Change in giving to religious organizations and churches in 2008: +5.5 percent (a total of $106.89 billion)

Change in overall charitable giving in 2008: –2 percent (a total of $307.65 billion, the first decline in overall giving since 1987)

Paul said, "See that you also excel in this grace of giving" (2 Corinthians 8:7). Like piano playing, giving is a skill. With practice, we get better at it. We can learn to give more, give more often, and give more strategically. We teach the pursuit of excellence in our vocations. Why not make giving something we study, discuss, and sharpen, striving for excellence?

The Macedonian believers gave "as ...

Most important issues facing young adults (ages 22–28):

• Making better money management decisions: 52 percent
• Strengthening family relationships: 18 percent
• Protecting the environment: 11 percent
• Balancing work and personal life: 10 percent

In his Books & Culture article "A Lot of Lattés," Ron Sider reviews Passing the Plate: Why American Christians Don't Give Away More Money, a book "about the pitifully small charitable donations of the richest Christians in history." Sider offers a synopsis of some of the authors' findings:

If just the "committed Christians" (defined as those who attend church at least a few times a month or profess ...

Since the 1940s, the Ad Council has been the leading producer of public service announcements. Of the thousands of commercials they have produced, their work for the "Don't Almost Give" campaign has been particularly powerful.

One ad shows a man with crutches struggling to go up a flight of concrete stairs. The narrator says, "This is a man who almost learned to walk at a rehab center that almost got ...

Kurt Warner, the two-time NFL MVP quarterback of the Arizona Cardinals, started a family tradition he calls The Restaurant Game. The night before he heads out for a road game, Kurt and his wife take their seven children out to eat a family dinner. Once the Warner family is seated, one of the children will scan the dining area like a quarterback looking for potential receivers. When the Warner child ...

Widows and widowers in the U.S. who say they give 10 percent or more of their income to the church: 17.6 percent

Non-widowed Americans who say they give 10 percent or more: 8.6 percent

I confess: when my parents tried to impress on my two brothers and me the importance and the intricacies of Advent observance, I could hardly keep from rolling my eyes. In a country that spends its cold Decembers in hot pursuit of food, presents, and parties, the historical niceties of an ancient liturgical season seemed … well … irrelevant.

These days, on the other side of an evangelical ...

A Christian fellowship lives and exists by the intercession of its members for one another, or it collapses. I can no longer condemn or hate a brother for whom I pray, no matter how much trouble he causes me. His face, that hitherto may have been strange and intolerable to me, is transformed in intercession into the countenance of a brother for whom Christ died, the face of a forgiven sinner. This ...

I was born in the waning days of vinyl records. I would watch as my father pulled them from their sleeves and placed them on the turntable. When the needle dropped into the record's grooves, the speakers popped to life with a tide of white noise that was chased away by music. Some records were so worn that they hiccupped along or—even worse—repeated a section, over and over again.

The sound ...