Qoheleths’s Weblog

Thanks to my largest tax refunds ever, I am the proud owner of a MacBook Air notebook computer.  Billed as the world’s thinnest notebook, there has been much discussion and debate over the MBA’s merits and deficiencies.  After using mine for 3 days, I have to report that it is fantastic!

THE GOOD.  My favorite computer ever was my 12″ Powerbook G4.  It was small, it was powerful and it was just right for the coffee shop, desk or couch.  The only reason that I sold it after 3 years was that all of my extensive Bible software collection was Windows-only.  So I purchased a MacBook, which I still have as my wife’s computer.  It is a solid unit and highly recommended.  I upgraded to MacBook Pro in April.  A great computer, but have had some heat issues.  However, the 15″ MacBook Pro is a little large for my liking.  Which led me to get the MacBook Air.

• Size and weight.  Nothing beats a small, light notebook.  The MacBook Air (MBA) is the best in these regards, hands down.  It is ultra-light (3 lbs), small footprint, and, did I say it was thin?  It is thin.  The dictionaries from now on will need a picture of the MBC until the entry for “thin!”
• Full size keyboard and screen.  As small and light as it is, there is nothing lightweight about the screen (13.3″) and the full-sized, backlit keyboard.
• Trackpad.  Simply awesome.  The largest trackpad I’ve ever seen with umpteen finger motions.  Works great.
• Solid State Drive.  While it carries quite a price premium, the SSD is MacBook Air.  It makes the computer basically silent (have heard what I assume is the CPU fan one time) and lightning fast.  Yes, it was overpriced at $3100 when it came out, but my refurb from Apple (the only way to buy a refurb is from apple.com) cost $1299.
• The Remote Disk feature works great.  Installed Microsoft Office 2008 just fine.
• Battery life seems to be phenomenal.  Should get around 5 hours!
• The screen itself, like my MacBook Pro, is a backlit LCD.  These are great screens, with the MBA being the brightest one I’ve seen yet.

The Not So Good: Really the only things I would say about it negatively are very minor.

• One is that the connectivity is very limited with only one USB port.  However, for what a sub-notebook like MBA is used for, this is no big deal at all.
• The original SSD model, which is what I have, only has a storage capacity of 64GB.   But unless you feel the urge to have an extensive iTunes collection, video collection or do photo editing, you’d be surprised at how much 64GB really is.

The VERDICT:

• I give the MacBook Air SSD an A+.
• Yes, there were compromises made, which are made in every notebook made, one way or the other.  I personally hate these suitcase-sized portables (with a 16″ or 17″ screen I can hardly call them notebooks!), but even their portability and weight are compromised in a negative way to fill it full of more features.
• For students and folks who are truly MOBILE, this is the way to go!  I do believe that, other than for students who are doing very little other than school work, research, internet and social networking, the MBA is an ancillary computer solution.  One still needs a good desktop or notebook with an optical drive and more storage for those things.

So I hope this was a blessing!  I love the MacBook Air and heartily recommend it if you fit the above profiles.

We have arrived in Carrollton!  On Monday July 14th we loaded up the Penske truck (with a lot of great help from friends) and departed from Brockton, MA at around 4:30 in the afternoon.  We drove until just after midnight, arriving in Allentown, PA for the hotel reservation.  The next day we drove all day, ending up in Greenville, SC just in time to see J.D. Drew power the American League to victory in the All Star Game.  On Wednesday we met with our good friends the Cahills in Greenville for breakfast then drove to Carrollton, arriving at 2:30 that afternoon.

We love it here!  The church is great, the school preparations exciting and the Lord has blessed!

Due to serious concerns about what kind of blog one would reach clicking on the “next blog” link over at blogspot.com, I have made the move over to the superior WordPress!

Every year Dr. Clarence Sexton hosts The Pastors’ College at Crown College in Powell, Tennessee. This was a blessed time as Dr. Sexton taught us on the need to multiply through discipleship. The teaching, fellowship, question and answer sessions and atmosphere in general were all working together to encourage and equip the 200 pastors who attended to serve the Lord Jesus Christ with a greater fervor.

Here is Dr. Sexton and a guest at The Pastors’ College!

Crown College has a tremendous bookstore with many hard to find and precious works. It is the first college bookstore I ever went to where I truly believe a pastor could have every book he truly needed just by buying what is in there. I can’t say enough about the spiritual atmosphere at Crown College and Temple Baptist Church. Pastor Sexton likes to say “it all begins with God” and he is right! The Christian’s obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ is continually stressed. If you are looking for a godly independent, fundamental, separatist Baptist college to train your young preachers there is no better place than Crown College.

Wednesday evening we attended Temple Baptist Church and had the special blessing of hearing Pastor Sexton preaching to his own people.

Crown College & Seminary and the various ministries associated with Temple Baptist Church have the hand of God on them. It is vital that we make disciples who can stand for the old paths. Pay them a visit at http://www.faithforthefamily.com or http://www.thecrowncollege.com.

Pictures will be posted here in a few days: http://photos.faithforthefamily.com/Site/Gallery%20Links.html.

NOTE: This article by Al Mohler makes some very good points. When it comes to the eternal destiny of the souls of men, women, boys and girls we must be sure of what we believe. For years The Roman Catholic hierarchy has muddied the waters, trying to hide their true beliefs, using a methodology known as religious syncretism where they “blend into the woodwork” like a chameleon does. The new pope is boldly proclaiming his beliefs, which are the real Romanist dogmas, and the liberal protestants are crying foul!

I’m glad this pope is clearly defining what Roman dogma consists of – this makes our job easier!
–Roman Catholicism believes salvation is in a church, the Bible says it is only in Jesus Christ! (John 14:6; Acts 4:12)
–Roman Catholicism believes sacraments are steps in a salvation plan, we KNOW that a man is justified by faith in Christ’s death for our sins, His burial and glorious resurrection according to the SCRIPTURES! (Romans 10:9-10; I Corinthians 15:1-4-the Gospel message)
–Rome says you must join their “church” — Jesus Christ says that you must be born again! (John 3:3, 7; I Peter 1:23; II Corinthians 5:17)

If (and I know they are not) Romanists are right, all “Christians” had better run back to Big Daddy at the Vatican. If we are right (and I KNOW we are), we should be warning every man (Col. 1:27-29) and preaching the gospel to all! — PLL

NOTE #2: I sent this to everyone in my address book. My prayer is that everyone who receives it will understand that my sacred and solemn duty is to preach the gospel of Christ to everyone out of love and concern. The Apostle Paul said in Romans 1:16 ” For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”

No, I’m not offended
By R. Albert Mohler Jr.
Jul 13, 2007
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BP)–Aren’t you offended? That is the question many evangelicals are being asked in the wake of a recent document released by the Vatican. The document declares that the Roman Catholic Church is the
only true church — or, in words the Vatican would prefer to use, the only institutional form in which the Church of Christ subsists.

No, I am not offended. In the first place, I am not offended because this is not an issue in which emotion should play a key role. This is a theological question, and our response should be theological, not emotional. Secondly, I am not offended because I am not surprised. No one familiar with the statements of the Roman Catholic Magisterium should be surprised by this development. This is not news in any genuine sense. It is news only in the current context of Vatican statements and ecumenical relations. Thirdly, I am not offended because this new document actually brings attention to the crucial issues of ecclesiology, and thus it presents us with an opportunity.

The Vatican document is very brief — just a few paragraphs in fact. It’s official title is “Responses to Some Questions Regarding Certain Aspects of the Doctrine on the Church,” and it was released by the Vatican’s Congregation for the Defense of the Faith on June 29. Though many media sources have identified the document as a papal statement from Pope Benedict
XVI, it is actually a statement from the Congregation for the Defense of the Faith that was later approved for release by the Pope (who, as Cardinal Ratzinger, headed this Congregation prior to assuming the papacy).

The document claims a unique legitimacy for the Roman Catholic Church as the church established by Christ. The document stakes this identity on a claim to apostolic succession, centered in the papacy itself. As the document states, “This Church, constituted and organised in this world as a society, subsists in the Catholic Church, governed by the successor of Peter and the Bishops in communion with him.”

Lest anyone miss the point, the document then goes on to acknowledge that the churches of Eastern Orthodoxy also stake a claim to apostolic succession, and thus they are referred to as “Churches” by the Vatican. As for the churches born in whatever form out of the Reformation — they are not true churches at all, only “ecclesial communities.”

Look at this:
“According to Catholic doctrine, these Communities do not enjoy apostolic succession in the sacrament of Orders, and are, therefore, deprived of a constitutive element of the Church. These ecclesial Communities which, specifically because of the absence of the sacramental priesthood, have not preserved the genuine and integral substance of the Eucharistic Mystery
cannot, according to Catholic doctrine, be called ‘Churches’ in the proper sense.”

Pope Benedict was already in hot water with the media because of his recent decision related to the (limited) reinstitution of the Latin mass, complete with a call for the conversion of the Jews. He was not likely to be named “Ecumenist of the Year” anyway. This latest controversy just adds to the media impression of big changes at the Vatican under the current papacy.

There have been changes for sure. Benedict truly is a doctrinal theologian, whereas his popular predecessor, Pope John Paul II, was more a philosopher by academic training. Those familiar with the current Pope know of his frustration with the tendency of liberal Catholic theologians and laypersons to insist that the Second Vatican Council (known popularly as “Vatican II”) represented a massive shift (to the left) in Catholic doctrine. Not so, insisted Cardinal Ratzinger as head of the Congregation for the Defense of the Faith. Now, as Pope, Benedict is in a position to shape his argument into a universal policy for his church. Vatican II, he insists, represented only a deepening and reapplication of unchanging Catholic doctrine.

Evangelicals should appreciate the candor reflected in this document. There is no effort here to confuse the issues. To the contrary, the document is an obvious attempt to set the record straight. The Roman Catholic Church does not deny that Christ is working redemptively through Protestant and evangelical churches, but it does deny that these churches which deny the authority of the papacy are true churches in the most important sense. The true church, in other words, is that church identified through the recognition of the papacy. Those churches that deny or fail to recognize the papacy are “ecclesial Communities,” not churches “in the proper sense,” according to the document.

I appreciate the document’s clarity on this issue. It all comes down to this — the claim of the Roman Catholic Church to the primacy of the Bishop of Rome and the Pope as the universal monarch of the church is the defining issue. Roman Catholics and evangelicals should together recognize the importance of that claim. We should together realize and admit that this is
an issue worthy of division. The Roman Catholic Church is willing to go so far as to assert that any church that denies the papacy is no true church. Evangelicals should be equally candid in asserting that any church defined by the claims of the papacy is no true church. This is not a theological game for children; it is the honest recognition of the importance of the
question.

The Reformers and their heirs put their lives on the line in order to stake this claim. In this era of confusion and theological laxity we often forget that this was one of the defining issues of the Reformation itself. Both the Reformers and the Roman Catholic Church staked their claim to be the true church — and both revealed their most essential convictions in making their argument. As Martin Luther and John Calvin both made clear, the first mark of the true Church is the ministry of the Word — the preaching of the Gospel. The Reformers indicted the Roman Catholic Church for failing to exhibit this mark, and thus failing to be a true church. The Catholic church returned the favor, defining the church in terms of the papacy and
magisterial authority. Those claims have not changed.

I also appreciate the spiritual concern reflected in this document. The artificial and deadly dangerous game of ecumenical confusion has obscured issues of grave concern for our souls. I truly believe that Pope Benedict and the Congregation for the Defense of the Faith are concerned for our evangelical souls and our evangelical congregations. Pope Benedict is not playing a game. He is not asserting a claim to primacy on the playground. He, along with the Magisterium of his church, believes that Protestant churches are gravely defective and that our souls are in danger. His sacramental theology plays a large role in this concern, for he believes and teaches that a church without submission to the papacy has no guaranteed efficacy for its sacraments. (This point, by the way, explains why the Protestant churches that claim a sacramental theology are more concerned about this Vatican statement — it denies the basic validity of their sacraments.)

I actually appreciate the Pope’s concern. If he is right, we are endangering our souls and the souls of our church members. Of course, I am convinced that he is not right — not right on the papacy, not right on the sacraments, not right on the priesthood, not right on the Gospel, not right on the church.

The Roman Catholic Church believes we are in spiritual danger for obstinately and disobediently excluding ourselves from submission to its universal claims and its papacy. Evangelicals should be concerned that Catholics are in spiritual danger for their submission to these very claims. We both understand what is at stake.

The Rev. Mark Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, responded to the press by saying that the Vatican’s “exclusive claims” are “troubling.” He also said, “[W]hat may have been meant to clarify has caused pain.”

I will let Bishop Hanson explain his pain. I do not see this new Vatican statement as an innovation or an insult. I see it as a clarification and a helpful demarcation of the issues at stake.

I appreciate the Roman Catholic Church’s candor on this issue, and I believe that Evangelical Christians, with equal respect and clarity, should respond in kind. This is a time to be respectfully candid — not a time to be offended.
–30–
R. Albert Mohler Jr. is president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
in Louisville, Ky.

© Copyright 2007 Baptist Press
Original copy of this story can be found at
http://www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?ID=26073