Eric Wilson, professor of English at Wake Forest University, wanted to become a happier person. He at least wanted a smile on his face, rather than the scowl people were used to seeing. Friends urged him on to a sunny disposition. He purchased books to become happy, watched only uplifting movies, and inserted "Great!" and "Wonderful!" into his conversations. But none of these things helped, and the ...

In an interview about his book The Folly of Prayer (IVP, 2009), author and pastor Matt Woodley shared a story about his friend Theresa. Theresa was experiencing what St. John of the Cross calls a dark night of the soul—a period of spiritual loneliness and despair. Over the course of describing her story, listen to how Woodley discovered that what seemed most helpless in his ministry was actually ...

In a 2009 article in Time magazine, writer Coco Masters shared a startling statistic: one in five Japanese men and women have seriously considered taking their lives, and each year over the past decade, more than 30,000 people have killed themselves in that country. But Masters surrounded those troubling statistics with the story of Yukio Shige. It's because of Shige that at least 188 Japanese men ...

My youth group was hundreds of miles from home on a mission trip in New Orleans. We were piled in the van on the way back to the motel when someone yelled out, "I get the pay phone first!"

"Why?" another kid asked. "Who do you need to call?"

"It's Father's Day, dork!" came the reply.

Father's Day. I hadn't thought about that in years. As everyone scrambled for coins and planned out a calling schedule, ...

After years of urban living had ground down my childhood love of nature, I found it suddenly rekindled through my friendship with a young photographer named Bob McQuilkin. I was working as a magazine editor at the time, and Bob seemed determined to drag me out of my stale routine and reintroduce me to the joyous world outside.

Once Bob drove his jeep to my office and insisted that I come see two baby ...

According to a 2008 survey by Princeton Survey Research Associates (PSRA):

• Percentage of U.S. parents who don't believe video games have any impact on their children: 62
• Percentage of U.S. parents who feel video games have a positive impact: 19
• Percentage of U.S. parents who feel video games have a negative impact: 13
• Percentage of U.S. parents who feel the impact of video games depends on the game itself: 5

In The Manger Is Empty, Walter Wangerin Jr. shares personal memories from past Christmases. In a chapter entitled "A Quiet Chamber," he recalls Christmas, 1944. That year, in the days leading up to Christmas Eve, Walter's father did the same thing he always did at Christmastime: he went into a room in the house, removed the outside door knob so the kids couldn't get in, and he decorated a Christmas ...

Increase in the U.S. suicide rate since 1999: 5 percent.

Increase in the U.S. suicide rate among those ages 40–64: 16 percent.

Australian Ian Usher is so disappointed with his current life that he is selling it in an eBay auction beginning June 22, 2008. Usher decided on the auction in an effort to rid himself of all memories of life with his ex-wife. He expects to make at least $390,000 in a sale that will include a furnished 3-bedroom house, a car, a motorcycle, and a jet ski. He's even throwing in a one-time introduction ...

Why didn't any changes occur or any love or help come when I accepted you as Lord and Savior?

—Matthew Murray, in a letter addressed to God that was found in his car after he shot and killed two people at a Youth With a Mission training center and then was himself killed by a security guard at New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in December 2007