In an interview about his book The Folly of Prayer (IVP, 2009), author and pastor Matt Woodley shared a story about his friend Theresa. Theresa was experiencing what St. John of the Cross calls a dark night of the soul—a period of spiritual loneliness and despair. Over the course of describing her story, listen to how Woodley discovered that what seemed most helpless in his ministry was actually ...

On the surface, it sounds like a healthy company was rewarding its best and brightest. Over 400 employees recently received bonuses. Three-fourths of the company received more than $100,000. Fifty-one employees received $1 to $2 million; fifteen received more that $2 million, and six received $4 million. The highest bonus stood at $6.4 million.

Bonuses, [$165 million in bonuses.]

But these bonuses were ...

Dr. Katrina Firlik was the first woman admitted into the neurosurgery residency at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Her recent book, Another Day in the Frontal Lobe, provides a glimpse into the training of a brain surgeon. In one chapter she shares a story from the last year of her residency—a time when she was already becoming jaded to the tragedies of neurological devastation: ...

If we knew the most likely place a thief might strike would we react differently? The front door and first-floor window are the most common places burglars enter homes. With that in mind, consider the percentage of people who have done the following:

• Left windows open: 49 percent
• Left front door unlocked: 37 percent
• Left back door unlocked: 33 percent
• Hid key outside: 26 percent
• Left inside garage open: 22 percent

Television is an invention that permits you to be entertained in your living room by people you wouldn't have in your house.

Charlie and Agnes are some of the meekest people I've ever known. Charlie is a bright, energetic, hard-working man who could have been successful at just about anything he set out to do. What he set out to do was mission work. He spent his entire career working with some of the lowliest people on earth—alcoholics on skid row. For many years he was director of Pacific Garden Mission in Chicago, ...

I discovered the importance of pacing when running my first triathlon. I did all my training for the swim leg of the race in a pool. And my times were fantastic. But the Atlantic Ocean is no pool. I was confident going into the race. And so on the opening swim leg, I sprinted from the beach to the first buoy. I wanted to be at the front of the pack so I didn't have to embarrass everybody by swimming ...

Antiques Roadshow is the most popular television program on PBS. The premise is simple: the country's leading auction houses join independent dealers to offer free appraisals of the antiques and collectibles people have sitting around in their livings rooms, bedrooms, attics, or garages. In his book The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment, author Tim Challies refers to a particular episode in which ...

A 2008 Harris Interactive survey sponsored by CarMD.com found that 10 percent of the 2,041 U.S. adults polled were driving a car whose "Check Engine" light was on. An alarming 50 percent of those whose cars were showing signs of an impending breakdown indicated the light had been on for over 3 months. Another 10 percent said the light had been on between 1–2 months. Kristin Brocoff, marketing ...

Ever hear about the dihydrogen monoxide hoax? It's been around for a while, but it got a lot of media attention in 1997 when a 14-year-old student named Nathan Zohner circulated a petition to ban the substance as part of a high school science fair. According to Zohner, dihydrogen monoxide "may cause severe burns, accelerates the corrosion and rusting of many metals, and has been found in the excised ...