Christians have their own string theory but it doesn’t make sense. String theory is science’s most recent stab at developing a Theory of Everything. It suggests a universe composed entirely of vibrating filaments (strings) and membranes (branes) working in compatible ways. While largely impenetrable, it’s instructive for the faith community, which has another string theory….
It took the Beatles four years to reach 10,000 hours. It was 47 years ago today, February 7, 1964, that 3,000 screaming fans greeted the Beatles at New York’s Kennedy Airport. The band had just scored their first No. 1 U.S. hit with “I Want to Hold Your Hand.” But it took them four years…
Solar panels are heading into the Valley of Death—again. The White House is having additional solar panels installed this spring. President Carter installed them, Reagan dismantled them, and George W. Bush reinstalled a few. It’s a start/stop story picturing what plagues innovation: ideas failing to get traction. It’s a problem plaguing the faith community as…
A quarter of a million people will gather today in Washington DC to voice their opposition to abortion. This is appropriate as dissent is essential to democracy. It is insufficient for changing minds, however. Protest relies on rigorously using rules of logic—rules that are bent in fallen beings. This is why protest rarely bends attitudes….
“Chill, dudes,” chimed the cheery dinosaur. “We’re too big to fail.” When institutions become “too big to fail,” they inevitably fail. “Too big” is a faulty frame. It guarantees an organization’s ultimate failure, including Wall Street and Main Street institutions—and even the institutions of marriage and the church.
Rerouting Boston’s Central Artery required more resources than anyone imagined. The “Big Dig” was the largest civil engineering project in U.S. history. Promised to cost $2.8 billion in 1985, it came in at $22 billion in 2007. These numbers are miniscule however when compared to the costs of tackling a human engineering problem—weight gain in…
“When you have to stop and think about things is when they go wrong.” When San Antonio Spurs’ forward Tim Duncan is playing well, he’s feelin’ it. Think too much and things go wrong. You might not be involved in high-speed sports, but you do experience high-speed decision making everyday. Why then does the Western…
The cars are sleek—but they only operate by gravity. In the early 1930s, a Dayton Ohio news photographer watched three boys race cool-looking engine-less cars down an inclined street. A year later, The Soap Box Derby was born. It features aerodynamic cars operating by gravity. It’s the same dynamic that drives many contemporary ministries—and presents…
In 1938, the “Chase and Sanborn Hour” was the most popular radio program. “Mercury Theatre on the Air” ran second—until Mercury’s dramatist, Orson Welles, updated an old story, War of the Worlds. It proved stunning. This weekend, you will likely hear an updated version of Christmas. Will it however prove stunning… or sappy?
Alan Iverson understood talking about practice misses the point. A few years ago, as Alan Iverson’s play declined, the press honed in on his poor practice habits. This incensed the former NBA all-star. “I’m supposed to be the franchise player and we’re talking about practice… not the game… practice. How silly is that?” It’s not…