My grandparents lived in Salem, Arkansas, which was an all-white community in the Ozark foothills. One day in the early 1960s, Grandpa was strolling across the town square on his lunch break from his job at the post office. As he walked by the bus depot, a friendly voice called out to him. …

Glancing to his left, Grandpa found himself looking into the face of a man he hadn't seen for almost ...

The Tuesday night prayer meeting at Brooklyn Tabernacle felt like skydiving into a tornado, exhausting and exhilarating all at once. I'd read about the meeting in Pastor Jim Cymbala's book Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire, but nothing prepared me for the event itself: 3,500 God-hungry people storming heaven for two hours.

Afterward, my friend and I went out to dinner with the Cymbalas. In the course of the meal, ...

According to a 2009 study by the Pew Center, the proportion of U.S. adults in the corrections system is 1 in 31. A similar study in 1982 found that the proportion of U.S. adults in the corrections system was 1 in 77.

Two weeks after the [2008 presidential] election, I traveled to India to meet Christian pioneers seeking to overturn India's institutional form of discrimination, the caste system. One scholar said to me, "You Americans are celebrating the election of a black man after only 250 years of slavery. We are still waiting for liberation after 4,000 years of living under caste." The Dalit Freedom Network ...

For almost 10 years, Adam Bruckner, [assistant coach for the Philadelphia Kixx indoor soccer team], has made it his personal mission to help the homeless. Actually, "help" would be an understatement for what he does. Although he earns a modest income, he gives away practically everything. And when he decided that wasn't enough, he whittled his living expenses down to two items: gas for his car and ...

Change in giving to religious organizations and churches in 2008: +5.5 percent (a total of $106.89 billion)

Change in overall charitable giving in 2008: –2 percent (a total of $307.65 billion, the first decline in overall giving since 1987)

People call him "Shoe Bob," but his real name is Bob Fisher. He owns a small shoe repair shop tucked in a corner of a little strip mall in Wayzata, Minnesota. Average height, average build. Shoe Bob looks like your average, hard-working, churchgoing guy.

But he is not an average guy.

Shoe Bob is a radical servant who has found a way to help the homeless. He helps the homeless by rallying his whole community, ...

In light of the economic crisis of 2009, researchers asked 695 U.S. parents to identify their top priorities:

• Fifty-four percent said their children's health care
• Twenty-five percent said housing
• Eleven percent said food and groceries
• Six percent said their own and their spouse's health care
• The remaining participants listed other items.

Psychologists have found an intriguing way to study what it is that we really like and dislike. It's called "affective priming." They print a word over a bouncing dot on a computer screen. If people's response is positive, they push any key with their left hand; if negative—any key with their right.

Too discover our deeper responses, researchers will use subliminal stimulation. They'll print ...

Mike and Marie Meaney of Bellevue, Washington, have a unique ministry in their retirement years.

After completing 40 years in their respective careers as caterer and teacher, they knew God wasn't through with them. Sensing God's direction, Marie, on her 60th birthday, flew to Lusaka, Zambia, Central Africa, to assess needs of teachers and students.

She returned home and began writing a curriculum for ...