So ist das leben

Finally a sane voice in this crisis. To this article I can only say “amen.”

Editorial by Jeffrey Miron, Harvard Prof in Economics:

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/29/miron.bailout/index.html?iref=mpstoryview

In many ways yes. Of course. I have appreciated much of what Bush has done-namely his appointment of conservative justices. But for years now I have said that however you slice it, George Bush is NOT a fiscal conservative. Statistics show that he has spent more than any other president in our nation’s history-inflation included. The “we’re at war’ argument falls flat when you look at the numbers for non-defense discretionary spending (the highest rate of growth since LBJ-who also had a war to fund). The Bush administration is 5 times larger than the 2nd Clinton Administration. His latest budget was a record-breaking size-over $3 trillion. This caused even many conservatives to raise some eyebrows. The House Republican Study Committee, made up of 100 conservative members of Congress, said in a statement that the budget “includes too much spending” and expressed concern about the increasing deficit. We have come to learn that “compassionate conservatism” really means “spending lots of money to help people (Katrina, Aids in Africa, etc).” However you slice it, George Bush is NOT a fiscal conservative.

I read a blog post today by Lincoln Mullen who was a contemporary of mine at BJU. He gives some thoughts regarding the housing crisis in light of Bush’s fiscal policies. Here’s what he had to say…

I rarely comment on politics, but these facts are worth noting. On the day President George W. Bush was inaugurated, the national debt was $5,727,776,738,304.64, or $5.7 trillion. This past Friday, the national debt was $9,727,009,619,894.34, or $9.7 trillion. In other words, in less than eight years, the national debt has increased about $4 trillion. Now, the Bush Treasury wants to buy some $700 billion dollars in bad mortgages, and it is asking Congress to raise the statutory limit on the national debt to $11.3 trillion. A trillion here, a trillion there, and pretty soon we’re talking about real money.

I believe that this has the potential to be the primary legacy of the Bush administration.

http://weblog.lincolnmullen.com/

Another reason to love libraries/museums/archives. Check out this this article. Really interesting…

http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/Music/09/18/eu.mozart.discovery.ap/index.html

I recently received a $25 Borders Gift Card. If you could recommend any book for me to buy, what would it be? I’m willing to chip in a little bit myself, but it needs to be somewhere around $25.

I’d be interested in any recommendations you have.

Earlier this week Stephanie and I listened to Mark Dever’s interview with Carl Trueman, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Professor of Church History at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, PA. It was appropriately entitled “A Sweeping Conversation with Carl Trueman,” because there was quite a broad range of topics covered during the interview. Dr. Trueman is extremely witty-intelligent, and a remarkably clear communicator. So the over-an-hour interview went by quickly-it was really fascinating. He gave his life’s testimony and then discussed the state of evangelicalism in Britain (where he is from), made a case for the singing of the Psalms, talked about what type of music should be used in the church, discussed how pastors could read the Puritans, talked about John Owen, gave book recommendations, gave an overview of some of his books and articles, etc. I highly recommend the interview. Download it to your Ipod and listen to it while you drive. This interview, and frankly all the other 9Marks interviews are well-worth the time.

Last night Stephanie and I went with Mark and Jennifer Whitcomb to hear the Detroit Symphony Orchestra perform with violinist Gil Shaham. It was an exceptional performance of one of violin literature’s greatest concertos (Brahms). Besides being my first time at the DSO, it was also seminary night-or so it seemed. Not counting Mark and I there were four other seminary students there. I guess that’s what happens when the Tigers are doing so poorly. You can hear samples of Shaham at the DSO’s website.

A life-saving discovery for me has been Dr. Matt Postiff’s Hebrew language audio support. Dr. Postiff has recorded the entire Hebrew alphabet and all of the vocabulary words in Ross’ textbook. Since pronouncing the words is such a crucial part of learning the language, his help has been much appreciated.

We went to the Troy Public Library’s used book sale today. Here’s what we came away with:

“The Last of the Mohicans” by James Fenimore Cooper-70 cents (in the classics set we collect nonetheless)

“A Shorter Catechism Explained from Scripture” by Thomas Vincent-50 cents (Puritan Paperbacks set)

“A Treatise Concering the Lord’s Supper” by Thomas Doolittle-$1.00 (Soli Deo Gloria)

“Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” by J.K. Rowling-$1.00

“Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets” by J.K. Rowling-$1.00

“Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” by J.K. Rowling-$1.00

“Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” by J.K. Rowling-$1.00

“Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix” by J.K. Rowling-$1.00

Also, I received LOTS of feedback from comments, private messages, and most of all in person regarding my post baptism. Thanks to all for sharing their thoughts and giving me so much to consider. I am convinced one of God’s greatest blessings in my life thus far has been continuously surrounding me with so many wise people.

Last night Stephanie told me about a conversation she had earlier in the day about baptism. The discussion centered around the fact that a mutual friend at a nearby church was going to be the one to baptize his daughter-as opposed to their pastor (he is a layman in the church). Apparently there are many who do not think that this is appropriate. While the current church I am attending has as a policy that only the pastors baptize the congregants, the church I grew up in (Mount Calvary) allowed fathers the choice to baptize their children. In fact, my dad baptized my youngest sister. So I grew up never thinking twice about a laymen in the church baptizing another believer (at MCBC it was always father-children).

My question is-am I missing something? What Scriptural argument can be brought against this kind of baptism? My initial thoughts is that there are no Scriptural passages that teach that only pastors-elders are to baptize, and there are even no examples of this kind to set a precedent for the church today. In fact, it seems that there is often the opposite example. Philip was a deacon, but certainly not a pastor-elder, yet he baptized (spontaneously!) the Ethiopian eunuch. Paul said to some of his converts that he did not baptize them. Apparently Apollos baptized people. It is possible that at Jesus’ ascencion into heaven he commanded a crowd of nearly 500 people to baptize in His name. On a secondary level church history affords examples of non-pastoral baptisms.

 So aside from comfort with the status quo and perhaps practicality, what argument could be given for non-pastoral baptisms in the context of the local church? Can I (one day in the greatly distant future) baptize my kids?

Matt Damon on Sarah Palin

I thought this video was interesting/funny/ironic. It’s short and worth a look…

The Wall Street Journal recently ran an editorial entitled “Why Obama Can’t Close the Sale.” This is an excellent article that is worthy of your time. It clearly makes the case that Obama’s domestic policy will be harmful at the very least, but potentially devastating. You can read the article here…

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122039919493892941.html?mod=opinion_main_commentaries