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In a small town called Sivakasi, there are a type of people who are called secret Christians. As Hoefer, a researcher of Churchless Christians testifies, "Sivakasi is the location of the famous 'Secret Christians'. Meanwhile, they are not negligible in number. As leading missiologist Roger Hedlund says, while not identifiable with "Church," this category forms a significant component of South Indian religious life and represents one aspect of the indigeneity of Christianity.
There is a reason for this increase in number of Churchless Christians. The present Church in Sivakasi is in a different, partly adopted cultural setup where a Hindu cannot perfectly fit in. So, if a Hindu converts to Christianity, he has only two options before him. One is, to rebel against his community and cultural setup and join with the institution of Church. Another is, to remain as a secret follower of Christ with out an external identity or a Church membership. The Church requires the Individual Hindu-converts to come out of their community, and become a part of the institution of Church. It never considers the secret Christians as a real followers of Christ. But most Hindu-converts, who are bound-up in their social norms, find it very difficult to break-up from their community. So, mostly they decide to stay away as chruchless Christians. So, in this paper, I want to address the problem of the institution of Church and the secret followers of Christ. In India, can there be a Christian without the Church? Let us discuss about this issue with a case study from Sivakasi.
Case Study
Rani, wife of a famous Nadar fireworks businessman in Sivakasi, accepted Christ through a gospel program in television and decided to be a follower of Jesus in her whole life. She also received a miraculous healing through praying to Jesus, with the help of that television program. As she continued to watch those Christian programs in television, she became so firm in the faith on Jesus. When days passed by, she shared this with her husband, but there was no positive or negative response from him. Soon she met a Christian lady who goes to an independent charismatic Church and she was very happy to talk to her about the healing and conversion she had through a television program. That Christian lady told her, "if my pastor comes and prays for your family, God will surely bless you." Rani convinced her husband and brought the pastor to her house for a prayer. When the pastor came, he indirectly compelled her to come to his Church and take baptism. He also said, "unless you do this, you can never love Jesus and be his follower. God has given his very life for you and healed you from your sickness, why can't you do this very small thing for him?" Rani was totally confused. Her husband would never allow her to take baptism and join the Church. She fought with her husband many days regarding her baptism and her whole family life turned to a chaos. Her husband advised her to worship Jesus in their own puja room, watch Christian television programs and send offerings to some television preacher. But the Local pastor advised her to take baptism in his Church and join his Church. Rani, poor lady, due to her love on Jesus, accepted the words of Pastor as God's word and took baptism and become a member of that Church. This created a major problem in their family circle, which finally ended up in a family breakage. The relatives spurred anger on her because she adopted a Christian God who works against Hindu culture and society (as presented by the Church in India). In Hindu Nadar social setup, a community feeling has bound everyone together and no individual can go of their own. The family relations are inextricably interwoven into each other. So, Rani's adoption of western religion has exploded as a problem among the community.
Now, she is attending the Church regularly, but her family and other Christians have earned the burning hatred of the surrounding Hindu community. Her family is looked down by the rest of the community. Her husband is not in good terms with her, because he has suffered heavy insult and mockery at his business place. He has also lost his image in the Hindu Nadars Businessmen Association, and he could never attend those meetings. One person became Christian, but the whole family went into a chaos.
From then on, the Christians and Church has been accused of converting individuals and breaking the Hindu families. The picture of Jesus was distorted among the non-Christians by Church itself. There came a big gap between Christians and non-Christians, where we cannot share the gospel of Jesus Christ anymore. The Hindus became more firm in their religion, in order to defend themselves. Even the nominal Hindus became more religious and started to celebrate their religious festivals with much devotion. The Hindus became aware of Christians' attempt of conversion. So, they never allow any Christian to talk about Jesus at any circumstances.
Statement of Problem
Here, from this case study, we can notice the tragedy which is going on among the Hindu converts of Sivakasi. It is because of these problems, most of the converts avoid Churches and remain as Churchless Christians. They accept Jesus Christ, read the Bible at their home, send offerings to some television preachers and try their best to avoid worshipping Idols. Sivakasi Churchless Christians are different than other secret Christians. As Hoefer feels, we cannot call them as secret Christians, because, in fact, they are neither "secret" nor "Christian." They are not really secret, because, if you ask, they will confess openly that they are the followers of Christ. And according to present Church's stance, they are not Christians, because they are not baptized. So Hoefer says, most practice it quite openly but all practice it quite tactfully. And he calls them as "tactful believers in Christ." But unfortunately, the Church does not accept these people as part of the Christianity, rather demands the converts to have a compulsory membership and sacraments in the Church. Their reason for this demand is Matthew 16:18; where Jesus says, I will build my Church. So, the Church (Catholic, Protestant, Charismatic or other Independent Churches) assumes itself as an institution of Jesus, to continue his mission on the earth. Any follower of Christ should be the member of this institution at any cost. The family relations should not be a hurdle for any one to be a part of the Church. Because in Luke 14:26-27, Jesus requires his disciples to carry their cross and to hate their father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters. And also Luke 12:51-53; where Jesus says, "Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other..." So, a new Hindu-convert has a double trouble. One from the institution of Church and another from his own community. He could not fully join both the sides and been thumped on both sides.
Every Church has its own doctrines and traditions, by which they function with in the four walls and there is no single Church which concerns for the tragedy of these individual Hindu converts, outside the Church. Are the Church's demands justifiable? Can't there be a Christian without Church? What is the fate of those who remain Churchless? What is the biblical answer for it?
quest for a solution
Some scholars attempted to address this issue either in comprehensive way or in a brief manner. Herbert E. Hoefer, a Lutheran missionary to Tamil Nadu, conducted a research on behalf of Gurukul Lutheran Theological college and Research Institute, Madras. He calls these Churchless Christians as "the other sheep," referring to John 10:14-16; "I am the good shepherd; I know my own and my own know me... And I have other sheep that are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will heed my voice. So there shall be one flock, one shepherd." So Hoefer considers that, while Church is functioning separately, there is also an other Christians aside who are also the saved people of God. He also has drawn a missiological strategy for the Churchless Christians. The most fascinating proposal of Hoefer is the "Christ-ized Hinduism." Further, he believes that this Churchless Christianity is a new indigenous Christian movement. And he also believes indigenization which cannot be done by Church, is now been carried by the community of Churchless Christians. Hoefer in his book, says,
Can Christianity really be absorbed into this totally different religio-cultural environment? Certainly, it cannot be done by the Church, but it has already begun among the non-baptised believers as we have seen in our survey . . . . I disagree therefore, with those who hold the Church to blame for lack of progress in developing indigenous Church forms . . . .The real move toward an indigenous Christian faith can never come from the Christian community. It must grow out of the 'Churchless Christianity', with the help and encouragement of the Church.
Thus, Hoefer gives an encouraging sign for the community of Churchless Christians in Tamil Nadu.
Timothy C. Tennet, in his article "The Challenge of Churchless Christianity," refers Ralph Winter, the founder and director of U.S. Center for World Missions, California. Tennet says that Winter has made numerous comments about the Churchless Christianity and his comments indicate that the presence of Churchless Christianity is not only missiologically sound, but also strategically superior to traditional Churches. Winter says there
Apparently, our real challenge is no longer to extend the boundaries of Christianity but to acknowledge that Biblical, Christian faith has already extensively flowed beyond Christianity as a cultural movement, just as it has historically flowed beyond Judaism and Roman Catholicism. Our task may well be to allow and encourage Muslims and Hindus and Chinese to follow Christ without identifying themselves with a foreign religion. The Third reformation is here.
Tennet explains the significance of the term "Third Reformation" here. Winter alludes the first reformation as a move beyond the mono-cultural framework of Judaism and the second reformation as a move beyond Roman Catholicism. Now the third reformation is "Churchless Christianity," the work of the gospel beyond the territory of Christian community, among the structural frame work of other religions.
In another side, Indian theologian M.M. Thomas gives a new concept, "Christ-centered secular fellowship" outside the Church. He says that the Church take form as a Christ-centered fellowship of faith and ethics in the Hindu religious community. He rejects sacramental baptism because baptism in India has become a sign of proselytism into a socio-political involving rejection of their own socio-political communities. He talks about a distinctive new humanity which belongs to Jesus, but exists outside the "empirical Church."
While the above Scholars talked about Churchless Christianity as a community outside Christianity, the Indian Christian theologians of the Madras rethinking group, in the early twentieth century talked about the total abolition of the institution of the western Church. As we saw earlier, the new Hindu-convert could not cope up with the present Church system and as a result he remains as a secret Christian or Churchless Christian. Chenchiah, a Hindu convert, felt an uneasy feeling with the western concept of Church and came up with a new indigenized Christ-ism from the gospels, using his Hindu perspective. So for this paper, I have taken Chenchiah's view of Church and his Kingdom of God theology.
Pandippedi Chenchiah, as a young man became a Christian along with his family from a Brahmin caste and Intellectual class background. He earned a degree in philosophy and then mastered in law. He served in various degrees of designations in Governmental offices and then he was also appointed as the Judge of small state—Pudukottah. As Thangasamy describes him, he loved scholarship and at the same time what he read was coming out of him all the time as he reflected on the ideas, movements, and needs of men of his time. Coming from a true Hindu Brahmin background with adequate scholarship, his thoughts were genuine, bold and unorthodox. He perceived Christianity with his innate Hindu cultural frame work and began to analyze it with the Scripture. He dared to critique the structure and functions of western Church and religion, Christianity. He was one of the first native Christian thinkers of the nation India. He was also one of the forerunners of the Madras rethinking group in the early twentieth century.
When every Christian, thought from within the institution of Church and its traditions and customs, Chenchiah stood outside the Church and its traditions and assessed it with the Scripture using his Hindu cultural frame work. First, he expresses, how a real Hindu mindset would be. Then he explains the influence of western mindset in the Christian ecclesiology. Finally he contrasts the Hindu mind with the western mind and proposes a new Christian ecclesiology, with the help of Jesus and his teachings, which perfectly suits a Hindu mind.
Chenchiah's perspective of church
Before looking at Chenchiah's ideologies, it would be helpful for us to see the radical perspective of Chenchiah towards the western concept of Church. Chenchiah looks at four different people with four different view of Church. The first is Roman Catholic Church. The Church self-propagates that it represents Christ on earth and acts like the sole instrument of salvation. It alone assumes to form authority to form doctrines and acts like a guardian of Jesus Christ. Salvation is through believing in Christ as interpreted by the Church. As Chenchiah says, in Catholicism, sacraments are absolutely necessary for Christian life and growth. The grace and authority flows from God to sinner through the Pope and other Church officials. The Pope and bishops are crowned, enthroned, live in their places, rule over their subjects—believers. We can see a monarchial rule in the Church of Catholicism, which theologically captivating the people.
The Protestant setup is one step lower than the Catholicism. "The Protestant theory of Church follows the democratic theory of state." The grace flows directly to the sinner without any mediation. The Church is considered as the fellowship of the saved. Sacraments are outward expressions of inward grace. Church is established by Jesus as baptism and Eucharist, therefore it is for fuller life and growth. The Church government is in a hierarchical type from Bishop to Priests and other officials. Regarding Ecumenicals, Chenchiah says, "This Church resembles a dumb-bell." There are in two sections, the high Church and the low Church. The high Church believes same like Catholicism except Pope. The low Church accepts the Protestant view of the Church. They cling to their Episcopal form of government, the creeds, the sacraments and the prayer book. The final is the laymen view, which regard Church as a useful institution for worship, fellowship and propagation. These people do not worry about any other doctrines, politics, traditions and so on. Thus Chenchiah looks and explains the complexity of the present western concept of Church. While the Christian spirituality through Church is based on the western mindset, Chenchiah moves ahead to explain what is really there in a Hindu mindset.
A Hindu's mindset
Chenchiah strongly believes that in every Christian of south India, the Hindu lives as part of his inheritance and molds his opinions often unconsciously. So there is a Hindu mindset in almost every south Indian Christian. And in describing the Hindu mind, Chenchiah presents four basic characteristics. Among them the first and most important is the "Individual Spirituality." Chenchiah says, "The Hindu mind may be said to be institutional in social life and highly individual in spiritual life." The Hindu believes in a social communalism, where a society exists apart form its members and dominates his life. But when it comes to religion, every one has his own stance and spiritual growth. There is no doctrinal compulsion on individuals that they must do certain things.
The second characteristic is that there is "no central authority", and the society should not be organized throughout. For this, he gives an example of Sadhu in a Hindu religion, who stands apart from the obligations of caste which controls the society. Sadhu is just a religious guide to the bhakthas, who doesn't have any social and religious control on them. The third characteristic is that there is "no single central institution" by which man shall be ruled. The controlling power should be diversified and not unified to exercise absolute authority over the citizens. Here, he gives the example of the village society, where there is no central power. So the "Hinduism insists that small units are far more enduring and powerful in religion than central organizations." And the final characteristic is the intangible custom or hidden principles which govern the Hindu mind. Chenchiah calls it as "rules of the unseen," which prevails pre-eminently in religion. The society is unorganized and there is no single central authority to rule over, but still it is not in chaos because of the government of transcendental law among the people. This is a fascinating form of governing the society and this reveals the co-operating communalism of the Hindu mind.
Biblical Argument for Kingdom of God
Having explained the Hindu mindset, Chenchiah turns his cannon towards the western concept of Church. He strongly criticizes the very structural setup of the Church institution and attempts to prove that it is not biblical. He expresses, "it would be difficult to hold that Jesus anticipated the growth of any institution like Church as an integral part of this religion." In fact a unbiased study of the sayings of the Lord, reveals that the idea of the Church as we understand it, does not occur. In fact, Chenchiah says,
Jesus was condemned and crucified before he established anything enduring. He made no plans for the future. He did not leave a single saying of his in writing. He gave no commands. It may be doubted whether he instituted any sacraments or left any testament to his disciples.
The texts usually referred to base the argument for the Church in the gospels, do not necessarily mean an institution. According to Chenchiah the institutional Church has replaced the two vital aspects of gospels. One is the raw fact of Christ and another is the Kingdom of God. The person Jesus and his teachings in the gospels, got enveloped by a huge globe of tradition and testimony. When days passed by, the supremacy of Christ has been shifted to supremacy of Christianity or the Church. So, religion assumes more value than its founder. Thus Christ is replaced by Christianity by the Church.
The second aspect the Church missed is the Kingdom of God. Chenchiah, comes up with a new argument that in the gospels, "as clear as the absence of reference to the Church is the place and prominence given to the Kingdom of God." Chenchiah strongly believes that the whole concept of Jesus Christ was based on the Kingdom of God concept, but the Church neglected this and magnified the Church concept. Chenchiah also contrasts the Kingdom of God with the Church. In short he says, "the Church represents an army, the Kingdom of God a new race." The Church has always been associated with army, state and organizations, but the Kingdom of God was intended to inaugurate a new order of existence.
Further, he argues that Christianity is not a religion as it was made by the Church. "The gospel is that God in Jesus has made a new creation." And he continues that the Church does not teach us the mystery of new birth, rather it detracts our attention from the central fact. The central fact is, Jesus is the advent of new creation—the manifestation of a new cosmic energy, the Holy Spirit. And Christianity is the Kingdom of God, a new creative order, where a Christian is one who born not of blood and will of man, but by the Holy Spirit over shadowing him. Soon after the ascension of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit came and filled the disciples with new power. Even in the midst of persecution, the early Church powerfully spreaded everywhere, with the help of the Spirit. But when Rome conquered the Church, the Holy Spirit left the Church. So in order to regain the Holy Spirit, the Christians should come out of the Church and form the real Kingdom of God.
Indian Rejection of Church
In India, Chenchiah says, primarily the rejection of Church happens mostly due to the Spiritual reason rather than political grounds. If a western model Church enters India, then Christians will have trans-Indian loyalties for their foreign religion. So Chenchiah says, "In India, on purely national grounds, we do not want to encourage religions having trans-Indian loyalties...we cannot tolerate opposing forces planted in our religion—in the form of Church..." So for Chenchiah, the Church cannot be a national influence.
The second reason for rejecting Church is its corrupted nature. As Chenchiah says that exalting the Church and its doctrines, more than its founder and raising the priest to the pedestal of God, are welknown to Hinduism. He continues to that saying, "the sanity of Hinduism—in its more exalted forms has ruled out all these as pathological." So, we do not need to accept this erroneous doctrines of western Church and be a slave to a western Christianity, rather Hinduism and Jesus bid Indians to stand by his freedom.
The third reason is, the Church in its worship, fellowship and propagation, is in the Western socio-cultural pattern, which contradicts with the Indian mindset. Church was made as the sole place of worship in the west. But Indian traditions have always nurtured family devotions. As Chenchiah says, "the household was a temple, the father the priest. In India we see puja rooms in every house, where worship would take place daily not just on Sundays. So Chenchiah views Indian traditional way of worship is more efficient than the western way of corporate worship. Regarding fellowship, Chenchiah critiques that the Church does not really function as a strong fellowship. Because, even a Christian finds more fellowship only in the society and not in the Church. For, in a week, once Christians meet in Church and six days in the society. So Hindu traditional social life is the best way to have fellowship with each other.
And finally regarding the propagation, Chenchiah scraps it down cheaply, saying, "the belief that without the Church the missionary cause will suffer, has its justification only on the financial side." Even in Hinduism, there was always a good deal of inter-sect propaganda and conversion, but the temple was never the recognized organ of those. He added to that saying, "the western way of thinking that organizations strengthens the forces of propagation was never true in India." For a biblical example, Chenchiah refers the book of Acts, where the place of the visible Church was taken by the invisible Holy Spirit. The disciples who were under the guidance of Holy Spirit, is the conspicuous instance of the movement of life; highly dynamic without any institutional support.
So Chenchiah strongly says, "there is no Church, Catholic or Protestant..." Jesus never intend to form an institution where his followers get baptized and be a member. But he started a new creative order, Kingdom of God, where every human have a new birth and become new man with the help of the Holy Spirit. Hindu cultural setting can be a better pattern to contextualize the person Jesus and his teachings of Kingdom of God. With Hinduistic method of Individual Spirituality, Indian Christians can be a better followers of Jesus under the direct guidance of Holy Spirit. The Indian traditional method of family devotion, the Hindu socio-community life and individual propagation under the immediate command of Spirit are the best Indian ways of worship, fellowship and propagation. Finally as an advice, Chenchiah recommends Ashrams for Indian Christian spiritual development. He says, "the ashram was born in the days of spiritual experiment in India." So it is then to the Christian Ashram that we should turn for instruction in the techniques (sadhana) of spiritual life. Thus Chenchiah wants Jesus and his Kingdom of God principle in a true Hindu socio-cultural setup.
The concept of Church is not so much talked about by Jesus Christ. But St. Paul has talked much about Church and its functions in his letters. The word Church (ekklesia) is used only two times in the gospels, where it is used 113 times in the other books. In gospels, Jesus himself used the word two times (Matthew 16:18; 18:17). In Matthew 16:18, Jesus promises Peter, "on this rock I will build my Church."
Jesus' Meaning of Ekklesia
Most of the scholars parse the Greek word ekklesia and define the meaning of it. As Willmington says, the word ekklesia derived form the word ekkaleo. The compound ek means "out" and the kaleo means "to call or summon." Thus the literal meaning is call out. Based on this Church means, community of the believers of Christ who are called out from the world and its sins. Hagner explains it differently, saying, underlying the Greek word ekklesia, Church is an Aramaic word spoken by Jesus meaning "community" (qahal). The word ekklesia appears often in LXX, usually in the translation of qahal. Israel could have been called as the community of the lord. If Jesus is the Christ, then it is natural to expect that the community Jesus refers to is the messianic community or the eschatological people of God. The point of assertion is that Jesus, i.e., the risen Jesus, will build his new community in the first instance through the labor of the apostles. The metaphorical use of build (oikodomeso) is appropriate to a community conceived of as a Spiritual house or temple. So, as Jesus says, "I will build my Church," he probably means that I will build my community. This clearly do not denote an institution of Jesus, but an community of Jesus. But for our surprise the word Church is used in Matthew 18:17 has a slightly different meaning. While the 16:18 refers to the universal community of Jesus, the word Church in 18:17, refers the local assembly of the community. So from Jesus' different usage of the word Church, we can know that there is an universal community of Christ and at the same time there is also a local community. This local community can probably be a part of the universal community.
Building the Community
Now, we come to know that Jesus promised to build his community on his disciple. How he is going to build his community on this earth? The answer for this question comes from the great commission of Jesus in Matthew 28:19-20. "Go and Make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you." Jesus who made disciples in his earthly ministry, now commanding his disciples to go and make disciples. The word "disciple" does not mean a mere convert. The Greek word mathetes, literally means "a learner." Even then Hendrikson feels, mere mental understanding does not make one a disciple. The truth learned must be practiced. It must be appropriated by heart, mind and will. Jesus himself explains discipleship in his great commission. Baptize them in the name of the Trinity and teach them to obey (Matthew 28:19b,20). Three things happen at discipleship process, Baptism—conversion, teaching—learning and obeying—practicing. So discipleship process starts at conversion and continues with learning and practicing in the whole life.
Even in his final commission to his disciples, Jesus did not talk about forming an organizational setup of his ministry. His did not carry over his mission to a particular person or to a particular religion. So Jesus never talked about a central authority of religion who controls all his missionary affairs and guide people. Without any discrimination, he commands all his disciples to go and make disciples of all nations. Jesus did not limit himself to any religion or sect. He wanted him to be preached to all religions and to all people. When, he entered his ministry, he discipled his twelve disciples and other. But at the culmination of his earthly ministry, he passed the baton to all his followers and asked them imitate him in everything. Jesus' intention is to transform every single human like him and establish his Kingdom on earth. So, not a single institution or person, alone carries out the mission of Jesus, but each and every individual disciples.
Body of Christ
As Jesus promised, "I will build my community," he has been building from Peter's first evangelistic message onwards. And all those who become disciples of Jesus, together form the universal community of Christ. In that community life, there is an interdependence and an inter-serving are found. A single man cannot survive or grow without helping or been helped by others. St. Paul goes little deeper into this community or body and tries to explain Ephesians about the functions within the community. He perceives different gifts of service operating in different members of the community, to help each others. In Ephesians 4:11, he says, "And he himself appointed some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists and some to be pastors and teachers." These gifts are given according to the grace given to each one of the members (4:7).
First, an apostle is merely a messenger. Vine says, the Greek word apostolos means that one sent forth (apo = from and stellō = to send). Secondly, a prophet is the "one who speaks forth openly" or "a proclaimer of divine message." The prophesying of New Testament prophets was both preaching of the gospel of grace and the foretelling of the purposes of God in the future. Thirdly, Evangelists (euangelistēs) literally means "a messenger of good" (eu = well and angelos = a messenger). This denotes evangelist as a preacher of the gospel. (Acts 21:8; Ephesians 4:11). It seems that apostles and evangelists have more or less same ministry. Fourthly, Pastors (poimēnas) literally means, a Shepherd or one who feeds and cares herds or flocks. This word also referred for the pastoral care (John 21:16; Acts 20:28; I Peter 5:2). Jesus is called as our Shepherd (John 10:11, 14; Hebrews 13:20; I Peter 2:5). The idea behind this term is the care and affection that a shepherd takes for his sheep. Fifthly and finally, Teachers (didaskalos), which simply mean the one who teaches. In Jewish tradition the rabbi, who were called as teachers. Because they used to teach the Law (torah) to the Jews. In Matthew 23:8 and 10, Jesus Himself called as a rabbi and teacher.
Elsewhere St. Paul mentions about some other gifts like serving, teaching, encouraging, giving, governing and showing mercy (Romans 12:7-8). In I Corinthians 12:8-10, again St. Paul mentions about nine spiritual gifts. All these gifts are entrusted to different members of the community of Christ or body of Christ. Why God entrusts these gifts to the members of body of Christ? St. Paul answers this question in Ephesians 4:12, to equip the members for the work of service and to build up of the body of Christ. Equipping each other and building the community. The Greek word used here for equipping is katartismon, which really means to make perfect or to repair. In Matthew 5:48, Jesus says, "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect." Jesus wanted us to be perfect as the heavenly Father. The members of the community of Christ help each other to make everyone perfect like Jesus. Community building is also one of the purpose of gifts. In Greek the term oikodomē is used for the verb "building," The same verb oikodomē is used when Jesus said, "I will build my Church" (Matthew16:18). So Jesus builds his community on earth through his disciples, by giving them gifts and talents. This building not only refers to a physical growth but also to a spiritual growth.
Network of the Community
After explaining the internal functions within the body of Christ, St. Paul now illustrates the network with in the community. The functions, he explained above are not to rule others but to serve others. So there are no separate offices which facilitate separate services. Within the community, the members who are gifted to serve, serve others without a assuming a special office for it. And all the servers and the served, together forms the body of Christ. St. Paul describes this in Ephesians 4:16; "From Christ the whole body, joined and knit together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself in love, as each part does its work. Here St. Paul uses the imagery of human body and head to explain the relationship between Christ and his community. He also explains the function of the body to continue in surviving and growing.
Jesus Christ is the head of the body and whole body refers the universal community of Christ. Body is perfectly attached to the head, who is Christ and from the head, the whole body is being controlled. So Jesus Christ is the source for the body from which all the other members are joined and knit together. According to this imagery, Christ alone is the Head or Controller and he himself controls each and every part of the body without any mediation. So every individual member of the community has an direct relationship with Christ and functions as per Christ's direction.
Here Paul used two terms to express how close the members of the united together to form one body under the head. The first one is joined together, sunarmologeō which means to fit or frame together (sun = with, harmos = a joint and lego = to choose). Paul used this term twice in Ephesians to denote the unity of the parts of the body of Christ (2:21; 4:16). Knit together or compacted together is sunbibazō which means to cause to coalesce or combine together or held together. Paul is using both terms simultaneously to emphasize the togetherness of the whole body of Christ.
Finally, St. Paul says, every member of the community is joined and held together as the parts of human body. Now every member should do its function carefully, as it is directed by the head. And when everyone functions well, together the body grows and builds itself up in love.
As we have from the above three passages, Jesus promises to build his community on earth. To build his community, he commissioned his disciples to go and disciple all the nations. Discipleship is threefold, baptism—conversion, teaching—learning and obeying—practicing. All the disciples together form the body of Christ, in which Christ in the head and community of Christ is the body. Each part of the body or the community is gifted differently to serve one another. When everybody does their work diligently, the whole community under the headship of Jesus will grow in love. This is the simple biblical ecclesiology.
After realizing the problem of Church for the new Hindu-converts and secret Christians or Churchless Christians, we have seen Chenchiah's "Kingdom of God" theology and Biblical "Community of Jesus" theology. Because the Church is based on western thinking, Hindus find it very difficult to accept it? Now, it is time to answer the question, Can there be a Christian without Church?
Yes, there can be a Christian without Church. From the above interaction with Chenchiah and Bible, we can boldly say that Jesus did not intend to form a institution or religion. Jesus formed a new creative order, where new creative men and women join and form a community of Jesus. So those who become follower of Jesus Christ becomes a Christian. And if they have healthy individual devotion with Jesus, they continue to be a good Christian. But, as per Chenchiah's proposal, do we need to abolish the whole Church system? I believe, we should not. God has been working with the Church for about 2000 years, and he still working through it, to change the lives of millions of unbelievers. Chenchiah was wrong when he said that the Holy Spirit left the Christians, when Roman empire adopted Christianity. Without the work of Holy Spirit, the gospel wouldn't have entered India through various missionaries. God is at work, yesterday and today in all Roman Catholicism, Protestantism and Ecumenism.
In India, the problem lies in the clash of worldviews. The western worldview and Hindu worldview contrasts and conflicts each other. So, the solution for the problem is not abolition of Indian Church but a reformation of Indian Church. If necessary the Church should also be renamed in an ideal Indian expression. But, practically it is very difficult to change the structural Indian Church into an unstructural community of Christ. It cannot be done in an overnight. So, the present Church should allow the gospel to saturate other religions outside the Church. As Winter says, it is the third reformation, where the gospel works in the religions outside Christian culture and religion. When the Hindu communities are affected by the power of the gospel, a new community will develop outside the present Church, as it has already happened in the form of Churchless Christianity. This community will increase greatly in the near future and will influence the present Church. So our duty is to motivate any kind of Churchless Christianity.
Chenchiah's Kingdom of God theology should be applied in our own Hindu socio-cultural setup, together with St. Paul's Body of Christ theology. A Community of Jesus should be developed among the Hindu community. Chenchiah was correct in his contextual theology related to worship, fellowship and propagation. When a Hindu accepts Jesus Christ, he does not come out of his Hindu community, rather he takes Jesus in. Then Jesus becomes the God of that Hindu, and He is worshipped in a Hindu way of worship. Indian family devotion is more effective in spiritual growth than the corporate worship. The converted Hindu family continues to worship in their puja room, not with their old Idols but with Jesus. And propagation goes on from one Hindu to another, and thus a community of Jesus will be formed among the Hindu community. This new community will not pull itself apart from the larger scale Hindu community but will stay within and influence. There won't be much friction between the new community and the larger scale Hindu community, because they all culturally Hindus, but only their God differs. In Hinduism you can worship any of your Ista Devata, but you should stay with in its cultural fold. So as a community, they have all worship, fellowship and propagation.
Here, the Church has come up with a question, can they accept every cultural aspect of Hinduism as good? A non-Hindu cannot and should not judge the Hindu cultural elements, but a Hindu can sit and critically analyze his culture with new Scripture, Bible. When Jesus enters into a culture, he transforms it thoroughly by the work of the Spirit. This new community of Jesus forms under the Chenchiah's Kingdom of God theology. The new Hindu-converts are new creations, under the headship of Jesus Christ and together they form a new order. But Chenchiah's proposal of Hinduism's individual spirituality seems to contradict with the Biblical pattern of spirituality. Chenchiah did not consider the early Church in Acts 2:42-47, where believers had fellowship together praising God and enjoying the favor of all people. There was teaching, fellowship, worship and helping each other. Chenchiah focused only on the Kingdom of God theology from the gospels and he ignored the St. Paul's instructions about the body of Christ and its functions. So, here Chenchiah is wrong because his basic hermeneutic of Scripture itself unvalid. He did not regard the Bible as a verbally or divinely inspired book, but rather as collection of records and treatises on God's revelations of himself to man and man's expression of him. The Scriptural basis for his argument was limited to the four gospels of the New Testament and he lacks an impartial perspective on the Scripture. His hermeneutic was also highly conditioned by the Hinduism, which lead him to a misunderstanding of some of the biblical concepts.
Biblical spirituality is never an individual spirituality. It always emphasizes on interdependent collective spirituality, as we saw in the body imagery, every part depends on another. There are apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers to help each other to grow spiritually. Individual cannot stand of his own when he faces the critical situations in his life. So every individual follower of Christ is dependent on others like him. Hinduism's individual spirituality lead most of its adherents to an extreme nominalism. In contemporary Hinduism, most Hindus do not have a healthy spiritual life. They seek God only for their physical illness, financial needs and other worldly things. Newbigin bluntly disagrees with this saying, "the New Testament knows nothing of a relationship with Christ which is purely mental and spiritual, unembodied in any of the structures of human relationship. It will be helpful for their spiritual growth, if they join together and have teaching, fellowship and encouragement from one other. This need not be a formal meeting like Churches have, but as an informal community meeting.
What happens to our all traditions which has been accumulated over 2000 years? Are all those are meaningless? No, they have their own meaning, but only to the traditional Christians and not for the Hindu-converts. Hoefer says, "these non-eseential – though perhaps salutary – traditions need not be insisted upon. In fact, if they are insisted upon, we seriously mix law and gospel and make people 'submit again to a yoke of slavery'." When Christianity came to Greeks, they removed all Jewish customs and took the gospel alone. When the reformation happened in 15th century, the reformers left most of the traditions of Roman Catholicism and formed of their own. Now as gospel works in other religions, we should not force our traditions on them.
Then, what about the biblical traditions like Baptism and communion, which are considered as instituted by Jesus himself? Chenchiah doubts, whether Jesus actually instituted any sacraments. But Jesus has clearly stated in his final commission to go and make disciples, baptizing and teaching them. So Baptism seem to be a command from Jesus for all his followers. In biblical meaning, Baptism is considered as an act of new birth, to join a new community. So, Tennet considers that these Churchless Christians should be baptized to join the global Christian movement. But, Hofer comes up with the Adiaphora principle, which is a theological tool developed during the controversies of reformation period. The principle intends to discern between matters which must be considered essential to salvation and matters which are peripheral. "The adiaphora principle also insists that whatever does not lead us directly into this gospel-gift is not to be required. If this principle is applied in present Christianity, more than ninety percent of its traditions will be deducted.
Are the sacraments like baptism and communion are essential for salvation? No, not at all. Because Scripture clearly says that we are justified solely by grace through faith, and not through anything we do and present God as making us worthy before him (Cf. Romans 1:17; 3:19-22; Gal. 2:16). So Baptismal rite is not an inevitable to be saved. Then why Jesus commanded us to practice that? The answer is that Jesus wanted his people to practice it inwardly. St. Paul talks about a real circumcision to the Greeks. He says, "A man is not a Jew if he is only one outwardly, nor is the circumcision merely outwards and physical. No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code" (Romans 2:28-29). So, not a outward baptism but a inward new creation is essential in salvation.
While Baptism is related to the conversion, the rite of Communion is related with the sanctification or discipleship process. So, baptismal rite can be given up, but communion is necessary for a spiritual growth of a follower of Christ. Communion is not only a rite but also an act of fellowship with other followers of Christ and an act of remembering Jesus' death and parousia. Communion is not a peculiar aspect for the Hindu community. In temples, the Hindus used to get prasad and in festivals they used to have common meals. So communion can easily be incorporated into the Hindu culture. But still on the basis of adiaphora principle, no rite is like "the essential"in the community of Jesus in Hinduism.
Now, is there a structure with in this community of Jesus? Because with out structure any movement will collapse by itself. Even, Hinduism doesn't have an external structure for itself but still its society is organized and controlled by some hidden principles. It was structured in a way that everyone would do his job or service to each other. But somehow, evils entered this social structure called Casteism. So in Hinduism, Casteism in itself is not unbiblical, but the evils in it. With the help of Scripture and Holy Spirit, a Hindu-convert should critically analyze his culture and religion and scrap all evils from it (Issues like sati, caste oppression, temple prostitution, idolatry, gender oppression and dowry should be carefully assessed). As social structure in Hinduism, there is an invisible structure in the body of Christ. In the body of Christ, there is a Head and other parts of the body. The Head is Christ and the parts of his body are the community of Christ. There is no central authority among the parts, but still the Head is the central authority. Every part has its own work. The body or community of Christ is organized and controlled by the Spirit and teachings of the Head. Like there are some hidden principles in Hinduism, there is an invisible organization and direction done by the Holy Spirit. With this invisible direction and organization, each member of the community of Jesus will serve one another, according to their entrusted gifts.
If this invisible structure of body of Christ is incorporated into the Kingdom of God theology of Chenchiah, it gives a perfect biblical community of Christ. This is what exactly Christ intended his disciples to do after his ascension. St. Paul's usage of Church as an institution with disciplined worship (I Corin. 14:26-40) and, overseers and deacons (I Timothy 3) are just a contextualization of biblical community of Christ in a Roman cultural Setup. And the Roman Church pattern cannot be taken as normative for the whole world. The community of Christ is a malleable concept which can best fit in any culture. So it is the duty of every cultural people to contextualize this Community concept in their culture. As Jesus said, I will build my community, he will build in every cultures.
There is a danger in this process. As Tennet points out, "the discussion about Churchless Christianity often creates the notion that the choice between a 'westernized' Christianity and a 'Churchless' Christianity." As H.L. Richard feels that the situation is like hostility between gentiles Christianity and Jerusalem Church. If an Indian Christian badly criticizes the western Church, then he ends up with communalism, legalistic sectarianism and separatist cultural attitudes. So, the Churchless Christianity should not create a hostile in the one universal body of Christ. Whatever, the Indian Christian theologians come up with the interaction between scripture and culture, is contextually true but not universally absolute. Chenchiah was wrong in saying the west Church is wrong. It should be restated as the west Church is wrong in the east.
So, a community of Christ is proposed for new Hindu-converts. Hoefer feels that our situation before the fact of the increase of "Churchless Christianity" all around us is like that of a man who awoke to find in amazement that the seed he had scattered had grown in the night to full fruit, and he doesn't know what happened (Mark 4:26-29). Whether any one object or accept, Indian Christianity has taken a new dimension and started to grow wildly. Richard thinks that "Churchless Christianity" is not a good innovation of terminology. "Hindu disciples of Jesus who stay out of the Church are also staying out of the Christian religion, and to suggest that they are somehow still within "Christianity" seems false and in some cases is offensive." So, instead of using the term chruchless Christianity, I would prefer to use the term, "Community of Christ." But still there are two group of Christianity in India, one is the Church based Christianity and another is the Churchless Christianity. So Hoefer exhorts, "We will continue to encourage individuals and groups to come to Christ and to His Church through baptism. However we will also encourage individuals and groups to come without baptism."
The problem of Hindu-converts becoming Churchless Christians, provoked me to find an answer. Chenchiah clearly rejected the Church and he came up with Kingdom of God theology in a Hindu cultural setup. But Bible also talks about the body of Christ, which has an invisible structure and functions within. As a combination of Kingdom of God and Body of Christ, I have proposed a community of Christ concept. This community of Christ roots itself in Scripture and grows out in the Hindu culture. So, Jesus and Scripture have entered the religion of Hinduism to form a community if Christ. So, in India, there can be a Christian without Church.
Theme of Churchless Christianity: When a Hindu accepts Jesus Christ, he does not come out of his Hindu community, rather he takes Jesus in.
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KEVIN Rudd has hit the Twittersphere with gusto ahead of a critical fortnight of parliament when Julia Gillard's leadership is again expected to come under the spotlight.
The former leader turned backbencher is now firing off hundreds of greetings to almost anyone who contacts him on Twitter.
Mr Rudd has always been able to boast a huge number of followers in the social networking sphere, but in the past month he's replied to about 90 out of every 100 tweets sent in his direction.
Some Labor insiders are speculating Mr Rudd is shoring up his popular support base ahead of a tumultuous week in parliament.
Mr Rudd promised in February to make no further tilts for the leadership after losing a ballot convincingly against Ms Gillard.
In the lead-up to last week's Budget, MPs said the financial milestone was Julia Gillard's last chance to turn her fortunes around.
However, amid the escalation of the Craig Thomson scandal and explosive Fair Work Australia findings he was misusing union funds, the clear air Ms Gillard hoped for to sell her Budget surplus did not eventuate.
The Thomson events, combined with speaker Peter Slipper stepping aside from the chair over allegations of sexual harassment and fraud from a former staffer, have dogged the Government.
Parliament will resume next Monday for a fortnight of Budget Estimates.
The session is expected to be a difficult one for the Government, with Mr Thomson due to make a statement to parliament over the Health Services Union scandal.
Mr Rudd went quiet on Twitter following his trouncing in a leadership showdown with Julia Gillard on February 27.
He returned in March, still not replying regularly to followers. But in recent weeks - and particularly over the weekend - Mr Rudd's twitter activity has soared to new heights.
He's lamenting how autocorrect "bugs him", giving advice on what language students should learn at school, asking them how school is and admitting to spoiling his wife "rotten" on Mother's Day.
With many tweets simply saying "hi" to fans and followers, he signs off every tweet with "KRudd".
When one follower asked why he persisted with the sign-off, Mr Rudd replied: "Just a KRudd habit".

subset: commoncrawl


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You may have been following along with our teases on Instagram regarding our re-brand. We are so happy to finally announce it is official that your friends at Polka Dots & Rosebuds Interiors are now PDR Interiors! Along with our streamlined name, we have updated the logo and the website as well! Throughout the years, our brand has matured and so has our work & we thought it was time our logo and website caught up! We have been working on this update for quite a while and we hope you all love it as much as we do!
The colors in our new logo are navy and gray, a classic and clean combination that we feel represents us well. You'll also notice we've added a greek key emblem to the logo as well. This is a symbol that is seen in a lot of decor items and also acts as a nod to our niche market among the Greek (Sorority) community. Its also a motif we love to incorporate into our designs as it is both a classic and beautiful pattern.
Same Team New Look
Fear not! It is the same team here at PDR and our services have not changed in the slightest. We are here to help clients bring their design goals to life just as we always have! Thank you all for joining us on this amazing journey and supporting us every step of the way.
Check out a write up on the re-brand on The Lane Report > https://www.lanereport.com/84688/2017/12/emerging-lane-new-businesses-that-give-back/


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Web Design – Leadership Forum Webcast
Project Overview:
Since 2009, Southeastern University has partnered with Barrett Creative and 316 Networks to give away the National Leadership Forum during a two-day webcast to tens of thousands of people who view from countries around the world.
Barrett Creative was called upon to develop the website the Forum webcast would be broadcast on but also created an initial sign up page, password protected areas and all HTML email correspondence with the participants.
The Web Design services Barrett Creative provided:
- Custom Graphic Design
- Custom Database Management System
- Speaker Profile Galleries
- Embedded HTML-5 Video Streams
- e-commerce Integration
- Social Network Integration
- HTML Email Design / List Management
View the website:http://www.forumwebcast.com
Why we're different from other companies?
We know that the key to any successful business is relationships, which is why outstanding service and delivery on each project is our main objective. You can count on us to be honest, dependable and fun to work with. We love what we do and our passion shows through our work.


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When The Rock and I were raising our four wild kids I often wondered, wistfully, what it would be like to raise an only child.
I love each and every one of our kids, and have always considered it a blessing to be their mother.
But there were times when the fighting and squabbling, the vying for attention, the arguing and whining, the "He's touching meeee!!!" and "She's looking at me weird!!!" and "It's MY turn to sit in the front seeeeeat!!!" and the constant battle to get four kids to pick up their stuff and the endless rushing here and there and everywhere to get everybody where they needed to be when they needed to be there made me look longingly at mothers of onlies and think, "I really wonder what that would be like."
The Rock and I actually planned to have a large family. In fact, we planned on having six kids.
Then our #4, Xander, came along and, what with his extreme bouncing-off-the-walls, hyper-out-of-his-skin ADHD, he was like three kids all rolled into one package. It felt all the time like we were actually raising six kids.
We decided that we had been unknowingly transported to an alternate dimension, where the laws of math that we knew no longer applied. In other words, three plus one now equalled six. Our magic Time to Stop Procreating number.
And I continued to wonder, at times when things were the roughest, what it would be like to raise an only child.
Fast forward 20 years after Xander's birth and I got to find out. Pebbles was born.
Her mama, our daughter Sapphire, was, sadly, a drug addict and to protect Pebbles we had to take her away from her mother.
If you have never had to take your child's child away from him or her, I don't recommend it. If there's any way to avoid it, that is. It's heart wrenching.
But in our case there wasn't any other option and so, at an age when we were way too old to be doing it all over again, The Rock and I once again became parents. To an only child.
I guess it's true that there's always a silver lining. If you look hard enough. At least Sapphire didn't give birth to twins.
Pebbles has been an extremely difficult child to raise. Not because we're old. Because she's an extremely difficult child. I wrote about that here.
She's also a pure delight and we love her to pieces. But there have been some indescribably, horridly rough times with this child. And then there are the as-yet-possibly-not-accurately-diagnosed disorders/conditions/challenges/disabilities. Which I also wrote about here.
So while I am actually getting to know what it's like to raise an only child, maybe I should have been more specific when I was wondering what it was like.
You know what they say (whoever "they" are), "The devil is in the details."
Wondering who The Rock and Pebbles are? Want to know
why we're raising Pebbles? And who the heck is OCD Louie?
Find the answers and more on my About My Blog page.
You might also like Eleven Random Facts About Me and
My Answers to Sophie's Questions on my Liebster page.


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It occurred to me the other day that I probably hold the world's record for the greatest number of times a person has come close to having a big dream come true… and then failed miserably.
The first example that comes to mind happened back in the early 1990s when I, on about my 700th diet, became desperate to cheat because of an intense, unrelenting craving for chocolate. I didn't, however, want my husband to find out how weak I was. So, thinking I was clever, I hid some Hershey bars in the VCR in the bedroom. Then, all I had to do was hit the "eject" button on the VCR, and up would pop my secret stash of chocolate bars.
"I have something I want you to see," my husband said to me one night. He held up a video camera and proceeded to show me a video he'd secretly taped of me popping chocolate bars out of the VCR and stuffing them, nearly whole, into my mouth.
I was aghast. "How on earth did you tape me?"
"I suspected you were up to something when you started spending time in the bedroom every night right after supper, so I hid the camera in the closet facing the bed, opened the door just a crack and aimed it through there. Then I just let it record for an hour."
Before I could respond, he added, laughing, "And guess what? I sent it to 'America's Funniest Home Videos!'"
My first thought was to wrap my chocolate-covered fingers around his neck and strangle him. My second thought was maybe it wouldn't be so terrible to look like a complete fool on national TV…if it meant winning $10,000.
About a month later, a packet of paperwork and release forms arrived from "America's Funniest Home Videos." They loved the video, they said. They wanted to air it, they also said.
Excited, my husband and I quickly signed everything and sent it back. We then couldn't wait to tell all of our friends, relatives, neighbors and anyone else who would listen, that I was going to be on TV. We anxiously waited for the video to air.
I'm still waiting.
Another big letdown happened the time I entered a weight-loss contest in "Star" magazine. The prize was $500 and a photo spread in the publication. To enter, contestants had to send "before" and "after" photos along with their favorite diet and exercise tips. I had just spent months working very hard to drop 80 pounds, so I decided to enter the contest.
Months passed and I completely forgot about it…until the day before my husband and I were scheduled to leave on a long-planned vacation. That's when I received a call from the "Star," telling me I'd won the contest.
Before I could catch my breath, the female caller said, "We'll be over in the morning for your photo shoot."
Panicking, a million thoughts raced through my mind, such as how fast I could get my house completely redecorated.
"My husband and I are leaving on vacation to Las Vegas in the morning," I explained to her. "We already have tickets for our flight and a couple of must-see shows there. Please, can we postpone the shoot for just a week?"
There was a long silence on the other end of the phone. Finally, the woman said, "Well…OK," in a tone that clearly told me it wasn't. "We'll get back to you."
Once again, I'm still waiting…particularly for my $500.
Then, about 10 years ago, I wrote a humorous article about baking called, "Attack of the Giant Dough Ball." I sent a query letter to "Woman's Day" magazine, asking if they might be interested in seeing it. I also enclosed a few of my already-published columns as samples of my work.
Weeks passed, and I didn't think about the query letter again…until I received an email from an editor at "Woman's Day." She said the magazine preferred to stay away from humor about cooking, but she really was impressed with the sample columns I'd sent and was wondering if I had any other humorous pieces she could see.
I sat down and thought of a bunch of funny things (that didn't involve cooking) I could write about that might appeal to her: laundry mishaps, swimsuit shopping, bridesmaids' gowns, backseat drivers, and a few more. I figured whichever topic she chose, I quickly could write an article about it and zip it right off to her.
"All of your ideas sound great," she wrote back. "Send all of them!"
I panicked. How on earth, I wondered, was I going to write eight articles and send them to her before she was old enough for retirement? The answer was to spend about 10 hours a day at my computer, writing.
Just when my eyeballs were about to fall out of their sockets from staring endlessly at my computer screen, I finally finished the articles and emailed them to "Woman's Day." Never had I felt so positive, so optimistic. This finally was going to be my big break, I told myself. After all, why else would the editor ask for so many of my articles? Did she want me to write and contribute humor columns on a regular basis, the way Erma Bombeck had done for "Good Housekeeping?"
I even checked one of my writers' guides to see what "Woman's Day" was paying per article back then. When I learned it was $2,000 and up, I nearly suffered a coronary.
Each day that followed seemed like an eternity. Whenever the phone rang, my heartbeat quickened. Whenever I checked my email, I held my breath.
"No news is good news," my husband kept telling me every time I'd whine about the anticipation driving me crazy.
Finally, when I barely could take the stress any longer, an email arrived from the editor. She wrote: "I'm very sorry for taking so long to get back to you about your essays. While they're funny and well- written, the tone is not quite right for our magazine. Thank you very much for taking the time to send them. Please let me know if you have any more ideas for essays, and feel free to email me."
I was totally confused. My tone wasn't right for her magazine, yet she still wanted me to send her more ideas? Why?
Anyway, I could list another dozen or so similar letdowns, but I think I've tortured myself enough for the time being.
Meanwhile, I'm still waiting for my big break.
With my luck, it probably will be my hip.
# # #


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Well, after a few niggling repairs and updates to some airframes after the previous PSSA meet on the Orme (A10 wing dowel, U2 hole punctured in fus, spinner came off the Hurri, repair to Mustang wing where Shona knelt on it!), I'm back to building new aircraft.
The Tiffie is coming along nicely as she is really close to paint now, with the cockpit being fitted out and pilot in her seat.
I've got a big lump of lead to cast for the spinner, then I can make some final adjustments, fit the cockpit, mask up and go to paint. Not sure she'll be done for October's meet though, as the Antonov needs a few little bits and I want to take her too. Will see!


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A hereditament is non-domestic if either it consists en-tirely of property which is not domestic, or it is a composite hereditament. A hereditament is a relevant he-reditament if it consists of property of any of the following descriptions:
... (4) any right to use land for the purpose of exhibiting advertisements or for the purpose of op-erating meters which measure a supply of gas or electricity (or some other specified service) and which are not operated by consumers.
The list must also show, against the name of each designated person, that person's business [emphasis mine] details
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I found some videos on his mobile, I don't understand what went wrong
my husband is good in all the senses. he always keeps me happy. but recently i found out that he is watching videos of almost naked ladies. i saw these videos in his mobile, but when i asked him he denied it. he acted as if he didn't even know about it. later he said somebody else did it which i know is a lie. i know it's his. i could see that from his facial expression.


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June 5, 2017 — June 9, 2017
06:00 pm — 08:00 pm (EDT)1330 Cobb Pkwy NW
The GADGETS & GIZMOS VBS is geared to capture a kids' imaginations about their Creator so they can discover how they are . . .
• MADE by God
• MADE for a relationship with Jesus
• and MADE to love others.
This summer, discover how the Creator of all things created us to know and love Him.
Memory Verse: "Let your light shine so others can see it. Then they will see the good things you do. And they will bring glory to your Father who is in heaven." Matthew 5:16 (NIrV)
1330 Cobb Pkwy NW
Marietta, GA 30062
Contact Stephanie Mosley:


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Save the Kettle Falls 5 Kettle Falls 5 Petition
Thank you for joining with us to ask Attorney General Eric Holder to intervene on behalf of the "Kettle Falls 5." Larry and Rhonda Harvey are facing federal charges for growing 68 medical cannabis plants on their rural property in the northeast corner of Washington State. Also facing prosecution are Rhonda's son and daughter-in-law, Rolland and Michelle Gregg, as well as Jason Zucker, a family friend. Together, the "Kettle Falls 5" face a combined 55 years in mandatory minimum prison sentences – in a state where voters have declared marijuana legal for both medical and recreational use. To date, more than $3,000,000* has been spent to bring this case to trial. Please share this petition widely if you agree that prosecutorial resources are better spent elsewhere.
*To learn more about how the DOJ squanders $180,000 per day on federal interference with state-legal medical marijuana programs, check out ASA's informational report to Congress: "What's the Cost? The Federal War on Patients" or consider getting involved in our Peace 4 Patients Campaign.
Click here to watch news media on the Kettle Falls 5
Attorney General Eric Holder
Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, D.C. 20530-0001
RE: Prosecution of the Kettle Falls 5
Dear Mr. Holder,
We, the undersigned, respectfully request that you intervene to stop the wasteful and unnecessary prosecution in the case of United States vs. Harvey et al. As you are likely aware, the indictment against the Harvey family has become the focus of international scrutiny in recent weeks, due in large part to extensive news coverage.
Nicknamed the Kettle Falls 5 by members of the press, this case demonstrates how medical marijuana patients growing only for themselves are still being targeted by the Department of Justice, despite repeated assurances from President Barack Obama and yourself that suggest otherwise. As recently as August 29, 2013, Deputy Attorney General James Cole, in guidance to U.S. Attorneys, claimed that the DOJ "has not historically devoted resources to prosecuting individuals whose conduct is limited to possession of small amounts of marijuana for personal use on private property."
Two years prior, in a similar prosecutorial guidance memo, Mr. Cole stated that it is "not an efficient use of federal resources to focus enforcement efforts on individuals with cancer or other serious illnesses who use marijuana as part of a recommended treatment regiment consistent with applicable state law." Both of Mr. Cole's directives to prosecutors echo an October 2009 memorandum issued by then Deputy Attorney General David Ogden, which historically declared that federal resources should not be expended on "individuals whose actions are in clear and unambiguous compliance with existing state laws providing for the use of medical marijuana."
Based upon all of these DOJ memos on marijuana enforcement, the Harvey family falls squarely outside the boundaries of federal priorities. They are individual patients who were growing medical cannabis strictly for personal use. There was no commercial activity or sales of any sort, nor do your prosecutors allege that marijuana was distributed to minors. The Harveys were not involved in any criminal enterprise and there were no large sums of money to funnel to gangs, drug cartels or anyone else. Just the opposite, less than $1,000 in cash was found at the Harvey home. If the standards set forth in the aforementioned DOJ memos had been applied, the Harvey case should have been dismissed long ago. Yet, the DOJ has chosen to pursue indictment in spite of the low federal priority it represents, and the refusal by local prosecutors to charge the defendants under state law.
To make matters worse, and further contradictory to your laudable criminal justice reform goals, federal prosecutors are aggressively seeking lengthy mandatory minimum sentences in this case. The Kettle Falls 5 face a combined 55 years in prison for medical marijuana -- in a state that will soon allow cannabis distribution on a never-before-seen scale. Further illustrating the point, U.S. Attorney Michael Ormsby works and lives in a county where 18 retailers have been given state licenses that explicitly allow them to sell recreational marijuana to any customer 21 years of age. Similarly, the City of Spokane, where the Harvey family is set to stand trial, recently passed an ordinance to establish a groundbreaking licensing program for aspiring medical marijuana entrepreneurs, as well as those planning to enter the emerging recreational marketplace. How can these conflicting realities co-exist?
In addition, President Obama's recent call for clemency applicants must play a factor in the Harvey prosecution. If the goal is to greatly reduce the number of non-violent drug offenders in federal prison, Mr. Ormbsy's actions make little sense. Prosecuting the Harveys while expanding calls for clemency only makes the waste of resources more profound. What's the point of releasing existing prisoners, only to fill the empty beds with the likes of Larry and Rhonda Harvey?
In conclusion, we ask you to strongly consider whether the Harvey prosecution truly advances the cause of justice or the plainly stated priorities of the DOJ. We urge you to provide guidance to Mr. Ormsby and encourage him to find a more appropriate resolution to the Harvey case.


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Eunbie Coe of Tujunga, CA graduated Cate School on Sunday, May 28 — one of seventytwo members of the Class of 2016.
She was inducted into the Cate School chapter of the Cum Laude Society and received her diploma with Honors. She received a Varsity Sports Senior Captain Award for Cross-Country and was named a Class Agent for the Class of 2016. She also received the Headmaster's Cup to honor her service to the School.
Coe will attend New York University in the fall.


text: Most divorce and custody trials in the Maricopa County courts last a half day or less. This is a sad situation because a judge really needs more time than that to hear all the details of your case. Decades ago, a divorce trial could last one to two weeks. That was sufficient time for a judge to really get to know the parties and make better decisions. Nowadays, with the crowded court dockets, it is very important to present your case in a highly organized, effective way so that you can put as much useful information in front of the judge in the short amount of time available. Over the many years I have been practicing law, I have refined and refined again how I present cases so that judges can get the most important details in a memorable way. This, I believe, has been very helpful to my clients.


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Serena Williams Says "I Am About To Be A Real Woman Now" When Asked About Giving Birth Soon
Serena Williams is just weeks from giving birth to her first child with fiancé Alexis Ohanian and in an interview with Stellar magazine, she got very candid about her hopes, fears, and feminist ideologies as an expectant mother.
"Having a baby, nothing is guaranteed," Williams shared. "That's the scariest thing. [But] I think [giving birth] will give me more strength, if that's possible, and a lot more confidence. I feel like I will be ready for anything."
Strength is something the tennis pro has always displayed on and off the court. As a competitor, she has earned the title of "Greatest Athlete Ever," last year and has been ranked world No. 1 in singles on eight occasions, from 2002 to 2017. Outside of sports, Williams has proven herself a strong feminist ally, taking a vocal stand against the sexism she experiences as an athlete, and also speaking out for those affected by issues she's been blessed to overcome such as the gender pay gap, which she most recently addressed in a letter on Black Women's Equal Pay Day.
"There are barriers I hope to break so my baby, whether boy or girl, won't have to live under those stipulations," the 35-year-old told the mag of her recent activism. "I definitely am a feminist. I like to stick up for women and women's rights. So many things happen and I just think, 'Wow, why don't we have a chance?' If that makes me a feminist, I am proud to be one."
But before she can tackle those barriers, Williams, who is eight months pregnant, has to tackle the immediate challenge in front of her: child birth. When asked about it, she shared it's a process she looks forward to, despite her aforementioned fears, because she believes she'll be "a real woman now."
"I have so much respect for so many women [for giving birth]. I am about to be a real woman now, you know? It's going to be something incredibly impressive to go through."
I'll admit, I cringed a bit at Williams' "real woman" declaration which goes against the very stigma feminists and childless woman have been fighting since the beginning of time, but I understand the sentiment of feeling like there's nothing you can't do once you bring life into this world. We're definitely looking forward to watching Williams continue her reign of domination as a mother.


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Moving to the City or the Suburbs? Evaluating the Pros and Cons of Both Areas
Posted By relocation On January 26, 2011 @ 9:43 am In Celebrity Real Estate,condos,design and decorate,Do It Yourself,exterior projects,foreclosures,Home Improvement,homes for sale,House Swap,interior projects,Mortgages,Moving,Moving Industry,Packing,Real Estate,Relocation,rentals | No Comments
Transitioning Between the City and the Suburbs?: Here's What You Need to Know about Making the Move
By Faith Teel
Special to Relocation.com
As the old saying goes, "The grass is always greener on the other side." Whether you're headed out to the wide-open spaces of the suburbs or moving [2] into the exciting neighborhoods [3] of the big city, you might find that you've gotten more than you've bargained for. Here are just a few examples of the things they don't tell you in the advertisements.
Moving to the Suburbs
Long Commutes and Distant Stores – Many people move to the suburbs in search of more space to raise a family or grow a garden. Unfortunately, there is a flip side to having more space: everything is farther apart. Your commute will probably be longer, and you'll have to drive, because most suburbs are too spread out to make public transportation cost-effective. In some places, it's common to have an hour-long commute in each direction, which may mean 10 hours that have disappeared from your week.
The lack of public transport also means that you're more likely to encounter the greatest terror to ever stalk the streets: the teenage driver. In cities, teens can often walk or catch the bus to socialize, but some suburbs are so spread out that a jog to the local coffee shop would be a three-hour marathon. Suburban teens usually get cars long before they get good judgment about driving them.
A Cultural Vacuum – One of the first things that urbanites miss when they move to the suburbs is the variety that cities offer. Many suburbs are extremely homogenous, with cookie-cutter houses and cookie-cutter restaurants. Even the people often seem the same, because few suburbs are economically or ethnically diverse. Don't bother to look for museums, and feel lucky if a few of the chain restaurants offer take-out or delivery.
Where Are All the People? – The very privacy that you came looking for can also be your downfall in the 'burbs,' because everyone around you moved out here for privacy as well. With everyone so spread out, it can take a long time to meet new people.
Crime is Everywhere – Yes, there is usually more crime in the city, but the suburbs are not exempt from it. There's lots of petty theft in suburbs, and there are still gangs and drug use in the high schools. Your kids [4] are less likely to get mugged, but that doesn't mean you should leave your doors unlocked at night.
The Grating Outdoors– One of the biggest surprises for ex-urbanites is the proximity of Mother Nature in the suburbs. If you've never had to mow a lawn or check the kids for ticks, you're in for quite an experience.
Moving to the City
No Space – The city is an exciting place to be and a great place to find work, which is probably why you want to be there. Unfortunately, everyone else wants to be there too, and that drives up the price of real estate. If you want to live in a reasonably safe neighborhood, be prepared to pay through the nose for a tiny apartment [5].
For the same reasons, city parking is often impossible. People often sell their cars when moving to the city, which means you will have to rely on public transportation such as buses and cars.
Other People – Other people are everywhere in the city, and that can take some getting used to. Traffic is often worse, but the real nuisance is the noise, smells and constant crowds.
Goodbye, Mother Nature – It can be hard to get in tune with nature in the city. The parks are often crowded with other people (see above) and some may not even be located within a close distance to your home. If you manage to score a balcony or small yard with your apartment, keep in mind that the pollution can be hard on plants and trees. It's also tough to keep animals in the city, especially big dogs that need room to roam.
School Roulette – In the city, it's easy to get to know other parents, and you'll need this advantage when it comes to getting your kids into a good school. In the suburbs, getting into the right school is usually a matter of buying a house [6] in the best neighborhood. In the city, finding the right school is a combination of luck and strategy, and every city's rules are different. You won't even have to raise this topic at your kids' next playdate, because it will be the first thing on every parent's mind.
Abrupt Changes in Neighborhoods – With everything in the city so packed together, it can be hard to tell at first glance which neighborhoods are safe and which aren't. In some cities, the transition from slum to swank can happen in just one block. The transient nature of a community's character becomes more obvious over time. One day, you could wake up to discover that your edgy, artistic neighborhood has become a slum or a yuppie's paradise.
Whether you're searching for greener grass in Levittown or the Big Apple, one thing is certain: you're sure to need some time to adjust. Before you make the jump, take a little bit of extra time to explore the community that you're moving to. No two cities are alike, and the same is true for suburbs, so if you don't like what you see, look elsewhere. The quality of your life depends on it.
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[4] kids: https://www.relocation.com/library/family_moving/fun_moving_activities.html
[5] apartment: https://www.relocation.com/apartments/
[6] buying a house: https://www.relocation.com/real_estate/find_home.html
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On any given day, as the bell rings and students flood the hallways of Brooklyn Tech, one can see student-athletes proudly representing their teams. Students wear custom team apparel with their names emblazoned across the front while lugging equipment bags alongside their book bags. Following right behind them, however, are the rumors of how sports teams monopolize much of the school's money. One common myth is that the school does not have air conditioning because sports teams occupy the school's funds. For the sake of the hardworking student-athletes and club members, it's necessary to dispel misconceptions around how sports teams and clubs, are funded at Brooklyn Tech.
There are about 177clubs and 43 teams at Tech, and a large portion of the school's funding is managed by the Student Government Organization (SGO). In a typical year, the SGO will decide how to divide a pool of $60,000-$70,000 between these organizations. These funds are classified in two different ways; There is "student activity money" (approximately $7 per student for all students in the school) as well as the money that the SGO raises during the year. The small $25 sticker that students buy in the SGO store actually supports all the clubs and teams at Tech.
During good years, the pool can be as large as $80,000-$90,000. When asked about how funding decisions are made, Senior Class President Jenny Mei responded, "The Committee for Money Management and Allocations decides how much a club/team receives according to the intentions of how that club/team is going to use the money, and how much they requested last year compared to this year. They bring this to the SGO and we either approve or change the amount after discussing it. But I cannot discuss how much each club or team makes or whether one gets more or less [funding]."
As generous and crucial as SGO funds are, for many teams they are just one piece of the complete funding puzzle. Some sports can be very expensive. For example, sports that require players to wear helmets must have those helmets be NOCSAE approved (e.g., football; lacrosse; etc.). NOCSAE is a government testing service that each helmet has to pass through every year for players' safety. This service is mandated by the Department of Education and comes at a price. Other factors, such as equipment, and transportation for tournaments require a fair deal of funding. So where else does the money come from?
SGO funds may not be sufficient to cover a sports team's expenses. Student-athletes often work very hard to make up for this funding deficiency. Athletes often fundraise money by selling candy or participating in fundraising drives. In extreme circumstances, players even need to buy their own equipment; the average Tech Football player may spend close to $750 each season. Luckily, Tech alumni often come to the rescue, by providing generous donations or volunteering.
Aside from the baseline $7 funds per student, these are the means through which athletes support their teams. In addition to tackling these difficult circumstances, student-athletes all have to balance their schoolwork with practices, physical and mental exhaustion, and games. This being said, athletes still treasure the opportunity to represent Tech in the PSAL.
When asked about whether athletic team budgets impact flexibility that the school has in spending money on basic infrastructure like air conditioners, former Athletic Director, Jim DiBenedetto, answered, "No. That's capital budget money that is handled by the custodians. It's nothing that the school controls, and even if they were related, the thousands of dollars it takes to run the football team doesn't compare to the millions it takes to install air conditioners." Finally, the air conditioner myth can be put to rest. But more importantly, before jumping to conclusions about how sports teams are funded, everyone inside of Brooklyn Tech should be aware of the hard work that athletes provide for their teams off of the field.


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If you're looking for my finished material, it's over here.
I'm posting unfinished or work-in-progress tracks here. The ones below were slated for a new aphrodisiac record, but I've since lost the project files. I leave the renders up because they're still good tracks and I wanna re-record them. Listed in reverse chronological order (newest first).


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Modern Plant Ltd are an official stocking distribution centre for Emerson Rosemont industrial instrumentation products and as such can offer options and solutions to a multitude of process control applications. Rosemount with over 50 years of expertise, and 10 million pressure devices installed worldwide, comes unmatched reliability and improved capabilities that help you to increase plant productivity and lower your total cost of ownership. Rosemount pressure and flow measurement products provide the broadest offering available to meet virtually every application need. Flow can also be measured using the 3100 range of ultrasonic level transmitters, here changes in water flow level through a known channel can be used to calculate volume flow and rate for local/remote display and monitoring. Emerson also offer magnetic and vortex flow measuring solutions.
Katronic Technologies Ltd. specialise in clamp-on ultrasonic flow meters and non-invasive process measurement instrumentation. The company employs state-of-the-art electronics and sensor technology to produce clamp-on flow meters that are highly reliable and easy to operate.
Great Plains Industries is a leader in the manufacture of liquid flow meters, flow monitors, flow sensors and flow control equipment. GPI has become the flowmeter supplier of choice for water meters, chemical meters, sub-meters and general purpose flow measurement. Modern Plant Ltd have worked in partnership with GPI for over ten years; providing local customers with a range of effective flow metering solutions suitable for a wide variety of applications
Established in 1948 by Colin Macnaught, Macnaught Pty. Ltd. is a 100% Australian-owned company based in Turrella, Sydney, which designs and manufactures a wide range of high quality equipment for the lubrication and fluid transfer industries including grease pumps and guns, oil pumps and guns, fuel pumps, hose reels and flow meters.


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Reading Without Walls Bingo Aims to Challenge Readers This Summer
The ABC Children's Group at ABA has partnered with the Children's Book Council, Every Child a Reader, the Library of Congress, and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group for a summer reading initiative that centers on Reading Without Walls, a nationwide program started by National Ambassador for Young People's Literature Gene Luen Yang to celebrate reading and diversity.
ABA members participating in the bingo-style summer reading challenge can visit BookWeb to find downloadable promotional materials, including bingo cards, award certificates, bookmarks, a poster, a flier, and a web banner. Reading Without Walls bookmarks, courtesy of Macmillan Children's Publishing, were sent to stores in ABA's Summer Children's White Box mailing.
To spread appreciation and understanding of others, Reading Without Walls challenges readers to:
- Read a book about a character who doesn't look like you or live like you.
- Read a book about a topic you don't know much about.
- Read a book in a format that you don't normally read for fun.
To help bookstores, schools, libraries, and comic shops celebrate Reading Without Walls, Macmillan Children's has created a Reading Without Walls Digital Activity Guide as well as a Digital Toolkit of images, which are sized for websites, social media pages, and e-newsletters. Macmillan also plans for Reading Without Walls to become an annual program.
Booksellers, librarians, and teachers are encouraged to share pictures of everything they are doing for Reading Without Walls by tweeting at @mackidsbooks, @01FirstSecond, or @FierceReads using the #ReadingWithoutWalls hashtag.
Learn more at ReadingWithoutWalls.com.


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Imagine Your Story!
June 15 - August 7, 2020
The Sturm Memorial Library Summer Library Program
Summer reading is a fun program designed to engage all age groups in exploring new ideas, books, and activities. This program is free and there are no fees for any of the events or activities. As you read books and engage in the activities, you are eligible to win badges and earn books and drawing entries. The best way to track your progress is through the Beanstack app or web site. Beginning June 15, 2020, you can start recording your reading time and participate in the activities, located in Beanstack. (We will provide paper records for our patrons that do not have access to Beanstack. Stop at the library to pick one up or print one with the links below.)
How do I Start?
To get the most out of your summer reading experience, we recommend that you create a Beanstack account. Parents can also create accounts for their children. In Beanstack, you can view the available activities, enter the books you have read, write book reviews and more. As you progress you will earn badges and be entered into a drawing at the end of the summer. To register, visit the Beanstack website or login through the app.
Any prizes earned must be picked up in person at 130 N. Bridge Street, Manawa WI.
Beanstack app available for iOS and Android.
Beanstack will automatically direct you to the appropriate activities based on your age. There are four age groups: 0-6, 7-11, 12-17 and 18+. If you wish to be contacted about prizes and drawings, please include an email address or telephone number as part of your Beanstack profile.


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Be the first to upload a Print for this Design!
The MR-1 is a fun and nice looking toy/display piece/puzzle. Print in different colors to make it fit your taste! Just print and use a little bit of SuperGlue inside the magnet holes. It is easily printed as the .stl files are oriented when imported. Magnets can be found here: Aliexpress Magnets Link - The magnets are not needed if you want a fixed piece, just glue it together.
Fun feature: As a present or fun, you can send your kid or any other 3d model (Trump? Groot..?) to the moon by glueing a model inside to look out the windows!
Recommended print settings: 0,15 mm. layer height (Due to the magnet/hole tolerances), 50 mm/s, 2 shells, 4 top/bottom, 10% infill. No Supports needed! *If printed as a toy i recommend 4 shells, and 20% infill. **Remember to test the magnet poles are oriented right, before glueing! Please show your prints in here.. I would love to see your creations of this! :)


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Paris Opera Ballet – Thierrée / Shechter / Pérez / Pite – Paris
★★★★✰ Crystal Pite's work stands out as the crowd-pleaser. With huge cheers and applause, we rise to our feet for the dancers.
James Thierrée / Compagnie du Hanneton – The Toad Knew – New York
★★✰✰✰ The best moments in The Toad Knew are comic, but there aren't enough of them. Old-fashioned clowning is sprinkled throughout the production…
James Thierrée / Compagnie du Hanneton – The Toad Knew – London
★★✰✰✰ There is no sense of who these people are, or why they are there.
Gallery – James Thierrée / Compagnie du Hanneton in The Toad Knew
Gallery by Foteini Christofilopoulou…
Compagnie 111 / Aurelien Bory / Kaori Ito – Plexus – London
"…a very striking and unusual piece with moments of real theatrical magic."
Compagnie du Hanneton / James Thierree – Raoul – Antibes
This beginning, supremely theatrical, brought the mainly young audience, already excited and expectant, to shout and clap enthusiastically….
Aurelia Thierree & Victoria Thierree Chaplin – Murmurs (Murmures des murs) – Nice
Murmurs, bears all the hallmarks of Victoria Thierrée Chaplin's fantasy-rich imagination. The performance opens on a stage littered with packing cases…
Compagnie du Hanneton / James Thierree – Tabac Rouge – London
It takes Thiérrée a long time to make each new work. Tabac Rouge is his fourth production in a decade…
Gallery – Compagnie du Hanneton / James Thiérrée in Tabac Rouge
Gallery by Foteini Christofilopoulou…


text: Bellyon 231 Posted January 10, 2018 (edited) I'm not saying the book couldn't have a good content, but I'm not sure about how the new content will be really new based on the core. And we as a community are able, like we already do, to create good material. There're a lot of active members who are very creative and able to hand new things with the tool box provided by the core. I didn't help more cause I haven't mine yet :/ Edited January 10, 2018 by Bellyon 3 ESP77, Richardbuxton and ZorinIchiona reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites


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Purpose of the measure
The Orpington Prognostic Score (OPS), also known as Orpington Prognostic Scale, was developed from the Edinburgh Prognostic Score (Prescott, Garraway, & Akhtar, 1982) and the Hodkinson's Mental Test Score (Qureshi & Hodkinson, 1974) as a means to evaluate stroke severity. The OPS enables clinicians and researchers to stratify clients into a good, intermediate or poor prognosis group by using established cut-offs. The OPS is also very effective in predicting functional outcomes (Kalra & Crome, 1993).
Author*: Sabrina Figueiredo, BSc
Editors: Nicol Korner-Bitensky, PhD OT; Elissa Sitcoff, BA BSc
Evidence reviewed as of before 05-12-2008
NOTE: *The authors have no direct financial interest in any tools, tests or interventions presented in StrokEngine-assessment.


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Target Solar being an authorised retailer will assist you in applying for your eligibility. Victorian households can benefit from the rebate only if they get their solar panels installed by a CEC approved solar provider.
Up until now, adopting solar has been an expensive affair, but to share your burden, Solar Victoria is offering a maximum solar panel rebate of up to $ 2,225 for solar energy (PV) system installation, for homeowners and tenants' rental properties. To bring the installation costs further down, householders have an opportunity to apply for an interest-free loan as a part of Solar Homes Program. The amount of the loan is equivalent to the rebate amount (i.e., up to $ 2,225) and a repayment tenure extending up to four years. With no upfront cost, if the total solar system cost is less than $ 4,550.
The mentioned government incentives and solar rebates program is allowing homeowners to take charge of their electricity bills which will help more of us to switch to solar energy. There are numerous benefits of solar energy, one of which is a saving of up to $890 per year on your electricity bills when you install solar energy.
To claim the Victorian Solar Homes Package rebate, or to get an accurate in-home solar assessment, just fill in your details or
call 1300 776 527.
To be eligible for Solar Rebate Victoria 2019, a Victorian household is required to meet the stated criteria:
The households need to approach an authorized solar retailer and obtain a Victoria`s solar energy quote.
The authorized retailer would then upload the Victorian solar rebate application form (quote) into Victorian solar rebate portal, which shall verify the application for the eligibility of the households on the preceding grounds.
Upon the verification, a contract needs to be signed with an authorized retailer, and an eligibility number will be provided to the household to facilitate the installation process.
The rebate value under the Victorian Solar Rebate Program is 'up to' $2,225 or 50% of the price; whichever is lowest.
The Victorian government's rebate is available on top of the federal scheme. Which means after receiving a solar rebate under the federal rebate scheme you are receiving further rebate of up to $2,225.
It means this is a very good time to go Solar and to make most out of the government Solar Homes Program.
So, HURRY UP! Application for solar victoria rebate and interest-free loans are underway


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Saturday, March 5, 2011
Dancers from Mid-Atlantic Center for the Performing Arts in Hamilton join international ballet company tour.
After placing in the top twelve Ensembles at the International finals of the Youth America Grand Prix ballet competition in 2010, the MCPA students were invited to travel with the inaugural tour of "Ballet Grand Prix", featuring the stars of American Ballet Theater, New York City Ballet, Berlin State Opera Ballet, La Scala Ballet, and other international ballet companies.
The dancers will present a piece titled "The Winner Is", with original choreography by Maeghan McHale. Ms. McHale is also the featured choreographer for the tour, and the MCPA students are thrilled to have the opportunity to present her work in such a prestigious venue.
The dancers are Kayla McKibben, Cassidy Stout, Sammie Terzi, Miranda Wienecke, and Lindsey Williams. They range in age from 14 to 17, and train 6 days per week at MCPA. They will leave from New York City with performances in Vermont and Massachussets before returning home to Hamilton.
In 2009, MCPA was ranked fifth on the list of the top 50 dance studios in North America by Dancer Magazine, and in the past few years has gained recognition in the dance world as being one of the leading training centers for ballet and contemporary dance on the East Coast.