What do you mean when you say, "I believe in the communion of the saints?"

The Westminster Confession of Faith (26.1-2) answers that question in a very helpful manner that shows how the good news of being made a part of this body leads us to respond by caring for the same:

All Saints, that are united to Jesus Christ, their head, by his Spirit and by faith, and have fellowship with him in his grace, suffering, death, resurrection, and glory. United to one another in love, God's people have fellowship in each other's gifts and grace and are obliged to perform those public and private duties which nourish their mutual good, both spiritually and physically.

By their profession of faith God's people are bound to maintain a holy fellowship and communion with each other in the worship of God and in the performance of other spiritual services for their mutual edification. They are also bound to help each other in material things according to their different abilities and needs. This fellowship is to be offered, as God gives the opportunity, to everyone in every place who calls on the name of the Lord Jesus.

Drum Major

The MLK memorial is (thankfully) going to be revised to have a proper quote from the civil rights activist:

“I was a drum major for justice, peace and righteousness,” the monument says. What an odd choice for a quote, I thought, when I visited in August before its scheduled dedication. It sounded almost … conceited. And it was past tense, as though King was speaking from the grave. It didn't sound like King at all.

I went looking for the context, read the whole speech and found there was a reason it didn't sound like him. “If you want to say I was a drum major, say I was …” is how King began his statement. As many have since pointed out, the “if” and the “you” entirely change the meaning. To King, being a self-aggrandizing drum major was not a good thing; if you wanted to call him that, he said, at least say it was in the service of good causes.

Context, as one of my professors from Covenant likes to say, is king. I'm glad that Martin Luther King's context, a context that does not sound conceited, is going to be restored.

Ubuntu TV

Canonical premiered Ubuntu TV at the CES. It appears to be a very delightful interface for managing various traditional and Internet-based television services. Nevertheless, the big problem that has faced companies like TiVo has not been creating a great interface, but getting pay TV services to integrate with a given interface. How will Canonical avoid the exact same problem?

Hoping for Snow

The forecast actually has snow on the docket for this morning. After a winter thus far almost completely lacking in the white stuff, I find myself rooting for the impending precipitation. Sure, there is something to be said for not having to be out shoveling in the cold, but winter without snow just doesn't seem right.

Minutes to Midnight

Jason Ukman writes on the “Doomsday Clock” moving closer to midnight:

BAS said not all news was bad over the past year. The group's members say they were heartened by the Arab Spring, the Occupy movements and political protest in Russia.

I think the clock's message is becoming diluted. Obviously, it has always been quite subjective, but when the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists is factoring in points such as the Occupy movement, they've not only made it even more subjective, they have also boldly positioned themselves chasmal distance from their area of study.

Including the Arab Spring is nearly as bad, showing that atomic scientists make lousy political scientists. To the extent that the Arab Spring has affected the coming of “doomsday” in the nuclear sense the clock was suppose to symbolize, I would wager it moved us closer to midnight. (Not because I am against middle eastern democracies, obviously, but the parties looking poised to take control potentially could destabilize the region further.)

iBorrow, Part II

Given my last post; I find it doubly interesting that Samsung has introduced two services as part of its CES announcements: AdHub and SwipeIt (the latter name is particularly fitting). Of course, if one is going to shamelessly copy industrial design, one might as well offer parallel services and APIs, right?

iBorrow

A lot of bloggers who are not Apple users have been rather cynical about Apple's attempts to stop Samsung's cloning of Apple's designs, despite Samsung copying some parts of iOS down to icon placement and color on the Galaxy Tab. Well, if Samsung's often blatant ripoffs weren't enough, check out Acer's new cloud offering and accompanying product slides.

No wonder Apple spends so much on R&D. They are providing R&D for at least three different companies.

HT: John Gruber

The Restart Page

Fascinating.

On the Twelfth Day of Christmas

We celebrate the arrival of the Magi to see Jesus on this day. Of course, the “three kings,” as they are often referred to as, did not arrive until much later after Jesus's birth than the twelve days between Christmas and Epiphany. Yet, to think too much about that is to miss the point. The big point is that God can call people to himself wherever they might be and whomever they are. By his Spirit, he led the Magi to Christ — an incredible event.

* * *

On a different note, as often is the case, my whole family usually ends up getting together for our Christmas celebration in January and this year it falls on the 2nd day of the Feast of Epiphany (i.e. tomorrow). Onward to the Thirteenth Day of Christmas!

On the Eleventh Day of Christmas

Applying the term Eleventh Day of Christmas to today seemed odd. The temperature rose above 60 degrees (F) this afternoon. If I had been blindfolded and had been in a cave for the last several months, walking outside would have led me to think it was at least late March if not early April.

This is just too weird feeling. While I'm thankful I don't have to drive in the snow, I really do miss the usual winter weather this year.