Dale Meador has an excellent article at RazorMouth.com on worship. Check it out. A quote:

How often have I approached the Lord with a weary, lazy or distracted heart.I see this on Sunday mornings. One special day among seven, Sunday is the day that I am blessed to worship the Lord shoulder to shoulder with the brothers and sisters who comprise the body of Christ of which I am blessed to be part. Typically, we gather to worship the Lord in song, sacrament, and teaching. At the outset, we often are privileged to enjoy the gifts of saints uniquely gifted in music that is uniquely crafted to recall God’s attributes and glorify him accordingly.

And there I am, sprawled on the pavement. Yawning, distracted, oblivious. “I wonder when he got that new guitar?” “Shouldn’t we be standing up for this?” “Did I turn off the iron?”

How easily distracted we are from He who should ‘distract’ us.

Ratbots Summary: Scientists have placed electrodes inside rats’ brains to control them like robots.
Comment: Electrodes are placed in the portion of the brain that processes inputs from the whiskers and another in the reward center of the brain. A laptop sends a remote signal to stimulate the left whisker. The rat turns left and the reward center of the brain is stimulated. Simple. What is really cool is that since the rat is still in control, it can climb complicated structures without having to have the computer direct every step. The more I thought about this, the more I realized that this happens every day to billions of living beings around the world. Isn’t this exactly what TV does to us? Turn to the right channel and the pleasure center of the brain is stimulated by sex, action, drama, horror…whatever image excites you.

I’m so jazzed. I just fired off my order for a 500Mhz iBook with an Airport card. My family is buying it for me as a 40th birthday gift/retirement gift/starting seminary gift. :)

Truly this doth seem very strange, I do know full well, to the natural man, to him that is yet in his unbelief, because he goeth by beguiled reason; but for my part, I do know it is so, and shall labour also to convince thee of the truth of the same. – John Bunyan, The Doctrine of Law and Grace.

It’s been 10 years since the Rodney King riots struck LA. I remember the day well. I had been a bailiff in a military court martial all day. A foolish young man got busted doing and selling drugs at work. He even took his two-year old son in the car to buy drugs one time. At about 9 AM he plead guilty to the charges (there were three if I remember correctly). The judge went over each and every one and explained what it meant and what could happen if he plead guilty. After each one the young man acknowledged his understanding and plead guilty. After that was over (it took an hour or so) the judge recessed to decide if he would accept a guilty plea. After a while the judge returned and announced that he would accept a guilty plea and the trial proceeded to the punishment phase. Lawyers from both sides argued their point about the amount of punishment that would be appropriate. When that was done, the judge gave the panel instructions and sent them off to deliberate. That took a couple of hours and we were back in court. The young man got a pretty stiff penalty I think. When the trial ended it was about 5:30 PM. My head was spinning. I thought when someone plead guilty that was it. I figured we’d be out of the courtroom by lunchtime. The care the court took in punishing this young man really got me thinking about justice. As I left the courthouse I walked past a break room with a TV announcing the Rodney King verdict. I shook my head and thought, “It sure looked like they were using excessive force to me. But if the court found them innocent, then they’re innocent.”

As I left the base that evening, I was passed by a police convoy hauling weapons down to LA to help in controlling the riots. The image of Reginald Denny being drug from his truck and getting cracked in the head still sticks in my head.

I was just reading John Tombes’ Catechism about Baptism. Tombes was an antipaedobaptist. “After questioning the infants’ interest in the covenant while delivering the 1627 catechetical lectures at Magdelan Hall, Oxford, John Tombes pondered his views for 15 years before he finally came to credobaptist convictions.” Here are a few highlights:

Q. 16. Did not Baptism come in the room of Circumcision, Col. 2.11,12. and so to be used as it was?

A. The Apostles words import not that our Baptism came in the room of the Jews Circumcision; there is no mention of any bodily Circumcision but Christ’s, which our baptism cannot be said to suceed to, as there it is made the cause of Spiritual Circumcision, without arrogating that to it which belongs to Christ alone, and Baptism is mentioned with faith, as the means whereby we are in Christ, and compleat in him.

Q. 20. Had it not been a discomfort to the believing Jews to have their Children unbaptized, and out of the Covenant?

A. The want of Baptism to Infants was never any grievance to Believers in the New Testament, nor were they thereby put out of the Covenant of Grace.

Q. 25. Are not the Sacraments of the Christian Church in their nature, Seals of the Covenant of Grace?

A. The Scripture doth nowhere so call them, nor doth it mention this as their end and use.

Q. 26. Doth not Peter, Acts 2.38.39. exhort the Jews to baptize themselves and their Children, because the promise of Grace is to Believers and their Children?

A. Those he then spake to were not then Believers; and therefore the words, Acts 2.39. Cannot be understood of a promise to Believers and their Children as such, but the promise is to all, Fathers and Children as called of God; nor are any exhorted to Baptism without fore-going repentance: nor is the promise alledged as conferring right to Baptism, but as a motive to encourage them and hope for pardon, though they wished Christs blood to be on them and their Children. Matth. 27.25. In like sort as Joseph did, Gen. 50.19,20,21.

Q. 35. How came Infant-baptism to be common in the Christian Churches?

A. As Infant-communion came from mistake of John 6.53. So Infant-baptism began about the third Age of the Christian Church, from mistake of John 3.5. the opinion of its giving Grace, and the necessity of it to save the Infant dying from perishing, and after Augustin’s time became common, which before was not so frequent.

FINIS

Iain Duguid, Living in the Gap Between Promise and Reality: The Gospel According to Abraham:

Praise God that he prepares his people through many difficult circumstances before he calls them to any task! By the way, that’s not just a lesson for young people to learn. Moses and Abram were still in their preparation stage long after most people have retired!

This is good new to a guy who will start seminary at the age of 40. :)

Its a miracle! My website has been healed! I hope the new look is more appealing and easier to navigate. Graphics coming soon. Drop me a comment and let me know what you think or to offer any constructive criticism.

I think I want the Job action figure. Light skin version please. Wonder if he comes with detatchable boils?

Two quick thoughts. First, it is very warm in my office. Are my human rights being violated? Second, my wife pointed out that you cannot spell ByFartherSteps without spelling ‘fart’. Thank you Lisa.