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The Pattern of Sanctification: Church Discipline
This morning we return to our study of 2 Corinthians. In fact, we come to the final chapter of 2 Corinthians and the text for this morning is the first two verses. For those of you who visit with us this morning, we are typically going through a book of the Scriptures. We have for several years now been working our way through 2 Corinthians, a great letter from the Apostle Paul to the Christian church in the city of Corinth. We have finally arrived at chapter 13 and we are near the end.
I want to read the first two verses which will be the setting for the message that is on my heart this morning. Paul writes in verse 1, "This is the third time I'm coming to you. Every fact is to be confirmed by the testimony of two or three witnesses. I have previously said when present the second time, and though now absent I say in advance to those who have sinned in the past and to all the rest as well, that if I come again, I will not spare anyone."
This is a very straightforward statement from Paul. It is, in fact, a warning. The key is the last phrase in verse 2, "I will not spare anyone." Paul is pledging to come to Corinth and he is warning them that if he finds sin there he will deal with it firmly.
Now before we look at the text itself I want to kind of get us into the importance of this subject and the importance of the attitude of the Apostle Paul here by sharing with you a perspective that I think exists in the church today. Many people are concerned about the state of the church. The condition of churches today have caused myriad of seminars and conferences and books to be written. There are constant calls for renewal in the church, for better understanding of the culture, for changing the style of the church to fit the style of the nineties, replacing preaching of the Scripture with more interesting methodologies and technologies. All across our country, in fact all around the world there are these efforts being made to reinvent the church. The fear is that the church is not speaking to the time, people are not listening. The church has somehow become irrelevant, it has become obsolete. Self-styled experts are saying that the future of the church is in the balance and the church may not survive in the west if it doesn't become culturally relevant, if it doesn't learn how to package its message better, if it doesn't target felt needs, if it doesn't employ more popular and efficient communication devices than it currently uses.
All of this comes into focus in a new book that's just been out a couple of weeks, it's one of those books that you can pick up and read rather rapidly. I read it fairly rapidly. I couldn't put it down, it just kept compelling me to read. It was sort of like enjoying the pain, actually, it was like there's something redeeming in this self-flagellation that I'm going through and I'm going to carry it all the way to the end. The book pained me deeply, and every page added more to my pain. But I couldn't put it down because I was so startled about what the book was saying. It is a book that calls for the church to do what I just said, reinvent itself. And it says on the cover of the book, "Today's church is incapable of responding to the present moral crisis, it must reinvent itself or face virtual oblivion by mid twenty-first century," end quote.
So the book says that if the church doesn't reinvent itself and put itself in better cultural relevance, it's going to go out of existence in 50 years. That statement alone was overwhelming for me. You mean to tell me that the eternal God who determined in the councils of the trinity before the foundation of the world, before time began who He would redeem and how He would gather His own to Himself and bring them to eternal glory is somehow going to find His whole plan coming unglued in the next 50 years? You mean to tell me that the church which Jesus Christ purchased with His own blood is somehow going to escape His purposes for redemption and atonement? You mean to tell me that the church that Jesus said He would build and the gates of Hades could not prevail against it is somehow going to become victimized by its own ineptness? That is a brash and irresponsible statement to say that if the church doesn't reinvent itself it will face oblivion by the mid twenty-first century. The only thing that could possibly obliterate the church on earth by then would be the end of the age and the return of Jesus Christ in the glorification of the church.
That's a very irresponsible thing to say and the author of the book fearing, and I think he probably genuinely fears that the church might go out of existence, suggests that there are some ways to save the church. And these are the suggestions. Develop cyber churches, virtual churches on the Internet. Secondly, develop house churches which appeal to people because they have low control, low authority and operate without historical tradition...I might add, or theology. Eliminate congregational churches like this for more congenial, less confrontational and more dispassionately interactive forums. Preachers must be replaced by presenters who have no notes and don't hide behind pulpits and who generate a more positive response for their listeners. We must get rid of sermons because one-sided communication is ineffective. And eliminate series and Bible exposition because everybody's attendance is sporadic and people really get irritated coming in and out of series that they can't consistently hear so we need to play to their sporadic attendance. And every sermon should be a unit in itself because most of the folks will miss the next two weeks before they decide to come back.
You say, "Well where did he get those ideas?" They were the result of a survey. If you ask unbelievers outside the church what they want, you can get answers like that. If you ask unbelievers inside the church what they want, you can get answers like that. If you ask believers in the church ignorant of Scripture what they want, you can get answers like that. But if you were to survey biblically literate believers, you wouldn't get answers like that.
So who is it that determines the character of the church? You go to the lowest possible source, unbelievers outside the church, unbelievers inside the church, or ignorant believers in the church? What is the hope of the church? Is this really it? If we can just disband congregational churches and develop a virtual church on the Internet, will that solve our problem? Will that dramatically effect the church's ability to confront the moral crisis of our day, as if that somehow was our reason for existence, and it's not. Ours is not a moral agenda, ours is a spiritual one. Would it be better if we had presenters instead of preachers and we got rid of pulpits and got rid of sermon notes and sat on stools, would that be the difference? And just sort of told stories? Would it be better if instead of somebody preparing to preach a sermon and giving forth an exposition of Scripture we had a pooling of everyone's ideas? Would it be better if we never had any continuity in our sermons but had little units week in and week out? Would that really save the church from virtual oblivion? And by the way, are we the ones responsible to save the church from going out of existence? Is that our job?
That's all the result of a survey, you see. That's what people want and what they want is what they should get. That's...that's the basic thesis behind all of that. Now if you ask me what the church needs, I don't need a survey, I just ask the Lord of the church and He's revealed it in His Word. And what the church really needs is more consistent, faithful, clear, theological exposition of the mind of God through the pages of Scripture. What it needs is better preaching, better sermons and I may get in trouble for saying this, fewer small churches with ungifted, untrained, and unskilled preachers. The Word must dominate the church and bear its God-intended power and authority over all who hear.
You see, the only way that the church will ever effectively counter the crisis of our time, moral crisis, spiritual crisis, is when the Word of God is working powerfully in the church, listen to what I say, to produce not information but holiness. There's the operative word, folks. Write that down somewhere. That's the theme of the message this morning. You see, the hope of the church and the impact of the church is all connected to the purity of the church. Holiness is the issue. When Jesus first addressed the church in Matthew 18, the first time He ever said anything related to the church in that great sermon in Matthew 18, the first thing He said about it is this, if somebody is in sin, go to...if he doesn't take two or three witnesses, if he doesn't listen, tell the church. And after the church has pursued him, if he still doesn't repent, throw him out, treat him like an outcast. The first instruction ever gave to the church had to do with sin. In that very first sermon, Jesus said "If you ever lead another believer into sin, you'd be better off if a millstone were put around your neck and you were drowned in the depths of the sea." The Lord of the church is concerned about the purity of the church. He's concerned about the holiness of the church. Sin is the issue to the Lord of the church and it should be the issue for us. But I daresay, you can go from conference to conference to conference and book, to book, to book and this is not the concern today. You won't hear talk about the holiness of the church, the purity of the church.
When I was at Moody this week, I spoke and I basically said to them, "You know, I'm going to preach the sermon I prepared for my own church on Sunday. I kind of tweaked it here and there a little bit, but I said to them what I'm going to say to you because everybody is talking about church growth and how to grow your church and have a successful church and a flourishing ministry and more folks and church growth is a big thing. And I said to them, it may surprise you to hear this but I really believe the single greatest contributor to the impact of our church, to the growth of our church, to the ministries of our church, to the effect of our church, the single greatest factor that exists has existed through the years of Grace Community Church, the single greatest contributor to the influence and the strength and the growth of our church has been, and I paused and it got real quiet, and I said...church discipline. And there was appall over the meeting. Church discipline? That is not normally considered a principle of church growth. Most people would assume if you want to kill the place, do that. Just start poking around in everybody's life and they'll split. Not the people who love righteousness, not the people who hate sin, not the people who want to honor God, not the people who care about obedience, and that's the church, isn't it? That's the true and redeemed church.
It may surprise you to hear this. I believe that ignoring church discipline is the most visible and disastrous failure of the church in our time because what it conveys is we aren't really concerned about...what?...sin. The Lord of the church is concerned about sin. The Apostle Paul was concerned about sin. It left him with a constant unrelenting ache in his heart. The problem with the church is not that it's got bad methodology or bad technology. The problem with the church is its lost its interest in holiness. Its lost its interest in maintaining purity. Churches have become content to be fellowships of independent members with minimal accountability to God and even less to each other. We have today, actually we have an entire generation of pastors and an entire generation of church members who have never experienced church discipline, don't know anything about it. And the first thing the Lord of the church ever said to His church was don't lead another person into sin and if you know someone who is in sin, confront that individual. The Lord of the church cares about the purity of His church. The first act the ascended Christ ever did in His church after He went back to heaven, the first thing Jesus did after sending the Holy Spirit, the first actual act where Christ Himself moved into His church and acted is in Acts 5 and what he did was kill Ananias and Sapphira in order that they might be excised out of the church for their iniquity. The Lord of the church is concerned about the holiness of His church.
The absence of church discipline, and I mean it's absolutely a foreign thing in churches, the absence of church discipline is a symptom of the moral decline, the theological indifference of the church. It's a symptom, I believe, of a shallow commitment to Scripture. It's not as if the Bible is unclear on the subject, it couldn't be more clear. It is a...it is a lack of reverence for the Lord of the church. It is saying, "Well, I know you're concerned about the holiness of the church, but we're really not. We have other things to be concerned about." Church discipline is not an elective, it is not an option, it is a necessary and integral mark of true Christianity and life in the church. And I say it again. The absence of church discipline is the most glaring evidence of the worldliness of the church and the worldliness of the church is the reason for its impotence. And you can have all of the entertainment and all the hoopla and all the big crowds that you want and not impact the world. It's the purity of the church, it's the holiness of the church that is the cause of its power. The problem is, the church is unholy. Even the idea of confession of sin is outdated in an age of moral relativism and moral ambiguity. The answer is not let's break up the congregation and produce less accountability, let's get down to house churches where we have less authority, less confrontation, more antonymy, more independence. The answer is not let's have more compassion, let's have a kinder, gentler church. Albert Moler who is the president of
Southern Seminary writes, and I quote, "Individuals now claim an enormous zone of personal privacy and moral antonymy. The congregation redefined as a mere voluntary association has no rights to intrude into this space. Many congregations have forfeited any responsibility to confront even the most public sins of their members." He says, "Congregations are consumed with pragmatic methods of church growth and...what he calls...congregational engineering." Most churches just ignore the issues of sin.
Well the Apostle Paul wasn't that way. We're learning at the end of the book here about the faithful pastor's concerns. What is it that concerns a faithful pastor? What is it that concerns Paul? Well he's giving us a summary of that starting in chapter 12 verse 19, running all the way to chapter 13 verse 10. That whole section is a summation of what concerns Paul. And we could sum it up in a word. He's concerned with the spiritual well-being of his flock. That's what he's concerned about. Corinth was a challenge. The city was gross in terms of its wickedness. People who came to Christ in that city were coming out of very immoral backgrounds. They brought some of that garbage into the church. He had to wrote to them 1 Corinthians to confront a long litany of iniquities that they were still engaging in, even though they were in the church and calling themselves believers. Having sorted out those problems in the writing of 1 Corinthians, it wasn't long until false teachers had come and along with false teachers came pride and along with pride came more sin. And Paul could see the subsequent impotence of that unholy situation and the loss of testimony, the lost of evangelistic impact that would follow. Paul knew that the problem in Corinth was not going to be whether they were culturally relevant or not, the false teachers criticized Paul for not having a relevant message, not taking into account the expectations of the Corinthians for what oratory ought to be because of what they were used to. They had criticized Paul because his person, his persona was unimpressive and his speech was contemptible. He was a lousy communicator. He didn't speak in the venue that people were used to hearing. He didn't have all of the personal charm to woo the audience. He had already addressed the issues that he didn't speak with men's wisdom and he didn't come in the wisdom of the world to achieve divine purposes. He already had laid it down that he was going to come and speak the Word of God and he believed the Word of God was the power. And behind that came this conviction and commitment to the fact that the church had to be holy.
And what Paul feared in his church was error and sin. Either one of those destroys the church. Theological error, theological ignorance or iniquity devastates the church. Paul was concerned for his church, as he was deeply agitated no more than for the church in Corinth. I mean, we've gone through this whole letter now for the last couple of years and over and over and over again we saw the agitation of Paul, the depression that he was experiencing, the pain, the anxiety, the fears over the church and always they were connected to sin. He was never concerned that the church might somehow not be culturally relevant. He was never concerned that somehow the church might have oblique methodologies. He was never concerned that the church wasn't up on the latest technology. He was only concerned about the purity of the church, purity of doctrine, purity of life. He was like the Lord of the church, he had the heart of Christ, he was following Christ. He knew what concerned Christ and what concerns Christ is the purity of His church. He has taken a bride, according to Ephesians 5. And we're very familiar with the standards that are given there. It says that he wants to present himself in chapter 5 verse 27, the church having no spot, or wrinkle or any such thing but holy and blameless. That's the kind of church the Lord wants, He wants a chaste virgin. Paul said that's what I want, that's what I want. He said it back in chapter 11 verse 2, "I want to present to Christ a...the church that is a pure virgin. He had Christ's desire for the purity of the church, doctrinal purity, moral purity.
That's what a faithful pastor is consumed for...with. He's consumed with the well-being, the spiritual well-being of his flock. Back in chapter 10 verse 8 he said he was concerned with building them up spiritually. Chapter 12 verse 19, same thing at the end of the verse, "Everything I do is for your building up." Chapter 13 verse 10, at the end, "It's for building you up not tearing you down." He was concerned about their spiritual condition, their spiritual well-being.
The church is made up of believers, not non-believers. And our concern in the church is not to make non-believers happy, but to bring believers to a place of holiness, to bring them to spiritual well-being. And that's what he's saying at the end of this epistle. From 12:19 to 13:10 you have as clear an insight into the faithful pastor's concerns as anywhere in Scripture. He's concerned about issues like repentance, discipline, authority, authenticity, obedience, spiritual perfection. Those are all the issues he deals with. In fact, those six are what we're going to be dealing with...repentance, discipline, authority, authenticity, obedience and perfection. Those are the issues that are on Paul's heart. He's concerned for the sanctification of the church because that connects to the blessing of the church and he wants God's people to be blessed. And he also is concerned with the sanctification of the church because that's connected to the power of the church evangelistically and he wants the community to hear the gospel and to see a living illustration of its power. I really believe that all pastors are held accountable before God for these issues, being concerned about repentance, discipline, authority, authenticity, obedience and perfection of the church in their charge.
Well let me give you a review, the first one. We did this a couple of weeks ago. The faithful pastor is concerned for the repentance of his people. Go back to verse 20 for a minute. You remember he said in verse 20 I'm afraid, he said it again in verse 21? Paul had some deep-seeded fears. What were they? Verse 20 says, "That when I come I may find you not what I wish and maybe found by you to be not what you wish." I'm afraid I'm going to come and you're not going to be where I want you to be spiritually, and that I'm going to have to become to you what you don't want. In other words, I'm going to have to take a firm hand with you. I'm afraid to come and find strife, jealousy, angry tempers, disputes, slanders, gossip, arrogance, disturbances. Those are sins that refer to...listen...the unity of the church. They assault the unity of the church...strive, jealousy, angry tempers, disputes, slanders, gossips, arrogance, disturbances, they all attack the unity of the church. Paul says I'm afraid I'm going to come and find those kinds of sins. Verse 21, "I'm afraid that I'm going to come and I'm going to be shamed, or humiliated and I'm going to mourn because I'm going to find people sinning from the past, not repenting of the impurity, immorality and sensuality which they have practiced." Those are sins that attack the purity of the church. Attacking the unity of the church, attacking the purity of the church, that's what Paul feared. He feared sin in the church, that's what he feared.
That is the greatest threat to the church. It's not its technology or methodology being obsolete. It's the issue of iniquity in the church. And so it is that the first thing the faithful pastor concerns himself with is the repentance of his people. Verse 21, "I am concerned about those who have sinned in the past-perfect tense, they started sinning in the past and the indication is they may well be continuing, and they have not repented." Sin among believers is of primary importance and occupies his mind continually. He fears sin in the church beyond anything else. And the discovery of sin in the church will bring a shame that humiliates him and a sorrow that causes him to mourn. These are the things that excited the passions of his heart.
Now that brings us to the second thing. We've already discussed the repentance issue. The faithful pastor is concerned not only with the repentance of his people but the discipline of his people...the discipline of his people. Sure he longs for his people to repent, but when they will not to the degree that they refuse to repent, to that degree he will discipline them. It's like a faithful parent. I mean, you would rather see your child obey, you would rather see your child respond appropriately and act and behave in a way that is right and honorable and good, and if they don't I hope you don't just sit in a corner and sulk. I hope you discipline them. That's what the Bible calls for and the same is true in the terms of the shepherding of God's people. The faithful pastor knows that where there is a failure to repent, there must be action taken. When the faithful pastor finds his greatest rears realized and he finds sin in the church, it brings upon him a certain amount of shame because he's humiliated because he's associated with it as the pastor. It brings sadness, his heart is broken and he mourns, but he doesn't wallow in his disappointment morbidly. He doesn't sit in a corner and say, "Wore is me," and feel sorry for himself, nor does he try to find another church down the street where there are fewer sinners, or at least their sin isn't public. He takes action. And that's what he's saying in 13:1 and 2. Having just discussed the issue of non-repentance and the fear that he's going to come and find some sinning against the unity of the church and some sinning against the purity of the church, he says, "When I come," verse 2, the end of the verse, "I will not spare anyone."
The time of grace is over. The time of mercy is over. The time of patience has ended. Back in chapter 1 verse 23, "I call God as witness to my soul that to spare you I came no more to Corinth." You remember he had come the first time to found the church there. He had done that. He came a second time, what was called a sorrowful visit, sad visit because when he came they rebelled against him, somebody took issue with him in public and nobody came to his defense. His heart was broken and he went out of town a broken, distraught man. He said, "I haven't come again, the third time, because I wanted to spare you. I wanted to give you time to repent. I...I've warned you and I haven't come because I wanted to spare you. But...he says...I'm coming now for the third time and when I come I'm not going to spare anybody. I'm going to act to deal with sinful believers."
And when it came to sin for the sake of the sinning believer, Paul wanted to confront that sin...you wouldn't be a faithful parent if you left your child in a state of disobedience with all of its consequences, when you could discipline them and bring them to a place of obedience and blessing. Paul is no different than that. He sees the effect of what's going on in the church, crippling believers and cutting them off from God's blessing and he also sees its devastating impact in the community because an unholy church has no power, no witness. You cannot convince a community of the transforming power of God if the church is characterized by sin and wickedness.
Paul was very confrontive with his churches. In Galatians chapter 1, you remember he writes the Galatians, in verse 6 he says, "I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ for a different gospel." He confronts the fact that they had wandered off after Judaizing false teachers who were teaching them legalism, I can't believe you've done it and it's not really another gospel at all. People are coming distorting the gospel. I'm telling you...in verse 8...though we are an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to that which we've preached to you, let him be accursed. And then in verse 10 he kind of concludes this section by saying, "Am I now seeking the favor of men or of God, am I striving to please men?" He was accused of being a man pleaser. He said, "In no way do I seek to pleases men." And his confrontation here would indicate that that's in fact the case. He confronted their deviation from the true gospel.
In chapter 2 he confronts Cephas in verse 11 who is Peter, the great Apostle Peter who, of course, was with Jesus, who walked on water, who had such miracle power in the early chapters of the book of Acts, the great Apostle Peter...came to Antioch. You would have thought that Paul who came late as an Apostle sort of after the original twelve, you would have thought that he would have treated Peter with a special kind of dignity. Verse 11 says, "I opposed him to his face because he stood condemned." Peter came and was corrupting the freedom that was theirs in Christ, was acting in a legalistic manner so as not to offend some Jews and was thereby offending some believers. And Paul says, "I confronted him to the face." It's not a popular thing to do. I don't think popular would be the word to describe Paul even if he was in the church today, let alone the world. Paul confronted sin. He confronted it because he wanted the sinner to be freed from the penalties...I should say the chastenings of sin, he wanted the sinner to be free from what God would do to him if he continued in sin. He wanted him to enjoy the blessings of obedience. And furthermore, he wanted to have the church to have its power, the church to have its impact. He wanted transformed lives to be on exhibit.
In 2 Thessalonians chapter 3 he says, "If anybody will not work...verse 10...don't let him eat." Well that's pretty straight stuff. You don't work, you can't eat. You need to learn to work with your hands. "We hear about the fact that among you there are some leading an undisciplined life, doing no work at all, acting like busybodies. Such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to work in quiet fashion and eat their own bread." Go to work, get a job, earn your food. First Timothy chapter 1 he said, "When I was with you in Ephesus, Timothy, I took Hymenaeus and Alexander who were shipwrecking the faith, who were twisting the truth and teaching error and I threw them out of the churches. I literally threw them out of the church. I turned them over to Satan so they would learn not to blaspheme." Paul was confrontive. Yes he was compassionate, yes he operated in the meekness and gentleness of Christ, as he said earlier in 2 Corinthians, yes he was loving, so loving that he wept tears over his people. Yes he was merciful and kind and patient. Yes he had given the Corinthians plenty of time to deal with the issues in their lives. But there was one thing he was absolutely intolerant of in the church and that was sin because he knew it would not only infect, sicken and weaken and even kill a church, and it did do that, some of the churches the Lord addresses in Revelation 2 and 3 literally died because of sin, but he was concerned with its impact on the life of the believer, too because it cut that believer off from blessing and joy.
So he says, "Look, I've been patient in the past. The time is come, mercy's over. When I get there I'm not going to spare anybody. This is a warning, folks. This is a warning." He's given it several times. Back in chapter 12 verse 14, "For the third time I'm ready to come to you." I'm coming, you better get ready. And then in verse 1 of chapter 13, "This is the third time I'm coming to you." And then in verse 2, at the end of the verse, "If I come again..." He's letting them know, these are all warnings. These are all warnings repeated for impact. And he says, look at it in verse 2, "I have previously said when present the second time," and he refers back to that sorrowful visit, "I told you then that I would come again and now...verse 2...absent I say in advance to those who have sinned in the past and to all the rest as well, if I come again I'll not spare anyone." I've told you repeatedly that when I come I'm going to deal with sin. Here's another warning. Warning after warning, I'm coming, I'm coming...1 Corinthians chapter 4 he said, "Look, I'm coming, I'm coming. And if I come, you decide whether I come in love or with a rod." Warning them over and over again to get their act together before he came. When I come, he says in verse 2, as I have warned all along, I am going to deal with those who have sinned in the past...and that is directly what is said down in verse 21 of the twelfth chapter, concerned about those who have sinned in the past, perfect tense. The idea is that they literally have started sinning in the past and the implication is they're continuing to do it without repentance. I'm going to deal with those people who have a pattern of sin which is known to you.
And you know, they knew about sinners and didn't do anything about it. First Corinthians 5 he wrote them and said, "How is it that you can have a man in your congregation having a sexual relationship with his father's wife...his stepmother...and you don't do anything about it but you're proud about your gracious tolerance? When I get there I'm going to deal with that man." So he says you have people in sinful patterns in your church, they started in the past, it's still going on. I'm going to deal with those people. I'm not going to spare any of them. And...he says...I'm going to deal with all the rest as well. Who's all the rest? Well all the rest which would include other people sinning whose sin may not have been known and then he's going to deal with the whole church for not dealing with sin. And that's exactly what he means back in verse 20 of chapter 12 when he says, "I may be found by you to be not what you wish." You're not going to like what you get when I arrive. You're not going to be happy with the Paul who shows up. I'm afraid when I get there I'm going to find these patterns of unrepentant sin against the unity of the church, against the purity of the church and I'm going to have to deal with it and I'm going to deal with it.
You say, "Is this a...is this a normal pattern for a pastor, or is this just something special to the personality of Paul?" No, I think this is an example for all of us. I don't think Paul hated this church, he loved them. He says that to them. Back in verse 15 of chapter 12, "If I love you the more, am I to be loved the less?" He says, "I'll gladly spend and be expended for your souls." There wasn't any question about his affection for them, his love for them. And that's the reason for his discipline. Same thing you tell your children...I discipline you because I care because I love you.
You know, the first thing I think about and I don't want to get clinical on you here, but the first thing I think about when I read about one of these kids going into a school and taking a guy and just firing people...firing bullets in all directions is here is a very, very angry person. Anger has totally overwhelmed that individual. What makes him angry? Read the Bible. Read in Ephesians what it says about how you can exasperate your child, how you can make your child angry and hostile. How? By not teaching your child obedience because if I teach my child obedience, then my child knows how much I love that child because I want them to live in such a way as to be blessed and enriched in all the best that life has to offer. And that comes to those who learn how to discipline themselves and control themselves. These are children whose parents didn't love them enough, didn't demonstrate that love, maybe didn't love them at all, didn't demonstrate that love by disciplining them so that they could learn what it is to have the rich reward of obedience, to be embraced as obedient and affirmed and to enjoy the fruits of discipline and obedience. Outrageous, angry, hostile behavior is a reflection of an utterly undisciplined child who is an utterly unloved child. And nothing creates greater hostility than that.
Paul says, "I love you too much not to be concerned about that which destroys you and that which destroys the life and power and testimony of the church." So Paul says at the end of verse 2, "I will not spare anyone." The verb here is pheidomai, it's a very strong word, it's used to describe a battle situation and it means to spare the life of a captured enemy. You have every right to take his life because he's the enemy. To spare means not to kill him when you have the opportunity to do so and the right to do so, the idea is to have mercy on an enemy who deserves death. Well Paul says that when I get there I'm not going to have any mercy. When I get there I'm not going to spare anybody, you're going to get exactly what your sin calls for. This is no idle threat. Paul's going to do this. He's going to deal with sin. And he wants the Corinthians to know that this is his concern. Beloved, when this becomes the concern of pastors, then the church will become what God wants it to be. We'll start moving in the right direction when we take the technology and the methodology and put it out of the picture and get consumed with the holiness and purity of the people in the church and concern ourselves with the sin of the church, when that is the consuming burden of the pastor, then you're going to see the church moving in the right direction.
You look at the Lord Jesus Christ in the book of Revelation in the vision of chapter 1 where He's moving in His church, what's He doing? Rearranging the technology? Is He checking out the lamps to see if there might not be a better lamp? What's He doing? He's got white hair, which speaks of His wisdom. He's described as having laser eyes that penetrate into the very depths of everything, which indicates His omniscience. He knows everything that's going on and He moves through His church with perfect wisdom and perfect understanding of every single thing going on and it describes His feet as blazing, burnished bronze like they had been heated in a furnace. What is He doing? Why does He have feet like that? Feel always speak of the authority of a monarch, his power because you always saw the monarch elevated and people were below him, his feet were the symbols of his elevated authority. And Jesus moves through His church with burning, blazing, chastening authority. That's the picture there. He penetrates, He sees the sin and He comes with blazing heat to deal with it. That's how the Lord's moving in His church.
I would simply say if you don't have church discipline in a church, you thwart the work of Christ. One writer said, "If you're not exercising church discipline...a church without church discipline is a church without Christ." Amazing. Paul says I'll show no mercy, I'm responsible to the Lord of the church for His concerns which is the purity of the church.
Well they could have been terrorized at this point. Paul's coming and he's really mad. When he gets here, folks, you better duck because it's going to fly in every direction. Well Paul's very careful, so go back to verse 1. He says, "Let me give it to you straight, every fact is to be confirmed by the testimony of two or three witnesses." And he quotes Deuteronomy 19:15, don't worry, this is not irresponsible and this is not unbiblical. I'm coming to carry out the chastening and the judgment according to God's law.
The word "fact," rhema, is the word that can be used for allegation or accusation. It's used that way in Matthew 18:16, Matthew 27:14. Wherever there's an accusation, wherever there's an allegation, wherever there's an indictment, believe me, every one of those is going to be confirmed by the testimony of two or three witnesses. This is an affirmation of the Old Testament law. That Old Testament law was that nobody could be held guilty for a crime if it couldn't be supported by two or three witnesses. In Numbers 35:30, Deuteronomy 17:6 and then this direct quote out of Deuteronomy 19:15 affirms that, otherwise you could run around making horrible accusations against people and they would be held guilty without any confirmation. But Paul says we're going to do an examination and there's going to have to be verification in the mouth of at least two or three witnesses that in fact this condition of unrepentant sin is reality. So you who are right and living righteous lives don't need to fear this. We're going to go by the book.
Jesus, by the way, affirmed this Old Testament law in John 8:17. He says, "Even in your law it has been written that the testimony of two men is true." Jesus affirmed that and then went on to talk about both his testimony and the Father's testimony affirming Him. First Timothy 5:19 says, "You never bring an accusation against an elder except before two or three witnesses." Again the Apostle Paul affirming what Jesus affirmed. But the most notable affirmation of this Old Testament principle is in Matthew 18:15 and 16 where it says if you go to a person and they don't repent, then take two or three along so that you can confirm their repentance or non-repentance in the mouth of two or three witnesses, Matthew 18. The New Testament affirms this principle.
So Paul says...Look, we're going to do it by the book, we're going to do it by the law of God. We're going to do it right. We're going to do it fairly. Nobody is going to get ground up in some indiscriminate action. Paul is saying when I come the first thing I'm going to do is church discipline. Isn't that interesting? He says I'm going to come and the first thing I'm going to do is church discipline. Why? Because the issue in the church is sin. What destroys the church is sin. I mean, nothing is as important as that. He didn't say when I get there I'm going to rearrange the furniture. When I get there we're going to try to figure out a new...a new methodology. When I get there I've got a great new technology for unrolling scrolls. No. When I get there I'm gong to deal with what has to be dealt with and that's sin and we're going to deal with it the way Scripture says to deal with it.
We have a generation today of pastors in churches who have never experienced church discipline. They don't even know what it is. Is it any wonder the church is weak? Confession of sin is outdated in this age of moral relativism. The very notion of shame has been discarded by a self-esteem generation. Shame, they say, is unnecessary and a repressive hindrance to personal fulfillment and self-esteem. This is a shameless culture, isn't it?
What are they ashamed of? What is this society ashamed of? They're not ashamed of anything. James Twitchell (??), secular observer, writes, "We have in the last generation tried to push shame aside. The human potential and recovered memory movements in psychology, the moral relativism of audience-driven Christianity, the penalty-free all ideas are equally good transformation and higher education. The rise of no-fault behavior before the law, the often outrageous distortions in telling of history so that certain groups can feel better about themselves, and the "I'm shame free but you should be ashamed of yourself" tone are just some of the instances wherein this can be seen."
He's right. There's no shame in this society. No shame for anything. The most bizarre indescribable, perverted, twisted freakish people parade their perversions across the screens of our television constantly, shamelessly. The same writer, James Twitchell, says, and this is interesting from a secular observer, "The church is aiding and abetting this. The church is aiding and abetting this abandonment of shame." Shame, you see, is a natural result of sinful behavior. But sinful people want to get rid of it because it causes pain so that's the effort the society is making, but the church abetting it? Listen to what he says, quote: "Looking at the Christian church today you can see only a dim view, dim representation of what was once painted in the boldest of colors." His point is that there was a time when the church had its....had its moral standards and its spiritual standards out in front in crystal-clear form. He says, "Christianity has lost it. It no longer articulates the ideal sexes on the loose. Shame days are over." And then this interesting statement, "The devil has absconded with sin." In other words, he's robbed the church of it, its gone, its not an issue. "Go and sin no more," he writes, "has been replaced by judge not lest you be judged."
Carl Laney[??] wrote a book called The Guide To Church Discipline. He said, "The church today is suffering from an infection which has been allowed to fester. As an infection weakens the body by destroying its defense mechanism, so the church has been weakened by this ugly sore. The church has lost its power and effectiveness in serving as a vehicle for social, moral and spiritual change. This illness is due, at least in part, to a neglected church discipline," end quote. He's right on. Until the church gets serious about holiness, its not going to have any power and its people aren't going to be blessed. They may be having fun but they'll miss spiritual blessing, the profounder, deeper things. Have you noticed that as the church has abandoned a concern for holiness it has trivialized itself? Its music has become shallower and shallower. Its expectations shallower and shallower.
Let me just give you a few things to think about and we'll wrap this up. God has always called His people to holiness. God has always called His people to holiness. This isn't anything new. "Be ye holy for I am holy," He says it over and over, read the book of Leviticus. It's everywhere. Deuteronomy chapter 6 a good illustration of this, verses 17 and 18. Listen to what the Scripture says, "You shall diligently keep the commandments of the Lord your God and His testimonies and His statutes which He's commanded you. You shall do what is right and good in the sight of the Lord that it may be well with you and you may go in and possess the good land which the Lord swore to give your fathers." God wants to bless you and He will if you obey Him. Chapter 7 of Deuteronomy 6, "You are a holy people to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples on the face of the earth." You're a holy people. Peter says the same thing, 1 Peter 2, "You are a holy people, a chosen nation. You were called out of darkness into His marvelous light. You're a holy people." God has always called His church to holiness, always called His people to holiness, always called Israel to holiness.
Secondly, God disciplines His people. He Himself does it. You are well aware of Hebrews chapter 12, it's a very familiar passage. Hebrews 12:5 says, "My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord nor faint when you're reproved by Him, for those whom the Lord loves He disciplines and He scourges every son whom He receives." The Lord will do discipline Himself. It is for discipline that you endure. God deals with you as sons, "For what son is there whom his father doesn't discipline? And if you're without discipline of which all have become partakers, then you're illegitimate children and have no...and are not sons." I mean, if you're God's child, God's son, He'll discipline you. Why? Verse 10, "He disciplines us for our good that we may share His...here's the key word...holiness." That we may share His holiness. God has always called His people to holiness and God individually disciplines His children to that end.
Third point, He's called His church to discipline as well. This matter of holiness not only is God's individual activity between himself and a believer, but it becomes a collective responsibility to the church. And Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 5 literally he was outraged that the Corinthians didn't discipline sinning members, outraged. He told the Thessalonians, as I pointed out earlier in 2 Thessalonians, that they had to discipline sin. He says, "Look, if you find somebody who's leading an unruly life, not according to the Word which you've received from us, keep aloof from him." Down later in the same chapter he says, "Take note of that person who doesn't obey the Word, don't associate with him." Put him out. The pattern for that is also repeated in Titus 3. When you find a factious man, confront him once or twice and then put him out, reject him.
Can I remind you just briefly because it must be a part of this message...? Turn to Matthew 18 and we'll just very briefly come on the pattern, the flow of this which I've referred to a couple of times earlier. In Matthew 18:15 Jesus gives the instruction as to how you do this. Verse 15, "If your brother sins, go and reprove him in private. If he listens to you, you've won your brother." Church discipline starts in the pew. It's not something for pastors only to do, it's for us to be concerned about and teach about, it's for you to do. If you know somebody who's in sin, go and reprove that person privately. Don't talk about their sin to somebody else. Talk about it to them. If you know someone in sin, go to that individual, reprove that individual. Call them to repent of that sin. That's your responsibility. Galatians 6 puts it this way. If someone's overtaken in a fault, you that are spiritual restore such a one in love considering yourself lest you also be tempted. Go in meekness knowing that you too could be tempted and fall into sin. Go lovingly but go confrontively and confront your brother in sin. The church has to do this. We cannot create anonymity in a church. We cannot create isolation in a church. All the church growth stuff today says people don't want to be identified, they don't want their life exposed, they want to come in anonymously and go out anonymously. They don't want anybody poking around their life. Just the opposite of what Scripture says. Lovingly, carefully as we come into the church we expose ourselves to one another. That doesn't drive God's people away, that draws God's people who love righteousness and hate sin and want help. So you go to the individual. If you know someone in sin, you go to him. It's your responsibility before God if you really care, if you really love that person.
If they repent, it's over. If they don't, verse 16 says, "Take one or two more with you so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every fact may be confirmed." There's that Deuteronomy 19:15 passage again which Paul quoted in 2 Corinthians 13. You just take two or three, go back and you confront the sin again and now you've got two or three who know about the sin, know the reality of the sin and can verify whether there's repentance or not. If the person doesn't repent, verse 17 couldn't be more clear. "Tell the church. Tell the whole church." It couldn't be more clear. It's not a mystery about how to interpret that, it's just as simple as it can be. And after the church calls that person to repentance, if they still don't repent, put them out, treat them like a Gentile, that's somebody outside the covenant. Treat them like a tax gatherer, that's the most despicable people in the society were those Jews who had become traitors to their own people and sold themselves to Rome to buy a tax franchise to extort from their people. Put them out.
Paul had to do that occasionally himself. He did it. That's the church's responsibility. Even when someone's an elder and they should be confronted...the reason you do the public confrontation, according to 1 Timothy 5, is because verse 20 says, "Those who continue in sin rebuke in the presence of all so that the rest also may be fearful of sinning." You want to make people afraid to sin because there are public consequences. It's not...there's not a mystery about this. This is very clear.
Now finally, Scripture reveals three areas of sin calling for discipline. People always ask me, "What do you discipline in the church?" Three areas. One, very important, doctrinal error...doctrinal error, unsound teaching. First Timothy 1:18 to 20 Paul threw Hymenaeus and Alexander out of the church because they were shipwrecking the faith. Paul confronted error in Galatia because people were believing another gospel. The first thing is doctrinal error calls for discipline. If you know somebody in error, you know somebody teaching falsely, falsely representing Scripture, misrepresenting the truth, that must be dealt with.
Secondly, issues of unity...issues of unity. If you find a factious person, you must deal with that person, Titus 3.
Thirdly, issues of purity, 1 Corinthians 5 et al, issues of sin and purity. You deal with doctrinal issues, issues of unity and issues of purity. All of those threaten the church. And when this discipline is absent from the church, so is Christ because unholiness in a church will cause the Lord of the church to abandon that church. An undisciplined church is as unruly as an undisciplined child and a shame and sorrow to the Lord of the church.
I want Christ to be honored in His church, don't you? Therefore we have to be concerned about repentance and discipline in the church so that the church will be holy and a proper manifestation of the holiness of the Lord of the church who lives in through His church.
Father, we thank You again for this morning's worship time. Lord, this is important, so important, so close to your own heart as it was to the heart of Paul. We realize, Lord, that we're dealing here with matters of great importance, but also matters of great clarity in Scripture. There's not as if there's any mystery about this. And we grieve in our hearts that the church can become so easily indifferent to this, so easily irreverent to You, the Lord of the church, disregarding what You desire for Your church and substituting foolishness. It saddens us that the church can become so indifferent to Scripture which is so clear on this issue and because of the fear of man, because of the fear of confrontation live in disobedience. Lord, I pray that You'll raise up a concern in Your church not for new technology and not for new methodology, but for a new and fresh commitment to the purity of the church. May pastors become consumed not with style but with substance. May they become consumed with the doctrinal integrity of the church, the unity of the church and the purity of the church so much so that they are willing and even their people are willing at every level to confront doctrinal error, sins that destroy the unity of the church, sins that attack the purity of the church. And may Your church become holy and wherever there is a holy church, we know there will be manifest power in that church because transformed lives will be evident and there will be a penetrating impact on the society around. To that end we pray, for Your glory, the Lord of the church, whom we love and serve. Amen.


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Sunday, June 27, 2010
A New Version of MediaBox for N900, N800, and N810
There is now a new version 2010.06.26 of MediaBox Media Center available in extras-testing for N900 and extras for N800 and N810.
It's somewhat a small premiere. :)
As far as I know, MediaBox is the first 3rd party media player on the N900 to support the Maemo MAFW framework for media playback.
MediaBox is also the first media player written in Python to use MAFW for playback. Of course my code for using MAFW is open for anyone to use in their Python programs.
Using MAFW on the N900 has some benefits. For instance, audio will play in silent mode and doesn't stutter while locking the screen. And you are able to control the volume with the hardware keys while the screen is locked (this requires Maemo5 PR 1.2).
In case you prefer mplayer over MAFW, and have mplayer installed on your device, you can use it as media backend as well. Or just use plain GStreamer as before. The backend to use is configurable per media type.
On the N8x0, the available backends are OSSO Media Server (the predecessor of MAFW), mplayer, and GStreamer.
How do you normally get music onto your device? Now you can browse your UPnP media shares and download whole folders with their media contents onto the device. YouTube videos can be copied to the device, too, and MediaBox manages all this with the new download manager component.
There have also been made some (a lot) performance improvements in the new version, and the handy sleep timer from the 0.96.x series of MediaBox is back.
Enjoy, and please don't forget to vote for the package if you're using it from extras-testing on the N900!
Posted by Martin Grimme at 5:59 AM 7 comments:
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Jonathan M. Ellen
Jonathan M. Ellen, M.D.
President and Physician-in-Chief
Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital
Vice Dean and Professor of Pediatrics
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
As president and vice dean of Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital, Dr. Jonathan Ellen is leading the transformation of All Children's from a regional pediatric referral center to an academic children's hospital and national leader in research, teaching and patient care.
Under Dr. Ellen's visionary leadership, Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital launched an innovative new pediatric residency program and new fellowships, established the Johns Hopkins All Children's Heart Institute and expanded programs dedicated to patient safety and quality. He forged collaborations among physicians at All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg and the Johns Hopkins Children's Center in Baltimore, leading to new clinical and translational research spanning both campuses.
At the same time, Dr. Ellen has worked with leaders of the University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine to strengthen the ACH-USF affiliation and their combined efforts in pediatric education and research. He is teaming up with a variety of community hospitals and providers in the Tampa Bay region and beyond to expand pediatric networks that ensure optimal care for children with complex and chronic medical conditions.
A proponent of community-based health initiatives, Dr. Ellen expanded All Children's population health efforts with a focus on structural change to impact asthma, obesity and infant mortality. He pioneered this type of approach as a leader of the Adolescent Medicine Trials Network for HIV/AIDS Intervention, serving as principal investigator for Connect to Protect®, a community coalition-based program. His past research focused on preventing sexually transmitted infections, including HIV, in adolescents and the structural and environmental factors associated with disease transmission, and he received more than $25 million in research awards from the CDC, NIH and other agencies.
Dr. Ellen joined the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in 1999. He was named vice dean for All Children's Hospital in 2011 and president of All Children's Hospital in 2012. Previously he led the Center for Child and Community Health at Johns Hopkins and was director of the Department of Pediatrics and Neonatology at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center. Dr. Ellen is a professor of pediatrics at the JHU School of Medicine and a professor of epidemiology and population, family and reproductive health in the Bloomberg School of Public Health. He has trained more than 40 pre- and post-doctoral fellows in adolescent medicine and public health and authored more than 200 peer-reviewed scientific articles along with 30 reviews, editorials and book chapters.
After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania, he received his medical degree from Temple University and completed an internship and residency in pediatrics at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Dr. Ellen completed a fellowship in adolescent medicine at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), followed by fellowships in sexually transmitted diseases at UCSF, the San Francisco Department of Public Health, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Dr. Ellen lives in St. Petersburg. He and his wife, attorney Margaret de Lisser, have a son and a daughter.


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Talking about cutting taxes on the wealthiest few, General Electric, one of the nation's largest corporation, made headlines by reaping near-record profits — and paying no corporate income taxes. None. Zip. In fact, on worldwide profits of $14.2 billion, of which $5.1 billion was earned in the U.S., they claimed a tax benefit of $3.2 billion.
So while you're finishing up your tax returns before the April 15 deadline, chew on that for a while.
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ADDISON COUNTY — Although Mother Nature may have the last laugh considering the uncooperative weather in the forecast and the iffy condition of playing surfaces, the local high school sports season is scheduled to open this week.
Eight teams have games or matches on their dockets, but it's possible only up to half of them will see action: the Middlebury Union boys' and girls' lacrosse and tennis squads.
LINCOLN — The Addison County-Ghana relationship will thicken this year as Lincoln's Ruth Polishuk lifts ECHO off the ground. ECHO — which stands for Education, Culture and Health Opportunities — is a nonprofit nongovernmental organization (NGO) based out of Lincoln and Ghana's southeast Volta Region.
MIDDLEBURY — It would be an understatement to say that Gary Barclay's first day as a Middlebury police officer was a case of baptism by fire.
It was 1971. The Vietnam War was still raging and President Richard Nixon was in the White House. Barclay, then 25, had recently dropped off an application at the Middlebury Police Department in hopes of securing some part-time work in a field that appealed to him.
Then the call came. It was from then-Middlebury Police Chief Robert Van Ness.
ADDISON COUNTY — After the Toxics Action Center published a January report illuminating 1,421 hazardous waste sites across Vermont, and 214 in Addison County, it's understandable that many local residents are concerned about the safety of their land.
Fortunately, the Addison County Regional Planning Commission (ACRPC) has funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to run a Brownfield Program, which identifies and assesses contaminated sites at no or low cost to qualifying property owners in Addison County.
VERMONT — "Toxics in Vermont: A Town-by-Town Profile," a report released in January by the Toxics Action Center, is the most comprehensive and up-to-date report hitherto on the toxic contamination of Vermont's environment.
After revealing many critical environmental issues facing Vermont, the Montpelier-based center recommends a number of ways the state should address these issues.
Their suggestions for a healthy environmental future are long and varied. Here they are in a nutshell:
ADDISON COUNTY — The 1,421 Vermont hazardous waste sites identified in the Toxics Action Center report "Toxics in Vermont: a Town by Town-by-Town profile" were drawn from year-old statistics compiled by the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) in their online database.
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Offices in Washington
321 High School Rd., Suite D
Bainbridge WA 98110
Office: 206-317-6287
PRACTICE AREAS | Civil Rights Law - Police Brutality Attorney
Police Brutality Attorney
At Kallislaw - Protecting Civil Rights, P.C., we take civil rights violations at the hands of law enforcement seriously. We are Police Brutality Attorneys in Seattle, WA who help clients when overzealous police officers who don't follow the law and violate your rights. When the police need to be held accountable, we provide skilled litigation and counsel for clients throughout Washington.
Unique Experience in Police Misconduct Cases
When police officers engage in false arrest, false imprisonment, excessive force, brutality, or malicious prosecution, you need the type of experienced representation of a Bainbridge Police Brutality Attorney. In addition to his experience as a lawyer, Jeff Kallis of the Kallislaw - Protecting Civil Rights, P.C. is a former police officer. He has thorough, firsthand knowledge of internal affairs procedures within police departments.
Secure Legal Representation First
Prior to your first appointment, we ask that you do not file an Internal Affairs (IA) complaint with the police department. Their motivation in gathering information is far different from yours. You are looking for them to pursue an action against one of their peers. Their intention is to gather as much information as they can to diffuse the complaint.
In addition, you will likely have been charged with a crime by them to justify their excessive actions. Filling out a report without the benefit of counsel could damage the case against you. Essentially, you are giving them advanced notice of legal action and the time to prepare their documents.
Challenges to Overcome in Police Misconduct Cases
When faced with a civil rights violation at the hands of a police officer, you want an attorney with trial experience, you want a Seattle Police Brutality Lawyer. Unless the conduct by law enforcement was so egregious and your injuries were severe, your case will likely not settle and must proceed to trial.
There are many obstacles to overcome, including the possibility of an appeal if you prevail and the inherent advantage that police officers have in legal settings. However, if your rights have been violated, they must be held responsible for their actions. By letting time lapse without filing a police misconduct lawsuit, law enforcement gets the wrong message.
Contact Us
To get more information or to schedule an appointment with an experienced Bainbridge Police Brutality Attorney regarding a civil rights violation due to police misconduct, please contact us.
Call 888-441-1529 - Seattle, WA or contact us online today.


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Updated Global Cloud Index: Revised Forecast Shows Clear Signs of Continued Data Center Virtualization
Today, Cisco released its first update to the Cisco Global Cloud Index (GCI), covering the 2011 to 2016 forecast period. This annual report is our ongoing effort to predict the growth of global and regional data center and cloud-based IP traffic as well as analysis of the trends associated with data center virtualization and cloud computing. Here are just a few of the key projections in this year's report:
Global data center traffic
- Global data center IP traffic will increase nearly four-fold over the next 5 years (reaching 6.6 zettabytes by the end of 2016). Overall, data center IP traffic will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 31 percent from 2011 to 2016.
Data center virtualization and cloud computing transition
- By 2016, nearly two-thirds of all data center workloads will be processed in the cloud (as opposed to less virtualized traditional IT servers). In 2011, 30 percent of workloads were processed in the cloud, with 70 percent being handled in a traditional data center.
Global cloud traffic
- Global cloud IP traffic will increase six-fold over the next 5 years (reaching 4.3 zettabytes by the end of 2016). Overall, cloud IP traffic will grow at a 44% CAGR from 2011 – 2016.
- Global cloud IP traffic will account for nearly two-thirds of total data center traffic by 2016.
And this year, we've added more forecast granularity—projecting cloud traffic (and other metrics) for all six global regions:
Cloud Traffic Growth by Region
- In 2011, North America generated the most cloud traffic (261 exabytes annually); followed by Asia Pacific (216 exabytes annually); and Western Europe (156 exabytes annually).
- By 2016, Asia Pacific will generate the most cloud traffic (1.5 zettabytes annually); followed by North America (1.1 zettabytes annually); and Western Europe (1 zettabyte annually).
- From 2011–2016, the Middle East and Africa is expected to have the highest cloud traffic growth rate (79 percent CAGR); followed by Latin America (66 percent CAGR); and Central and Eastern Europe (55 percent CAGR).
One of the key takeaways from the study is that enhanced data center virtualization is a key networking benefit that is driving many organizations to cloud computing. In the past, one server carried one workload. However, with increasing server computing capacity and virtualization, multiple workloads per physical server are common in cloud architectures. The results include fewer physical servers to support higher processing demands, more efficient data center operations, and more ubiquitous access to network services and content for consumers and business users.
Here's a brief animated video that will help give you a bit more insight on the top trends from the latest Cisco GCI research:
We encourage you to visit our Global Cloud Index site to review the updated study as well as the new tools and resources that we've developed. We look forward to your feedback and feel free to share your "cloud experiences" with us as well.
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As funny as anything from "Curb Your Enthusiasm," the HBO movie "Clear History" puts Larry David's curmudgeonly persona in a new situation. In a Hawaiian shirt with long hair, he plays Nathan Flomm, a West Coast marketing director for an electric car company ("I was the brains behind Edible Arrangements") who manages to offend his sweet boss, Will Haney (Jon Hamm), and loses a 10 percent stake in the firm just as it's about to make billions.
He not only loses a fortune, but also his wife, and his life becomes a running joke in the media because of his stupidity. Ten years later, he's living in Martha's Vineyard under the name Rolly and things are fine. No one knows his past. Then Will buys a summer house on the island and arrives by seaplane with his new, glamorous blond wife, Rhonda (Kate Hudson). He doesn't recognize Rolly, who is now bald, but the sight of Will drives Rolly crazy and he wants revenge, even though the whole thing had been caused by his own stubbornness. What follows is hilarious bad behavior that only David can excel in.
"Lovelace" tells the story of Linda Boreman, who became the porn queen Linda Lovelace of "Deep Throat" fame. The film captures both the sensation that the 1972 film caused, including comments and jokes from intellectuals to comics. It was, after all, the height of the sexual revolution and porn was not as easy as bookmarking a page on a computer.
"Deep Throat," of course, had nothing to do with the sexual revolution. It was smut, but it had some cache. "Lovelace" is a story of brutal exploitation. Boreman/Lovelace was controlled by her pimp-husband (Peter Sarsgaard, terrific as an awful character) through beatings and rape. Later, she escaped the life and became an anti-pornography crusader. Amanda Seyfried gives a poignant performance as the victim, but "Lovelace" details a complicated and conflicting story that is disquieting. At first it shows the circus atmosphere of the event and then the dreadful reality sets in.
"White House Down" is an action-thriller that once again puts the president's mansion in the line of fire. "Olympus Has Fallen" did it earlier in the year. This time, a rogue Secret Service agent (James Woods) and his henchmen have taken over the place with the chief executive (Jamie Foxx) stuck inside. Only an off-duty Capitol Hill policeman (Channing Tatum) on a White House tour with his daughter, stands in their way.
We have already been warned that mayhem will ensue. Early on in the film, a tour guide references the scene of the White House blowing up the movie "Independence Day," which is a joke, since Roland Emmerich, who directed "Independence Day" directs this picture, too. "White House Down" is perhaps better than "Olympus," but, unfortunately for the filmmakers, it came second. If you like these kind of movies, though, it's diverting except when the explosions are too mind numbing.
"Parkland," which tells the story of events in Dallas on the day JFK was assassinated, is also new.
There are some complete box sets of TV series — the most notable of them being "Naked City," — you know, there are 8 million stories in the "Naked City" — the classic crime TV show that ran form 1958-63.
And if you missed anything, there's "Dexter: The Complete Final Season," and the first season of "Under the Dome." "Mad Men: Season Six" will give fans time to get ready for the final season of the acclaimed series, which will be in two parts, the first part airing next spring.


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Based on the existing Stylus Verve model, the Stylus Verve S looks to be a fairly straightforward upgrade, with the changes relating to the new five megapixel image sensor (image size, burst speed, ISO sensitivity, etc.) Featuring a compact aerodynamic-looking shape and with dimensions of 95 x 56 x 28mm, the Verve S is definitely a camera that's going to grab attention whenever you use it.
The Olympus Stylus Verve S will ship in April 2005, at a cost of $349.99.
5-Megapixel CCD, New Calendar and Album Features and Optimized Battery Technology Enhance the New Verve S Digital Camera
Melville, New York, February 17, 2005 – With the announcement of the new 5.0-megapixel Stylus Verve S, Olympus adds more choices to its line-up of sleek, ultra-compact digital cameras in the Stylus Verve series. The new Stylus Verve S packs 5 million pixels of image resolution into its compact, durable, all-weather designer body, along with new features such as a calendar, album function and a histogram for enhanced usability.
"The original Stylus Verve series was created to inspire creativity and self-expression, redefining the design of digital cameras," said Tomoko Matsunaga, product manager, Olympus Imaging America Inc. "The new Stylus Verve S builds upon that great design to offer more options while continuing the tradition of power, performance, all-weather durability, and exquisite style synonymous with the Olympus Stylus Digital series."
Designed to Do More The Stylus Verve S combines a 5.0-megapixel CCD image sensor with Olympus' exclusive image processor, TruePic TURBO™, which significantly enhances image quality and delivers faster overall processing speeds for rapid startup, shutter release and playback. TruePic TURBO uses pixel "micro-smoothing" to deliver clearer, more color-accurate photos, even at lower resolutions. The result is high quality prints that can be cropped and printed to 11 x 14 inches and larger. And with a fast startup of less than one second and nearly instant shutter release time, you're always ready to take great pictures.
The bright, clear 1.8-inch HyperCrystal™ LCD delivers a high contrast image and 160-degree angle of view. So gather your friends around – your photos are viewable from above, from the side, and from below. And while conventional LCD screens appear dim against bright light, the HyperCrystal™ LCD provides excellent visibility in any light condition – on the beach, under the stars, in the rain, or on the slopes.
The Stylus line of digital cameras is renowned for all-weather durability. The body of the Stylus Verve S is constructed of durable, lightweight metal with rubber gaskets throughout the interior to ensure that rain, sleet, snow or sand won't get in the way of great photos. Designed for active digital photographers always on the go, the Stylus Verve S also features optimized battery technology that enables users to get more shots between battery charges.
Delivering Style Modeled after the shape of a falling water droplet, the Stylus Verve S maintains the unique body design of its predecessor, the Stylus Verve. With its smooth contoured lines and ultra-compact size of just 3.7 x 2.2 x 1.1 inches and weight of only 4.1 ounces, the Stylus Verve S fits snugly in a hip pocket or in the palm of the hand.
A new finger grip on the front of the camera further enhances the ergonomics, making it easy to snap pictures when holding the camera with one hand. The black camera body has a new high-gloss finish and is constructed of metal for all-weather durability, with a circular lens barrier that tucks away inside the camera body when on, and protects the lens from the elements with an impermeable seal when closed. The camera also delivers pizzazz in the form of programmable sound effects, such as the rev of a sports car engine or a pleasing chime upon start-up as well as three catchy shutter sounds to choose from.
Designed for Excitement The Stylus Verve S will change the way you think about your digital camera. Now instead of simply capturing images, you can think of your camera as a portable photo album that goes wherever you go. The new Album Function makes it easy to organize photos into photo albums stored on the camera's xD-Picture Card™. You can create up to 12 individual albums of 100 images each, in the order you want to show them, and take your photos everywhere – your photo album will no longer be confined to your coffee table. And with the new built-in Calendar Function, images are automatically organized and recalled by date.
Intelligent Design Olympus photos are known worldwide for sharp, vibrant image quality. This is achieved through a number of key technologies, such as Olympus' high-quality all-glass lens (with aspherical lens elements), designed specifically for digital cameras. The lens provides the equivalent of 35 to 70mm, f3.5 – f4.9 in 35mm photography, with 8x combined total zoom (2x optical and 4x digital) to bring the action closer, as well as a Super Macro Mode that captures close-up images of fine details like the wings of a butterfly.
Designed to perform during a variety of occasions, the Stylus Verve S includes 16 shooting modes that can be accessed through the camera's menu to provide fully automatic exposure adjustments for shooting Night Scenes, Landscapes, Fireworks, Cuisine and more. And the inclusion of advanced shooting functions, such as a direct histogram and white balance presets, makes it easy to capture images with perfect exposure every time. With its QuickTime® Movie Mode, the Stylus Verve S can record movies of any length, limited only by the size of the memory card in the camera.
Designed to be Approachable Connecting the Stylus Verve S to a computer is easy with the USB Auto Connect feature, which connects directly via USB 2.0 cable and requires no software. Or, If you prefer, forget the computer altogether. The power of PictBridge technology enables photos to be printed directly from the Stylus Verve S to any PictBridge-enabled printer, such as the Olympus P-10 Digital Photo Printer, without using a computer. Printing and sharing images has never been easier, and the P-10's photo lab-quality dye-sublimation printing produces archival-quality prints in rich color.
OLYMPUS Master™ software provides the ultimate in digital imaging management. An intuitive user interface makes downloading to your computer quick and simple, and images are searchable by date or keyword in the Calendar View. And with one-click editing tools, such as red-eye reduction, images can be touched up before printing or emailing. Online support, templates, firmware upgrades and other user services are just a mouse-click away.
Availability The Stylus Verve S will be available in April 2005. It includes a 16MB xD-Picture Card, Wrist Strap, Camera WIN/Mac USB Cable, Audio/Video cable, Li-30B Li-Ion Rechargeable Battery and Charger, Quick Start Guide, Basic Instruction Manual, Warranty Card, CD-ROM with OLYMPUS Master Software, and Camera Advanced Manual.
U.S. Pricing Stylus Verve S Estimated Street Price: $349.99 (U.S.)
ABOUT OLYMPUS IMAGING AMERICA INC. Olympus Imaging America Inc. is a precision technology leader, designing and delivering award-winning products for consumer and professional markets.
Olympus Imaging America Inc. works collaboratively with its customers and its parent company, Olympus Corporation, to develop breakthrough technologies with revolutionary product design and functionality that enhances peoples lives every day. These include:
Olympus Imaging America Inc. is responsible for sales in United States, Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central and South America. For more information, visit www.olympusamerica.com.


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Seduced by Monica Bellucci…
I fell madly in love with my Dior Denim Rose Gloss I purchased last week (on top of MAC Masque – pretty combo!).
So I decided to give two of the Creme De Glosses a go in Fig and Beige Elixir.
The blurb says;
Crème de Gloss
What it is:
A creamy lipstick in a gloss.
What it is formulated to do:
Dior is on everyone's lips this fall. Dior Crème de Gloss combines lush, sensuous color with rich, sexy shine in this revolutionary creamy lipstick gloss.
What else you need to know:
Crème de Gloss is deeply moisturizing and nourishing, with a refreshing white tea fragrance. Choose from eight chic colors.
I say:
Crème de Gloss
What it is:
A thick, slightly dry lipgloss. I suppose it does look a bit lipsticky.
What it is formulated to do:
Well, it looks rich, but it isn't that plumping and more importantly, not very shiny. I can see the glitter in the tube, but I don't see it in on lips.
What else you need to know:
It feels nice on the lips, but not overwhelmingly so. Fig is a grown up plummy shade, a bit too grown up for my liking – where's the fun?! Where are my blue microsparkles?! Beige is quite a deep beige – not the nude, creamy beige I was hoping for. I like the packaging, tis very glam.
Blah overall if you ask me. I was hoping for more. Maybe I need things straight up – if you are a gloss, then be a gloss. If you are a lipstick, be a lipstick.
I love my lipsticks that look glossy but a gloss that works like a lipstick? I don't know…I don't see the point? Anyway the two colours I have aren't anything special, so perhaps in a different colour I could like this product. Untill then…its a Meh.


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physics answers half life and radioactive dating - Dating singles airforce dates airforce friendships
Military Spot Personals is designed for military active duty, reserve and single military veterans of the U. This is the perfect place for military singles, friends and admirers to talk about military issues, relationships, cultures, religions, work, sports, lives and more!
Join hundreds of thousands of members all over the world.
Military Singles Connection Military Singles Connection is a singles online community dedicated to helping men and women meet other singles in a comfortable online environment.
Our personals community is a source for creating relationships ranging from companionship to friendship, romance to marriage.
Military singles enjoy chat rooms, message boards, photo personals, a photo gallery, anonymous private mailboxes, and much more.
Military Singles Connection provides online personals services, including: Online profiles and photographs of single men and women Online chat rooms and an instant messenger to enable others to communicate in real time An online private mailbox to enable others to exchange personal messages An online public forum to enable others to exchange messages and information An online display of frequently asked questions, and answers to frequently asked questions.


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FRITZ!Box 7272 Service - Knowledge Base
AVM Content
- FRITZ!Box 7590
- FRITZ!Box 7583
- FRITZ!Box 7582
- FRITZ!Box 7581
- FRITZ!Box 7560
- FRITZ!Box 7530
- FRITZ!Box 7490
- FRITZ!Box 7430
- FRITZ!Box 7390
- FRITZ!Box 7369
- FRITZ!Box 7360
- FRITZ!Box 7340
- FRITZ!Box 7330
- FRITZ!Box 6890 LTE
- FRITZ!Box 6840 LTE
- FRITZ!Box 6820 LTE
- FRITZ!Box 6810 LTE
- FRITZ!Box 6591 Cable
- FRITZ!Box 6590 Cable
- FRITZ!Box 6490 Cable
- FRITZ!Box 5491
Saving the settings and restoring them to the same FRITZ!Box
You can save the settings of your FRITZ!Box to a backup file; if you need to, you can then use this backup to either import all of the settings or only certain ones (for example wireless settings, FRITZ!Box users). In addition to manually creating a backup file as described here, you can also have the push service automatically save your settings for you. The "Save Settings" push service always sends you an email with a newly created backup file before each update and before the factory settings are loaded.
This guide shows you how to restore your settings to the same FRITZ!Box. You can also transfer your settings to another FRITZ!Box.
Note:All instructions on configuration and settings given in this guide refer to the latest FRITZ!OS for the FRITZ!Box.
1 Saving data from the internal memory
- Click "Home Network" in the FRITZ!Box user interface.
- Click "Storage (NAS)" in the "Home Network" menu.
- If the option "Storage (NAS) enabled" is enabled, click "Internal memory" so that the contents of FRITZ!NAS are displayed.
- Mark the folders and files you want to back up and click "Download".
2 Saving settings
- Click "System" in the FRITZ!Box user interface.
- Click "Backup" in the "System" menu.
- Click on the "Save" tab.
- Enter a password.
- Click "Save" and confirm that the procedure may be executed on the FRITZ!Box, if asked to do so.
- Save the file "FRITZ.Box[...].export" on your computer.
3 Restoring settings
- Click "System" in the FRITZ!Box user interface.
- Click "Backup" in the "System" menu.
- Click on the "Restore" tab.
- Click "Browse" and select the file "FRITZ.Box[...].export" with the settings you want to restore.
- Enter the password you entered when saving the file.
- If you only want to restore certain settings, enable the option "Manually select the settings to be restored".
- Click the "Restore" button and confirm that the procedure may be executed on the FRITZ!Box, if you are asked to do so.
- If you want, enable the settings you would like to restore.
- Click "Apply".
4 Registering DECT devices
If DECT devices did not automatically connect to the FRITZ!Box after importing the settings, register them with the FRITZ!Box again. To keep all of the settings, use the FRITZ!Box's button to register them and not the wizard in the FRITZ!Box user interface.
- Register cordless telephones, DECT repeaters, FRITZ!DECT sockets, and FRITZ!DECT radiator controls with the FRITZ!Box again.


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My questions are regarding the phrase "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law".
Why should you do your will in the first place? What does a person get out of it? (What value is being posited by doing one's will?)
Is it possible to -not- do your will? Isn't everything you do, on some level, willed?
Say I don't, or attempt not to, do my will. As this is said to be a law, who is enforcing the law and what happens if one does not follow the law?


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EVENT: Austin Gorilla Run
Clara Kebabian
THE STORY: I'm participating in the Austin Gorilla Run and raising funds for the Mountain Gorilla Conservation Fund (MGCF). Proceeds from the race directly benefit the Ruth Keesling Wildlife Health and Research Center in Kampala, Uganda. The brand new facility will include two main lecture halls with seating for 100 students, two large scale research laboratories, postgraduate and grant research offices. The lower section will contain a Wildlife Disease Surveillance Biohazard Level 1 Bio Bank. A first of its kind research center for Africa! In 1987 there were only 248 mountain gorillas alive in the world, but through the veterinary and conservation efforts of the MGCF, we are proud to announce the population is currently estimated at 880!
The Team: $90 TOTAL RAISED SO FARJOIN THE TEAM
Want to help Fundraise or Volunteer for this amazing Fundraiser? Join the Team


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Tales from Exit 138: Baseball as a Surreality
At times, I have referred to baseball as a type of pseudo-reality. But there are certain special moments where it is more of a surreality than anything else. Sometimes my experiences seem unreal to me because they are completely unexpected. Although I certainly have a memory for certain plays, specific pitching performances, and first major-league hits that I like to bring up when I'm talking with a player; it seems that my fondest memories of the game come from my experiences off the field.
Monday was my third trip to Fort Myers in a week, and when I came to think about it, three trips to Fort Myers already equals half my total of last year. I think that I am especially eager to spend as much time as possible there this year because it is my last spring in which I have the liberty to go up almost whenever I want. The funny part is that games haven't even started yet; and even though 90% of the workouts is simply watching drills, I really don't mind. I think that I developed even more of an appreciation for these meticulous drills after having attended the Fall Instructional League
The last two times I was at the complex, I took a mental note on where the best places were to stand for picture opportunities (these mental notes were taken while I was standing in what was probably the most inconvenient place possible). I stationed myself close to where most of the position players walk out to stretch. My observations paid off as I was able to snag what I like to call "good morning pictures" with Nate Spears, Andrew Miller, and Michael Bowden.
I will always have a specific affinity towards Michael Bowden because he was my first interview, and that interview really inspired everything I do today.
As I was doing my rounds and watching the early morning drills, I was approached by Colin, a camera man for WEEI. He asked if I wrote a blog about the Red Sox, and the reason why he recognized me is because every time he googles a Red Sox prospect, my blog comes up. We talked for a bit, and he asked me if I would be interested in doing an interview for WEEI later. It is always a surreal experience to be recognized from my blog or twitter.
One of the drills I enjoyed watching the most was the situational run down drills. A runner would be placed at one of the bases, and the ball would be hit to a random spot in the infield, and everyone had to adjust accordingly. I was happy to see Junichi Tazawa participating after having Tommy John surgery nearly a year ago.
Then, I had the pleasure of meeting and talking to Peter Gammons. Mr. Gammons follows me on twitter, so I introduced myself as "@redsoxgirl46" before introducing myself as Elizabeth. I actually find it quite amusing that some people recognize me more by my twitter name than my actual name, and I think that this is indicative of the changing times. A similar experience happened when I met Mike Antonellis, the radio broadcaster for the Sea Dogs, when I was working in Portland. Mr. Cameron introduced me as Elizabeth, which I clarified as "redsoxgirl46 from Twitter," and Mike was immediately familiar.
Mr. Gammons and I actually talked a lot about the changing industry and how everything is moving towards the online medium. We also talked about the importance of networking in this day and age. It was definitely interesting to hear his perspective on this shift because he has been a pioneer in the sports writing industry. I really appreciated his taking the time to talk to me.
Nearly all of the pitchers went in earlier than usual today (around 10:30), but many of the position players took extended batting practice until nearly 12:30. While this was going on, I was interviewed by Robert Bradford of WEEI about what I enjoy about spring training and my blog and its goals. It was kind of surreal being interviewed out of the blue like that, but now that I think about it, I guess that's how the players feel when I approach them. The interview will be up sometime next week.
The last batting practice drill of the day was a situational hitting drill, which I had never seen before. Before my interview with Anthony Rizzo this summer, I hadn't really realized that guys try to hit to certain areas of the ballpark depending on where the runners are. When there was a runner on third, it was incredible for me to see the hitter try to get under the ball a little bit more to induce a sacrifice fly.
After they finished, Josh Reddick and Lars Anderson were kind enough to stop to take pictures with me. I was able to congratulate Anderson on his first major-league hit, which came on a 94-mph fastball off of Matt Garza.
After that, the workout was essentially done, so my dad and I headed back to the stadium for autographs (and by that I mean pictures) with some of the minor league players. We were on the last bus. Kyle Weiland, Daniel Nava, Tim Federowciz, Luis Exposito, and Che-Hsuan Lin were signing. I had some special stuff to show Weiland and Nava. For Weiland, I had my score sheet from the game where he struck out eight batters and retired 20 straight, and for Nava, I had my notes from his Double-A debut.
The line moved at a glacially slow pa
ce, but it was worth the wait. I always assume that players won't remember me, but there are few things in this world that make me happier when they stop me mid-explanation of who I am, implying that they remember me.
It was great to see Weiland again and just tell him that I was really looking forward to his season. He is working on adding a cutter (or bringing it back from his college days) to his already fabulous arsenal of a fastball, changeup, and slider. I offered him the scorecard for sentimental value, but he said that the Sea Dogs keep books and books of statistics. He said that he really appreciated it though.
I could tell that Daniel Nava was really into my game notes once he finally figured out what it was, and read through them a bit.
It was great to meet Tim Federowicz, though we didn't get a chance to chat for long. I asked him how to pronounce his last name for future reference, but I think that will always be a name that I will have my own pronunciation for.
It was great to see Luis Expostio again. I already have his signature so I just shook his hand. We were being rushed along so I only got to shake Che-Hsuan Lin's hand, and I proceeded to drop some of my papers all over the place.
Something that I especially enjoy is meeting and talking to people who
read my blog (which doesn't happen that often). This spring I have had the pleasure of meeting Helen,
Melissa, and her son Christopher. And talking to them has really shown
me baseball's perpetual ability to foster connections and unite people.
One of the things that I love about spring training is that it always reminds me why I write, and this has been especially important this year with all of the discouraging college news. It has made me realize that I could not care less about their opinions about me. I'll take Lars Anderson asking "How's your blog?" or a recognition from Kyle Weiland or a "your blog comes up every time I google a prospect" over a college acceptance letter any day of the week. I didn't start this blog so I could put it on my college application; I started this blog because I love baseball.
I probably won't get up to anymore major league squad workouts, but I am very excited to start covering the minor league workouts as soon as next weekend.


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All I have to say is FINALLY, Chicago has a proper blow dry bar. I've mastered the DIY mani and prefer to save my pennies for other things. Now those pennies will undoubtedly be going to Blowtique, located at the corner of State and Huron in Chicago. Blowtique is all blow-outs, all the time, for $35 (regardless of hair length/style). The salon was founded by Ireland native Fiona Mcentee (who has amazing hair and an even more covetable accent!) The Blowtique menu, featuring styles like "the Magnificent" (classic smooth blow-out with light-weight body), the "Deep Ellum" (big body curls and dramatic bounce) and "the Sunset" (tousled waves), was crafted by creative director Rhona Kane, also of Ireland.
I've got Irish roots (my maiden name is Murphy, after all), so I was thrilled to sit in Rhona's chair last week on the eve of Blowtique's grand opening. It's clear that she is a styling genius, and I was enthralled by her skills with a round brush. The salon uses Oribe products (always an attraction!) and each appointment starts with a shampoo and conditioning. I opted for "the Sunset" and was in love with the results, which lasted nearly four days (with some dry shampoo and Oribe Apres Beach Wave and Shine Spray on days three and four to help revive).
One visit and I'm already hooked.
If you're in Chi-town, you must visit. And if you visit Chi-town, you must make this a stop in your trip. Good hair days are good for the soul.


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By JOHN FLOWERS
SALISBURY — Faced with mounting expenses, soaring fuel bills, lower client rolls and the prospect of major new competition, Shard Villa — one of the oldest and most historically significant senior care facilities in Vermont — will likely close its doors this November.
While the Shard Villa board of directors plans to keep the ornate, 130-year-old mansion and its spectacular Italian wall murals open to the public, the senior care component of the estate — barring a quick, major infusion of cash — will cease operation this fall after an almost 90-year run. That portends a potentially traumatic uprooting for more than a dozen current Shard Villa residents (most of whom are in their 90s) and layoffs for the 14 full- and part-time workers at the facility.
"It is a decision that has been a long-time coming, and not an easy one to make," said Shard Villa board President Diane Benware. "But it does not seem economically feasible to continue."
While the board has not yet formally voted to close Shard Villa's elder care operation, it is taking steps that would lead toward ending that service on Nov. 1. Those steps include notifying the state of Vermont and securing permission through Addison County Probate Court, which is responsible for enforcing the execution of wills.
Columbus Smith built Shard Villa in 1872-74. He and his wife Harriett began taking in elders in 1919, then the family formally launched the senior care facility in an L-shaped addition built in 1922 — a service they sought to perpetuate through their respective wills. Shard Villa leaders will have to convince a probate court judge that financial hardship now makes the senior care operation untenable.
Officials vowed to work with families to find new accommodations for current Shard Villa residents. They also promised to work with staff to line up new jobs.
By KATHRYN FLAGG
SALISBURY — Collin Tompkins was one of the first out of the old Lund boat, springing onto the narrow dock while the 16-foot craft shimmied up alongside its moorings.
He, like the other three young men in the boat, was damp and smiling. It was a game of back and forth for a little while, and the four men, their wetsuits slung down to mid-waist, looked like they've done this a hundred times. Someone secured the boat. Another hoisted their dripping scuba equipment into a deep wheelbarrow.
And among the last items unloaded onto the dock, and then piled into the wheelbarrow, were several mesh bags filled with heavy, wet weeds — Eurasian watermilfoil, the invasive species this team of young divers is at work carefully plucking from Lake Dunmore's lakebed.
Tompkins, 22, Nate Bierschenk, 19, Derek LaRosee, 19, and Will Pitkin, 17, are the specially trained corps of divers that make up the Lake Dunmore/Fern Lake Association (LDFLA) Milfoil Project. They're charged with keeping the milfoil problem in Lake Dunmore and Fern Lake — Dunmore's little sister — in check.
But in addition to serving as lake watch guards, these divers also happen to be a friendly gaggle of students — boys happy with a summer job that puts them on the lake, in the water and among good company.
"It's a nice way to be on the lake all summer and help out," said Bierschenk, whose family owns a house on Dunmore.
It's a remarkable team, in large part because Tompkins, Bierschenk, Pitkin and LaRosee — and the "Lake System Monitors" who have staffed the project in previous summers — demonstrate that it is possible to control milfoil in an environmentally friendly way, without chemicals, herbicides or lumbering, expensive mechanical harvesters.
By VICKY SINAGRA
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Still updating from my phone. Hope to have my computer problems fixed by the weekend 🙂
Thinking about what you can get into next. Ive noticed this expression on your face a lot more often lately.
Unbelievably beautiful weather today. I took you and Cate to the park for a little while until school let out and the playground became flooded with older children.