Random

~ Ray Ortlund has died. He had been the pastor of Lake Avenue Congregational Church in Pasadena for 20 years, the pastor of Mariners Church in Newport Beach, the speaker on Haven of Rest broadcast for 19 years, and with his wife Anne, the founder of Renewal Ministries. I've always thought highly of him and his ministry. Praise God for another finisher.

~ The people behind Christian Computing Magazine have started Ministry Technology Institute. They offer a "certification program for those serving ministries with technology."

~ UPS CEO Michael Eskew was interviewed on Marketplace where he talks about what can be done to minimize fuel costs. One thing Big Brown does is to instruct their drivers to avoid making left turns. Somebody has got to have data on that one but I find it difficult to believe that driving around the block saves more fuel than idling at a stop light through a cycle.

~ UPS isn't a big operation on Guam -- they work through a contractor and function without the fancy tracking stuff that you see elsewhere. I was in their office the other day getting a quote to send computers to Chuuk -- $296 each. Ouch.

~ Tim and Tracey Boynton have had a unique challenge with two of their children and they were featured in a Fresno Bee article. Tim is a colleague in the Covenant Ministerium and I lived with Tracey's family for a school year while I was in college (I think she was about 6-years-old at the time!). They've been through the wringer these past few years but have held steady.

~ Dave Gibbons and NewSong Church in Irvine (the ECC congregation that our son Kent is a part of when he is not gallivanting around the world) are featured in an LA Times article on the emergence of the house church movement. NewSong is in the process of transitioning from a megachurch structure to a house church network -- kinda' sorta'. Dave isn't one that you can neatly categorize -- likewise with NewSong. They're not a typical megachurch and they certainly won't evolve into the kind of house church network that has been surfacing in other places.

~ Hey, I recognize that guy. Thanks, Bill. I've been getting some surprise links lately. The other day Steven Evans, in jest, decided to put me up for the presidency of the ECC. If he wants to put together the campaign fund I'm game -- but not much more.

~ The future of library science -- less emphasis on libraries, less emphasis on science -- more emphasis on information architecture. I wonder if they'll just change the degree name to Master of Information. It's getting closer to the MIM model (e.g. University of Maryland program). There was a day when everyone would have agreed that a library program belonged in a college emphasizing arts and letters rather than in a technical college. Cultural shift in process.

~ Porsche now has a hybrid -- one more argument that boomers in middle-age or old-age crisis can use to justify their need for speed -- and the $45,000+ it will cost to satisfy.