Apple

If you don't follow the Woz, you ought to. He and the late Steve Jobs were co-founders of Apple, but Steve Wozniak is the anti-Jobs. Down-to-earth and self-effacing, when Woz has something to say, it's usually worth hearing. Take for instance his views on money.

This from CNBC this past week...

For those of us who find the SCOTUS decision something to be celebrated, we should remember Romans 14, where the Apostle Paul advises those of us with less scruples to be gracious towards our brothers and sisters with more. (The "weaker" brother language is unfortunate here, because it seems to suggest one is right and the other is wrong...)

- Brian Prentiss, pastor of Intown Presbyterian Church, Portland; member of Pacific Northwest Presbytery, Presbyterian Church in America; M.Div. Reformed Theological Seminary, Jackson, Mississippi; former Campus Director at Campus Outreach and Collegiate Director at Briarwood Presbyterian Church. (On LinkedIn, Prentiss is commended for his pastoral leadership by Andrew Field, former pastor at Redeemer (NYC) and present board member of CCEF—David Powlison, Steve Estes, Ed Welch, etc.)

The above is excerpted from a post on the Intown Presbyterian Church (PCA) web site written by her pastor, Brian Prentiss. The post is scandalous. When the Supreme Court issued its pro-sodomy ruling, Bergefell v. Rhodes, Pastor Prentiss decided not to battle the wolf in defense of the sheep, so he wrote a bunch of gobbledigook to cover his abandonment...

We've found the local MacExperience shop cheerful and helpful with Mac repairs. Yesterday, they sent their customers this announcement and Joseph forwarded it to me with the comment, "Fascinating"...

perfect

I don't talk about it much, but I've been using Macs since 1984 and am now on maybe my fifteenth or so Apple laptop—a 13 inch Air. It took me several years, but I finally started using an iPhone and now I use an iPhone 5. Operating systems to the side, these things are indestructible!

The only Mac publication I read is the Engsts' (not Angsts') TidBITS. If you use a Mac or iPhone, go ahead and subscribe now. It's free so just do it and you'll thank me. I've read TidBITS for maybe twenty years and it's the first place to go for accurate information on all things Apple.

The latest issue links to an interesting chart showing the relative obsolscence of Android and iPhone handsets by tracking their ability to take operating system updates. In other words the chart shows how long this or that phone is able to run the current version of its OS.

But once you look at that chart, keep clicking on Michael Degusta's other charts. Fascinating...

(Tim) Ten years ago, I read this column by Joe Sobran. Joe's declaration of faith gave me joy, but what struck me, particularly, was this statement:

Great as Shakespeare is, I never lose sleep over anything he said. He

leaves my conscience alone.

Still today, I find myself wondering whether what's lacking in

Shakespeare is not also lacking in my own preaching? Do God's sheep leave my proclamation of the Word of God each Lord's Day

morning with easy consciences? Is their sleep always peaceful? If so,

what an unfaithful minister of the Gospel I am.

Then we hit Sobran's promotion of the Roman Catholic error of transubstantiation. If you think it scandalous that I'd give any space to Sobran's defense of transubstantiation, never fear. Think about this.

Jesus didn't say, "this wine which is poured out for you," "this wine is the new covenant in my blood," or "for as often as you eat this bread and drink this wine...."

Rather, He said:

“This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood" (Luke 22:20b). And the Apostle Paul said, "For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes. Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup. (1 Corinthians 11:25-28).

Reformed Protestants have no need to fear the Roman Catholic dogma of transubstantiation. If their claim to hold to the literal meaning of these texts were true, it wouldn't be the wine, but the cup that becomes our Lord's blood. Have you ever tried to drink a cup?

(Tim) "iChristian" is an app offered to iPod Touch and iPhone users in Apple's iTunes store. Here's its description:

Now your iPhone / iPod Touch is a missionary, preacher and the evangelist!!! The iPhone / iPod Touch application "iChristian" ("Become a Christian") contains the minimum of required information to become a Christian. Alter the prayer of salvation. you may register as a Christian. If you would like, you may request a certificate of a Christian.

If Jesus warned those wanting to become His disciples that they must count the cost of following Him, then for us to offer salvation to unbelievers through such a come-on line as "contains the minimum of required information to become a Christian" is to mislead them. It's spiritual bait-and-switch...

(Tim, w/thanks to Kamilla) If you want to begin to understand our day--the switch of the central currency of cultural engagement from the Bible to moving pictures, the use of film clips in Gospel preaching, the building of congregations around virtual images of themselves on the movie screen each Lord's Day employed by men like Mark Driscoll and John Piper, and the gift our head of state and his wife gave the Queen, recently--only two things are necessary: first, read the Second Commandment; and second, read Neil Postman's Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business.

And while we're talking about the gifts the monarchs exchanged...