However, my mouth is on fire.

Cooking shows usually aren't inspiration for me in any form, but I was reminded of Grace in Practice by one of them recently.  In this version of reality TV, chefs submit their creations to judges to be praised or scathed.  One particular contribution garnered several compliments from a judge; the buildup couldn't have taken more than thirty seconds, but the praises were a pretty significant ego-boost.

Then he terminated by saying, "However, my mouth is on fire."  This is the classic setup for gospel to law.  It is the sort of eternal "Yes, but" that we are so used to hearing.  In the gospel this is not so:

For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you, Silvanus and Timothy and I, was not Yes and No, but in him it is always Yes. For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory (2Co 1.19,20).

Just Give me the Gospel

In the final analysis, what I really need is the gospel.  I enjoy fellowship with believers, and their insight into situations in my life can be useful and helpful.  But there is nothing for me but the gospel.  When I am faced with my own sin, I need the gospel.  When I am tempted to be proud of my accomplishments, I need the gospel.  When I am unsure of where to go or what to do, I need the gospel.  When I make poor choices or suffer the consequences of decisions, I need the gospel.

So often it seems like people—myself included—are bent on giving solutions instead of simply preaching the gospel.  It is my every need.

Science News

When I started this blog, I thought I could be fortunate enough to be like GK Chesterton, who seemed to have an opinion about everything.  To that end, I thought I'd add comments on the news, current events, and other such things in a manner informed by my Christianity.  That never really happened, since my passions are rooted in theology.  There are times, of course, when the secular news world intersects, especially recently.

The latest science news that caught my eye was that scientists discovered neutrinos moving faster than light speed.  If this is true—and the scientists involved are pretty puzzled—Einstein's theory of relativity may be controverted.  The importance of this really cannot be overstated.  My immediate thought is that it lends some credence to the possible inversions of cause and effect described by the Bell Inequalities of quantum physics (which state that either everything is in some way touching, or that cause and effect are not always related).

This sort of thing shows how science works.  Improving observational techniques (the paper notes that in 2006 the instrumentation required for the precision achieved wasn't available at the lab) lead to somewhat unexpected results.  I'll be intrigued to see how this story progresses.