Several years ago I ran a marathon. I trained hard to be as prepared as possible, but there's a part of a marathon that's always hard to prepare for. A marathon is just a little over 26 miles, but experts tell you not to run over 20 miles in your training. That means the last six miles of a marathon are "no man's land." You don't know what you're getting yourself into. You may hit a wall. You may ...

FTT—my wife first introduced me to those initials. Nancy was a nurse when I first met her. There were many parts of nursing for which she did not care. But she loved diagnosis. To this day there cannot be too many episodes of Grey's Anatomy or ER for her. (Oprah either, but that's another story.) She is constantly telling me her private diagnoses of people—even total strangers—based ...

I had accepted the call as senior pastor of a large congregation that had recently erected a huge, state-of-the-art building resulting in major debt. Feeling the pressures of my new responsibility—and with a strong desire to impress my parishioners—I hit the ground running. I was in the office early every day, and almost every evening I was out shepherding the flock or reaching out to ...

Every day, for close to seven years, Walter "Buck" Swords cursed and stomped his feet in his favorite restaurant, Luby's Cafeteria, demanding that he get his food exactly as he wanted it. Every day, for close to seven years, his preferred waitress, Melina Salazar, offered a patient smile and did whatever she could to help her most stubborn customer. After years of thankless service, Salazar was rewarded. ...

In this age of overflowing mega churches and high-profile Christian ministries, can a tiny congregation hidden in the middle of America make a difference?

Consider West Covington Baptist Church. Kalkidan Tessema, a 4-year-old Ethiopian girl, is alive and well today thanks to this northern Kentucky church with a Sunday attendance of about 25 people.

Last year, when member Grace Wilson received e-mails ...

Rest and relaxation doesn't seem to come as easily or naturally to Americans as it does to those in other nations. According to the 2006 World Almanac and Book of Facts:

• a worker in Italy averages 42 vacation days per year.

• a worker in France: 37 days

• a worker in Germany: 35 days

• a worker in Brazil: 34 days

• a worker in the United Kingdom: 28 days

• a worker in ...

One Night with the King is the movie version of the biblical story of Esther. The following scene shows the bravery and devotion of Mordecai, Esther's cousin who served as her only parent. When King Xerxes orders all royal officials to bow before his second-in-command, Haman, Mordecai realizes such an act would be idolatrous for a Jew. In this scene, Haman's processional is making its way through ...

Turning 100 turned out to be the most lucrative moment of one British man's life. Ten years ago, when Alec Holden was 90, he made the U.S. equivalent of a $200 bet that he would live to see 100. A betting company had placed Holden's odds at 250–1, so on April 24, 2007, he collected his rightful earnings, totaling $50,000.

Holden, who worked as both a teacher and a carpenter through the years, ...

I once met a brother from Ghana, West Africa, who was completing his PhD in the School of World Missions at Fuller Theological Seminary. During one of his trips home, he attempted to share the gospel with several people who lived in his community. Although they listened respectfully, no one turned to Jesus Christ. He later learned that they were intimidated by a witch doctor who lived nearby. The ...

A realist is an idealist who has gone through the fire and been purified. A skeptic is an idealist who has gone through the fire and been burned.

—Warren W. Wiersbe in Leadership