“Fly like eagles in worship…” At church this morning [Grace International Church, Baltimore, MD], Pastor Ken and the worship team improvised a lyric saying “Eagles take their prey to a higher altitude to suffocate them. Worship is moving to a higher altitude where problems and doubts can’t breathe.” Such an awesome exhortation! Worship takes our…
hints of the psychology of human judgment in Pauline theology
My wife and I have started attending a small church named Grace International Church here in Baltimore. We are pleased with the opportunity to transition from a much larger fellowship to a smaller community of believers with whom we might share more responsibility now that we know we will be in the area a bit…
can “technology organization(s) with trucks” save us from ourselves?
while reading my feedly sources last night, a suggestion to follow a blog called Green OR popped up. “green” and “operations research” are two of my favorite terms, so of course i clicked on their timeline. you should definitely check out ian frommer’s blog when you can. the very first post up discusses the role…
#67: learning teaching & understanding undertanding II
This week I received my first set of teaching evaluations… Let’s just say they weren’t pretty at all. I knew they were going to be bad, but they were catastrophic. Among several concerns my students had, one was a previous blog post I had written where I was wrestling with the disconnect between student motivation,…
#66: God brought you through the struggle… Now what?
Last night, I was asked to share my testimony with the Navigators fellowship at Bowie State University. I shared, but departed greatly from my prepared comments, so I’m writing an abridged version of my thoughts here. A few points of background to start: 1.) The Navigators is a Christian organization emphasizing one to one discipleship….
the “energy of innovation”
GWU’s Frank Sesno hosts Planet Forward’s special episode on “The Energy of Innovation.” I found this especially encouraging, and even had the Lakers game on mute while I was listening. I was even able to convince another resident that we should not increase the volume on the game in our apartment building’s club room, while…
#64 van jones at powershift
i heard a clip of van jones’s powershift keynote while listening to amy goodman while getting out the door yesterday morning. i’m still processing his words, but he said something that i found very important to study: “our economy runs on death. every day we pull death out of the ground and burn it”… here’s…
#63: R&R==running and research
as you may know, i’m a new professor coming to the end of my first academic year. i’ve had the opportunity to write my first proposals, arrange my first collaborations, and teach my first class at this new institution. i’ve gotten to choose my first graduate students, join my first university committees, and attend my…
optimism vs. ‘predictive precautionary pessimism’
I’ve been excited and nervous about the debate on nuclear power safety both at the same time. It’s made me think about the nature of infrastructure failures. In short, our lifeline systems are becoming so safe that all failures will be catastrophic. Today on one of the morning radio shows I listen to, an interviewee…
thoughts of earthquake inspiration and intercession
i’m not sure what to call this one, because the earthquake near sendai, japan, has been so shocking. i think the main reason this quake hasn’t occupied my every waking moment like the haitian earthquake did is because i am married to a haitian woman, while i do not know many japanese or anyone visiting…