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Marin Cat Boarding at Camp Purrific
Camp Purrific is better than boarding! At Camp Purrific, we open our homes to Cat Campers. Your furry kid(s) have their own human-sized bedroom in our home. Our smallest bedroom, we call it the "kitty playroom", is 10'x10'. Kitties from the same home can share a room. For those families of two or more kitties on different diets, our "kitty playroom" has two movable partitions, so we are able to separate your kitties into three discrete spaces during their meal-times to ensure they eat their own food. Each bedroom comes complete with climbing tree, scratching posts, snuggly bed(s), litter box(s), food and water, and of course, Purrific™ human companionship nearly 24x7.
Because we know it is hard for Moms and Dads to send their furry kid(s) off to Camp, we send regular updates so you know they are having fun and are just a meow (or a bark) away...
Limited space is available, please book in advance! Pet Taxi service available to/from your home and Camp; prices vary based on travel time.
Coverage Areas
Marin County Cat Boarding
Sausalito, Tiburon, Belvedere, Strawberry, Mill Valley, Corte Madera, Larkspur, Greenbrae, San Rafael, Terra Linda, Hamilton, Bel Marin Keys, Novato, Atherton, San Marin
East Bay Cat Boarding
Point Richmond, Marina Bay, El Cerrito, Albany, Berkeley, Emeryville, Piedmont, Lake Merritt, Oakland
Camper Rates
- $35 per night, cat boarding, one Cat Camper*
- $15 per night, cat boarding, each additional Cat Camper from the same household
- You have a cat and a dog?
Because we do Camp in our homes, we usually have a few doggie-friendly spots available for your kitty and their doggie companion too.
$55 per night, one Doggie Camper*
*Prices may vary for holidays.
Pet Taxi
Would you love to have someone come and pick up your furry kid for Camp? We are happy to provide Pet Taxi service to/from your home and Camp. We only travel during non-commute hours and price varies based on travel time. We can even pick up your furry kid after you leave and have them back home before you return!
Frequent Flyer
Frequent Flyer rates available at Camp Purrific for regular travelers.
Check-in / Check-out
Check-in starts at 2pm. Check-out by 10am. By appointment only.
Early Arrivals / Late Departures
Early Check-in or Late Check-out are by appointment only and based on availability. Prices vary based on booking.
It is best to plan a couple weeks in advance in order to obtain services on the dates you desire. An in-home meet and greet at the sitters home is required for all new clients prior to confirming reservations. While we can tentatively pencil in your dates, we must meet you to discuss your pet's needs. This visit to Camp Purrific allows you to see pet accommodations first hand and allows us to review and complete Purrific™ intake forms, policies and confirm your final reservation.
Meet & Greet
We'd like to be of service to you. Please contact us for a Meet & Greet: email@example.com
What Clients Say About Purrific™
Read our reviews to see what others have said about Camp Purrific and Purrific Pet Sitting.


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State successes show ACA can work
With all the waves of bad news about the Obamacare website and the canceled policies, it would be easy to conclude that nothing in this law will ever work — that it's just too big and complicated and messy.
But that's not the complete picture of the Affordable Care Act rollout. There are a few bright spots — just enough to suggest that, for all the early disasters, the law's fate isn't final yet.
Story Continued Below
There are states that are running their own websites and enrolling a lot of people, way more than the amateur-hour federal website that serves most of the states. Medicaid enrollment, another part of the law, is going significantly better than the signups for private insurance — nearly 400,000 people were determined to be eligible in October.
( Understanding Obamacare: POLITICO's guide to the Affordable Care Act)
And nationally, 1.5 million people applied for health coverage in October — suggesting that there's a lot more potential interest than the 106,000 who got all the way through the federal and state Obamacare websites to select a private health plan.
So what do the bright spots tell us about the future of Obamacare? They certainly don't tell us that the rollout is going well. But they do suggest that it's not impossible for the law to work, health care experts say — because if it really were impossible, it wouldn't be working anywhere.
In other words, the Obamacare rollout that we've all seen is not the story of a fatally flawed law. It's a story of incompetence.
That's probably not the talking point the White House is looking for. But it does suggest to health care experts that if the federal HealthCare.gov website ever does get its act together, there's more potential for success in achieving the main goal — expanding health coverage to millions of Americans who couldn't get it before — than the early numbers suggest.
( See POLITICO's full Obamacare coverage)
"What we're seeing is what's possible under the Affordable Care Act," said Alan Weil, executive director of the National Academy for State Health Policy. "The question is, how long will it be before we see those possibilities?"
In California, nearly 80,000 people had selected private health plans as of Nov. 19 — way beyond the 27,000 people who had picked private health plans in October through the federal website that serves 36 states. In New York, more than 76,000 had enrolled as of Nov. 24, including roughly 41,000 in private health plans and 35,000 in Medicaid. Enrollment has been also been going smoothly in Washington state and Connecticut — and even in Kentucky, Mitch McConnell's home state, where Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear has been a vocal advocate of the law.
Only 14 states and the District of Columbia are running their own health insurance exchanges, so the law can get only so far with their efforts. But the lesson of these states' early successes is that "where a state wants to make this work, it looks like they can," said Peter Lee, executive director of Covered California, the state's health insurance exchange.
( WATCH: Health care: What Obama said, why it mattered)
Elaine Kamarck, a former adviser to Al Gore who worked on the "reinventing government" project in the Clinton administration, says that even at the national level, it shouldn't have been impossible to build a functioning health care website. Despite all the federal government's IT procurement problems, "the federal government does technology fairly well," she said — from the advanced electronic surveillance capabilities of the National Security Agency to the rovers NASA sends to Mars.
The real lesson of the rollout, Kamarck said, is that the Department of Health and Human Services broke every rule for managing a big technological project well — and the successful states didn't.
The three basic rules for launching a successful government tech project, Kamarck said, are to give one person the power and responsibility to supervise the entire project; build and test the technology repeatedly, since everyone knows websites crash; and create an environment where people feel free to give the boss bad news.
"Somehow, every rule of managing technology in government was broken with this website," said Kamarck, who's also the founding director of the Brookings Institution's Center for Effective Public Management.
The bright spots don't erase the other unpopular tradeoffs that Americans are discovering with the law — they'll still be furious over canceled policies and whatever other nasty surprises are around the corner.
And there won't be any end to the debate over whether the law has basic problems that can never be overcome. Lanhee Chen, Mitt Romney's former policy director and now a research fellow at the Hoover Institution, says he believes the law is fundamentally flawed — even if a few states do well with it — because the conditions for success are too narrow to work across the country.
"There are going to be states where they won't get help from state regulators. They're not going to get that promotional push to get people enrolled," said Chen. "The fundamental flaw in the law is that it requires people to be enrolled who don't want to be enrolled."
The successes also don't even mean every state is doing well. Maryland, a blue state that was determined to be one of the leaders in implementing Obamacare, is still struggling with its website. Oregon's website has never worked and hasn't signed up a single person, according to Reuters. Hawaii's is barely bumping along.

subset: commoncrawl


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Put a Ring on It: Upgrading to FC2 Female Condoms
With Black women experiencing sky-high rates of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases, public health officials and women's groups are employing new tools to empower them to protect themselves. The latest gadget? FC2, the second-generation female condom. The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene started distributing the condom in November; Chicago-area women are attending educational sessions to learn how to use it; and Washington, D.C., is handing out free FC2s in beauty salons and convenience stores.
"Without female condoms, women are completely dependent on the willingness of a male partner to use the condom," says Jessica Terlikowski, public-policy manager for the AIDS Foundation of Chicago. Terlikowski is spearheading that city's female-condom outreach campaign, dubbed Put a Ring on It, after the catchy Beyoncé tune "Single Ladies" and the rings that are on each end of the female condom.
But FC2 isn't just for "all the single ladies." Female-condom fans include married and other partnered women, who are also at risk for HIV and other STDs.
A Satisfied Customer
"I find the female condom much more comfortable than a male condom," says Cecilia Boyd, a Chicago female-condom aficionado, who uses FC2s for protection against STDs as well as for birth control. "This one is very easy to use correctly," she says (go here to watch an educational video demonstrating how). Her partner is also on board: "He completely likes it. The male condom is too tight on his shaft."
Before the FC2 came along, Boyd had used the FC1 instead of male condoms because of a "slight latex allergy." She finds the FC2, which is made of synthetic latex, a big improvement over the older version, made of polyurethane plastic. "It's not as noisy as the first one," she says. "I would tell women not to feel put off by it because it looks so big," she adds. "I love it, and if I can get other women to use it, that's my goal."
Noisy during sex, somewhat uncomfortable and bulky, FC1s didn't pass muster with women. They were also expensive: around $3.60 each, versus male condoms at about a dollar. Women who use FC2s are feeling the serious upgrade: They're quieter, more comfortable and much cheaper, averaging 86 cents each. You can also use FC2s with oil-based lubricants, unlike latex condoms and FC1s.
The FC2 resembles an oversized male condom. The difference is that the FC2 (like the FC1) sports two rings -- a removable inner ring that's inserted into the vagina and an outer ring that stays attached, covering the vaginal lips. The outer ring helps protect against STDs spread by skin-to-skin contact, such as herpes and the human papillomavirus (HPV). The inner can be removed, if the user prefers, for anal sex. Like male condoms, female condoms are for onetime use only.
And ladies, take note: The female condom's outer ring provides clitoral stimulation.
Combating the AIDS Epidemic Among Women
Authorities in New York, Chicago and Washington, D.C., aren't concerned with helping women achieve better orgasms. But they are interested in fighting the HIV epidemic -- particularly among Black women, who are disproportionately infected. Nationwide, AIDS is the number one killer of Black women ages 25 to 34. Washington, D.C., where the FC2 is getting the biggest push, has the nation's highest HIV rate among Black women -- 3 percent -- as well as the nation's highest overall rate: 5 percent.
"Women haven't really gotten the message that they're at risk," said Shannon L. Hader, M.D., M.P.H., director of HAHSTA, the D.C. health department's HIV/AIDS administration, in an interview on CNN. "So we are very, very concerned with making sure that women in the District realize that HIV, in fact, is a woman's disease too."
To see where FC2s are being distributed in the following cities, click on their names: Chicago, New York City, Washington, D.C. Only within the District are they also available in every CVS pharmacy.
Elsewhere, the only way to get FC2s is through nonprofits and health centers that have ordered them in bulk. But if grassroots demand develops, they will become more widely available. (FC1 female condoms can still be found in some drugstores; don't mistake them for FC2s.) So tell your local drugstore's pharmacy manager, "I know about the new FC2 female condom and would like you to sell them here." Or contact the manufacturer, Female Health Company.
Diana Scholl, a New York-based writer and AIDS activist, blogs about AIDS policy and activism for the Housing Works AIDS Issues Update?) and contributes to New York magazine.


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Sunday, December 4, 2011
Poetry Picnic Week 16: My Life in Free Verse
41 comments:
- Morning said...
right on time, Kay,
Thanks for posting,
perfect job for this week.
- December 4, 2011 at 2:00 PM
- Morning said...
Happy Birthday to Poets in our community,
Have A Fun-filled holiday Seasons!
- December 4, 2011 at 2:07 PM
- Teresa said...
Hard to believe this has been going for so long and this is my first time to link up.
- December 4, 2011 at 2:30 PM
- Morning said...
welcome, Teresa.
have fun!
- December 4, 2011 at 2:35 PM
- The Noiseless Cuckooclock said...
Hapy sundaty.
a lovely day to share and enjoy poetry.
- December 4, 2011 at 2:50 PM
- Heaven said...
I am reposting an older one.. Thanks for the warm invite ~
- December 4, 2011 at 2:55 PM
- Anonymous said...
A beautiful manner in which to share ourselves leading others to a wellspring of love, (of words), and for each other.
- December 4, 2011 at 2:55 PM
- Andy said...
Wonderful introduction Kay. Awesome graphics! Nice choices to kick off this week too.
Best wishes to the birthday boys & girls.
Enjoy the Picnic & have a great week ahead everyone!
Your Reward Is My Sorrow
- December 4, 2011 at 3:11 PM
- Anonymous said...
Happy birthday one and all! :)
- December 4, 2011 at 3:54 PM
- Anonymous said...
Nice choice of three poems. It's finals weeks so I didn't bring much of an appetite to this picnic, but I'm glad to be here all the same :)
- December 4, 2011 at 8:23 PM
- The Gooseberry Garden said...
Happy Poetry Picnic.
- December 4, 2011 at 9:12 PM
- Morning said...
Thanks for stopping by.
Happy Picnic.
- December 4, 2011 at 9:45 PM
- Victoria said...
Lovely post, Kay, and an assortment of nice poems to represent the theme. I will try to get something up this week. It's been crazy.
- December 4, 2011 at 10:00 PM
- Alcina said...
This is my first time that i am trying to join Gooseberry Garden
Thanks for the invite..
I wish that i can keep up my contribution and read all the lovely fellow poets :)
- December 4, 2011 at 10:02 PM
- Ramesh Sood said...
I contribute with a poem specailly written for he theme at Gooseberry Garden.. Hope it will be well received..
- December 4, 2011 at 10:27 PM
- Anonymous said...
have a great week everyone!
- December 5, 2011 at 4:21 AM
- Daydreamertoo said...
Thanks to Kay and everyone for organising the picnic for us.
Happy Birthday to those who celebrate it this month.
- December 5, 2011 at 6:54 AM
- Inspector Saahab said...
nice sharing. i love youR blog. keep it up :)
- December 5, 2011 at 8:32 AM
- anjum artwriter said...
Thank You Gooseberry Garden Flowers and Friends I am delighted and have never been awarded so much.Really it has been a lovely time writing and sharing.You all have been a great inspiration for me.
Happy Birthday to All who are Celebrating Enjoy the Cakes
- December 5, 2011 at 11:28 AM
- Lady Nyo said...
I am posting the End Poem in the series: "The Nightingale's Song".
Thanks for all who read.
Lady Nyo
- December 5, 2011 at 11:32 AM
- anjum artwriter said...
Dear Gooseberry , My Life briefly
- December 5, 2011 at 12:17 PM
- Anonymous said...
Thanks to you all and thanks, Gooseberry, for opportunity. K.
- December 5, 2011 at 12:36 PM
- eflores said...
Happy birthday to those poets! Greetings to everyone here!
Erick Flores
- December 5, 2011 at 2:07 PM
- Morning said...
have a lovely picnic.
- December 5, 2011 at 2:08 PM
- The Orange Tree said...
shared one today,
Happy Belated Birthdays to poets around the globe.
- December 5, 2011 at 2:08 PM
- Morning said...
keep your talent coming.
Thanks for the support.
- December 5, 2011 at 9:35 PM
- eflores said...
Thank you @morning!
And everyone else that has visited my poetry blog!
Erick Flores
- December 5, 2011 at 10:03 PM
- Susie Clevenger said...
Happy Birthday to all the poets with December birthdays...Thanks for such a wonderful place to share poetry
- December 6, 2011 at 2:02 AM
- Dave King said...
This one really appealed to me... trouble is: I've probably written too much about me already. Still, it's up: I've had a go. Thanks for the prompt.
And a Happy Birthday one and all!
- December 6, 2011 at 3:13 AM
- Rohit said...
nice to be back,
the prompt this time seems to be writing about one's life(quite vast)
hmm..my life is all about 'never say never' ..just refusing to quit.
submitting my very first work that I composed when I entered the gigantic world of blogosphere and creative-writing(..my best effort as per me but most neglected,donno why?others not so good have got greater attention...really strange.
anyways nice to interact(wonderful platform this is)
Rohit(link no 115)
my submission:http://floating-expressions.blogspot.com/2011/11/i-love-failure_5016.html
eww..have written,an essay in a comment box.sorry admin! unable to stop myself these days,courtesy this newly caught writing bug :|
- December 6, 2011 at 5:19 AM
- Gerry/Strummed words said...
A short poem about my life, right now.
- December 6, 2011 at 7:23 AM
- Victoria said...
Thank you for a wonderful post and the birthday wishes. This year has flown by and I'm full of gratitude for all the amazing poets in this community.
- December 6, 2011 at 9:39 AM
- The Gooseberry Garden said...
no worrying,
any poem is welcome.
- December 6, 2011 at 1:44 PM
- jeannette said...
...hi! after a week at the hospital attending to my sick mom, all is well now. i miss reading the posts. thanks much...
- December 7, 2011 at 12:42 AM
- Anonymous said...
tq morning and all at gooseberry- best wishes..
- December 7, 2011 at 2:33 AM
- Umesh Rao said...
Thank you for hosting :)
Have linked my poem( though it's not a free verse )
- December 7, 2011 at 9:25 PM
- Morning said...
welcome ..
- December 8, 2011 at 1:20 PM
- Anonymous said...
Better late than never! Great inspiration, Kay!!! Thank you so much!
- December 8, 2011 at 1:48 PM
- Hawk's Perspective said...
When Christmas comes with bells a ringing
And lights with colors beaming bright
Our hearts delight with freedom
It's merriment we seek
To give glory
To the king
- December 8, 2011 at 4:37 PM
- Zoe said...
Hi Everyone,
I really appreciate the invite to join the picnic this week but I just couldn't contribute anything, not on this topic anyway! I have had a time of intense self examination and reflection, and that is not a process to be shared! But hopefully I will be back next week and look forward to reading some incredible poetry!
- December 9, 2011 at 7:07 PM
- Somyanshu said...
nice poem..this post shows that you have been writing for a long time..really enjoyed it...
- December 11, 2011 at 8:11 AM
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Turn with me if you will in your Bible for our study this morning to the 2nd Chapter of Ephesians. Ephesians Chapter 2, we come to a wonderful and insightful and helpful passage beginning at verse 11. And for this morning we're just going to cover verses 11 and 12. Although the full text of what we want to say is from verse 11 to 22. I've entitled this portion of Paul's letter the unity of the body, the unity of the body.
It goes without saying that this is an important theme, unity in the church of Jesus Christ has long been a topic of discussion. And today we fight against our divisions. We fight against our lack of unity. Denominationalism, historic, theological viewpoints, cultures, traditions, opinions, preferences, all those things fall into the slot between us and create disunity. And disunity is a heartache to God.
You know, when Jesus prayed in John 17, He prayed that they may be one. "Father even as you and I are one that they also may be one in us that the world may know that you sent me." And I believe that Jesus' prayers are always answered, because He always prays according to the will of God and I believe that that prayer was answered, positionally. I believe that Jesus was simply expressing a prayer for the unity of the church, which does in realty exist. We are one in Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 6:17 we know well by now. "He that is joined to the Lord is one spirit." And so all of us joined to the Lord are one with each other and that is true positionally, but practically it doesn't always work that way.
And as Shakespeare said, "Ah there's the rub." That's the problem. In 1 Corinthians 12:12-13 we have the great statement of the positional unity of the church. The apostle Paul said this, "For as the body is one and hath many members and all are members of that one body being many are one body, so is Christ." In other words, he said as a body, physical body, has many members so does Christ. And then he went on in verse 13 to say, "For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free, and have all been made to drink into one Spirit."
He says "like a body is one, so the church is one." Like a body has one common principle of life pulsing through all of its members so the church has one common principle of life, the Holy Spirit who indwells all its members. The Spirit of God puts the life of God in the soul of man and unites him with every other one in whom that same common eternal life exists, and draws us together in one body and Christ is the head.
Now this is an important concept and we've been over it in the past, it needs to be emphasized. We are one body in Christ. Christianity doesn't do well to divide itself and yet that's basically what happens isn't it. I think there's something about Grace Church that sort of is a good illustration of this concept. When you think about people being a Baptist or Presbyterian or a Methodist or if somebody from the Christian church or whatever it is good, bad, or indifferent, liberal, conservative, or whatever. We all have these little pigeon holes that we set ourselves in. But Grace Church kind of serves as a good illustration of what happens when everybody just falls into place under the word of God and all of those distinctions pretty soon fade.
Now this church is basically made up of two elements of people, 50% of our people are new Christians, won to Jesus Christ coming into this church for the first time in a church or an evangelical or a church that believes in Christ. The other 50% of you are people who come from other churches. And as you come in, you bring a certain tradition, a certain commitment to a certain element, a certain body, a certain definition. But as you find your fellowship here and as you pick out those 200 that you can tolerate and identify...identify at some point with them, you find that all of a sudden you begin to lose all those distinctions in the wonderful blending of the Spirit of God and the common eternal life that we all possess. And so we have here in microcosm what God would like to see in macrocosm through the whole church.
Where we begin to lose, we begin to lose definitions other than that we're in Christ. That we're one in him. And I think that's what God wants. And I know many of you recently have come from other churches and our great prayer for you is that you would with us be one in Jesus Christ. That there would be a practical outworking of that wonderful oneness that Christ has already accomplished by giving us all the same Holy Spirit.
Now in Chapter 1 of Ephesians, Paul discussed the eternal planning of the body. Paul discussed how in eternity past God put this plan together. As he moves in Chapter 2, he discusses how God made it happen in time. Now that God has master-planned it in Chapter 1, in Chapter 2, He makes it happen. And the first ten verses of Chapter 2, which we discussed last time are verses which present to us the way in which a person enters the body of Christ and the way is through salvation. And he discusses it.
He discusses the past life when we were sinners and how we came into the life of the body through Jesus Christ, how God loved us and raised us from the dead in Christ and by grace through faith, we were saved not of works and we have been made God's masterpiece created unto good works. In other words, salvation, the entrance in the body...into the body, how we came into the body and now as we come to verse 11, he discusses the parts or the composites of the body. Who we are in the body and he really is dealing here with the Jew and the Gentile. He is showing us that the one body draws together those divergent people, the Jew and the Gentile and by giving them common eternal life by uniting them commonly in Christ, they become one with each other. That's his great message, that all of us are one in Christ. All the distinctions are gone. They all fade away. They're all lost.
In fact, in other passages, the Bible is clear about this. Look at Galatians for a moment, Chapter 3, verse 26. It says "For ye are all the sons of God by faith in Christ Jesus." Now you may not like that in the case of everybody. You may not wish to be associated with everybody that's a Christian, but you are. You're one with them. You are all the sons of God and by the way, God loves all of His sons equally. So you're not preferred by God even though you may be preferred by yourself over certain others. God loves them all equally.
So we are all the sons of God. Some of the older folks look down their nose at some of the younger folks and say you mean, I'm one with that person. Some of the younger folks look at the older folks and say it can't be, but it is. We're all one in Christ. Positionally, we're all one. "For," he says in 27, "as many as you have been baptized into Christ," and he's talking there about our union in His death and resurrection, not about water baptism. "As many of you as have come into a union with Christ have put on Christ." You've all put on Christ. So, there is neither Jew nor Greek neither bond nor free neither male nor female, you are all one in Christ Jesus.
In other words, all of those distinctions are gone in the spiritual area. When God looks at us he sees us as one. There is no class system. There's no hierarchy. There are no blue ribbon sheep and also rams. There's only in Christ, positionally there is absolute equality. In Romans Chapter 10, just to call your attention to another scripture, verse 12, it says, "There is no difference between the Jew and the Greek for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be," what, "saved." There's no difference.
It disturbs me from time to time when people want to maintain a difference even today. I thank the Lord for Jewish mission work and we're very supportive of that and very excited about it, but the only kind of Jewish mission work that I believe in is that kind of Jewish mission work that integrates Jewish people into the church not keeping them separate. I remember a few years ago when I was told that of the literally tens of thousands of Jewish converts in the Los Angeles area only a several hundred of them were integrated into Gentile churches or into churches of Jesus Christ. I was very disturbed. And there were certain people who came and said we would like to develop a ministry here in your church among the Jewish people where we'll separate them out. We'll have Christian Bar Mitzvah and they call themselves Christian Rabbis and we'll go through all of the Jewish things and we want to have a separate class for the Jewish people. And I said, but that's against the grain of the whole New Testament.
You know, we try to tear that wall down back in Ephesians Chapter 2, we don't want to build it up again. Well, that's what the Jerusalem counsel already settled in Acts 15, let's not start it all over again. I really feel Jew and Gentile should be one in Jesus Christ. The Jew has tremendous resources to contribute to the Gentile church and vice versa. We need each other and the obliteration of those kinds of distinctions that keep us separated.
And so we thank God for those kinds of works that draw the Jewish people into loving bonds with Gentile people, because that's the way our Lord Himself planned it when He gave unto us the common life and the Holy Spirit. And so we have unity. Now that is a problem in the church and it always has been. In the Corinthian church Paul was constantly upset by discord. In Chapter 1, verse 10, he says, "I beseech brethren by the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. If you speak the same thing, there be no division among you, you be perfectly joined together the same mind, the same judgment. Because it's been told to me by some people from the house of Chloe that there is contention among you. And some are saying I'm of Paul and others I'm of Apollos, others I'm of Cephus, other's I'm of Christ. He goes into that in Chapter 3 and says, "You must be carnal because there's division and strife and envy among you."
This was a real problem, still is. Churches pitted against churches, Christians against Christians. The problem with discord and disunity. But I don't know that it was ever as intense or any more intense as in the New Testament time. The intense discord between Jew and Gentile and that is that to which Paul speaks. You see, he talks about verse 14, he talks about a wall there. You notice it? The middle wall, and this middle wall that he is talking about is a wall that separates people who are near and people who are far off. Look at verse 13. Some are far off and some are near.
Now he recognizes that there was a tremendous wall between the far off Gentile, far off from God's temple, God's covenant and the near Jew who had been exposed to all of God's truth in the Old Testament. And this wall had grown and in Christ he wants to shatter that wall to destroy it and to bring these two elements together in Christ in one. Now that's the thrust of Ephesians Chapter 2. In Chapter 1, he says, God master-planned the body. In Chapter 2, here's how God made it by redeeming everybody by grace through faith and making everybody one in Christ, Jew or Gentile, bond or free, male or female, no distinctions are left.
Now let me talk for a minute about why we have to face this disunity that existed in Paul's time. Originally, from God's direction, the Jews were selected to be His people. There's no question about that. In Amos 3:2 he says, "Israel only have I known among all the peoples of the earth." Israel is a special nation. God has chosen Israel. There is a very sovereign act in God's will by which He chose those people. Now you may say with Richard Wolf how odd of God to choose the Jews, but nonetheless He did. And if He'd have chosen the Irish, you'd have asked the same question or anybody else.
It's just a question that God chose, but I want you to understand one thing, God never chose Israel to be a bucket. He chose Israel always to be a channel. His intention was not to dump everything in Israel for their own benefit, but to pour through them His blessing to the world. That was His intention. He said they will show forth my praise. Israel was a mirror. Israel was a channel. They were to reflect to the world. They were to be the vessel through which the flow came.
God wanted them not to be an end, but to be the means to an end. Listen, God's heart hasn't changed and when Jesus had said, "Go unto all the world and preach the gospel to every creature," that wasn't anything knew. God always wanted to reach everybody. God always wanted to recover lost man. God always wanted to extend the arms of His grace and tolerance and forgiveness and mercy all the way around the globe. He always wanted to do that and Israel wasn't supposed to be the single depository of all God's grace. They were to be the channel through which God reached the world.
And so God made them distinct because He wanted the world to look at them. And He wanted to keep them separated. And so God gave them, from the time He called Abraham, God gave them differences. And God said, I want you so different that number one the world's going to look and say what's the difference? And number two, you're going to be so different that you won't be able to amalgamate or intermingle with any other nation because you'll never be able to get along with them because of the things that are so distinct.
So God gave them the difference for two reasons, to call the attention to the world to them and to keep them separated. In other words, a Jew had such strict clothing laws, such strict dietary laws, such strict marriage laws, worship laws, festival laws, custom laws, land laws, every other kind of law that it was just no way that he could really fit in to another society. That's the way God wanted it. Additionally, they were so distinct that the rest of the world had to take note of him. And that's the way God wanted it. In order that the world would look at them and say what is this. And the world would say, but they have a different God and their God is the God who has done this and the world did say that. From time to time they looked at Israel and said who has a God like the Israelites? Who has a God like the Israelites? That was the point.
The special privilege God meant as a tool for witness, they were to be a channel and you know what happened don't you? Instead of them seeing themselves as a witness, instead of them of seeing the difference as a way to reach people, instead of them standing up and saying, I'm different and consequently the world is going to say what's the difference and I can tell them that God has made me different. Instead of that it became an excuse for carnal, selfish, self-glorification and pride.
It can happen with us too. We're to be different aren't we? We're to be completely different than the rest of the world. We're to walk a different walk, talk a different talk, think a different way. Read later in Ephesians and you'll find out we are to walk not as the Gentiles walked, not as the heathen walk in the vanity of their mind. We are to walk in love. We are to walk in light. We are to walk in wisdom. We are to walk in the spirit. Our conversation, our manner of life, our walk is to be totally different than the rest of the world. And that it is to be different because want them to take note of us. First of all, and secondly, God wants to keep us separated so different that we can't mingle with them. It's the same two things again. And hopefully the world will see the difference and we'll say to them it's Jesus Christ that made the difference and here's how He can make a difference in your life. And that's exactly what Israel should have done. Instead of doing that, Israel became proud, loved the difference, celebrated the difference, became proud about the difference, and elevated themselves as if they were better than everybody else.
And I hate to think about it, but I think it's even possible that that's happening in Christianity or could happen. Where Christianity forms some sort of an elite that think they're better than everybody else. And instead of really being a channel to reach the world, we become an isolated little group of people with our own little lingo and our own little deal and our own little code and our own little bumper stickers and our own little radio stations and TV stations and our own books and our own everything, and it's us for, no more, shut the door, you know.
And you know what'll happen, you better reread Romans Chapters 9-11. God just may change the way He set up and He says there you better be careful you Gentiles. God might cut off the branches that were grafted in and stick the originals right back in. You see, that's what happened to Israel. What was given as a channel to be witnessing turned into a point of pride and finally God just blocked that channel altogether and cut a fresh one called the church, didn't He? And He said to you, now you go unto all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. You do it.
Israel failed and they were set aside in a tragic thing. They kept the ceremonies and they kept the rituals, but they forgot the morality and they forgot the spirituality and they had a shell. And the shell, because it had no reality, had no message to give and they just celebrated the ritual and the ceremony as a point of pride. A good illustration of it is Jonah. God said, Jonah you go to Nineveh and you preach repentance to Nineveh and Nineveh will be converted. And Jonah said to himself, well, if there's one thing I can't stand it's some Gentile horning in on my God. And so he hopped a boat and the boat dumped him and he got swallowed up by a great fish. And fish vomited him out. And it's no wonder, a prophet like that would make anything sick. The fish vomited him out and what happened? He went to Nineveh finally in obedience to God, he preached repentance and the whole city repented and he went out on the side of a the city and he sat down and he said God I can't stand it, kill me. I can't stand Gentiles getting converted.
That's how far it had gone. That's how isolated, how proud, how carnal they had come...become. How they had twisted God's complete intention. In fact, they actually had contempt for the Gentiles instead of having compassion. They had contempt for them. You know, don't let this ever happen in the church. You know, and there are little things that I see in the church that I almost fear it's happening. Where we become the ones who have and you become outside the ones who have not. And rather than compassion, we have a sense of contempt. And rather than looking up in love and pleading from our knees we look down in pride at these poor have-nots, which is a perversion of God's intention.
And I would pray to God that there wouldn't be as there was in the case of Israel and ever widening gap between the church and the world, an ever widening gap between the church and the world. We've got to be in it people up to our necks, salt and light, but not of it right? We've got to be the boat in the water. It's just when the water gets in the boat you've got a problem. So there was this animosity, this sense of pride. And it was hard not to feel a little that way if you were Jewish because the Gentile nations really did oppress Israel. So it was coming from both sides.
Gentile nations looked as Israel as a slave kind of people. They oppressed them. They slaughtered them. They persecuted them. They killed them. It was really tragic. And so what happened was instead of Israel being a channel, Israel became this shell of something with nothing to talk about, no message to preach anymore, just a form of Godliness without power and they began to distain and hold contempt for the Gentiles and a wall went up in a gulf that got wider and wider and wider until by the time you get to even Jesus' day the gulf seems absolutely beyond hope of ever bridging. The wall seems so thick nothing could ever shatter it. The Jew and the Gentile are just at odds.
In fact, the Jew thought the Gentiles were created by God for fuel to use in hell. They thought that only Israel was loved of God and all other nations were hated. It wasn't even lawful to aide a Gentile mother who was giving birth to a baby because you'd be responsible for bringing another Gentile into the world. Do you know that when a Jew went from the south part of Israel to the north part there was a little area in the middle called Samaria? And those people were not full-blooded Jewish people. And when a Jew went north, he would cross the Jordan River to the east, go up the east side across the Jordan River at the north back into the area that was possessed by Israel because he'd never set his feet in the area called Samaria. That's what was so shocking when it said in the Bible that Jesus said I must needs go through Samaria. Jews didn't do that.
They wouldn't want Gentile dirt on their feet. If they happen to pick up Gentile dirt as soon as they entered into Israel, the Bible would say they shook off the dust off their feet. They didn't want to bring Gentile dirt back into their country. Terrible bitterness and animosity. If a Jewish boy or girl married a Gentile, they held a funeral because touching a Gentile in anyway physically like that is tantamount to death. That still happens today in Orthodox homes. They even felt it was wrong to go into a Gentile home because you'd be eating off of Gentile utensils. Not only that, they believed that the Gentiles took their aborted babies and through them down the drain and they were afraid they'd come in contact with the dead body in the home.
That was another one of the things they felt. And so they just...the gulf got wider and wider and wider and wider, and they turned their ceremonial law into a way to alienate rather than a distinction by which they could speak the truth of God. And on the other hand, the Gentiles looked at them as slaves. They called them the enemies of the human race. And that was true all the way down to Hitler's day.
Now you get a little idea of Gentile contempt for the Jews when you listen to Pilate. Pilate cried out, "I surely am not a Jew am I?" Just contemptuous. I can still hear across the centuries the voices of the owners of the Philippian slave girl as they denounced Paul and Silas because they cast the demons out and they said, "these men being Jews do exceedingly trouble our city." You see the being Jews is the mocking contemptuous term. These men being Jews. Very deep seeded hate from Gentile to Jew from Jew to Gentile. And then traces of that bitterness were seen still in the early church. That's right. Even in the early church, even after Christ had come in and created positional unity. Even after Jew and Gentile were one and there was neither Jew nor Gentile, bond nor free, male or female, all one in Christ. Even though that was true positionally, even though that was true in terms of their state before God, the practical outworking of that didn't come easy and there was real bitterness between Jew and Gentile even in the early church.
For example, the apostle Paul goes into the area of Galatia on his missionary tours and he wins those Gentiles to Christ and he teaches them and he begins to build them up. In fact he went back there each time on his three journeys. And behind Paul came along a group of people and they said to them, you can't be Christians. You can't enter into the new covenant. You can't come from a Gentile vantage point right into the new covenant, right into salvation. You've got to become a Jew first, so you've got to get circumcised number one. Number two, you've got to keep the whole law of Moses. Then if you qualify as a Jew, from that viewpoint you can become a Christian.
In other words, Judaism was step one, salvation was step two and the Gentile couldn't bypass step one. And so they laid on him to speak legalism trip and Paul sits down and writes the whole book of Galatians to say don't let those guys do that to you. "If anybody comes along and preaches any other gospel than you heard from me, let him be," what, "accursed." I don't care if it's an angel from heaven, he says.
Christ is all. You don't need that stuff. Do not be entangled again with the yoke of bondage he says in Chapter 5 for Christ has made us free from that. Don't you listen to that. But you see what the problem was? Those people had been so committed to Judaism for so long they couldn't even see anybody coming to God accept he came through that manner. And so they couldn't allow for it, and so there was this animosity building. And so in the 15th Chapter of Acts the Jerusalem counsel met together and they said we better decide about this. Do you have to become a Jew to become a Christian or not? You read the 15th Chapter of Acts sometime, you'll hear their answer. Their answer was no, you do not, you do not.
You do not have to become a Jew to become a Christian. You become a Christian from being a Gentile. You can just come to receive that salvation and they said you go tell the Gentiles that and don't you lay any burdens on those Gentiles. You tell them they're all right in Christ. You tell them to be careful not to do those things that will harm and offend the Jews. Be very careful, because there are many Jews in the cities where they are. Tell them to be careful about things strangled and fornication and idol meats and things like that. Just be careful about that, but there's no burden to be added. Faith from the heart of a Gentile is enough.
Romans 14 is written for that problem too. Apparently in the church at Rome the Jews and the Gentiles were having trouble. You can imagine a Jewish convert. He gets saved, he comes into the church, the church is predominantly Gentile, some dear loving Gentile couple says let's have him over for supper. He comes over for supper and they pull out their supper, ham. And this poor Jew says what is this offense to God? They say what do you...this is against the law of God. And they may say well, we had Peter come to our church one time and Peter told us that all things were clean. There was no clean or unclean anymore, according to Acts 10. He'd seen the sheep and the whole bit and that's all done away with.
Oh, you can just imagine the panic. He's not liberated from that. He's been in it all his life. That's all he knows. He'll gag on the first bite, no way can he handle that. And so then he gets a little animosity. Then there's a little bitterness in what starts out as an effort toward harmony becomes discord and pretty soon he begins to resent that Gentile's freedom. And then he begins to think that he's the only one that's spiritual and the Gentile is getting in cheap and then there was this continued animosity in the local church. That was a problem, a real problem.
And some of those early Jews still wanted to keep the Sabbath, because they'd done it all their life and they couldn't make a break. I see that nowadays. I see people who are converted from Catholicism and they've been in the Catholic Church so long that they come to the Catholic Church in the morning and then they come here for the second service. Some of you. Why? You just can't make that break that fast. There's tradition there. There's some roots there. There's some feelings there. And it takes a while and you're being weaned away from those past things.
And that's just part of it, and that was part of the problem here, but it went even deeper because there were tremendous antagonistic bitternesses. There just was no real coming together. It was because there were too many differences. They just looked at each as racially unequal. I think about it in terms of the south part of the United States. I think about it in the early days of slaves, the slaves. I was reading Oliver Buswell, III book. He's a very leading anthropologist, a fine Christian, his book called Slavery, Segregation and the Scripture in which he says that the people were teaching the slaves how to read. And then they found out that when they read they read the Bible and when they read the Bible they got saved and then they wanted to come church and they had a problem. So they stopped teaching them to read.
And that's what happened, and so what grew up in the south was a caricature of Christianity and much of what you see is black southern Christianity has some of the parts, but it's almost a caricature because it only went so far and then it was cut off. And what grew out of it was a tradition, basically because they didn't have what they needed in terms of education to fill out their Christian understanding.
It can happen in a lot of ways, in a lot of different ways, in a lot of societies, but the message of the word of God is that we're one in Jesus Christ. And that wasn't going to be easy in Paul's day. You know, even the apostles had trouble with this. Look at Galatians Chapter 2. Peter, our beloved friend with the foot-shaped mouth who is forever and a day doing the wrong thing, realized that God had told him that ceremonial law was set aside, ritual law was set aside. And so he came up to Antioch in Galatians 2:11 and he was having a wonderful time in Antioch and he was...verse 12 says he was eating with Gentiles. He just went over to the Gentiles' house and whatever they gave him, he didn't say well, did you get this out of the marketplace? Was it purchased from a pagan temple? Have you done it with the white kind of washing? Have you drained off the blood, blah, blah, blah, blah? Have you...what kind of animal is this? Does it have a cloven hoof or not and all of this? He didn't go through all that ritual. He just had a wonderful time and just ate it and probably said boy this is...I've never tried this, but it's terrific, until some Jews arrived.
Certain men came from James and when they came, he withdrew separated himself fearing them who were of the circumcision. The circumcision should have quotes around it. It was a party. It was a party of Judaisers who wanted to make all the Gentiles get circumcised and keep the whole law before they could be thought of as true Christians. And so they arrived and immediately Peter walked out of the Gentile fellowship, had nothing to do with them, identified immediately with the Jews, got all the others Jews to do that and they had a split church. Jews doing their thing, Gentiles doing their thing. Paul says, "I withstood him to the face because he was to be blamed."
It was a real problem and even poor old Barnabas got carried away with the hypocrisy of the whole thing. There was a tremendous tension there even in the early church. Jew and Gentile were equal in God's eyes, they were equal in Christ's body, they were not equal in the eyes of each other and that had to change. And so Chapter 2, verses 11 to 13...11 to 22 rather, discusses the definition of the unity of the church that is at the heart of the church's oneness. And it's an important passage. Now we're going to consider two parts, first part this time, next time the second part. First of all, we see the social and spiritual alienation of the Gentiles and then next time we'll see how they were socially and spiritually united. They started out alienated, they became united in Christ. And the whole message of this thing is if it's true then get with it folks. Get with it and celebrate that unity. You know, one of the terrible things that occurs in the church of Jesus Christ is when we separate ourselves in classes.
James even talks about it doesn't he? About the man with the fine garment and the ring comes and gets the best seat, and the person who comes in scraggly clothes we say here, you know, sit under my feet here out of the way. But in Christ everyone is equal. With God there is no respective what? Person. None, you might as well get that straight. There's none. There's none at all. And so Paul wants to help them to understand this, so he begins from the vantage point of the fact that it is true. Gentiles you are alienated socially and spiritually.
Look at verse 11, and let's begin with the social element of the alienation. "Wherefore remember that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh," that is physically speaking you are Gentile, "who are called uncircumcision by that which is called the circumcision in the flesh made with hands." We'll stop right there. Now he begins by describing not the past state of sin, that was Chapter 2, verses 1-4 where he went into that. He's now discussing their state of alienation. He says, I want you to remember this. Remember that you used to be alienated socially. And in verse 12, he'll tell them you used to be alienated spiritually, remember that. Remember that alienation. Why does he want them to remember that? Because it's really good to remember what you were before you came to Christ because it makes you a lot more thankful for what you are doesn't it?
Listen, I know what I was before I became a Christian and now that I'm a Christian, I'm thankful to God for what He's done in my life to change me and I don't want to begrudge that to anybody of any race or color or creed or anything else. Remember what you used to be. You know, it's easy for you to want to alienate Jews. It's easy for you to want to alienate people that you do in your society. Remember you used to be alienated. You used to be the one really alienated from God and from God's people.
Remember your unregenerate days. F. F. Bruce says "nothing is so apt to promote gratitude as a retrospective glance fixed on the whole of the pit from whence we have been dug." He's right. It's good to remember what we were before Christ came. So he says remember. Remember first of all, this tremendous alienation. Notice this, in time past you were Gentiles physically. You used to be Gentiles. By the way, there are Gentiles and there are Jews until you get to the church and then there are neither. All right? So he says, you used to be Gentiles. You used to be a Jew. Now that you're in Christ, you're in Christ period, paragraph, end of distinction.
So he says you used to Gentiles and you were called uncircumcision by that which is called the circumcision in the flesh made by hands. In other words, you were called you Gentiles, the you here the ye is Gentiles. As far as the Jews were concerned, you were outcasts. They called them the uncircumcision. And by the way that should be in quotes because that was a term of mockery. That's the way that word was used. The uncircumcision, it was a term of derision, a term of mockery, a term of defamation, a term of reproach.
The Gentiles didn't have the surgical sign of Genesis 17 to mark them out as the people of God and so they called them the uncircumcision. And even in David's time, you know, that was a term of derision. Do you remember David's word? "Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of God," 1 Samuel 17:26. "This uncircumcised Philistine." That was derision. That was mockery.
And the Jews, of course, in contrast called themselves the circumcision, the circumcision. The name of which they were so proud. They were more proud of the external operation than of anything on the inside. You see they had just perverted the whole thing. They'd fouled it all up. And so Paul, he really levels a shot at the end of verse 11, look at this. He says, "But that which is called the circumcision in the flesh made by hands." Now what does he mean in the flesh made by hands? Physical. He says the circumcision, and by that I mean the ones who are physically circumcised. Not spiritually, in Romans 2:28 he says, "circumcision is not that which is of the flesh, but real circumcision he is a true Jew who is one who is circumcised in his," what, "his heart."
He says, yeah, they're the circumcision all right in the flesh period that's it. They think they're the true people of God, but it's only external and so the circumcision, the people with the outward sign and no inward reality would mock the Gentile. And that is simply an emphasis, a way to look and see the social alienation. There was just no way that they could enter into a relationship. It looked insurmountable.
Further Paul says, not only is there social alienation, but there is spiritual alienation. There's a real alienation in verse 12. "At that time," he says, "ye," again the Gentiles, "prior to salvation were without Christ aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers from the covenants of promise having no hope and without God in the world." This is real alienation. This isn't social, this is spiritual. The Gentiles before Christ came, before the gospel came were literally cut off from God. They were cut off from God. Let me show you these five things. First of all they were Christless. Verse 12 says, "without Christ." They were Christless, separated from the Messiah. Now what does that mean? Listen beloved, that means they had no messianic hope. They had no hope of a Savior. They had no anticipation of a deliverer. History was going no place. There wasn't going to come an ultimate judge who'd make wrong right. There wasn't going to come an ultimate judge who'd reward the good and punish the evil. There wasn't going to be any day of vengeance. There wasn't going to be any balancing of the scales. There wasn't going to be any deliverance. There wasn't going to be any restructuring of history so it made sense. It was going nowhere. The stoics even said history ran in cycles of 3,000 years. At the end of 3,000 years the earth and the universe all burned up and it was reborn and it started over on the next cycle of 3,000 years. That's how hopeless their view of history was.
No Christ. They worshipped Diana of the Ephesians also known as Artimus and we think of Diana as some lovely, gorgeous creature. Listen the statue was a black beast, a big black ugly beast with nipples hanging out of its stomach, supposing to sucker other little weird black beasts. Gross, ugly idolatry, that's all they had was to worship that thing. History was going nowhere. Life was a treadmill. They had no Christ. They had no hope, no deliverer, no Messiah, no anointed, no king, no Savior, nobody who'd make it right. They were Christless. And I want you to notice something. To be Christless is to be Godless in this verse and it is also to be hopeless. And I say that because there are all kinds of people who come down the pike saying it doesn't really matter what religion you believe, God accepts them all. Well, they're going to have to deal with this verse which says if you're Christless you're hopeless and you're Godless.
And Acts 4:12 put it this way, "neither is there salvation in any other for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved." They were Christless. They didn't have anybody to look to. Second, he says they were stateless, aliens. That means strangers, foreigners, people without rights of citizens. They were aliens from the commonwealth of Israel. God had built a theocracy. God had built a nation. And that nation was the recipient of His blessing. That nation was the target of His special love. That nation was in special arrangement with Him. And the Gentiles were aliens to that commonwealth.
Now had they accepted the true God, they could have entered into that place of blessing and become a part, but they did not. And consequently they were aliens. They were stateless. They had no community. They had no kingdom. They had no benefactor. They were not in the state of a beneficiary. They were outside of his dominion. In Isaiah Chapter 63, the prophet recites something of God's attitude to Israel. "I will mention the loving kindness of the Lord and the praises of the Lord according to all that the Lord hath bestowed on us and to great goodness toward the house of Israel which He hath bestowed on them according to His mercies and according to the multitude of His loving kindness." Now listen, "For He said surely they are my people, children that will not lie. So He was their savior. In all of their affliction, He was afflicted and the angel of His presence saved them in His love and in His pity, He redeemed them and He bore them and He carried them all the days of old."
You see, there's God's unique relation to Israel. Of course, the next verse says "but they rebelled and vexed His Holy Spirit, therefore He turned to be their enemy and fought against them." When they didn't reciprocate that kind of love, God turned in judgment. But He had a special love for them. He gave them a theocracy. He ruled over them. He gave them a priesthood. He gave them blessing. He gave them His law. He gave them His rule, but the Gentiles didn't know that. They lived without God's rule, without God's kingdom.
Thirdly, Paul says they are covenantless. A person without Jesus Christ is Christless, stateless, not a part of God's economy, not a part of God's kingdom, not a part of God's world, not a citizen of heaven. And also covenantless, look at the phrase there. It reads in the Greek this way, "and strangers from the covenants of the promise." "Strangers from the covenants of the promise." What was the promise? The Abrahamic promise. Genesis 12, that is the overriding promise, the great circle that surrounds all of God's dealing with Israel. The promise. Now inside the promise were many covenants. The Davidic covenant, the mosaic covenant, the Palestinian covenant, the new covenant, all of these covenants were inside this great Abrahamic promise. And all of this is that God promised to bless them, to prosper them, to multiply them, to save them, to redeem them, to give them a kingdom, to give them a land, to give them a king, to cause them to reign, all these incredible covenants that God made. Amazing things to give them eternal life. To promise them heaven. All that is in that covenant.
Gentiles, he says, were strangers to it all. They had no promise from God, no guarantees, no securities, no nothing. And fourthly he says they were hopeless, without hope, having no hope. If you don't have a Christ and you don't have a kingdom to belong to and you don't have any promises, I'll tell you something you don't have any hope.
What is hope? Listen to this, hope is confidence, now watch, based on credible promises from someone who can perform them. Did you get that? Confidence based on credible promises from someone who can perform them. That's real hope. If somebody comes up to me says John, I want to give Grace Church a million dollars. I've got two questions. Can I believe what you say? Are you credible? And what's the second question? Have you got a million dollars, right? A credible promise from somebody who can perform.
God comes to me and says, I promise you this. First question, is God credible? Yes. Number two, can He deliver? Yes. That's why we put our hope in Him, you see. Hope is confidence based on a credible promise from somebody who can perform it. And the Gentiles don't have the somebody and they don't have the promises apart from God and Christ. In fact, the Gentiles of Paul's day believed that there was no future for the body that when you've breathed your last breath that last huh, was your spirit leaving you or it went out through an open wound and that you existed the rest of your existence moaning the fact that you were in lostness and that you were unable to be comforted. Theaginas said "I rejoice in sport in my youth, long enough will I lie beneath the earth, bereft of life, voiceless as a stone and shall leave the sunlight which I love, good man though I am then shall I see nothing more rejoice oh my soul in thy youth."
Grab it while you can man, because there's nothing coming. No hope, no hope. That's despair. Beloved and the sum of it all at the end of verse 12, "without God in the world." It's bad enough to be a part of the evil kosmos, it's bad enough to be engulfed in this system that Satan is running, but to be in the midst of it without God is really to be a victim isn't it. And this isn't atheism. These people aren't atheists. It means they don't have the true God. They could be pantheists and believe that God was everything. They could be polytheists and believe there were many gods and still be without God, right?
Mars Hill, Acts 17, Paul goes up and says "I perceive that you have many gods. Now let me tell you about the only one you don't have who is the only real one." And he proceeded to tell them. And so he says remember...remember that you were alienated socially. You were really despised and you were alienated spiritually, Christless, stateless, covenantless, hopeless, Godless. That's the state beloved of somebody without Jesus Christ. That's the state of somebody outside the kingdom, outside the covenant, outside the promise, outside God, outside Christ and without hope.
You say, well, why did God do that to the Gentiles? He didn't. They did it to themselves. Turn with me and I'll close with this to Romans 2. Romans 2, verse 11, "For there is no respective persons with God." All right? "No respective persons with God," doesn't like Jews better than Gentiles or vice versa. He loves both the same, no respective person. Listen, "For as many as have sinned without law." Who would that be? Heathen, Gentiles without the law of God "shall perish without law. As many as have sinned in the law shall be," what, "judged by the law." Simply saying this, everybody's held accountable. You don't have the law, you sin without the law you'll be punished. You have the law, you sin with the law, you'll be punished.
All right, now verse 14, I want you see it. "For when the Gentiles," here we are the pagans, the Gentiles, the ones outside "who have not the law do by nature the things contained in the law these though they have not the law become a law to themselves because they show the work of the law written," where, "in their hearts." Now listen to me. God gave Israel laws on stone, but God gave every man ever born into the world the conscience to see the law of God written where? In his heart, so that everyone is accountable.
And if a Gentile is Christless, stateless, covenantless, hopeless, and Godless, it is not because God withheld anything from him. God has written His law in His heart. You say well what happened? Go back to Chapter 1 of Romans, verse 18. "The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men." Here's the reason, "they hold the truth in," what, "unrighteousness." You see they begin to live unrighteously "and that which maybe known," verse 19 "of God is manifest in them." God has shown it to them that's conscience, that's the law in their hearts. "And then outside them the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood. You can even know that He's eternally powerful so that man is without excuse."
Now what he's saying is two things, look, man doesn't hold on to this truth even though it's written in his heart, number one, and even though it's all around him, number two that he can see God. The problem is this, verse 21, "when they knew God," they did know God, did you know that? They knew God. Man knew God. Men know God in their conscience, but when they knew God, they glorified him not as God. Neither were thankful became vain in their imaginations, their foolish heart was darkened. They thought they were wise.
And verse 23, "They changed the glory of the incorruptible God into all their idols." And the result, verse 24, "Wherefore God also gave them up." Now you see what happened? The Gentile had as much opportunities as the Jew. As much as the Jew. God put the law in his heart, and when he didn't live up to it, God in His wonderful sweet grace called out that nation Israel and said will you go back to that Gentile world. And will you tell them what they've done and will you call them back to me, but they didn't do that. They became proud, selfish, sinful, isolationist and a great gulf came. And it's only Jesus Christ who came along to reach across and grab the hand of the Jew and the hand of the Gentile and knit them together. And it isn't easy and beloved we still fight the same battle today, to see Jesus' prayer answer practically that His church would really be one. That we would be able to reach our hearts and our hands out and take the hand of anybody who knows the name of Jesus Christ and draw that hand into our hand. But that's the unity of the body that Jesus wants. I hope you'll pray and strive in your own heart to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Let's pray.
Our Lord we just again had a sense of conviction in our hearts about this urgency of seeing the unity for which Jesus died come to reality. Help us Lord here to be a little start...little part of it. Maybe we can't unify the whole church, be can sure make sure that we love each other here and maybe start a pattern that'll spread. I thank You Lord that there is unity in this church on the surface, there's no division here. I pray that it's down deep too. I pray that there's a deep love, that there's a tremendous desire on the parts of these people to pray for one another, love one another, edify one another, teach one another, exhort one another, rebuke one another, confess false one to another, restore one another.
And I pray that there's a tremendous commitment to minister spiritual gifts mutually and to care, to love, that our unity may not just be positional, but that it may be practical and that the world may really see it. Father, help us not to hold anyone as less than ourselves, but help us to get down like Jesus did and think it not something to be held onto to be equal with God, but to humble ourselves and become a servant. Help us to look not on our own things, but on the things of others. Help us to love everybody the same as Paul says in Philippians 2, having the same love. Teach us Father to love like Jesus loved, even the unlovely who have to love us too. Show us what it is to be one in You and we'll thank You in Jesus' name. Amen.
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Welcome to T3's official Xbox One review. And the Microsoft Xbox One doesn't just want to beat the Sony PS4, it wants to be your 'input one' entertainment device.
Out of all of the participants in the forthcoming next-generation console war, the Xbox One has had the most to prove. Unlike the Sony PS4, which has been championed by gaming industry pundits and media alike, Microsoft's console met with outright hostility when it was first announced and in the months that followed it was one PR disaster after another.
Yet, over the past two and a half years, Microsoft has been performed a huge PR overhaul in a hope to build fan trust and entice new adopters heading for Sony's machine by default. The New Xbox Experience has excised the stain of Windows 8 and created a UI that's intuitive and rewarding to use, while the addition of cloud processing has helped Microsoft really close the gap that seemed so cavernous back in late 2013/early 2014.
Even the addition of Xbox 360 backwards compatibility - a feature Microsoft was adamant couldn't be done in 2013 - has helped refill the goodwill towards it.
The decision to no longer include Kinect as standard - a move that's effectively killed the peripheral dead - has helped Xbox One immeasurably. Considering it's also brought the base price of the console down (a figure that's fallen all the more thanks to a slew of price cuts since 2014), investing in Xbox One has never been more enticing.
Xbox One review: design and build quality
The Xbox One certainly doesn't look as sleek as Sony's PS4. In fact, it's a big, hulking brute of a machine that bears more than a passing resemblance to a Betamax video recorder circa 1984. It's a 263 x 80 x 305 mm slab weighing about 3.2kg. Cast in 'Liquid Black', its top is split in half with a reflective surface on one side and a massive vent on the other.
Incidentally, this is a console designed to sit flat underneath your television set, with its Kinect sensor staring grimly out at the contents of your living room. Plonk it on its side and Microsoft won't be held responsible for your discs getting scratched.
WATCH: Xbox One unboxing video
Kinect slots into the back of the Xbox One, next to a series of ports including HDMI-in, HDMI-out, three super-speed USB ports, an Ethernet connector, S/PDIF for optical audio out and an added IR port.
The front-facing side has a disc slot – that will play Blu-ray discs, once the app is downloaded – a power stud, eject tab and a sync-tab for hooking up the one wireless controller the Xbox One comes packaged with.
Under the hood, the Xbox One is packing an eight-core x86 processor with an amped up 853 MHz GPU, 500GB of local storage, 8GB RAM with 32MB of eS RAM embedded memory. It also has wireless networking capability through its 802.11 wireless radio with built-in Wi-Fi support. It also makes barely a sound when you power it up.
Xbox One review: setup and features
If all of this sounds intimidating, don't worry, setting this beast up is a doddle. Kinect, the power cable and – if you fancy watching live television through the Xbox One - most set-top boxes all slot neatly into the back. Once you boot it up, the console will ask you if you already have a profile. If you do, you'll need to go online to load it up. If not – or if online is an anathema to you – you can create a new one from scratch.
Online is easier, though. If you have a profile, you simply login with your password and instantly, your Achievements, save games, friend-lists and avatars are all ported across. It doesn't wipe your Xbox 360 gamertag – rather you now have gamertags on two platforms.
WATCH: Xbox One vs PS4 video
It also activates your Xbox Live Gold Status, if you have it. You can allow the Kinect module to link your physical appearance (if you're still using one) with your profile and that way, whenever you sit down in front of the console, it'll say 'hi' and then log you in. If someone was already logged in, it gives you the option of switching profiles. It even notices if another player is handed the controller.
You can also 'hold' the side of the screen to minimize the screen streaming entertainment, surf channels using voice commands and even program Kinect to start up when you say 'Xbox on'.
Xbox One review: user interface
The New Xbox Experience, introduced at the tail end of 2015, is the new way of using Xbox One and it's light years ahead of the Windows 8-based abomination early adopters had to endure for two years straight. The NXE is all about dividing all your content into four key sections - Home, Community, OneGuide and Store - with each one flowing much like a social media feed. Think of it like a rolling homepage with all the important functions on each tab accessible quickly with the minimum of fuss.
Games now have their own homepages known as Game Hubs - from here you flit between captures screenshots or video, see your Achievements and more. So the more you and your friend's play, the more populated these Hubs become. Players now have an increased friends cap as well – 1,000 friends – and can also follow other players, in much the same way that they would on Twitter.
The Store expands into four individual sub menus when selected - Games, Apps, Movies & TV and Music - and once again, everything is represented by large thumbnails with all the important functions (Use a Code, etc) are all front and centre. For those that love browsing digital titles, this clean and fresh UI is a godsend.
Community is Xbox One's equivalent of content feeds you find below each game on your PS4's UI, but instead gathered into one place. It's here you'll find all the user-generated content you could want - there's a strong balance between the progress of your friends (screenshots, recently unlocked Achievements and content curated from around YouTube and the wider community. If you like your Let's Plays, this is a great place to dive into.
OneGuide is, in the kindest terms possible, the ghost of Microsoft's integrated TV dreams focused into a new streaming-based hub. If you don't fancy browsing the Store, you can access Xbox One's library of rental films and TV, as well the most popular content from around the top streaming apps out there (Amazon Instant Video, Netflix, BBC iPlayer, etc). There's a real Amazon/Netflix vibe here with the content layout - hey, if it ain't broke!
Finally, there's one of the - if not the - best addition to the Xbox One UI - the Panel. Accessible by flicking the left analog stick on the Home tab or by pressing the Xbox button while in-game, the Panel is the one-stop access point to your console's main features. From here you can see which of your friends are online, access messages, view Party Chat and change settings. Such a feature was sorely missed in the launch version of Xbox One and its inclusion makes all the difference today.
Xbox One review: Kinect
There's a good chance if you're reading this review anytime after the initial first few months of launch that you don't have access to a Kinect sensor, but we'll round up its functions and usability because we're thorough like that. The Kinect sensor has been re-vamped since its first introduction on Xbox 360. It can now monitor heart-rate and muscle density meaning the virtual drill-instructors on the Fitness App will be doing players more good than ever.
Kinect also comes into its own on the video calling in Skype. Not only does the sensor produce a streaming video of the player at a pretty reasonable quality, but if they get up and wander about the room, the camera will track them.
The sensor's fidelity and spatial requirements have been vastly improved – players no longer need to stand so far back from their TV set – although players may find themselves having to repeat the odd voice command.
Kinect can also track more players; up to four players can jump into a Kinect game now, and the sensor's facial recognition technology can differentiate between them.
Finally, it's worth pointing out that Kinect is better able to filter out intruding lights and sounds.
Unlike the previous iteration, the new Kinect module can work in almost pitch dark and isn't interrupted by lights angled towards it. It's also able to differentiate between the players voice and sounds coming out of the TV's speakers.
Xbox One review: controller
At first glance, the Xbox One's controller looks like a dead-ringer for its predecessor. Dual thumbsticks, face buttons, shoulder bumpers, D-pad and twin triggers are all where you'd expect to find them. But pick it up and play with it and the improvements become apparent.
The triggers feel smooter, the D-pad and shoulder buttons feel more responsive and the twin-sticks meld snugly to the player's thumbs. The pad overall feels more molded to the player's hands and the smooth surface is svelte to the touch. Instead of a Start and Select button, you have an Apps and Menu button, but they serve the same purposes in-game.
The most notable improvement are the rumble-filters beneath the controller's casing that give players a sense of immersion the Xbox 360 didn't have physically.
Much has been made of the control pad's re-design, but believe the hype; this controller is a marked improvement on its predecessor. It's build quality still feels a little plasticky, but it's analog sticks are of a high quality when compared to easily frayed sticks on the PS4's DualShock 4.
The Xbox One Elite Wireless controller, designed for pro gamers and the most hardcore of hardcore users, rounds off the Xbox One peripheral roster. It's reassuringly heavier than the standard version and comes with a stack of extra analog sticks and D-pad faces to customise your pad. There are even a pair of steel paddles that fit onto the back to give you even more controls. It's expensive - retailing in the £129.99 range - but it's a must for pros who want to build a pad scaled around their competitive play style.
Xbox One review: Games
At launch, Xbox One didn't have the best selection of games, but in the years that have followed some real crackers - both exclusive and multiplatform - have hit the console, bolstering its ever-expanding library.
Halo 5: Guardians is easily one of the best and a must for new adopters. Integrating one of the best single-player campaigns into the series' most robust multiplayer offering, Halo 5 is a shooter fan's dream land. Forget your Call of Duties - this is the real FPS paradise.
The game receives a constant stream of new and free content updates, with fan favourite game types such s Grifball being patched in to give players the game they want. Add in the most customisable version of map editor Forge yet and you've got one attractive package.
If you're in the mood to plunder some treasure, Rise of the Tomb Raider is the title for you. Sony can keep its now retired Uncharted series - Microsoft has the rebooted Lara Croft embarking on her most ambitious journey since Tomb Raider 2 on the PS1.
Okay, it's technically meant to be appearing on PS4 at the end of this year (Microsoft signed a one year exclusivity deal with Square Enix) but that doesn't tarnish this action adventure for a second. From its opening vistas to the climatic finale, the rebooted series has finally found a balance between grand climbing sections, semi-open world exploration, gunfights and environmental puzzles.
Tombs - a feature lacking in the 2013 predecessor to RotTR, despite the word appearing in the game's title - are also back and huge in scale. These are a joy to tackle and provide brilliant upgrades that will make all the difference to your treasure pilfering ways. Exclusive or not, this game needs to be in your collection right now.
If you love you're racing, then you can't go wrong with Forza 6 or spectacular spin-off Forza Horizon 2. For the driving and racing purists, Forza 6 takes all the things Forza 5 did so well and ramps up the quality even more. With so many cars and tracks, and a robust career mode to boot, it's a car fetishists wet dream.
Forza Horizon 2 offers a far more accessible experience, but that still feels inherently Forza. Open-world like its Xbox 360 predecessor, this exclusive title heads to the countryside of Italy and offers all the street racing, car collecting, rep bulding madness you'd expect from the series. Cool, colourful and uttering addictive, Forza Horizon 2 is another must for racing veterans and newbies alike.
If you're looking at multi-platform titles, we'll keep it simple. The open-world stealth and espionage of Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain is incredible. Look past its convoluted story and you'll find one of the most rewarding sandboxes ever designed.
If you're even a teensy bit into RPGs, The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt is a must-have. The final instalment in The Witcher finale (but still accessible to new players), you'll find the most beautifully crafted single-player RPG world since Skyrim. Play this game right now.
Finally, there's Dark Souls 3 - with PS4 players enjoying the blood-soaked exclusivity of Bloodborne, Xbox One players were crying out for a bit of Miyazaki mayhem and we got it in Dark Souls 3. Punishing, deep and utterly intoxicating, DS3 will make you scream in frustrating but it'll make you pump your fist with self-congratulation more than any other game (well, maybe except Trials Evolution).
Xbox One review: verdict
Like its nearest and dearest rival, the Xbox One is absolutely loaded with potential. While it may have struggled in both user confidence and PR status in its first 12 months, Microsoft has done a confident job in cutting away the dead flesh of previous errors.
A shadow of the console it unveiled at E3 2013, the Xbox One is still better for it. It's now faster, more powerful and boasts enough base features to make even Sony look over its shoulder. PS4 may be selling more units, but the Xbox One is snapping at its heels with every passing month.


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Marco Titi
Marketing Communications Manager
Growing customer lifetime value with analytics
A consumer electronics distributor uses SAS® to analyze loyalty card data and drive more revenue
When SGM Distribution, an Italian consumer electronics distributor, launched its loyalty card program, 2.2 million customers signed up – bringing with them a wealth of data on their purchasing habits. With data growing on a daily basis, the distributor is using SAS Analytics to gather insights about customer behavior and propensity to buy, and to identify optimal customer segments for efficient and effective micromarketing campaigns.
SGM Distribution, which also operates nearly 70 Marco Polo and Marco Polo Expert retail outlets, has about 70 percent of its business driven through its loyalty card program. The company uses SAS to drive its marketing segmentation and grow the lifetime value of loyal customers, as well as optimize its direct marketing programs, which have generated response rates of up to 10 percent.
The campaigns were multichannel, comprising online and offline activities. The very first mailing we sent to residential customers generated a 10 percent redemption rate.
Marco Titi
"Reconstructing buyer behavior at points of sale, or looking at the frequency of repurchases at a particular store, is a prerequisite for directing the right product offers to the most receptive clusters," explains Giancarlo Nicosanti Monterastelli, CEO of SGM Distribution. "As an example, if we identify a cluster of customers that has a particular interest in video games, we can establish a co-marketing plan with select vendors. Now that we are profiling and clustering our customer base, we can execute microtargeted campaigns to groups with the highest propensity to buy a product or technology."
"Profiling and clustering our customer database led to a number of promotional campaigns that targeted customers with specific buying behaviors," explains Marco Titi, Marketing Communications Manager at SGM Distribution. "The campaigns were multichannel, comprising online and offline activities. The very first mailing we sent to residential customers generated a 10 percent redemption rate."
Reengineered marketing
Before using SAS, SGM's marketing campaigns were sent indiscriminately to opt-in customers. With the help of SAS' retail consulting partner Value Lab, the distributor's marketing segmentation processes were reengineered to collect transactional data from various contact points, which is analyzed to create customer segments; identify homogenous clusters; build detailed behavior models; evaluate interest indicators; and optimize marketing initiatives.
Loyalty equals profit
"Targeted campaigns also translate into immediate savings on things like mailing costs," Titi continues. "Our current objective is to improve the value of the card by offering customers a wide range of personalized promotions to strengthen relationships. It's important to maximize a product's price, but it's even more important to aim for profitability related to the entire life cycle of a customer."
- Needed to analyze loyalty card data to generate insight on customer behaviors and their propensity to buy.
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- Generated a 10% response rate on the first mailing.
- Optimize customer segmentation.
- Increase profitability.
- Improve customer lifetime value.
- Reduced campaign costs.


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By Rick Eymer
Palo Alto Online Sports
Stanford juniors Ryan Thacher and Bradley Klahn will be taking divergent paths this summer, with a possible reunion sometime in September. Some of their plans remain in a state of flux.
Wherever they may venture, tennis will always be a part of their journeys. The tandem has played 114 matches while representing Stanford over the past three years, winning 94 of them.
They've also appeared at several pro events, including the SAP Open in San Jose this past February, where they won in the first round.
Their latest achievement came Monday, when the pair took on Texas A&M's third-seeded duo of Jeff Dadamo and Austin Krajicek in the finals of the NCAA doubles tournament at Taube Family Tennis Center.
The Aggies captured the crown, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3, beating the Cardinal combo for the third time this year. And while there was some disappointment for the Stanford duo, both players realized it was simply one more step further along their tennis path.
"We ended on a great note," Klahn said of his team. "We ripped off 13 straight and pushed an undefeated Virginia team to the brink. It was certainly a tough loss but also serves as a reminder that we're right there and we can carry that momentum over to next year."
Thacher, who turned commentator for a day during the team tournament, thought reaching the team quarterfinals was a step in the right direction.
"It was bittersweet but we finally got the hump and got past the Round of 16," he said. "Over the last month or so guys started playing their best tennis. They are a lot of good things ahead."
While Klahn will hit the road with a traveling college team and participate in pro circuit events, Thacher will be concentrating on summer classes at Stanford.
Klahn heads to the USTA Summer Collegiate Team training camp in Florida beginning next Thursday. The program is designed to provide players with exposure to the professional circuit in a team-oriented environment.
The top six American players from the season-ending ITA national singles rankings are eligible for automatic selection to the camp. The remaining players are selected by USTA Player Development staff in conjunction with USTA and college coaches.
"It's very similar to last year," said Klahn, who won the NCAA singles crown as a sophomore. "Just start playing and gaining experience."
The men's team will be coached by Alabama assistant Bo Hodge and Notre Dame assistant Ryan Sachire.
Last year, Klahn traveled with Krajicek, USC's Steve Johnson and Tennessee's Rhyne Williams among others.
Thacher figures to keep track of his partner's progress while staying on campus. He also plans to enter a few local open tournaments on weekends. He could also get together and play a few tournaments with Klahn in September, but that has yet to be decided.
The experience of playing in front of a large crowd at HP Pavilion helped the pair prepare for the NCAA tournament, and playing in front of a raucous home base.
"It does help to have played on this stage, and at HP, in terms of environment and playing in front of lots of people," Thacher said.
Klahn and Thacher, who reached the semifinals in last year's NCAA tournament, completed the season with a 43-8 record, 19-3 in dual matches. They won a pair of tournament championships: Pacific Coast Doubles and the Sherwood Cup.
"We were excited to come out and play this match," Thacher said. "We know Jeff and Austin well and we knew we needed to execute our game plan. We had a good start and went up a break but unfortunately went to the tiebreak, where anything can happen. Give them credit, they played their best match."
Klahn and Thacher were 16-7 against nationally ranked opponents. It's a record that's bound to get only better in the coming year.