The right song can really set the tone. Particularly in movies, where the music not only compliments the imagery, but often steers us to how we’re supposed to feel about what we’re watching. Music helps us understand whether the action is scary or silly, whether a character is acting in anxiety or e
Don’t shoot the messenger! That phrase (in one form or another) has roots all the way back in 400 B.C.[1] Historically, people don’t usually take the advice. It’s rough business being a messenger bringing unwanted news. But sometimes even good news leads to the death of the messenger.In the early 13
Hollywood loves to fawn over method actors. It’s when an actor fully takes on the behavior and mentality of a character they’ve been cast to play until the production has finished. Even when the cameras aren’t rolling, they will demand people refer to them by the character’s name. They will use the
“Everyone has a plan until they get hit.” That is probably Mike Tyson’s most famous quote in a long catalog of memorable maxims. Over the years, people have embellished the line to make it more hard-hitting. Usually you hear it repeated as, “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face.” B
Who is in charge here?!? That’s usually a question that gets asked when things have gone wrong. In 1100 BC Israel,[1] things had gone very wrong.It was the time of the Judges. A time defined by moral and political chaos. One of the darkest eras of Israel’s history.[2] Some of those closing chapters
There is a tree that grows at Syracuse University known as The Tree of 40 Fruit.[1] It is a living, growing art project of professor Sam Van Aken, who has grafted the tree in such a way that it does, in fact, bear 40 different varieties of stone fruit every year. Peaches, plums, apricots, nectarines
How often do you get a good night’s rest? The answer might depend on what state you live in. The states with the highest percentage of bad sleep are Kentucky, West Virginia, and Hawaii. Finally a list California isn’t in the worst spot! The best states for sleep? Colorado, Vermont, and Minnesota.[1]
Sometimes an outgoing executive will leave the company with recommendations for the future. A multi-step roadmap, a five point plan. Jack Welch shared ten “foundation points for the next launch of GE” during his final address.[1] On his way out, Starbucks founder Howard Schultz delivered a five poin
From time to time we take a look at one of the 60 or so “one another” commands in Bible. They’re given to Christians so we can know how to properly relate to each other in the church and so we can be built up, others can be built up, and our church can thrive in the love of God.Today’s command is fo
In 2022, Elon Musk shocked everyone by buying Twitter. When he arrived at headquarters as boss that first day, he made some bold moves. He threw out four top executives and pledged to get rid of 75% of the staff. Most famously, he arrived at the front door holding a kitchen sink, tweeting, “Entering
Are you good at keeping your promises? Some of you may be in a promise debt right now. All of us who are married are in a promise debt to love and to cherish our spouses – a promise made to God and one He takes seriously (and we should, too).Sometimes we make more specific promises. Shaquille O’Neal
How close and how bright does a situation have to be for you to recognize a familiar face? That’s not really a question we think about, but one that does come up in, say, court proceedings. The outcome of trials often hinges on eyewitness identification. Researchers have tried to determine just how
Perhaps some of you remember Harry Truman. Not Harry S. Truman the president, Harry R. Truman the bootlegger turned prospector who, for 52 years, ran a lodge at the base of Mount St. Helens.Harry has been labeled a folk hero by many in the media.[1] More than 100 songs have been written in his honor
What’s the biggest gift you ever asked for? Think back to letters to Santa or your wedding registry. Sometimes the request betrays an ugly selfishness. Like when a boy told Santa, saying he’d be more than willing to trade his sister for a north pole elf just as soon as the stork dropped her off.[1]S
It was just past midnight in Bavaria, Germany. Lisa’s doorbell rang. She assumed it was just someone playing ding-dong-ditch. But then her sister-in-law, who lived in the apartment above, called. Her doorbell had been ringing over and over. While they were on the phone, Lisa’s bell rang again.Here’s
Some groups are hard to get into. 80% of Navy SEAL candidates fail out of BUD/S. NASA rejected 99.9% of applicants for their 2021 astronaut class. They selected only 10 out of 12,000.[1]Maybe you’ve heard of Skull and Bones. It’s the oldest of several secret societies at Yale. They admit just 15 mem
In the mid 1800’s, New York was rocked by a terrible and deadly scandal. Clean drinking water was scarce, so demand for milk skyrocketed. Local distilleries realized they could cash in on this market. So, they brought in cows to milk. And then they had a great business idea: Why not feed the cows wi
If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it’s a duck. This folksy bit of common sense was probably coined by a late 19th century American poet named James Riley.[1] In the 20th century, it became a repeated warning of the dangers of communism, both domestically and internationally.Elementary
From time to time we are taking a look together at the “one another” commands in Bible. It’s been a little while, but we’re back at it this morning.There are about 60 “one another” commands, given to Christians so we can know how to properly relate to each other in the church and so we can be built
If you were a college football coach in 1982, you wanted Marcus Dupree on your team. He was the “best player on the field.”[1] He broke Herschel Walker’s high school record for most touchdowns.Some said that he was ready for the NFL at age 18.Naturally, big name universities did all they could to ge
“Jesus talked about money more than any other topic.”I’ve heard that statement, or something similar, dozens of times over the years. It gained popularity because many of Jesus’ parables do involve money or possessions. Consequently, preachers started repeating statistics like “one-third of Jesus’ p
Let’s talk about Iran.It’s ancient biblical name was Persia. Its southwestern region is Elam. For the sake of simplicity, I will refer to all of Persia, Iran, and Elam as Iran.If you’re even a little familiar with Bible prophecy, you know Scripture predicts that in the last days a coalition of natio
It’s the time of year when college-bound high schooler seniors are getting serious about that next step into a new domain. For many it will mean packing up and moving onto a campus in another city, maybe another state. They’re going to become Bulldogs or Bruins or Banana slugs. In my case, I became
In the United States, nearly 98% of criminals walk free.[1] It’s not that we don’t try. In fact, we spend about $300 billion every single year to fund police, courts, jails, prisons, probation, and parole.[2]Here in California, only 12% of burglary cases are even solved, let alone perpetrators punis
