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(2) - Why Is Homosexuality Wrong?
July 11, 2015 Pastor: Don Green Series: The Bible and Homosexuality
Topic: Conferences
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We begin our sessions here today addressing the most fundamental question of the conference topic today in one sense, answering the question, "Why is homosexuality wrong?" And I want to help you think through the way that we need to think about this and answer the question as we begin here this morning. What a person thinks about homosexuality is ultimately not going to be disconnected from much greater principles that are operating in his thinking. What you think about homosexuality is directly tied not only to what you believe about the Bible but what you believe about God, about ultimate authority, about truth, eventually even what the position of man is vis-à-vis God in the universe. It is not unfair, it is quite accurate to say actually, that the way that the world is seeing this issue now is that whatever consenting adults want to do should be allowed. If you are in agreement with me, we can do whatever we want to do and so it's just become a matter of mutual consent, divorced from any other considerations of morality or authority or anything of the like. So when you have that situation, those of you who are biblically informed, you find yourself immediately in the book of Judges where every man is simply doing what is right in his own eyes and if there is no ultimate authority, if there is no truth, then you don't have the right to tell me what's right or wrong and I don't have the prerogative to tell you what is right or wrong.
So what you see is that there are much greater principles than simply a view on a particular form of sexuality that is in play and we're going to try to work through some of those issues today, but I want to say that if we were really going to treat this topic properly and set it in the proper context, it would take like 20 messages to do everything and to start all the way back and work our way through up to the point of dealing with homosexuality and we don't have the time to do that. But ultimately this issue comes back to how do we know that there is a God? How do we know that the Bible is authoritative? And what do we do with the Lord Jesus Christ? And so those most fundamental questions about the purpose of existence and the reality of the universe ultimately come into play in this very quickly and so for those of you that aren't familiar with my teaching ministry, the messages that I have done on "Why do we believe in God?" and "Why do we believe the Bible?" and on the recent messages on "The fear of God," all of those matters inform this subject in a way that we can't go into today but we need to understand just on a very basic preliminary level that there are multiple, compelling, authoritative reasons that we believe that God has made himself known. We utterly reject as foolishness the mocks of people who say, "Tell me about your imaginary friend?" That's a horrible thing to say. It is a despicable despisal of the way that God has made himself known in so many different areas and it reflects a heart and a mindset that it wants nothing to do with Scripture and obviously has no fear of God in it whatsoever. Well, when you've defined God out of existence and you've rejected the authority of the Bible and you fear nothing but your own consent, well, then obviously you're going to go in a spiritual direction that is far removed from anything remotely connected to the Bible. So today we appeal without apology to the fact that the Bible is our authority. That's the starting point and the premise and that's really, in one sense, where the conflict over this begins. It's not simply one view of sexuality versus another, it goes to matters of ultimate truth and ultimate authority and here in this church and the position of historic Christianity is gladly one that recognizes the primacy of the authority of Scripture alone and submits to that and whatever the Bible says is law and to be respected and obeyed. So as we address this topic, "Why is homosexuality wrong?" we realize that we are engaging a conflict in fundamental worldviews and we can only give passing notice to that.
Since this is a conference designed primarily for people in the church, however, this is a conference designed to strengthen believers, this is an opportunity for us to assume those things, assuming the reality of God, assuming the authority of Scripture and to help us understand our own position and why it is that we take the position that we do. So first of all, this is by way of introduction, we must remember that our authority is the Bible and when people want to define it in terms of mutual adult consent, we realize that they have already gone astray because they make themselves the authority. They make themselves the reference point and we say, "No, it doesn't start there, it starts further back in the Scripture." And why do we accept the authority of the Bible? It's based on the testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the one who said in John 10:35 that the Scriptures cannot be broken.
In Psalm 19, in fact, let's turn there to Psalm 19, a Psalm that in part is about the authority of God's word. In Psalm 19:7 through 9 it says this. I'll give you a moment to turn there. Psalm 19:7-9 says, "The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul; The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the LORD are true; they are righteous altogether." So in Psalm 19 we see God declaring about his word its authority, its purity and its veracity. It has authority over men. It is completely true and it can be believed and trusted to tell us the truth. In other words, to tell us what reality is as it really is as opposed to the figments of our imagination or what our personal preferences might be. So the starting point is God's word.
Look over at 2 Timothy for another familiar passage that needs to be in our minds as we contemplate these things. The word of God is not simply the product of human writings from 2,000 years ago, it is the abiding, living word of God. 2 Timothy 3:16 says, "All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness." In other words, all Scripture was breathed out by God. It was the Spirit of God moving on the hearts and minds of the writers so that they recorded without error exactly what God intended them to say. When we read the Bible, we read the very word of God himself. He discloses himself in the Scriptures. He makes his laws and commandments known and because he is the Creator, he has authority. He has the prerogative to define for humanity what its existence must be.
Verse 17 for those of us who are Christians today, we find our marching orders from Scripture. We find that which defines life for us. We find that which tells us how to think and we gladly submit ourselves to that. We gladly embrace that. We gladly say that, "My thoughts are only legitimate in so far as they conform to what God has revealed in his word." When I start to think contrary to God's word, when I start to think apart from God's word, then my thinking is no longer legitimate and we see that in verse 17 where the Apostle Paul said, "so that the man of God," so that the Christian, "may be adequate, equipped for every good work." We find in the Bible that which not only rightly tells us how to rightly think, we find that which equips us for any measure of conflict or difficulty or life situation that we might encounter.
Now, you and I are used to thinking about this in terms of our own personal life and helping us to get through our daily existence and it's good and right that we should love Scripture and embrace it in that way. Psalm 119 says that, "Your word is a light unto my feet and a lamp unto my path." So we take it in that personal way. But, beloved, what I want you to see here today and the way that we must think as a church and as Christians is this: Scripture does far more than equip us for the challenges of our personal day, it equips us for the challenges of our point in history. We find in Scripture that which is sufficient to prepare us for the philosophical and worldview challenges that are presented to us in our day and age and we believe because we believe in the superintending Providence of God, that God has appointed us for precisely this time in history. He has appointed his people, people like you and me, he has appointed us to be faithful to his word and to stand for his truth in precisely this time in history and while we stand on the shoulders of great men like Martin Luther and John Calvin and Martyn Lloyd Jones and many others too numerous to mention, we stand on their shoulders, we must understand that God appointed them for their age and they were faithful in their age. What he has done in this age is appointed us for this time and it is our responsibility to respond accordingly. And you young men who have talent and intellectual vigor, you rise up to the challenge of that and embrace what that means for the future of your life because God has appointed us for just such a time as this. He has given us an all-sufficient word that equips us for whatever the world throws at us so that we are not afraid; we do not back down from the challenge; we are not intimidated that somehow something new has come to light which overturns the authority of God and the authority of his word. We reject that notion out of hand. So our authority is the Bible and it's why we sweetly embrace it. We kiss it with loving submission because we recognize how precious it is.
Now, with God having given us a word like that and, again, this is still by way of preliminary introduction, our authority is the Bible and the fact that God has given us a word from himself indicates that there is a second principle that needs to guide us as well and we could say it this way: our duty is discernment. Our authority is the Bible and therefore our duty is discernment. God in his wisdom permitted and even ordained that men would rebel against him, that there would be a fall of man that would result in spiritual catastrophe and he did this so that he would reveal his saving grace and mercy in the Lord Jesus Christ and ultimately bring greater glory to his name through the wonder of salvation rather than simply by not allowing the fall to take place. It pleased him to allow a fall that would ultimately reveal the multicolored splendor of his grace and mercy. In light of that, he has given us his word and he has given us a command to be discerning in the midst of a fallen world. Part of the way that we glorify God is that we exercise discernment and we distinguish truth from error based on what God has made known in Scripture.
Now, coming to the topic at hand, the approval of homosexuality in our society and ever more inside the walls of the professing church is undeniable. It's tragic but we can deal with that. Open homosexuals are found in every level of government, in every level of entertainment and are becoming increasingly noticed and honored even in the sports world, for heaven's sake. You can't escape it and let me just say, this is a little bit of a tangent, let me just say that for a long period of time early in my ministry, I wanted simply to, I didn't want to really have to address this issue head on because you realize that we are talking about a subject that is dark and there was a reluctance that I had to introduce something that maybe otherwise wouldn't come to the minds of people and you would prefer to talk about that which is good and pure and noble and in conformity with God's word. You would prefer to focus on that which is pure and lovely as a teacher but the unfolding of events makes it so the man of God cannot avoid this issue any longer. It must be addressed. We must speak about it and we must bring the word of God to bear on rebel thinking so that it is challenged; so that it is refuted; so that the people of God are strong to deal with it and that's why we are having this conference here this weekend.
The thing that we need to say about it is this: the fact that the world openly embraces this and affirms it and is opposed to us and you start to weary of the people who try to stop you from speaking about it in the name of not being judgmental, we have to understand this and we have to get beyond that superficial tripe that sometimes animates people's thinking. We cannot adopt the thinking of the world. We are not at liberty to think like the world thinks. 1 John 4:1 tells us, "Do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world." That is 1 John 4:1. Scripture, which we accept as our authority, tells us, commands us, "Be discerning. Test the spirits." And so we step back with that general principle in mind and we say, okay, the spirit of the world is affirming homosexuality in great open ways. Our question is then, "Okay, let me test that spirit by God's word. Let me judge whether that is true or not. Let me judge whether that is right or not." As Christians we say, "I want to think rightly about this issue because there is something greater at stake than just this issue. The thing that is greater that is at stake is that my mind must be conformed to the mind of my Savior, Jesus Christ. I must think like he does. God saved me in order to conform me to the image of Christ and the thinking of Christ and therefore it is my responsibility as a Christian to be conformed to the way that Christ thinks and the way that Christ thinks is revealed in the Bible." So we say, "Alright, if this is the spirit of our age, then we are going to engage it. We are not going to shrink back from it as if we are intimidated or that we are ashamed of the Gospel or we're ashamed of what the Bible says." No, no, no, no! We will never be ashamed of this word which reveals Christ to us. We will never be ashamed of the word that is the water of life to us. So we will gladly see what God's word says. We will gladly stand on God's word in face of the spirit of the age. We'll gladly stand alone if we have to. As Luther says, "Our conscience is taken captive by the word of God," and we will not surrender our conscience to the thinking of the spirit of the age.
So, we say, "What does the Bible say about it?" Now, let me say something very important to you. Write this down even if you're not taking notes. This is very, very important for you to understand. This is pivotal. This is where the conflict, this is the crucible of the conflict of our age: we evaluate homosexuality in light of God's word. We do not judge Scripture by public opinion on homosexuality. Let me say that again, everything hinges on that simple point: we evaluate homosexuality in light of God's word. We do not evaluate Scripture by public opinion on homosexuality. If Scripture declares homosexuality to be wrong, then it is wrong. The river does not flow the opposite direction where public opinion says homosexuality is right and therefore Scripture is wrong. This is so fundamental. Everything hinges on that one point. God's word, homosexuality; one is the standard, the other is not. What the public thinks, what the spirit of the age is, is subject to the authority of God's word and we realize as we say that, we realize that we are declaring an all-out war on the mind of men who are unregenerate. We realize that. We embrace that. We call them to bend their mind and submit their need to the authority of Scripture because God's word is authoritative and men do not have the prerogative to think contrary to God's word without incurring judgment on themselves. So our duty is discernment in light of the authority of the Bible.
Now, let me help you and strengthen you just a bit more on this point. Turn over to 2 Peter 2. I want to just call your attention to the first 3 verses of this letter recognizing that the prominent voices in so-called evangelical Christianity are evermore going to be pushing the church in the direction of accepting homosexuality and silencing the voice of Scripture on this issue. Here's what we have to say about them and here's that which strengthens us against that spirit even within the church. We recognize what the Bible says. 2 Peter 2:1-3, "False prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves." False teachers bringing destruction upon themselves. Beloved, watch what the passage goes on to say to people like you and me as a result. It says, "Many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned." Be on guard, in other words, that as these false teachers introduce that which is contrary to Scripture that there will be a swarm of people going after them wanting to follow after them in the spirit of the age and in the spirit of the false teaching which they are hearing. Scripture makes it clear that men have itching ears and will gather teachers around themselves in accordance with their own desires. Many will be like that and what do the false teachers do? Verse 3, "in their greed they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep."
So we realize in light of the authority of the Bible, in light of our duty of discernment, we realize that there are going to be false teachers who make the matter of discernment difficult for us. They confuse matters. They flatter us. They appeal to our senses of wanting popularity and those kinds of things in a way that is designed to entice us away from following after the truth. Our only protection against that is to know the word of God. So to come back to our question this morning, "Why is homosexuality wrong? Why is it sinful?" Well, we can only understand homosexuality in one sense, in a limited sense for this session, we understand homosexuality in light of God's design for marriage and that's what we need to look at here this morning. The reason that marriage was a battleground and the reason that it will always be the battleground whether the issue is homosexuality or incest or polygamy or whatever the case may be, the issue is always going to come back to one simple theme in terms of what God designed and established marriage to be and where God appointed sexual expression to take place. The exclusivity of what God has said is that which is the point at which this whole matter is settled. Once you abandon the biblical principle of marriage, you have utterly lost the argument and historians, I am confident, church historians will look back on this age, 50, 100 years from now and see that when the church and when the public arena silenced the Bible on this issue it was inevitable that the whole argument would be completely lost because when you abandon Scripture as the authority, the only thing that you are left with is what a man's opinion is and when it is simply about men's opinion, then competing opinions can never come to a final resolution of truth.
So for us and while some of what I have to say in this session is going to seem very simple and basic, what I want you to see in a very profound way is that what we are seeing here in this session is that which defines the issue and it's because the church lost clarity, loss commitment to this point and that this principle was sacrificed, that ultimately the argument was lost but God's word hasn't changed and what Scripture has to say about this hasn't changed and therefore the whole situation, in one sense, is completely unchanged. Marriage is still between one man and one woman. Homosexuality is still wrong as a result and there is nothing left to be said. But as Christians, we need to understand our own position before we evaluate the nature of homosexuality so let's look at our own position. Let's look at what the Bible says about marriage and let me give you a definition that would no longer pass constitutional scrutiny, apparently, in the United States but I don't care about that. Our authority is the Bible, remember, not the Constitution. Not what the Supreme Court says. Our authority and our loyalty belongs to God's word. What does God's word say? Marriage, here is a definition for you: marriage is that God ordained institution in which a man and woman covenant with one another to live as husband and wife in an exclusive, monogamous relationship for the remainder of their earthly lives together. I'll say that again: marriage is that God ordained institution in which a man and woman covenant with one another to live as husband and wife in an exclusive, monogamous relationship for the remainder of their earthly lives together.
Now, let's back up for a moment. For a long time, even in my lifetime, for a long time it was sufficient to answer any thoughts about homosexuality by appealing to a couple of verses in Leviticus, maybe in Romans 1 and because there was a more prevalent deference to Scripture at the time, that was enough to settle the argument. Now however, now that those verses themselves are under attack and misinterpretation, we need to step back and realize that those individual verses of which you know occur in a greater context, a greater biblical and theological context which informs why they condemn homosexuality. There is a bigger context than simply a couple of random verses being thrown out, there is a whole worldview that is engaged in this and marriage is part of that. So what I want to do here in the rest of our time here in this session is to simply give you 4 major points about God's plan for marriage. And as we understand this perspective on marriage and as this starts to become settled in our mind, then the problem with homosexuality becomes evident from the beginning and this is so crucial to the way that you should think. We start our thinking with God's word rather than that which the world would have us to think. We start with what God's word says and then we look and examine at what the world says and what the world is doing and then we say, "Aha, I see here, here and here why this is wrong and it goes far beyond what any one or 2 individual Bible passages say." For us as Christians, those one or 2 Bible passages silence the issue. They settle the matter for us but what we have to see is how do we engage the thinking, the philosophies that are informing the opposition to what we believe; those who don't accept the authority of those 2 passages. Well, we start further back with a broader biblical picture and that begins to shape the way that we respond.
So 4 major points about God's plan for marriage. I'm going to have very little to say about homosexuality in the rest of this session. First of all, what do we say about marriage, first of all, marriage is a permanent union. It is a permanent union and God designed marriage to be a bond, a lifetime bond between a man and a woman and he established that pattern at creation. The pattern for marriage, the institution of marriage, is established and woven into God's entire design for creation.
Go back to Genesis 2 and we gladly realize that we are repeating fundamentals as we engage this material here today. Genesis 2:18, God, and we're kind of picking up the creation story midstream here, God had created the world and he had placed a solitary man within it named Adam and in verse 18, chapter 2, verse 18, look at what God said. "The Lord God said," chapter 2, verse 18, "He said, 'It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.'" God saw man in his creation, in this perfect creation, and said, "It's not good for him to be alone here," remembering that God of his own initiative and by his own power and prerogative without consulting anyone established creation so that it would please him. He established creation. He put man in it and he is continually in the first 2 chapters of Genesis, continually exercising his prerogative as deity to make creation what he wants it to be. It pleased God to put a man in creation and in his generous kindness and consideration of man, he looked at that man alone and said, "You know, that's not good." He said, "I will remedy this situation in a way that pleases me. I will make the helper for this man in a way that is suitable for him," and you know what he did. Look down at verse 21, "The LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man," so man had nothing to do with what transpired after that, "and he slept," the man slept, "then God took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place. The LORD God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man." Verse 23, "The man said, 'This is now bone of my bones, And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man.'" Then look at this in verse 24, "For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed."
So God in his prerogative as Creator said, "Here is how we will deal with the isolation of man. I will create a human companion to him who is like him but different from him; who comes from him and yet is distinct from him; that will complement him and supply that which is missing to him. That pleases me," in a manner of speaking, God said, and that is what he established. And with a man and a woman, one gender and a different gender, put together, God said, "This is why men will leave their parents and join together and become one flesh." There was the establishment and the ordination of the institution of marriage. By God's design, by God's authority, according to his good pleasure, one man, one woman, God say, "This is good."
Now, people like to say in their ignorance, have you noticed that, people love to speak out of their ignorance, don't they? They love to spout their own opinions even when they are completely uninformed. People like to say that Jesus never said anything about homosexuality. That's completely false and we will deal with that more later in the conference. But turn over to Matthew 19. Our Lord Jesus Christ affirmed the pattern of Genesis as being the abiding standard for men and women in marriage in the New Testament. Matthew 19 is a critical passage on this and when asked about the institution of divorce, Jesus appealed to the creation ordinance of marriage as being the grounds for his answer. Look at what he said in verse 3. "Some Pharisees came to Jesus, testing Him and asking, 'Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason at all?' Jesus answered and said, 'Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, "For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh"? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.'" Oh, the authority with which Christ spoke and how it applies directly to our situation today is frightening. Jesus, who is God Incarnate himself, refers back to creation and says, "God established marriage," in the context of a question about divorce, he said, "Let's go back to marriage," and so you see the pattern for what we are doing here this morning. When a question about marriage comes up, we go back to Scripture. We go all the way back to Genesis and we review what God has done because there were ignorant, rebellious people in Jesus' day combating God's institution of marriage. Jesus took them in their ignorance and rebellion and went back to Scripture. That's all that we are doing here today. We are following the pattern of the Lord.
Notice what he did, as he speaks about marriage he says there in verse 4, "male and female, this is what God has joined together. The two shall become one flesh. This is what marriage is." And notice what he says, this frightens me, honestly, to read it in light of the world in which we find ourselves living in 2015. Jesus, speaking as God says, "Let no man separate this." Our legislators, our justices, our political leaders, our governmental officials have done just what Jesus said not to do. They separate men from women in the institution of marriage and redefine it according to their own desires. That is an illegitimate use of political power. It is an illegitimate use of authority because the highest authority, our Lord Jesus Christ, said, "No one shall separate this." And now here we are. Do you know what? This can't come out good. This can't come out good humanly speaking for those who are embracing this, those that have authorized it and compelled it upon an unwilling populace. This can't come out good for them because Jesus spoke directly to their authority and said, "Don't you separate this," and they say, "Pfft, I will separate this." Listen, this conflict isn't over. One day this conflict will be settled at the judgment bar of God where judges and attorneys have no one to represent them if they have not come to Christ. They will stand alone before the judgment bar of God and having exercised judicial authority here on earth, they will find a greater judicial authority exercised against them in that final day. I fear for them because Jesus could not have been more clear, "Don't touch this one. This is a live electrical wire. Don't touch this. There are consequences as a result." So God designed marriage to be a permanent union between a male and a female, established at creation, reaffirmed and stated again by Jesus in Matthew 19. Male and female, don't separate this. Don't play with this institution. So God assigned 2 distinct genders at creation to marry and engage in sexual union: one man and one woman and that was the pattern for all time.
Now, what else can we say about marriage? Point number 2 here this morning: marriage is an exclusive union. Marriage is an exclusive union. Go back to Genesis 1, if you would, Genesis 1, and we see that God designed marriage, God designed the genders, the 2 genders, to be an instrument for the propagation of humanity, a way that humanity would continue and thrive and multiply and in Genesis 1:26, God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them." Look at verse 28, "God blessed them; and God said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.'" So God established marriage in a way that required the man, commanded the man and the woman, blessed them and said, "You go and be fruitful. You go and multiply," referring that they would go and engage in intimacy that would result in the production of children.
As you read on in Scripture, going back to some things that we said on Tuesday night months ago, we remember, I have referred to this multiple times that Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy, those 5 books as we have them in our English Bible are frequently called a single book in Scripture: the book of Moses, the book of the law of Moses, the law of Moses, referred to in the singular. We should see it as a comprehensive unit rather than seeing these as distinct books that have no relationship to one another. When you understand that unifying nature of things, it makes it more important to look at Exodus 20 in light of what we were just seeing in Genesis 1 and Genesis 2. So turn over to Exodus 20, if you would, as we look at the 10 Commandments and we see a couple of things in the 10 Commandments that reinforce the exclusivity of marriage in ways that go beyond even in the 10 Commandments what you're probably used to seeing. So God said the man and woman shall join together, they will leave, they will become one flesh, speaking to exclusivity and permanence, and in the 10 Commandments, God said in Exodus 20:14, "You shall not commit adultery." You shall not engage in a union outside of your marriage. You shall not engage with a woman who is not your wife or vice versa with a man who is not your husband. He establishes a strict perimeter around marriage. He builds a fence around it and says, "The permanence and the exclusivity which I have assigned to marriage, you shall not violate."
So the 10 Commandments reinforce the exclusivity of marriage but notice this as you continue to read in context. Context is everything in biblical understanding. Look down at verse 17. Look at how much even in the Old Testament God assigned exclusivity not only of body but of soul, not only of acts of intimacy but of affections of the heart. In verse 17, he said, "You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor." God, in assigning this exclusivity to marriage, said that not only shall you not engage the physical act but your heart itself shall not covet that which is outside of marriage. So you see that the exclusivity that God assigns to marriage is more than a physical one, it is a matter of emotional affection as well. It is a matter of the desires of the heart. Scripture condemns illicit desires as much as it does the illicit act. This is very hard for people in our materialistic age to understand and embrace. It's going to become important in what we say tonight at our 6 PM session.
Jesus reinforced this idea of purity. Go to Matthew 5, if you would. Matthew 5 in verses 27 and 28. This is really Bible Basic 101 that we're talking about here. Matthew 5:27-28, Jesus said, "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery,'" he's going to go on and add his commentary about the significance of what that command means. He says, "'but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.'" And so Jesus says and is basically reinforcing the command against coveting in Exodus 20 and he says, "Understand that those who would limit adultery simply to the physical act, I want you to understand this that God in commanding the physical separation is also commanding you to separate your heart from that which is lustful, that which is internal. Even if you never act upon it, if you are actively lusting after your neighbor's wife, you are guilty of the sin of adultery." That's how exclusive the relationship of marriage is called to be.
So as we consider this matter of homosexuality, you start to realize, especially in light of what we said last night, we start to realize how haywire it is. To call it haywire is really not adequate because it's just so disconnected from reality as God defines it. It is so messed up. Here God says marriage, man and woman, lifetime commitment, nothing else to the point of such exclusivity that you don't even lust after another woman within the marriage relationship. Now, compare that to what we said last night about the nature of homosexuality. By definition, man with man, woman with woman. Utter violation from the start of creation. Utter rejection of God's authority from the start. Remember what we said last night about the nature of homosexual promiscuity. I won't rehearse it here. If you missed it on the live stream last night, you can go back and listen to the audio files. They are online now already. But not only is it a violation of separate genders coming together, the whole culture revels in anonymous promiscuity. Nothing could be more different and hostile to the intentions of God than what the reality of the homosexual culture is. It violates gender. It violates exclusivity. It can never be made right. There is no county clerk under compulsion from the governor or the Supreme Court giving a stamp of the government's seal upon a marriage license that can make that legitimate. In legal terms, the Latin term is void ab initio. It is illegitimate from the beginning. There is never a stroke of legitimacy to it. Nothing can make it legitimate. So all of this one way or another from the President to the Supreme Court to the legislature to everybody that is involved, all of it is going to be shown that they were acting without authority and it will all be exposed one day in the end and there will be an accounting to those who have separated what God commanded not to be separated. It's frightful.
Now, stepping another degree into marriage here. We have said that marriage is a permanent union between a man and a woman. It's an exclusive union. Point number 3 here and we're just going to touch on this because it's an important aspect of marriage but it's not really necessary to the theme of the conference and point number 3 is this: marriage is an intimate union. It is an intimate union. Scripture in what it has said has made it plain that the sexual union must not be shared outside of marriage. That sexual expression outside of marriage is sinful whether it is by way of pornography or fornication or homosexuality or any other manner of sexual sin. Sexual expression by God's design is limited to within the confines of marriage. Everything else outside of that is sinful and I realize that the clarity of that is shocking to the modern era but do you know what? I don't care. We just want to be faithful to Scripture here.
Now, with that said about marriage, what we need to understand is that within the marriage relationship, that intimacy God commands to be shared. Look at 1 Corinthians 7. God intends the marriage relationship to be one of physical intimacy between a man and a woman and Paul speaks in the restrained tones of the Holy Spirit so contrary to the profane spirit of our age. Without going into the full context of this passage, Paul says in 1 Corinthians 7:3, "The husband must fulfill his duty to his wife, and likewise also the wife to her husband. The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does; and likewise also the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does." Clearly speaking about sexual intimacy especially in the context of the prior 2 verses and look at what he says, verse 5, he says, "Stop depriving one another, except by agreement for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer." He says, "Don't deprive one another of your physical intimacy. Oh, I'll make a little exception if you're going to set aside some time for prayer but once you have done that, you come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control." So we see that within the marriage union, God commands that that intimacy be expressed and it is not appropriate for one spouse to withhold intimacy from the other. When you got married, you gave your body over to your spouse and vice versa and your spouse has a right to intimacy, a biblical right to intimacy and vice versa. That's probably all we need to say about that but it's worth seeing that God's intention was for marriage to be intimate and that even in the New Testament, that intimacy is commanded as a part of marriage.
So we start to see the wonder of it all. We start to see the exalted nature of this institution that God has ordained, that tracing all the way back to creation before the fall of man into sin, God established this relationship between a man and a woman that would address their feelings of isolation and would be a support to the man that God appointed over the head of creation and that there would be this wonderful union of coming together that would drive a man and a woman to leave their father and mother and come together and form their own unit together and that they would be exclusively devoted to one another, not just physically but emotionally as well. And within that relationship of covenant promise established by God in the security of the permanence of that relationship, that there would be a free and loving expression of that in intimacy as well. What a beautiful institution God has made.
And that's not all that makes this institution so sweet and sacred, something worth protecting. We come to point number 4: marriage is a loving union. It is a loving union. Marriage, Scripture teaches us, pictures the love that Christ has for his own people. Look over at Ephesians 5. Really as we're answering the question, "Why is homosexuality wrong?" really what you see is that question is answered by a proper theology of marriage. That's all we're doing here. In Ephesians 5, I'm going to read this long familiar passage. Ephesians 5:22-33, "Wives," his women, female members of the marriage relationship. It's stunning that you have to be that specific in our day and age but, you know, whatever it takes to be faithful to God's word we'll do it. "Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body. But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything." Let's stop there for a moment. Paul is instructing people on how to conduct themselves in the marriage relationship based on a broader principle of what Christ and the church, how they relate together. Notice this, beloved, notice that what we're doing here this morning is consistent with the biblical pattern. Paul takes the immediate problem of conflict within the marriage and places it in a bigger spiritual context, a bigger theological context and connects it to transcendent issues rather than isolating it simply to the human issue at hand. That's how we must respond to homosexuality. It cannot be discussed apart from God's plan for marriage in the same way that marital conflict could not be separated from the way that Christ relates to his own church. We must learn to connect things in our thinking and connect individual issues to the greater context in which they occur.
Verse 25, Paul says, "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless. So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church." Drop down to verse 32, no, I don't want to skip it. Verse 30, "because we are members of His body." Verse 31, he appeals to Genesis just like we have done here today. I want you to see that what we are doing here is simply biblical. Paul appeals to that creation ordinance. Jesus appealed to the creation ordinance. Apparently it is defining in its impact. Verse 31, "For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and shall be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church. Nevertheless, each individual among you also is to love his own wife even as himself, and the wife must see to it that she respects her husband."
So in this passage which we'll look at more in the course of our exposition of Ephesian in several weeks, in this passage, Paul points to marriage as a picture of the love that Christ has to his church. The care that Christ has for his church. The sacrificial love by which he laid down his life at the cross for sinners so that they would be reconciled to him. To put their interests ahead of his own. To make sure that their needs were satisfied, cared for. That they were protected. That no harm would come to them. That they would be conformed to the image of God. That is an expression of the love that Christ has for the church and Paul takes that and says, "That's a picture of the way that your marriage is supposed to be. Husbands, love your wives this way. Love them with a sacrificial, self-denying love. Love them like you love your own body. Wives, you respect your husbands just like believers respect and honor Christ."
Well, that has implications. Listen, in creation, marriage had a highly exalted place in God's order. In the New Testament, Jesus affirmed that place in its order. And then in the progressive revealing of God's word when Paul wrote Ephesians later on, we see that marriage pictures another wonderful reality, the relationship of a saving Lord to his people. The primacy, the importance that God places on marriage in his acts and in his words is surpassing. It is sacred. It is holy. Men should be approaching it with a sense of reverence, taking their shoes off because as we deal with marriage we are on holy ground and we are on ground that belongs to God alone. And as in the second century A.D., men brought pigs into the temple area in Jerusalem, men have brought the pigs of defilement into God's holy institution of marriage. I'm using that metaphor but I'm not calling men by the name of pigs, it's important to understand that. It's a metaphor that I am using. Men have trampled in and said, "This is mine to rearrange the way that I want." That's not true. It's a lesser violation if a criminal breaks into your house and takes things that belong to you than what has happened to the institution of marriage over these past 10 or 15 years. Men have broken into that which does not belong to them and rearranged and taken it and misappropriated it to their own use, to their own desires, that which was never to belong to them. It is shameful. It is wrong. It is sinful. It is criminal. It is treasonous. It's ransacking the picture of Christ and the church. It's assaulting the created order.
And beloved, I hang my head in shame at what people in the name of Christ are doing: the church is gladly hopping on the bandwagon to go along with it. What is that? How much are men at the center of their own worldview even in the church? We see what the world is doing. God's design for marriage from Genesis, "I'll set it aside as long as these people like me. Christ in the church, you know, that's negotiable. Of course that's negotiable. What if these people don't like us? What if they won't come and listen to my insipid sermons in my mainline denomination?" It's with a righteous anger, beloved, that we reject that and condemn it. Someone, the true Christians, need to speak on behalf of God and give voice to what his word says. Haven't we heard enough from men on this issue? Haven't the courts had their say? Well, isn't it time for God's word to be given voice? That's why we're doing this and it should offend you even if you don't express your passions in the same way that I do. It should offend your sensibilities. You should be shocked and outraged at what has happened to the institution of marriage in light of who it belongs to and the good that he had designed in it and what it says about the picture of Christ and the church. No, no, beloved, beloved, we've got to think. We have to connect this to what we are. We belong to Christ. We are not our own. We were bought with a price by the precious blood of Christ and therefore his affections are our affections. We derive what makes us passionate from that which he assigns importance to and he assigns great importance to these things.
Now, enter homosexuality: man with man, woman with woman in a promiscuous, violent, drunken culture and calling that marriage. What a corruption of the purity of what God established, of the clean, honorable nature of what God has done according to and for his own good pleasure. Picture it, I didn't plan this metaphor but it is helpful to me: the violation of that, picture it, some of you have had this happen to you, someone breaking into your house and vandalizing it randomly, wantonly. Totally disrespecting everything that you have worked for and treasured. You say, "That's not right. This isn't yours to do this to and you scandalize that which belongs to me." You would be outraged. Well, where is the sense of outrage of what's happened to what belongs to God and God alone? God gave complementary genders to humanity for their good and as the means of divine companionship. He wove monogamous, heterosexual marriage into creation to ultimately picture the relationship between Christ, his Son and the church.
Beloved, when you understand things from this perspective, you are far down the road to understanding why homosexuality is wrong. Homosexuality rebels against God's design. It violates everything that God established for the blessing of man and to express his glory, to express that which is good in the church. God, as it were, said, "It's not good for man to be alone," and, as it were, he stretched out his hand and gave the gift of a companion, and gave the gift of marriage and said, "Do it this way." Homosexuality looks at that outstretched hand and slaps it away violently and says, "We will not do it that way. We reject the creative hand. We will assert our own authority," over something that never was theirs to begin with and pursues its own fulfillment. It perverts the created order. It perverts the picture of Christ redeeming his church. Why is homosexuality wrong? Start there. What does God think of it all? That's for the next session.
Let's bow together in prayer.
Our Father, we thank you for your wisdom and your grace and your goodness which established marriage in such a way. That which belongs to you, yours to define, yours to make what you wanted it to be. Ours to be the grateful recipient and to respond in glad gratitude and obedience. And Father, it has all been perverted in our lifetime, not just in homosexuality, Father, but even by our own sexual sins of one degree or another. There's not a man or a woman in this room that somehow hasn't violated your commands against lust or exclusive affection to their mate. So Father, we start with ourselves and we confess our own sins and our own shortcomings. We thank you that in the Lord Jesus Christ we have a Savior who shed his blood to wash away our sins and we rest in him even as we confess our sins.
Father, as we look at the broader issues outside the walls of the church and outside the walls of our own heart, Lord, we are as I believe it was Daniel said in his prayer, "I was appalled." Maybe it was Nehemiah thinking about the walls of Jerusalem but we are appalled, Lord, at what we see around us. We see what our fellow man has done in corrupting that which belongs to you alone and we look to you, Father, for the solution which is found only in the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, found only in you bringing order one eschatological day out of that which man has made into chaos. You will vindicate your word, Father. While you are withholding your judgment for a time, we ask you to show grace to those who have rebelled, save some sinners. Save those who have participated in this outrage, Father, just as freely and graciously as you saved some who participated in the crucifixion of your own Son. We don't understand the marvels of your holiness or the marvels of your grace. Father, in our own impetuous ways, we probably would have judged everything already but you manifest your patience that still a few more might enter into your kingdom and escape the wrath that is to come. What a marvelous God you are, holy, wise, gracious and good and, Lord, it's for your honor and for the sake of your great name that we have said these things here today. We pray that you would take them and cause your word to run and bear fruit in our lives and in the lives of others as well. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.
More in The Bible and Homosexuality
July 12, 2015(5) - The Future of the Church and Homosexuality
July 11, 2015(4) - Addressing the Heart of Same-Sex Attraction


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**Are you kidding? Feel free to do so. Just don't double book the assmebly rooms!
--Cloud One
**I'm not accepting questions anymore. Please watch your step down the ladder, and the mini-trampoline should still be down there. Feel free to check out the Rules and Regulations, and any other parts of my site, both Cloud City related and not. I hope you enjoyed your tour, and feel free to come again!
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subset: commoncrawl


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My Little Lyfe Nursing Companion - The Woods
The My Little Lyfe Nursing Companion Pillow is perfect for nursing moms or bottle feeding parents. It helps to correctly position the baby which promotes good posture for the parents and allows for better control of positioning as the baby is feeding. The soft interior fabric adds an extra touch of comfort. Being light weight it is easily carried in a diaper bag. Grandparents and siblings will love it as it gives them more support as they hold the babies. The My Little Lyfe nursing pillow is a must have!
- Easily slides over mom's forearm to provide the ultimate support for baby
- Fits inside most large diaper bags and can be used anywhere
- It makes bottle feeding a breeze
- Machine washable
- 10 x 5 x 8 inches


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"I didn't shoot well, but at the same time I was able to do other things," Johnson said. "My teammates were making shots. I was just trying to crash the boards, get rebounds and just make plays."
Kevin Durant scored 28 points for the Thunder, who have lost 10 of 11. Oklahoma City fell to 1-13 on the road and 3-26 overall despite a combined 26 rebounds by Jeff Green and Chris Wilcox.
The Hawks have won three straight and six of seven. They improved to 11-2 at home.
Johnson's follow shot with 32 seconds left before halftime made it 44-43 and gave Atlanta the lead for good. But with the outcome still uncertain, Johnson showed how much he means to the Hawks in a 12-second span of the fourth quarter, pulling down a defensive rebound and feeding Josh Smith for a 3-pointer.
Smith's basket, which made it 88-81 with 2:32 remaining, prompted Oklahoma City to call a timeout. After the Hawks walked back onto the floor, Johnson learned he needed two assists for a triple-double.
"It's cool, but it's not the biggest thing on my list," he said. "Don't get me wrong. A triple-double is sweet. It's a great accomplishment because it lets you know you've been active on both ends of the court. I was just trying to be aggressive and make plays."
Johnson's other triple-double came on Feb. 1, 2006, when he had 15 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists in Atlanta's 102-92 victory at Charlotte. Against Oklahoma City, he was 8-for-23 from the field and nearly 10 points under his season shooting percentage of 44.9.
"It's unbelievable," Williams said about Johnson, who leads Atlanta in scoring for the fourth straight year and last season played 82 games for the fifth time in his career. "We're in good shape right now. Obviously, this is the best team I've ever been on since I've been here."
Durant's 19-footer with 3:18 remaining cut the lead to 85-81, but the Thunder failed to score on their next three possessions and trailed by nine after Mike Bibby's 14-footer from the right baseline at the 1:37 mark.
"They hit a lot of big shots tonight and they got a lot of stops," Durant said. "That's why they're a playoff team. Teams make their run, but we can't allow that. We could have made more shots but we didn't. Joe Johnson made shots when he needed to, and with a triple-double, it shows what type of player he is."
Green tied a career high with 14 rebounds and finished with 18 points. Wilcox, in 24 minutes, had 19 points and a season-high 12 boards.
"It was Joe Johnson's game tonight," Wilcox said. "He had an answer for everything. He hit big shots all night, and that's why they brought him here."
Notes: Thunder C Joe Smith, starting for the first time this season, had eight points and five rebounds after Nick Collison missed the game with a broken left thumb. Collison got hurt in a loss to Cleveland on Saturday, but could return Friday at Detroit. ... Durant has scored at least 20 points in a career-best eight consecutive games. ... Atlanta improved to 17-4 when holding opponents under 100 points. ... Oklahoma City has lost six straight on the road since winning at Memphis on Nov. 29.
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There was a time in the late 1980s when Georgette Forney didn't want to turn on the evening news because she kept seeing the same frightening scenes over and over.
Waves of Operation Rescue activists were doing sit-ins at abortion facilities, often handcuffing themselves to the doors while others collapsed nearby chanting, singing, praying and reading scripture. Then police would drag everyone off to jail. This cycle of civil disobedience kept repeating itself at other clinics, in other towns, in other states.
"I remember thinking, 'They're all nut cases,' " said Forney. "Those tactics were so intimidating to me as a woman and, especially, as a woman who had had an abortion. ... I wanted to stay as far away from that extreme anti-abortion stuff as I possibly could. It was all dangerous, as far as I was concerned."
Then her spiritual walls began to collapse. She had a daughter, which reminded her again of the daughter lost in her 1976 abortion. Eventually Forney had a soul-shaking experience of grief, reconciliation and healing. By the late '90s she was a leader in the National Organization of Episcopalians for Life. But she still could not embrace the tactics of the Operation Rescue era.
Nevertheless, Forney was one of many who cheered after the U.S. Supreme Court's 8-1 decision that the federal Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organizations Act could not be used against groups that protest at abortion facilities. While the cases -- Scheidler v. NOW and Operation Rescue v. NOW -- stirred up the usual combatants, the anti-abortion coalition also drew wide legal support from other activists who saw the importance of this legal precedent for all forms of protest. Among those showing support were People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, Greenpeace, the Seamless Garment Network, Citizens United for Alternatives to the Death Penalty and Pax Christi USA. Actor Martin Sheen and the activist priest Daniel Berrigan even signed on.
This decision may have closed the door on an era in which anyone who wanted to oppose abortion had to worry about being associated with illegal forms of protest.
Finally, an intimidating link to the past is gone, said Forney. The emphasis now is on finding ways to reach women before and after their abortions. In January, she helped lead a "Silent No More" campaign in 46 states built on the testimonies of women who have had abortions. They held quiet demonstrations at state capitols and other public places, holding black-and-white "I regret my abortion" signs.
"After 30 years, we have to try to teach our choir a new song," she said. "We can't keep using the same pro-life words and images that we've always used. We have to talk to the women and try to see things through their eyes. We have to let women know that they deserve something better than abortion."
Meanwhile, there are still legal issues to be resolved about the legal rights of those who still want to pray, preach and protest on public sidewalks, said Joe Scheidler, the activist whose Chicago-based Pro-Life Action League was caught up in the Operation Rescue-era legal wars.
After all, the 1994 Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act calls for sanctions against those who conduct "threatening" protests in or near the "safety zones" around abortion clinics. And after this Supreme Court decision, NOW President Kim Gandy vowed to see to it that "religious and political extremists do not resume their reign of terror at women's clinics. We are looking at every avenue, including the U.S.A. Patriot Act, in order to protect women, doctors and clinic staff from these ideological terrorists."
No one expects conflicts to cease near abortion facilities, said Scheidler. But the momentum is behind those willing to find ways to do sidewalk counseling, hold vigils and to distribute information -- even coupons for free ultrasound tests -- without inspiring fear or lawsuits.
Nevertheless, one person's free speech may be another's harassment.
"I don't know how often we've been outside Planned Parenthood saying the Rosary and then suddenly four squad cars roll up," said Scheidler. "The cops say, 'We got a call saying you have weapons.' So we hold up our Rosary beads. ... For some people, saying the Rosary can be a form of intimidation."


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We've taken the kids on some pretty spectacular hikes in Colorado, but since my husband and I don't ski or partake in winter sports (this will change next year when I take up Nordic/Cross Country), we never thought to take the boys on a winter hike in the snow or up in the higher elevations. When we do go on winter hikes, we opt for trails near and around Denver—which means that there isn't much snow on the ground and temperatures are usually in the 50s and 60s. But this past weekend we wanted to try something new, and since the kids are getting better in the car we decided the 2 hour trip to Florissant Fossil Bed National Monument would work out well. What I didn't realize, as I left the house dressed in a light cotton flannel, was that this hike is way up in the mountains (over 9500 feet) where it's about 20-30 degrees cooler than it is in Denver. I was obviously underdressed (thankfully the kids had extra layers in the car), so as we climbed up and up, and as we passed town after town without a suitable store to fix my little problem, I started to think this wouldn't work out so well. But we finally came upon what I'll call a larger "city"- and we spotted a Goodwill Store which I knew would have something suitable. I found what I was looking for in under 2 minutes - an "I Heart Colorado" sweatshirt with a hood! And just like that, for the low price of $3.99, I was outfitted for altitude…so we made our way to our final destination.
Florrisant Fossil Beds National Monument contains the remains of an ancient Redwood forest dating back about 35 million years. Usually whenever I think of the Redwoods my brain immediately goes to the California coastline, but in fact millions of years ago the Colorado climate was actually much more hospitable to these ancient tress. (This would be a good time to tell you that in my pre-kids life I was an environmental lawyer and worked on a campaign to protect the Tillamook Forest in Oregon, so I tend to geek out on all things forest-related, and this trail had me jumping for joy.) Anyway, back when these enormous trees dotted the Colorado landscape, the climate was much warmer and much wetter, which meant that the habitat was perfect for forests and trees here could grow up to 230 feet high. It must have been something. The valley also saw its share of volcanic eruptions, an ever- changing landscape, and it was home to hunter-gatherers (the Paleo-Indians, the Ute and Jicarilla Apache peoples), early Pioneers and scientists. There's a lot of history here- that's what I'm trying to get at...
Unfortunately before the area was protected, much of the petrified wood was taken by tourist as trinkets and collectibles, so not much remains. But there are a few large stumps that you'll see as you make your way through the 1 mile loop. And you can learn about the ancient fossil beds that contain the remnants of trees that no longer exist in Colorado (but some of which have modern-day relatives in Asia).
The kids loved walking in the snow and though the temperatures were around 40-something degrees, the sun made us warm and the two little guys were real troopers and did most of the hiking themselves. Wet feet aside, it was the perfect way to spend the afternoon…
And this is what we snacked on...
Ina Garten's Chipotle & Rosemary Roasted Nuts
Serves 8 to 10
These are sweet, salty, and spicy--with lots of brown sugar, maple syrup, chipotle powder, and fresh rosemary. Roasting is the process that brings out the most flavor in nuts, and serving them warm is a particularly nice touch.
Vegetable oil
3 cups whole roasted unsalted cashews (14 ounces)
2 cups whole walnut halves (7 ounces)
2 cups whole pecan halves (7 ounces)
1/2 cup whole almonds (3 ounces)
1/3 cup pure maple syrup
1/4 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
2 teaspoons ground chipotle powder* (I used 1 teaspoon)
4 tablespoons minced fresh rosemary leaves, divided
Kosher salt
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Brush a sheet pan generously with vegetable oil. Combine the cashews, walnuts, pecans, almonds, 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil, the maple syrup, brown sugar, orange juice, and chipotle powder on the sheet pan. Toss to coat the nuts evenly. Add 2 tablespoons of the rosemary and 2 teaspoons of salt and toss again.
Spread the nuts in one layer. Roast the nuts for 25 minutes, stirring twice with a large metal spatula, until the nuts are glazed and golden brown. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with 2 more teaspoons of salt and the remaining 2 tablespoons of rosemary.
Toss well and set aside at room temperature, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking as they cool. Taste for seasoning. Serve warm or cool completely and store in airtight containers at room temperature.
* Chipotle chile powder is different from ordinary chili powder- it's ground dried smoked jalapeños and has a distinctive hot, smoky, sweet flavor.


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Zacapa Necklace
Zacapa Necklace
This piece is not available for immediate shopping- we'll make it specially for you. As you know, creating a handmade piece takes time, so just be patient, it's totally worth it!
You will receive your jungle-inspired masterpiece in approximately three weeks.
Materials: Hammered brass / Gold-plated 24K choker, Beads.
100% Handmade/ Sustainable
Tropicalia Collection has been made in Colombia with authentic local materials and developed by talented local hands, generating new jobs for an amazing group of artisans; women that have earned the designer admiration and today are part of the JETLAGMODE team.
#Jetlaglove is a project created with love that seeks to contribute a bit to the lives of kids with needs in countries like Colombia and Guatemala. Wonderful countries that JETLAGMODE has fallen in love with and now has the great opportunity to help.
Thanks for making this possible, you are helping too!


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Shoney Goes North/
Well… Not that far north. This is "Shoney", a custom G-Mat Ute built for Marianne Davies in North Devon.
Shoney, a gift for Marianne from her brother John, is now resident in North Devon, UK. It seems that there is a real growing interest in mat surfing up there. It's been a while since I visited but I think it may be due. A mat meet on a certain point break would be something else over this winter.
Anyway, back to Shoney, she is a 200/70 wheezer which gives a less jelly-like experience. Also a good option in heavier waves.
Hope to see her in action!


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Boat Fuel Systems
By John Adey
Fuel systems in boats, even boats of fairly recent vintage, have more in common with those in 1930s-era automobiles. The great news is that this is about to change. The days of overflowing fills and vents will be a thing of the past on newer-model gasoline boats.
Automatic Gas-Pump Shutoff
By model year 2013 (July 1, 2012), gasoline-powered boats will incorporate a more advanced fuel system designed and tested to activate the gas pump's automatic shutoff feature, eliminating overfilling. Though no one should leave a boat unattended while fueling, the new system takes the effort out of knowing when the boat is full. Part of this new design is a carbon canister tucked away in the boat's vent line and packed with a special marine-grade carbon. The carbon scrubs the hydrocarbons from the fuel vapor, eliminating fuel odors and contributing to cleaner air. The components also include new fuel lines and tank-construction materials that reduce the permeation of fuel into the line and tank material.
The technology used is nothing new; the secret lies in the valves. These components are mounted on top or in the tank and are precisely calibrated to make sure the tank fills to the proper level every time. By reacting to the fuel level in the tank, the combination of valves sends liquid fuel up to the fill neck, activating the shutoff feature in the gasoline pump nozzle. Ensuring a predetermined level in the tank eliminates traditional vent leakage from the fuel expanding due to the daily temperature rise. This also protects the carbon canister located in the vent line from becoming saturated with liquid fuel. There are some cautions:
- There are no user-serviceable parts in this system. The canister and valves have a similar useful life as the ones in your car; they're not predicted to fail over the life of the boat.
- Should a fuel system be suspected as a failure point, a qualified service technician must make the repair to ensure the integrity of the system.
- Do Not over-fill! Just like your car, this system can be overcome by repeated attempts to "top off" or using a very slow fill, such as from a jerry can. The extra gallon is not worth the risk of having liquid fuel end up in areas that weren't designed for it.
For now, these systems are not an aftermarket solution. Rigorous industry standards, coupled with extensive manufacturer testing, have created a robust, dependable system that has different characteristics based on the model of the boat.
Improvements For Small Outboards
New EPA requirements for portable tanks are beginning to appear on the shelves. An innovative self-sealing vent eliminates the need to constantly open and close the traditional screw fitting on the top of the cap. This feature eliminates the need to open and close the vent manually, ending the entrance of water through an open vent. This new technology vents at a predetermined level and even reacts to a vacuum situation, making the collapsed tank a thing of the past. The reason for the addition of the automatic vent is to retain fuel vapor more reliably than depending on users to close the vent every time the tank is not in use.
BoatUS Magazine contributing editor John Adey is Interim President of the American Boat & Yacht Council.
— Published: February/March 2012
Recommended Articles
Fuel-System Checkup
How to maintain your boat's fuel system to ward off unwanted effects of alcohol-laced fuels
Installing A Remote Fuel Filter
Inconsistent fuel quality practically mandates this accessory to add extra protection for your motor
Fuel System Maintenance
Most diesel engine problems stem from contaminated fuel. Make fuel-system maintenance top of your list
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Rough electric complete in kitchen. Recessed lights will go in after the cabinets. Also, you can see the slider going onto the deck in the back of the kitchen.
Kitchen has been stripped and awaiting arrival of cabinets.
Cable and receptacle in the middle of the wall ready to host our flat screen.
Top of the stairs
Master bath rough electric and plumbing


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This week we're exploring repertoire & how to select the songs that work best for you.
As singers, we are all individuals. Therefore, it makes sense that not every song will work for everybody. It could be down to vocal range, style, genre or even the lyrical content, but no matter how much we love a song; sometimes we just have to admit, "this isn't right for me". The eternal question of course is how do we go about choosing a repertoire that does 'work' for us. Is there a method? A veritable 'tick-list' of things a song has to have in order to be successful? Or perhaps it's just down to something we feel when the song connects with us? This week at VoiceCouncil we'd like to hear your thoughts on this.
So the question is: How do you know if a song is 'right' for you?
Share your views on Facebook and our Forum!
Great Comments from last week:
Last week Craig asked: What is your favorite mic to record with in the studio and why?
Wes Maebe wrote…
"Totally depends on the voice. BeesNeez Jade, Brauner VM1, AEA KU4 and Neumann U47 are high on the list".
Kenneth Bjærum commented…
"Well I love my old AKG c5900 because it represents my voice more the way I perceive it. I also have a cheap Tbone sct 2000 that has been modified by Rob Machinator'. Believe it or not, I am kind of satisfied with it. Compared it to a Telefunken 251, which is a better microphone. But I can live with the "differences". It's not worth the money. That said, some things actually sound better with my Tbone".
Mikael Elkan responded…
"Neumann U269. Best clarity and definition".
Ian Roy Orbison wrote…
"I've got a big voice that is very clean – so that usually means the standard Neumann U87 is off the list because that mic often makes good voices sound dreadful. My preference is the Neumann M 149 or M 147 – because they both tame big voices like mine and the 149 adds a lovely sparkle to my voice. But it depends on your personal preference and what suits your voice. Of course, the other vital thing is the mic pre-amp which is every bit as important. I have an Avalon 737 channel strip, which is great".
Thank-you for all your comments and insights readers. See you next week.


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History of the atelier
Atelier Colpani is one of the most prestigious tailoring studios in central London. Valli, an experienced pattern cutter and designer of her own collection, UNORA, founded the studio in 1999 on Floral Street.
Now based over two floors on Avery Row, a pedestrian street at the back of Bond Street, the work is handled by a team of professional tailors and fitters with many years of experience in the fashion industry.
Our work varies from high-end designer alterations and support to photo shoots to catwalks and private fittings.
Our clients vary from luxury brands to high profile people, celebrities and creative individuals.
Our aim is to make the most of your clothes, advising on tailoring and styling to ensure the perfect fit.


text: When everything comes together but nothing makes sense is a visual study of graffiti culture in Sweden, focusing on the people behind the thriving underground culture. Hundreds if not thousands of graffiti artists or vandals – however they are called – devote their lives to the peculiar and controversial form of art; by their actions they gain respect and fame among their own rather small community, whereas are considered merely a nuisance by the general public. While graffiti often is seen as a youth culture and most graffiti writers start painting in their teenage years, the addiction grows deep roots that grip many for a lifetime.


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Our Family History
In the early 1900's, Grandpa Benedetto and Grandma Maria Ferracane came to the United States from Palermo, Sicily. They settled in New York and soon thereafter opened Ferracane's Italian Bakery on Coney Island Avenue in Brooklyn. They started a family and had five children; Betty, Rose, Frank, Johnny, and Jeannie. As the years went on, the girls married and the boys went off to war.
In the late 1940's, when the boys returned home, Grandpa, Grandma, Uncle Johnny, Uncle Frank, and Aunt Jeannie ventured off to Fort Lauderdale and opened Maria's Pizzeria. The business did so well that by the mid 1950's they opened the Johnny's Eldorado; and Italian Restaurant and Motel on federal highway in Fort Lauderdale. Then in the early 1960's, Benedetto Tarantino, one of eight children born to Joseph Tarantino and Betty (the oldest daughter of Benedetto and Maria) ventured off to Fort Lauderdale. There he was taught to cook side by side with Grandma and Uncle Johnny. He learned the family recipes and the restaurant business.
In the late 1960's he returned home. Shortly thereafter, he and his brother Frankie opened Tarantino's an Italian Restaurant and Pizzeria. Then, some years later, he opened an Italian deli with his youngest sister Betty. These were just two of the many successful restaurants he owned or operated. Benedetto continued the traditions handed down to him and passed them on to all in the family who wanted to learn. He taught us how to make the sauces, cut the meat, and cook the pasta. It is because of his teachings we ourselves became restaurant owners, managers, and cooks. In his honor we name our restaurant after him; "La Benedetto's".
As a family, we thank God every day for his love, his mercy, and the blessings he has bestowed upon us. This day we also thank you for coming out to patronize our restaurant and taking the time to learn a little about our family history. It is with great pride that we say to you...


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(also Yaghnobs, Iagnobs; self-designation, yagnobi), a small ethnic group of mountain Tadzhiks inhabiting the valley of the Iagnob River and its tributary the Kul' River in the Tadzhik SSR.
The native language of the Yagnobs, Yagnobi, is used in everyday situations. The majority of the Yagnobs speak Tadzhik, which is the language taught in local schools. To a large extent, the Yagnobs have been absorbed into the Tadzhik population; many have moved to plains regions in newly developed areas. The chief occupations of the Yagnobs are land cultivation and cattle raising. Religious Yagnobs are Sunni Muslims.


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Death by Power Clean, 155/105
- Everyone will start with 155/105 and will give it everything they have. If you are unable to complete 12 rounds with this weight, drop the weight to 135/95 and start over.
- If you are unable to complete 12 rounds with 135/95, drop the weight to 115/85 and start over.
Post scores for all rounds that you do (the first round is the most important score – go for broke with the 155/105).


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It all starts here. The spark of an idea. Hard-earned knowledge of what actually works. The insights within data to make the previously undreamed of possible. Every transformative change has a beginning, and requires people to put in the work. Join the brilliant, hard-driving, stubborn, inspired, passionate people redefining what's achievable, and the technology empowering them, at Oracle OpenWorld.
Bold ideas. Breakthrough technologies. Better possibilities. It all starts here.
Across two days, immerse yourself in the infinite possibilities of a data-driven world.
DAY 1 | Insight Starts Here | Outpace Change with Intelligence
Explore how leading companies—faced with an ever-accelerating pace of change—are unlocking insights with data to reengineer the core of their business, elevate the value they deliver to customers, pioneer new ways of working, and drive completely new opportunities.
DAY 2 | Innovation Starts Here | Technology-Powered Possibilities
Dive deep into the transformational and autonomous technologies fundamentally changing work and life. Fuel innovation by pulling value from vast amounts of data at scale and unleashing opportunities with AI and machine learning.
Connect with technologists and decision-makers looking for partners and solutions to help them accelerate success. To discuss the right opportunity for you, contact the Oracle Events Partner Engagement Team.
Oracle President Loïc Le Guisquet welcomes everyone to Oracle OpenWorld Asia 2019.Watch now
Business innovation and technology is rapidly shifting. Deloitte Chief Innovation Officer and Managing Director John Liu shares tech trends at Oracle OpenWorld Asia 2019.Watch now
This session will provide key insights into business transformation and how to future-proof your business. Hear from business leaders on what has helped them to thrive and succeed in today's changing digital landscape at Oracle OpenWorld Asia 2019.Watch now
Quickly and easily embrace innovation and emerging technologies to future-proof your business using Oracle Cloud. Oracle Executive Vice President Steve Miranda shares how Oracle is enabling business users at Oracle OpenWorld Asia 2019.Watch now
AirAsia has broken out of the mold, managed uncertainty, experimented and innovated with new revenue streams. AirAsia Group Chief Executive Officer Tony Fernandes shares how technology helps AirAsia stay agile at Oracle OpenWorld Asia 2019.Watch now
The Future Enterprise is IDC's vision for how firms must organize and invest to participate in increasingly digitally-centric markets. IDC Group Vice President of the Asia/Pacific Practice Group Sandra Ng shares more at Oracle OpenWorld Asia 2019.Watch now
Examine the key trends shaping the future of work, jobs of the future, and skills in demand. Bronze Phoenix Founder and CEO Su-Yen Wong shares what it takes to thrive in an age of disruption at Oracle OpenWorld Asia 2019.Watch now
Andrew Sutherland and Steve Daheb discuss the future of cloud computing and the technologies it enables to take your business to the future, today at Oracle OpenWorld Asia 2019.Watch now
Our future depends on the ocean, but we are killing it with great diligence. Its survival is dependent on our ability to implement solutions at scale and speed. Inventor and Environmentalist Cesar Jung-Harada shares more at Oracle OpenWorld Asia 2019.Watch now
Singapore's Senior Minister of State Chee Hong Tat stresses the importance of placing customers and people at the center of any business innovation strategy in his keynote at Oracle OpenWorld Asia 2019.Watch now
Connect with thought leaders.
Executive Vice President, Oracle Applications Product Development
Steve Miranda is executive vice president of Oracle Applications product development. He is responsible for leading all aspects of product strategy, product development, and product delivery for the entire portfolio of Oracle Applications and related services. Miranda's primary focus is on delivering the industry's most complete, proven, and innovative set of cloud solutions encompassing enterprise resource planning; supply chain, human capital, and enterprise performance management; customer experience; and Oracle Data Cloud applications.
Miranda joined Oracle in 1992 and has held a variety of leadership positions within the development organization. In 2007 he was asked to lead the engineering of Oracle's next-generation suite of software applications, Oracle Fusion Applications. Under his leadership, Oracle has delivered on its promise to help applications customers innovate and remain competitive while leveraging their existing IT investments and increasing the value of those investments with new Oracle products and services.
Prior to Oracle, Miranda worked at GE Aerospace. He holds degrees in mathematics and computational sciences from Stanford University.
Senior Vice President,Technology and Systems, Oracle Europe, Middle East, and Africa
Andrew Sutherland is Senior Vice President of Systems & Technology for Oracle Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA) & Asia Pacific (APAC). He is responsible for growing Oracle's EMEA market share in these key business areas. In this role he develops business strategies and manages competence in Oracle's technology and systems offerings across the region. He is also responsible for the interaction with Oracle's product development teams.Sutherland joined Oracle in 1995, and has more than 30 years' experience in emerging technologies and their application to business challenges. His specific expertise is in the design of solutions incorporating mobile and internet technology.
Immediately prior to joining Oracle, Sutherland established a high tech company that developed technological solutions to the problems of the sensory-impaired. The company received prestigious innovation awards from the Department of Trade and Industry.
Before this he was deputy director of the Centre for Speech Technology Research, a research and development consultancy attached to the University of Edinburgh. During his time there, Sutherland helped win and subsequently oversaw the development of projects in commerce, industry, and the public sector.
In 1988, Sutherland designed the UK's first parallel-processing speech-recognition system. Based on parallel processors, it operated in real time. Under his management, this technology was successfully applied to problems encountered in aviation, medical reporting, and police reporting.
Sutherland has contributed more than 15 technical publications on multimedia and business issues, including entries in a major encyclopedia. He holds a first-class BSc in electrical and electronic engineering from Edinburgh University, a PhD in digital-signal processing, and an MBA in workflow analysis. Sutherland is also a chartered engineer.
Senior Vice President, Oracle Cloud
Steve Daheb is senior vice president for Oracle Cloud; he joined the company in 2015. He brings to Oracle a strong record of building businesses, creating new categories, and driving integrated sales and marketing execution to achieve revenue growth.
Daheb is responsible for driving the global transformation and growth of key Oracle Cloud portfolio offerings including all PaaS and IaaS. His responsibilities include full go-to-market strategy and execution to achieve top-line growth of Oracle's cloud business.
Prior to joining Oracle, Daheb was chief marketing officer at Citrix. There he had global responsibilities for all corporate, solutions, product, and partner marketing. Prior to joining Citrix, Daheb served as the chief marketing officer at Blue Coat, a leading provider of web security and WAN optimization solutions. He helped lead the $1.3B sale of Blue Coat to a private equity firm. Previous to Blue Coat, he was chief marketing officer and senior vice president of business development at Emulex Corporation. Before that, Daheb held marketing, sales, and business development leadership roles at BlueArc Corporation (acquired by Hitachi Data Systems), Tasman Networks (acquired by Nortel), Brocade, and Lucent.
In 2010, Daheb was named a top 10 CMO by the CMO Institute and the American Business Awards named him one of the top 10 Marketing Executives in the United States. In 2012, the American Business Awards named Daheb as one of the Top Technology Executives of the Year.
Daheb holds a JD from the Santa Clara University School of Law and a BA from the University of California at Davis.
Senior Vice President, Human Capital Management Cloud Business Group, Oracle
Emily He is Oracle's senior vice president of the human capital management cloud business group. Prior to joining Oracle, she was chief marketing officer of DoubleDutch, a leader in digital marketing solutions for events, conferences, and trade shows. Ms. He has 18 years of experience in various enterprise software roles, including marketing, corporate strategy, and business development at companies such as Siebel Systems, E2Open, and Saba Software. Ms. She is known for supporting business growth with highly differentiated corporate branding and product positioning, as well as innovative digital marketing, demand generation, and customer experience programs. She is a recognised thought leader on digital transformation, engagement marketing, talent management, and authentic leadership. Her perspectives have appeared in a broad spectrum of business publications including the Economist, Fortune, Forbes, Fast Company, and the Huffington Post.
Group Vice President, IDC's Asia/Pacific Practice Group
Sandra Ng is the Group Vice President heading IDC's Asia/Pacific Practice Group. Based in Singapore, she is responsible for thought leadership and deep-dive insights and advisory content on IDC's 3rd Platform disruptive pillars of Cloud, Mobility, Big DataAnalytics, and Social along with C-suite (CIO, CMO, CEO, COO, CFO and CxO) research and tech buyer engagements as well as the Service Provider industry. In her role, she advises both tech buyers (CIO and LoB) and IT suppliers/enablers across the ICT marketplace.Sandra leads a team of IDC's senior analysts that leverages the core research created by IDC and contextualizing the content and increasing its relevance for clients and their businesses. This unique delivery of research content brings with it IDC's thought leadership analysis and business executive insights for marketing, product management, sales and strategic leadership teams within the client's organization.
Futurist, Tech Investor
With over 20 major tech investments under his belt, Nicklas Bergman is one of the most sought-out advisers and speakers on emerging technologies and their business implications. Bergman spends extensive time with early-stage start-ups and keeping global businesses on par with the latest innovations so they can make the best decisions for their companies. He has extensive knowledge of AI, nanotechnology, new materials, genetics, web services, and computing.
Bergman is the Scandinavian adviser to the TechCast Technology Think Tank in Washington DC, where he focuses on how technology transforms society. In 2016 Bergman published a book on how to deal with new technologies from a business perspective: Surviving the Tech Storm - Strategy in Times of Technological Uncertainty.
Chris Riddell is one of Australia's most sought after futurists, and award-winning industry recognised keynote speaker on digital. He is also a renowned strategist and global emerging trend spotter for businesses and leaders in today's disrupted world.
Chris Riddell is a senior advisor to businesses across industry verticals, with consulting expertise across the technology, transportation, manufacturing, healthcare, finance and communications sectors. He is a current board member of the Museum for Australian Democracy at Eureka, and writes columns for online digital agencies and corporations, providing deep insights into the world of digital, disruption and future change.
Managing Director, FutureReady Consulting Sdn Bhd
Datuk Yasmin Mahmood, the Managing Director of FutureReady Consulting Sdn Bhd, is a much sought after global thought leader in Digital Economy Transformation, Consultancy and Implementation throughout the ASEAN region.
Throughout her illustrious career spanning three decades, Yasmin had served both the Public and Private Sectors, which places her in a credible position on overseeing Public-Private Partnerships to realise 'Win-Win' situations and sustainable growth.
She started her career as an analyst programmer with a local bank after graduating with a double-major in Computer Science and Mathematics. She subsequently worked her way up to become General Manager of Hewlett Packard Malaysia's Commercial Channels Organisation. She then took on the dual-role of General Manager and Regional Corporate Director of Dell Malaysia.
Yasmin moved on to become Microsoft Malaysia's Managing Director in 2006 and became known for her "Malaysianising Microsoft" mantra and for aligning the strengths of what was then the world's most powerful software company with Malaysia's national and development agenda.


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Epoxy and Interior Finishes.
Beautiful, easy to clean and resilient. These high gloss floors have the durability suitable for forklift traffic. Available in a multitude of colors, metallics, and granite styles with options that include embedded logos. Epoxy is the preferred coating for garage floors, manufacturing, warehousing, medical facilities, schools, industrial, showroom, office, restaurants, etc.
Industrial Flooring – Epoxy – Easy to Clean – Extremely Resilient


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5 Former DEA Administrators urge Governor Brown to Oppose Prop 64/
Below is a letter addressed to Governor brown from 5 individuals that served as Administrators of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. You can see the letter here.
Dear Governor Brown,
As former heads of the Drug Enforcement Administration, we write to ask you, the State's highest level and most visible political leader, to take a position on Proposition 64 before the election next Tuesday. For the reasons set out below, we urge you to oppose Prop 64. Your voice, Governor, is critical.
As you know, Prop 64, if passed by the voters, will legalize the commercial cultivation, production and sale of marijuana in California. It is useful to look at how this experiment with commercial legalization has worked out in Colorado, the first state to do so. The results of the Colorado experiment are troubling. Since the Colorado law was enacted in 2013:
- Regular use of marijuana has increased substantially in Colorado and faster than the national average. More problematic is the fact that marijuana use by teenagers in Colorado (12‐17 year olds) is 74% higher than the national average and, indeed, is now the highest teenage use rate in the U.S. The main reason for the increase in marijuana use at all levels is that legalization vastly reduces the perceived risk of this drug.
- Reliable studies have shown that regular use of marijuana by teens results in an average decline in IQ of 8 points. With increasing numbers of users, legalization will inevitably result in a dumbing down of California's youth and its future workforce. A vote for Prop 64 is gambling with the State's future in a globally competitive world.
- The THC content of marijuana sold today is, on average, six times more potent than thirty years ago and, therefore, more addictive. Indeed, there is a 1 in 6 probability that a teenager who regularly uses marijuana will become addicted to it.
- Marijuana related traffic deaths in Colorado have increased by 62% since 2013. In the State of Washington, fatal crashes involving drivers who recently used marijuana has doubled since legalization there. And yet, unlike alcohol, there is no test set forth in Prop 64 for what constitutes driving under the influence of marijuana, in part because THC is stored in body fat and the brain for days.
- Emergency room admissions and poison center calls have risen sharply in Colorado since legalization. Calls to poison control alone rose 109% in Colorado between 2012 and 2015. Washington State has seen similar increases.
- Although voters in California are being told that the crime rate will go down if marijuana cultivation and sales are made legal, in Colorado the crime rates have gone up, for burglaries, car thefts, murders, etc.
- Voters are told that the black market for marijuana will end to the detriment of organized crime. Yet this is not the case in Colorado. The black market is thriving, including unlawful, unlicensed and untaxed large‐scale marijuana cultivation and illegal sales, much of which is backed by organized crime, including the Russian mafia and the Mexican drug cartels. Moreover, arrests for illegal marijuana dealing in Colorado, particularly for Blacks and Hispanics, have increased.
- The taxes on legally produced and sold marijuana is far less than the costs to society from legalization.
- In urban areas such as Denver, marijuana retail outlets are disproportionately concentrated in lower‐income neighborhoods.
- Commercialization of marijuana and profits have given rise to a powerful marijuana lobby in Colorado that has filed suit over restrictions on advertising targeting children and sponsored efforts to allow marijuana to be smoked at restaurants. Although Prop 64, like Colorado's law, restricts advertising directed to children, Prop 64 places no restriction on advertising on television and other electronic media to which our children are exposed. By contrast, cigarette advertising has been banned from TV since 1971. If we thought Big Tobacco was bad, wait till Big Marijuana hits California.
It is reasonable to expect all of the above to occur in California if Prop 64 is enacted. At the very least, California voters should be urged to go slow and study carefully the lessons from Colorado. Your fellow governor, Governor Hickenlooper of Colorado, urges caution and recommends that California and other states considering legalization wait a couples of years as more data about the Colorado experiment becomes available. Let us at least see if these negative trends continue before taking this plunge. This means that Californians, many of whom will listen to you, should vote against Prop 64.
Is it wise social policy to adopt a measure that will substantially increase the numbers of marijuana users, including our youth? As you observed on Face the Nation in 2014: ". . . [I]f there is advertising and legitimacy [accompanying marijuana legalization], how many people can get stoned and still have a great state?" That question is more compelling than ever. Governor Brown, we implore you to make your voice known on this issue soon.
Respectfully Yours,