Living

AMES, Iowa The sign sits propped on a wooden chair, inviting all comers: "Ask an Atheist."

I really enjoy the spring flowers from fall-planted bulbs such as tulips, daffodils, hyacinths and crocuses. Bulbs are plants in miniature, having within them the flowers, leaves, etc. Bulbs are only waiting for warmth and moisture to start rapid growth toward a complete blooming plant in the spring.

Haiti is the poorest nation in the western hemisphere, the size of the state of Maryland, its population — 7.6 million.

“In the end we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” — The Rev. Dr. Martin

CHICAGO The thick, black binder that Paula Gillett keeps charts her son Jack's battle last year against a food-borne illness caused by E. coli. Filled with medical records, meal calendars and other papers, the binder documents Jack's initial illness, the kidney failure that struck next and his eventual recovery.

The cat world will spend the weekend looking for its top dog.

SEATTLE It was a personal experience that first exposed Dr. Christine Cofer to palliative medicine.

We all know we are an obese nation, constantly worrying about what we eat and eating all the wrong things anyway.

WASHINGTON More than 150 Christian leaders, most of them conservative evangelicals and traditionalist Roman Catholics, issued a joint declaration Friday reaffirming their opposition to abortion and gay marriage and pledging to protect religious freedoms.

It’s been a challenging 2009 for many, and with Thanksgiving just around the corner we wonder what you’re especially thankful for this year.

MINNEAPOLIS A fracture of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America became a real possibility Wednesday with the announcement by dissidents they will have a new Lutheran denomination ready for launch by August. That marks a speed-up in plans by Lutherans who oppose the ELCA's decision to allow gay clergy to be pastors.

Tree houses in a simulated rain forest are just one of the fun features that await thousands of Catholic youth attending a national conference next week in Kansas City, Mo.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. Terverius Black believes in hip-hop gospel so much he sold his first home to get the money needed to start his Christian-themed entertainment company.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. Former megachurch pastor Ted Haggard said he will continue to hold weekly prayer meetings at his home, three years after he was ousted from the church he founded amid a scandal involving a male prostitute and drug use.

It's been a good year for J.I. Packer, one of the world's best-known theologians. In March, the Anglican pastor and Regent College professor won Bible of the Year and Book of the Year honors for editing the English Standard Version Study Bible. He also released two of his own books - "Praying: Finding Our Way Through Duty to Delight," in June, and a yearlong devotional using his seminal work, "Knowing God," due out later this month.

Voices of faith: Should antiquated scriptural injunctions be changed to suit modern society?

Are we doomed?

MILWAUKEE More than 100 people gathered outside Our Savior's Lutheran Church in Milwaukee on Friday, and led by a veteran of the civil rights movement, raised their voices in a prayer for the passage of health care reform.

PLANET 51

When your fourth-grader complains about homework, it's not just empty whining. Homework for fourth-graders is more difficult.