Editor's Note: This is a great scene that shows the mindset of someone consumed by materialism. A word of caution is in order, however: Toward the end of this clip, the last 5-8 seconds or so can be interpreted as being sexual in nature. Though the general ratings system does not list the scene as sexual in nature, we were concerned enough to give you ample warning should you use this scene. You will ...

As our Bible study group began focusing on the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20, I felt pretty smug. After all, I didn't worship more than one God, steal, commit adultery or murder, lie about my neighbors, or plot to cheat them out of what was rightfully theirs. But one evening we came to the command to honor our father and mother (v. 12). Against my will, I thought of my mother, who'd passed away ten ...

My friend Ashish came from Northern India to visit me in Chicago. We were eating at Gino's Pizzeria one day and ran into a youth pastor I know, along with his youth group. Just returned from Central America, they were debriefing. "So what did you learn from your trip?" Ashish asked. Student after student obsessed about the poverty of "those poor people." After they left, Ashish said, "Why do they ...

Affluenza is the popular, hour-long PBS documentary about consumerism and its harmful effects on the family, the community, and the environment. In this particular scene, the narrator of the documentary is visiting Virginia's Potomac Mills Mall, one of the largest shopping centers in the U.S. As the narrator walks through the mall, he says, "Potomac Mills attracts more visitors than any other site ...

Peggy Noonan describes an encounter with an American CEO in her book John Paul the Great:

I am talking with the head of a mighty American corporation. We're in his window-lined office, high in midtown Manhattan. The view—silver sky-scrapers stacked one against another, dense, fine-lined, sparkling in the sun—is so perfect, so theatrical, it's like a scrim, like a fake backdrop for a 1930s ...

Mark McMinn makes the following observation in his book, Why Sin Matters:

When we see ourselves as "pretty good," we misunderstand the gravity of sin and our desperate need for grace. We place ourselves above others, become their judges, and give them the power to disappoint us.

A physicist friend uses this analogy: Each of us is like a light bulb. One shines with 50 watts of holiness, another has only ...

One summer holiday, when I was around nine years old, another family visited our home. As we barbecued burgers in the backyard that afternoon, the father of the other family began to wrestle with his sons in the grass. The boys climbed on his back and held on to his legs as he fought them off like an embattled bear. Then he picked them up and spun them around like airplanes. My father was busy with ...

Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones follows the journey of Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) as he slides down the path to the Dark Side. Anakin, an incredibly talented Jedi Knight in training, chafes at the restraints placed on him and tests authority at every turn.

Early in the movie, Anakin enters the lavish chambers of the gentle Senator Palpatine, who is actually the Dark Lord in disguise. ...

"I'm not Mother Teresa, but I'm not Charles Manson either.''

—Boxer Mike Tyson, arguing unsuccessfully during his application for a boxing license from Nevada state officials.

We would all find more serenity in life if we could ... be done with comparisons and envy. God made us diverse, and, in God's eyes at least, our diversity lacks hierarchy. As a friend says in her song "Weave," God makes of us a symphony: different instruments playing in harmony. Each part matters, but only if it's played according to its calling and isn't fighting another part for control. We in the ...