I have two friends who are best friends. Each was the best man in the other's wedding. They talk every day, sometimes more than once, on their cell phones. They live only a few blocks from each other. Yet recently, one told me that he hadn't seen his best friend in two months—two months! That's more than a hundred phone calls, and countless chances to hop in the car or walk a few blocks to see ...

The Thing in the Bushes is a book about corporate blind spots. Authors Kevin Graham Ford and James D. Osterhaus point out that most leaders of companies or other organizations know "something is seriously wrong, but they can't see it. Something unidentified and insidious is lurking in the shadows like a 'thing in the bushes,' and it has the organization in a death grip." Through careful research, ...

A few Sundays ago, I was heading home after preaching three times. I was tired and looking forward to opening my laptop and reading my favorite blogs—particularly ones focused on missional theology and leadership. Just then I received a text message from a friend. He was inviting me to a club to see a band with a number of non-Christians, including one I had been trying to build a relationship ...

During 2009's World Population Day (an annual event, observed on July 11, that seeks to raise awareness of global population issues), Indian Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad promoted an unusual idea for dealing with overpopulation in India. He suggested a new policy that would allow most of the poor in rural India to have access to television. According to his vision, "amorous couples would watch ...

Once when I was at the University of Notre Dame we had an extraordinary snowstorm. They get a lot of snow in South Bend because it's on the wrong side of the lake—every time a wind blows across Lake Michigan, the moisture gets dumped on South Bend. We were used to snow in the winter. But this particular time, we got thirty-six inches in twelve hours. It literally shut the city down. We couldn't ...

According to research gathered by Time magazine, passion for volunteerism and national service is growing:

• Since its start in 1994, 500,000 volunteers have gone through AmeriCorps.

• In 2006, 61.2 million Americans dedicated 8.1 billion hours to volunteerism.

• Overall, 27 percent of Americans engage in civic life by volunteering.

Set in 72 BC, the 2004 television miniseries Spartacus follows the adventures of a former slave who leads an army of freed slaves against the tyrannical Roman legions. In this scene, Spartacus and his followers are hiding out in a secluded forest because the Roman army is looking for them. Spartacus says the time has come for decisive action, but his followers are unsure and even selfish.

One man, ...

The Guardian is the story of Jake Fischer (Ashton Kutcher), a high-school swim champ who enrolls in the U.S. Coast Guard's "A" School. Here, legendary rescue swimmer Ben Randall (Kevin Costner) teaches him some hard lessons about self-sacrifice.

After Randall reluctantly takes an assignment to train a new batch of potential rescue swimmers, one of the first training exercises for the new recruits is ...

Waking Life is an animated movie about a confused man who isn't sure if he's dreaming or awake. In a series of vignettes, he meets people who explain to him their philosophies of life and their view of the difference between what's real and what is a dream.

In this scene, a young, unnamed man is walking along a park pathway. He walks down a stairway when he meets a woman coming up the stairs. They ...

What makes someone between the ages of 13 and 24 happy is not what you might think, according to an extensive survey conducted by the Associated Press and MTV.

The results showed that spending time with family (73 percent) makes young people happiest. Nearly half of kids surveyed mentioned one of their parents as their hero, with mothers (29 percent) ranking higher than fathers (21 percent). After ...