Q.32. What benefits do those who are effectively called share in this life?

A. In this life those who are effectively called share justification, adoption, sanctification, and the other benefits that either go with or come from them.

Next the catechism will walk through justification, adoption, sanctification and the other benefits, so we will go into more detail in the coming weeks.

For this week we see that there are many things that come as a result of salvation. And notice that the catechism makes the point that those who are effectively called experience these benefits in this life. We do look forward to the blessing of heaven, but we also experience benefits from salvation in the here and now.

Romans 8:28-30

²⁸ And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. ²⁹ For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. ³⁰ And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

Headline Telegraph: Rolf to paint the Queen

We at mj have managed to get a photograph of this historic event.

Headline LiveScience.com: Flying Snakes: New Videos Reveal How They Do It

From Iraq to Germany, no one’s ever made their first jump.

AP Photo:

Caption: “An unidentified youth jumps from one pillar to another at the new Holocaust memorial in Berlin May 12, 2005. The memorial to the murdered Jews of Europe, which consists of 2,711 charcoal-grey rectangular pillars, which rise from the ground and form a tight grid through which visitors can wander, opened to the public on Thursday. REUTERS/Tobias Schwarz”

Headline Reuters: ‘Witch’ was to be thrown into river?

But there’s a better way to tell if someone is a witch.

BEDEVERE: There are ways of telling whether she is a witch.

VILLAGER #1: Are there?

VILLAGER #2: Ah?

VILLAGER #1: What are they?

CROWD: Tell us! Tell us!…

VILLAGER #2: Do they hurt?

BEDEVERE: Tell me. What do you do with witches?

VILLAGER #2: Burn!

VILLAGER #1: Burn!

CROWD: Burn! Burn them up! Burn!…

BEDEVERE: And what do you burn apart from witches?

VILLAGER #1: More witches!

VILLAGER #3: Shh!

VILLAGER #2: Wood!

BEDEVERE: So, why do witches burn?

[pause]

VILLAGER #3: B–… ’cause they’re made of… wood?

BEDEVERE: Good! Heh heh.

CROWD: Oh, yeah. Oh.

BEDEVERE: So, how do we tell whether she is made of wood?

VILLAGER #1: Build a bridge out of her.

BEDEVERE: Ah, but can you not also make bridges out of stone?

VILLAGER #1: Oh, yeah.

RANDOM: Oh, yeah. True. Uhh…

BEDEVERE: Does wood sink in water?

VILLAGER #1: No. No.

VILLAGER #2: No, it floats! It floats!

VILLAGER #1: Throw her into the pond!

CROWD: The pond! Throw her into the pond!

BEDEVERE: What also floats in water?

VILLAGER #1: Bread!

VILLAGER #2: Apples!

VILLAGER #3: Uh, very small rocks!

VILLAGER #1: Cider!

VILLAGER #2: Uh, gra– gravy!

VILLAGER #1: Cherries!

VILLAGER #2: Mud!

VILLAGER #3: Uh, churches! Churches!

VILLAGER #2: Lead! Lead!

ARTHUR: A duck!

CROWD: Oooh.

BEDEVERE: Exactly. So, logically…

VILLAGER #1: If… she… weighs… the same as a duck,… she’s made of wood.

BEDEVERE: And therefore?

VILLAGER #2: A witch!

VILLAGER #1: A witch!

CROWD: A witch! A witch!…

Did you ever wonder how President Bush stays in contact with military headquarters when he is on foreign trips? mj has managed to get photographic evidence of how he does it.

Caption: “Bush in Moscow : US President George W. Bush fights with his umbrella upon his arrival for the military parade on the Red Square in Moscow, for the celebrations marking the 60th anniversary of the Allied victory over Nazi Germany in WW II. (AFP/Denis Sinyakov)”

Another argument for Home Schooling

Headline Health Day: Small Elementary Class Size Boosts High School Grad Rates

The AP discovers summer

Headline AP: Alaska Town Won’t See Sunset for Months

Next up: A study linking the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church

Headline AP: Utah Study Links Obesity and Bad Knees

How small of a plot can YOU plant?

Headline AP: One-Billionth Acre of Biotech Seed Planted

Community service will never make up for the unfortunate event in the billiard room with the lead pipe.

Headline Tribune Review: Mustard family adds flavor to nature walks

The other day I found my wife copying a recipe out of a murder mystery novel….

Apparently the Time Traveller Convention is getting attention.

Headline Tribune-Review: Voters in some counties going back in time