Does the noise in my head bother you?

How they get the fresh coffee from one train car to the next.

I took a week off after the triathlon. Then the surgery and recovery. Then a nasty cold. I haven't run, been on the bike or in the pool for so long that I will be starting over at all three. Now add in the five tons of Christmas desserts I've consumed in the last week, and this is not going to be fun. I hate the pain of beginning. But it must be done, and I'm determined that it starts tomorrow, cold or no cold.

Those two boys, the cousins beaten by a man with a baseball bat, both died today.
Last night I asked the question, "If, as reported, the man is psychotic, is he culpable for his actions?" I don't have the answer, but two things strike me as worth considering.
First, the OT legal system required life for life - what's knows as the principle of lex talionis. No provision is made in the Law for the mental capabilities or psychological health of the murderer. In fact, even an animal that kills a human being - an ox who gores a man to death - is to be killed. The basis for this is specified in Genesis 9: every human being is created in God's image, and to take a life is to assault that image.
The other thing that strikes me as pertinent in a situation like this is John 1:17: "The law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ." Note that both grace and truth occur in the second strophe of this verse. Some would discard the law, arguing that grace shold rule in every situation, while others want the letter of the law applied to the fullest extent in every case. Instead, it is a combination of both.
How does that play out in a case like this? I think the best we can do is the American legal system which makes use of a jury of peers. Maybe it's a cop-out, but I am willing to defer to 12 honest men and women who will hear the facts and have the freedom to come to their best judgment on the case.
Like I said, it would be a lot easier if life were all neat and tidy.

Pam came home from some errands this afternoon to find all the Christmas decorations tucked away in the attic space. Hey, I waited until afternoon.

This Sunday's sermon is one of those that comes from the shepherd. Some are from the teacher, some from the prophet (secondary sense). This one from the shepherd who cares for his flock.

Marlin Olsen died early this morning. After an extended struggle with Alzheimer's that was also very difficult for his dear wife Guni, Ole is now whole and in the presence of the Lord.
I've known Ole and Guni since I was a young child. Guni was one of my leaders when I was in children's church - early elementary school - and later they went out to Taiwan (then known as Formosa) as missionaries from our church. I was a pastor when they returned, and a few years later Ole took the position as Academic Dean at Grace Bible College. He called, asking me to come teach at GBC. Guni was the head librarian during the years we were at the college together.
Ole was a good man. Gracious, kind, gentle. He worried too much that he'd given offense, had done someone wrong or might do someone wrong. I'm not sure he was the ideal academic dean. Ole was a master at organization and administration, but the "vice principal" part of the job, the part where you have to be hard nosed with students who are slackers, just wasn't in him. But no matter how frustrated a prof might get with his Academic Dean (immediate supervisor) there was no disliking Ole. He was just too nice a guy.
My thoughts are with his dear wife Guni. God bless, ma'am!