Not a recent pic – I visited the Ark Encounter back when it was relatively new in 2016. I took the picture above before the sun, wind and rain started working on the exterior. I wrote a post this week about making the mistake of reading the comments when I saw an ad placed by the Ark Encounter on Twitter. Back in 2016 I wrote about my visit to the Creation Museum and Ark Encounter. There are links to albums full of pics on Facebook from both places. Reading that 2016 post reminded me that used to really write, not just post pics and links.

According to the Christian Index weather is the number one reason that folks skip church. Severe weather is #1 and enjoying good weather is actually #2. So people are most likely to come to church when the weather is merely so-so. Sleeping in a close third. Read the full article here.

Too long for a Happy Monday quote plus you might learn something. Our goal on Monday morning is to get you to work or school on time and wearing pants. A long read like this is more of a Saturday thing.

Perhaps no explanation is required. But if so here it is: The Shakespeare Quote of the Day is some kind of plugin with a static header. An SSL error, such as an expired certificate, kept the server from making a connection and loading that particular day’s quote in the text field. Somebody (with a sense of humor like mine) created a slide that made the error notification look like a Shakespeare quote.

Artificial Intelligence – Last week I mentioned the new feature in the WordPress editor that uses A.I. to assist in writing blog posts. Since then I got this offer while using Google Docs. I had just started typing my sermon outline to print on the back of the church bulletin. While A.I. may have useful applications for advertising or writing copy, I think I will continue to shepherd the flock and rightly divide the Word of Truth the old fashioned way. “And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!’” -Romans 10:15, quoting Isaiah 52:7. Pastors, preachers, Bible teachers and missionaries are called by God to use the natural gifts and talents he has blessed them with to reach others with the Gospel message.

Had some fun with this one this week. I made this a few years ago and you may or may not have seen it before. This is Satur-deja Vu and some things are worth seeing twice. Don’t knock yourself out, it’s something of a trick question that cannot be answered correctly from the choices given. A former student sent the math problem to me and I added the image of Captain Kirk and Nomad. This was one of at least two occasions that he talked a computer to death.

To whom it may concern or Calling All 90’s Kids – There is going to be a Good Burger sequel. You can’t tell in the screenshot but that’s Al Roker driving the Burgermobile. Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell reunited on The Today Show for an interview with Roker, who will also make a brief cameo appearance in the movie. The original Good Burger was a Nickelodeon film that got a theatrical release in 1997. Look for Good Burger 2 exclusively on Paramount+ in November.

And finally…

If you had come to me in the late 80’s/early 90’s and told me that someday shopping malls would be a thing of the past, I just wouldn’t have had the ability to believe you. I didn’t have a history degree back then either. Think about it: The Wells Fargo wagon became a thing of the past; ordering from a catalogue by telephone became a thing of the past; sooner or later everything present becomes a thing of the past. Sears, JCPenney and Macy’s were the big anchor stores of malls across the nation. The mall wasn’t just for shopping but was a destination. Seniors would arrive early to walk indoors and teens would stay late to eat pizza, play video games and just hang out. Online retailers like Amazon changed the way we shop and the pandemic forced us to realize all we could do remotely if pushed to it. The world changed after 9/11 and changed again in 2020. Even as things continue to recover, we will never again live in a pre-pandemic world.

Here are some pics I took this week at Northlake Mall, just outside Perimeter 285 on the east side of Atlanta. There are some stores still open – Macy’s seems to be doing well – and you will see some walkers in my pics. But these are images of what amounts to a ghost town, shadows and remnants of what once was.