Becky and I will be leaving town as the DNC arrives in town. When we made our reservations for the trip to Montana, we were not thinking that we’d be missing all those Democrats.

We leave very early on Monday morning, and with a stop at O’Hare in Chicago we ought to be in Bozeman, Montana, before noon.  Then a five hour drive to Whitefish near the entrance to Glacier National Park, where we plan to spend a few days hiking and taking in the beauty and wonder of God’s creation in that amazing place. At the end of the week we will head back to Billings, a seven hour drive (Montana is a big state), for some time with two of Becky’s brothers who live there.

By the time we are back in Philadelphia, the Democrats will have left town. We didn’t plan it that way, but we’re okay with it. Continue reading →

Kay Brown, who staffs our Children’s Ministry team, calls LPC’s week of Vacation Bible School her favorite week of the year. It is a wonderful week.

VBS returns to LPC Monday morning, and we are ready to welcome the kids and all the leaders, and to make room for what God intends to do in, through, and among us. It is a wonderful week.

Kay has compiled some numbers that tell a bit of the story of our excitement about the week. It is a wonderful week. Continue reading →

Our daughter’s father-in-law died a week ago today. Ottis was a faithful  Christian, a loving husband to Karen, and very good father to his two sons, one of whom we are pleased to call our son-in-law. He was also a friend.

Alanna and Jonathan were engaged two years ago this month and married in Memphis on November 15, four months later.  Ottis and I did not meet until the wedding weekend, but we connected immediately and began an occasional email correspondence. Last September, the week of the Pope’s visit to Philadelphia, Becky and I traveled to Auburn, Alabama, to visit Ottis and Karen along with Jonathan and Alanna who drove in from Memphis. We watched Auburn lose to Mississippi State and enjoyed wonderful hospitality. It was the last time we saw Ottis. Continue reading →

There’s a sad story in the news about a fatal automobile accident involving a 2015 Tesla Model S and a tractor trailer crossing a divided highway in front of the Tesla. The driver of the Tesla was killed.

Tesla issued a statement that reads in part, “What we know is that the vehicle was on a divided highway with Autopilot engaged when a tractor trailer drove across the highway perpendicular to the Model S. Neither Autopilot nor the driver noticed the white side of the tractor trailer against a brightly lit sky, so the brake was not applied.”

Apparently the Model S Autopilot has some sort of optics system that registers contrasts and sends signals to the breaking system when it determines that the contrast represents an on-coming object. It does all this in milliseconds. Continue reading →

I am not much of a Twitter user, though I have had an account for four years, have ten followers, and have tweeted 19 times. Twitter, of course, is one of the big players in social media. Popes and presidents, athletes and stars, CEOs and celebrity pastors, all have Twitter accounts – and twitter assistants to twit their tweets. The White House tweets news of major policy decisions, and a well-placed tweet during a long flight delay just may get you an apology from the airline and a free flight to the destination of your choice.

I love social media and electronic communication. I love reading Facebook posts from our mission partners in Guatemala and seeing Instagram photos from friends in Brazil. The posts from the blog of the Kibuye team in Burundi often brings tears to my eyes and joy to my heart (see this update for the most recent from Kibuye). Only Facebook would call my 325 Facebook contacts “friends,” but it allows me to stay in touch with people from my past we would have long ago taken off our Christmas card list. And Twitter, well, thank you, Twitter. Continue reading →