Gruesome experiment instrumental in defeat of Crown's case

Read the full Globe and Mail article here:

Robert Baltovich was charged with the murder of Elizabeth Bain. Yesterday he was set free. The defence argued that there was no way Mr. Baltovich could have moved Ms. Bain's body in the time frame established by police... and they used a gruesome experiment to prove it.

Two pigs were slaughtered and left in the same park in which Ms. Bain was murdered. After two days, they were placed in barrels (to simulate a car trunk) and taken out. This experiment "proved" that there would have been overpowering signs of decomposition left in Mr. Baltovich's car if he had done the same with a corpse.

"Sherah VanLaerhoven, the entomologist who conducted the experiment, concluded in her report that, 'it is highly probable that hundreds of maggots from the body would have fallen off into the car.

'My experiment demonstrates that thousands of relatively large maggots would have been present by the time Elizabeth Bain's body was moved to her car and driven away. These maggots would have been present when identification officers examined the car later in the afternoon.

'The absence of these maggots within the car suggests that the most likely scenario is that her body was moved with the car before insects could colonize her body.'"

I know nothing else about this case and feel a genuine sadness for Ms. Bain. That said, it was a sober reminder that just like Herod, all of us will part from this body and be "eaten by worms." This body does not last... are you ready to part from yours?

Why America Needs Canada - Stephen Altrogge Take Note!

See full report here:

"Canada is the United States' largest trading partner and Mexico ranks third. Trade between the three countries last year totaled $930 billion and is expected to reach $1 trillion by the end of this year.

Canada and Mexico are the largest sources of imported energy to the United States, and Canada is the largest supplier of foreign oil."

T4G 2008 #4

The ride home from T4G went great! It was a beautiful day to drive and take in some lovely American countryside and the fellowship in the van made the 12 hours feel like two.

The highlight of this conference in my eyes took place late Wednesday night. Tim Challies and I had the idea of gathering together all of the Canadian registrants for a few minutes of meeting each other and forging relationships. I was greatly encouraged when (by my rough count) 60 or so men from over 20 churches met us in the hardly visible Room 112... not to be confused with Room 110 where I had told a whole whack of guys to meet us.

I gave a few words of thanks and introduction, and then each person told us their name, church name and where in our country they had come from. All we had hoped to do next was gather some email addresses to further our communication down the road and leave a few minutes for fellowship. But the few minutes went on for over an hour.

I was thrilled to meet some guys I had only heard of before, and to watch as others (some who lived in the same neighbourhood) got connected. I was also glad to meet Francois Picard, the director of SEMBEQ, the seminary of the Fellowship Baptists in Quebec. The Lord had done some remarkable things in Quebec over the last 20 years and I have always wanted to pray more intelligently for that part of my country. Initiating a friendship with Francois is a great first step to that goal.

Much thanks to the T4G team for allowing us to use the room in the convention centre.

This morning I was met with the smiling faces of 3 of my 4 kids (one is on a school trip and gets back today, d.v.). We all sat around the bed while I told them about the conference. My son wanted to know if there were any sheriffs preaching! I think John Piper would be the most likely to be a sheriff if not a pastor... a good sense of justice and all that.

And now, a full day in the study, pre-marital counseling all of tomorrow morning, some time with the family in the afternoon and then our favorite day of the week with my favorite church in the world.

T4G 2008 #3

This is one of those conferences that gets better as it progresses. MacArthur, Dever and Sproul today and it seemed each one was drawing us closer to Jesus. I am praying that it only continues. challies.com has his regular summaries of the messages and my friend Darryl has been posting reflections at dashhouse.com.

Right now most of our guys have split into meetings, the book room, the deck or fellowship somewhere. I hate to miss fellowship, so this is all I choose to post now! (Sorry for the exclamation mark, David!!!!)

T4G 2008 - #2

Well, we are here! The 9 hour trip was closer to 12 hours... As far as I know, PMac should be getting close to Kentucky now!

The time in the vans was great. Somebody brought Brian Regan along and we laughed hard a few times. Lots of discussion about the state of evangelicalism in Canada and every guy got to tell how the Lord saved him.

Tomorrow the conference begins, but before that my roommate for the week has to speak at a conference for bloggers. The Band of Bloggers first met at T4G 2006 and will meet again this year. Tim is one of the main speakers.

I am glad to be here... but tired.

T4G 2008 - #1

Well, we are in Ohio. We should be in Louisville by now, but scattered swine on the 401, a snarly INS dude entering America, and PMac blowing an alternator have slowed things down a tad! So far, there has been great conversation in the car, although I cannot get these guys to throw a football. Very sad.
We are just grabbing dinner at Panera and then we are back on the road with 3 hours to go.
Great to see all these guys talking together and forging new friendships.

[Edit: And YES, we have the Challies!]

Together for the Gospel (in Canada!)

This is to remind any of you who will be at Together for the Gospel next week that we will have our brief Canadian meeting on the evening of April 16^th (the Wednesday of the conference). We will meet in room 112 of the convention centre at 9:30 PM (or immediately after the evening’s final session wraps up). This room is apparently immediately below the room where we will be for the main sessions. There will be no announcement during the session, so you’ll need to remember. We are excited to meet you face-to-face and to share even just a few minutes of fellowship with you.

Pastors Poorly Dressed

On a recent flight to Texas I secretly watched a man. (Isn’t that what you do on planes? Watch people and pretend not to?)

He was clearly a pastor.

The white, button-down shirt was one clue – but there were more.

He had a big, black NIV Study Bible in his hand. And a big voice. And a big gut. And a big attitude. The flight attendant had to ask him several times to move back to his own seat... being a big man he kept moving to rows with two open seats so he could spread out. Then another passenger would board and the whole process of shifting around would begin anew.

Finally, he grumped back to his original seat, while the flight attendant gave a knowing glance to surrounding passengers.

Watching him reminded me of a conference I attended where pastors nearly crushed one another in a mad dash for a free Christian book. The irony was profound.

All of this made me wonder how my life stains the Gospel. Paul urges the early church to seek to “adorn the Gospel” by our good and loving behaviour, but too often I think I am a stained garment. And yes, it is all the worse since I am a pastor. I ought to lead by example, but my example can be misleading.

Watching that big man on that little plane was like looking in a mirror. The expressions of sin might be different, but too often I wear the same tarnished clothes. May God give grace to me and that man to “let [our] manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ.”

ATTENTION LEAFS FANS!!

GoLeafs.net

If you are thinking it is time to forget sports and move on to the garden, think again.

You can still cheer for the Maple Leafs.

About Texas...

Just a quick report on my trip to Texas. God gave me the grace to preach 5 times between Friday night and Sunday morning. Four of those messages were to the men of Kerrville Bible Church and Believer’s Fellowship (San Antonio). The fifth message was at KBC on Sunday morning.

Things I learned:

• Believer’s Fellowship has a long-standing connection to our missionary, Charles Woodrow.
• Texans are not impressed when you tell them you drive a ’91 GMC Sierra pick-up... unless it is a V-10 diesel.
• Men are men, wherever you go.
• Texan men have a lot of guns.
• Texan men like to shoot their guns.
• Texan men know a lot about their guns.
• It is hot in Texas.It took me exactly 17 minutes to burn.
• You should not mess with men named, “Buzz.”
• Texans are some of the kindest people I have met.
• Delta must be owned by Air Canada... see Tim Challies for explanation.