I was poor in math until I hit eighth grade. For some now unfathomable reason, I found it easier to cheat and get failing grades than study and get passing grades. My math teacher caught me cheating but never told my parents. He had the grace to help me see the difference between what I was becoming and what I could be. He came alongside with helps that appropriately addressed self-esteem, learning ...

In a 2008 article for Psychology Today magazine, Hara Marano writes about the constant pressure girls face concerning their image. Deprived of an internal compass, girls compete to be "hottest," turning colleges into incubators for eating disorders and numerous unrealistic, self-imposed expectations.

But why?

Marano cites Courtney Martin, author of Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters. Martin believes ...

Dangerous Minds is based on a true story about high school teacher LouAnne Johnson (played by Michelle Pfeiffer) making a difference in the lives of troubled but smart inner-city students. In this scene, while LouAnne is in front of her class teaching, the students are upset with her because they felt she "ratted" on three students for fighting. LouAnne asks them if they want to discuss the issue. ...

Isaiah Williams needed money—fast. Only 19, and about to become a father, he wanted to provide his child with everything he could. Williams heard about the Entrenuity Summer Business Camp, a faith-based program in the Chicago area created to teach African American and Latino high school students skills to operate their own businesses. …

Across the country in California, Opal Dillard was ...

A young man was appointed president of a bank. Intimidated by his new responsibilities, he nervously sought the advice of his gray-haired predecessor: "Sir, what has been the secret of your success?"

"The secret, young man, is two words: right decisions!" replied the older man.

"But how do you make right decisions?"

"One word: experience."

"But how do you get experience?"

The old man smiled. "Two words: ...

As associate Dean of Students at Trinity International University, it is Matthew Perrault's job to help his students grow closer to Jesus. It's also his job to discipline those students who fall short of the University's moral guidelines. Amazingly, Perrault has come up with a system that allows him to accomplish both at the same time.

"No one is expected to come to Trinity perfect," he says, "but ...

As a young Michigan Congressman, Gerald Ford met a gospel-film executive named Billy Zeoli who stopped by his office and gave him a Bible. Over the next few years, the two men became close—so close, in fact, that Ford came to call Zeoli "an alter ego, a second self."

Among their bonds was a love of sports: Ford had been an All-American football player, and Zeoli created a ministry for professional ...

For six summers, Jim Slevcove was my supervisor at Forest Home, a Christian conference center in California. I held a responsible position over junior high and high school kids, but couldn't pass up a chance to play a prank. Like the time I passed off a laxative gum as chewing gum to some coworkers. Word of the rigorous purgative's effect got back to Jim.

He asked me to come to his office the next ...

Stuart Briscoe told the following story in his book, Everyday Discipleship for Ordinary People:

One of my young colleagues was officiating at the funeral of a war veteran. The dead man's military friends wished to have a part in the service at the funeral home, so they requested the pastor to lead them down to the casket, stand with them for a solemn moment of remembrance, and then lead them out through ...

Robert Bly said, "If you're not being admired by other men, you're being hurt." That struck a chord with me. As I talk with men about their struggles, I realize many men are languishing because nobody is recognizing the noble things in their life. Men need male cheerleaders. If no one cheers for nobility, men are going to collapse back into a dumbed-down masculinity that follows the cheers of the ...