In 2008, 5 million people participated in addiction programs because of alcohol or drug abuse. Participants by age:

• 12–17 years old: 5 percent
  
  
• 18–25: 15 percent
  
  
• 26–49: 57 percent
  
  
• 50 and over: 23 percent
  
  

In a 2009 article for Christianity Today magazine, author Jocelyn Green gave readers a glimpse into the lives of different military officers suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder—with special attention given to the responsibility the church has in ministering to those officers. She writes:

Nate Self's military record was impeccable. A West Point graduate, he led an elite Army Ranger outfit ...

In The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien writes about a kingdom called Gondor which for many years has had no king. While waiting for the rightful heir to come and claim his throne, a series of stewards has been placed in charge of the land. The steward in charge at the time of the events described in the book is named Denethor. He has two sons, Boromir and Faramir, both of whom figure prominently in the ...

I recently read an article about 2009's Tyson, a documentary about the life of former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson. Tyson is remembered for being one of the most feared boxers of all time, not just for his knockout punch—he knocked out 44 of his 50 losing opponents—but also for his anger, his unpredictability, and the impression that he was a powerful man wildly out of control. In 1992, ...

In 2003, the U.S. National Survey of Drug Use and Health discovered that the number of people misusing prescription drugs (such as stimulants, painkillers, sedatives, and tranquillizers) had reached 6.3 million. This is more than twice the number of people who use cocaine.

In a 2006 study, the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence found that large numbers of people are using the internet to search for ...

When Marion Duckworth was in first grade, the Depression had just ended, and talking about anything related to sex—especially sexual abuse—was taboo. So when an older man coaxed her away from her paper dolls one afternoon and fondled her, Marion felt she had to keep her dirty secret to herself. And she did.

Marion didn't tell anyone about the incident until she was 21 and engaged. Her fiancé, ...

To solve the problem of crime, we first have to address the root cause: human sin.

Though many sociologists of the 19th and early 20th centuries attributed crime to environmental factors like poverty, an inadequate criminal justice system, and racism, landmark studies in the last 30 years have shown that crime is really about wrong moral decisions. For example, in their 17-year-long study The Criminal ...

In a recent issue of Today's Christian, Carol Heath shared her moving testimony:

I hated everything about my life.

After twenty-three years in a loveless marriage with little respect, my divorce was now final. I had to leave my dream house in Anderson, South Carolina, and move to a dilapidated rental house on a dead-end street. Even worse, I matched that awful house. Staring at the dingy floor, I felt ...

In an article for the Gospel Coalition, pastor and author Tim Keller offers this potent definition of sin: "Sin isn't only doing bad things, it is more fundamentally making good things into ultimate things. Sin is building your life and meaning on anything, even a very good thing, more than on God. Whatever we build our life on will drive us and enslave us. Sin is primarily idolatry."

In his bestseller ...

A 2007 survey conducted by researchers at Florida State University discovered that employees who endure abuse from their bosses retaliate with poor performance. Abusive behaviors included the silent treatment (general avoidance and ignoring e-mail and other correspondence), personal put-downs, broken promises, and managers blaming their mistakes on employees to save face. Employees with difficult ...