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Well, we have been studying the New Testament, of course, for many years and we have been discussing the book of 2 Corinthians, it seems like, for many years. And we're still in 2 Corinthians chapter 11, I would just encourage you to take your Bible, or one that's handy there in the pew, and turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 11.
What we do, for those of you who are guests with us, is we kind of go through the Scripture just paragraph by paragraph and let God speak to us in this time His own Word. The Bible is the Word of God, it is without error, it is authoritative in our lives and we have learned to love and to trust and to submit and obey God's Word with the greatest amount of joy because it brings such profound blessing on our lives.
Some of the Scripture, of course, is intensely doctrinal. It deals with great sweeping issues like the nature and character of God and of Christ and redemption and the work of the cross and the resurrection and great theological themes such as we'll be dealing with tonight. Some of the Scripture, on the other hand, is...is narrative, it's sort of anecdotal, it has to do more with practical matters of life and how we conduct ourselves and how we live and how we deal with the issues of life and the issues of ministry. And 2 Corinthians falls into that latter general category. It is a letter that is not...it's written by the apostle Paul, the great apostle who wrote thirteen books of the New Testament, it's written by the apostle Paul, it doesn't have doctrinal issues in it, it's a relatively long book, as Paul's letter go, having 13 chapters. But really there isn't any part of it that is dealing with great doctrines or great profound truths about the nature of God or the character of redemption. With the exception of a brief section in chapter 5, it's pretty much practical. It gives us tremendous insights into how a very godly man conducted himself in the face of tremendous opposition and hostility. And it had come to the place in writing to the Corinthian church, to which this epistle was sent, it had come to the place where Paul was being forced to defend himself. He had been the founder of the church. Of course he had been their beloved teacher, he had spent nearly two years there getting things started. He had written them three letters in the past, one of them is in the New Testament, 1 Corinthians, there were two other letters that are not included in the New Testament, no inspired letters, but nonetheless personal and important letters. This is the fourth letter written to them. They had a wonderful relationship, he was their pastor, their teacher, their trainer. He was the one God used to bring them to an understanding of salvation. He was the one who had formulated all the foundational truth in that church.
But once he had left, some false teachers had come. And, of course, we know false teachers are ubiquitous in the world, they are everywhere all the time because Satan is the great liar and the father of lies and he works against God by propagating lies through false teachers. And as happened so often in Paul's ministry, false teachers came sweeping in and they begin to represent themselves as the true teachers, the ones who really represented God, the ones who really preach the truth and that Paul was a fake and a fraud and a liar. He was therefore forced into doing something he really didn't like to do. He was forced into having to compare himself to them. He was forced into having to reassert his credentials and to prove again to the Corinthians that he, in fact, was the true messenger of God and they were not. And that's what we find him doing here in the eleventh chapter.
And there is a sense in which this is just a piece of history and you might ask, "Well, what value does it have for us? I understand the situation, the Corinthians were being assaulted by false teachers teaching lies that would turn people away from God, away from Christ, away from the truth and Paul was the teacher of truth, the true apostle of Christ, and he...he was the one they needed to listen to, they needed to trust, they needed to hear because he brought to them the true Word of God, I understand that. But what does that have to do with us?"
Well it has everything to do with us in the sense that Satan's tactics aren't any different today than they were then. And we still today have to trust the apostle Paul because we still sit at his feet as our teacher, not through his speaking, of course, because he's long with the Lord, but through his writing. It's important that we trust the apostle Paul. It's important that we understand the character of this man who is behind these thirteen letters, thirteen inspired letters of the New Testament which are so precious to us because they are the Word of God to us, upon which we are still very dependent. And beyond that, what we see in Paul's life as he deals with these issues is a model of Christian character, the man was the noblest of Christians and we learn so much from him.
In this particular section of chapter 11 and chapter 12, he is forced to show himself superior to the false teachers. He has been pushed into this, he doesn't like this. In fact, he gave almost a chapter-long series of disclaimers saying how foolish, how finite this whole enterprise was of having to defend himself. He didn't like it. He didn't like to speak of himself in superlative terms. He didn't like to boast himself. He was a humble man. He didn't like to compare himself with others. He didn't like to have to show his superiority. But he had been forced to do it. They were claiming to be superior, he had to reassert the truth.
And as he does it, it's a most remarkable insight. Here is a man forced to boast. And in so doing he manifests such amazing humility that this may be one of the greatest illustrations of humility in all of Scripture. It's easy to be humble when you're a nobody. It's easy to be humble when you're inferior. It's very challenging to be humble when you're somebody uniquely called by God, uniquely gifted and when you have been exalted as THE apostle of Jesus Christ. It's unique to be able to boast about your superiority in such a way as to manifest the noblest of all virtues, which is humility. And that's what he does. So we're learning a lot about humility as well as learning about dealing with false apostles and the conflict between lies and the truth.
So let's go back to chapter 11. And let me just pick it up at verse 23 with just a brief reference. Here we find Paul sort of thrust into having to compare himself with false teachers. So he starts out, "Are they servants of Christ?" And just saying that bothered him, so he added parenthetically, "I speak as if insane." It is insanity to even think of them as servants of Christ, after all false apostles, it says in Scripture, represent Satan. Over in verse 13 of chapter 11 they are called false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. Verse 14, they're like Satan who disguises himself as a an angel of light. So they really are servants of Satan, they're servants of the darkness, they're servants of lies. And so when he says, "Are they servants of Christ?" he has to say it by way of comparison, he has to add, "This is insanity to even speak like that, but for the sake of argument, are they servants of Christ? I more so." And then he says, "In far more...in far more..." and so he goes on all the way down to chapter 12 verse 13 to speak about his superiority to the false apostles. He is superior to them.
Now this is a remarkable passage, as I showed you, because as he force...as he is forced to boast about his superiority, he never ever gives away his humility. It is very remarkable. And you would assume, I mean it's just a sort of basic assumption, you would assume that if a man was going to demonstrate his superiority, he'd pick all of the highlights of his life. He would pick the highlights of his youth, the highlights of his educational experience, the highlights of his accomplishments and achievements and he would get a stack of corresponding letters from people who would commend him for whatever great influences and achievements he had made within the purview of their experience. That's how it's mostly done. In fact, I was talking to somebody the other day who was saying to me, "You know, I would like you to give me a list of all your accomplishments." My response to that is, "I really don't think you want a list of all my accomplishments, I'd like to be a little more selective than that." But even a list of all of my good accomplishments was asked for and I found myself sort of struck by the fact that here I am in this passage and Paul is about to boast about his life and how am I going to do that in the way that Paul did it if I give the typical approach to this, which is all your educational stuff and all the things you've done, the books you've written, the places you've gone and famous people you've met and blah-blah, blah-blah.
So I found myself wanting to learn from the apostle Paul and emulate this marvelous man. When Paul is given the opportunity to show his credentials, here's what he gives. Number one, first he starts with his experience of suffering...his experience of suffering. He could have said, "Well, you know, I was raised in a Gentile environment, I'm multi-lingual. I am a Jew, I am a Pharisee, was a Pharisee, I know the law of Israel forwards and backwards. I sat at the feet of Gamaliel, the leading Jewish teacher. I am a student of theology. I have been profoundly and well trained, etc., etc., etc. I'm a man of the world. I've lived in the Gentile community. I've lived in the Jewish community. I was a man of...with great authority. I had the authority of the Jewish establishment to go about and persecute people who named the name of Jesus Christ. I carried papers from the authorities. I am a..." He doesn't talk about any of those notable features of life that we would tend to lean on. He starts out with his experience of suffering.
Here he goes in verse 23. "Are they servants of Christ? I far more." Why? "Far more labors, far more imprisonments. Beaten times without number. Often in danger of death. Five times received 39 lashes. Three times beaten with rods. Once stoned. Three times shipwrecked. A night and a day floating in the ocean, is what he mans, after a shipwreck. Frequent journeys and dangers from rivers, robbers, countrymen, Gentiles, in the city, in the wilderness, on the sea among false brethren." Verse 27, "Labor, hardship, sleepless nights, hunger, thirst, without food, cold, exposure." This is his curriculum vitae, this is his CV, his experience of suffering. And I remind you that the truest indication of a man of God is his suffering inevitably because if he is a man of God and he proclaims the truth, he will elevate the hostility of the kingdom of darkness and he will experience persecution and difficulty. And that's exactly what Paul is saying.
You want to know whether I'm an apostle of the truth? Look at what I've suffered. You want to know whether I faithfully speak the Word of God? Look at the hostility I have generated. There's no way to come into Satan's world and the whole world lies in the lap of the evil one, John says, there's no way to come into this evil world, proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ and the truth of God and not elevate satanic hostility and not have the system against you, which is in the hands of the evil one.
So his first credential was his experience of suffering. We've already studied that, just reviewing. The second credential, verses 28 and 29, was his experience of sympathy. And then he says, "Apart from such external things as the daily pressure upon me of concern for all the churches, who is weak without my being weak? Who is led into sin without my intense contern...concern?" A little footnote to point one, typically false prophets get rich. Typically successful false prophets get very comfortable. They don't live in a world of hostility and persecution, they live in a world of comfort and wealth and prosperity. Why? Because false prophets are part of the system, so therefore the system is not hostile to them. False prophets tend to flourish, be successful, draw huge crowds, be thought of as great men, hailed as heroes. True prophets, true men of God tend to suffer persecution, hostility, false accusation and sometimes even physical harm.
The second thing about false prophets is they're not sympathetic at all. They abuse people. They use people. They manipulate people. They take advantage of people. They take their money. They take their lives. They take their souls. They take anything they can get. Like the Jewish leaders who devoured widows' houses, false prophets always take advantage of people. And the more helpless people are, and the more witless people are, the more he'll take advantage of them. Widows being sort of emblematic of the poorest of people and the most unprotected of people were the special prey and still are of false prophets. Today they do it differently, they get on television and they manipulate the minds of people who don't have much to give what they have to make them rich.
Paul was just the opposite. He had sympathy for people. The pressure that he felt was his love for the church. Anybody who was weak made him feel weak. Anybody who was led into sin made him feel pain. Here's the mark of a true man of God, sympathy. He felt deeply the burden of moral, spiritual and doctrinal issues among believers. He loved the church. In chapter 11 verse 2 he says, "I'm jealous for you with a godly jealousy." In chapter 12 verse 15, amazing statement, "I will most gladly spend and be expended for your souls." In other words, if I have to give my life for you, I'll gladly do it. Chapter 13 he says it again in verses 9 and 10, "We rejoice when we ourselves are weak, but you are strong." If I had it my way I'll take the weakness and give you the strength, that's how much I care about you. Verse 29 where it says, "Who is led into sin without my intense contern...intense concern," in the Greek original, "intense concern" means to be set on fire. Paul's heart was literally set on fire with holy indignation against anybody who led another believer into sin. So he says the true marks of the messenger of Christ are his experience of suffering and his experience of sympathy.
Let me take you to a third one, enough of the review, a third one and this is most amazing, and I'm not sure I fully understand the background to this historically, but I'll do the best I can with it, his experience of subjugation, or submission. You would think that if Paul was some great man of God, some great preacher, some great prophet and the false apostles would think this, too, that he would have a great presence and a great persona, and an overpowering force to him, that he would not be as they said he was in chapter 10 verse 10, "Unimpressive and contemptible as a speaker." The false prophets' idea and the Greek idea was that a great orator and a great influencer and a great leader had an overpowering persona and a great presence and a tremendous ability with words to deal with people, to dominate people, to control people, to control his environment, to achieve whatever he wanted to achieve by the sheer force of his leadership. I was reading a book on leadership this week and the guy who was writing it basically said this, "All great leaders are great communicators, and noone is a great leader who is not a great communicator because you cannot lead unless you can control people's thinking by the influence of your teaching." And he's exactly right. All great leaders are great communicators. You cannot be a great leader unless you can articulate and ennoble people to what it is that you have to say. You empower them by your words. You encourage them by your words. You strengthen them by your words, by your ability to articulate the vision.
And so, the idea in the Greek world was you have some powerful, influential leader who is a great communicator and he comes in and he sort of overpowers the environment and sweeps people away. Here was this sort of little Jewish guy with all of his funny little foibles who had been beaten and battered and hammered all over the place and was scarred all over his body because of what he had endured and he comes in and he doesn't say anything about human wisdom and he doesn't talk the talk that they're used to and he gives really no deference to Greek oratory or rhetoric and he doesn't practice with rocks in his mouth like Demosthenes and he just comes and preaches Christ crucified and he's very unimpressive and his speech is contemptible and they mock him because he doesn't have any of this. You would think Paul would want to say, "Well I'm going to tell you how forceful I can be, I'm gong to tell you how powerful an influence I can be. I want to tell you...how I can walk into a situation and take control of that situation, take control of those people and begin to dominate that situation." But he doesn't.
Look at verse 30, "If I have to boast I'll boast of what pertains to my weakness." Let's get back to the weakness again. "The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, He who is blessed forever knows that I am not lying. In Damascus the ethnarch under Aretas the king was guarding the city of the Damascenes in order to seize me; and I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall and so escaped his hands." Isn't that an odd thing? I mean, why does he throw that strange incident in here?
Now remember what he's doing. He's trying to show himself superior to the false apostles. And he does it by talking about his suffering, which seems so contrary to what a normal approach would be, then talking about his sympathy, how everybody's pain makes him feel bad which typically is not the way leaders operate, they tend to be impervious to other people's pain. And now he, instead of showing his miracle power, tells a story about when he had to get lowered out of a window in a basket, which is a very embarrassing thing, sneaking out of town in a clandestine way in the middle of the night so that a bunch of pagans won't take his life. This is the very opposite of what you would expect out of anybody who is making a defense of his apostleship. The false apostles would have paraded themselves as invincible, strong, impressive, dominant. They could control their environment. They could take charge of people, even against their will. They were forceful. They subjugated everyone to themselves, took control of the people to achieve their goals.
Paul, I suppose, could have done that. He could have said, "Well, we've had some powerful things happen in my ministry," and he could have recited some of those powerful things. I suppose if he was living today, he...these false apostles were living today they'd be standing on platforms in civic auditoriums with 15,000 people blowing on them and watching them fall over. People yielding up today to that mindlessness. But Paul doesn't boast of his personal power. He doesn't boast of his spiritual impact, which was immense. He says, "Let's get back to the issue here, my weakness." And then he says a strange thing, verse 31, "The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, He who is blessed forever knows that I am not lying." He's about to say something for which he has to add this. Now you think he's going to go right to verse 2 of chapter 12 where he tells about going to heaven. That's amazing. He's the only person that in the New Testament went to heaven and came back. Now you would think he would say, "I'm going to tell you something so amazing, so astonishing, so astounding that I need the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who is blessed forever to affirm that I'm not lying." But he doesn't...but he doesn't use that with his trip to heaven, he uses it with this strange thing in verses 32 and 33. And what he is saying is, I'm going to call on God, the true and living God who is identified repeatedly in the New Testament as the God who is the Father of our Lord Jesus. In other words, worshiping God is not enough, you're not worshiping the true God, you don't know the true God unless you have identified Him as the God who is the Father of our Lord Jesus.
People say, "Well don't the Muslims worship the same God we do?" No...no they don't. "Don't the Mormons worship the same God we do?" No, because they do not believe that Jesus is of the same essence as God. The true God is the God who manifested Himself in Jesus Christ. The true God is the God who is sharing His very essence with His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. A Father and a Son even in a human realm share the same nature and so in the spiritual realm. That phrase "the God and Father of the Lord Jesus" appears numerous times in the New Testament. It appears in John 4, you see it. You see it in Romans 15:6; Ephesians 1:3, 1:17; 1 Peter 1:3; 2 John 3. It became a standard way to define God. In the Old Testament God was known as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, right? And that identified the God who had revealed Himself to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. In the New Testament He's identified as the God who is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, that is to say one with the incarnate Christ, that is to say something about who God is and also about who Jesus Christ is. He is of the same essence and nature as God, that's why He said, "If you've seen Me, you've seen the Father."
So in verse 30 he says, "Look, here's another disclaimer, if I have to boast I'm going to boast about what pertains to my weakness." I mean, that was very easy for him to do, he felt very comfortable talking about it. Back in chapter 1, just briefly, in verse 8 he talked about being afflicted and burdened excessively beyond strength. In chapter 2 and verse 12 he said, "There was a door open for him to preach the gospel in Troas," but verse 13, "he had no rest for his spirit." He was so troubled and so weak he couldn't even take an opportunity, he was so stirred up and so depressed. That's again an indication of his weakness. Chapter 3 verse 5 he says, "We're not adequate in ourselves to consider anything coming from ourselves." I can't produce anything of any spiritual quality myself. Chapter 4 verse 7, "We're afflicted, perplexed, persecuted, struck down, always carrying about the dying of Jesus." In other words, I live on the brink of death every day. You know, he just goes on like this, chapter 5 verse 1 he talks about the frail tent in which he lives. Chapter 6 verse 4 he talks about his hardships and endurance, inflictions, distress, beatings, imprisonments, tumults, labors. Chapter 7 he talks about his depression. Chapter 10 verse 17 he says, "If I'm going to boast I have to boast in the Lord because I'm nobody." I mean, that's the way he goes through the whole book.
Chapter 12 he talks about his weakness in verses 7 to 10. Chapter 13 verse 4 again about his weakness. So he says, if I'm going to boast I've got to go back to my weakness. In other words, the point is this, if this is a man of God he is going to be manifestly weak so that what you see coming out of this man has no other explanation than that it's God. There is no human explanation. And here in verse 31 he says, "I'm calling on the God who is the Father of the Lord Jesus who is blessed forever," that is to say He is worthy of eternal glory and blessing, I'm calling on Him to affirm that I'm not lying when I tell you I'm weak. Just the opposite of what you would expect him to say. I am not lying.
I'm sure the false prophets had repeatedly suggested that Paul was a liar, but he wasn't. And he's saying I'm going to call on the Lord, He knows I'm not lying when I tell you how really weak I am. Boy, he was setting himself in such stark contrast to these people. I see these people, these modern televangelists with their massive crowds and their fancy cars and their palatial mansions and their endless wardrobes and this great aura of power and all this money and all this success and the stuff that goes with it and I see that in stark contrast to the brokenness and the meekness and the weakness and the humility of the true servant of God.. And that's what Paul is showing us here.
And then he tells this interesting account. "God will verify that what I'm about to say is true. In Damascus," remember he was converted in Damascus, he was going there to kill Christians and he was going down the road to Damascus and the Lord blinded him out of heaven, fell down, landed in the dirt stone blind. And the Lord spoke to him. And then he went to the house of a man named Ananias and Ananias was the Lord's instrument to bring him to his senses and he came to faith in Jesus Christ and he was wonderfully converted. Remember that? And he was converted and told that he was going to be a messenger to the Gentiles. He was going to take the gospel to the Gentile world and he was going to suffer greatly. He was going to suffer more than any man I think in redemptive history ever suffered, except Jesus Christ Himself. He was going to suffer greatly.
And then the Lord took him, you remember in Acts chapter 9 it tells the story, and Galatians 1 and 2 kind of help to tell the story, the Lord after He converted him took him and sent him into Arabia...Nabatean Arabia it used to be called. He sent him into Nabatean Arabia, south of Damascus, somewhere between the Red Sea and the Euphrates River in the modern Arab world, that area. He sent him into Nabatean Arabia for three years. He didn't have any seminary education, didn't have any formal training, didn't have anybody with him. God sent him down there and the Lord Himself gave him His message. Remember he says that to the Galatians, "I didn't get my gospel from any man, no man gave me this gospel. The Lord set me apart, took me down and for three years he's down in Arabia and he's preaching the gospel all over Arabia. After three years he comes back to Damascus. And when he gets back to Damascus, according to the ninth chapter of Acts, he starts to preach Christ. And the Jews who have a synagogue in Damascus are furious because he's preaching Christ as the Messiah, as the Savior, as the King of Israel. And so they're plotting his death.
Now in Damascus there's a colony of Arabs who have migrated up from Nabatean Arabia and they live in Damascus. Damascus would be the main city in that part of the world. And I've been in Damascus, it's an incredible place with an incredible history. It was the further...eastern most extension of the Roman Empire as well and it was a very formidable place. So Nabatean Arabians had migrated up, in fact there were so many of them there that the colony was large enough to have a governor and it says in verse 32, "In Damascus the ethnarch," that's the governor and he would have been the guy assigned to govern this Arab colony in Damascus. He was under Aretas the king. Aretas is a name rather...it's a title rather than a name. Aretas is like Pharaoh, or Caesar. It's a title of the king of Nabatean Arabia. So the king of Nabatean Arabia, a man called Aretas, appointed some governor to kind of lead the colony of Arabs up there and rule over them.
Well what happened was Paul's ministry down in Arabia had irritated the Arabians and the normal hostility and persecution that arises against the gospel arose there and it migrated up into Damascus. And so the Arabians somehow joined with the Jews. On the one hand in Acts 9 you've got the Jews plotting to kill him, and now you've got the Arabians involved. Aretas had assigned this ethnarch and his job, the Jews had given him the job, to guard the city of the Damascenes in order to seize me. The word was out, Paul's in town, we're going to get him. The Jews wanted him dead and the Arabs wanted to cooperate in the process. The Arabs were given the responsibility to guard the gates so that if he tried to get out of the city they would seize him and he would be executed.
He had just gotten launched into the ministry and already he's got the Jewish and Gentile world after him. This was just the beginning of how it would be throughout his life until one day he laid his head on a block in Rome and a Roman executioner chopped it off and he entered the presence of the Lord. From the beginning of his ministry to the end, this is all he ever knew...all he ever knew. And anybody in their right mind today who sat him down in our contemporary Christian environment would have said, "You know, Paul, you really need to change your method, you're just infuriating the whole world. I mean, there's got to be a soft-sell here that you could develop. You've...there's got to be some subtleties, Paul, everything can't be blatant." I mean, he wouldn't have known even what you were talking about. The capital, by the way, of Nabatean Arabia was a famous city which I visited and perhaps some of you have called Petra, which is an incredible place. So they were guarding the city, wanting to get Paul.
Now here's Paul, this apostle of Jesus Christ, this...this great powerful man on whom the Spirit of God has come with great power and how would we expect him to charge into that environment? We would expect maybe like...like Moses, he would go in and confront the magicians of Pharaoh and he would do his work and his mighty deeds and we would think maybe the Lord would do some great miracle works like He had done in Egypt.
No, what happened in verse 33 was Paul was no match for any of them. The wall of Damascus was very wide, wide enough to drive a chariot on. And homes were built up on the top of the wall and some of them hung over the edge and had some windows which would just be an opening where some wooden doors could be opened or closed. And they figured out a scheme. They would get Paul up into one of those homes on the wall and they would put him in a basket. The word for basket here, sargane, is a robe basket, not just a reed basket or straw basket but a rope basket. You take rope and just wrap it into a basket form and somehow tie it all together. It would have to be pretty strong to hold a full-sized man. This is embarrassing. This is the great apostle Paul, this is the noblest of all Christians, this is a man infused with the Holy Spirit, this is a miracle-working Paul, this is the Paul who healed sick people, this is the Paul who cast out demons, this is the Paul God used to do mighty, mighty deeds, this is a Paul who shook a deadly snake off his hand, this is a Paul the angels visited when he's on a ship, this is the Paul who made a trip to heaven. He's no match for any of these people. So it was embarrassing. He said, "I just had to get let down in a basket through a window on the wall and I escaped his hands. He would have killed me, I had to get out of town."
I love that. He was unable to match the earthly power of his enemies. You know, don't be surprised by that. He was a man. He so humble. And when you look for the true man of God, look for humility, look for humility.
Well I've got to tell you the next section, we're going to end with this. I'm going to go a little long, not long long, just a little long. But you've got to know this. Verse 1 of chapter 12, let's go to the fourth principle and this is very quick because I can't add anything to this, folks. The fourth credential...his experience of the supernatural...his experience of the supernatural. This is incredible.
Now he is going to go beyond his weakness, listen to what he says. And here's another disclaimer, he just hates to do this, "Boasting is necessary," he says again, "I have to do this though it's not helpful...it's not helpful, but I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord." Let me stop you right there.
Let me tell you something, Paul said, "I've had visions and I've had revelations and I know these false apostles haven't. But you know something, folks? I'm only talking about these things because you've made it necessary for me to do this but it's not helpful."
Boy, I tell you, somebody ought to get a grip on that verse. Visions and revelations of the Lord which really happened to me are not helpful for me to talk about. That's what that "not profitable" means. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God," 2 Timothy 3:16, "and is profitable, but talking about visions and revelations is not profitable. It's not profitable to me to talk about them, I have had them. It is not profitable for me to talk about them because they tend to build my pride. They become temptations to pride. It's not profitable for me to talk about them to you because they can't help you because they were personal visions and revelations given to me. They can't help the church either." That's why when Paul left Ephesus in Acts 20, he commended them not to visions and revelations but to the Word of His grace which is able to build you up, right? This is what builds you up.
He says, "Look, you have forced me to talk about visions and revelations, it is not helpful. It is not helpful." In fact, the word means useless. It is useless. It's useless. Why? "It just messes with my pride, it was personal for me, it has no bearing on you. What has a bearing on you is the Word of God." Such extra biblical experience is not helpful to him or anybody else at this point. At the time it happened, God meant it for him. It's unnecessary to supplement the teaching of the Word. By the way, the only revelation we need in addition to Scripture is the revelation of Jesus Christ at His Second Coming. That's the only revelation we need. And nonetheless for the sake of his argument here, this is what he says, "I...I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord." Now all visions that he actually had would include a revelation, but not all revelations would be in the form of a vision. So he had visions and revelations. And I don't want to go through all of them, but you can read Acts 9, Acts 13, 16, 18, 20, 22, 23, 27 and he refers to visions and revelations and he had numerous ones, we don't have the time. Maybe in the net message I'll go into that. But he says, "Let me give you...let me give you the supreme of all the visions." And he had seen the Lord on the Damascus road, and he had seen the Lord come to him when he was in jail and he...and some incredible things when he was in Jerusalem and some incredible things were going to happen to that man, visions and revelations. But here's the one he chooses.
Verse 2, by the way, he received his gospel by revelation, too. Not in a vision form but by revelation. So God had directly spoken to him. God had given him visions and given him direct revelations. But he says in verse 2, "Let me pick the best one, I know a man," and there again is his humility, he...he...most people would say, "I went to heaven, folks, I went to heaven." He speaks in the third person, though, he says, "I know a man in Christ," that's a Christian who is in Christ, "I know a Christian who fourteen years ago..." What? You want to know something? He's just breaking 14 years of silence. Since he went to heaven he had never mentioned it for 14 years. It's not helpful. It's useless. What good is it for me to say to you, "I went to heaven." That doesn't help me, that just feeds my pride. That doesn't help you, it just makes you feel like you got left out. Well it doesn't help anybody. The man was so controlled and so humble that only these false teachers in Corinth to force him into saying something about a trip to heaven 14 years before that he had never spoken of since. Fourteen years of silence. That would have...if he wrote 2 Corinthians and he did about the end of 55 A.D. or the beginning of 56, it would put it in A.D. 41, 42 which would put it toward the end of the silent years of his life spent in Tarsus, according to Acts 9, Acts 11. Seven years about after his conversion in Damascus, he's gone for three, he comes back about four years later. It would have been right before he was commissioned in Acts 13 with Barnabas to go preach the gospel when he was a pastor at the church at Antioch, just before he was launched into his ministry. The Lord gave him this trip to heaven just before he was launched into his ministry in Acts 13.
You say, "Well why did the Lord do that?" Well because he was going to suffer so much. He was going to suffer more than any man had ever suffered in the redemptive preaching. He was going to suffer more pain than anyone ever had suffered. You know what I believe? I believe to galvanize him and to steel him and to strengthen him for all that suffering, the Lord literally gave him a glimpse of the glory that was to come, otherwise he couldn't have endured it. When he said in Philippians 1:23, "Far better for me to depart and be with Christ," he knew what he was talking about, he had been there. And when he said in Romans 8:18 that the sufferings of this world are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall come, he knew exactly what he was talking about because he saw the glory that was to come when he went there. And I believe that when he said, "I'd like to stay with you, but far better to be with Christ," boy, he knew exactly why it was far better. He'd been there. And I believe that God did that for him because of the immensity of the man's suffering.
And so he says, "Fourteen years ago whether in the body, I don't know, or out of the body, I don't know." I was reading one commentator who said, "Now let's look a little more deeply into what he said there." How could you look more deeply into it, he didn't even know what he said? Well how can...how can you...what is the depth of that? I have no idea, he didn't know either. This is one passage where I'm comfortable with my own ignorance cause if Paul doesn't understand, I don't understand either. What he is saying is, "I don't know if it was a rapture in which my body and soul both went, or whether my body stayed here and my soul went there, I don't know...I don't know. God knows, I don't know." So even he couldn't explain the nature of a vision. He just says, "I was just...I was just caught up, harpazan[?] in the Greek. It's the same word for rapture in 1 Thessalonians 4:17. It's a sudden snatching up. Fourteen years ago, he knew the time and he knew the reality of the event but he didn't know the nature of it. "All of a sudden I was in heaven and I don't know whether it was in my body and my soul together or whether it was just my soul and my body was down here. God knows, I don't know, but such a man was caught up to the third heaven." Third heaven is simply a Jewish way of expressing the abode of God. The first heaven is the atmospheric heaven, the air we breathe. The second heaven is the interplanetary or stellar heaven of celestial bodies, and that fills, as you well know, space. Beyond that is the third heaven where God lives. He says, "I went to where God was."
Wow! Then he repeats it in verse 3, "And I know how such a man whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know," just so we don't sit around and fuss and speculate, he repeats it. "God knows." Are you content to leave it there? Just leave it there. I don't want to say anymore than he said. "I was caught up into paradise." Paradise equals heaven.
But let me tell you about paradise, just briefly. Paradise is a Sanscrit in Persian. You know what it means? A walled garden. Have you ever heard of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon? Gardens were big in the ancient world, still in some places of that middle eastern world are very important. But a garden was a very, very important part of that society and the king's garden was the greatest garden of all. In fact, the Persian word for paradise from which the Greek word comes is "walled garden." When a Persian king wanted to confer the greatest honor on an individual, he would make him officially a companion of his garden, which meant that that individual was honored to the degree that he had the right to walk in the royal garden with the king in intimate companionship. And that's the word Paul uses for heaven, to walk in God's garden with Him. I was caught up to God's garden which further defines the third heaven. The third heaven they would know to be the abode of God and paradise would indicate that he was able to walk in companionship with God while he was there. Wow, that's the nature of life in heaven. Remember what Jesus said to the thief on the cross, Luke 23:43? He said, "Remember me when You enter into Your Kingdom," the thief did, you know. And Jesus said, "Today you'll be with Me in...you'll walk with Me in the garden." Paradise is the same as heaven. In Revelation 2:7 it says the Tree of Life is in paradise. In Revelation 22:14 it says the Tree of Life is in heaven. So paradise and heaven are the same.
And then he says this, "And I heard inexpressible words." And people say, "What did he hear?" I don't know what he heard, nobody knows what he heard. That's why it's not helpful to talk about this. I heard inexpressible words. Literally, unspeakable words. What are unspeakable words? The only words I know are words that are spoken. Do you know unspeakable words? You know what he meant? It was a language that not anything like...not like anything on earth. In other words, he heard things that couldn't be communicated on earth. He understood it in the heavenly realm, but no earthly words existed to convey it. And even if he could, he says, I wouldn't be permitted to speak because the veil between earth and heaven hasn't been removed.
And so, he's so reluctant. In fact, this is...he didn't like to talk about this because it made him proud and that's why...go over to verse 7 for a minute...because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, because of his trip to heaven, the Lord had to give me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger from Satan to buffet me to keep me from exalting myself.
You know, it's almost like, "You know, Lord, if I have to...I don't really need another trip to heaven if in order to equalize the deal You've got to send Satan after me. I just as soon not have the trip and then not have Satan." You know what I'm saying? I mean, all it did was elevate him to the point where the Lord had to drive a stake through his flesh to keep him humble. He hadn't even referred to it for 14 years cause it didn't help him and it couldn't help anybody else because it was...it was heavenly language that doesn't have earthly words. And the veil is not removed. This is a...this is the true apostle, you see it in this incredible, humble boasting.
Well next time we're going to have to talk about that thorn in the flesh, aren't we? Let's bow in prayer.
Father, this has been such a rich and wonderful glimpse of this man. We thank You so much for the model that he is of humility, weakness made perfect in Your strength. We know later on in chapter 12 he says, "When I am weak then I am strong." We know that in his weakness Your strength was perfected. We know for us that when we come to the end of our resources and have no confidence in ourselves, we become useful to you. We thank You for the testimony of Paul. We thank You for the testimony to the fact that we don't need visions and we don't need revelations, they're not useful. They tend to puff up the people who imagine that they've had them and they have no real value for the church which is built up and helped only through the Word. Thank You again for Your word to us, Lord. Thank You for saving us in Christ. Thank You for giving us the truth to guide us as we walk in Him. We pray in His name. Amen.


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Entry Information
You must be a 2012 USATF member to enter the Championships. If you do not have a 2012 membership, please complete a membership application first. You must also meet the eligibility requirements.
Important Documents
Entry Information
Entry Fees and Deadlines
All entrants will receive a commemorative championship Nike Dri-Fit shirt.
The entry fee for the Championships is $40. There is no additional fee for teams. Late entries incur an additional $25 late fee per athlete.
Online entries must be paid for by credit card ("Visa - the only credit card accepted by USATF") or electronic funds transfer ("electronic checks"). On-site entry fees may be paid at packet pick-up at the Meet Headquarters Hotel on Friday. Faxed and day-of-race entries will not be accepted. All fees are non-transferable and non-refundable.
Team and Individual Entries
All team entries should be completed using the Team Entry form. If athletes are not entered through the Team Entry form, the team must complete the Online Team Declaration form (see below) in order to indicate its scoring runners and form a scoring team.
Individuals not competing as part of a team should enter using the Individual Entry Form.
Entry Forms
Entry Process
Note that only six athletes are allowed to be on the final team declaration per event (eight for masters men's 40+ and 50+ teams; five for all other masters teams). The first six athletes (eight for masters men's 40+ and 50+ teams; five for all other masters teams) listed on your team's declaration shall comprise your club's declared team unless a revised team declaration is submitted no later than 5:00 p.m. ET, February 6, 2012. Revisions to final declarations may be submitted in-person at packet pick-up no later than 5:00 p.m. CT, February 10, 2012.
Teams: click here to declare and indicate your scoring runners

subset: commoncrawl


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Here's an excellent bicycle kick from Dundee United's David Goodwillie in their 2-2 Scottish Cup quarter-final draw against Motherwell.
There was definitely a foul in the build-up though.
EARLIER: Man We've Never Heard Of Scores On Bicycle Kick We'd Never Dream Of
This post, written by Richard Anderson, is republished with permission from The Spoiler. Go there often if you like soccer stuff.


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Obamacare a challenge, not a catastrophe
Are hundreds of thousands of Americans getting government money they aren't entitled to because of Obamacare? Illegal immigrants, too? Is it all further evidence that the Obama administration is incompetent and the system unworkable?
For critics of health-care reform, these are tempting conclusions to draw from reports that the Obama administration found nearly 3 million discrepancies between what enrollees reported when they signed up for Affordable Care Act insurance and what federal records show about them.
Tempting but overblown. There's more reason for encouragement from recent news about the act than there is to decry its problems.
Defying pessimistic predictions, more than half of those who signed up in the exchanges were previously uninsured, according to a June Kaiser Family Foundation survey. The law, then, has not served merely as a vehicle to move insured people from one plan to another. It is enrolling uninsured people, its main purpose. Among those who had insurance before, more reported lower bills under Obamacare than higher, and many in both groups no doubt have better coverage. Part of the reason is the financial help the government is providing. Some 87 percent of people enrolled in the exchange that the federal government runs for much of the country are taking government subsidies, and the average post-subsidy cost is a mere $82 a month.
But are those figures fraught with error or fraud? The Department of Health and Human Services' inspector general revealed last week that there were 2.9 million inconsistencies between the information insurance applicants submitted to the federal exchange and data about them in government records. Most discrepancies had to do with citizenship status or income, both of which determine people's eligibility for subsidies. The administration's flawed technical systems were unable to resolve the inconsistencies quickly, so they piled up, and officials are still working through them.
Many of these discrepancies are likely to be small – incorrect documentation, misspellings or a simple absence of available records for the government to consult. Another source of error is that the government is checking applications against old tax and pay records, but applicants reported current incomes. Many ostensible errors probably did not lead to improper payments.
Problems of this sort are inherent in creating a system to distribute any means-tested benefit to millions of people, in this case a benefit that seems to be doing a lot of good. The right response is to get better at catching and resolving errors faster, not to condemn the system.
People who are getting more than they're entitled to will be on the hook to pay some back next tax season, so the government must fix major discrepancies soon. It must also be ready for the next enrollment round. People will learn their 2015 premiums this fall. It will be as important as ever to have a functioning system in place to calculate their subsidies properly — and to serve the millions more expected to sign up next year.
The Obama administration, in other words, faces another Affordable Care Act management challenge, not a policy disaster.


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Sailors and spectators are invited to mark their diaries now for one of the world's oldest sailing regattas, incorporating events for all types of yachts big and small, dragon boats, tugboats, remote controlled yachts, and more. Harking back to the days when sailing was a true national sport, Auckland Anniversary Regatta is a spectacle of a birthday present for a city that is encircled by water.
"If you grew up in Auckland, you may have memories of getting up early on Auckland Anniversary Day to get down to the water," says regatta spokesperson, Eric Mahoney of the event that was founded 173 years ago to mark the city's birthday. "If you weren't going sailing, you were probably looking for a picnic spot with a view of the harbour, so you could watch hundreds of sails moving around the racecourse."
"The world has changed a lot over the decades, but Anniversary Regatta is still about one thing: boating. The classic yachts of yesterday are joined by grand prix race machines, children's dinghies, tug boats and dragon boats, and it all comes together for a fantastic spectacle."
Eric urges anyone that owns a boat to get it out on the water for Auckland Anniversary Regatta, and for anyone that knows someone who owns a boat, to convince them to take part in the festivities.
"There are 16 events happening in different parts of the Hauraki Gulf, starting at 10am on Monday 28 January," he says.
The regatta is designed for spectators, and times and places to watch from will be communicated closer to Anniversary Day.
Auckland Anniversary Regatta events include:
Tugboat Race
Waitemata Harbour Races (nine divisions for keelboats, tall ships and waka)
Harbour Challenge from Orakei Wharf – M Class, Flying 15, Sports Boats, Trailer Yachts etc, Trapeze/High Performance Dinghy, Skiffs, Foil Moths and all 'Off the Beach' multihulls
The Mahurangi to Orakei Wharf H28 Passage Racecourse
The Mahurangi to Princes Wharf Passage Race – for keelboats
The Ponui to Princes Wharf Passage Race
Centreboard racing
Kohimarama Yacht Club (P Class; Starling; Arrow; NS14; 420: Splash: 29er; RS:X; Techno 293 Boards)
Maraetai Sailing Club (Starlings)
Narrowneck Beach (Sea Scout Cutters)
Northcote-Birkenhead Yacht Club (Idle Along; Navy Crown; Y W Heron; X3; Optimist Green; 2.4 mR; Access Liberty; Jolly Boats)
Tamaki Yacht Club (Laser; Laser Radial; Laser 4.7; Mistral; Phase II)
Wakatere Boating Club (Sunburst, Hobie 16, Optimists)
Dragon Boat Racing at the Viaduct Harbour
Waka ama Canoes – Okahu Bay to Princes Wharf
Radio Controlled Yachts (Westhaven and Wattle Downs)
Full details of racing can be found at www.regatta.org.nz. Organisations supporting the event are the Royal New Zealand Navy, Classic Hits 97.4FM, the Spirit of Adventure Trust, The Southern Trust, The Lion Foundation, and Ports of Auckland Ltd.
By Zoe Hawkins for Auckland Anniversary Regatta Inc.


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Solomon R Hood
Civil War (Confederate) · Confederate Army
Conflict Period
Civil War (Confederate)
South Carolina
Fifth Cavalry Hi-Mc
Confederate Army
Served For
United States of America
Looking for more information about Solomon R Hood?
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Additional Info
- Owner:
- Fold3_Team - Anyone can contribute
- Created:
- 10/28/2013
- Modified:
- 10/28/2013
- View count:
- 8 (recently viewed: 1)


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|2009-07-15, 22:29
|Link #21
That's what has so many people up in arms.
|2009-07-15, 22:59
|Link #22
Senior Member
The game is more colorful than the anime BECAUSE of Alicia and Welkin not being neutered. Since Welkin had his balls cut in the conversion to anime, they needed a strong male to stand front, and they chose Faldio.
Game Welkin > Anime Faldio any second of any lifetime.
Game players know what I'm talking about when I say there is one scene where Welkin stands out like few male leads ever could...
|2009-07-15, 23:09
|Link #23
Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2006
|2009-07-16, 02:53
|Link #25
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Montreal, QC, Canada
Age: 35
I have watched countless anime and this is the first time I've seen something so disgusting on how to portray a protagonist. As someone wrote earlier, I feel the staff shot themselves in the foot by making Welkin so ignorant in almost everything. Since this anime is an adaptation from a game, I don't bother about small changes from the original scenario. However, changing completely a character to be different from the original... you can't do that. It's like violating the main essence of what makes this story as unique.
The problem isn't about Faldio who is getting more "aggressive", but rather on how Welkin's character has been lowered. How in heaven's sake can anybody even think Welkin's character can get better after everything we saw making him a poor protagonist so far? There's a limit in lowering a character and they crossed the line this time.
It should have been better if Welkin was kept to remain mostly his old self while Faldio would try what he does now and create consequently some real friction.
Last edited by KiraYamatoFan; 2009-07-16 at 03:04.
|2009-07-16, 04:19
|Link #26
Join Date: Aug 2007
when i first started watching this series, i thought, "hm. maybe they'll show welkin and alicia to be more like they were in the game after these first few episodes." but in reality, they decided to change welkin's character from a more realistic, dynamic personality to an overly ignorant and touchy-feely character. it doesn't even make sense to see how he can pull off the stuff he does in battle in the anime. he's just so passive, something he wasn't in the game. that's what i think is pissing a lot of fans, and me, off.
as for alicia, they pretty much said "well we went to one extreme with welkin, why dont we just set off a tsun bomb on alicia?"
and faldio? they sure get u into not liking faldio's actions really early in this anime compared to in the game...
|2009-07-16, 07:30
|Link #27
Senior Member
KiraYamatoFan said it best - problem is not in the Faldio being strong, problem is in Welkin being too weak, and it is not just the last couple of episodes that are setting us for the big come-back, no, the problem lies in this whole series, because Welkin feels like underdeveloped, boring and dumb character.
So why the complains about Faldio? It feels as if scriptwriters took the strength from Welkin just to make Faldio look more awesome. And it is not just in the last few episodes but during the whole series. They really went overboard and I doubt that even one major come-back by Welkin will set things right, since they already wasted not one or two but whole half of the series to make Faldio look like better lead than Welkin, and its not something one come-back can instantly reverse.
Sure Welkin will end up with Alicia and will be last minute hero and so on and so on, but again the lead is not the one who has best ending, but the one who drives the whole series, and that is something that Welkin hasn't done, at least to this point where we pass the half mark.
|2009-07-17, 01:51
|Link #29
Join Date: Dec 2003
Age: 36
|2009-07-17, 02:01
|Link #30
Senior Member
You are just pushing your personal opinion and bias.
Name the thread into something less offensive and then we can treat it as discussion thread. You are just generalizing everyones opinions based on your personal bias, so even if you move them here choose a better tittle, since the current one is not 'not hiding anything from game players who might be thinking of watching the anime', but is rather 'pushing my personal bias, because I am a mod'.
You shot yourself in the leg with this one, relentlessflame.
|2009-07-17, 02:04
|Link #31
Join Date: Dec 2003
Age: 36
"The Anime Sucks; I Think the Game Is Better"
Better now? For crying out loud...
Edit: Fine, whatever -- "Game/Anime Comparison Spoiler Thread" it is. Boring...
|2009-07-17, 04:09
|Link #32
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2006
Darn, I missed out on the original title .
By and large I've given up hope the anime will be comparable to the game in any way, but as just an anime I think it's not all that bad. Take away all the game bias and it turns into a pretty solid affair as far as I'm concerned.
That being said, they're really doing a number on Welkin's character as many have already pointed out. I'm particularly miffed with how they're handling his relationship with Isara, but then I guess they've changed her character a bit as well. I don't think she would have stood down to Rosie in the first place (avoiding the party). She was a much stronger character in the game I recall.
|2009-07-17, 04:37
|Link #33
Aimo ~ Tori no Hito
Join Date: Feb 2007
So since game spoilers are allowed here... how about l make my post productive....and ask what others think of the lack of mentioning lsara's dream...
so whut do you guys think?
|2009-07-17, 04:43
|Link #34
Beautiful fighter.
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: England, UK
Age: 32
|2009-07-17, 05:07
|Link #35
Aimo ~ Tori no Hito
Join Date: Feb 2007
Hmm l'm a bit conflicted....l wouldn't mind if that event would be removed or maybe altered and the that boy who has the crush on her would take her place.
But then again that event brought welkin and alicia real close.... so if it doesn't happen....then whut will bring those closer? god knows the anime version needs it more then the game version ever did so welkinxalicia's relationship can move foward.
|2009-07-17, 05:12
|Link #36
Beautiful fighter.
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: England, UK
Age: 32
|2009-07-17, 05:14
|Link #37
Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2006
Honestly, even if they do Isara's death, it will seem even more random and out of place than it did in the game.
I'm more wondering how the heck they're going to make Faldio suddenly decide to shoot Alicia given that essentially nothing says that his character to date has the mindset or the willpower to do so. He convinced himself over a period of months in the game... I'm betting if it does happen it will occur with a few moments' thought.
|2009-07-17, 05:22
|Link #38
Aimo ~ Tori no Hito
Join Date: Feb 2007
|2009-07-17, 05:24
|Link #39
Beautiful fighter.
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: England, UK
Age: 32
|Thread Tools


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|WW2 American Soldier Dog ID Tag
His dog tags were found in a field near Camp Howze in Gainsville Texas, and the person who found them wants to send them home.
This is Olive Tree Genealogy's Case #10. Hopefully we can add it to the "Dog Tag returned to family!" list.
The scan is a bit blurry but the name is Edward _ Jones. (I am not positive of that middle initial)
Here's hoping my readers can once again put their sleuthing hats on and help Megan find Edward's family or descendants.
Please see our other Soldiers' Dog Tags cases by clicking on the tab at the top of this blog. Some are solved and the dog tags have been returned to family, but others are waiting to go home


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All U.S. Census FREE ACCESS
Ancestry.ca is giving FREE ACCESS to ALL of the U.S. Census records (1790 - 1940) including the newly launched U.S. 1940's Census.
Free access to 713 million U.S. census records begins Wednesday August 29th - Monday September 3rd, 2012 on Ancestry.ca. To view a full list of the collections, go to Ancestry.ca
You can also search these census records for free on Ancestry.com during this time period.


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I am re-installing PocoMail after returning from living overseas during which time my computer was stolen. I have installed version 4 on my new system but am told I can only get validated on the original copy !! I am unable to do this and it seems unreasonable that I should have to pay to purchase again because my original validation code does not match with version 4. Would welcome view/advices of others similarly affected.
~ Moved from PocoMail ... Eric ~


text:
You'll love the brilliance and wearability of this timeless piece. The hand cut padparadscha sapphire sparkles from every angle with excellent color and clarity. For custom orders and enquiries contact: email@example.com Gemstone Information:
Complimentary worldwide delivery for all orders.
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Enjoy complimentary worldwide delivery for all orders
Every order is presented in beautiful packaging with a handwritten note
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Sixx: A.M. Announce '7' EP Featuring Stripped Down Versions of Songs
Super trio Sixx: A.M. includes Motley Crue bassist Nikki Sixx, DJ Ashba of Guns N'Roses and frontman James Michael, and the guys have released two studio albums together: 'The Heroin Diaries' and 'This Is Gonna Hurt.' On Dec. 13, the group is releasing a new collection of tracks, which aim to put a new spin on previously released songs.
Michael took to Sixx: A.M.'s official Facebook page to announce a venture to showcase previously released songs in a new light. "A couple of months ago, I asked all of you what songs from [the first two SIXX: A.M. albums] 'The Heroin Diaries' soundtrack and 'This Is Gonna Hurt' you would want to hear stripped down, pulled apart and reconstructed from a different perspective... your response was amazing and passionate... as a result, '7' was born."
He continued by saying that, "this was an incredible experience for the three of us because it caused us to explore way beyond the initial creations and rediscover the songs in a light that you helped us find."
The band's Facebook also teases, "BTW...'7' isn't the only Sixx: A.M. surprise coming your way! ... just when you thought you had it all figured out!!!"
Sixx: A.M.'s latest studio album, 'This Is Gonna Hurt,' has had much success with their singles 'Lies of the Beautiful People' and 'This Is Gonna Hurt.' The group are also planning to shoot a video in Los Angeles for their newest single 'Skin.'
Sixx: A.M. are up for Rock Song of the Year and Artist of the Year in the 2011 Loudwire Music Awards. Click here to vote now!


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The GraphLab Conference is a non-profit event organized by the open source branch of GraphLab, to promote graph/big data analytics technologies in industry. This year it will be the largest trade-show of graph based systems and large scale machine learning. The event will take place on Monday July 21, 2014 in San Francisco.
In 2013, we had 85% industry and 15% research labs and universities (around 570 data scientists, CTO, architects etc.). Last year's videos are here. More than 900 data scientists, software engineers and big data analytics thinkers are expected to be in attendance.
To date, we have received confirmations from the following companies Trifacta, Google, Microsoft, Datapad, Databricks (Spark), Pandora, Cloudera, Pivotal, Lab41, CMU and Adobe for oral presentations.
Other organizations will provide demos, including: GraphLab, Quantifind, bigML, Skytree, YarcData, Neo Technology, Franz, Atigeo, Georgia Tech, Alpine Data Labs, Cambridge Intelligence, wise.io, prediction.io, RapidMiner, Sqrrl, Grappa, Objectivity, Ayasdi, Aurelius, Sense, Petuum, Tom Sawyer Software, Oracle, iPython, Continuum Analytics, Systap, EPPICS, Sparsity Technologies, Domino Data Labs, Graphistry, Zipfian Academy, Telefonica, 0xdata, Cenzari (MusicGraph), Pacific Northwest National Lab, Zementis, Linkurious, ectML, CrossWise, Royal Caliber, Simularity, Ravel Law, Cytospace, Sumo Logic, Lumiata. View the full list of exhibitors here.
The event will be held July 21, 2014 at the Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason Street, San Francisco, CA 94102. Registration is open now. Get your conference tickets today!


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It is an accolade that is rare not only among Kentuckians, but among Americans as a whole. However, for one Oldham County student, it has become a reality. Maggie Stephens, a student at South Oldham High School, has earned a perfect score on the ACT.
The South Oldham Rotary Club had the pleasure of honoring the October Students of the Month at their Nov. 8 meeting.
What's the best lunch, one packed by your mom or bought at school? What is it?
I like to buy, when they have peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
What is the first thing you do when you get home from school?
Sit down and watch TV.
Favorite thing you did over the summer:
Played baseball, I play third place.
What do you like to do for fun?
Governor's Cup and typing out stories.
Favorite song:
"Kung Foo Fighting."
Favorite part of the school day:
Writing. Right now I'm typing a story on my computer at home.
What do you like best about your teacher?
She's super cool.
Favorite thing about school:
Last book you read:
"Woods Runner."
Last movie you saw:
What are you looking forward to most about the grade you're in this year?
The car unit, where we get to build our own cars.
What do you like to do for fun?
Play on my computer.
Favorite song:
"You're the Reason Why."
Favorite part of the school day:
What do you like best about your teacher?
She's nice.
Favorite place in your school?
Mrs. Stoess' room.
Favorite thing about school:
Science - anatomy.
Last book you read:
"Truth About Forever."
Last movie you saw:
"The Karate Kid."
What do you think will be your hardest class this year?
AP English 3.
What will be your easiest class?
Favorite thing about school:
I like that I get to be with my friends.
Last book you read:
"Skeleton Creek."
Last movie you saw:
The Oldham Era recently featured Crestwood resident Clint Tyler as a Student of the Week. He's a student at South Oldham Middle School.
Copyright © 2019
The Oldham Era is your source for local news, sports, events, and information in Oldham County and LaGrange, Kentucky, and the surrounding area.


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James DeGale
- Full name James DeGale
- Birth date February 3, 1986
- Birth place Hammersmith
- Current age 33 years 142 days
- Height 6 ft 1 in
Olympic champion James DeGale bounced back from the disappointment of a loss to rival George Groves by winning the European super-middleweight title in his next bout.
Following a middleweight gold medal in Beijing, DeGale had his first professional fight in February 2009, and soon established himself as a charismatic presence, given to lambasting opponents whenever he could.
In December 2010 against Paul Smith, he claimed the British title at 12 stone. Smith had all the experience, but DeGale was just too quick and too powerful, showing he had the ring craft to live up to his inflammatory rhetoric.
But six months later, DeGale was brought crashing down to earth when he came off worse in a tight points decision against Groves. He still managed to get a European title shot in his subsequent bout, triumphing against Piotr Wilczewski despite being in serious peril during the fifth round.
He successfully defended the belt against former world champion Cristian Sanavia in April 2012, stopping the Italian in the fourth, but elected to vacate the title in December after claiming the vacant WBC Silver super-middleweight belt with a points victory over Fulgencio Zuniga as he steps up his pursuit of a top world title.
Career high: Winning the 2008 Olympic gold medal
Career low: Losing to Groves
Quote: On the mixed reaction he has received from crowds: "I'm the Marmite of boxing."
Trivia: DeGale's dad won £11,000 when he bet on his son to win gold at the 2008 Olympics
- Groves wants Froch before DeGale (Jun 18, 2013)
- DeGale eyes rematch with Groves (Jun 9, 2013)
- DeGale believes he'd 'destroy' Froch's career (Jun 6, 2013)
- DeGale to take on Bozic (May 29, 2013)
DeGale batters Demers and sets sights on world title (May 18, 2013)
View the full list of related articles »
Jun 8, 2013
© PA Photos
Jun 8, 2013
© PA Photos
Jun 8, 2013
© PA Photos
Jun 8, 2013
© PA Photos
View the full list of related photos »


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Degree and Certificate Programs
RCC offers six two-year degrees, 75 career and technical training programs and a variety of workforce and short-term training.
Classes are offered day, evening, weekends and online. Getting started at RCC
Academic Success
- Courses are available if your placement tests indicate a need for writing, reading, mathematics, or study skills improvement. Tutoring assistance is provided if you are enrolled in credit classes.
Associate of General Studies
- Provides the opportunity to acquire a broad education rather than pursuing a specific college major.
Associate of Science (AS)
- Prepares students for transferring to baccalaureate degree programs in applied areas. The AS degree allows you to focus on a particular discipline based upon signed articulation agreements with the universities that have agreed to accept RCC students.
Basic Skills Programs
- ABS offers instruction in areas such as reading, writing, and mathematics. This instruction is provided through Adult Basic Skills programs for General Educational Development (GED®), and English as a Second Language (ESL).
Career and Technical Programs
- These programs lead to a certificate or Associate of Applied Science (AAS) degree and are designed for career entry upon completion.
Career Pathways Certificate
- CPC certificates open the door to a solid start in obtaining your employment and educational goals. Each certificate requires just a few courses. You decide how far you want to go, at a pace that is comfortable for you.
College Transfer
- Completing the Associate of Arts/Oregon Transfer degree assures you junior-level standing and the completion of general education requirements at any public institution in the Oregon University System. Completion of this degree is considered the best preparation for transfer to out-of-state or private institutions.
Focus Award
- Recognizes student achievement in a specific topic or theme and may be earned in combination with a certificate or degree. Classes may transfer to a variety of programs at a four-year college or university as elective credits, program requirements, and/or graduation requirements for the receiving institution.


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Asian American Studies
Welcome to the Asian American Studies program at California State University, Sacramento! We are an academic program that is meeting the needs of a dynamic and growing community. According to the 2000 Census, Sacramento is now the city with the 10th largest Asian American and Pacific Islander population in the United States. The program's dedicated faculty is nationally recognized for their teaching skills, scholarly activities, and community service.
The Asian American Studies program enables students to develop critical thinking skills, competencies, and sensibilities to appreciate, contribute, and thrive in a culturally diverse world. The goal of the Asian American Studies program is to promote a better understanding of Asian Pacific Americans and their contributions to U.S. society.


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The Global Antistatic Vinyl Tile Market Research Report 2017 give insights upon the world's major regional market conditions of the Antistatic Vinyl Tile industry which mainly focus upon the main regions which include continents like North America, Europe and Asia and the main countries i.e. United States, Germany, Japan and China.
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The Global Antistatic Vinyl Tile Market Research Report 2017 is a professionally prepared report that offers in -depth knowledge as well as information regarding the Antistatic Vinyl Tile industry with respect to definitions, classifications, applications, industry chain overview; industry policies as well as plans, product specifications; manufacturing processes, cost structures etc.
It properly analyzes the world's major regions market conditions and helps the established players as well as the new entrants with a comprehensive insight of the current situation in the Antistatic Vinyl Tile industry. With the complete framework as well as details one is able to prepare and have an edge over the competitors across the targeted locations.
The report is broadly divided into six parts and each part focus upon the industry overview, condition of the Antistatic Vinyl Tile Industry, the investment feasibility as well as various policies and strategies. The report begins with the Antistatic Vinyl Tile Industry Overview which is based upon by the classifications, specifications, modifications. It also talks about the analysis of the import and export and draws a market comparison focussed upon the Development Trend. Furthermore, the report talks about the complete analysis of the raw materials as well as demand and supply of the Antistatic Vinyl Tile.
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In order to prepare the report, all the important details, strategies and variables are studied so that all the useful information is blended together for the purpose of the study and understanding the major facts about the Global Antistatic Vinyl Tile Industry. The production value and market share along with the SWOT analysis everything is included in the report.
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Some points from TOC:-
Part I Antistatic Vinyl Tile Industry Overview
Chapter One Antistatic Vinyl Tile Industry Overview
1.1 Antistatic Vinyl Tile Definition
1.2 Antistatic Vinyl Tile Classification Analysis
1.2.1 Antistatic Vinyl Tile Main Classification Analysis
1.2.2 Antistatic Vinyl Tile Main Classification Share Analysis
1.3 Antistatic Vinyl Tile Application Analysis
1.3.1 Antistatic Vinyl Tile Main Application Analysis
1.3.2 Antistatic Vinyl Tile Main Application Share Analysis
1.4 Antistatic Vinyl Tile Industry Chain Structure Analysis
1.5 Antistatic Vinyl Tile Industry Development Overview
1.5.1 Antistatic Vinyl Tile Product History Development Overview
1.5.1 Antistatic Vinyl Tile Product Market Development Overview
1.6 Antistatic Vinyl Tile Global Market Comparison Analysis
1.6.1 Antistatic Vinyl Tile Global Import Market Analysis
1.6.2 Antistatic Vinyl Tile Global Export Market Analysis
1.6.3 Antistatic Vinyl Tile Global Main Region Market Analysis
1.6.4 Antistatic Vinyl Tile Global Market Comparison Analysis
1.6.5 Antistatic Vinyl Tile Global Market Development Trend Analysis
Chapter Two Antistatic Vinyl Tile Up and Down Stream Industry Analysis
2.1 Upstream Raw Materials Analysis
2.1.1 Upstream Raw Materials Price Analysis
2.1.2 Upstream Raw Materials Market Analysis
2.1.3 Upstream Raw Materials Market Trend
2.2 Down Stream Market Analysis
2.1.1 Down Stream Market Analysis
2.2.2 Down Stream Demand Analysis
2.2.3 Down Stream Market Trend Analysis
Part II Asia Antistatic Vinyl Tile Industry (The Report Company Including the Below Listed But Not All)
Chapter Three Asia Antistatic Vinyl Tile Market Analysis
3.1 Asia Antistatic Vinyl Tile Product Development History
3.2 Asia Antistatic Vinyl Tile Competitive Landscape Analysis
3.3 Asia Antistatic Vinyl Tile Market Development Trend
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