Adie Johnson, who serves on the staff of a small church in Colorado as Pastor of Spiritual Formation, shares a few thoughts about the power of group solitude:

I have found that one of the most powerful tools God has used to sculpt me in my spiritual life has been solitude, extended times set aside to be just with God. It was nearly 15 years ago that an older woman at the church I attended invited ...

Bono, lead singer of the rock group U2, was asked if the claim of Jesus' divinity is farfetched.

No, it's not farfetched to me. Look, the secular response to the Christ story always goes like this: he was a great prophet, obviously a very interesting guy, had a lot to say along the lines of other great prophets, be they Elijah, Muhammad, Buddha, or Confucius. But actually Christ doesn't allow you that. ...

Words have the power to shape a life. We've all heard the lie, "sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me." Entire lives are shaped by the words of a few. Fortunately, those same lives can be reshaped by the right words at the right time.

The following is an excerpt from a speech by Elijah E. Cummings, Maryland's 7th District representative, delivered at Howard University, for ...

In The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood), a hobbit, is given the unenviable task of destroying a ring in The Cracks of Doom in a dark and evil land called Mordor. His task is fraught with mortal danger.

Gandalf, the wizard, understands such a perilous journey could cause anyone to become discouraged. Gandalf encourages Frodo's best friend, Samwise Gamgee (Sean ...

The film, Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, is about the future of peace on Middle-Earth. This peace is dependent upon the destruction of a ring, entrusted to the hand of a hobbit, Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood). The ring, forged by the Dark Lord Sauron, and filled with all his power and malice, slowly corrupts its wearer to do his will. All of the world is being plunged into war, and the only way of ...

In response to those who make excuses why they cannot serve the Lord, Rick Warren writes:

Abraham was old, Jacob was insecure, Leah was unattractive, Joseph was abused, Moses stuttered, Gideon was poor, Samson was codependent, Rahab was immoral, David had an affair and all kinds of family problems, Elijah was suicidal, Jeremiah was depressed, Jonah was reluctant, Naomi was a widow, John the Baptist ...

In The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, author J. R. R. Tolkien portrays the classic conflict between good and evil set in a mythical land called Middle Earth. After a great battle in ancient times, the Dark Lord Sauron was temporarily defeated and his most dreaded weapon, the Ring of Power, was lost for many ages.

A Hobbit from the Shire named Bilbo Baggins finds the ring and, unaware ...

The movie Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, based on J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy trilogy, dramatizes the quest of nine travelers to destroy a ring critical to the power of the Dark Lord.

Elijah Wood stars as Frodo, a brave but vulnerable hobbit, who has inherited the deadly ring from his cousin, Bilbo (Ian Holm). When his wise counselor, the wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellen), discovers the ...

In The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Christian author J. R. R. Tolkien portrays the classic conflict between good and evil set in a mythical land called Middle Earth. After a great battle in ancient times, the Dark Lord Sauron was temporarily defeated and his most dreaded weapon, the Ring of Power, was lost for many ages.

A character named Bilbo Baggins found the ring and, unaware ...

Somewhere on the dusty shelf of books I read to my children when they were young is a little volume called A Hole Is to Dig. Each charmingly illustrated page declares the purpose of something: "A pile of leaves is to jump in." "A mud puddle is to slide in and go 'Oodlee-oddlee-oo!'" And so on.

The reasoning is sound, if you're a child. The world is made for our general entertainment; it gives us things ...