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In Building a StoryBrand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen, Donald Miller writes, “In 2013, the soap company Dove released a series of short films featuring women who were the subjects of an FBI-trained forensic artist. Without actually seeing the women, the artist would draw each woman…

A unique piece of art at a Florida gallery recently sold for $120,000. The work entitled, THE COMEDIAN, by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan consisted of a banana duct taped to a wall. The founder of the gallery, Emmanuel Perrotin said the artist designed the piece to make the viewer consider how objects…

A survey by the Gallup organization found that 86 percent of Americans are satisfied with the way things are going in their personal lives. More than half of the people who responded reported they were “very satisfied” with their life. The organization said the latest results are consistent with numbers…

The most popular college class in America today is at Yale University. Psych 157: Psychology and the Good Life is attracting 1200 students per semester. According to the professor, today’s college students are not happy, and she thinks the unhappiness extends far beyond college students. “Students are…

Gillian Bayford worked nights in a hospital. Her husband worked days at his second-hand record shop. Then they won 148 million pounds in a British lottery. 15 months later, their marriage has “broken down irretrievably.” The divorce is final. In addition, Ms. Bayford, wept as she told how the windfall…

While Miley Cyrus is no longer a role model for young girls, there is one subject on which we ought to pay attention to her. She is only 22 years old but has already made a fortune. She complains that people from contractors to fellow celebrities are continually trying to get her to buy things she neither…

“I think everybody should get rich and famous and do everything they ever dreamed of so they can see that it’s not the answer.” –Jim Carrey With a net worth in the vicinity of 150 million dollars, the funny man actor finds that fame and fortune is not the answer to life’s ills. A believer would agree…

The entire Thanksgiving weekend used to be a time for families to be together. Then came Black Friday—a day to get good deals for clothing and electronics. Today, many are staying home again, due to the increase of violence. In the Chicago area, in 2013, a police officer shoots a thief at a Kohl’s Department…

George and Betty Davis of Rhinebeck, NY received a hand-me-down from George’s father when he passed. It was a Faberge figure of a Cossack. They wrapped it up and put it away in their attic. The executer of their estate found it there last spring and had it evaluated. It turned out to be a little figurine…

Archeologists digging in an ancient garbage dump dating to the 5th and 6th centuries say they are puzzled by what they have uncovered. Professors Oren Tal and Moshe Ajami say the dig outside of modern Tel Aviv has yielded the usual fragments of pottery and glass, as well as animal bones. They admit they…

The mayor of the Lithuanian capital Vilnius has announced that he will install a huge screen on the town hall which will display a real-time indicator of the city’s mood. The giant display will give a daily barometer reading of the city’s happiness as it tabulates votes citizens send in from their cell…

Ingrid Bergman says, “Success is getting what you want; happiness is wanting what you get.” --The Week, February 11, 2011 p. 21 Illustration by Jim L. Wilson and Rodger Russell 1 Timothy 6:6-10 (NASB) (6) But godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment. (7) For we have…

Many of us struggle to make ends meet. Our thinking is, “If we could just get a better paying job or at least a raise in my current job, I would have it made.” What if you had a salary of $300,000 per year, could you make it then? The problem is not that we make so little money. The problem is that we…

Many of us struggle to make ends meet. Our thinking is, “If we could just get a better paying job or at least a raise in my current job, I would have it made.” What if you had a salary of $300,000 per year? Could you make it then? The problem is not that we make so little money. The problem is that we…

How do we share the Biblical teaching of happiness and contentment in the current culture of greed and materialism? One study by Princeton University economists found that while money can buy some happiness, the negative effects, including more responsibility, more pressure to perform, and more stress,…

When Ray Fisman landed his first job after college, it was for a salary greater than all the money he had earned in his life up to that point. According to his own testimony, He was content, until the moment he discovered how much more other people just like him were earning. Then he said, “my monthly…

Envy is one of the sins we are warned about repeatedly in both the Old and New Testaments. For an example, look at the list of fleshly sins in Gal. 5:21. Perhaps one of the reasons the Spirit continually warns us of such friends is what envy does to us. Forbes quotes editorial cartoonist Frank Tyger…

A study by Belgian Psychologists have proved, well may have furthered the theory, that money cannot buy happiness. In fact, they say, it may be just the opposite. The study gave evidence that richer people aren’t as capable as poorer ones of savoring small pleasures. The small pleasures were simple things…

A factory in southern China manufactures iPhones for Apple and PC’s for Dell has experienced a rash of suicides and attempted suicides in the last few months. In searching for an explanation the answer most often given is the poor pay. The company does not pay its workers enough for them to afford the…

When asked what they would do with a sudden financial windfall, 83% of Americans indicated that they would either pay off debt or add to savings. --Readers Digest, January 2009, p. 31 Illustration by Jim L. Wilson and Rodger Russell This could be seen as either good or bad news. It is bad news because…

A new study drawn from Internal Revenue Service statistics and published by Kiplinger, indicates the salaries of Americans may be better than most people think. The recent recession coupled with a high unemployment rate has focused attention on the official poverty level in the country, and finds that…

Six years ago, English teenager Callie Rogers won $3 million in the lottery. After spending through it, she says she has about $32,000 left; she sums up the last three years. “In the past six years I’ve sunk into a black hole, a black hole that at one point I thought I could never crawl out of. Winning…

The man who became rich after founding McAfee, a company that produces computer antivirus software, has decided to get rid of many of his earthly belongings. An article in the New York Times reported John McAfee had lost a lot of wealth during the current recession, but his change of heart does not appear…

The greatness of a man’s power is the measure of his surrender. —William Booth One afternoon a Christian author found herself on an airplane, sitting next to a young man. She writes, “I had already observed something about this young man when I was being seated. He called me ‘ma'am.’ At the time I thought,…

As our spiritual Father, God desires to provide for our every need. Many people “upgrade” their lives in the new year. How many new cars, new homes, new electronics have you seen around? Many times this happens because of Christmas bonuses, special deals, or as a result of the “good” feeling of Christmas.…