Reveal

I returned late last night from one of the most intense conferences I've been to. Willow Creek Community Church near Chicago hosted the Reveal Conference, which focused on recent findings in some research they have done regarding spiritual formation. The whole study is nothing short of fascinating. What began as an evaluation of their church grew into a study of over 250,000 people in 800 churches. The conference highlighted some of their key findings about what facilitates spiritual formation, and it also studied 15 churches that ranked in the top 5% in helping their members grow. To learn more, check out Reveal.

While there, I was motivated to do a little research of my own. In my short trip there, I did a comparative analysis of 2 of Chicago's most famous pizza places, Gino's East and Lou Malnati's. (I also tried Reggio's Pizza in the airport, but they weren't worthy of this list.) Here's what I found:

1. Both pizza's take a long time (over 30 minutes) to come out.

2. Gino's East clearly has the thicker crust, by about 1/4 inch at the edge.

3. Gino's East also has more sauce (on top, of course), making it seem a little more balanced.

4. Lou Malnati's has a crisper crust, and a disproportionate amount of cheese.

5. Gino's East tastes slightly better when hot, Lou Malnati's is much better out of the fridge the next morning.

6. Finally, Gino's East cost about $1 more per pizza than Lou Malnati's.

While these facts are quite revealing, more research must be done to make a more conclusive statement. Also, to be thorough, future studies also need to include Giordano's and Uno's in the mix.