Spiritual hunger is a precondition to God's blessing. The problem is, we are in denial about our condition—or we are taught to be in denial. When I was growing up, my mom would occasionally take me with her when she visited friends. Sitting on the couch next to her with my hands folded in my lap, listening to conversation that was meaningless to me as a small boy, was an excruciatingly dull ...

My wife and I have found a simple program that lets us reach out to our neighbors and helps feed the hungry at the same time. It's called Neighborhood Connections Thru Canning Hunger. It allows us to gradually build relationships with our neighbors by visiting them every two months to collect goods for people who are hungry.

First, we prayer-walk the streets, asking that God will move our hearts to ...

In a 2008 article for Psychology Today magazine, Hara Marano writes about the constant pressure girls face concerning their image. Deprived of an internal compass, girls compete to be "hottest," turning colleges into incubators for eating disorders and numerous unrealistic, self-imposed expectations.

But why?

Marano cites Courtney Martin, author of Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters. Martin believes ...

A 2008 Fitness magazine poll of 1,000 women found that women are willing to take drastic steps to reach their ideal weight:

• Twenty-three percent would spend a week in jail.

• Twenty-three percent would shave their head.

• Twenty-two percent would wear a bikini on TV.

• Twenty-one percent would trade ten years of their life.

The New England Journal of Medicine recently exposed another factor that contributes to obesity: a person's circle of friends. Statistics say it isn't long before a person of stronger discipline and a smaller waistline soon matches a larger friend's desire for food. In fact, the study found that the threat of obesity increases 57 percent if a person's friends are overweight.

According to a 2007 study by RTI International, a non-profit research organization in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, people are slightly more inclined to lose weight if they're getting paid to do so. Researchers at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill offered different degrees of financial reward to 200 overweight or obese individuals. To a third of the group, they promised $14 for ...

A study by the U.S. Department of Agriculture found that in 2002 more American families were hungry or were unsure whether they could afford to buy food.

In 2002, the number of American families who at one time or another were concerned that they could not afford food: 12 million

The number of families who experienced hunger: nearly 3.8 million

The number of Americans living in poverty in 2002: 34.6 ...

U2 singer Bono, in a private meeting in June 2001 on the Hill in Washington, D.C., said this about helping the needy of the world:

What will really wake people up is when Sunday schools start making flags and getting out in the streets.… Forget about the judgment of history. For those of you who are religious people, you have to think about the judgment of God.

Annual number of deaths worldwide of children under 5: 13,000,000