Let’s talk about the flat earth. When I was in high school, there were probably a few thousand people left in the whole world that believed the earth was flat. I had one grandmother that did not believe the earth rotates and another that did not believe in the moon landing because she had been through the western states, seen craters, and was pretty sure she knew where the moon pictures were taken. But these were older ladies, well up into their 70’s, with no formal education. One of them I know was married at age 14 and only finished the 8th grade. Unless you were going to college or planned to become to a school teacher, that’s as far as farmers’ kids went back then; at least in the rural South. The idea of a flat earth was vanishing as older generations that you could not tell anything were dying out.

And then the internet happened. I am firmly convinced that most of the FB Reels and TikTok’s you see making fun of actual science and reason are created by people that know better. Smart people thinks it’s funny that people with more zeal than brains can be easily manipulated and today somewhere between 10 and 20% of Americans believe the earth is flat. In 1999, 6% of Americans in a Gallup survey believed the moon landing was fake and another 5% were undecided. In 2019 that number had gone up to 10%. The numbers are growing because of social media and short form videos; in the Information Age, misinformation is very popular.

July 20th was the anniversary of the Apollo XI moon landing. One angry online commenter said that you can easily prove using the Bible that reaching the moon isn’t possible and in all caps wrote “THERE IS A FIRMAMENT PEOPLE!” So I asked a couple of reasonable questions such as “What is the firmament made of?” and “What can pass through and what cannot?” He did not respond. A few days later an astute observer pointed out a detail that I had missed (because I made a logical case press and did not actually look up the Genesis 1 verse and read it again). The second half of Gen. 1:20 says “and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.” Birds fly through the firmament. And using hot air balloons, airplanes, jets and rockets, in modern history so do we. When I did look at the verse I noticed it says open firmament of heaven. There is nothing in the Bible to indicate we are trapped inside of a cosmic snow globe. Believe whatever you want but don’t drag the Bible down with you. I will defend the true Word of God from stupidity.

Speaking of leaving the Bible out of things; Numbers 5 does not prove God endorses abortion. Here is the latest Read the Bible podcast episode and yes, some people believe the Levitical priests had a procedure to cause miscarriage if a husband believed his wife had been unfaithful.

AI doing what AI does. Yes, in time one penny every second would exceed the value of a single $2.5 million dollar award. The math here is correct, it amounts to $36 per hour which is indeed $315,360 per year. But that amount is far less than $2.5 million. We learned greater than > and less than < in middle school so I would argue those are mathematical concepts. It would take eight years for one penny per second to exceed the value of the $2.5 million. At my age and in my health, I would take the $2.5 million, it would be more than enough. There is also a thing called investment. That $2.5 million could be doubled or tripled in value by the time you accumulate $2.5 million in pennies over the next 7.9 years, and you will have spent a considerable amount of them during that time frame. Which offer you should accept is debatable but from a purely mathematics point of view, the AI fails in that last sentence.

As a caveat, someone pointed out that I was using Gemini and that ChatGPT would probably give a better answer. But I was not using Gemini by choice or even on purpose. I asked Google the question and their AI responses are always shown first before actual search responses now. Sometimes that’s helpful but you can never trust it; remember the “water will not freeze at 26 degrees” scenario? Google, Facebook, WordPress and every other tech giant and software provider pushes us to use AI, including to write sermons by the way. I get offers for that type of service all the time. I could have more time with family and to spend ministering to church members if I wasn’t stuck reading, studying and writing sermons, according to the ads. AI just repackages things others have posted online. There’s a 10 to 20% chance it thinks the earth is flat.

Martha Bird Knighton, 1928 – 2025 I mentioned last week that Miss Martha was on hospice care and not expected to survive. She did in fact pass over the weekend. I have tried and failed to find an actual obituary posted online. The funeral service was yesterday. She was cremated and her ashes mixed with her late husband’s. They will be entombed in a mausoleum at Arlington National Cemetery. Martha is pictured above in the 2025 film “You’re Cordially Invited.” The film stars Will Ferrall and Reese Witherspoon. I’m not encouraging you to watch it, I did because Martha was in it. She and Jack McBrayer are bright spots in a film that is otherwise not good for your spiritual well-being.

High School football season is upon us. What could be more demoralizing for your opponent that to come play in your new $62 million stadium. That’s high school football mind you. At a rate of one penny per second it would take 196 years to collect $62 million.

I did not know about Kentucky Beef. I lived in Kentucky for nine years and visited the Colonel Sanders Cafe and Museum on more than one occasion. I knew about a fancy Southern style sit down restaurant the Colonel opened after he had sold the rights to KFC, for which he quickly got sued by the new owners of his Original Recipe chicken, but not this. Did you know that Harlan Sanders was born in 1891 and died in 1981?

A company called Faith Wears claims you can use the fall/Halloween season to share the Gospel and your personal faith. I went to the website, which I will link to, and 90% of the merchandise is pumpkins and Jack-o-lanterns that has nothing to do with faith in anything. Some of the t-shirts are fall pics or Halloween images that says “Christ FALL-oweer” but has nothing of substance or value to Christianity. But this company wants to sells things, they know Christians like to buy things, and that’s all the thought that went into any of their products.

Rest in peace Long Boi. When I checked the authenticity of these facts I learned that the information is true but outdated. Long Boi lived on the campus from 2018 to 2023 but has since passed away.

Has this image messed with you this week? It messed with my noggin. I had to read through a lengthy comment section before I understood. I will let you mull it over and drop the solution in the comments. Once seen cannot be unseen.

And finally…

Well that’s good to know. I stir coffee first one way and then the other, just to be sure. BTW, this must be an American product. In the UK (and countries heavily influenced by the British) they say “anticlockwise.”