Denominations

Amazon has unveiled its latest innovation in warehouse automation: Vulcan, a state-of-the-art robot equipped with touch-sensitive technology. Currently being piloted in fulfillment centers in Spokane, Washington and Hamburg, Germany, Vulcan represents a significant leap forward in robotic dexterity and efficiency. Unlike previous warehouse robots, Vulcan can “feel” its way around packages, allowing it to handle a wider variety of items with greater precision and care.

The introduction of Vulcan is part of Amazon’s ongoing commitment to improving both the speed and safety of its logistics operations. According to Amazon’s robotics division, “Vulcan’s ability to sense and adapt to the objects it handles is a game-changer for our fulfillment process.” The robot’s touch sensors enable it to detect the size, shape, and fragility of packages, reducing the risk of damage and improving overall workflow.

Warehouse employees working alongside Vulcan have noted the robot’s smooth integration into daily operations. The company also emphasizes that Vulcan is designed to work collaboratively with human staff, not replace them. “Our goal is to make our employees’ jobs easier and safer by automating repetitive or strenuous tasks,” an Amazon spokesperson explained. Regardless of its current level of efficacy, the e-commerce giant still reserves its most important tasks for humans.

As Amazon continues to expand its use of advanced robotics, Vulcan stands out as a symbol of the future of warehouse automation—a future where machines and humans work together more seamlessly than ever before.

Possible Preaching Angles:

1) Idolatry; Technology; Trust - The Bible warns against placing ultimate trust in human inventions or allowing technology to become an idol, such as the Tower of Babel (Gen. 11:1-9). Trust should be placed in God, not in human innovation (Psa. 20:7); 2) Cooperation, Teamwork - Vulcan is designed to augment, not replace, human workers, echoing the biblical theme of shared labor and partnership in work (Ecc. 4:9)

Chapman University recently completed its 10th annual Chapman Survey of American Fears (2024). Each wave of the survey focuses on what Americans fear, the potential causes of those fears, and the consequences of fear. In addition, the comprehensive survey includes extensive background information about respondents, allowing for examinations of how fears vary by different groups.

Here are the top ten fears for 2024 (check the Chapman Survey for American Fears for new yearly top fears):

1. Corrupt Government Officials 65.2%

2. People I Love Becoming Seriously Ill 58.4%

3. Cyberterrorism 58.3%

4. People I Love Dying 57.8%

5. Russia Using Nuclear Weapons 55.8%

6. Not Having Enough Money for the Future 55.7%

7. US Becoming Involved in Another World War 55.0%

8. North Korea Using Nuclear Weapons 55.0%

9. Terrorist Attack 52.7%

10. Biological Warfare 52.5%

Regarding the number 1 fear, Corrupt Government Officials, the survey added this comment:

Our analysis of the data also shows that Americans perceive corruption at all levels of government – local, state, and Federal. Whereas some might suggest that perceptions of corruption are driven by mistrust of national politicians and the executive branch of government, our findings show that, although Americans perceive somewhat less corruption at the local level, all levels of government are generally perceived as compromised. And despite the intense partisanship that surrounds public discussion of corruption, we found that Americans are fearful of corruption across lines of party and ideological identification.

Every 13- or 17-years a remarkable event of nature happens - cicadas emerge from more than a decade underground. How do they keep track of time? This is one of the “seven biological wonders of the world,” according to John Cooley, a biologist at the University of Connecticut.

“Seventeen [years] is just an inordinately long time to keep track of anything,” adds John Lill, an insect ecologist at George Washington University. “I can’t keep track of five years let alone 17, myself—so how an insect does it is pretty remarkable.”

During their long stint underground, the insects sip at xylem sap, the nutrient-poor but water-rich liquid that moves from a tree’s root tips up to its canopy. Each year as a tree buds and blossoms, its xylem is briefly richer in amino acids, leading one team of researchers to call it “spring elixir.” Cicadas appear to count each flush of spring elixir.

Another researcher said, “We know that’s what they count. Where they’re putting their little chalk marks on the wall, we don’t know. We really don’t understand how they’re keeping track of it.”

Possible Preaching Angle:

God’s timetable is even more mysterious. James tells us to “be patient until the coming of the Lord” (Jam. 5:7) Peter adds, “A day with the Lord is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promises” (2 Pet 3:8-9). God’s timetable is higher than ours so we must trust in Him and his perfect timing.

A black bear broke into the Knoxville Zoo in Tennessee. NBC News reported the following story: "A neighbor called the Knoxville Zoo late Monday night and alerted a ranger, saying there was a bear in a nearby park, according to a zoo official. A short while later, the ranger saw what he presumed to be the same bear climbing over a fence and into the zoo.

It was unclear where, exactly, the ursine interloper wound up. The ranger had to wake up the zoo's four resident bears on Monday to conduct a 'nose count.' “They weren't too happy with us." It's fairly common for zoos to encounter smaller animals like dogs, cats, or squirrels trying to break over or around or through the zoo's walls.

Possible Preaching Angle:

Apparently, the bear in this story couldn't handle all that freedom and wanted to return to comfort of captivity. Sound like a familiar story? How often do people attempt to turn away from the sin that has them in spiritual bondage, only to return to it again? (Prov. 26:11; 2 Pet. 2:22).

Giant redwoods are the most massive individual trees on earth. The redwood can grow to 270 feet tall and 25 feet in diameter. You might think that something that huge must have an incredible root system that goes down deep in order to stand that tall. This is not the case at all. The redwood tree has no tap root and remarkably shallow roots—only five or ten feet deep.

It seems to violate the laws of physics that they can stay upright for hundreds – even thousand – of years. That is, until you know one more fact: the redwoods grow in thick groves because their shallow roots are intertwined, and over time, fused together. They start out as individuals and become one with others as they mature and grow.

So, beneath the surface of these incredible statuesque trees are roots like an army of men who have their arms interlocked and supporting each other. They are preventing the adversaries of life from knocking each other down.

Possible Preaching Angles:

1) Holy Spirit, indwelling; Paraclete - Individual believers are supported and strengthened by the indwelling Holy Spirit who stabilizes us against temptation and the trials of life; 2) Body of Christ; Community; Support - The mutual support of our brothers and sisters in Christ can keep us upright when we otherwise might fall.

Assistant Principal Raymond Dolphin knew he was taking a risk in December 2021 when he banned cell phones from Illing Middle School in Connecticut. But more than two years later, the program has become an unqualified success.

Secondary schools all over the U.S. are either enacting or considering some kind of cell phone ban, in part because of stories like Dolphin’s. Dan Connolly, one of the science teachers at Illing, used to have to nag students to put away their phones. “Now the first thing I say is, ‘Good morning,’ not ‘Take your Air Pods out.’”

Following the lead of not only schools but concert halls and comedy clubs, students at Illing are not required to surrender their phones, but place them in a special branded pouch called a Yondr, which can only be unlocked at certain school monitored stations.

Students at Illing predictably resisted the ban at first, but some of them have come around to seeing its benefits. “You can focus more,” said Chioma Brown, who’s grown so accustomed to the ban that she occasionally forgets that her phone is on her person.

Bans on cellphones have become much more commonplace in part because the relationship between students and their phones intensified during the pandemic years of persistent remote learning. According to Harvard Medical School psychologist Susan Linn, drastic actions like these must be taken to restore order and cultivate healthy learning environments. She said, “We have these devices which we know are at best habit-forming and at worst addictive that are increasingly linked to depression and loneliness. So why would we have them in schools?”

Possible Preaching Angle:

Living a life of holiness and devotion to God sometimes requires us to put restrictions on the things that distract us, not because such things are evil, but because they get in the way of hearing from God.

It’s frustrating to public safety officials that there is so little publicly available data on the role that smartphones play in distracting drivers in auto accidents. According to an article in The New York Times, there is no database of crashes attributable to cell-phone-related distraction. This is even though plenty of states have laws on the books against cell-phone-distracted driving.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), in 2021 only one percent of fatal car accidents were attributed to cell-phone distraction, and only eight percent of all non-fatal accidents involved cell-phone use. But those figures only account for the times when cell phones are explicitly mentioned in police reports. This is usually because a driver admitted being distracted or a witness saw them on their phone.

Regulatory agencies know this is a problem, but other than vague declarations to look into it, they don’t seem to be able to make much headway. Meanwhile according to AAA, road fatalities have reached a 16-year high. It seems the ultimate responsibility to reverse this trend falls on drivers themselves, who often admit driving distracted in anonymous surveys. A recent study found that 50 percent of drivers admitted to having engaged in device-related distraction in the last 30 days.

According to the CDC “driving at 55 miles per hour while sending or reading a text is like driving the length of a football field with your eyes closed.”

Possible Preaching Angle:

It is important to focus on what matters in life. Don’t allow yourself to be distracted by secondary things. If we do, life becomes more difficult and even dangerous.

President Abraham Lincoln’s biographer, Jon Meacham argues that Lincoln's version of Christian faith was complicated. But Meacham also adds, “There is no doubt, however, that the Lincoln of the White House years became more religiously inclined, attending services with some regularity and meeting with ministers and congregants.” Lincoln became more convinced of the sovereign purposes of a God who oversees world events.

At one point. Lincoln said, “I may not be a great man. I know I'm not a great man—and perhaps it is better than it is so—for it makes me rely upon One who is great and who has the wisdom and power to lead us safely through this great trial [of the Civil War.]”

Two Christian university professors had an unusual assignment for students over a long break. Stanley Hauerwas and William H. Willimon told their students while they were on school break to take a long, good look at their belly button. Why? They explain:

Nothing is quite as revealing as our belly button ... by noting that we are creatures, creations of mothers and fathers, the Bible tells us that we have life as a gift. We are begotten, not manufactured. Someone even changed our diapers; our first hint of what grace must be like. No wonder some of us resent our parents, for they are a visible, ever-present reminder that we were created, that the significance of our lives is not exclusively self-derived.

In contrast, it is all too easy in today's Western culture for us to imagine that we are self-made people. But your belly button does not merely remind you of Mom and Dad, but of your Creator and Redeemer, from whom you have life, meaning, and purpose.

When Heather Kopp arrived at rehab, she was a 40-something mom of two and a veteran of Christian publishing. She had never been in jail or on the streets, she’d simply let a nightly glass of wine turn into two, which turned into a bottle, which eventually led to additional mini bottles hidden and secretly chugged in the bathroom. Soon enough, every moment of her life revolved around her next chance to sneak away for a drink.

Karen’s story opens a window into the mind of a burgeoning alcoholic. But as she moved through her rehab and recovery phases into her struggle to understand God’s presence amid her alcoholism, she arrives at a universal truth: Substance abuse is a physical manifestation of a spiritual addiction to sin. And everyone, it turns out, is an addict.

But this isn’t a story of how addiction led Karen to God, or how God pulled her out of addiction. Instead, Karen’s story is one of confronting the nature of sin and understanding more fully the necessity and beauty of God’s grace.

Karen now reflects on her sobriety, “(People) think I just resist temptation over and over because I’m a good person or because I have all this willpower. Can you imagine? How do you explain to people that it’s not anything like that?” Recovery is a living example of the miracle of grace. When addiction removes the illusion of self-sufficiency, the addict must reach a point of surrender from which to accept grace without conditions, and to have confidence that God really is in control, no matter what.

Possible Preaching Angle

It’s tempting for the nonalcoholic to hear Karen’s story about alcoholism as a detached observer. We can marvel at the depths from which God can save a person from pursuits that bring only harm, pain, and grief—and thank him that we haven’t fallen as far. But Karen’s story reminds us that we are each living our own addiction story. And we can’t lose sight of the complete and total dependence on God’s sustaining grace that offers any hope of a way out. Whatever your addiction, God’s grace is the only hope for a way out.

Gerrit De Vynck wrote a story in The Washington Post about how artificial intelligences respond to the errors they make.

Citing a recent MIT research paper, De Vynck reported that a group of scientists loaded up two iterations of Open AI’s ChatGPT, and asked each one a simple question about the geographical origin of one of MIT’s professors. One gave an incorrect answer, the other a correct one.

Researchers then asked the two bots to debate until they could agree on an answer. Eventually, the incorrect bot apologized and agreed with the correct one. The researchers’ leading theory is that allowing chatbots to debate one another will create more factually correct outcomes in their interactions with people.

One of the researchers said, “Language models are trained to predict the next word. They are not trained to tell people they don’t know what they’re doing.” De Vynck adds, “The result is bots that act like precocious people-pleasers. [They’re] making up answers instead of admitting they simply don’t know.”

AIs like ChatGPT are not trained to discern truth from falsehood, which means that false information gets included along with truth. Chatbots like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Microsoft’s Bing, and Google’s Bard have demonstrated a major fatal flaw: They make stuff up all the time. These falsehoods, or digital hallucinations as they are being called, are a serious concern because they limit the effectiveness of the AI as a tool for fact-finding.

What’s worse, scientists are beginning to see evidence that AIs pick up on societal fears around robots gaining sentience and turning against humanity, and mimic the behavior they see depicted in science fiction. According to this theory, if an artificial intelligence actually kills a human being, it might be because it learned from HAL, the murderous robot from 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Sundar Pichai, chief executive officer at Google said, “No one in the field has yet solved the hallucination problem. All models do have this as an issue.” When asked if or when this will change, Pichai was less than optimistic. “[It’s] a matter of intense debate,” he said.

Possible Preaching Angle:

In our pursuit of technology, we must never give up our human responsibility to seeking or telling the truth.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced an investigation into a traffic incident involving a Tesla striking a pedestrian. Local authorities say the driver of a 2022 Tesla Model Y failed to stop for a school bus while it was dropping off students, and one of the students was struck after having just exited the bus. The NHTSA investigation was triggered because it was believed that the driver of the Tesla was using a partially automated driving system at the time of the crash.

Since 2016, NHTSA investigators have probed extensively into at least 30 different auto accidents involving Teslas using driver-assist technology. These premium options are marketed under terms like “Autopilot” and “Full Self-Driving.” Critics call these options misleading, since Tesla insists that drivers using them must keep their hands on the wheel and maintain vehicular awareness at all times.

Michael Brooks is the executive director of the Center for Auto Safety in Washington. He believes that Tesla has a unique responsibility in addressing these safety concerns.

Brooks said, “I’ve been saying probably for a couple of years now, they need to figure out why these vehicles aren’t recognizing flashing lights for a big starter. NHTSA needs to step in and get them to do a recall because that’s a serious safety issue.”

In February, NHTSA pressure resulted in Tesla recalling more than 300,000 vehicles because their driver assist software was violating traffic laws. Tesla said the problem was corrected via an over-the-air software update, similar to how smartphones receive updates. This action followed a request by the U.S. Department of Justice for Tesla to turn over internal documents related to its “Autopilot” and “Full Self-Driving” features.

Possible Preaching Angle:

When people put too much trust in technology, there can be dangerous consequences. Tech companies must put public safety over profits and innovation.

Perhaps it’s a sign of the times, but nearly six in ten (59%) parents say they often text their kids to come downstairs for dinner instead of actually talking to them.

A survey of 2,000 parents of school-age children found the average kid will receive their first smartphone at 10-years-old. 70% of parents say they trust their kids with tech, even though 66% have put parental controls on all their children’s devices for security.

Parents say they decided to give their youngsters a smartphone to use for emergency purposes, to help them gain tech skills for their future work, and because they showed the maturity to own one. The survey also revealed that two-thirds of parents think their kids will have access to tech no matter how strict they are.

Half of those polled have purchased or considered getting their kid a non-smartphone, or basic feature phone, with the goal of helping them to avoid “distraction apps” and to keep basic features like call and text without internet access. Tony Mokry, VP for Cricket Wireless said, “It’s about relying on connectivity for flexibility and security to keep parents and children safe and engaged whenever and wherever.”

The poll also quizzed kids, ages six to eighteen, on their knowledge of older tech devices. When presented with images of old gadgets, almost half were unable to identify a landline. Only 28% percent knew what a floppy disk was and just 26% were able to name and explain how to use an answering machine.

The inventor of the world’s first cellphone says he’s stunned by how much time people now waste on their devices. 92-year-old Martin Cooper made the declaration during an interview with “BBC Breakfast” responding to a co-host who claimed she whiled away upwards of five hours per day on her phone. “Do you really? You really spend five hours a day? Get a life!” he stated, before bursting into laughter.

Cooper invented the world’s first cellphone back in 1973. He came up with the idea to make a portable phone that people could bring with them into their car, but also take out of the vehicle and use while they were out and about running errands.

Once the device was completed, it was named the Motorola DynaTAC 8000X. It weighed 2½ pounds and was 10 inches long. It lasted just 25 minutes before it ran out of battery and took a whopping 10 hours to recharge. The phone didn’t hit the market for a further decade, finally released to the public in 1983. It cost a whopping $3,995.

Now, almost half a century after Cooper’s invention, Americans are hooked on their devices. A 2021 survey found that 46% of respondents spent five to six hours on their phones each day. 11% said that they spent a staggering seven hours or more on their devices.

It's old school in Jacob Dannenberg's college dorm room. He uses an alarm clock to wake him up, handwritten notes for reminders, and an actual wristwatch to keep track of time. No, it wasn't 1999. It was an Adelphi University course called "Life Unplugged" taught by Professor Donna Freitas, where students did the unthinkable--handing over their smartphones. One student said, "I'm freaking out, I could probably cry right now.”

The students voluntarily turned in their phones to the university's public safety officers so they wouldn't be tempted to cheat. Then they challenged themselves to wake up on time, take notes, communicate, and find their way around without the slew of apps they usually use for those things. They made plans to communicate with family and friends via email or land line phones, and designated emergency contacts to assuage any fears.

Professor Freitas also gave up her phone as part of the experiment. "I’ve become more and more concerned by my students’ inability to sustain attention. I’m interested in them just experiencing life and conversation and relationships without constantly grabbing for their phones."

The experiment was designed to make students ask themselves "What does it mean to live constantly interrupted?" At first, some of the students said they were worried about how they would fare. But a week later, they had seen some real benefits.

Jacob Dannenberg said, "Everything is perfect right now. I'm having a lot better relationships. It's a stress-free environment, no worries about social media." Student Adrianna Cigliano added, "I think it's really refreshing and relaxing … I was able to fall asleep a lot easier.”

They managed to find their way, even without GPS for a week. "I just had to take the same route everywhere," one student joked. They were also more productive. Adrianna said, “Doing homework was 100 percent easier. I got it done faster; I was in the zone.” Students said they look forward to living more in the moment, with their heads up more often, notifications off, and the "do not disturb" on.

Seventeen-year-old Robin West is an anomaly among her peers--she doesn't have a smartphone. Instead of scrolling through apps like TikTok and Instagram all day, she uses a so-called "dumbphone." These are basic handsets with very limited functionality compared to say an iPhone. You can typically only make and receive calls and SMS text messages. You can take very basic photos, but definitely not connect to the internet or apps.

Robin says, "I didn't notice until I bought a brick phone how much a smartphone was taking over my life. I had a lot of social media apps on it, and I didn't get as much work done as I was always on my phone."

Dumbphones are continuing to enjoy a revival. Google searches for them jumped by 89% between 2018 and 2021. One report said that global purchases of dumbphones were due to hit one billion units last year, up from 400 million in 2019.

It's true that dumbphones can't compete with the latest smartphones when it comes to performance or functionality, but they can outshine them in equally important areas such as battery life and durability.

Tech expert, Sandra Wachter, says that smartphones always "want to grab your attention" with notifications, updates, and breaking news constantly disrupting your day. "This can keep you on edge, might even be agitating. It can be overwhelming."

Wachter adds,

It makes sense that some of us are now looking for simpler technologies and think that dumbphones might offer a return to simpler times. It might leave more time to fully concentrate on a single task and engage with it more purposefully. It might even calm people down. Studies have shown that too much choice can create unhappiness and agitation.

Jacob Smith, is a 15-year-old legally blind freeride skier. Jacob has extreme tunnel vision--and no depth perception on top of that. What he does see is blurry. His visual acuity is rated 20/800, four times the level of legal blindness. Think of the big E on the eye chart. He would need it to be blown up four times in order to see it from 20 feet away.

So how does Jacob ski like this? His family keeps him on course. On competition days, Jacob’s little brother, Preston, patiently helps him hike to the top of the venue. It's so high, the lifts won't take you there. Then his father, Nathan, helps him get down. Jacob has a two-way radio turned up high in his pocket. His dad is on the other end at the base, somehow, calmly, guiding him down.

His father, Nathan Smith, said:

It's on me to make sure I don't let him down. I have to guide him through narrower chutes or not go off a cliff. Jacob is not reckless. He knows his limitations. I think he has the ability to ski anything on the mountain, but he's not gonna go try to do it by himself. Like, he wants to be with somebody who he trusts. He won't ski with people he doesn't trust.

When Jacob was asked how much he trusted his father, he replied, “I mean, enough to turn right when he tells me to.”

Singer/Songwriter Sandra McCracken writes in CT magazine:

There’s a call button above every seat on commercial airplanes. In all my travels, I don’t think I’ve ever used it. I’m not sure if that is due to shyness or to pride, as there have certainly been times when I acutely needed help while seated.

While traveling recently, for example, I endured some delays and was thirsty. Yet I waited to ask for anything until the plane reached 10,000 feet, when the flight attendants came row by row to grant our drink requests. I didn’t press the call button. It always seems more courteous to wait.

As Jesus hung on the Cross, one of the last phrases he spoke out loud was “I am thirsty” (John 19:28). This three-word inclusion in the Gospels is a subtle yet significant acknowledgment of Jesus’ human need. His thirst dignifies our humanity. He offered up this holy complaint, a declaration of his physical need. He pushed the call button.

God is the one who is responsible to supply our needs (Ps. 23:1; Phil. 4:19). Jesus invites us to participate, to receive, and to ask. Sometimes we are to ask and ask again (Luke 11:9; 18:1–8).

Jesus invites us to hit the call button. And he invites us to wait for him, sometimes well beyond when the plane has reached 10,000 feet. Ask and wait. Hope and receive. The springs of living water that he gives will never run dry.

CC Sabathia was a six-time MLB All-Star and won the 2009 World Series, pitching for the New York Yankees. By outside standards, he spent those years living the dream. But inside, he was living a nightmare.

Sabathia opened up about his past in a recently published memoir entitled Till the End. He also spoke candidly with CBS This Morning about the personal struggles he endured during his career. Overwhelmed with grief from the loss of his dad and a cousin, Sabathia says he developed an addiction to alcohol during his playing years:

I would pitch, and then the next three days, I would drink. So, the day after, right after I came out of the game, I would need a drink and would drink the next three days, and I would take two days off, pitch and do it all over again. So, I kind of had a routine where I would normalize drinking for three days, like a bender, and would detox myself, be able to pitch — and do it all over again.

Apparently, his drinking became so common, he thought it was normal:

It was just part of my routine. So much so that when I went to rehab, I came out and I was thinking 'how am I going to do this without alcohol' because it had become so much a part of my routine that it was a part of my pitching.

Retired since 2019, Sabathia says he’s now been clean for six years, and is working to help others understand hidden dynamics around alcoholism and addiction in general:

I want everybody to be able to relate to it. And you can have all these things, all the money and all the stuff, but still struggle with mental health and be alcohol dependent. But you can get help. The toughest thing about dealing with alcohol dependency is reaching out and saying that you need help and that you can't fight this alone.

Possible Preaching Angle:

When we are honest with our struggles, we give others a chance to be the hands and feet of Jesus for us, just as we can in turn do for them. Addiction has the potential to rob us of our potential, but when we help others embrace wholeness and recovery, we help bring that potential into reality.