If you have any knowledge at all of human nature, you know that those who only admire the truth will, when danger appears, become traitors. The admirer is infatuated with the false security of greatness; but if there is any inconvenience or trouble, he pulls back. Admiring the truth, instead of following it, is just as dubious a fire as the fire of erotic love, which at the turn of the hand can be ...

Professional football player Troy Polamalu, a three-time Pro Bowl strong safety for the Pittsburgh Steelers, has worked hard to maintain his Christian character since joining the NFL in 2003. Before winning his second Super Bowl championship with the Steelers in 2009, Polamalu agreed to an interview for the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN). "Pride is tough," Polamalu said to the interviewer. "You ...

In the zany comedy Envy, Tim Dingman (Ben Stiller) and Nick Vanderpark (Jack Black) are next door neighbors, best friends, and coworkers at the local sandpaper factory. They ride together to work each day. Both feel like they are in meaningless, dead end jobs. Everyday Nick has outrageous ideas on how to get rich quick. Despite their friendship, the more practical Tim can't buy any of his ideas and ...

Many years ago, our family lived in Memphis. One day our 16-year-old son was reading the local paper and saw that a movie about Elvis Presley was going to be filmed at Graceland. The film company was looking for extras, and our son desperately wanted to volunteer. So I took him to the sign-up area on the specified day. Since he was a minor, I had to sign my name on a form, giving permission for him ...

A fascinating study done by Professor Vicki Medvec reveals the relative importance of subjective attitudes over and above objective circumstances. Medvec studied Olympic medalists and discovered that bronze medalists were quantifiably happier than silver medalists. Here's why: Silver medalists tended to focus on how close they came to winning gold, so they weren't satisfied with silver; broze medalists ...

Robin Lee Shope, a self-confessed "garage sale junkie," shares how she was consumed by disappointment over a lost bargain—until God changed her tune:

I parked in front of the house [that was holding the inside moving sale]. The front door was open as if urging, Come in and buy my treasures. As I wandered through the house, searching for hidden gems, I found a case under a pile of old bedspreads ...

In an article for the Gospel Coalition, pastor and author Tim Keller offers this potent definition of sin: "Sin isn't only doing bad things, it is more fundamentally making good things into ultimate things. Sin is building your life and meaning on anything, even a very good thing, more than on God. Whatever we build our life on will drive us and enslave us. Sin is primarily idolatry."

In his bestseller ...

It was teddy bear carnage at the Wookey Hall Caves, a teddy bear museum in western England. In the summer of 2006, a Doberman pinscher guard dog named Barney "just went berserk." In an evening rampage, Barney shredded about 100 of the bears on display. But what really got everyone's attention was that he tore apart Mabel—Elvis Presley's teddy bear.

Mabel is currently owned by an English aristocrat ...

Perhaps the best analogy for the Trinity is a time when you experienced a community of love. Maybe a family when it was at its most healthy and loving. A sports team when people stopped worrying about their own egos. A support group where you felt cared for in spite of your brokenness. A music group when you finally got lost in the music. Because to experience the Trinity is to experience a community ...

In a 2007 article for Christianity Today, Jenell Williams Paris, a mother to infant twins, explained how motherhood cultivates the spiritual discipline of self-denial every single day. Naps for little ones dictate the reality of a nap for the caretaker. A baby's cry for milk tears a carefully constructed schedule to pieces. Sickness demands a steady healing hand. The challenge for the mother, Paris ...