the water.” He pried open the alligator’s jaws, which he said was “extremely... Read more

As we contemplate the changes and challenges of celebrating Thanksgiving this year, any number of obstacles come to mind. Celebrating with immediate family only or limiting the size to ten people. Fewer travel options. Do we wear masks?  What about social distancing? Some may even consider just skipping Thanksgiving this year. But its observance is required by Scripture: Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you (I Thessalonians 5:13). And not... Read more

A Baptist minister named John Harper was on board the Titanic when it sank in the Atlantic Ocean in April 1912. He had a seat on a lifeboat alongside his sister and six-year-old daughter but gave it up so he could stay on the sinking ship to preach to its doomed passengers. He even gave his life jacket to another passenger, who miraculously survived the disaster. Rev. Harper continued sharing the gospel on the ship as it sank and then... Read more