Highlights from a 2008 Harris Poll nation-wide survey of 2,126 U.S. adults:

• Americans who believe in God: 80 percent (unchanged since the last survey in 2005)
  
  
• Americans who believe Jesus is the Son of God: 71 percent
  
  
• Americans who believe in the resurrection of Jesus: 70 percent
  
  
• Americans who believe in the Virgin Birth: 61 percent
  
  
• Americans who believe in the survival of the soul after death: 68 percent
  
  

Kathy Lang's first day on the job was met with angry stares, bitterness, and harsh words.

"I hate you!" one girl shouted.

"I love you," Kathy replied.

So it goes when your workplace is a prison, a place Kathy never thought she'd be. But God clearly had other plans.

A veteran surgical nurse for over 25 years, Kathy was looking for a new job. An agency that staffs nurses offered her a position at a prison. ...

Sometimes the uniqueness of the revealed Word of God and the gospel of Jesus Christ is seen most clearly when contrasted with other spiritual beliefs.

Lauding the Dalai Lama as one of the world's 100 most influential leaders, author Deepak Chopra wrote in Time magazine:

The most inspiring thing [the Dalai Lama] ever told me was to ignore all organized faiths and keep to the road of higher consciousness. ...

According to a 2007 Gallup poll:

• Thirty-one percent of Americans believe the Bible is literal and inerrant.
  
  
• Ten percent of Americans with no religious affiliation believe the Bible is the literal word of God.
  
  
• Twenty-six percent of Americans with no religious affiliation believe the Bible is inspired by God.
  
  
• Nineteen percent of Americans believe the Bible is a compendium of myth and legend.

Yuko Maruyama, a Japanese organist working in Minneapolis, was once a devout Buddhist. Now, thanks to the music of J. S. Bach, she is a Christian. "Bach introduced me to God, Jesus, and Christianity," she told Metro Lutheran, a Twin Cities monthly. "When I play a fugue, I can feel Bach talking to God." Masashi Masuda, a Jesuit priest, came to faith in almost the same way: "Listening to Bach's Goldberg ...

God has a way of turning the deepest pain into victory. Because Ethiopian Christians faithfully ministered to a convicted murderer in jail, God brought salvation to Mohammed Ahmed, who was convicted of killing an evangelist named Tulu on February 2, 2005….

Tulu was the fifth eldest child of eight, but suffered from an unidentified disease that made him physically weak and a slow learner. During ...

When Beth Moore and her husband, Keith, spent time in war-torn Angola to draw attention to tens of thousands of malnourished people, they were changed forever. "I learned something in one of the rural villages that will mark my teaching and response to the Word of God," Beth says. "As we stood there, trying to absorb the sights and smells of living death, our new friend, Isak Pretorius, said, 'One ...

A 2008 Harris Initiative online poll of 2,513 U.S. adults revealed America's top ten favorite books:

1. The Bible
   
   
2. Gone with the Wind, by Margaret Mitchell
   
   
3. Lord of the Rings (trilogy), by J. R. R. Tolkien
   
   
4. Harry Potter (series), by J. K. Rowling
   
   
5. The Stand, by Stephen King
   
   
6. The Da Vinci Code, by Dan Brown
   
   
7. To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
   
   
8. Angels and Demons, by Dan Brown
   
   
9. Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand
   
   
10. Catcher in the Rye, by J. D. Salinger
    
    

In Bridge to Terabithia, 10-year-old Jesse (Josh Hutcherson) is befriended by Leslie (AnnaSophia Robb), the new girl in town. Together they create an imaginary world they call Terabithia.

In this scene, Jesse has invited Leslie to attend church with his family, provided she wears a dress. Along with the congregation they sing "The Old Rugged Cross." During the hymn, Leslie gazes at the light streaming ...

A 2008 survey by The Barna Group asked 1,008 U.S. adults to list the books they considered holy. The only book to be listed by above 5 percent was the Bible (84 percent). The Koran was listed by 4 percent; the Book of Mormon, 3 percent; the Torah, 2 percent. Other books which were listed by less than 1 percent of those surveyed included the Bhagavad, the Talmud, and the Teachings of Buddha.

A few ...