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Let's open our Bibles to 1 Timothy chapter 4. We're looking at verses 6 through 16, 1 Timothy 4:6 through 16. I want to read that passage for you so you'll have it well in mind as we look together at what the Spirit of God would teach us.
Beginning in verse 6 of 1 Timothy 4, Paul writes:
If you put the brethren in remembrance of these things, you shall be a good minister, or an excellent minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine unto which you have already attained. But refuse profane and old wives fables and exercise yourself unto godliness, for bodily exercise profits little but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance. For therefore to this end we both labor and struggle because we trust in the living God who is the Savior of all men, especially of those that believe. These things command and teach. Let no man despise thy youth but be an example of the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in loyalty, in purity. Till I come, give attendance to the reading, to the exhortation, to the teaching. Stop neglecting the gift that is in thee which was given thee by prophecy with the laying on of hands of the elders. Meditate upon these things. Give thyself holy to them that thy profiting may appear to all, or thy progress may appear to all. Take heed unto thyself and unto the teaching, continue in them for in doing this you shall both save yourself and them that hear you.
The key statement in this passage is found in verse 6. It is the statement "you shall be an excellent minister, or servant, of Jesus Christ." That is really the substance of the whole point of this passage. Paul is calling Timothy to excellence in the ministry. And he's delineating the elements of such excellence throughout this text.
The problems facing Timothy were monumental. He had been left in Ephesus. Paul had met him there after the conclusion of his imprisonment. They met there to discern the state of that great church where Paul had given three years of his life. They found that the church had drifted doctrinally and was literally filled with error. They had found that the church was filled with sin and had abandoned its pursuit of godliness.
Wrong doctrine then and wrong living were rampant in Ephesus. Tragically much of the leadership in the drift had come from pastors and elders, two of whom Paul himself put out of the church by name, Hymenaeus and Alexander, as chapter 1 verse 20 says.
But Paul left Timothy there needing to go on to Greece and said, "Timothy, I want you to set everything else in order and I want you to have an excellent and effective ministry here and on the basis of that, here are the ingredients necessary in your life." And so, from verse 6 through 16, he clearly outlines what are to be the qualities of ministry characteristic of Timothy.
The congregation at Ephesus would demand the very best. It had already been infested by the wasps of demonic doctrine and unholy living who were stinging the people with very very tragic effect. It was in danger of losing its testimony, along with its theology and character. The task called for the very finest kind of spiritual leadership. And Timothy, of course, had to be the focal point of that. And so the specifics of the excellence of ministry which Paul demands of Timothy become very instructive to us. In fact, I would venture to say that though this was written from Paul to Timothy, what he says here in the main is normative for anyone who leads in the church.
Today in our churches, whether willfully or by neglect, we have seen the loss of commitment in the very areas to which Paul speaks. The prostitution of the role of pastor has taken place before our very eyes in so many many cases and has led to the death of power. And really, the restoration of power and impact in the church is dependent upon the excellence of those who lead the church. And so, what Paul says here should pierce our hearts as well as it must have pierced the heart of Timothy.
Let's look to the text then and follow the list of excellent qualities of a minister of Christ. Number one, an excellent minister warns his people of error. Verse 6 says, "If you put the brothers in remembrance, or if you remind them, or if you-- present tense--continually lay before them these things, you will be a noble minister, an excellent minister of Christ."
"These things" has reference to verses 1 to 5 in which Paul has explictly identified false doctrine as demon teaching, coming from seducing spirits through lying hypocrites who have already done radical acts of apostasy to the extent that their own consciences are insensitive. And he says if you want to be a good minister of Jesus Christ, you must be continually laying before your people the danger of error.
For three years night and day he had done that in Ephesus. He says that in Acts 20. But he also knew that after his departure, grievous wolves would come in and perverse men would rise from within the church and do everything they could to lead them astray. And he was indeed a prophet. It is essential that the man of God who would serve with excellence be continually reminding his people of the imminent reality of encroaching error. And that people know that many who appear to be godly, religious, good, pious, pure, devout leaders of the church or religion may be nothing more than masked men and behind the mask is a seducing spirit.
The real culprit is not a seminary professor who teaches heresy. The real culprit is not a liberal minister. The real culprit is a seducing spirit who has found a willing vessel in a hypocritical lie speaker, as the terminology of verse 2 indicates, who will speak the teaching of demons whether wittingly or unwittingly.
And any minister who will serve with excellence must have a warning ministry. He must be able to understand, to warn his people against error.
Secondly, in verse 6 we find that Paul says if you are to serve with excellence you must be an expert student of Scripture. At the end of verse 6, he says, "Nourished up...or literally, being continually nourished up...in the words of the faith and of the good teaching which you have closely followed," is perhaps a better rendering. You have a great foundation, you've closely followed the proper teaching. You've closely followed the Word of God. Now you must be continually begin nourished up in those words of the faith and the good teaching.
The "words of the faith" refers to Scripture. The "good teaching" refers to that which Scripture affirms. Or that which Scripture teaches. You are to be an expert in the Word of God, continually in the process of feeding yourself, continually in the process of nurturing your own soul on the words of Scripture and good teaching. You had a great beginning. Lois and Eunice, your mother and grandmother, wonderful people who knew God and taught you the Scriptures. The opportunity to be a part of the church in Galatia, the opportunity to be discipled by the Apostle Paul, the opportunity to be influenced by other godly elders who even laid their hands on you at your ordination, all of these influences, Timothy, bring to bear upon you a very great heritage. You have already laid the foundation, now build on it with a constant nurturing in the Word of God.
A great Bible teacher of the last generation, Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse, said, "If I had only three years to serve the Lord, I would spend two of them studying." It's a great statement. The man understood the impact of a ministry that is deep and rich in the Word of God.
And if it is true of every believer that they are to allow the Word of Christ to dwell in them richly, how much more true is it of the one who stands in the place of teaching that truth? Yes, the love of truth is basic to ministry. And somehow some way and for some reasons, that has in many cases been set aside in ministries today. Perhaps we need to refresh ourselves with what went on say 300 years ago or so.
If you were being ordained into the ministry in 1662 in England, this is what you would have heard, this is part of the exhortation given to every ministerial candidate, and I'm quoting: "Seeing that you cannot by any other means compass the doing of so weighty a work pertaining to the salvation of man but with doctrine and exhortation taken out of the holy Scriptures, and with a life agreeable to the same, consider how studious you ought to be in reading and learning the Scriptures. We have good hope that you have well weighed and pondered these things with yourselves long before this time and that you have clearly determined by God's grace to give yourselves wholly to this office where unto it has pleased God to call you. So that as much as lieth in you, you will apply yourselves wholly to this one thing and draw all your cares and studies this way and that you will continually pray to God the Father by the mediation of our only Savior Jesus Christ for the heavenly assistance of the Holy Ghost, that by daily reading and weighing of the Scriptures, you may wax riper and stronger in your ministry," end quote.
To be an expert student of Scripture certainly puts us in a position to warn people of error, as well as to affirm truth.
Thirdly, in the qualities of an excellent minister, we find that an excellent minister avoids the influence of unholy teaching, verse 7, "Refuse," he says, is a very strong word...much stronger than the word "refuse" in the English can convey. "Refuse profane," and that word simply means a radical separation from what is holy. It means unholy. "Refuse unholy and old women's tales." You probably could put "old women's tales" in quotes because it was a somewhat familiar epithet at the time in which Paul wrote. It was a sarcastic reference in philosophical circles to some idea or concept that was infantile, ridiculous, incredulous or stupid. They would say, "That's an old wives' tale."
And what he is saying here is stay away from anything that is unholy and stay away from spending your time on anything that is silly, stupid, incredulous or a fantasy. Don't let your mind, that precious thing you possess, be cluttered with things, as chapter 1 verse 4 says, that only minister questions and do not edify. Guard your mind. Philippians 4:8, "Think on these things, set your affections on things above and not on things on the earth, let the controlling factor in your life be the Word of Christ dwelling there richly." Be biblically dominated in your thinking and do not allow that which is error and unholy error to intrude upon the precious territory that must be reserved to occupy the Word of God. Things that confuse, things that produce questions have a way of sucking out our confidence, sucking out our courage, sucking out our conviction and watering down our message.
Fourthly, Paul says an excellent minister is disciplined in personal godliness, or holiness...disciplined in personal holiness. Verse 7 says, "And exercise yourself unto godliness." The word "exercise" comes from a Greek word gumnazo which we get gymnasium from, gymnastics. It means training, disciplined training. They were into athletics, the Parthian games, the Isthmian games, the Corinthian games, the Olympic games. And the physical bodies were of great concern to them and participation in athletics was of great concern to them. They were into the body quite extensively. Many of them philosophically were into that. Others were into it because the culture was. There was in that time, like there is today, a great tendency to be preoccupied with physical fitness to the rejection and sadly the dissipation of the spiritual part. And so the Apostle says if you're going to exercise, if you're going to train yourself, train yourself to be godly. And that word "godliness" is a major key word in the pastoral epistles. We have looked at it in the past as we've worked our way through 1 Timothy.
The mainspring of ministry, the heart of it all is the virtue of life...the virtue of life. I was sitting here and I said to Dewey Bertalini(?), I said, "Isn't it sad that so many churches call a man on the basis of personality rather than virtue when the power is not in personality, the power is in virtue?" If you're going to train yourself for something, train yourself for holiness because if you seek to stand in the place of spiritual leadership and lead other people to godliness, it is necessary that you be there, as well. When one is less than godly and seeks to lead other people to godliness, he is described by Spurgeon in these words, "He is a blind man elected to the professorship of optics, philosophizing on light and vision while he himself is absolutely in the dark. He is a dumb man elevated to the chair of music. He is a deaf man fluent on symphonies and harmonies. He is a mole, professing to educate eagles. A snail elected to preside over angels. An impossible contradictory task.
"It is better to abolish the pulpit," said Spurgeon, "than to fill it with men who have no experimental knowledge of what they're teaching because the hand that means to make another clean must not itself be dirty."
And so, the pulse...the pulse of vital godliness has to be strongly and regularly in the life of one who is an excellent minister. Spurgeon also said, "I question, gravely question, whether a man who has grossly sinned should be very readily restored to the pulpit. Open immorality in most cases, however deep the repentance, is a fatal sign that ministarial graces were not in the man's character," end quote. The life of godliness is the priority. And if it is the priority then it is that to which we must train ourselves.
And in order for us to understand by contrast what he has in mind, he says this in verse 8, "For bodily exercise," which was the big pursuit then as it is now, "profits a little." A little what? A little time and a little effect...it produces a little effect only for time, that's all. You get a little benefit for a little time. "But godliness is profitable unto all things because it contains the promise of the life that now is--that's time--and that which is to come--that's what?, eternity." So why would you spend yourself exercising for a little effect for a little time when you can spend yourself exercising for something that brings eternal benefit?
In fact, this is so obvious, this is so patently obvious, this is so clear, this is so axiomatic that it became, as verse 9 says, a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance. Which is a statement used five times in the pastoral epistles, each time to refer to a common saying known to the church. Everybody knew this and this was common understanding and perhaps a common saying. Bodily exercise profits a little, godliness profits unto all things because it not only deals with the life that now is, but the promise of the life which is to come. An excellent minister disciplines himself to holiness.
Number five, an excellent minister works hard--and this is vital--in view of eternity. He works hard in view of eternity. Look at verse 10. "For to this end," the Greek says, "for to this end," here's our purpose...what end?...eternal life mentioned back in verse 8..."For to this end," that is the life which is to come, that's the antecedent of that, "because of the life which is to come, we work to exhaustion and we agonize and struggle." We give everything we have because we understand the eternality of the consequence of our effort. Why? "Because we trust in the living God, not a dead idol."
The eternally living God is implied. We are serving an eternally living God who is the Savior of all men, especially of those that believe. He is saying we work because we understand the life which is to come. We work because we understand we have a living God that lives eternally. There is an eternal heaven. And there is an eternal hell. And awareness and knowledge of those places compels us to a maximum effort. We work to exhaustion. We struggle, agonizomai, we lose sleep, we forfeit pleasure, we experience loneliness, we experience weakness, deprivation, whatever. Whatever goes with the task in view of eternity is a small price to pay. Paul put it this way, what...why do we worry about what we suffer in this life when we can see ahead the things that are to come? No suffering in this life is worthy to be...what?...compared with the glory which shall be revealed in the future.
So we live in the hope of eternity because we serve a living God who is able to give life now and give life forever. And has proven it because He is the Savior of all men, and especially of those that believe. What does that phrase mean? In what sense is God the Savior of all men? Well, in some sense very much like He is the Savior of those that believe, that's demanded by the adverb malista, it demands that all men enjoy to some degree the same kind of saving that believers enjoy. Well, in what sense is God the Savior of all men and also the Savior of believers? And the answer is that He is the deliverer, He is the deliverer. Not in a redemptive sense, but in the sense of a temporal deliverance.
Put it this way. Every sinner deserves instant death. Every sinner deserves constant pain. And every sinner deserves permanent deprivation. Instant death, constant pain and permanent deprivation because of sin...the wages of sin is death. There's in us no good thing. We all deserve hell. We deserve it instantly. We deserve pain and we deserve it constantly. We deserve to be separated from God and deprived of His blessing forever and ever. We all deserve it...we all deserve it immediately.
But God delivers men from that in common grace generally because of God's goodness and His tender mercy. God saves the world from instantaneous wrath, constant pain and permanent deprivation. And God allows the rain to fall on the just and the unjust. God brings into the life of unregenerate sinners love and joy, in romance, in the birth of a child, in the warmth of a family. He brings into their life the wonder of beauty, the joy of human experience, the thrill of all that life can bring to bear of good things. He delivers them from a just judgment by His grace. The unregenerate in the world are then delivered, they are spared, they are saved from death in the sense that they don't instantly die. It comes inevitably but there is a time in which God delivers them from that. In the same sense that He was the Savior of the whole nation Israel, delivering them out of Egypt, yet was pleased with only a few of them. That is He was the deliverer of all of them but the true Savior in the salvation sense of only a few of them, so He is the deliverer of all men in a temporal sense but especially is He the deliverer of those who believe in Him in a spiritual sense.
And so what Paul is saying is we know God to be the eternal God and we know that He will be able to deliver and to save those who believe in Him eternally because we have seen His ability to save temporally. The same God who is gracious and merciful on a wide scale in time gives evidence of being a God who will save on a narrow scale His own in eternity. In that sense, He is the Savior of all, especially of those that believe. That's why we work hard. Because our God is alive and because the consequence of our ministry is eternal. He has the power to save eternally. We have seen it manifest temporally.
And so, we then work hard. And I think we have to get a grip on the fact that that's how it is in the ministry. I like what Adam Clark said, he said, "Kill yourselves with work and then pray yourselves alive again."
Charles Haden(?) Spurgeon wrote in 1876, "If you have any message to give...rather, if I have any message to give from my own bed of sickness, it would this, if you do not wish to be full of regrets when you are obliged to lie still, work while you can. If you desire to make a sickbed as soft as it can be, do not stuff it with the mournful reflection that you wasted time while you were in health. People said to me years ago, you will break your constitution down with preaching ten times a week and the like. Well, if I have done so, I'm glad of it. I would do the same again. If I had 50 constitutions, I would rejoice to break them all down in the service of the Lord Jesus Christ. You young men that are strong, overcome the wicked one and fight for the Lord while you can. You'll never regret having done all that lies in you for our blessed Lord and Master. Crowd as much as you can into every day and postpone no work till tomorrow. Whatsoever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might." Good advice.
Richard Baxter gave us that great line in his poem, Love Breathing Thanks and Praise, when he said, "I preached as never sure to preach again as a dying man to dying men."
It's a matter of effort. He works hard, the excellent minister.
Number six, an excellent minister teaches with authority. Verse 11 says, "These things command and teach." We teach in a command mode. We teach in a confrontive way. We teach in a demanding way, a commanding way. We are not called to some chit- chat behind the microphone. We are not called to stroke people to make them feel good about themselves no matter how bad they are. We are not to be vaccilating, passive, non-confrontive, but we are to move in the power of sovereign authority out of the Word of the living God. "And we are to teach all men to observe whatsoever I have commanded you," Jesus said. We are always in a command mode. That's the great commission, Matthew 28:20. We are to teach in the church, not to get the applause of men, said Richard Baxter, but to set in motion the groan and the tears of the hearers are our praises.
It's not always popular. It's not always popular to be confrontive. Not always popular to command. In fact, sometimes popular preachers are popular because they don't do that. One English writer said, "Clergymen who can't preach are such a blessing that they are often bribed to continue to adhere to their incompetence."
But the Word of God is binding. The Word of God is demanding. The Word of God is commanding. It's not a place for suggestions, the pulpit.
Number seven, an excellent minister is a model of spiritual virtue...a model of spiritual virtue, verse 12, "Let no one look down on your youth." Timothy was approaching 40 years of age, but still considered in that culture to be young. In fact, some felt that 40 was the breakpoint. Neotes, the word used here, usually means someone up to 40. Some would even say that no one had a right to spiritual leadership who wasn't at least 50. So by their standards, he was still young.
He says don't...don't let anybody look down on that, think little of it. You can overturn that by being an example, a tupos, a type, a pattern, a model. You can be a model for everybody, the believers can look at you and they can see how they ought to live. And you be the model in speech--how you talk, conduct--that's life style, love--that's relationships, loyalty--that's faithfulness, trustworthiness. And then purity is the word for moral purity, it has not only to do with chaste conduct but pure intentions as well.
And may I sum that up by saying the single greatest tool of leadership is the power of an exemplary life. The single greatest tool of leadership is the power of an exemplary life. The heart of the leader is far more important than the art of the leader. What really communicates is integrity and personal authenticity, being what you preach in speech, in life style, in love, in reliability, in loyalty, in purity. That's the heart of it.
So many people unsay with their life what they say with their lips. It's just essential that character match message, that's Matthew 23. Jesus said, "Don't...don't be like the Pharisees, for they say and do not.." The ultimate hypocrisy.
Number eight...number eight, verse 13, Paul says an excellent minister has a thoroughly biblical ministry...a thoroughly biblical ministry. "Till I come," he says, and I'm coming chapter 3 verse 14, as soon as I can, at least I hope to, "But until I get there, give your constant attention to..." Here's what you're supposed to be all about...here's what I want you to do, here's the center and circumference of your ministry, here it is. First of all, "To the reading...to the reading." The definite article leads us to believe that it was that very special part of the service when the Scripture was read and exposited. "The reading" which had become a very important part of the early church, as it was a very important part of the synagogue such as in Luke 4 where Jesus stood up to read the Scripture and then sat down to exposit its meaning.
That was carried right into the church and the Scripture would be read. Sometimes the Apostles' writings would be read. And then they would be explained. Give yourself to that, he says, to expository preaching, expository teaching, explanation of the Word of God. That is an essential part of the service of the church, give your whole attention to the exposition. It's more than just the public reading of the Bible. It is based upon Nehemiah 8, that great great moment in the history of Israel where the Scripture was read and then they stood up and gave the sense of it. It's the whole of that that's embodied in the term "the reading."
So the man of God is not only to be an expert student in the intake, but he's to be an expert proclaimer in the output.
And by the way, when it's used with this verb, when it says "give your constant attention to the reading," it implies more than just a public reading of Scripture, because you wouldn't have to give your constant attendance to that. It implies the idea of the exposition with all that goes into it of preparation and power. Give yourself to the whole process of expositing the Word of God.
Secondly, to the exhortation which would be the application of that. Come alongside the people and give them the exhortation and application that takes that explanation and pounds it into their life. And then to the teaching. That's the systematic delineation of divine truth. You could say you start your ministry expositing the Word of God. You move to the application of the Word of God. And then you move to the systematization of the Word of God so that you're putting everything together for people.
Now that's kind of the way I like to preach. You tell them what the Scripture means. Drive it home through application and show how it fits into the big picture of God's Word, how it fits in the teaching.
We could also take this same verse and apply it in a little different way by saying, do the exposition then get close to your people in a more personal way with the application and the encouragement. And then the teaching could be where you really personally, systematically and individually apply God's Word to their lives, such as Paul in Acts 20 who went from house to house teaching...teaching...teaching.
But whatever might be the interpretation you prefer, whether all three refer to the public preaching role, or whether they refer to the whole of the teaching ministry, the sum is the same. We are to give ourselves wholly to the matter of dispensing the Word of God. It is a relentless teaching of the Word. That's why the elder that's worthy of the double honor in 1 Timothy 5 is the one who works hard in the Word and the teaching...the Word and the teaching.
Number nine, an excellent minister fulfills his calling. An excellent minister fulfills his calling. Verse 14 should read this way, "Stop neglecting the gift that is in you which was given you by prophecy, or through prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the elders."
Now follow very carefully this thought. As I have said to you on occasion, it is thrilling to me and it is especially motivating to me to find a man of God who has filled out his whole life with ministry, who finishes strong, who finishes committed, who finishes with a sweet spirit and a dedicated heart. That is a marvelous thing to me. I see so many men dropping out and I am in awe of men who fill out their ministry till Jesus takes them home, or until they're totally incapacitated.
And that's really what is demanded of all of us, as it's demanded of Timothy here. And there are three elements that bind Timothy to his ministry. He says, "Stop neglecting," and I think he was neglecting his ministry. I think the pressure of his youth, youthful lusts--mentioned 2 Timothy, the pressure of his own timidity, the pressure of high-powered Ephesian errorists with their philosophy which was pretty difficult for him to handle, the pressure of direct persecution mentioned in 2 Timothy 3. All of these things were causing Timothy to sort of shut down a little bit and wane in the ministry. And he says stop it.
There are three things you've got to take into mind. One, the gift that is in you. This is the subjective inward gifting of the Spirit. You cannot stop ministering. You were designed for ministry by the Spirit of God.
In other words, if you neglect your ministry, you neglect your reason for existence within the economy of God. Stop neglecting the very purpose the Holy Spirit has for you. Stop neglecting the very ministry you are gifted to do. I mean, that's God's design.
I look at my own life in the same way and I say, "Hey, I've got to do what I've got to do because that's what I was made for." I received a phone call this week, just broke my heart. I can't get over it even now. A gifted young man, tremendous talents, marvelous ability to communicate the Word of God, great grasp of Scripture decided that he would become enamored with some woman in his congregation. Ruined his ministry. Totally ruined it. And for all the rest of his life, the thing for which he was gifted cannot happen. It's done. He is useless. Really a tragic thing. But it happens all the time. Stop neglecting your gift. And that applies to all of us.
Second thing he says, not only is there the inward subjective gifting of the Spirit but there's the upward objective revelation of God. He says this was given you by prophecy. He doesn't mean that the actual gift was given through prophecy. We know the gifts are given by the Spirit. Given in the sense of publicly, or officially granted in the official meeting of the church at some point that's not recorded, probably around Acts 16 when Timothy went to join Paul. The church elders got around him. They confirmed him. They affirmed him. And God must have affirmed through the voice of a prophet that Timothy was suitable for ministry, much as the Holy Spirit revealed to the pastors of the church at Antioch in Acts 13 that they were to set apart Paul and Barnabas to go out as missionaries. Some prophetic word came directly from God...officially, publicly through a prophetic utterance the word came.
In 2 Timothy, the same kind of thing is indicated that there was this tremendous commitment of Paul to ministry. There was a tremendous commitment on Paul's part to Timothy to follow him as his son in the faith. And so there was the...there was the consensus of the Apostle and the people but the real...the real clinch...clinching issue here was that God spoke...God spoke. Chapter 1 verse 18 of 1 Timothy says, "This charge I commit unto you son, Timothy, according to the prophecies which pointed to you." There may have been more than one. You're supposed to be in the ministry and God sent a message, the prophecies came.
Now what is this? Well, this is God's affirmation. This is extraordinary, not ordinary. Ours would be ordinary, but nonetheless would be from God. You say, "How would God do it if He didn't do it through revelation? How do we know God has His stamp on our ministry?" Well, we would know it through how God ordered providential circumstances and opportunities. Just like with Timothy. Yes God spoke but God also had Timothy in the right place at the right time to meet the right man, right? He had put him under the right teaching, the right parents, the right grandparents in terms of influence. And by the time the Apostle Paul comes through Derbe, Lystra and Iconium, he happens to run into this young man who is at the right point in life, at the right city in the right period of time and he's right where God wants him so he can match up with Paul. God affirms it through revelation but the providence ordered all the attendant circumstances. And I believe that we are called to minister not only because we have that inward subjective ministry of the Spirit, but we have that upward objective providence of God that gives us that opportunity.
Said to a young man yesterday, he said, "I don't know if I belong in a ministry." And I said to him, "Are you in a ministry now?" He said yes. I said, "Did God put you there? Don't question it. If your heart is right and He put you there, that's God's way of ordering providence to put you where He wants you. Don't question that."
It is the work of God to set us apart for ministry. We are set apart for ministry. It says, "And the Spirit of God has made us overseers."
Third thing is the laying on of the hands of the elders. And this is the sort of outward collective affirmation of the church. The elders that gathered, and we don't have the record of that scene but they must have collectively gathered around Timothy, inwardly subjectively he was gifted by the Spirit, upwardly and objectively he was put in the providential place where God could begin to work that ministry out in just the way He wanted and a revelation was given to confirm that. And collectively and outwardly, the men of the church came around him, the leaders, and said he is suitable to ministry. We affirm that and we want to place our hands on him. That's an act of solidarity, that's a way of appointing him to a task...I suppose that's the best way to define "laying on of hands," it was an appointment. Such as in Numbers and Deuteronomy when hands were laid upon the priests and they were appointed to the task, we appoint him to the task, we stand behind, we support, we appoint.
So he says, "Stop neglecting your gift, you've got to go on in the ministry and fill it all the way to the end," he says. "You can't stop, you can't even slow down, you've got to do it all, all the way to the end because you were gifted for it, you were called to it and you confirmed in it." So you can see that if I neglect my ministry, I violate the intention of the Holy Spirit in gifting me, I violate the intention of God in calling me, and I violate the intention of the church in setting me apart to that. And I'm at odds with everybody. I'm not in this by myself, nor is any minister.
Finally, two qualities remain, number ten, an excellent minister is totally absorbed in his work...an excellent minister is totally absorbed in his work. Verse 15, the word in the Authorized is "meditate," a better one would be "Be diligent, be diligent in these things, give yourself continually to them."
Now let me explain what this part means, it's very very good, very helpful. An excellent minister is a one-minded man, he's not a double-minded man who is unstable and vaccilating in all his ways, as James 1:8 says. But he is more like the Apostle Paul has said, this one thing I do. He is really a single-minded person. Ministry is all consuming. The word "be diligent," by the way, it could be translated a lot of different ways, but in looking at every use of that verb, meletao, in the New Testament, the best meaning is the idea of thinking through beforehand, planning, strategizing or simply to premeditate.
So what he is saying is this, premeditate these things, think them through beforehand, and then give yourself totally to them so if you're not doing it, you're planning it. There's an element of strategy here, an element of anticipation, an element of premeditation. We're totally absorbed if and, you know, these are the two things that make up life, I'm either doing ministry or I'm planning to do ministry. I'm either teaching the Word of God or I'm getting ready to teach the Word of God. That's all of life...nothing less and nothing more.
"Give yourself wholly to them" is an interesting statement. In the Greek it's actually just the verb "to be." And it literally would read this way, instead of give yourself wholly to them, it would read, "Be in them," the verb "to be," ami, be in them, be wrapped up in them, be totally absorbed. The construction expresses totally absorption, completely immersed. Somebody said, "It doesn't take much of a man to be in the ministry but it does take all of him." Bury yourself in your pursuit. That's so very very basic.
And so, an excellent minister is totally absorbed in his work. I mean, if you've got a double agenda, you want to do the ministry but you also want to, you know, become a tennis pro, you want to do the ministry but you want to be a golf professional, if you want to do the ministry but you also want to make a million bucks, you want to do the ministry but you want to run a restaurant, you want to do the ministry but you also, you know, want to develop some business, I mean, if you go through it like that what happens is you'll never be what you could be because there are too many weeds growing in your garden. They're not necessarily bad, they just suck up a lot of energy. Bury yourself in your pursuit. Do the chief thing. Like Epaphroditus who was near unto death for the sake of the ministry, he was really involved. You see, if you're not doing ministry, you're preparing to do ministry or praying that ministry will be done. Paul says "preach the Word," 2 Timothy 4:2, then he says "be instant."
Did you ever look at that word "instant"? A very interesting word in the Greek, it's a military word, it means to stay at your post, it means to stay on duty your whole life, you're never off duty. You say, "Boy, that would get tiring, that really is just too exhilarating." But you're never off duty, don't ever go off duty, stay on duty all the time, be instant. You're always on duty, you're always at your post. My dad used to say to me, "A preacher ought to be able to preach, pray or die within a minute." I'm ready, point me in the right direction. But you're always on duty, you're never off duty. And to be honest with you, there's a certain...there's a certain preoccupation in the ministry that never goes away. It is not an insensitivity but it is a preoccupation. And I confess that sometimes when I may seem a bit distracted, that's probably true. There is a certain consuming nature of the ministry, but that's in a sense as it ought to be because we are always on guard, always at the post, always on duty, always.
And then he says, "Be instant in season," that means when it's convenient, "and out of season," that means when it's not convenient. You're on duty whether you like it or not. You're on duty whether it's convenient or not convenient, that's just how it is.
I went home last Sunday night and I said to Patricia, "I'm really tired." I said, "I just want to sit down and I just want to drink a cold drink and just sit in this chair and I just need a rest." She said that's fine.
Then the phone rang. I mean, about ten seconds after that. And a huge disaster had happened in a family. And so that went on and Marcy came in she said, "Daddy, I made you something to eat."
"Thank you, honey, put it down." Forty minutes later it had all curled up, you know. And it was unedible or inedible, I guess. I hung the phone up and I said, "Well, that's ministry." And the phone rang again...bigger disaster, this time.
And I suppose in a real sense, that's just the Lord's way of saying, "I hope you're on duty, MacArthur. Just in case you're not, I've got a few items I'd just like to bring your way." But that's how it is in ministry, there's a certain total absorption in it. Because he says in verse 4..or verse 5, first he says, "Be instant in season, out of season," and then he goes down a little bit and then he says, "make full proof of your ministry," 2 Timothy 4:5. You've got to fill it up to the full. You've got to do it all and all the way out, you know, so you're fully absorbed in it. Well, you understand.
Warning of error, studying diligently the Word of God, avoiding unholy teaching, cultivating a disciplined holy life, committing to work hard in view of eternity, teaching with authority, modeling spiritual virtue, maintaining a thoroughly biblical ministry of the Word, fulfilling completely the call of God, that demands being of totally absorbed in the work, there's no other way to do that.
And one more thing, this is really very practical, I love this...an excellent minister is progressing in spiritual growth. Boy, that's so practical. He's progressing because by the time you get down to verse 15, you say..."This is only for perfect people. Man o'man, I'm not even qualified for this."
But look what he says in verse 15, "That your progress may be made manifest to everybody." Now what does "progress" admit? It admits that you aren't what you should be yet, right? So don't run around trying to play God. Don't try to convince people that you have no flaws, just let them see you growing. Be that honest. Even with all of the high qualifications, there's the obvious fact that we're short of the standard. Paul says, Philippians 3:13 and 14, "Not as though I have already attained, I haven't attained, but I press toward the mark." Paul had his faults. Paul wasn't perfect. I mean, you remember what he said to the dignitary he faced in the book of Acts. He said, "God smite you, you whited wall," now that's not very spiritual. Just let the people see your integrity and humility. I mean, I'm not perfect. I hope I'm progressing.
The word "progress" is used in a military sense for an advancing force. It was used by the Stoics to refer to advancing in learning or understanding or knowledge. It was used of a pioneer cutting a trail by strenuous effort and advancing toward some new geographical location. We are to be advancing toward Christ's likeness, just let them see that you're advancing. Don't try to convince them you're perfect, be honest enough to just let them know you're growing...you're growing.
When anybody says to me, "You know what you said on your tape back in 1973? And then you contradicted that in 1984. Did you know that?" What's my answer? I'm growing...I'm growing, give me a break. I didn't know everything in 1980...1973, and I don't know everything now, so get ready for another tape. I'm growing. They have to see your growth, that's honesty. There's humility there.
You say, "Who is fit for this kind of task?" Not me. "Who qualifies?" Nobody in the flesh. The Lord knows that. The same Lord that gave us the standards knows that none of us can meet them, right? You say, "Well, how does that resolve itself?" Only one way, and that's by yieldedness to the Spirit of God for what we could not accomplish in the flesh, the Spirit can accomplish in us. That's what Paul had in mind in Colossians when he said, "For this I also labor, striving according to His working which works in me mightily." Isn't that great? We can't be this kind of person. But God through His Spirit can enable us. I'm so grateful for that.
Now listen, somebody says, "Boy, I'm sure glad all these pastors are hearing this, it doesn't apply to me." Yes it does. It does apply to you. I'll tell you why it applies to you. It applies to you, my friend, because we are to be what we are to be in order that you can see what you ought to be. You got that? We are to be what we are to be in order to be patterns for what you ought to be so you can be what we are so someone else can see what you are...and follow that. You're not off the hook. This is simply modeling for you, for those who follow you. What a marvelous standard.
And Paul concludes with a summary in verse 16, a summary. And he says this, "Take heed to yourself and unto the teaching, continue in them." Stop there for a moment. "Take heed" means "pay attention." Focus your attention in on two things, yourself and your teaching, that's what he says. May I suggest to you that the whole of life comes to that for ministry? The whole of life boils down to those two things, take care of yourself and your teaching. That's it. All of those eleven things can be boiled back to two, number one, take heed to yourself. Acts 20:28 says the same thing, take heed to yourself. That sums up what's in verse 6, be...be nourished up in the words of faith and good doctrine; 7b, exercise yourself unto godliness. Verse 12, be an example, verse 14, don't neglect your gift, all of those are embraced in the statement, "Pay attention to yourself, your own life." Everything starts with your own life, are you an example? Are you exercising toward godliness? Are you being nourished up in the Word? Are you an example? It's all summed up in that.
And the second one, give your attention to your teaching. That sums up verse 6a, stay away from unholy teaching; verse 7a, I'm sorry, verse 6a, warning about error; verse 7a, stay away from unholy teaching. That sums up verse 11, "These things are command and teach." Verse 13, "Till I come give yourself completely to the reading, the exhortation, and the doctrine." So the sum of all of these things is boiled down to these two statements: continue to concentrate on your own spiritual life and your exposition, exhortation, application of the Word of God. So the total concentration of the life of one who is an excellent minister is a concentration on personal holiness and accurate teaching.
Now why do we concentrate on personal holiness and accurate teaching? Here it comes, "For in doing this you will both save yourself," that's why you continue in personal holiness, "and those that hear you," that's why you continue in accurate teaching. In what sense...in what sense does personal holiness save me? In the sense of the perseverance of the saints. Jesus said in John 8, "If you continue in My Word, you're My real disciple." The Scripture is loaded with texts, I wish we had time--we don't--to develop them, we've done it in the past, that say you're genuinely saved if you continue in the faith, right? And he says, "Look, Timothy, if you continue in personal holiness and continue in accurate teaching, you will keep moving along the path of the perseverance of the saints to your full and final and glorious salvation." He's simply approaching it from the vantage point of perseverance. He doesn't mean you'll save yourself in the sense that you'll be your own redeemer. He means you'll persevere in godliness and guaranty your full salvation.
John said if you go along for a while and depart, you never were of us. You remember that, 1 John 2? The one who perseveres gives evidence of being in the faith. So he says if you persevere in holiness and truth, you will save yourself. You'll come right along to full salvation. Also, if you persevere in godliness and truth, you'll effect others who hear you by bringing them the message of salvation. We don't actually do the saving, we don't save ourselves and we don't save other people, but we are the agent of that as we preach the Word of God, as we live a godly life.
So the personal persevering of godliness along with the faithful teaching of the Word, spreads the impact of a man's life to embrace everybody who hears his message and will bestow salvation on some of them. Now listen, that's where the climax comes. All of this excellence and all of this call to ministry and all of these qualifications are ultimately to result in the salvation of souls. You see that? What else? What else? If we, as I have said to you in the past, if we are here in this world after we have been redeemed, there is only one reason..the salvation of the lost. If we were saved to be worshipers and all God wanted was worship, then get us out of here so our worship will be perfect. If we were saved in order to know Him, get us out of here so we can know Him in perfection. If we were saved for perfect fellowship, get us out of here so the fellowship can be perfect. The only reason we've been left here is because we are the agents by which God brings the grace of salvation to lost people. That's the sum of ministry. And holiness and commitment to truth moves us along the persevering path of true salvation and makes us a blessing to all who hear the message.
It's a high calling. It's a holy calling. It's a glorious calling. And I trust that by the power of the Spirit of God we shall experience its fullness in all of our lives for His glory. Let's pray together.
Father, these are wonderful truths that have come to our hearts and yet they are so demanding of us and we are so weak. Help us, Lord, to be what You want us to be. I pray for every minister here, every pastor, every leader in Your church, O God, that we would be these kind of people, that we would continually give our attention to our own personal spiritual life and the message we preach, to holiness and truth, that we might be a model to the rest of the church that all who see might come to the same standard of commitment to holiness and truth, that many souls might be won. Lord, if we as pastors live godly and teach truth and become the agents of salvation, that is true of the people as well in our flocks. They, too, living godly lives, speaking truth will be the agents of the salvation of the lost. To that end we pray, O God, for our joy and Your glory with thanksgiving.
While your heads are bowed in just a closing moment of meditation...we've gone rapidly through these and yet we've spent several weeks discussing them. I feel like much is still unsaid but I know you understand the main thrust. And what is impressed on my heart is to just remind you that while we talk about the role of Timothy, the role of a pastor, we really are talking about the obligation of every believer to be all that God would have them to be. If a pastor is less than the perfection of Jesus Christ, then he is less than he should be. And if a believer is less than the perfection of Jesus Christ, he is less than he should be or she should be. We all have the same standard. And so we call upon those in leadership to set the standard of this kind of life in order that others may follow to be more like the Savior.
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1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon pepper
2 teaspoons seasoned salt
1 teaspoon paprika
1 small onion, cut into strips
15 jalapeño peppers, halved and seeded (When cutting or seeding hot peppers, use rubber or plastic gloves
to protect your hands. Avoid touching your face).
1 pound sliced bacon, halved widthwise
Blue cheese or ranch salad dressing
- Code: Select all
1. Cut chicken into 2 x 1 1/2-inch strips.
2. In a large resealable plastic bag, combine the garlic powder, onion powder, pepper, seasoned salt and
paprika; add chicken and shake to coat.
3. Place a chicken and onion strip in each jalapeño half. Wrap each with a piece of bacon and secure with
4. Grill, uncovered, over indirect medium heat for 18 to 20 minutes or until chicken juices run clear and
bacon is crisp, turning once. Serve with blue cheese or ranch dressing.


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A while back, I complained about the ACM's membership in the AAP, a publishing trade organization that supported some odious legislation like SOPA and the Research Works Act. The ACM, to their credit, responded to the concerns that the community at large raised (there were many others). ACM's Director of Group Publishing Scott Delman did so in this space, and ACM President Alain Chesnais did so on his blog. (Side note: in that post, and especially in the comments to it, Chesnais seemed to come really close to saying something like "The ACM does not and will not support the RWA, SOPA, or the AAP's lobbying, because the ACM doesn't take political stances in either way as a matter of policy" but he also seemed to take really great pains to not say anything that clear and specific, which was baffling to me.)
One of the arguments I used in that previous post was about Author-izer, the new ACM service that allows you to provide the official version of your papers for free from your personal webpage. The reason I brought that in to the argument is that Author-izer is basically a good idea insofar as the CS community trusts the ACM to act in their interests. I still support the argument that their membership in the AAP runs directly counter those interests and thereby necessarily weakens that trust. Certainly, though, life's complicated and everyone gets to decide as an individual if they want to be a member (and thereby a supporter) of the ACM despite their affiliation with the AAP, just as the ACM as an institution gets to decide if it (we!) want to be a member (and thereby a supporter) of the definitely-lobbying AAP despite having a no-lobbying policy.
Andrew Appel, at the Freedom to Tinker blog, has a series of three blog posts presenting four ways that academics can think about their relationship to copyright. I had fun reading them, and they provide an interesting alternative answer to why trusting the ACM to act in our interests is important. The model that Appel suggested that he subscribes to sees signing away one's valuable research papers as a significant charitable contribution. He's comfortable giving that charitable contribution both to ACM and IEEE, presumably because he broadly supports them and their roles, and because the cost to the world as a whole of the donation, relative to just making the donation truly free, is maybe not all that large. (I could note that reviewing papers also fits well within this model of charitable contribution.)
The idea that adopting this view is a reasonable compromise, as Appel suggests, seems pretty reasonable to me, while remaining sympathetic (and potentially responsive) to concerns "that ACM and IEEE have fallen behind the curve." I certainly try to donate to organizations I believe in and trust! I would therefore certainly pause before making a in-kind charitable contribution to a highly profitable Dutch multinational that spearheads legislation like the RWA and lends credibility to homeopathy, but that reflects my values and doesn't need to reflect yours.


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Nissan Altima Real World MPG
gepto Posts: 2I may as well add my two cents worth. Last week I took a trip north into Canada with a friend of mine and alot of luggage. We drove my 2011 Altima that has 9,000 miles on it. We did some off road driving in the Canadian Provincial parks, got lost for an hour TWICE in Thunder Bay, Ontario and took no special precautions to increase mileage. After over a thousand miles of driving, the computer said we averages 35.7 mpg. In the past the computer has proven to optomistic by about .8 miles per gallon compared to doing the math and calculating it manually. We got about 35 honest mpg and I'm very satisfied. Next years car should get well into the high 30's with an luck at all.
Good mileage to all of you,0
Obviously, if all you say is true there is something wrong with your car. If you spent as much time talking to the dealer(try to refrain from calling them morons) about it as you spend boring everyone on this forum maybe it would be fixed by now!0
busiris Posts: 3,490I suspect any bridges the poster had with his dealer were burned long ago...
Especially if he continuously informed them of his "superior" intelligence...0
nimailni Posts: 1@chevyonlyfon: Can you please start using regular sentences?
Your posts are unreadable.0
sergiyny Posts: 1Just got my new 2012 Nissan Altima, and now i've been driving it for 2 days in the city and the highest mpg i was getting is 19!!! The more i kept driving, the lower mpg got, to 15!!! i'm really disappointed with the car, i tried driving like old grandma but nothing changed.0
Just rented a 2012 Altima for a 10 day from Chicago to Texas and return. 2200 miles total and about 95% interstate/5% city so for all practical purposes it was a hwy trip. Trip computer came out at 32.8 mpg with an average of 63 mph. I calculated 32.3 from 5 fill ups and drove the speed limits which varied from some 55 to mostly 65 to 75mph. Overall pretty impressed with the car and liked the CVT once moving at a good clip but from a stop not so much.0
Summary of what I learned from a Nissan "expert driver":
Making short trips is bad for your gas mileage.
Apparently a catalytic converter needs to be hot to do its job properly, and your car would produce drastically more air pollution if you drove around normally until it warmed up. To meet pollution standards, when you first start your Altima (and presumably most modern gas engines?) the car invests a surprising amount of energy idling fast to quickly heat the catalytic converter. So for the first couple of minutes you are in the car it is in a gas-expensive but pollution-reducing mode, and if you only drive for two minutes every time then you will get abysmal gas mileage. If you generally take five or ten minute trips, your mileage will still be noticeably worse than if you drove the same distance in one trip, because you burn extra gasoline each time you start driving.
I want to point out that polite persistence can be very helpful in situations like this. I spent a lot of time talking to my dealer, and got to meet "the expert from Nissan" who explained that my car is perfectly capable of getting 35+ mpg driving on an empty freeway etc. He insisted that he couldn't tell me why I would consistently get half of that without being there to watch my driving habits, and waited for me to accept that I must be doing something strange and walk away.
I spent an extra 20 minutes patiently restating that I needed to figure out what the problem was because it was costing me a lot of money, so would he please list the things that I might be doing wrong. He reluctantly tried thinking of a few, and was impatient when I told him that each one didn't happen to apply in my case. In frustration he eventually said "the only person I've ever heard of getting such low mpg is my wife, but she only takes the car for short trips of a mile or two."
How to take advantage of this information is a whole separate problem, since I live in L.A. and am therefore legally forbidden to walk anywhere that a car could take me.0
Since you have spent so much time working with the dealer to resolve your problem one would think the dealer would have insisted that the "expert" from Nissan drive your car to see if a so called expert could get a decent mpg number. It wouldn't have taken more longer than your conversation did. I did notice on the rental Altima I recently drove that city driving really drove the MPG down.
One thing I can't understand in all this is that all I hear from Nissan is that the CVT is supposed to be so much better for MPG than conventional transmissions. But when you compare the other top midsize cars to the Altima(ie Sonata, Camry, Accord, etc) they are comparable in HP, weight and MPG. You would think if the CVT was that big of factor the Altima would kill the rest but that's not the case.
I understand the new 2013 Altima has jumped in MPG but the older model Altimas have had the CVT for years and have never been ahead or even equal to some of the other midsizers with conventional transmissions. Just wondering why if the CVT is all that wonderful.0
New car. MPG so far as follows:
24.4 (mostly town/some highway)
20.0 (all city, heavy stop/go, 3 mile or less trips, two weeks)
40.0 (yes, 40 - all highway, cruise set at posted limits of 65, 75)
35.0 (75/25 highway/city, 560 mile trip)
That's right. These were calculated using fillups. And I mean filled to the TOP. All are with the climate control set on auto, usually A/C running.
Car has 1900 miles to date and the mpg avg on the screen is 27.2.
Engine RPM's at speed are very, very low - 1400 to 1750 depending on speed, holding cruise. Around town, with a light foot, you can keep it well under 2000 all the time.
The car responds well to careful driving, paying attention to RPM's.
Of course if you floor it, all bets are off, and the 3.5 certainly delivers with acceleration (I've read that it does the quarter mile in 14.3 and I have no reason to doubt it) that's impressive for a car at this price point.
So, to date, I couldn't be happier with the MPG. We'll see how winter affects it with heavy snow and city driving.
Also, the seats and stereo are outstanding. This is quite the car even for sticker price.0
ahossa1 Posts: 52Do U use Regualr unleaded or premium unleaded?0
Yes, the expert did drive my car before our conversation. He got great mileage: presumably this is part of why he was impatient with me, since in his mind he had already spent an hour proving that there was nothing to complain about.
Of course, an expert driver paying attention only to his mileage, filling up the tank literally next to the onramp and and then the offramp so that he drove 99% on a freeway, was always going to get great mileage. He proudly showed me his receipts, proving he got 35mpg in my car. But I have effectively tried the same experiment, driving a couple of hours each way almost entirely on freeways . I got 32 mpg. (My OBC said I had been getting 35 mpg if you trust that more than my own fill-drive-refill-divide calculation.) Yes, my car can do it; no, I'm not an inherently gas-wasteful driver.
So why *have* I been getting between 14 mpg and 19 mpg on almost every tank of gas since I got the car (new)? The one surprising answer I have been given is that really short trips give really terrible mpg. So a (very) short commute does save me money on gas, but not quite as much as I would have thought.
It had never occurred to me that my car would burn significantly more gas in the first mile or two, revving fast in a fuel-inefficient effort to warm the catalytic converter quickly. It may not even be true. But I figured it was worth sharing the idea here.0
If the kind of driving you do most of the time is very, very short trips of less than 3-4 miles or running a bunch of errands where you start and stop the engine several times in a relatively short trip, then you are going to get the worst possible mileage. And that would be with any car but the newer cars it may even be worse than the old ones. The EPA city mpg test is not nearly as severe as I described above so you should expect significantly less MPG thant even the EPA city rating for your vehilce. Remember they try to simulate a lot of differnent kinds of city driving to come up with their city rating. Even the city rating will have a range associated with it and it sounds like your type of trips may be on the lower end or even lower than than the lower end of their city MPG range.
Comparing a car that is ten years old or older may not be a great comparison as these new cars are tuned a lot differently to get that high MPG in normal situations. If your situation is well off of normal than you may even get worse MPG with your newer car than with an older one if that makes any sense to you.0
So far straight premium.
Just had another almost 600 mile trip - came in at 32 mpg, mixed driving, over steep mountain passes.0
growing_credit Posts: 26Few questions:
I have my altima for 2 weeks now and the guage shows me 28.4 mpg (may be bcs all of my driving has been in city and yesterday was stuck in traffic for 45 min due to acc) how to reset those numbers? I've yet to take a long trip on freeway and than see how the mpg numbers behave
One of my relative adivsed me to use premium every 4 - 5 fill ups that will extend engine life. Is that true? Can I do that? Has anyone any exp of how it affects engine?0
bartosis Posts: 2It is very sad that my 2011 2.5 Nissan Altima Coupe can't get better than 27 MPG on the highway. I do like quiet and comfort of my Coupe. I traded my 09 Civic hybrid in on this and I got 45 to 50 MPG all the time. The stated 32 MPG on the EPA window sticker was the deciding factor. Nissan grossly over estimated ergo... it was a lie. I don't know anybody that gets my 27 MPG let alone the 32 MPG Nissan advertised. I could have got the 3.5 or better yet a Mustang 5.0. I won't be buying a nissan again.0
celidor Posts: 1I have a 3.5 liter Nissan Maxima. Bigger engine than your 2.5 and the maxima is heavier than the Altima but I easily get better highway mileage than what you are getting. You should be getting much better MPG. It should be easy to get the EPA's numbers or better. Most people I know get much better MPG than what you're experiencing and most get better than the EPA.0
dilipg Posts: 1My 2.5 S Altima has run 13500 miles but is giving a mileage of 8-9 MPG in New york city.
I am frustrated by its performance and the consumer Affairs of Nissan is of no help.
Any suggestions?0
jchd1340 Posts: 13There is nothing you can do. i own an 07 2.5 with only 40k on it and my gas mileage is horrible ( 15 mpg average ) i tried everything! to no avail. spread the word and sell it. do not listen to anybody who says its because you don't know how to drive. it is the car!!!!!!!!!!!0
thegraduate Posts: 9,731My 2.5 S Altima has run 13500 miles but is giving a mileage of 8-9 MPG in New york city.
I am frustrated by its performance and the consumer Affairs of Nissan is of no help.
Any suggestions?
Short trips = lower mileage. Having driven in NYC myself, I'm not surprised that its so low. You obviously make very short trips or you'd have more than 13k miles on a 2 year old car.0
mlmcgahee Posts: 102When is the last time you reset your mpg display. to get an accurate mpg you need to reset it right after every fill-up otherwise it will display the average mpg since the last time it was reset. How many months/miles have you driven since your last reset?
Page 2-18 of the owners manual
Average speed mode
The average speed mode can be selected to
display the average miles per gallon and miles per
hour since the last reset.
Mike :shades:0
rick2456 Posts: 320Remember, when you are stopped at a light (or by traffic), you are getting zero miles per gallon. That will drastically affect your average MPG.0
hault Columbus OhioPosts: 1282013 Altima 2.5 SV. When I drive at least 50% highway not exceeding 70mph I get 30-32 mpg. If I do a lot of suburban driving it drops to 26-28mpg. For the size car it's OK. I traded a 2005 Malibu Maxx that got 24-28 mpg in similar driving. I think poor fuel economy is mainly do to the great weight these modern cars have compared to the past. All the safety equipment that is saving lives and reducing injuries is a fair trade off to me. Everytime we stop at a traffic light it takes a lot of fuel to get these beasts moving.0
I've had my 2013 Altima for 4 weeks (tomorrow) and I've been getting about 26 mpg in mixed city driving. I'm expecting that number to go up as the car breaks in. I have about 850 miles on it now.0
jake1950 Posts: 1I just drove 500 miles through combination of mountains, curves, and some straight flat roads. Central Oregon to Sacramento area. I set the trip computer at the start and the average mpg was more than 41! I was not driving in a manner to save on fuel. I still had more than 1/4 tank upon arrival. On the trip back I drove as fast as was safe. 70-75 whenever possible. Having reset the trip computer I got 38.5. The reason I purchased the 2013 is that I drove a rented 2011 last year for 8200 miles around the USA. I was astounded to get 39-40 through much of the trip. I drive little in stop and go city traffic. A hybrid is better suited for that.0
10,000 miles so far.
Screen average is 25 point something.
Several long highway trips consistently give 34 mpg.
Not much to complain about for the power!0
I just completed a 900 mile round trip between Atlanta and Louisville and I averaged about 38.6 MPG for the trip averaging about 70 MPH along the way.0


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This is a simple and tasty one pot meal with spinach/palak and paneer.Spinach with paneer or cheese is a much loved and popular combo and for me,a well made palak paneer is an irresistible, healthy dish. This meal is filling with rice,healthy greens and the flavor is enhanced by the marinated and sauteed paneer.
You can bring innumerable variations for this rice dish.If you wish you can blanch spinach and blend it to give the rice a rich green color.To marinate the paneer I used a little of tandoori masala.You can add other type of flavorings or just add simply fried paneer.Serve this with raita,pickle and papad.
Basmathi rice cooked- 3 cup
To marinate
Paneer- 200 gms
Chilly powder- 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder-a pinch
Ginger garlic paste- 1/2 tsp
Garam masala- 1/2 tsp
Kasoori methi powder- a pinch (optional)
Yogurt- 1/3 cup
salt to taste
To saute
Spinach chopped- 2 1/2 - 3 cup
Onion- 1 medium
Garlic cloves-3
Garam masala- 1/3 tsp
Cumin Powder- 1/3 tsp
Pepper powder- a pinch
Salt to taste
lemon juice- 1/2 lemon
Cut paneer into cubes and marinate with the ingredients listed and keep in fridge for about two hours or at least half an hour.
Fry this with little oil till all the sides brown up. You can also bake this in the oven at 350 degree f till both sides get brown
( note: I used the pan fry method and my paneer got crumbled a bit. There was also a bit of moister from the yogurt and so it took about 5 minutes to get it dry and masala to get coated with the paneer. If you want to avoid this use oven method and pls check here and here )
In the same pan heat oil and a little of ghee (optional) and saute garlic followed by onion. Saute till golden brown and add spinach,salt and saute for about a minute or till the spinach is soft and cooked. Add cumin powder,pepper powder, garam masala and mix in the rice and paneer. Close lid and allow this to heat up a bit in a very low flame for three to four minutes. Squeeze lemon juice on top and serve with raita and pickle.
Try this..
Hope you will all enjoy :)


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July 26, 2011-Zanzibar
wingssail images-fredrick roswold
Zanzibar waterfront
Flying north from Johannesburg to Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania the captain came on and said, "We are now crossing the border from Zimbabwe to Mozambique, Malawi is on the right and Zambia is in the distance to the left."
Those names were evocative of Africa. Despite the fact that we had been in South Africa since April and we've been to the Durban city a few times and to the bush on safari twice, it was just then, for the first time, I really felt it was Africa.
And Dar Es Salaam felt like Africa too. I sat back in the taxi on the way in from the airport and watched the African scene slide by: a long four lane road, crowds of people waiting at each corner for buses or shuffling along or riding old bicycles on the dusty path where a sidewalk would be if it wasn't the third world. We crept through intersections with broken traffic lights and lots of honking cars and bounced over broken pavement into the city where the Holiday Inn was a refuge. Later we walked to the ferry terminal and were mobbed and jostled by ticket sellers. Dar Es Salaam was a jungle.
But the next day we managed to elbow our way onto the ferry to Zanzibar and there the pace was slower. We pushed out of the crowd at the ferry landing and walked down a narrow alley to our hotel in an old mansion in historic Stone Town and they gave us a glass of watermelon juice to refresh us and cold towels to wipe away the travel dust. The room was up three flights and it had a four poster bed with mosquito netting and a ceiling fan which rotated lazily. We looked out from the balcony over the roofs of the UNESCO heritage site with buildings dating back hundreds of years, back to when the Portuguese then the Arabs made Zanzibar the center of the East African slave trade and the Sultan of Oman moved his capital to Zanzibar. We heard the mullahs calling the faithful to prayer but other than that Zanzibar was quiet, particularly when compared to the bustle of Dar Es Salaam. We thought we'd like it.
Walking in Stone Town
It was just a short trip out of the country to get new South African visas but we made the most out of our three days in Zanzibar; we walked every alley and street in the ancient Stone Town and photographed it all. We shopped for a Persian carpet, but there were none except in the museums, and coffee beans, which we found in the market where we bargained with the shopkeepers and finally bought two kilos for a good price. We even found our way to a dark and smoky bar one evening and listened to a band play late into the night.
Stone Town
And then it was over. We took the ferry back to Dar and flew back to Richards Bay on Tuesday, landing in a violent windstorm and thankful to make it down safely, and now we're back on Wings.
It was a good trip.
We'll post the photos in a few days.
Fred & Judy, SV Wings, Richards Bay, South Africa
Labels: Africa, Dar Es Salaam, South Africa, Stone Town, Tanzania, Zanzibar


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Find Your Perfect Home.
Potosi Real Estate
Potosi is located in Wisconsin. Potosi, Wisconsin has a population of 854. Potosi is more family-centric than the surrounding county with 34.8% of the households containing married families with children. The county average for households married with children is 30.16%.
The median household income in Potosi, Wisconsin is $53,594. The median household income for the surrounding county is $47,266 compared to the national median of $53,482. The median age of people living in Potosi is 40.4 years.
Potosi Weather
The average high temperature in July is 80.4 degrees, with an average low temperature in January of 8.3 degrees. The average rainfall is approximately 36 inches per year, with inches of snow per year.
Potosi Map
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Bluffton Today
We reconvened the session last week at the statehouse with a lot of housekeeping and disposition of matters held over from the previous year. One of those matters was the veto of Senate Bill 211, the I-95 Corridor Authority Act. This was a measure that had been in the works for several years that finally was passed and vetoed by the governor. We adjourned before the House could vote on whether to sustain or override the veto.
One of the frequently asked questions that I get at speaking engagements is why some things take such a long time to go from the initial idea to legislation to statute. The I-95 Authority Act is the perfect example of why important legislation should take a long time. The process is intentionally cumbersome because it is immeasurably more difficult to repeal and unwind legislation with many moving parts than it is to revisit the idea several times before passage. Ask the real estate folks about ACT 388.
You may remember a number of years ago when PBS aired a documentary on the I-95 corridor through our state, the so-called "Corridor of Shame." It was a wrenching expose of failing schools and dismal economies in the mostly rural counties bordering along I-95 from Jasper County to Williamsburg County. It somewhat followed the Abbeville School District v. State of South Carolina lawsuit then making its way through the courts. The legislative response was to initiate a needs assessment process with the intent of creating a sort of special purpose district to focus on the problems highlighted by the media and judicial attention. The final product of the process was the proposed creation of the I-95 Corridor Authority. The authority would be funded by state tax money, as well as federal and private grants. It would have an appointed board, which could hire folks and enter into contracts. It was essentially a quasi-government within our state government. It would be tasked with improving education and economic development within its area of operation. At the time, it seemed like a serious, reasonable approach to tackling historically intractable problems in focus areas of rural South Carolina.
While the intent of the authority was certainly laudable, many of us had reservations about the transparency of an unelected authority spending state dollars, which were also commingled with private and federal moneys. Those dollars would be dispersed as "grants" to various entities, some of which had better financial controls than others. The original legislation went through a number of iterations during several sessions, finally passing last year, only to culminate in a veto by the governor.
Your legislator and many others wrestled with this idea. We sought the advise of constituents and spoke with public officials in our state and in other states where similar ideas had been tried. My thinking finally crystallized around the notion that the authority was a poor solution to a very difficult and historic problem. The problems of the I-95 corridor are essentially similar to those in much of rural South Carolina, varying only by degree. To create an unaccountable governmental entity to address one area, with built-in political and oversight complexities, just didn't seem like the proper way to go. What once seemed idealistic and innovative, in the clarity of hindsight, seemed hopelessly vulnerable to the vagaries of unintended consequences.
Consequently, on the first day of session, after a brief caucus, your delegation fanned out to work the floor in favor of sustaining the veto. By a vote of 76-47, we carried the day.
In summary, both education and economic development will be addressed in all of our state, not simply along a particular road. An authority might have seemed a good idea in 2009, but by 2012, its weaknesses were glaringly self-evident. In my view, we didn't just dodge a bullet, it was a howitzer shell.


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Sensitivity - What Does it Mean?
When mixing different speakers, their sensitivity level influences tone. Here's what you need to know...
December 5, 2011
So, for example if you listen to a 96dB speaker together with a 100dB speaker, the speaker with the lower value will sound quieter. The closer the two values are, the less noticeable that difference will be - for a difference less than around 2dB, it will hardly be noticeable at all.
It's debatable how significant the sensitivity difference of mixed speakers really makes the the overall sound. Some say a big difference produces an "uneven" sound. Others suggest that the complementary tones of mixed speakers outweighs any problem with unmatched sensitivity levels.
At Celestion we would advise mixing together speakers with a sensitivity difference of no greater than 3dB. We believe this minimise the likelihood of hearing significant differences in loudness, while enabling you to get the full benefit of each speaker's characteristics.
In the end it's down to personal choice and the best thing to do is take notice of what your ears tell you...


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Channel 19 sports director Dan Hoard's biography on the station's Web site makes it clear what he wants to do with his life:
"My ultimate ambition is to broadcast major-league baseball ... "
Hoard is leaving WXIX to get closer to that dream. Hoard will take over as the play-by-play man for the Triple-A Pawtucket Red Sox. The move will allow him to live in Boston, where Hoard's wife, Peg, lives. The couple is expecting their first child.
"It was time to move on," Hoard said.
Hoard, who joined Channel 19 in November 1995, is one of the city's busiest sports broadcasters.
In addition to his duties with WXIX, Hoard is the radio play-by-play man for University of Cincinnati football and basketball games. He also is co-host of the "Real Reds" pregame show on Fox Sports Net.
Hoard said there's a possibility he will continue with his UC radio duties.
"I've talked to (UC assistant athletic director) Brian Teter about it," Hoard said.
Hoard added that WLW-AM (700), which broadcasts UC games, "is open to the idea."
Hoard was a finalist to replace Joe Nuxhall on the Reds' radio broadcasts. He also did Syracuse Chiefs Triple-A games.


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tagadelic. Thanks Matties!Just for fun, anything special you would recommend to folks who are going FT (without the PT option) and are limited to nighttime activities? I will try to figure out a way to do lunches and coffee, but I fear daytime stuff just isn't in the cards this year.Are CE classes available nights? Inns of the Court dinners?
Tag.Would you mind giving some suggestions for successful conversation starters? Talk about law school? How much you love "City X?" Something non-law related? What starters have worked well for you?I'm a shy person and have problems thinking up ways to start a conversation, especially in an intimidating situation like talking to an older judge or lawyer.


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Here's an interesting situation: URW releases Avant Garde, Century Schoolbook, Times, Helvetica, Bookman, Zapf Chancery, Courier, and Palatino to the Ghostscript community as freely available and modifiable basic Latin and Western European Postscript fonts.
The Polish Grupa Użytkowników Systemu TeX (GUST) took it upon themselves the task of to "remaking and extending of the freely available fonts distributed with Ghostscript" by adding further diacritics and language support.
The resulting TeX Gyre OpenType fonts also include added proportional oldstyle figures and small caps versions not found in the original Postscript release.
That's right: Helvetica and Courier with Small Caps.
(Although, the small caps R in Helvetica looks a little wonky.)
So the question arises: what is your opinion about the Tex Gyre fonts? I'm interested in either your technical analysis of the fonts themselves or your opinion about the whole thing idea.


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Global Update - February 2014
Silicon Reclaim Wafer Market Increased 14% in 2013
New Edition of the Int'l Tech Roadmap for PV
Plastic Packaging Materials Market Approaching $21B
Taking a Lean Approach to Innovation
2014 European 3D TSV Summit--the Domino Effect
Execs Debate Innovation Drivers and Cost Reduction
Econ Recovery/Pervasive Computing Propel Mfg Supply Chain
Xilinx and U-Florida Honored with SEMI Award
SEMI Publishes New Stds: Reduce Waste in Fabs
Obama Highlights Multiple SEMI Priorities
Event Calendar
February 27
Semi. Market Overview and Pkg. Mtrl. Trends
February 12-14
SEMICON Korea
LED Korea
March 17-18
PV Fab Managers Forum
March 18-20
SEMICON China
FPD China
March 20-22
LED Taiwan
April 23-25
SEMICON Singapore
February 7
The 450mm Wafer Size Transition- Opp for Europe
February 23-25
ISS Europe
May 14-15
SEMICON Russia
March 30-April 3
NA Stds Spring Mtgs
May 19-21
July 8-10
SEMICON West
Intersolar North America
Semi Acct Selling/Mgmt
Fund. of Prod. Mktg.
Silicon Reclaim Wafer Market Increased 14% in 2013
By Lara Chamness, Industry Research & Statistics, SEMI
The worldwide reclaim wafer market is estimated at $460 million in 2013 and is forecasted to reach $493 million by 2015, according to SEMI.
New Edition of the International Technology Roadmap for PV
The latest edition of the Int'l Technology Roadmap for PV (ITRPV) will be presented in March at the PV Fab Managers Forum in Shanghai, organized by SEMI.
Key questions answered at CS International in March
The compound semiconductor industry continues to evolve, developing and manufacturing new devices. Learn what the leading industry insiders are thinking. Attend CS International 2014.
Semiconductor Plastic Packaging Materials Market to Approach $21 Billion by 2017
By Dan Tracy, Industry Research & Statistics, SEMI
The market for semiconductor packaging materials, including thermal interface materials, is expected to maintain its $20 billion value through 2017.
Taking a Lean Approach to Innovation
By Dan Armbrust, president and CEO, SEMATECH
Ever since the discovery of the integrated circuit in the late 1950s, our industry has experienced turbulent periods of technological and economic change. Although these periods of transition pose threats, they also open the door for tremendous opportunities.
The 2014 European 3D TSV Summit: Get Ready for the Domino Effect
By Francoise von Trapp, 3D Incites
I attended the 2014 European 3D TSV Summit -- 332 attendees from 21 countries, 24 presentations, and several face-to-face interviews. Here are key observations.
ISS-US 2014: Executives Debate Innovation Drivers and Cost Reduction in Supply Chain
The closing Executive Panel discussion at the SEMI Industry Strategy Symposium on January 15 provoked diverse views on the drivers and future of innovation.
Economic Recovery and Pervasive Computing Propel Semiconductor Manufacturing Supply Chain
Xilinx and U-Florida Honored with SEMI Award
Two teams, from the University of Florida and Xilinx, are recipients of the 2013 SEMI Award for North America -- Xilinx for commercialization of the silicon interposer, U-Florida team for developing FLOOPS.
SEMI Publishes New Standards to Reduce Time Waste and Improve Cycle Time in Fabs
New SEMI Standards are available for identifying "Wait Time Waste" for semiconductor equipment, to measure when the lot or wafer is waiting, or when it is active.
SEMI Japan Standards Awards
Obama State of the Union Address Highlights Multiple SEMI Priorities
By Jamie Girard, SEMI
In his recent 5th State of the Union address, Pres. Obama called for a "Year of Action"-- specifically mentioning number of key issues for SEMI member companies.
Join SEMI and Discover the Benefits of Membership!
SEMI membership provides brand exposure, business networking opportunities, access to information, and discounts on products such as exhibition booths.
Thank you for reading this newsletter. We hope that you find
SEMI Global Update
informative and relevant. Let us know if we can improve the content and quality of
SEMI Global Update
. Please send your ideas, comments and suggestions to:
Deborah Geiger
Content Manager, SEMI
3081 Zanker Road, San Jose, California, 95134
Tel: 1.408.943.6900; Fax: 1.408.428.9600; Email:
Copyright © 2014 SEMI. All rights reserved.


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NextEra Energy, Inc. (NEE), through its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, transmission, distribution, and sale of electric energy in the United States and Canada. The company is a member of the dividend achievers index, and has boosted distributions for 18 years in a row.
The company's last dividend increase was in February 2012 when the Board of Directors approved a 9.10% increase to 60 cents/share. The company's peer group includes Entergy (ETR), Northeast Utilities (NU) and PPL Corp (PPL).
Over the past decade this dividend growth stock has delivered an annualized total return of 14.10% to its shareholders.
The company has managed to deliver an 8% average increase in annual EPS since 2003. Analysts expect NextEra Energy to earn $4.54 per share in 2012 and $4.95 per share in 2013. In comparison, the company earned $4.59/share in 2011. The company has been able to generate a high growth on earnings, which is something very rare for a utility.
Long-term growth will be driven by increases in its rate base due to investment in new assets. Continued increase in customers should further aid profitability amid expansion in the Florida economy. Growth will also be aided by the company's unregulated electric wholesaler Nexterra Energy, which keeps increasing capacity through building green energy projects in Wind and Solar.
The return on equity has increased from 10.70% in 2002 to 13.10% in 2011. Rather than focus on absolute values for this indicator, I generally want to see at least a stable return on equity over time.
The annual dividend payment has increased by 7% per year over the past decade, which is lower than the growth in EPS.
A 7% growth in distributions translates into the dividend payment doubling almost every decade years. The company's current annual distribution is double what it was nine years ago.
The dividend payout ratio has been decreasing over the past decade, falling from almost 58% in 2002 to 48% in 2011. NextEra Energy has the lowest dividend payout ratios for a utility company. A lower payout is always a plus, since it leaves room for consistent dividend growth minimizing the impact of short-term fluctuations in earnings.
Currently NextEra Energy is attractively valued, trading at 13.10 times earnings and yielding 3.60%. I like the above average dividend growth potential as well as the low dividend payout ratio. I would consider adding to my position in the stock subject to availability of funds.
Full Disclosure: None
Relevant Articles:
- Dividend Achievers Offer Income Growth and Capital Accumulation
- My Entry Criteria for Dividend Stocks
- Utility dividends for current income
- How to get dividend investment ideas
Friday, November 16, 2012
NextEra Energy (NEE) Dividend Stock Analysis
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Drake Shakes on 'Punk'd'
Ashton Kutcher and company were back at full blast tonight (June 3) on 'Punk'd.' After complaining that his guest hosts failed at actually punking people (here's looking at you, Heather Morris!), Kutcher said he'd always wanted to do a fake earthquake … and that he did, to none other than Drizzy Drake.
Ashton's crew convinced Drake that he was meeting with Vice President Joe Biden. When the Young Money pinup boy was finally in the SUV ostensibly driven by Secret Service agents, he was rather gracious. The agent behind the wheel told Drake he was a fan of his music, and Drake was warm and receptive. "I'll tell my mom about that — the Secret Service likes my music!" he said. "She'll be happy to hear it."
The guys then pulled into the parking deck, and before long, everything around them started to shake. First car alarms went off, then everything began to rumble and tremble. Drake looked alarmed himself but tried to maintain composure. You could see him mouthing some "Oh s—"-style statements. His driver exited the vehicle, using the excuse that he wsa going to get help, and that's when everything hit the fan.
"Yo, that was no joke," Drake told his pal. "I thought that we were about to f—in' get blown up. That was my first earthquake ever."
Just then, a bystander (and Ashton-placement) approached. Drake warned, "Don't come close to this car. That's Secret Service. They don't f— around." Eventually the man let himself in, but Drake was accomodating. Most stars would probably flip and kick him out!
Just then, a couple asked Drake and his cohorts to move their vehicle, but they didn't have the keys — the Secret Service man took them. Drake tried explaining to the couple that they couldn't move the car, then felt even guiltier when he saw that the girl was pregnant. Then it got nuts — the girl's husband took a taser from the front seat of Drake's SUV and didn't use it wisely, nabbing his own preggers wife.
"This isn't real," Drake said, exiting the car. Just then, Kutcher appeared. "It's not real!"
For all the trauma he'd just been through, Drake was an amazing sport. He grinned, laughed and hugged Ashton. "I called my mom and everything!"
"This is such a sign that you've really accomplished something," Drake smiled. "But at the same time, f— you. That wasn't funny at all!" He was still laughing!
Watch a Sneak Peek of Drake on 'Punk'd'


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You can quickly search by price of the products using the controls below.
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Anaheim Ducks Tickets
Anaheim Ducks Tickets Tickets Rated 0.00/5 based on 0 customer reviews 100 0
The Ducks are based in Anaheim, California and play in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. The Ducks joined the league in 1993 as the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, a name based on the Disney film The Mighty Ducks. Disney originally owned the franchise but sold it in 2005 to Henry and Susan Samueli, who changed the name to the Anaheim Ducks. In their 19-year existence, they have advanced to the playoffs 8 times, won the Pacific Division 4 times, the Western Conference Championship twice, and the Stanley Cup once in 2007. Some of the best players to ever play in Anaheim include Jari Kurri and Adam Oates, both Hall Of Famers. The Ducks play their home games at the Honda Center, often called "The Duck Pond" by fans. Some of the Ducks most heated rivalries are shared with the L.A. Kings and San Jose Sharks, two other teams based in California. For more information on the Anaheim Ducks and their 2013 NHL season, visit their website at: http://ducks.nhl.com/
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11 Ways to Wear a Blazer, From Our Favorite Fashion Bloggers
11 Slides
We asked 11 of our favorite fashion bloggers for fresh ways to wear a blazer. From pairing it with summery dresses to wearing it with T-shirts and hoodies, here's what they came up with. After all, when it comes to styling a blazer, you can never have too many outfit ideas.