Luke 18:1-8 (NIV)

1 Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. 2 He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. 3 And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’

4 “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’”

6 And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8 I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”

Reflection:

“Prevailing prayer is that which gets an answer” (Charles Finney). It is in this prevailing prayer that we persist and not give up. In this parable of the persistent widow, we find an example of what it looks like to prevail - to pray constantly, bringing our requests continually before God as we live for him day by day, and believing He will answer. This last part is very important and often missed - faith in God as the One who answers prayer is a condition of having our prayers answered. When we live by faith, we are not to give up. Faith is more than an “attitude” and hoping that things will get better. No, faith is action in response to the One who answers our prayers. As we persist in prayer, we will grow in character, in hope, and in faith.

Responding to the Transmission:

As we are learning how to pray, let us persist in lifting our prayers to the Lord. Like the persistent widow, let us approach our Lord in faith, believing that He will hear us and answer our prayers out of His goodness.

Thanks to The Washington Post!

Times are tough. Folks are suffering. Time for Washington to act, Right?

Nope!

At least that was the answer in the Senate yesterday.

In a move that should surprise no one, the Senate GOP voted unanimously to block President Obama’s jobs bill.

The $447 billion proposal faced its first real test after being touted all over the country by the president himself. But the Republicans weren’t the only ones with “doubts” about the bill.

On Tuesday morning, senior White House officials said this is just the first act in a long-term play. They brushed aside the dissent among Democrats and urged Americans instead to look at the Republicans, unanimously voting against job-creation measures.”

Facing opposition from both parties, the next steps for the legislation remain unclear.

Votes on pieces of the bill could begin later this month, perhaps as early as next week, Senate Democratic aides said. Party leaders said they needed to consult their caucus before they decide on the timing or choose the provisions to be considered separately.”

Is the president running out of time? Or will be looking for a job soon?

Image from Politico

Best friends forever? New Jersey governor makes big endorsement.

Ambassination: Iranians accused of plotting murder.

Debate debacle: Bachmann goes after contender’s big plan.

And, ouch!

EE Graduate Seminar

Optical Sensors for Biotechnology and Bioengineering

Yordan Kostov, PhD
Research Associate Professor
UMBC Center for Advanced Sensor Technology

11:30am-12:45pm, Friday 14 October 2011, ITE 231

Interaction of the light with the matter is one of the fundamental interactions in the nature. It is used in a variety of fields, stretching from telecommunications to life sciences. In this talk, the use of luminescence for sensing purposes will be highlighted. In particular, fluorescence spectroscopy will be illustrated. Multiple examples that employ different characteristics of the fluorescence (excitation and emission spectrum, decay time, polarization, and combination thereof) will be given. The presented sensing principles are used for measurements of oxygen, pH, CO2, ethanol, etc. As an optical chemical sensor requires successful interweaving of elements from 5 different scientific areas (analytical chemistry, polymer science, optics, electronics and computer science), the problems and the requirements for system integration are discussed.

Dr. Yordan Kostov received his B.Sc. and M.Sc. with honors in 1987 from Department of Electrical Engineering, Odessa Politechnic Institute, Former USSR. He received a Ph.D. Degree in Electrical/Chemical Engineering from Bulgarian Academy of Sciences for his work in the area of optical chemical sensors and biosensors. After that, Dr. Kostov spent an year as a post-doctoral fellow at the Institute for Technical Chemistry, University of Hanover, Germany. In 1994 he accepted a position as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biotechincs, Sofia Technical University, Bulgaria. In 1999 he became a post-doctoral fellow at University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute, at the Medical Biotechnology Center. He joined the UMBC Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering as a Research Assistant Professor in 2000, and is now Research Associate Professor since 2006. Dr. Kostov also holds a position as an Assistant Director of the Center for Advanced Sensor Technology at UMBC. He is involved in the development of chemical and biochemical sensors for biotechnology, bioengineering and biomedical applications.

Seminar Host: Prof. Joel M. Morris