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This morning, let's open our Bibles to our study of 2 Timothy verses 6 through 8 in chapter 1...the very first chapter of 2 Timothy. We're really just getting started in completing this first chapter which is in many ways introductory. I would remind you that at the writing of this, the Apostle Paul is facing death. He is looking, as it were, down the barrel of the gun that will take his life, or rather at the blade of the axe that will sever his head. He realizes it is only a brief time. In chapter 4 he said, "I am ready to be offered and the time of my departure has arrived." He is at the very end. He is in a dungeon in Rome. The ministry that God had given to him has been completed. He has finished the course. He has kept the faith. He awaits his reward.
But before he exits this world, having fulfilled faithfully that which God commissioned him to do, he writes this letter to his beloved son in the faith to encourage Timothy to carry on. Timothy, as we have been learning, was a bit on the timid or meek side, tended to be easily intimidated by those who were opposing him, whether in the church or outside the church and perhaps was in a time at the very writing of this epistle when he desperately needed to be strengthened and called to courage. So it is important for Paul as he is ready to give his life for Christ to call on Timothy to carry on the work. The strength of Timothy's testimony could be that which impacted so many many many other people, positively or negatively.
Now as we have learned as Paul writes this epistle, its intention is to strengthen him. That's...that's kind of the key and it is in chapter 2 verse 1 that Paul says that, "Be strong in the Lord," which may be the focal point of all that he says. But here in chapter 1 before he gets into specific exhortations as to how Timothy is to carry on the work, he calls for Timothy to have the right attitude, underlying what he does is the way he feels and how he thinks. And the attitude that Paul knows Timothy must have is an attitude of great courage. And so here in verses 6 to 18 three times there is mention the idea of not being ashamed of Christ...once in verse 8, once in verse 12, and once in verse 16. And that's the theme here. Timothy, you cannot be ashamed of Christ. If you're going to be effective you have to be bold, you have to be courageous, you have to take your stand and then you will influence others and then you will advance the Kingdom.
I was reading this week about the Boxer(?) rebellion years ago in China and the rebels captured one of the mission stations and they sealed off every exit to the mission station except one gate which they left open. They took a cross and they put the cross down in the dirt in the center of that gate and they said to all of the missionaries and all of the students that were there, for it was some kind of a mission school, that they were to walk out that gate and if they would trample the cross under their feet they would go free. And the record states that the first seven students trampled the cross under their feet and were allowed to go free. The eighth student was a young girl who came to the cross, knelt down, prayed for strength, stood up, walked around the cross right into the firing squad. Ninety two of the remaining students which was all that were left did the same thing and walked to their death rather than deny Christ and trample His cross. The strength infused into the ninety two from the strength of the one girl. What a tremendous lesson that is in the possibility of the impact of a courageous life. And as you and I live courageously for the cause of Christ, as we live unashamedly for the cause of Christ, we have a tremendous impact. And that's what Paul wants Timothy to have.
But how? How is it that you can be impactful for Christ? Well you have to be a fanatic of sorts. I was reading a book this week by Lloyd Billingsly in which he said, "This is the age of fanaticism." He said, "If you don't think this is the age of fanaticism, then ask yourself how much a fanatic a person has to be to murder the baby in their womb, that's fanatical behavior." The fact that a mother would murder her own infant in the protected place of the womb means that that woman for some philosophical or personal reason is an incredible fanatic. That they would do that kind of bizarre behavior and not be ashamed but rather flaunt it is a commentary on the fanaticism of that kind of behavior, that kind of attitude. And yet when we come to Christianity, how few fanatics there are. And those who are fanatics seem so to be looked down on not only by the world but often by the church. Paul is calling for some fanaticism here. He's calling for a level of commitment that says, "I really don't care what the world has to say, I know what I'm mandated to be and do and that's what I'll be and that's what I'll do. I will boldly stand for Christ."
It wasn't easy for Timothy because there was internal pressure in the church at Ephesus where Timothy was laboring. The church had gone corrupt. It had bad leaders and it was full of sin. Not only that there was persecution coming on the outside because Nero had blamed the Christians for burning Rome and that persecution had ended up in Paul being incarcerated and Timothy knew because of his association to Paul that he was also vulnerable. And so Paul writes to strengthen this young man in his mid thirties and strengthen him in the faith so that he can carry on the work.
Now we've already learned that their first...the first four elements that Paul talks about to strengthen him are very very important. The first thing he says in verse 6 is to renew your gift. "And for this reason I remind you...the reason being because of your true faith, that you're a genuine believer...I remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands." Every true Christian has a gift. Paul says, "Timothy, you have a spiritual gift. You have a capacity energized by the Holy Spirit to preach, teach, lead, evangelize. You can't let that fall into disuse. Fan the flame. Don't let it die. Kindle it afresh, renew your gift." And I've been saying to you that courage initially in ministry rises out of a sense of giftedness. I can be bold and unashamed and courageous when I know that I'm doing what God has gifted me to do. Now if I was trying to do something that I had no aptitude or skill to do, I might well be embarrassed to do it. But why would I be embarrassed to do that which God has designed, gifted me to do? Courage then rises initially out of a sense of giftedness, that I have been enabled by the Holy Spirit, infused with a spiritual gift for the purpose of ministry in the name of Christ and for the advancement of His Kingdom. And if I know that I am divinely prepared and enabled to serve Christ and to proclaim His name and to represent Him and to build His body, then I have to do what I was designed to do. And frankly, if I don't do that I have violated the very reason for my existence. Not to use my spiritual gift is to place myself in a mode where I might as well be dead as far as usefulness to the church or the Kingdom. If I am not doing what God designed me to do, if I'm trying to preserve my life so I say I don't want to do that, I might lose my life, and then I do with my life something that God never designed for me to do, I might as well lose my life. Better that you should do what you're designed to do and lose your life then save your life by not doing what you were designed to do. What gain is there in that?
So the sense of giftedness is where he starts with Timothy. You've been given a gift. That gift has been affirmed to you by prophecy, by the laying on of my hands, by the laying on of the hands of the elders of your own church. You know what it is. You know what you're to do, now get on with it and do it with great courage because God has designed you to be able to do it.
Secondly, consider your resources. If you're timid, he says in verse 7, God has not given us a spirit of timidity, if you are unashamed...if you are rather ashamed or if you are weak or if you are a bit intimidated, if you are cowardly, you didn't get it from God. What God has given you, already you have it, is power, love and discipline. Power because Jesus said you will receive power after the Holy Spirit has come upon you, Acts 1:8, every believer has the Spirit, every believer has power. Not only that, Romans 5:5 says the love of God is shed abroad in your hearts. You have that love. Furthermore, the fruit of the Spirit is self-control or discipline, Galatians 5:23. You have power, you have love, you have discipline. You have the power to minister effectively. You have the love of God and the love of men that draws you into ministry. And you have the ability in the Holy Spirit to construct your life, order your life, prioritize your life to get the maximum effect. Those are your divine resources.
So, Timothy, renew your gift, that is take a good hard look at what you've designed...been designed to do and consider the resources God has given you in which to do that. Thirdly, and this is very important, accept your suffering, verse 8, "Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me as prisoner but join with me in suffering for the gospel." Anticipate it. Expect it. If you buy into the health, wealth, prosperity lie, if you buy into what really is a Satanic message that Jesus wants you only happy, only content, only fully well healed, prosperous, healthy, no problems, cashing in on every possible goodie that you could ever imagine, if you buy into that theology then you start to suffer, something's going to go wrong at the very core of your life because it will be totally contrary to what you expected from God. But you need to anticipate suffering. You need to anticipate opposition. You need to anticipate that the truth of God thrown into the midst of an ungodly world is going to get a negative reaction. Opposition is inevitable, it goes with ministry. Loyalty to the gospel means conflict with Christ-rejectors. Learn to expect it.
In fact, I've learned to expect it as a confirmation that I'm doing the right thing. That's part of it.
Fourthly, we saw, remember your God. Verse 8, he speaks of the power of God and then defines that power of God as demonstrated in its greatness in salvation, the saving work. "Who has saved us," took great power to do that, save us from hell and death and sin and Satan, "and has called us into a holy calling," that has not only saved us but made us holy who were unholy. And He did it all, and this is the thing you want to underline, "Not according to our works but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity." Now let me give you the perspective. Way back literally from before eternal times, the Greek says, God purposed in His own mind by grace to save us in Christ and make us holy and He did the whole thing beginning to end not according to our...what?...works. Now get the picture. He did it all without us. That's the idea. He did it all without us. And then He revealed it in verse 10, He now has revealed it by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, that is His appearing in resurrection, who abolished death and brought life and immorality (immortality) to light through the gospel. He did the whole saving work by His own plan through His own Son. He saved us. He made us holy. He gave us life. And He planned it all and did it all without us. And what Paul is saying is remember your God, the God who saved you without your help will also be able to preserve you without your help, so you don't have to orchestrate your life for its own protection. Do you understand that? Boy, that's a tremendous truth.
I don't have to spend my time trying to design a comfortable life because I'm responsible to protect myself. Remember your God, he says. And you remember in 1 Peter 4:19, "Therefore let those also who suffer according to the will of God entrust their souls to a faithful creator." Give yourself to God. You remember in the fiery furnace the friends of Daniel said, "You can throw us in the fiery furnace but our God will deliver us," Daniel 3:15 to 17? The Apostle Paul writing to the Philippians said, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Remember your God.
If you approach ministry that way, you approach it in a way that's going to give you courage. You renew your gift, you consider your resources, you accept suffering as inevitable. And you remember the God who from eternity past planned the plan of redemption, brought it to appearing in Jesus Christ, saved you, made you holy, gave you life. That same God is your God. So remember the power of God.
Now let's look at the last four. Number five in our list, realize your duty...realize your duty. Paul then transitions in verse 11 in this rather personal section here to a look at his own life and ministry. "For which...referring back to the gospel, the gospel...for which I was appointed a preacher and an Apostle and a teacher; for this reason I also suffer these things." Now we'll stop at that point.
Paul says because of the gospel, I...that's in the emphatic position in the Greek...I myself was appointed by God, epithan(?), literally given a divine commission. Paul on the Damascus Road was commissioned by God, he was chosen as a vessel unto God. Ananias got the word from the Lord and passed it on to Paul in Acts 9. He was chosen as a vessel by God to serve in preaching the gospel. He says in Acts 20, "I do not consider my life dear to myself. I only want to finish the work the Lord has given me, namely preaching the gospel." I'm not in to self- preservation, I'm in to duty...I'm in to duty. I have been called and commissioned. Just like the Apostles, Jesus had said to them, "Go into all the world and make disciples," so to Paul Jesus on the Damascus Road said you're a chosen vessel, go and preach My name. "And this He spoke concerning the things that Paul would suffer in that preaching." In Colossians 1:23 he said, "I was made a minister." I didn't choose it, I was made a minister. In 1 Corinthians 9 he said, "Don't commend me, I didn't choose to do this. If I do it I do it because God compelled me. Woe is unto me if I don't do it, so don't honor me, pray for me, I didn't choose to do it and I'm in great trouble if I don't do it right." I have this tremendous fear, he says in 1 Corinthians 9:27, that I might be a castaway, useless to God because of some sin. I'm in duty to serve Him with my whole heart.
So, Paul had a great sense of duty. Now what specifically was his duty? Well he was appointed a preacher, that talks about function. That means a proclaimer, a herald, one who announces publicly a message. Secondly, an Apostle, that speaks of his authority. As an Apostle he was chosen directly by Jesus Christ and he had a divine commission. So I am a divinely commissioned and sent preacher. Thirdly, a teacher speaks of his content. Preacher is function, Apostle is authority and teacher is content...to teach, that is to disseminate the truth of God. That's how he sees himself. You ask Paul to identify himself, he says I have been sent as an Apostle under authority to communicate the truth of God through proclamation. That's his calling. That's my duty, he says. And for this reason, verse 12, "For this reason I also suffer." For what reason, Paul? For doing my duty. I suffer because I preach. I suffer because I preach truth. I suffer because I claim to be the representative of God who preaches truth, that's why I suffer. I bear in my body, Galatians 6, the marks of Christ. In other words, they're whipping me because I'm so identified with Christ. They would rather whip Christ but He's not around so they whip me instead. I suffer all these things, he says, for the sake of the gospel. That's the reason I suffer. Imprisonment...that's the reason I have been shipwrecked, that's the reason I have been stoned, that's the reason I have been beaten with whips and beaten with rods and all that chronicle of things he gives in 2 Corinthians chapter 11. That's the reason I'm in jail right now, I'm in a dungeon, a stinking smelly hole in the ground. I'm here. I'm suffering because of my duty...my commission. And he loved it though it brought him great pain.
It's a bittersweet thing. John had the same experience in Revelation when he ate the little book and it was sweet in his mouth and bitter in his belly. There's a bittersweet thing in ministry. Spurgeon really put his finger on it beautifully when he wrote, "A man shall carry a bucket of water on his head and be very tired with the burden. But that same man when he dives into the sea shall have a thousand buckets on his head without perceiving their weight because he is in the element entirely surrounds him. The duties of holiness are very irksome to men who are not in the element of holiness. But when once those men are cast into the element of grace then they bear ten times more and feel no weight but are refreshed thereby with joy unspeakable." That's a beautiful thought. Ministry and duty can be a tremendous burden if you're not in the element of holiness. But once you get in the very element of ministry and duty and holiness and grace and you begin to function as a way of life, then no single duty is a burden at all, it is a joy unspeakable.
Someone said to me yesterday, "How do you do it? How do you keep sustaining sermon after sermon, two sermons a week and writing and how do you do that week after week, year after year? That seems to me to be an overwhelming duty." I didn't know how to answer that because to me it is not a burden. I don't sense it as a burden. People say, "Well, that's like writing two major term papers every week and then having them scrutinized by six thousand people on Sunday morning and another two or three thousand Sunday night and thousands all over the world on tape. How do you do that? Isn't that a burden?" That has never been a burden to me, that is a joy to me because I am in the element of doing what God has designed for me to do and it bears no weight upon me. What is the burden to me is my sin and my weakness, not in my duty.
You know, duty can be the greatest joy or the deepest pain. And I'll tell you how. You do it and it provides the greatest joy. You don't do it and it provides the deepest pain. Duty undone is a killer. There are men whose lives are a shattered pot, as it were, or a vase simply because of duty undone. They've disintegrated. They've come to pieces. There is no evil that can bring such great retribution to the mind of man as the evil of a duty undone. There is no joy that is greater than a duty fulfilled. And I pray that God will give us the grace to do our duty. Paul says, "Look, I suffer these things because I was appointed to do this," very much like the gift point in verse 6. We have a duty. We are bound to do this. There is not a decision to be made. We are compelled to do it. So that's a very important thing, understand your duty.
Number six, and we get into a beautiful truth here, trust your security, verse 12...trust your security. Look at this, "But I am not ashamed even though I suffer...why?...for I know, I know..." Now stop there for a minute. "I know" is oida along with ginosko, it has the idea of knowing something because you have perceived it with your senses and come to the conclusion that it's true. And he's kind of summing up his testimony here. Others may be ashamed, I'm not ashamed. Others may want to deny Christ, I won't. Others may want to be cowards, I won't. Others may defect, I won't. Why? "For I know," in other words, I personally have come to grasp something...what is it? "Whom I have believed." And whom had he believed? The Lord. He says, "I know first hand and personally the Lord. I can't bail out. Too much intimacy. My faith is a fully settled faith in the one I have personally experienced." Literally, "in whom I have believed" is a perfect-tense verb which means in the past he did it with continuing results. I continue to believe in the one I have already believed in. My faith is in the Lord. This could refer to God, revealed in Christ, and can refer to the Savior Christ Jesus mentioned in verse 10. I really think it's just general for specific reasons it refers to both. The Lord, the Lord God and the Lord Christ...literally I know by personal experience and observation the one whom I have trusted.
Please notice it's not in what I have believed, it's in whom I have believed. The thing that sustained him in suffering was not his theology, it was his God. Do you understand the difference? The thing that sustained him in trials was not doctrine, but fellowship...basic. So he says I know whom I have believed. And because I know Him, follow the verse, "I am convinced." Beautiful word, wonderful thought, I am persuaded, I am utterly confident, "That He is able...dunatos...powerful enough, powerful enough to guard...that's a military term, it literally means to guard...to guard what I have entrusted...that's one word, paratheke, the deposit, the deposit.
Now let me give you the big picture. Paul says I minister unashamedly, I suffer unashamedly because I trust my security. Nothing can take me out of the hand of God. Nothing can pull me out of the love of Christ. I know that. I know by personal experience. You remember, this is the end of his life. I have been through years and years of trials and years and years of tests and years and years of struggles. I have seen the power of God again and again and again. I have seen Him heal. I have seen Him save. I have seen Him do providentially things that had no other explanation than the evasion of God. I have seen it all. I have walked with Him. I have seen the living Christ three times, in personal experience he had. He had ascended to the third heaven, seen things too wonderful to speak. He knew God. He knew Him intimately, personally by experience and observation. And knowing Him in that way, "I am absolutely convinced that He will guard my deposit." And what was the deposit? His life...his life, his soul, his ministry, his time, his eternity, everything he was. I don't have any fear because I trust my security. Boy, what a way to live. I just give my life to God and go on about my business. That's the confidence that you have to have. I made a deposit with God. What did you deposit? Paul, I deposited Paul. I said, "Here, God, here's Paul. Have him. I no longer count him dear to my life or to myself, I'm not interested in preservation, I'm interested in duty. He's yours, take care of him. When You want him to go, he goes."
So, his confidence didn't come from a creed, it didn't come from a theology, it didn't come from an association, it didn't come from a denomination, didn't come from an ordination, it didn't come from anything other than a personal intimate first- hand relationship with the living God whom he so implicitly trusted that he simply gave him his life and went on about his business. In fact, I personally believe that he wished the Lord would hurry up his death timetable. I think he kind of felt in his heart that he was sort of overstaying in this world. He was ready to be offered. He says that in chapter 4.
So he says I trust my security. He'll be able to keep me. Now notice this, marvelous truth, the end of verse 12, "Until that day." What day? What day is "that day?" Look at verse 18, "The Lord grant to him to find mercy from the Lord on that day." What day is that day? Chapter 4 verse 8, "In the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on...what?...that day and not to me but also to all who have loved His appearing." All believers. All believers are going to have a day when they receive the crown of righteousness. On that day. What day is that? That's the day when the Lord comes to reward His church. That day, the day of rewards, the day of the judgment seat of Christ. Romans 14:10 talks about the judgment seat of Christ, 2 Corinthians 5:9 and 10 talks about the judgment seat of Christ. There's coming a day when Jesus will come to reward us. Revelation 22:12, "Behold I come quickly and My reward is with Me to give to every man according as his work shall be." So the Lord Jesus, I believe, takes the church up in the Rapture and right after that we come to what's called the Bema and we receive rewards. That's what Paul is saying. I know that the Lord is able to hold on to my life until I stand that day to receive my eternal reward. That's confidence, isn't it? I trust my security. I don't need to preserve my life. I believe in Him who is able to keep me from falling and present me blameless before His throne, Jude 24 says. I believe in the God out of whose hands I can never be plucked, John 10. I believe in the words of Jesus that all that the Father gives to Me shall come to Me and I have lost none of them but will raise him up at the last day. Paul is saying I'm going to go and give my life and abandon my life to the cause of Christ because I trust my security. And my security is the Lord Himself.
So what is there to preserve? Does He need me to do that? Does He need me to make sure everything works out right? No, we have supreme assurance. Oh what a marvelous thing. Just imagine if that one doctrine wasn't true. Just imagine if everything in the gospel was true except the fact that the Lord kept you saved. How would you like that? What a horrible horrible fearful omission that would be. But you can trust your life to the Lord and not all the demons in hell can touch you. Great truth. So you want to be courageous, renew your gift, consider your resources, accept your suffering, remember your God, realize your duty and trust your security. Number seven, affirm your doctrine...affirm your doctrine. Boy, this is so important. He says to Timothy, "Look, now, retain the standard of sound words which you have heard from me in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. Guard through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us the treasure which has been entrusted to you." He just talked about...Paul just talked about his life being entrusted to God, now he talks about God entrusting the treasure to Timothy. It goes both ways.
What's he talking about? He's talking about doctrine. Go back to verse 13, "Retain" means to hold tightly or firmly, to grasp, hold tightly to the standard, hupotuposis, it means the structure, the outline, the model, the pattern of sound words, healthy wholesome life-giving words...true doctrine, truth. That term is used in 1 Timothy, the strength of calling this young man to hold to truth and sound doctrine, so much at the heart of everything that Paul instructed him. In fact, you remember that we said at the close of the first epistle, you look at it there, chapter 6 verse 20 when we were studying this, "O Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you." And what was entrusted to him? The truth, sound doctrine...sound doctrine.
Let me put it to you very simply, folks. The reason most people don't have the courage of their convictions is because they don't have convictions. Before you can put your life on the line for what you believe, you have to believe it. And I was on a radio talk show this last week and I said, "Do you know what I believe is plaguing America..." they were asking about what I thought was tragic about the PTL scandal and I said, "what is tragic in my mind is abysmal mistreatment of the Word of God but the fact that the church and so many people who call themselves Christians weren't particularly concerned about this until it finally exploded." In other words, people are all in the name of love wanting to accept any kind of theology that allows for anything. And the reason we don't have the courage of our convictions is because we don't have the convictions to start with. So he is saying guard the truth, verse 14, retain the standard of sound wholesome life-giving words, be committed to the proper theological structure, the proper interpretation of Scripture, the proper outline of the truth that produces spiritual growth, spiritual maturity. Have a theology. We live in a time in the Christian church when the church is atheological. In fact, if you hold firmly strong doctrine people think you're unloving and antagonistic. And sermonettes for Christianettes and pious platitudes and atheological kind of sort of Pablum stuff that's being passed off as Bible teaching is woefully lacking in building backbone into Christian people because it has no sense of conviction. People want to hear fair speeches and words that tickle their ears and make them feel good about themselves. So he says hold to the truth.
And, beloved, I'm just telling you this, part of courage in ministry comes because you have such strong convictions. People with strong convictions tend to be bold. But notice the balance of it in verse 13. While you're retaining this structure and pattern of sound words which you have heard from me, that's the apostolic doctrine that Paul had passed to Timothy under the inspiration of the Spirit of God, he says the things that you have heard that you're holding on to, retain in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. What does he mean by that? He means you hold them first with a right attitude toward God, that is trustingly in faith. Don't hold your theology with doubt, hold your theology with faith. Don't have a theology that is a theology of doubt...well, I think I know what I believe, but I'm not sure, I was surer a few weeks ago before I read this, now I don't know if I know anymore...don't hold your theology in doubt, hold it in faith and hold it in love. Speak the truth in love, it says in Ephesians 5..4:15. Speak the truth in love. So you hold it in faith, not wavering, as James says, "If anybody wavers he's like a man who's tossed and driven by the sea," unstable soul. Don't be like that. Don't have doubt. Be assured that what you believe is true. Don't have a doubting orthodoxy, and don't have a dead orthodoxy, a loveless cold insensitive orthodoxy.
So, retain it but hold it with faith toward God and love toward man. In that way you'll be doing it in the Spirit of Christ Jesus who provides that faith and provides that love. And then verse 14 he says the same thing another way. "Guard..." keep safe, it means, preserve from corruption or destruction. He sees Timothy as a defender of the faith. "Guard through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us." Romans 8:9 says that every Christian has the Holy Spirit, "If any man have not the Holy Spirit, he's none of His." So everyone has the Holy Spirit who knows Christ. And he says the Spirit is in us. Then through His power guard...what?...the treasure...that's that paratheke...which has been entrusted to you. And what is the treasure? Truth, the Word of God. I said this when we studied 1 Timothy 6:20 and 21, we are as a church the guardians of the truth. That's our primary function. We are to guard the truth. We are to secure the truth. We are to hold to the truth. I said yesterday at a meeting we had at the college to some people who were visiting, the primary role of this institution is the same as it is the church, that is to guard the truth, to raise up a generation of young men and women who will hold to the truth, who will retain the truth, who will pass the truth on. That's the issue. What a challenge.
Now the deposit of my life with God is secure, how secure is the deposit of God's Word with me? Boy, I tell you, those people who defect, those colleges and seminaries and churches and so forth that deviate from the Word of God will indeed have a day of accounting to face because they have done the one thing that God warned not to do and that is they have failed to retain the truth. They have failed to guard the truth...the treasure, the deposit that was entrusted to you. God has entrusted His Word to me. This is the most solemn responsibility that I have in my life. And I have a solemn responsibility for the trust of my wonderful wife. I have a solemn responsibility for the trust of my dear children. But they combined do not come to the level of the trust that I have to maintain the integrity of the Word of God. That's the most sacred trust I have. I am more than anything guardian of the truth and so are you, all of us are. So, he says, "Look, Timothy, hold on to your sound doctrine. If you're going to have courage you have to have convictions to have courage about." And you ought to thank God if you have a solid conviction in your heart about the truths of God's Word. You're rare, you know that? You're a rare person. In fact, when your other Christian relatives come to visit you may even have arguments because you believe some things so strongly that they don't believe. And they vaccilate but you don't. Thank God that you have a strong understanding of Scripture and stand for your convictions. And hold your doctrine in faith toward God no doubting and in love toward men not abusing.
So, how do you avoid being ashamed of Christ? Renew your gift, consider your resources, accept your suffering, remember your God, realize your duty, trust your Savior, affirm your doctrine, and lastly, choose your associates. Boy, this is so important. I couldn't figure out how this last section fit in and I was going over it and over it and over it in my little study and I just didn't see how it all fit in. And all of a sudden it just hit me like a bolt...I know how this fits in, he's throwing in this little deal at the end here to crystallize into groups those that are ashamed and those that aren't. You say, "I read that once and that was obvious to me." Well I'm a little thick. It took me about a whole afternoon to land on that one. And that's what he's saying, choose your associates. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:33, "Bad company corrupts good morals." Who you run around with is very important. You get around courageous people and guess what? You start feeling courageous. You get around weak spineless people and you'll begin to feel like they feel. One's boldness and one's courage has a lot to do with one's associates. And so he gives two options.
Group 1, verse 15, "You are aware of the fact that all...boy, what a word...all who are in Asia...Asia Minor where Ephesus was a leading city...turned away from me among whom are Phygellus and Hermogenes." You are aware. Why was Timothy aware? Because these people were in Asia where Timothy had been for several years, ministering in Ephesus. You're aware that when I was taken prisoner and the persecution came against the Christians that all those people who are in that area of Asia Minor turned away from me. They didn't want anything to do with me, they were ashamed of me because once I became a prisoner they didn't want to be identified with me at all because they feared that they too would be imprisoned. That's what he means when he says don't be ashamed of the Lord or of me, His prisoner. You see, being identified with Paul was a dead giveaway about what you believed. And if they had put Paul in prison, there was every reason to put you in prison if you were associated with Paul. And so what happened in Asia Minor was many of the teachers and those who had gone along with Paul, as soon as Paul was incarcerated, clammed up, wanted nothing to do with Paul and wanted no one to know they had anything to do with Paul. They were very much like Peter standing by the fireside at the trial of Christ saying, "I never knew the man," and cursing with an oath. They were ashamed. They were cowardly, trying to protect themselves. And he says all who were in Asia repudiated, or literally deserted me, that's the Greek word in its literal sense. Deserted me.
I'll tell you, the pain of ministry, disloyal people who when the going gets difficult disappear very fast and get critical and start picking at you. The people that you have spent your life feeding and nurturing and that's a heart breaker and it's a heart breaker for Paul and for anyone. They weren't even willing to identify with Paul at all, though they had gained everything he had to give. They had literally taken his life. He had spent himself to get them the message of Christ to save them. He had given himself to teach them. He had carried the burden of their defections and their spiritual failures and longed as a woman bringing birth to a child that Christ would be formed in them. And here they are denying they even know the man. Sad, no wonder he was lonely as verse 4 of chapter 1 indicates, sitting in that dungeon. And so he says to Timothy, you're aware of the fact, not speculation but the fact that all who are in Asia turned away from me. And then he names two, Phygellus and Hermogenes. We don't know anything about them but Paul certainly didn't sweep this under the rug. I mean, he tells the whole wide world for every generation yet to come that these two guys were well-known defectors. Maybe they were leaders, pastors, elders in one of the churches in Asia Minor, maybe even in Ephesus. Maybe they went around saying how much they were enchanted with the proclamation of the gospel. Maybe they sought to do that. But once the persecution started they were not interested in being identified with Paul at all. Paul doesn't let them off the hook. He doesn't in the name of quote/unquote "love," slide it under the carpet and deny it. He articulates their names for the whole wide world to hear because they are defectors. He doesn't have some loving obligation to hide that. In fact, in his own teaching in 1 Timothy he says the elders that sin rebuke before...what?...all that others may fear. It may well be that these were two elders. Let the church know who they are. Let the church know of their spiritual defection and cowardice. I want to label that group, that ashamed group, that cowardly group, the defector group. So, Timothy, if that's your group, then go on over to that group of the Phygellus/Hermogenes association. That's the Hall of Shame, not the Hall of Fame. That's for people who deny Christ. Choose your group, Timothy, choose your group.
Do you ever think about that? The way you live your Christian life identifies with a whole wide group of people who choose to live that way. I don't know what group you want to be in. I'd some...I'd sort of like to identify with the Hebrews 11 group if I had my choice. Or with the group that Paul was in. I'd like to be in that group. Or the group that the great missionaries and faithful saints of God through the centuries are in, that's the group I'd like to be identified with. So choose your group.
Then in verse 16, "The Lord...here's the second group...the Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus; for he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains: but when he was in Rome he eagerly searched for me and found me. The Lord grant to him to find mercy from the Lord on that day...that's that day of rewards, that day when we see the Lord Jesus...and you know very well what services he rendered at Ephesus."
Now he identifies another guy that Timothy knows. Timothy knew Phygellus and Hermogenes, otherwise Paul would have explained who they were. Likely they were elders in the church. He also knew Onesiphorus and his whole household were godly people. The gospel had come to that household and the whole family had embraced Christ and no doubt deserve commendation because of their love. In fact in chapter 4 verse 19 he encourages Timothy to greet the household of Onesiphorus. So they lived in Ephesus. They weren't ashamed of Paul. And he says in that day when they face Jesus Christ, I pray that He'll give them mercy, that He'll give them reward, in other words. Because they were never ashamed of me. It says in verse 16, "He often refreshed me." Often..often, eager to come alongside the inspired Apostle, eager to provide some encouraging personal ministry, not fearing the identification or association at all. He was not even ashamed of his chains, literally that means handcuffs or manacles, but it broadens to mean his imprisonment in general. This didn't deter the man, in fact when he came to Rome he searched eagerly for me until he found me. He searched all over the city trying to find where he was and found him in that dungeon. He had lived in Ephesus and come to Rome maybe on business or maybe specifically to minister to Paul. He pursued the location of Paul and he was a man who was unashamed. And so he says, also, in the end of verse 18, you know very well what services he rendered at Ephesus. You know his ministry there. He probably was very well could be an elder or pastor also. And you know the kind of service he did there. You know the kind of man he is. And the implication of these two groups, and he never does say to Timothy, "What group do you want to be in?" he doesn't need to, he just divides so clearly. And you say to yourself, "Boy, I want to be like Onesiphorus, I don't want to be like Phygellus and Hermogenes." Choose your associates, folks. You want to be among the courageous who name the name of Christ and pay the price? Or do you want to be among the cowards who deny Him? It's your choice. You want to be with those who are loyal, courageous, steadfast, faithful, bold, unashamed? Those who renew their spiritual gift in usefulness? Those who understand their spiritual resources for any situation? Those who accept and anticipate the possibility and reality of suffering? Those who remember the power of their God and His great grace? Those who recognize their duty? Those who totally trust their life into the hands of their Savior and are secure? Those who live to defend the truth? If you do, then choose your group. Your group is the household of Onesiphorus, that's your group.
You see, courage is demanded of any servant of God...moral courage and sometimes even physical courage. Martin Luther, and I'll bring our message to a conclusion with this account, Martin Luther the great instrument of God in the Reformation in the 1500s possessed this tremendous quality of courage. He stood against the whole Roman Catholic system, in fact the whole political system which was embraced in Catholicism. It has been asserted that he was perhaps as fearless a man as ever has lived. When he set out on his momentous journey to the city of Worms he said, "You can expect from me everything except fear or recantation. You can expect from me everything except fear or recantation." Then he said, "I shall not flee much less recant." They wanted him to deny salvation by grace through faith. His friends warning him, writes the biographer, of the grave dangers he faced sought to dissuade him. But Luther would not be dissuaded, "Not go to Worms," he said, "I shall go to Worms though there were as many devils as tiles on the roofs." And when Luther appeared before the emperor he was called on to recant. They insisted that he should say in a word whether he would recant or no. "Unless convinced by the Holy Scripture or by clear reasons from other sources, I cannot recant," he declared. "To councils or Pope, I cannot defer for they have often erred. My conscience as a prisoner to God's Word."
When again given an opportunity to recant, he folded his hands, "Here I stand. I can do no other. God, help me." Recalling that incident, Luther described his feelings, "I was afraid of nothing. God can make one so desperately bold." Wonderful testimony.
How is it that we can be desperately bold? Listen to this testimony. Second Chronicles chapter 32, the people of Judah face the enemy of Assyria. Listen to this. Here comes the exhortation. It's wonderful. This is it from Hezekiah the king, "Be strong and courageous, do not fear or be dismayed because of the king of Assyria, nor because of all the multitude which is with him." Then this, "For the one with us is greater than the one with them. With him is only an arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles." Tremendous confidence, tremendous courage when we understand who He is who has equipped us and is with us. Let's bow in prayer.
Gracious Father, how thankful we are for the exhilarating power of this passage that comes and breaks on our hearts, flooding us with a new sense of devotion, a new encouragement to be bold for the sake of Christ. Oh help us, Lord, not to preserve our own lives but to give ourselves away under proper motivation and with a pervasive attitude of courage, may we go forth in the name of Christ confident...confident that what we have committed in to Your care is safe until the day we see Jesus. That day, to receive the reward for our service done. Father, I pray that every one of us will renew that commitment in our hearts for the Savior's glory. Amen.
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In space, no one can hear you scream — but everyone can hear the classical music loud and clear.
Science-fiction movies have had a long affinity for classical music, and the relationship is a fascinating and complex one. In "Prometheus," Ridley Scott's quasi-prequel to "Alien," the soundtrack choices are by no means random. Like many sci-fi films before it, "Prometheus" deploys classical music as a kind of cinematic shorthand to signify the presence of a highly evolved intelligence.
The trick is knowing whether that intelligence is benign or malevolent — or perhaps some of both.
One of the movie's recurring images shows a young girl playing the violin. It's the centerpiece of a digital hologram that Weyland Industries has beamed into outer space to demonstrate the achievements of mankind. Like the real-life Voyager probe, which is carrying many classical pieces into space, the hologram is intended to reach intelligent alien life — and to demonstrate our own intelligence and creativity.
In "Prometheus," classical music represents human ingenuity at its best and most ennobling — literally, how we wish to present ourselves to the universe. But the filmmakers also associate classical music with another kind of intelligence — the murderous survivalism of the alien xenomorphs.
[Spoiler alert] The movie concludes with a gruesome bang: the violent birth of a xenomorph, the virulent species that bleeds acid and exists only to kill and propagate itself. The xenomorph utters a deafening scream and then the movie cuts abruptly to Frederic Chopin's Prelude Op. 28, No. 15, which plays over the end credits.
The juxtaposition is jolting, but it's also powerfully suggestive. Here, the movie seems to say, is an organism that is a genetic masterpiece. The aliens, as we know from the previous movies in the series, are supremely intelligent creatures that are capable of outwitting their human adversaries. As the android Ash said in the first "Alien" film, it is the "perfect organism. Its structural perfection is matched only by its hostility."
In the sci-fi genre, Stanley Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey" is ground zero when it comes to the use of classical music. Kubrick scored the movie to Richard Strauss' "Thus Spake Zarathustra" — inspired by the Friedrich Nietzsche book — using its five-note refrain as a musical motif for the evolution of human intelligence . (It should be noted that "Prometheus" contains several references to "2001," as well as to the philosophy of Nietzsche.)
Steven Spielberg's "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" also uses a five-note musical structure to signify a highly evolved intelligence, while Spielberg's "A.I.: Artificial Intelligence" features excerpts from Strauss' opera "Der Rosenkavalier."
The peaceful classical-music coda to "Prometheus" echoes the final credits to "Alien," also directed by Scott. The 1979 movie concluded with Howard Hanson's Symphony No. 2, "Romantic" — a lush orchestral piece that denoted the calm after the death battle between Ripley and the alien.
In both movies, it's a deceptively calm ending. As we now know — and Hollywood has seemingly made sure of it — there is no end to the alien invasion.
'A Dangerous Method,' 'Melancholia' take cues from Richard Wagner

subset: commoncrawl


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All-star mixologist Jim Meehan talks to Eater about why he shares his cocktail recipes:
Do you think the cocktail world sees publishing recipes as revealing secrets? Or more as a way to share and communicate?
I think they fall on both sides. Certainly some of my colleagues are not as giving as others as far as recipes go. Some people proudly consider some of their recipes to be things that they developed over years, they spent a lot of time and energy and resources on them and don't see the need to just give them away.
But I think there are others, like myself, who are on the complete opposite side. It's more along the lines of publish or perish. Maybe not perish, but become irrelevant. Maybe it's because I live in New York, but I find that in New York when you think of a great idea, if you don't act upon it someone else is going to be acting upon it. I feel like great ideas are more the result of intelligent people putting different things together. So do you want to be remembered, do you want to at least document that when you did it? Or do you want to rely on the oral traditions to verify that? I personally prefer to stake claims. I'd rather document it.
I'm with Meehan on this. A cocktail might appear on my menu for just a few months before it's replaced with something new. A recipe only lives on if other people make it, and hearing that other people are enjoying my drinks is gratifying. There are merits to making complicated, ephemeral cocktails that only last a season, but it's also nice to see them proliferate.
And, for the most part, I don't see that much value in keeping recipes secret. I earn much of my living by getting people to come to my bar and pay for drinks; publishing recipes is a good way to establish a reputation for creative cocktails. Or as @CaptDavidRyan put it in a different context on Twitter recently,* "content is a loss-leader, ie advertising for something not so easily stolen." Individual recipes are much easier to duplicate than the full experience of visiting a bar.
Some previous posts on mixology and intellectual property:
Mixing it up without IP
Dark and Stormy and the piracy paradox
Two Pimm's, one cup
Also, I highly recommend Jim Meehan's PDT Cocktail Book. Though the recipes can be a bit esoteric, it's a beautifully illustrated and insightful look at how one of the best bars in the country does its work.
*Post updated for clarity.


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Giftworthy Christmas Candy
Spread some cheer and whip up a batch of these shareable treats.
People love delicious food gifts for the holidays, and these Christmas candy recipes make it easy to be sweet. Of course pecans are one of the great nuts grown in the South, and they add a delicious crunch to sweet candy. You will love their flavors in the Christmas candy recipes for our Praline Pecans, Pecan Toffee, and Roasted Pecan Fudge. For even more Southern food gifts you can't match Mrs. Floyd's Divinity, Mississippi Mud Medallions, or Potato Candy. Grab some beautiful containers, decorate them with ribbons and bows, fill them with the delights you've made with these fantastic Christmas candy recipes, and share the joy of food gifts from your kitchen this holiday season.


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So it turns out the Secret Service let two uninvited crazies with A-rab names into a White House party! And nobody even knew until the dingbats put pictures of themselves up on the computer machine.
But I can't blame the bodyguards. How can they tell those crazies and crooks from all the INVITED crazies and crooks – like everybody who works for the Teleprompter Kid? I saw some weird looking guy in a turban, too. Who the hell let him in?
Hell, Obama himself is a big phony in a fancy suit with an A-rab name who isn't qualified to be in the White House, either. So you can't blame the bodyguards for being mixed up about who belongs there!
I hear the two A-rabs went to the White House because they wanted to get on TV –just like the Communist-in-Chief.
(Hell, I'm surprised the two of them didn't land in the Rose Garden in a giant balloon – it sure worked for that other nutcase with the puking kid.)
Don't they know that all they have to do to get into the White House is to get an old hippie terrorist to write them a couple of books, then give a fancy speech? Hell, after that, they could be LIVING in the White House in a year or two, just like O-Bow-Ma!
We shouldn't worry too much about security, though. I hear Biden's hair plugs are made from bulletproof titanium Kevlar. And Obama's friends had already stolen all the pointy silverware.
Anyway, I hope you all feel better now! American is obviously safe and secure with Obama on the job!


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The Diary of Eva Braun
When the fake Hitler diaries were taken up by The Sunday Times, it was accompanied by all the the razzmatazz of the modern media. Yet in 1949, when Eva Braun's diary was published, there was no such circus in a world already tired of the war.
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Today's post is by Amy Potts, Director of Adult Education at the Houston Museum of Natural Science.
Declared by the United Nations, the International Year of Chemistry 2011 (IYC 2011) is a worldwide celebration of the achievements of chemistry and its contributions to the well-being of humankind with the goal of increasing public appreciation of chemistry in meeting world needs, interest in chemistry among young people and enthusiasm for the creative future of chemistry.
Under the unifying theme Chemistry—our life, our future, IYC 2011 initiated a range of interactive, entertaining and educational activities for all ages across the globe. Various events have been produced to demonstrate the value of chemistry in addressing the major issues of human society: health, communications, food, water and energy.
|photo credit: ghutchis
As society has progressed, the demand for energy and the access to it has increased.
For the most part, the world relies on the burning of fossil fuel for the production of energy. The way in which this is done must change in order to produce a supply that meets the demand in the future. As modern technology makes more and more possible, the sociological discourse becomes more and more complex, while at the same time the circumstances become more and more urgent.
To address these issues, the T. T. Chao Symposium on Innovation, an annual event hosted in Houston by the Chemical Heritage Foundation (CHF), will comprise the energy component of the United States IYC 2011 program. The Symposium is made up of three events October 25-26, 2011 hosted at the Houston Museum of Natural Science (HMNS) and the BioScience Research Collaborative.
October 25th, Nobel Prize-winner Yuan Lee (chemistry 1986) will hold a conversation with CHF president Tom Tritton. This conversation will explore Dr. Lee's lifetime of accomplishment and probe into his current passion for energy alternatives.
This "History Live" conversation will be held at HMNS.
It will be open to the public and recorded for subsequent use by a broader audience. Get tickets and information.
The following morning, Wednesday, October 26, again at HMNS, Dr. Yuan Lee will be joined by Dr. Nate Lewis of Cal Tech and Dr. Emil Jacobs of Exxon Mobil in a panel to engage about 300 high school students from across the Houston area in a Student – Laureate Forum on Energy Alternatives. The panel will be moderated by New York Times journalist Andrew Revkin. Schools participating in the forum are Harmony School of Science High School, Hastings High School, Lamar High School, St. John's School, Strake Jesuit High School, and Willowridge High School.
On Wednesday evening, October 26, the venue will shift to the BioScience Research Collaborative (BRC) at Rice University where Dr. Jacobs of ExxonMobil and Dr. Craig Venter of Synthetic Genomics will discuss their alliance to research and develop biofuels from photosynthetic algae. This will be another History Live conversation with Tom Tritton. BRC is an innovative space where scientists and educators from Rice University and other Texas Medical Center institutions work together to perform leading research that encompasses a wide range of disciplines from chemistry to bioengineering and focuses largely on improving human wellness through science. Get tickets and information.
The Houston Museum of Natural Science was selected by CHF as a venue for the Chao Symposium because of the Museum's focus on science education, close relationships to the schools in the Houston area, and the excellence of the Welch Chemistry Hall and Wiess Energy Hall in demonstrating the importance of chemistry and energy in the world. HMNS is a proud participant in the IYC2011 celebration and is also co-sponsoring a lecture series with Rice University's Glasscock School of Continuing Studies starting October 18 and the popular family event Chemotion with the American Chemical Society on November 15.
Join us for these International Year of Chemistry Events at HMNS
Smart Water: New Technologies to Conserve Natural Resources
David Horsup, Ph.D., Chemical Engineer
Tuesday, October 18, 6:30 p.m.
Nobel Laureate Looks to Energy Alternatives
Yuan Lee, Ph.D.
Tuesday, October 25, 6:30 p.m.
Scientific Discoveries Improving Healthcare
Daniel D. Carson, Ph.D., Cindy Farach-Carson, Ph.D., John T. McDevitt, Ph.D.,
Tuesday, November 1, 6:30 p.m.
Family Festival
Tuesday, November 15, 6 – 8 p.m.
Free Admission
Cultural Feast
Shaken or Stirred? The Chemistry and History of the Cocktail
Hosted at Brennan's
Tuesday, November 22, 2011


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Education & Careers
Find a Job
AACC's Clin Lab Job Center features job listings from hundreds of clinical laboratories across the world, updated daily with jobs that range from medical fellow to lab director. Post a resume to all employers confidentially and get alerts from the Job Center when an ideal position opens up. Follow the Job Center on twitter at @jobs_AACC and get the latest openings fed into your timeline.
Employers looking for the perfect recruit can take advantage of the Clin Lab Job Center as well. Job listings can be shared with the National Health Care Network, the preferred resource for healthcare talent, and the Talentblast feature ensures 4 times the qualified response with one single job posting. All listings are shared with AACC's social networks including our Facebook page featuring over 5000 likes, our 6000+ member LinkedIn Group, and our Twitter feed, which updates in real time. Post your opening today!
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Snorlax Gijinka (Pokemon Series) – Cosplay of the Day
We appreciate the art of gijinka here on Arcade Sushi, so we thought we'd help combat this sleepy Tuesday with a fine example of gijinka inspired by Snorlax, the sleeping Pokemon from the Pokemon series.
Snorlax might be most famous for blocking our path in Pokemon Red and Blue, just casually sleeping in the middle of the road. But with the assistance of a Pokeflute, this big bellied beast can be roused from its nap and even caught. Though it's rotund and always seems to sleep, having a Snorlax on your team can be a boon because of its great strength and ability to eat almost anything.
Here is ~H~ in her Snorlax gijinka. She was inspired by the Pokemon's original colors and decided to portray it with darker hues. The little apron-like part of her sundress represents Snorlax's large belly, which makes this gijinka even cuter, especially when you compare how big the Pokemon is. If we found her blocking our path, we wouldn't even be annoyed!
Check out more of her cosplay work on her Cosplay.com profile and let us know what you think of her extensive catalog of cosplays.
Want your Cosplay to be seen? Send your info to firstname.lastname@example.com and we may feature you in our Cosplay of the Day!


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U.S. Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission
Property Manager Fired Because of Her Age, Federal Agency Charged
DALLAS – An Irving, Texas developer of housing facilities has agreed to pay $50,000 and furnish other relief to settle an age discrimination and retaliation lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today.
The EEOC had charged that Collegiate Development Services' director of market research expressed to the assistant property manager that property manager Velda ("Charlie") Poole, 62 years of age, was too old to connect with the college-age residents. When Poole learned of the age-based comment and informed higher management, she was fired within weeks. The assistant manager, Sarah Jones, objected to the firing of Poole only to be terminated herself in retaliation, the EEOC said.
Discriminating against an individual because of his or her age violates the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA). The EEOC filed suit lawsuit (Civil Action No. 1-10-cv-232-J) in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Amarillo Division after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process.
"Discriminatory assumptions about age in today's workplaces only serve to limit an employer's ultimate breadth of business potential," said Robert Canino, regional attorney for the EEOC's Dallas Office. "Punishing people for standing up to prejudice and thus depriving them of their earnings, despite demonstrated performance, takes unlawful conduct from bad to worse."
A consent decree settling the suit was signed by U.S. District Court Judge Mary Lou Robinson on August 2, 2011. In it, the company is to pay $50,000 to the victims and to provide training to managers and supervisors on equal employment opportunity (EEO) policies and procedures, including on age discrimination and retaliation. The company is also required to establish and enforce a written policy and procedure that will ensure protections and fair treatment for employees.
EEOC Senior Trial Attorney William C. Backhaus said, "Employers must avoid the stereotyping of managers as well as non-management employees with preconceived notions about age. This employer wrongly assumed that Ms. Poole's age interfered with her ability to connect with younger student residents. To the contrary, our information showed that the students greatly appreciated Ms. Poole."
The EEOC is responsible for enforcing federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. Further information about the EEOC is available on its web site at www.eeoc.gov.


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There is a horrendous void in the celebratory calendar between New Years Eve and Australia Day.
A void that can only be filled with ham.
Enter the patented Accidental Household's Happy Ham Day.
Well... alright, so its not actually patented. Yet. Therefore, if you enjoy ham as much as we do, probably best to jump on the bandwagon now. To assist you, here are the Accidental Happy Ham Day social conventions:
1) there must be a hot, freshly roasted, generously basted ham.
2) only invite people whom the whole host family likes. No charity invitations are to be issued to annoying friends, no relatives are to be invited solely out of a sense of duty. If you wouldn't invite them to the pub, then Happy Ham Day is not the time for a catchup.
3) it's BYO sides. If guests want a sandwich, then they had better bring bread. And if they want roast veggies, then owning a car oven is advisable. (Do they exist? Perhaps they should.) The hosts of Happy Ham Day are obliged to provide ham, and ham only. Anything else that may be available is a delightful bonus.
And so, adhering to those fine rules, yesterday we warmed our new CityCottage with a delicious, clove studded ham, litres of cider and a boat load of friends. (A boat slightly larger than a dinghy, but smaller than a ferry. I suspect about a yacht's-worth.)
Oh, the ham! I'm quite sure the pig, had he known how amazing he was going to taste and how he would be fussed over and complimented, would have considered willingly donating his left leg to the cause. The basting made it glow, and the salads and breads our friends brought as sides complemented it perfectly. (For the record, I did do up some roast veggies. They were quite well received, but nothing compared to Mr Ham.)
We sat down to lunch at the table, and didn't move until far, far later that evening. We ate all the ham, the sides, and then ordered in pizza. We drank all the cider, the wine, then sent an envoy to the bottle shop. Four rowdy dogs played under the table, and four rowdy kids ran up and down the hall, all insisting they were not tired, and all sleeping the minute their heads hit their beds.
I sat at the laden table and finally spent time, after far too many years, with some of the people I love most in the world. The best friends of my youth burst from high school and scattered to the four winds - different careers, different states, different continents. But now, twelve years later, we all meandered back home at same time, and congregated around my dining table. Its a strange, wonderful old world.
I just wish I had some ham left over to eat in it!
Sunday, January 20, 2013
Happy Ham Day!
Posted by The Accidental Housewife at 3:32 PM
7 comments:
Love the concept. And best of all... ham is cheap at the post-Christmas butcher shop! Win-win.ReplyDelete
Sounds perfect! :)ReplyDelete
Happy Ham Day.......xReplyDelete
I missed Sunday's post as the former Mrs Accident used not to post on Sundays. However, the ham story reminds me of the farmer who had the most astounding three-legged pig. It had called the fire brigade before the house burned down, rescued the family from a flood, found lost children and animals etc etc. When some enquiring soul asked why the pig only had three legs,the farmer told him in all honesty, that with a pig as good as that one, couldn't be eaten all at once!. Glad you enjoyed yours so much.ReplyDelete
The ham indeed was epic - hat's off to the chef! ;)ReplyDelete
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Westeros #1 Posted October 29, 2013
The winds blow, and ships from all corners of the world sail from port to port, bringing trade, bringing travelers, bringing news. From the Summer Isles, where the rarest of woods grow, the tidings are of the Stepstones being of late swept almost clean of corsairs and pirates and reavers; their swan ships are rarely disturbed, and they speak of great war galleys flying the Velaryon seahorse beneath the Targaryen three-headed dragon as an explanation for it all. From Qarth, where silks and jewels and rare antiquities can be found, the pale sailors tell of a war between the men of Yi Ti and those of Leng, of vast fields of poppy and crocus and cloves being set alight, and the inevitable disturbance that will cause in the flow of spices from the Jade Sea. From New Ghis, where slaves of all kind can be bought, the sallow men with red-black hair complain of a barbarian, a Dothraki khal, who has accepted vast gifts from the triarchs of Volantis to bring his war-taken prisoners to their fleshmarts rather than to Slaver's Bay, and they say that the Volantene do this at great cost for the sole purpose of antagonizing the Ghiscari cities into a war.

All this and more is brought from port to port.

And in Braavos, from whence the purple-hulled galleys sail far and wide, where sailors the world 'round take in the Secret City, all three tales and more are told. But Braavos has its own affairs, in that sinking city amidst the Titan-guarded lagoon, its own conflicts and its own mysteries. Some say the Iron Bank and the Sealord are at odds, despite Donalo Prestayn having been one of their own before he was elevated to that seat. But the reasons are varied: to some, it is because the Iron Bank presses him to make sure that Braavos has a role in the control of the Stepstones if Pentos and Lys go to war over it, and to others that the Sealord wishes vast sums of loans for a grand project of public works that he has envisioned. Others still suggest there's no division at all, and instead all the Sealord's troubles come from certain lords and ladies, men and women of influence, who have started to doubt him, who think back on the wars of his predecessor, the Lion of Braavos, and miss the victories (if not the defeats, and the lives lost, and great costs), and think Donalo is too much a banker and too little a warrior.

There are those at court who make note of the confluence of power in the city, great men from belligerent Lys and Pentos, princes of royal blood from Westeros, and yet the Sealord does not meet with them himself, despite having good cause to do it. If he delays somewhat, it is understandable—it would not do to have princes and magisters think they have him at their beck and call. But to have strings of minor officials answer for him apologetically, claiming he is busy, promising to arrange audiences soon (but "soon" never comes)? Few can fathom the Sealord's thinking, and there are those who think (but rarely dare say aloud) that Donalo Prestayn has become too enamored of playing the Sealord rather than being it.

And others still? Others still remember his rise to prominence, first with the Iron Bank, then in the cut-throat days following the unexpected (still mysterious) death of his predecessor, Ferro Antaryon. If he plays a dangerous game, perhaps it's to the best…
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Book online or call +44 (0)1775 843417 at standard rates.
The Ibis Cardiff hotel boasts an ideal location in the centre of the capital of Wales. Only 500 m from the railway station and 20 km from the airport, the hotel is just a few minutes walk from Cardiff Castle, the shops of Saint Mary Street and the Millennium Stadium. Book one of our 102 rooms with ventilation cooling and make use of our hotel amenities, a bar with a terrace area offering snacks 24hrs, a restaurant and wireless internet access for business guests. Public undercover pay parking nearby.
Our secure connection ensures your details are protected.
Your details are only used to guarantee your booking and nothing else.
You will pay absolutely no booking fees - You pay the hotel direct and
we won't charge you a single penny.
Would you like to know more?
You can find further information in our Privacy Statement
and Terms & Conditions
These are general hotel policies for
Ibis Cardiff.
As they may vary per room type; please also check the room description.
Telephone +44 (0)1775 843417 at standard rates
Infotel™ is a division of Infotel Solutions Ltd.Copyright © 2019. All rights reserved.
Registered Office: Infotel Solutions Ltd, DFC House, Boston Road, Gosberton, Spalding, Lincs UK PE11 4NR For further information visit www.infotelsolutions.com
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Home > Travel Tools > Outdoor Operators > Okinawa>Okinawa > Island Club Ishigaki
Island Club Ishigaki
Come explore beautiful Ishigaki Island with Island Club Ishigaki. Enjoy snorkeling, stand-up paddle boarding and kitesurfing with a knowledgeable guide who can show you the best spots during your stay on the island. Please view our web page and blog for more details and daily updates.
- Company NameIsland Club Ishigaki
- Company TypeTour Company
- Activities Available
- Kitesurfing
- Snorkeling
- Surfing
- English Speaking Staff?Yes
- Other Languages SpokenJapanese, Spanish
Location Information
- RegionOkinawa
- PrefectureOkinawa
- City / AreaIshigaki Island
- Nearest Train StationN/A
- Minutes from StationN/A
- Pick up service available?
- Nearest Expressway / Interchange / InterchangeN/A
- Nearest National RouteNot Applicable
- Getting ThereFrom Naha it is a 50-minute flight to Ishigaki. Flights also available from Taiwan and other Okinawa Islands.
- Map
- Google Map Link Click here for Google Map
Contact Information
- Address沖縄県石垣市真栄里192-2
- Telephone0980-82-9647
- FaxNot Applicable
- email@example.com
- Web sitehttp://www.islandclub.co.jp
- Contact NameMr. Chikara Tsumura


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Early bird deadline for Bright Ideas grant
Early bird deadline for Bright Ideas grant
Time is running out for teachers with creative ideas for hands-on classroom projects to apply for a Bright Ideas grant from North Carolina's electric cooperatives. The final deadline to apply is in September; however all teachers who meet the early-bird, Aug. 16 deadline will be entered to win a $500 Visa gift card. Interested teachers can find the application, grant-writing tips and more information on the Bright Ideas website at ncbrightideas.com.
"Since 1994, the Bright Ideas education grant program has provided more than $8.5 million for 8,300 projects benefitting more than 1.5 million students in North Carolina," said Lindsey Listrom of the North Carolina Association of Electric Cooperatives. "We are committed to local communities, and we believe there's no better way to contribute than by investing in the education of our youth."
North Carolina's electric cooperatives have allocated more than $600,000 to give to educators across the state during the 2013-2014 school year. The grants will be awarded in November for projects in all grade levels and all disciplines, including math, science, art, language, English and history.
The Bright Ideas grant application requires an outline of the proposed project, a detailed budget and a description of the benefit to students. Applicants are encouraged to highlight the innovative, creative elements of the project and to proofread carefully.


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Lipids are fatty substances in the blood, and include cholesterol and triglycerides. All lipids play important roles throughout the body, but abnormal levels in the blood can cause problems. High levels of lipids may be caused by one or a combination of:
- Genetics
- Diet that has excess calories, usually higher in carbohydrates and fat
- Obesity
- Sedentary lifestyle
High levels of lipids in the blood can contribute to a buildup of plaque in the inside walls of the blood vessels. This build up causes a thickening and hardening of the blood vessel walls known as atherosclerosis . The damaged blood vessels make it difficult for blood to flow freely and in some cases can cause a blockage of blood flow. If the blockage occurs in the heart or brain it can lead to a heart attack or stroke .
2 types of lipids are cholesterol and triglycerides.
Cholesterol is a waxy substance that is used to build cells and hormones. Most of your cholesterol is made inside the body, but some comes from the foods we eat such as dairy products, meat, and fish.
There are 2 main types of cholesterol:
- High-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol —Often called the "good" cholesterol because it helps to protect against heart disease. HDL may carry other types of cholesterol away from arteries and to the liver. Higher levels of this cholesterol are ideal.
- Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol —This is often referred to as the "bad" cholesterol because it is more likely to stick to the walls of your blood vessels. High LDL cholesterol levels increases the risk of heart disease.
Abnormal cholesterol levels are sometimes caused by genetic conditions or medications that lead to low HDL or high LDL levels. However, cholesterol problems can also come from a combination of dietary choices and low levels of physical activity.
Triglycerides are a type of fat that your body can store away and use for energy when needed. They are made from unused or extra calories that we eat. Triglycerides move throughout the body in the blood. High levels of this fat in the blood can contribute to a plaque build up in blood vessels.
High triglycerides can be caused by a high calorie diet, especially one high in carbohydrates but is also often associated with other conditions such as:
- Diabetes
- Obesity—especially with high amount of fat around the stomach
- Metabolic syndrome
- Hypothyroidism
- Genetic condition
Revision Information
- Reviewer: Marcin Chwistek, MD
- Review Date: 03/2017 -
- Update Date: 03/15/2015 -


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Despite the taboo surrounding homosexuality, the topic was too intriguing to be left entirely out of the Yiddish picture. An exploration of lesbian and gay subtext in Yiddish cinema during its heyday, from the 1920's to the outbreak of World War II, reveals distinctly Jewish concerns of the time intertwined with a striking array of allusions to this highly-charged subject. From musical comedies such as YIDL MITN FIDL (Yidl With His Fiddle) and AMERIKANER SHADKHN (American Matchmaker) to classic dramas DER DIBUK (The Dybbuk) and DER VILNER SHTOT-KHAZN (Overture To Glory), queerness reached the screen in various guises, emerging as an alternate take on themes of conflicted identity, passing and same-sex attachments. Discussion of these and other gems of the Yiddish screen, as well as such features as RADIO DAYS, COLONEL REDL, CROSSFIRE, and GENTLEMAN'S AGREEMENT, will be accompanied by clips from selected films and period home movies. The Celluloid Closet of Yiddish film began as Eve Sicular's research article in Jewish Folklore and Ethnology Review in 1994 and Eve first presented this material as a video clips-lecture for Frameline Festival in June of that year. She has now brought this to over 50 screens from universities to synagogues to media and community centers as well as dozens of film festivals.
See the full list of publications and lecture venues, including both stand-alone clips lectures; and full-band multimedia presentations.
Film archivist / historian Eve Sicular has lectured throughout North America and Europe on Yiddish and Soviet cinema. A former curator of Film and Photography Archives at the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, she has also worked for the Department of Film at New York's Museum of Modern Art on the series Bridge of Light: Yiddish Film Between Two Worlds. She received a magna cum laude from Harvard-Radcliffe College for her thesis on the compilation film work of early Soviet documentary pioneer Esther Shub.
She has published numerous articles and anthology essays on the subject of queer subtext in Yiddish cinema, as well as lecturing on this topic at film festivals, scholarly conferences, media centers and universities across North America and Europe. Her 1994 study A YINGL MIT A YINGL HOT EPES A TAM: The Celluloid Closet of Yiddish Film published in The Jewish Folklore and Ethnology Review, applies THE CELLULOID CLOSET author Vito Russo's research on homosexuality in the movies to examples found in Yiddish culture. In Gender Rebellion in Yiddish Film for Lilith magazine (1995), she examines the crossdressing careers of Molly Picon and other performers. In 1996, her Outing the Archives piece appeared in Davka magazine's special sexuality issue while Found Footage, Hidden Meanings: On Queer Subtext, Yiddish Films and Subcultural Recycling was published Toronto's Mix arts journal. Revised versions of these articles have appeared as two essays in the British anthology When Joseph Met Molly: A Reader on Yiddish Film (1999, Five Leaves Publications, Nottingham). She has also contributed a new essay to the Lambda Literary Award-nominated Queer Jews anthology (Routledge Press, 2002) describing her experiences spanning Jewish and queer cultural worlds as both a film scholar and klezmer bandleader.
The Yiddish Celluloid Closet is also Eve Sicular's serendipitous Ashkenazic homage to the work of film maven, cultural and political activist Vito Russo (1946-1990), author and presenter of the original CELLULOID CLOSET — and later co-founder of ACT-UP, the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power. Vito's book, first published in 1981, was a tremendous inspiration to Eve, who read it in 1984 and first saw Vito present his Celluloid Closet clips-lecture at the University of Oregon in 1986. She brought Vito back to the Pacific Northwest for his Seattle debut in June 1989 at the Museum of History and Industry, forming Popcorn Sister Productions to make this show possible. This show month fortuitously coincided with formation the local ACT-UP chapter. Here's a photo of Vito, Eve and her brother Steven Sicular outside ACT-UP's brunch honoring our special guest. The new documentary feature VITO! premiered at the New York Film Festival in 2011, with more festival screenings and HBO broadcast for 2012. Mazel tov to filmmaker Jeffrey Schwarz and Automat Pictures. (HBO also aired their Celluloid Closet documentary in 1995 based on Vito's work.) Final note: In deftly campy live shows, Vito enjoyed describing himself as an adherent of Judyism... referring, of course, to his reverence for Liza Minnelli's mom.
In addition to her work as a film historian, Ms Sicular is drummer/leader of both the all-female Isle of Klezbos sextet and Metropolitan Klezmer, and has produced their award-winning CDs: Greetings from the Isle of Klezbos, Traveling Show, Surprising Finds, Yiddish for Travelers, and Mosaic Persuasion. The bands have appeared in broadcasts on Showtime's The L Word, CBS Sunday Morning, CNN Worldbeat, PBS In The Life, and the German network ARD's Rhythms of New York, as well as on radio stations worldwide and at concert halls, nightclubs, college campuses and music festivals since 1994.
Her latest project, J. Edgar Klezmer: Songs From My Grandmother's FBI Files, is a musical documentary theater piece based on surveillance documents on Dr. Adele [Grandma] Sicular obtained through a Freedom of Information Act filing. The show, as praised by The New York Times for "lively score... smartly written," sold out its Off-Off Broadway run at HERE Arts.
PHOTO CREDITS top to bottom: still from Yevreyskoe Schast'ye, USSR 1925 — courtesy of YIVO Archives; Eve Sicular lecturing in Seattle WA — ScottAitken; Eve Sicular lecturing in Weimar, Germany, with translator —Yulia Kabakova; Molly Picon in promotional for BUBLITCHKI, 1937 — courtesy of YIVO Archives; Steven Sicular, Eve Sicular, and Vito Russo, Seattle, 1989, photographer unknown


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AGCO's Next generation of satellite-guided steering assist systems will be supplied by TSD Integrated Controls, a joint venture company formed by Topcon Positioning Systems (TPS) and Sauer-Danfoss. They will supply AGCO's Auto-Guide system that is integrated into AGCO's equipment brands, including Challenger, Fendt, Massey Ferguson and Valtra.
"In AGCO's Auto-Guide, we developed the world's first integrated multi-constellation-capable (GPS, GLONASS and Galileo) integrated antenna, receiver and guidance control," reports Ivan Di Federico, TPS senior vice president. "It brings together the best of both worlds with precision positioning and control from Topcon and the industry-leading steering solutions by Sauer-Danfoss."
AGCO says the new, highly advanced Auto-Guide system should help its agricultural customers increase productivity and reduce input costs.


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|"Dag H. Wanvik (JIRA)" <j...@apache.org>
|[jira] Commented: (DERBY-3200) Developer's Guide: Add examples showing use of SQL authorization with user authentication
|Fri, 11 Jul 2008 13:02:31 GMT
[ https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/DERBY-3200?page=com.atlassian.jira.plugin.system.issuetabpanels:comment-tabpanel&focusedCommentId=12612867#action_12612867 ] Dag H. Wanvik commented on DERBY-3200: -------------------------------------- Btw, I think in general you can limit your example to catch SQLException (or Exception). It is seldom useful to catch Throwable. > Developer's Guide: Add examples showing use of SQL authorization with user authentication > ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Key: DERBY-3200 > URL: https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/DERBY-3200 > Project: Derby > Issue Type: Improvement > Components: Documentation > Reporter: Kim Haase > Assignee: Kim Haase > Priority: Minor > Attachments: auth2.log, AuthExampleClientSQLAuth1.java, AuthExampleClientSQLAuth1.java, AuthExampleClientSQLAuth1.java, AuthExampleClientSQLAuth1.java, AuthExampleClientSQLAuth1.java, AuthExampleClientSQLAuth1.java, AuthExampleClientSQLAuth2.java, AuthExampleClientSQLAuth2.java, AuthExampleClientSQLAuth2.java, AuthExampleClientSQLAuth2.java, AuthExampleClientSQLAuth2.java, AuthExampleClientSQLAuth2.java, AuthExampleEmbedded-dhw.java, AuthExampleEmbeddedSQLAuth.java, AuthExampleEmbeddedSQLAuth.java, AuthExampleEmbeddedSQLAuth.java, AuthExampleEmbeddedSQLAuth.java, DERBY-3200-2.diff, DERBY-3200-2.zip, DERBY-3200.diff, DERBY-3200.stat, DERBY-3200.zip, rdevcsecuresqlauthembeddedex.dita, sqlauthclient.txt, sqlauthclientshutdown.txt, sqlauthembedded.txt, sqlauthembedded.txt > > > This is the followup to DERBY-1823 that Francois Orsini suggested. > I've been experimenting and reading the Developer's Guide section on SQL authorization (User authorizations, cdevcsecure36595). > It appears that the only use of SQL authorization mode is to restrict user access, not to expand it. > For example, if you set the default connection mode to noAccess, a user with fullAccess can't grant any privileges to a user with noAccess. And presumably if the default connection mode is readOnlyAccess, a user with fullAccess can't grant any privileges beyond SELECT, which the user has anyway. > Only if the default connection mode is fullAccess is SQL authorization mode meaningful. That means that a fullAccess user can use GRANT to restrict another user's privileges on a particular database that the user owns. > I'm running into a problem at the end, though. At the beginning of the program, as nobody in particular, I was able to create several users, some of them with full access. But at the end of the program, it seems that even a user with full access isn't allowed to turn off those database properties: > Message: User 'MARY' does not have execute permission on PROCEDURE 'SYSCS_UTIL'.'SYSCS_SET_DATABASE_PROPERTY'. > This seems a bit extreme. I know that with SQL authorization on, "the ability to read from or write to database objects is further restricted to the owner of the database objects." But the ability to execute built-in system procedures? Can I log in as SYSCS_UTIL? How? > I realize that having access to SYSCS_SET_DATABASE_PROPERTY would allow me to in effect delete myself -- but that's essentially what I do at the end of the program that sets derby.connection.requireAuthentication but not derby.database.sqlAuthorization. > The documentation does say that once you have turned on SQL authorization, you can't turn it off. But it doesn't say that you can't turn anything else off, either! > I'll attach the program I've been using. Most of the stacktraces are expected, but I'm stumped by that last one. -- This message is automatically generated by JIRA. - You can reply to this email to add a comment to the issue online.
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Council-Manager Form of Government
The City of College Station incorporated in 1938 and operates under a council-manager form of government.
The council-manager form is the system of local government that combines strong political leadership, representative democracy through elected officials, and professional management. The form establishes a representative form of government by concentrating all power in the elected city council. The council hires a professionally trained and educated city manager to oversee the delivery of public services and the daily operations of the City. Council members are part-time volunteers who serve as the policy making board for the City's government.
Role of the Council
In a council-manager government, council members are the leaders and policy makers elected to represent various segments of the community. The council is the City's governing body. Council members are community service volunteers who are elected to concentrate on policy issues in response to the community's needs and wishes.
The council is the legislative body; its members are the community's decision-makers. Power is centralized in the elected council, which approves the budget and determines the tax rate, for example. The council also focuses on the community's goals, major projects, and such long-term considerations as: community growth, land-use development, capital improvement plans, capital financing, and strategic planning. The council hires and supervises a professional manager that carries out the administrative responsibilities.
Role of the City Manager
The manager is hired to serve the council and thus, the community by bringing the benefits of his or her professional training, education and experience in administering local government projects and programs on behalf of the governing body, the city council.
The city manager:
Council members and citizens rely on the manager to provide complete and objective information, evaluation of alternatives, and identification of the possible impacts of possible policy decisions.
Does the manager participate in policy development?The city manager takes an active role in the policy development process. This includes walking council through the strategic planning process and, present for approval, a final five-year strategic plan. This strategic planning process takes place each year. The City Manager is also tasked with making sure that the City Council get all the information that they need to make informed policy decisions throughout the year. In order to meet this requirement, the City Manager, working in conjunction with the City Secretary, provides agendas and additional information to the City Council in advance of all Council meetings. The manager makes policy recommendations to the council, but the council may or may not adopt them and may modify the recommendations. The manager is bound by whatever action the council takes.
Where does the mayor fit in?Mayors in council-manager communities are key political leaders and policy developers.
The mayor:
Are all council-manger governments structured the same way?No. One of its most attractive features is that the council-manager form is adaptable to local conditions and preferences. For example, some communities have councils that are elected at large while other councils are elected by district. Some local governments have mayors who are elected by the voters at large; others are elected by their colleagues on the council.
Is this form of government used only in certain kinds of cities?No. In fact, it is not restricted to cities, It is used by counties as well. Currently, 3,625 cities operate under this form. Additionally, 529 counties indicate that they operate under the county administrator form. They vary greatly in size and characteristics, including independent cities, center cities, suburbs and counties.
Is the form popular in large communities?Yes. Out of 199 cities with greater than 100,000 citizens, 112 use this form of government. Some examples are: Phoenix; San Diego; Dallas; Cincinnati; San Antonio; Kansas City, Missouri and Mecklenburg County, North Carolina.
How much citizen participation is possible under council-manager government?Successful examples of citizen participation in the local government service delivery decision-making process are widespread among professionally managed U.S. communities. Because professional local government management offers government of the people, by the people, and for the people, it sets the stage for citizen activism by encouraging open communication between citizens and their government. Examples range from visioning, in which citizens play a major role in determine the future of their community, to neighborhood service delivery, which involves residents through the development of citizen/government partnerships, to community-oriented local government services. Because political power is concentrated in the entire governing body rather than one elected official, more citizens have an opportunity to be elected to a position in which they have significant influence over the future of their community.What is the cost to the local government of appointing a professional manager?Local governments have found that overall costs have been reduced with competent management. Savings come in the form of reduced operating costs, increased efficiency and productivity, improved revenue collection, or effective use of technology.
What is the history of the council-manager form?Born out of the turn-of-the-century progressive reform movement, the council-manager system of local government is one of the few original American contributions to political theory. In 1908, Staunton, Virginia, instituted the first position legally defining, by ordinance, the broad authority and responsibility associated with today's professional local government manager. Sumter, South Carolina, was the first city to adopt principles of council-manager government in 1912. Westmount, Quebec, introduced the form to Canada in 1913. The first city city to adopt the plan was Dayton, Ohio, in 1914. The first counties to adopt it in the 1930s were Arlington County, Virginia, and Durham County and Robeson County, North Carolina. Since its establishment, the council-manager form has become the most popular form of local government in the United States in communities with populations of 5,000 or greater. For more than 85 years, council-manager governments have been responding to the changing needs of citizens and communities communities.
Can the manager be removed from office?Managers serve at the pleasure of the council or governing body. They can be terminated by a majority of the council, consistent with local laws, ordinances, or employment agreements they may have with the council. Control is always in the hands of the elected representatives of the people. According to the Texas City Managers' Association (TCMA), the average tenure for city managers that are TCMA members is about 6.4 years.