text:
Grand Theft Auto IV Walkthrough
|Pegorino's Pride
If you want to undertake this mission from the mobster Jimmy Pegorino, then you'll have to head to his fancy-schmancy house in the northwest corner of Alderney, off of Beaverhead Avenue. When you arrive, you'll first be introduced to what appears to be Jimmy's angry wife, as well as his humble assistant. When Niko and Jimmy begin talking, it appears they have some mutual goals, and although Jimmy is initially (and intentionally) quite vague on what he wants from Niko, the two soon strike a deal to go into business together. And just like that, you'll find yourself outside, ready to undertake the mission at hand. After all, no one stomps on Jimmy Pegorino's pride, or that of his family.
Your destination is the old refinery in the Acter Industrial Park, which covers a swath of land at the southern end of Alderney. More specifically, you'll be driving southward and meeting up with Plumbbob Avenue, where you can pull off towards the location of the meeting. So, get into the car, making sure all of your friends are in the car before leaving, and start driving. Niko will learn when he arrives (and is handed a sniper rifle) that his job is to overlook the meeting, taking out anyone on the other side if the meeting turns violent. Of course, fire should be held until (if/when) things get out of control. Got it? Good.
Upon getting out of your car, arm yourself with the sniper rifle you're given, and run through the nearby door into the abandoned warehouse/factory. Run down the well-lit corridor to a more poorly-lit stairwell, where you'll have to climb up quite a few levels to reach your predetermined sniper's perch. Once there, you'll watch the two families meet. Keep your rifle trained on the guy in front of Mr. Pegorino, and when the gunfire starts to fly, take him out first, concentrating thereafter on his four friends in the area. When they've all been killed, you'll then get instructions to engage the rest of the enemy family's henchmen. So, run back down the stairs and emerge outside.
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Grand Theft Auto IV: T... at IGN
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Don't forget that RAM and program memory are completely different.Do you have large constant arrays or tables?
but I have many constant string for debugging by serial.print.
The smoking gun
I don't know how many print strings you've got (hint) but each one occupies RAM.
I thought that serial.print used the ROM and not RAM, but probably you are right,
Can someone explain?
Now I'm shortening all the messages in order to save a ton of bytes
You can put strings into PROGMEM, but you need to handle the printing yourself, but it is fairly simple.

subset: commoncrawl


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*WAVES* Hello Everyone!
My name is Tiffany I am from Ontario. I am a bun mum to two beautiful little racals. My first bun hr name is Dora she is a mini rex I purchased her from a pet store she was the only one left after the easter rush and she was so lonley so I had to bring her home. She was 7 weeks when I brought her home she is now about 4.5. She doesnt like to cuddle anymore, be handled or taken out of her cage and will bite when running free. She is now moved into the bedroom right now as I am going to re-introduce her again to the family room or just move my computer in there with her. But right now with a almost 11 month old crawlin around I cant risk biting. But I am workong on it with ehr and I am sue with some extra love she will come around.
Our newest baby is Oreo he isa french lop fairly big boy. I picked him up form the shelter yesterday. Still adjusting as he was not given any veggies it seems, never hay only Alfalfa and pine shaings. He was kept ina back room with no interaction but ALOT of crying kittens poor guy. He stole my heart. I currently have the cage in the bathroom with the top off incase he wants some free run but 30 minutes so far and he is still very timid. No baxckground info was given except he was found otside. So we will be working on things and maybe litter training with him.
Niether babies are fixed Dora is to young and Oreo was just brought her so they are not together but will be fixed slowly when more funds come and also when Oreo settles and Dora isold enough
Looking forward to sharng and chatting
Hi! Welcome to Binkybunny! It sounds like you are an excellent bun care-taker, and I'm looking forward to hearing more about your bunnies. Its so nice of you to pick up a bunny from the shelter - I do a lot of work with rescue groups, and people that adopt the rescue buns are angels for us! I'm sure with some time that Oreo will become more social and Dora will become more gentle. I've had quite a lot of experience with shy buns, and they become excellent companions. A good trick is hand feeding them as much as posible - hand feeding treats like bananas, apples, and carrots from time to time, as well as their veg is a great way to bond and teach the bunnies to trust you!


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Sprint, T-Mobile Merger Could Face a Busy Signal
George Stahl explains why U.S. antitrust authorities may block further consolidation in the U.S. wireless industry, specifically involving Sprint and T-Mobile. Photo: Getty Images.
This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.
... the ... U S wireless industry is engaged in an intense merger frenzy ... by anti trust authorities are emphasizing that there are limits to how far they will let it go DowJones editor George Stahl joins me now to discuss ... why the fight for Sprint me be the last the telecom data were likely see George things for joining us thank you okay so ... what if antitrust authorities said ... about the telco mergers in the wake of this this now this new flight for Sprint what it ended and and and said in a recent statement is that they like Kevin for big wireless carriers around the field as it even though ... you there might be a couple that are significantly the year that the anti having four kids a lot of price competition ... and ... competition for the top blokes to innovate and you whenever talk about here we have rice in eighteen T at the top ... and inspiration to all four are behind them into that of Sprint T Mobile you can find in the still don't get to to the size of rice in eighteen ten ... was there every talk that those two would merge there has been told through the years that that is to have large in any make up reasons doesn't cut it hinted that he now ... maybe maybe this is a possibility ... there been STC filing to suggest that the that you know had some sort of discussions along those lines ... however on the TV ... Ashas is proving a couple years ago when the Justice Department shot down eighteen c ... eighteen T system to bite T Mobile ... any such deal involving any of these top four is going to intense scrutiny and fees big hurdles it done and ... now there are smaller wireless carriers T Mobile is still on the process of acquiring ... MetroPCS ... right up having ... consolidation among smaller players exactly so so we've wirelessly fill out their lead from what we plan to sell out there aam LightSquared has a lot of spectrum that could be interesting ... EEOC have spent going after Clearwire there already owns a big chunk of their wine that I can buy the rest ... of Clearwire ... but you know and love these deals in Kyiv Sprint and T Mobile some new customers in Sydney did spectrum in airwaves ... then the can it be that type of meal was the son of a push them up to to the level that Verizon wireless in eighteen T are at nicotine addicted to dominate why ... so let's talk about the dish network ... I ... that's not really dread Aliso ... de action saying that the sprain side of the dish actually ... may have a little inside track over Softbank now something wants to buy ... a large majority state but that Dish wants to acquire Sprint ... aam ... John Paulson Spain's fourth largest shareholder was what does he have to say about what yet he he's in favor of the discounting is to take a step back heel if ... indeed the form be covered in taut got can sort of Do Deals within themselves ... what what spread into mobile candy BP attract people from the outside ... and that from outside the exists outside the industry as we see with this dish wanted to get into the wireless industry has made offers for Sprint Softbank which is the ... huge Japanese wireless carrier went against the U S market has made a push for course Brent ... and Paulson was the fourth largest promoter says he'll get those two deals ... we think Dish offers the better ... outcome for for Sprint at this point ... they did the dish deal ... now you know is that just the way for him to get me the and better a higher offer from Softbank who knows but at least right now he's putting his he's he's going with Dench okay last question what is the next step ... in the sprint Merger saga which we love our next ... why I think they've been XF is what will Softbank do will Softbank do something to try to enhance its offer ... and and appeal to Sprint shareholders that way ... as as we stood in the sense that seems to be don't get me I think the ball is in its Softbank's quick to do something to go into to reclaim ... on it's it's um we don't own a deal a page or something so much for joining a big


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...that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.—Philippians 1:10-11
In life there will be found certain great fundamentals, like pillars bearing up the weight of some mighty building....
The wise man will simplify his life by going to the center of it. He will look well to the foundations and, having done that, he will not worry about the rest.
Life as we know it in our painfully intricate civilization can be deadly unless we learn to distinguish the things that matter from those that do not. It is never the major things that destroy us, but invariably the multitude of trifling things which are mistakenly thought to be of major importance. These are so many that, unless we get out from under them, they will crush us body and soul....
Every believer as well as every minister of Christ must decide whether he will put his emphasis upon the majors or the minors. He must decide whether he will stay by the sober truths which constitute the beating heart of the Scriptures or turn his attention to those marginal doctrines which always bring division and which, at their best, could not help us much on our way to the Celestial City. The Next Chapter After the Last, 11,14.
"Oh God, we are so inundated with distracting things and clamorous voices. Deliver me today from the trifling things and help me to spend every minute of the day on 'the things that matter.' Amen."
Reprinted from Tozer on Christian Leadership by A.W. Tozer, copyright © 2001 by Zur Ltd. Used by permission of WingSpread Publishers, a division of Zur Ltd.
Tozer on Christian Leadership is protected by copyright and may not be copied, reproduced, republished, uploaded, posted, translated, transmitted or distributed in any way.
Tozer on Christian Leadership was compiled by Ron Eggert.


text:
Follow the "Connections" signs to Canada Customs.
Have all documentation in hand and ensure all applicable forms have been completed.
If you are arriving from a country other than Europe, Switzerland, Scandinavia, or U.K. ; you will have to claim your checked baggage immediately following passport inspection.
Clear Canada Custom. Exit Canada Customs and continue to the Air Canada connection counters, located on the left just through the exit doors.
If you are arriving from a destination outside of Europe, Switzerland, Scandinavia, or U.K; you will drop of your checked baggage at the connections counters.
Take escalator up to the Departures level and proceed through Passenger Pre-Board Screening.


text:
Professional telephone answering and call handling service. Business mailing addresses.
The ultimate in executive offices and desk space. 30 years of experience.
Central London meeting rooms, training & conference rooms. Superb locations in City and West End.
Find out more about the virtual office industry, the history of The Virtual Office and meet The Virtual Office team


text:
|Grand Rapids, Mich.
|Outside Hitter
2012 Season (Freshman): Individual Match-By-Match Statistics . . . Played in 31 matches and made 28 starts . . . In 107 total sets, she racked up 186 kills, which was the fourth most on the team . . . Racked up 66 digs and 60 blocks . . . Was fourth on the team with an attack percentage of .247 for the year . . . Had an average of 2.04 points per set.
Prior To Ferris State: Was home educated . . . A member of the Carpe Diem Volleyball program for nine years . . . Has played a variety of positions, including middle hitter, outside hitter, right-side hitter and in the back row . . . Has an older brother, David Ryan, who plays on the men's volleyball team at Division I Ball State University . . . Also has three other siblings, including a twin sister . . . Daughter of David and Michelle Vander Meer and plans to major in pre-veterinary medicine at Ferris State. Her parents operate and coach in the Carpe Diem program . . . Joins several former Bulldog volleyball players as alumni of the Carpe Diem program, including 2010 All-American Arielle Goodson along with past players such as Katie and Jacque Edwards.


text:
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Lipscomb Bisons golf team is playing Monday and Tuesday in the Big Blue Intercollegiate.
The 54-hole tournament will be played at the President's Reserve at the Hermitage Golf Course in Old Hickory.
"We are prepared and confident we will have a solid finish to the season," said Will Brewer, LU's director of golf and men's coach. "We have focused on our scoring shots the past few practice sessions.
"The bottom line is when we make good decisions, stay in rhythm, and putt well we will put ourselves in a position to compete for championships!"
Seniors Blanton Farmer and Alex Cox are nearing the end of their collegiate careers.
"I am confident Blanton and Alex are extremely motivated," Brewer said.
Dustin Wilder has been one of the most consistent players this season for the Bisons. Brewer thinks Wilder's has elevated his game.
"Dustin has turned a corner and is playing aggressively," Brewer said. "He is playing with more confidence."
Brewer also has high expectations for Ryan Terry and Paul Kleine-Kracht.
"Ryan and Paul are poised to play well," Brewer said. "They have both had good sessions this week. They have been tweaking their swings and working on their fundamentals."
The event is hosted by Tennessee State. Also in the field are UT-Martin, Murray State, Tennessee Tech, Morehead State, Southern Illinois-Edwardsville, Belmont, Eastern Illinois, IPFW, South Dakota, Trevecca, Southern Illinois and Alabama State. Eight of the schools are from the Ohio Valley Conference.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Lipscomb Bisons golf team is playing Monday and Tuesday in the Big Blue Intercollegiate.


text:
Drunken rage onstage
Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?: A Theatre Review
As endings go, it would be hard to top Mammoth's local theatre company.
The Mammoth Lakes Repertory Theatre (MLRT) ends its season with a fiery explosion in the form of the expletive-laced, tremulous relationship between George and Martha in Edward Albee's "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?"
The play recently celebrated its 50th anniversary with a revival by Steppenwolf Theater Company on Broadway, where the play premiered (interestingly, George was played by Tracy Letts, the playwright for "August: Osage County," which Sierra Classic Theatre will be presenting in May).
Albee received a Tony award for "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" and rocketed his way toward being one of the top playwrights of his generation. Although the once taboo subjects and sexual frankness of the play don't pack the same punch on stage as they did in 1962, this contemporary classic is a play better seen than just read, for that's the only way to truly experience the absolute brutal nature of America's first couple of dysfunctional mayhem.
Martha is the daughter of a New England college president. With her history professor husband George, the couple hosts history's most sadistic and unbearably tense "nightcap" for a young and handsome biology professor Nick and his "mousy" wife, Honey.
Throughout the night, the middle-aged couple turns the resentment they have toward one another into a source of entertainment. They don't just attack each other, but turn their abusive form of game play on their not-so-innocent guests.
The title alludes to modernist author Virginia Woolf, who was known for seeking out realism not only in her writings but in her life as well. On the one hand, the title of the play is asking, "who's afraid of living life without illusions?" as Albee described the title's origin.
On the other hand, there's the allusion to the song "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?" which is reminiscent of the angry egoistical side of the characters who try to take everyone around them down the same emotional spiral they are riding.
Over the decades, several productions have been faulted for putting too much emphasis on drunkenness and Martha's loudmouth cruelty. In this production, though, director Shira Dubrovner focuses more on the humanity that lives within George and Martha's sadistic nature.
In order to have a fair understanding of why things happen in the play, the audience must understand the characters are never sober. Drunkenness is the most civilized illusion George and Martha use to hide the truth from themselves. After all, who's to say what anyone will remember in the morning?
Dubrovner's version of "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" amplifies the dark comedy, along with the interdependency George and Martha have for one another. While the volatile couple is well known for the sad side of their relationship, for how their messy games eventually give way to the truth, it's their savagely funny banter that keeps tension from being unbearable.
Bookshelves line the walls, magazines lay under the coffee table, and records scatter unsorted on a back table. The set design by Tim Casey and Madeline Roy displays the messy chaotic charm of George and Martha's rapport, without being overwhelming.
Keeping the volume up not only for Martha's explosive moments but also in her moments of child-like terror is Juliana Olinka, who recently directed MLRT's production of "The Miracle Worker." Olinka gives Martha a marinated-in-whiskey voice and her bruised emotions a devilish intensity.
Kevin Worden plays George, alternating between shlumpy charm, and unrestrained viciousness. Worden's George doesn't appear to feel much guilt for exposing Nick and Honey's own imperfections in a nasty game called "Get the Guests" or several other shenanigans meant to cause unease in those around him.
Drew Foster and Lauren Patridge gracefully play the less-than-secure husband and wife, Nick and Honey, whose names are never introduced to the audience.
Honey spends most her time soaked in brandy, and always one step behind the rest of the party. Except for the occasional gut-wrenching outburst, Patridge plays a majority of her role with her eyes, going from giggle-fits, to sick, to upset, experiencing her own party in her head.
Foster last appeared in "A Dickens' Christmas Carol A Traveling Travesty" and is now giving drama his best work, playing Nick with a mild-mannered guard, and a glimmer of cocky dismissive attitude as he attempts to climb his way up the faculty ladder.
After three hours of invigorating yet unbearable tension, it's an emotional relief to see the light come into the room, and reveal George and Martha may not be a match made in heaven, but they are equals in love and war.
"Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" is now playing at the Edison Theatre until April 21. But you might want to get your tickets soon, as some nights are already sold out. Thursday through Saturday showings are at 7 p.m. and Sunday showings are at 4 p.m. General Admission is $20, Student and Senior admission is $18. Visit mammothlakesfoundation.org/theatreor call 760-934-6592 for more information.


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Downloading from one-click hosters (rapidshare etc.) on Lenny
One-click hosting has become quite widespread, so it might be interesting trying it with a NAS. This guide describes how to install DownloadDaemon and configure its web interface to do precisely that.
Note: This was only tested on an LSPROv2 with davies Lenny-armel*-Debian rootfs image (thx davy). Also note, that DownloadDaemon isn't as powerful as JDownloader, so it doesn't handle CAPTCHA or Reconnect quite as well and doesn't support as many hosters.
Daemon Installation
Assumption: big partition is mounted in /mnt/, DownloadDaemon version is 0.9.
DownloadDaemon requires three libraries (libcurl, libstdc++, libboost_thread). Also, to unpack later, we need bzip2.
apt-get install libcurl4-gnutls-dev bzip2
Download the armel builds of DownloadDaemon and libboost_thread to /mnt/.
cd /mnt wget http://sourceforge.net/projects/downloaddaemon/files/Version%200.9/ARM%20and%20armel%20builds/libboost-thread1.41_armel_lenny.tar.gz/download wget http://sourceforge.net/projects/downloaddaemon/files/Version%200.9/ARM%20and%20armel%20builds/downloaddaemon-0.9_armel.tar.bz2/download
Unpack them.
tar xjvf downloaddaemon-0.9_armel.tar.bz2 tar xvzf libboost-thread1.41_armel_lenny.tar.gz
Now we need to symbolically link DownloadDaemon (since there is no installer).
ln -s /mnt/downloaddaemon-0.9/usr/local/bin/* /usr/bin/ ln -s /mnt/downloaddaemon-0.9/etc/downloaddaemon/ /etc/downloaddaemon ln -s /mnt/downloaddaemon-0.9/usr/local/share/downloaddaemon/ /usr/share/downloaddaemon
Since DownloadDaemon doesn't run in root mode (for security reasons), we need to create a group and an account...
addgroup downloadd adduser --home /etc/downloaddaemon --ingroup downloadd downloadd
...change the mode...
chmod -R a+rw /etc/downloaddaemon /mnt/downloads
...and the owner.
chown -R downloadd:downloadd /etc/downloaddaemon
Besides, we still need to link the third library we were talking about.
ln -s /mnt/libboost-thread1.41_armel_lenny/usr/local/lib/* /usr/lib/
Now that were all set, lets run the daemon. Log in to the account (user: downloadd) you just created and type:
DownloadDaemon --daemon
Web Interface Installation
Now lets download the web interface and extract it.
wget http://sourceforge.net/projects/downloaddaemon/files/Version%200.9/ddclient-php/ddclient-php-0.9.tar.gz/download tar xvzf ddclient-php-0.9.tar.gz
To create a server, we need to install Apache.
apt-get install apache2
To set the server paths easily, follow the Tutorial on Webmin. When webmin has finished installing, the console will give you a link.
Once you're logged in, goto Servers -> Apache Webserver and click the existing Virtual Server to configure it. Change the Document Root to /mnt/ddclient-php-0.9/ddclient-php and click Save.
Now to actually get the new content, in the top right corner of Webmin click Stop Apache (wait until its stopped) and then Start Apache (wait until its restarted). Now go back to the Linkstation console to find out your ip-address.
Now open a new tab in your browser and enter:
http://<YOUR IP-ADDRESS>
You should see something like this this (only tested in LAN).
Configure/Run DownloadDaemon
Log in, click the tab Configure DownloadDaemon and set the Download directory (in this case e.g. /mnt/downloads). There are also two secondary tabs to configure the Reconnect and Premium accounts.
Now click the tab Add Download(s), add some files, click Manage Downloads and check whether there is any progress, like it is here.
Last but not released
If you want to compile things yourself, read more here.
If it doesn't work for you, please let me know! If it does, stay out of trouble :)


text:
SOURCE: MoneyTV; MC Endeavors, Inc.; MMRGlobal, Inc.; GDT Tek, Inc.; EPIC Corporation; Trycera Financial, Inc.; The Green Baron Report
April 20, 2012 05:00 ET
LOS ANGELES, CA--(Marketwire - Apr 20, 2012) - Election year rhetoric, hurricane proof buildings, credit repair, sleeping, renewable energy, economy and spending; this week on MoneyTV with Donald Baillargeon. MoneyTV is the internationally syndicated television program all about money and what makes it happen (http://www.moneytv.net), featuring informative interviews with company CEOs, providing insights into their operations and outlooks for their futures.
Free information packages from the featured companies can be requested by sending an email to email@example.com.
The television program can also be viewed online immediately at www.moneytv.net.
Featured companies on this week's program include:
MC Endeavors, Inc. (PINKSHEETS: MSMY) CEO Timothy Algier discussed the company's hurricane and earthquake resistant building systems and his recent trip to Haiti.
The Green Baron Report Editor-in-Chief Matt Chipman talked about government spending and economic conditions.
Trycera Financial, Inc. (PINKSHEETS: TRYF) (OTCBB: TRYF) CEO Ray Smith announced a marketing agreement with Family Dollar Stores.
EPIC Corporation (PINKSHEETS: EPOR) CEO Ronald Tucker talked about the attributes of the company's SOMNUS Sleep pad.
GDT Tek, Inc. (PINKSHEETS: GDTK) President Bo Linton announced the company's stock has emerged from a DTC chill status.
MoneyTV debuted in 1996 and is broadcast internationally in more than 180 million TV households in over 75 countries.
A complete menu of TV listings is available at the MoneyTV web site, http://www.moneytv.net
MoneyTV Executive Producer and Anchor Donald Baillargeon is also the host of MoneyRap Radio, http://www.moneyrap.com and the daily television program Global Financial News Minute with Donald Baillargeon.
MoneyTV with Donald Baillargeon television program, Copyright MMXII, all rights reserved. MoneyTV does not provide an analysis of companies' financial positions and is not soliciting to purchase or sell securities of the companies, nor are we offering a recommendation of featured companies or their stocks. Information discussed herein has been provided by the companies and should be verified independently with the companies and a securities analyst. MoneyTV provides companies a 3 to 4 month corporate profile with multiple appearances for a cash fee of $11,500.00 to $17,250.00, does not accept company stock as payment for services, does not hold any positions, options or warrants in featured companies. The information herein is not an endorsement by Donald Baillargeon, the producers, publisher or parent company of MoneyTV.
Donald Baillargeon
Executive Producer
949 388 firstname.lastname@example.com
Donald Baillargeon
Executive Producer
949 388 email@example.com
See all RSS Newsfeeds


text:
|2012-08-12, 08:33
|Link #41
The Lost Lamb
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: in Darkness
i thought Kakashi was using Kamui with the other's attacks, and strike at the right time tobi solidifies, but the truth was quite shocking,also the truth tobi revealed his eye's origin turns a lot of things now,
it really hurt hard when tobi says that "...so that, heroes no longer have to make excuses infront of graves"
now tobi is vulnerable and can be defeated, but it will be very hard for kakashi to build up enough chakra to constantly use Kamui,..but still we haven't seen if tobi could do anything else, he has been using only one jutsu all this time, he might have some other things up his sleeve
|2012-08-12, 08:33
|Link #42
Join Date: May 2011
Amazing double color page.
Difficult not to speak about the "who is Tobi?" question with such a chapter.
Now the question has become "Does Tobi have only Obito's eye or does he have other parts of Obito's body as well?"
I still stick to what I exposed previously
http://forums.animesuki.com/showthre...30#post4036330 and I think he only collected the remaining eye.
Tobi=Obito is tempting as well, but since I believe more Tobi is another soul in Madara's body, I remain with the first option.
Kudos to Tobi to have been able to be so good at fighting with that one jutsu acquired late. He is very clever when it comes to fighting and he comes up with very good tactics. Facing the Kages he gave the impression to be invicible. He beat Danzo's underlings very easily, etc.
May turn out wrong easily, but I bet one of the tricks is that the sharingan eye stays in the real world when he unphases other parts of his body. Naruto should aim at his sharingan eye specifically.
Without Obito's eye technique I wonder how Tobi got Obito's body at Kannabi bridge.
Knowing Kakashi's behavior in front of the grave made him like an insider in Konoha's village. It did not cause so much headache when we learned he even knew Aburame clan's secret techniques, which should be more difficult to know than Kakashi goes visiting the graveyard often. In my opinion this interrogation is not related to Tobi's origin, but what he was doing between the Kannabi bridge and the Uchiha massacre. Was he a villager in Konoha to spy Uzumaki's pregnancy? etc.
I don't have a proper opinion about the fact he was hidden as a villager or not. Knowing how he passed the security barriers I could easily imagine him to be able to collect information without the need to be a villager, but if he is someone from the village, that could join the storyline of the guy Sasuke wants to meet.
I bet we will have a flashback to explain Rin's death that should have happened before the Kyuubi's attack, since Tobi had already his space/time ninjutsu. Certainly Tobi caused her death.
A panel intrigued me: Kakashi was standing in front of a grave, since it was not the monument, I can only guess it is Rin's tomb.
Last edited by MeroBAKA; 2012-08-15 at 14:34.
|2012-08-12, 08:34
|Link #43
Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Behind You!
Age: 28
Madara Saved Obito using Zetsu,
Then Obito became Madara's Student.
Madara Teaches everything to Obito, and his plan about the Infinite Tsukoyomi
then Obito Killed Madara, and somehow gained his powers,
which is why he said " The Ultimate power of the Sharingan will be Mine! Uchiha Madara's Power!"
Madara = Sith Lord
Obito = Darth Vader/Anakin Skywalker
|2012-08-12, 08:44
|Link #44
Red vs Blue
thats one thing of my theory
|2012-08-12, 08:48
|Link #45
start thinkin bout clones
my view is that he somehow saved the eye and liked it the most to implant it and use it.
he has many eyes and wanted danzos eye to add to his collection. I say not to just store it, but to also use it for himself. that way he can really manipulate the battlefield if he can just teleport to people and tell them to do something without them even knowing about it.
is he obito? nah, but is he using his eye? sure it would make more sense I assume then to just straight out say obito lived and now wants revenge because his friends left him to die? he told them to leave.
|2012-08-12, 09:13
|Link #46
Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2007
Wait so just because we now know he has obitos eye means that the person using the eye has to be obito?
Obvious photoshop/fanart
|2012-08-12, 09:53
|Link #47
Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2011
I've believed tobi to be part obito/part zetsu with madara's mind in control for a while, but he may have switched bodies recently or something along those lines. i still find it weird that his right arm didn't fall apart into zetsu goo when he got hit with naruto's rasengan. it looks like a normal human arm now. i dont really get it quite frankly, but maybe I'm reading too much into it
|2012-08-12, 13:05
|Link #49
Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Behind You!
Age: 28
|2012-08-12, 14:29
|Link #50
The First Rasengan!!
Join Date: Nov 2007
|2012-08-12, 15:07
|Link #51
Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2011
it also makes sense that tobi's identity is being revealed before the anime gets to madara's voice since whether or not edo-madara's voice is the same as serious tobi would give tobi's identity away as well, or at least eliminate madara from the discussion.
Last edited by itachi-san314; 2012-08-12 at 15:27.
|2012-08-12, 15:25
|Link #52
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Hidden Village of Sake
But both of these can't stand against the story so far, so Tobi being Obito has like 0.01% chance.
|2012-08-12, 15:36
|Link #53
Join Date: Jan 2009
Age: 28
Didn't Kisame confirm that Tobi's current identity was the same as that of the previous 'true' Mizukage, who he believed was Madara?
This would confirm a few things:
A. Tobi isn't just using someone else's body.
B. If Kisame knew what Madara looked like, then Tobi looks like Madara, which adds credence to the Izuna theory.
C. That Tobi's appearance hasn't significantly changed in over a decade, meaning he can't be Obito or anyone else who would have been a child at the time he met Kisame.
|2012-08-12, 18:19
|Link #54
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: The Dark Side of The Moon
i just came here to say the exact same thing. That's what actually angered me most about this chapter, it felt completely like filler explaining information that we had been given almost 4 years (but I guess kishimoto forgot that)
it's almost like kishi retconned his powers from what he explained 4 years ago, only to retcon it back it this chapter
so..... is kamui an MS techie? or a natural sharingan technique related to obito's eye that Kakashi can only use through MS mode because of his none uchiha origin?
or is it most likely that kamui is the technique of the left eye kakashi has, and the transferring between dimensions is the technique is the other eye. As someone mentioned before kakashi has the long range technique while tobi has the close range
i'm expecting tobi to sudden pull a lelouch and take off sharingan standard contact lens revealing that he's had the MS kakashi style activated the entire time,
but considering that now it looks like the name tobi was a hint to the fact that he had obito's eye, then kishimoto's had this planned from the start, but then the one thing i'm not understanding is why tobi can apparently only let things pass through him for 5 minutes according to the fight with konan which forced him to use izanagi. Where did that rule come from and why would it exist anyway?
|2012-08-12, 19:01
|Link #56
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Hidden Village of Sake
|2012-08-12, 19:30
|Link #58
Bubbly and super fun
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Doesn't look like Kansas
Anyhow Tobi can't be Madara or part of Madara -playful of serious. They are nothing alike in personality, power, figthing style, appearance and knowledge. No, the sad truth is that it's increasingly probable that Tobi is Obito.
Not Obito's eye or Obito's body or his captured soul or whatever. Just Obito, period.
Hell his laughable rant about heros and Kakashi even explains his reaction when he told Sasuke about Izuna's ultimately useless sacrifice. He gave his eye to his brother in arm so he could save the girl he was infatuated with but she ended up dead anyway so woe is me. Let's fuck the world so everybody can dream happily ever after.
God this is boring.
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text:
It is my special privilege to receive mail from all around the world. And it's a joy to sit down from time to time and just go through it and see how God is using the extended ministry of our church in the lives of many folks.
Yesterday, I was here studying through the day and I opened a letter that found its way to my desk. It was sent on the 21st of this month...just a few days before Christmas...this is what it said: "I am writing to you to ask how I can be saved. I know that I'm a sinner and will go to hell forever unless someone helps me. I know that the Bible says if I believe on the Lord Jesus, I will be saved but I don't know what believe means. Could you possibly write to me as soon as possible and tell me what I must do?"
I thought to myself, that's a long way to go to find an answer to a fairly simple question. What does it mean to believe? He says, "I know I'm a sinner and I know the Bible says if I believe on the Lord Jesus, I will be saved but I don't know what believe means."
You know, a lot of times we throw around words and we don't know what they mean. If someone came to you and said, I wanna know how to be saved and you said to them, well you must believe and they said, well, what does believe mean? What would you say? Certainly we should be very adept at answering that question because that's the most substantive question in the process of evangelism, what does it mean to believe?
That simple letter really haunted my heart all day yesterday. And so I felt sort of pushed by the Spirit of God to address that question this morning. We will often say to a person, well, believe on the Lord Jesus, and that's right. After all, the Phillipian jailer in Acts 16:30 said, "What must I do to be saved?" And Paul said, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you'll be saved." And though it isn't recorded in the text, he might have also said, I don't know what believe means because in the next verse it says, "Paul spoke to him of many things." So, maybe he didn't even know what believe meant and had to be instructed.
The first time you or I ever heard about believing in the Lord Jesus Christ it probably entered our minds, what do you mean believe? And so we need to address that question. As we come to the Lord's Table to celebrate his death, to celebrate our salvation, this morning it's imperative that we understand the essence of what that salvation requires...it requires that we believe and what does it mean to believe.
The first time you or I ever heard about believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, it probably entered our minds, what do you mean believe? So we need to address that question as we come to the Lord's Table to celebrate his death, to celebrate our salvation...this morning it's imperative that we understand the essence of what that salvation requires...it requires that we believe and what does it mean to believe.
I wanna help all of us this morning to understand this. For those of you who may not be Christians, this may be the most important definition you've ever heard in your life. For those of us who are already Christians, we trust that this will arm us for usefulness as we go out to speak to other folks, encouraging them to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and needing to be able to define exactly what we mean by that.
So, I wanna address believing two ways, objectively and subjectively...objectively and subjectively. First of all, from an objective, that is an outward concrete perspective, what does it mean to believe? And I want to you to look in your Bible, the 10 Chapter of Romans and I would draw your attention to two familiar verses...versus 9 and 10. Romans 10, verses 9 and 10. And I believe we have here a simple statement of the objectivity of faith...that is its concrete observable character.
In Verses 9 and 10 Paul says this: "If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved. For with the heart men believes, resulting in righteousness and with the mouth he confesses resulting in salvation." Now, Paul tells us how to be saved and he says to be saved you must believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead. And you must confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord. Such belief results in righteousness, such confession results in salvation.
May I say quickly to you that salvation and righteousness are two separate sides of the same thing? Righteousness is a positive term defining our new life, and salvation is a negative term defining our new life. We use the term salvation so often, we think of it as positive but it isn't, it's a negative term, it means to be rescued from something. It does not necessarily emphasize what we become, it emphasizes what we have ceased to be...to be delivered, to be rescued.
So, the positive term of salvation is righteousness. The negative term is in fact, salvation. Two sides to the same thing. Having been delivered from sin and death, we are now made right with God. Righteousness means to be right with God, salvation means to be delivered or rescued from Satan and sin and death.
So, Paul says here are the two elements, the two very objective concrete observable elements with regard to this new life in Christ...one is to confess with the mouth. The other is to believe in the heart. But I want to look at those because they're very basic. Look at verse 10 for a moment. "For with the heart, man believes." Now, what does he believe in? Well, it says it in verse 9. "He believes in the heart that God raised Jesus from the dead." So, we are asking here for a belief in the resurrection of Christ.
Now, you say well why only that? How can you say that if you believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you'll be saved? Isn't there a lot more to the Gospel? Isn't there the incarnation, God becoming man? Isn't there the life of Christ, His miraculous work? Isn't there the great teaching of Jesus? Isn't there His substitutionary death on the cross as a payment for your sin and mine? Isn't there His ascension into heaven? What about His intercessory work as High Priest? What about his Second Coming as King of Kings, Lord of Lords returning in glory to rule the world? What about all of that?
Is it simply enough to believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead? To believe the objective historical fact of the resurrection, is that all? Why only this? And the answer is very simple, because the resurrection is the focal point of everything else in the life and ministry of Christ. And if you believe in the resurrection, it is a foregone conclusion that everything else falls into place. For all that Christ is and all that He has done and will do, is bound up in the glorious reality that God raised Him from the dead.
God raised Him from the dead because He was worthy of resurrection. Why? He lived a perfect life. God raised him from the dead...why? Because he had accomplished a perfect redemption ...it assumes the work on the cross was perfect. It assumes His perfect life. It assumes His perfect atonement, His perfect work on the cross. The resurrection of Christ by the Father was the Father's stamp of approval on His life, His ministry, His death.
Furthermore, the fact that God raised Him from the dead indicates that God then raised Him that He might exalt him to his own right hand where he now sits in the seat of authority interceding for the church from which He has sent the Holy Spirit and from which someday He himself shall return as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. The resurrection then, was God's accreditation of all that went before and God's preparation for all that would come after. The resurrection then becomes the peak in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ.
If I say I believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the bodily literal resurrection, that means that I believe He actually died. If I believe in His resurrection, I believe that God raised him because He had accomplished in His death what God wanted Him to accomplish. And what did God want Him to accomplish? The atonement of the sins of the world. If God raised Him from dead - and I believe it - it is because God affirmed His perfect life and his worthiness to be exalted to God's own right hand.
And if God raised Him from the dead, then I affirm that He's seated at the right hand of God interceding, and He is there, awaiting the return that is promised. So, everything focuses on the resurrection. And when Paul says, "To believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved," he meant that in so believing, you affirm the deity of Christ, the death atonement of Christ...not only the resurrection of Christ, His ascension, His priestly work and His coming glory.
It's all there in the resurrection. That was God's stamp of approval on the life and ministry of Christ. That was God saying this is indeed my son. This is indeed the Savior. This is indeed the High Priest. This is indeed the coming King. And so, that's very objective faith. It's not just believing in God, vaguely. People say oh, I believe in God. Or, I believe in Jesus.
There were people in the time of Christ who believe in Him but He didn't commit himself to them because their faith was not genuine saving faith. There are people today who believe in God, who believe in Jesus...I hear of people who believe in believing. But Paul says, "believing in your hear that God raised Jesus from the dead," which sets Him apart as the Savior, the Messiah. That's very objective faith. Salvation then is really produced by believing. Believing in what? Believing in the person and work of Christ as culminated in his resurrection. That's essential. That is an objective element in saving faith.
Secondly, there's another objective element in it. And he says in verse 10: "With the mouth he confesses." Now here is a very public testimony in fact, and what does he confess? Verse 9: "Jesus as Lord." Here is another objective element that is an outward verbal confession that Jesus is sovereign. That Jesus is ruler. That Jesus is in charge. That he is Lord and Lord means you're in charge.
Now, follow this thought with me: When I say for my salvation, I believe that God raised Jesus from the dead, I am saying I believe that He accomplished salvation on the cross. Why? Because that's the only way God would ever raise Him. God would not exalt Him to this right hand if he hadn't accomplished salvation. So, when I say I believe God raised Jesus from the dead, I am saying that I also therefore, believe that He accomplished my salvation on the cross. I am therefore, saying that I am dependent on someone else to accomplish my salvation and I am confessing that I am unable myself to do that. Did you get that? That's very important thinking.
When you confess in your mouth, Jesus as Lord, you are affirming His authority and His sovereignty and His rulership. When you say, I believe in my heart God raised Him from the dead, you are affirming that He is the source of salvation. On both counts, you are acknowledging your humility. You are humbled when you say, He is the authority, I'm not. You are humbled when you say, He provided the salvation, I can't.
So, the bottom line attitude in this matter of believing is humility. There is a self-effacing mentality here. There is a self-rejection here. There is no pride here. And I believe that the basic attitude of true faith is humility. You're saying on the one hand, I believe in the resurrection, which I believe Christ accomplished my salvation because I couldn't do it myself. So, you reject your own inabilities and your own abilities. You reject works righteousness. When you confess Jesus as Lord, you are thereby saying, I'm not in charge of my life, I humble myself to His authority.
In both cases, humility stands out as the virtue. And that is precisely why Jesus said in Matthew 18:4, "Except a man humbles himself like this little child, he will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven." The only kind of attitude the Lord responds to is one of humility. And humility says, I can't save myself, I trust Christ. Humility says, I'm not in charge, He is. That is humility. And it's very objective in that sense because it affirms the work of Christ as historic and valid. And it affirms the Lordship of Christ as historic and valid.
But the bottom line in this believing is humility. It's not...it's not saying, oh, I believe in Jesus and I'm sure He's real happy to get me. Not that attitude. Oh yes, I believe in Jesus but I'm also working my own salvation, I'm trying to be a good person. I'm trying to do right on my own. I want God to like me. No, there's none of that, it's just the opposite...I have no good thing in me, I cannot save myself, there is nothing in me worthy of salvation, I cast myself totally on the mercy of Christ as provided in the cross and verified through the resurrection.
The one who does not trust in his own works but in the works of Christ...the one who does not lead his own life but gives the authority to Christ, that is the one who demonstrates the humility of true belief...that's the object. Now, what about the subjective? And for this, I want you to look at James, Chapter 4. As we probe a little bit more deeply into this matter of believing, what is it like below the surface? In its most obvious form, it is an affirmation of the work of Christ and His person as Lord. But what is it, down under the surface? What is the subjective attitude that lies deep down in a really humble heart? What is the stuff down inside that true faith is made out of? And this takes us deeper in the subject of humility, which is the basic attitude.
In James Chapter 4, I believe we have one of the greatest gospel invitations in Scripture. It has largely been overlooked as such, unfortunately, tragically to be sure because it may be the most comprehensive one given anywhere on the pages of Scripture. And since James is probably the oldest of the New Testament Books, it was maybe the first one ever given. It is certainly a priority invitation to salvation.
I would call your attention to verses 6 to 10 and let me read to you. Speaking of God, James writes, "He gives a greater grace that is greater than your sin...great enough to cover your sin." Therefore, it says, and he quotes Proverbs 3:34, "God is opposed to proud but gives grace to the humble." Now, James is saying something very important. If you want saving grace, you get it by being humble, not by being proud. It comes to those who are humble. God gives His saving grace to humble people.
You say well, how do you know He's talking here about saving grace? How do you know what He's talking here...it's a people who aren't saved? Very simple...verse 8: "They are called sinners and they are called double-minded." And nowhere in the Bible is the term, sinner, ever used to refer to a believer...never. It always is used of unregenerate people...non-Christians. Always used of wicked people who disregard the law of God; who disregard the will of God, who ignores God's desires. In fact it is used to speak of openly wicked, openly bad people. Not even very subtle people. It is combined with publicans and prostitutes and other terms like that...the riffraff of society.
So, He is calling to sinners, unregenerate. But a certain kind of sinner...notice they are called double-minded. These are the kind of unregenerate people who are religious. We could call then the religious unregenerate. They go to church or maybe their involved...they were involved in the church to which James writes he really pinpoints them...verse 22 of Chapter 1. He says, "Prove yourself doers of the word and not merely hearers who delude themselves." And he knew that there were people in the church who were only hearers...just hearers, not doers.
As far as their doing side, they were in the world. Their hearing side was in the church. So, they were double-minded. They had a mind to hear the things of God. They had a mind to do the things of Satan. They were the double-minded. They were the religious unregenerate...religious but lost...religious but unsaved.
In Chapter 2 he further identifies them not only by what they hear but by what they claim. In verse 14, "If a man says he has faith,"Chapter 2, verse 14..."but has no works, can that faith save him?"...verse 17, "Faith, if it has no works is dead." Now, here were some people who would say, we hear and we believe. And the hearing and believing was in the church but the doing side was in the world.
In Chapter 3, he addresses them again in verse 11. He says about this double-mindedness, "Does a fountain send out from the same opening, both fresh and bitter water? Can a fig tree produce olives or a vine produce figs? Neither can saltwater produce fresh." You can't have both. If you have side of you in the hearing and believing and the other side in the doing, you are merely religiously lost.
And then he really says it in no uncertain terms in Chapter 4, verse 4, look at that. "You adulteresses, you prostitutes, you feign a relationship to God but you prostitute yourself with relationships to the world. Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God."
If you are double-minded my friend, and you've got one side of you in the hearing and the believing in the church; and the other side in the doing in the world, you're the enemy of God. You may be religious but you're unregenerate. You may be religious but you're lost. You may be religious but you're not saved.
And James is so burdened for this person that he says in verse 6, look, "God will give grace to the humble." The point is if you'll humble yourself, God will save you. If you'll humble yourself God will save you. And then he goes into the subjective elements of a real humility. And these are 10 commands...10 straightforward statements that are really unequal to any part of Scripture other than this passage, beginning in verse 7.
He says this: "Submit therefore to God." You ask the question, how do you humble yourself? He just said, "God gives grace to the humble," how do I humble myself? How do I have that humble belief? First step, submit yourself to God. What does that mean? That means you are willing to enlist under His command. You have already objectively said He is Lord, now you are subjectively saying, I submit my life...that's a corollary. You have already affirmed that He has all authority...you are now saying, I willingly come under that authority...I subjectively submit.
The rich young ruler came to Jesus, called him Master. That is objectively he affirmed his state...his position, his exalted position. He said to Him, "Master, good Master, what must I do to have eternal life?" He was objectively affirming Christ's superiority to himself by asking the question...by call him good Master.
But when the Lord said to him, take your money or rather, take all your goods, sell what you have and when you get your money, take it and give to the poor, he went away and he wasn't willing to do it. He would objectively affirm that Christ was the Master...subjectively, he wasn't about to submit to His mastery. And the subject element of believing is when I align up my heart with what my mind tells me. Yes, Jesus is Lord and yes, I submit to that authority. Submit yourselves to God.
And then there's another statement in that same verse, "Resist the devil and he will flee from you." And what he is saying there is that when you have affirmed your allegiance to God, you have disavowed any allegiance to Satan. You have transferred your allegiance. You were the children of wrath. You were under his domination...Ephesians 2:3..."But now you have been made in Christ Jesus as His workmanship created under good works." You have changed Masters. You have severed allegiance.
So, when you submit to God, you then resist the devil and he leaves. You transfer your allegiance. So, those two phrases then, tell us the first subject element in humble faith and it is this: It is an attitude of submission of allegiance to God. He is Lord not only objectively by definition; He is Lord subjectively by relationship in my life.
So, when someone says, what does it mean to believe? I say, objectively it means to mean that Jesus is Lord and authority and sovereign. And subjectively it means to believe in His resurrection, which means you believe in all the rest of his life and work. But subjectively, what does it mean? First of all it means you transfer your allegiance from Satan, the world, the flesh, to God and you are bringing your life and offering it, to His control.
Secondly, in verse 8, "Draw nearer to God and He will nearer to you." Now, here is the second major principle in these 10 commands: Draw nearer to God means that you are pursing an intimate love relationship. True belief in Christ is not saying well, I believe the facts and if it will get me outta hell, I'll be glad to say I believe it. It's not here...this is not hell insurance kind of thing.
There is in true humble saving faith, a pursuit of God. A pursuit of a relationship. I think there are a lot of folks who believe they're Christians because they've said well, I believe Jesus died and I believe in that. And if it'll get me outta hell, I'll believe anything and I'll confess it. But there's never been a pursuing of God. There's never been a longing in the heart for God. Like Peter says, "To those who believe, He is precious."
There's never been that longing for personal communion. There's not that compulsion for loving worship. There's not that strong desire for adoration and praise. I know in my own life, one of the most frustrating things that I endure is the constant feeling that I cannot adequately give expression to what I feel about God. I can't...I can't translate what I feel into praise that seems to fit what He deserves. But there's a longing in my hear to know God.
Paul says, "That I may know Him." There's a longing to have intimacy with God...to have fellowship with God, to worship God, top sense his presence. To have Him nearer to me...which was such a foreign thought in a Pagan world where people wanted to stay far away from any deity as they could possibly stay. So, what he's saying here is that believing that is truly humbled believing, saving believing, draws nearer to God...it longs for fellowship, communion, intimacy, love and worship.
There is a deep relationship sought after and pursued and developed. And the corollary of course, "and He will draw nearer to you." And that is the...that is the longing of all true faith that God would draw nearer. So, the dimension of loving fellowship, personal knowledge of God, personal communion...that's what makes prayer an inevitable reality in the heart where faith is real...why?...because you can't have a relationship without communication. Prayer is that communication.
Then he moves to another dimension...a third dimension in the series of 10 commands, in that same verse 8..."Cleanse your hands you sinners and purify your hearts, you double-minded." Now, we already noted those two references to the people He's addressing double-minded sinners. But he says to them, "Cleanse your hands and purify your hearts." These are very clearly distinct calls to repentance on two fronts...externally and internally.
When he says, "Cleanse your hands,"...the hands have always been symbols of conduct, symbols of behavior, symbols of action, activity...what you do. The heart is the place of thoughts and intents and motives and desires. So, he says the kind of faith that is genuinely humble...saving faith...cries out to be cleansed on the outside and to be cleansed on the inside.
Cleanse your hands. Purify your hearts. These two have to do with repentance with an act of rejecting sin on the inside and the outside. To a person who is placing faith in Jesus Christ, genuine humble believing faith, there will be a revulsion about sin. There will be a desire for a purged inside and a purged outside. You can't say oh, I believe. I believe. I'm a believer in Jesus and then go on enjoying a life of sin. You can't do that. That is contradictory. There will be a longing for purging on the inside and cleansing on the outside.
That too, is an element of saving faith and it's produced by, the Spirit according to John 16, "He convicts of sin." When God is saving a person there is an overwhelming revulsion about sin and a desire to have that dealt with. Not just in the sense of future consequence but in the sense of present reality. You see when you come to Christ and you're faith is real, it isn't just saying, save me from the consequence of my sin. It is saying, save me from my sins. Not just what will do in the future but what it's doing in the present.
Then he goes to a fourth dimension in verse 9...most interesting. This is really kind of a downer this whole verse. "Be miserable and mourn, and weep or that your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom." That's a pretty pathetic verse. You certainly wouldn't put that on next year's birthday card.
Well, what in the world is he saying? I thought when you came to Christ it was a happy time. I thought there was a sort of exhilaration...isn't this a joyous and wondrous occasion? Well, it is on the other side of your salvation but going into it, dealing with what's in your heart, we understand what he's saying. Three commands at the beginning of verse 9..."Be miserable, mourn and weep." Be miserable means that...feel wretched, feel miserable...why?...because of your shame over your sin. Because of the personal misery that your sin has brought about in your life. This is part of a...what we could call brokenness. This is your emotional reaction to repentance.
This demonstrates the rejection of the flesh...if we can say it that way...the spirit of penitence, the misery that you feel over sin. So, James says if God saves the humble here is how to be humble. The first way...the first element of humility is that you transfer your allegiance completely from Satan to God. You resist the devil and you submit to God.
The second element of this humble faith is that you have a strong and almost passionate desire to draw nearer to God and have Him draw nearer to you that you might enjoy a relationship with Him. The third thing is repentance...you have a revulsion over the your own sin, you long to be cleansed on the inside, motives and desires. You long to be cleansed on the outside...actions and deeds. And then you have a certain brokenness over the misery in which you exist because of sin. There's just a sort of brokenness in realizing that you are a victim of flesh and you desire deliverance in your brokenness.
And then the last thing I already to you..."let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom." You think it would be reversed. If you wanna be saved, let your mourning be turned to laughter and your gloom be turned to joy, but it isn't. What you do mean laugher? Well, it's only used here. There's other words for laughter. This one is only used here...whenever it's used in secular sources in Greek, it always means the lowly common base laughter of people indulging in pleasure. It's the frivolous worldly laughter, the ugly laughter of the wicked as they indulge in their wickedness.
He says let all that trashy fun turn into mourning. In other words, another factor. Not only do you wanna be cleansed in the inside, cleansed on the outside. Not only do you want to feel...to get, I guess for everything...feel the pain and the misery of your sin, but also there is an overwhelming sense of longing to be delivered from the world in which you live...the folly, foolishness, the indulgence, the pleasure madness. And he says let your joy be turned to heaviness.
In other words you look at the world completely different. Instead of looking at it as fun and frivolity and happiness and live it up and grab all the gusto and do your own thing; and live it up every way you can, you begin to have this heavy oppressive feeling about the world. And I'll tell you very honestly, there is something in every Christian, every true Christian, that views the world with a sort of morbid gloominess. Right? You get sick of its encroachment on you. You get weary of all of its pressures and all of its temptations and you wanna set aside all of its foolishness.
There really is in James' mind here, seriousness, that's the idea. He gets serious about life. He gets serious about life. Instead of living for fun, you get serious about life. So, what is the...what is the character then, of subjective believing? First, it submits to the authority of God and switches allegiance from the devil to God. Secondly, it longs for a personal and intimate relationship with God. Thirdly, desire is to repent and turn from sin and be cleansed on the inside and outside. Fourthly, it knows a certain shame and guilt and misery that brings about a brokenness that longs for healing. And fourthly it begins to view the whole world and all of life much more seriously than it ever did before.
And you can't quite get into the giddy foolishness of the wicked pleasures of the world because life is so much serious. And you know wanna live to the glory of God and you know you're in a great battle to endeavor to that by God's grace. And sums all of that up in verse 10. Summing it all up, "Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord"...that's it. How do you humble yourselves? I just told you how. Submitting to His authority. Drawing nearer to Him for a relationship. Repenting of your sin. Having a sense of misery over your own wickedness and looking at the world differently. No more in the familiar fun of life but seeing it seriously for the tragedy that really is.
In all of these areas you humble yourselves. You know who is the classical illustration of this? The Prodigal Son. Perfect illustration. The Prodigal Son is a picture of an unregenerate unsaved person. He was created as it were in the world of God. He had a lot of available resources the Puritans used to call them gospel privileges. But he decided that he would walk away from God, turn his back on God, as the son did on his father and he went off into a far country and he lived and wasted all of his substance and he just lived it up...wine, women and song.
He wound up in a pigpen...he'd eat pig slop. He had all the world's fun, he engaged in all the world's sin. But he said I don't need to do this. I'm gonna go to the Father. And he pictures the sinner in the midst of his sin who is devastated by what he finally comes to understand. He is bankrupt. He is devastated. All the world's pleasure bought him no satisfaction. He is sinful. He is hopeless. He has nothing to show for all of his energy and effort. He goes back to the father and he is very humble.
He comes back to the father and he says, "Father, forgive. Just take me back and make me like one of your hired...what?...servants." Make me a slave, I don't deserve anything more than slavery. Just take me back. What is he saying? I'll tell you what he's saying. He's saying, I submit to you...isn't he? And I break my allegiance to my past Master.
Secondly, he is saying I long for a relationship with you. I wanna draw nearer to you. Remember, he ran up to his son and what does it say? His father saw him...run up to him, threw his arms around him and did what? Kissed him. The son longed for that relationship. And then what did he say to his father? "Father, I have sinned against you."
And what he was saying was cleanse my hands and purify my heart. And then as you looked at the misery of his life, he said, "I'm worthy only to be your slave." And there was a man who humbled himself in the presence of God. That's the picture of the sinner, having wasted his life and come up with nothing, he comes back and he says I wanna give you my life, you control me. I'm the servant you're the Master. I wanna relationship with you. He longed for the embrace of that father and the kiss of love. I want to be cleansed of the wretchedness of my sin. I'm done with the frivolity of life. I wanna take it seriously and I wanna do my part to serve you in your house.
And you remember what the father did? Did the father say well, reluctantly, you've been such a wretched guy but I'll let you in? No, his father took him in and what did he do? He said, "Not only will I take you back, you'll not be a slave, I'll take you back as a son." He said get the ring, put it on his finger, get the best robe, put it on his back. Call the musicians, get the festival ready, kill the fatted calf, we are having the biggest party we have ever thought of having because this...my son, who was lost is now found.
And what is that, in James' word? Look at verse 10, "Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord and He will tolerate you." Is that what it said? He will...what?...exalt you. You see He resists the...proud...but he gives grace to the...humble. He gives grace to the humble.
You remember the proud Pharisee, locate ye and I thank you that I'm not as other men even as this Publican. I tithe, I give...I fast twice a week, I tithe of all that I possess...Ah, he was telling...he was a religious man. And over in the corner is the Publican, he won't even lift his eyes because he's such a wicked man. He doesn't even dare look at God. He's bent over, bowed, looking down, pounding his chest...God, be merciful to me a sinner. And Jesus said, "That man went home saved not the other one." Why? God resists the...proud and he gives grace to the...humble...to the humble. We all come that way.
So, what is humble saving faith? If somebody wrote you a letter and said I don't know what believe means. What would you say? Well, believe objectively means that I believe in the historical literal truth that Jesus lived and died and rose again for me and accomplished my salvation. I believe those facts and I believe that He is Lord and I acknowledge that with my mouth.
From the subjective side, what does that mean? That means that I submit to His leadership and rulership in my life. I pursue a loving personal relationship with Him. I hunger to turn from sin and pursue holiness. I am broken over the guilt and the stench and the shame of my miserable sin and I now view life seriously, not in the frivolity of the foolishness of my former ways. In other words, I reject myself and everything about me. That's humility and He'll lift you up.
When it says He will exalt you, have you ever thought about what He wants to make you? You ever thought about that? You remember as a kid reading the story, The Ugly Duckling? He was larger and more awkward and less attractive than the other ducklings. He was just flat ugly by their standards. They made fun of his clumsiness, they made fun of his bizarre gawky appearance and he was crushed and we was forlorn and so he left the ducklings and he sought refuge with a cat and a chicken...you remember that?
But they didn't accept him because he couldn't purr and he couldn't lay eggs. "You don't understand me," he complained...they only mocked him all the more. One day while he was out paddling around the pond trying his best to be like the other ducks, he caught sight of some graceful and elegant swans, creatures he'd never seen before. He thought they were the most beautiful birds in all the world.
And as she watched the beautiful movements of the swans, a strange feeling came over him, he couldn't take his eyes off them. And he couldn't shake the newness of destiny that overwhelmed him. Well, the swans flew off and as he stretched his neck to try to follow their flight, he thought that he had loved them more than anything he had ever loved before. Winter came and all during the cold months the Ugly Duckling thought about the lovely birds he had seen. He had no idea what they were called or where they came from but he hoped some day he'd be able to see them again.
And the last spring melted the ice on the pond and the Ugly
Duckling was able to swim again. And one day while spring was still very young, he was swimming and he saw two of those beautiful birds. They swam straight toward him and fear gripped his heart. He was embarrassed to have such graceful creatures see how ugly and clumsy he was. As they approached him, he bowed his head in humility and covered his face with his wings. When he did that, he was amazed to see for the first time, his on reflection in the water, which had just thawed. He was exactly like those beautiful creatures. He was never meant to be a duck in the first place. He was one of them, he was a swan.
And as he removed his wings from his face, he lifted his head, not straight up like an ostrich but slightly bowed in gratitude and humility. You see an analogy of your own life in that? My own experience as a Christian is like that, so is yours. My first look at Christ would be that of an ugly duckling looking at a swan, enamored with the majesty and the loveliness and the grace and the beauty of that creature. And feeling ugly and sinful and unworthy and yet being irresistibly attracted and then one day in humility, to bow our heads as it were a cover our face in humility before the swan of all swans. And then when we ourselves in the water, we note that we are being made in His very image.
That's what it means to humble yourself and be exalted. When Christ exalts you, and this is the wonder of wonders, He makes you like Himself. And some day you'll be like Him for you'll see Him as He is. That's how far you'll be exalted. If you humble yourself beloved, the Bible says, "He will exalt you." To what level? To the very beauty of Christ Himself. 2 Corinthians 3:18, "You're being changed from one level of glory to the next by the Holy Spirit" until some time you will find yourself in the very image of Jesus Christ.
You start out in ugliness. When you finally see in Him the destiny you long for and when you're humbled in the face of the beauty of Christ, and you see your sin and unworthiness, it is at that point that He saves you and sets you on a path to be like Him.
What does it mean to believe? That's what it means. And may it be the experience of every heart this day. And may it be the experience of every heart this day. Believe? That's what it means. And may it be the experience of every heart this day. Believe? That's what it means.
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The following is what our readers sounded off about this week:
Too many complainers
It seems like every week I read some unsympathetic fool complaining about illegal immigrants in this country. They proudly tout that their ancestors came here legally, and these people should, too. I wonder do these people not realize that their relatives would most likely no longer be able to legally immigrate to the United States in current times. Have they looked into the requirements? It is extremely difficult to get a work visa, let alone citizenship these days. The words on the Statue of Liberty: "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free. The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!" – no longer are what we believe. The complainers seem to think their grandparents/great-grandparents came off the boat speaking perfect English with a job waiting for them. How do these people think we got China Town, and Greek Town, ect.? Did they never have a friend that had an old Polish grandma at home that couldn't speak English? Also what kind of human being says they don't care about suffering children? (I am guessing s/he cares about unborn children?) How terrible would the conditions in your homeland have to be that you would risk your child's life to get them to a better place? Don't you realize these children are refugees? And lastly how many of these complainers have actually had their job taken by an illegal immigrant? Were you mowing lawns or washing dishes as a career? Illegals aren't the reason you can't find a decent job, that would be the crumbling American education system, corporations who [are] willing to [sell] out Americans for cheap labor, and the government that subsidized the corporations for doing it.
What about the tax?
After reading about the Kane County Environmental Committee, I see the committee member Michael Donahue is missing a very important point on whether to charge citizens for plugging in their electric auto while at the courthouse. He is missing the point that when a person buys gasoline for their car, they pay a tax that goes for road repairs. That revenue is now gone when you have an electric car. A small fee or tax should be assessed on the charging station,and this money should be going towards the road tax and not necessarily the general fund.
Try to pay attention
Fellow citizens and Americans and taxpayers and neighbors, please start paying attention to what is happening in the world and to your politicians and what they're saying so that you have a reference on which to judge a political candidate when it's time to vote. It's not just their pretty words and promises, it's the actions and results. Please don't get distracted by the decisiveness of many issues. To me, the most important issue is – and always has been – since 9/11, our border security. I can't believe that 13 years later, our borders are still unsecure and there is a terrible problem going on. And when the president talks about immigration reform, I don't believe he's talking about helping the border situation. I think he's only talking about giving amnesty to everyone who is here and who wants to come here, ever. So that is unclear to me – often the issues are not really made clear as it's only given one side. So again, please try to pay attention and let's find people who have exhibited wisdom and honesty in the past and have that be a qualification for someone that you choose to vote for.
It's not fair
I'm calling in regards to the article "St. Charles committee backs residential chicken regulations." I resent this article. As a resident in St. Charles, I totally oppose having chickens in your backyard, and I feel the committee should not be the ones to vote on this. The people in St. Charles should be the ones to vote on this. Just because a few residents feel that it's OK to have chickens in their backyard doesn't mean that every person in St. Charles agrees to that. Having chickens in your backyard is a huge health risk for your adjoining neighbors. Visit the CDC website, visit the Illinois Department of [Public] Health website, you will see that having chickens in your backyard is actually a huge, huge health risk. It's not just having fresh eggs – if you want fresh eggs there's plenty of farms that have them, and there are plenty of farms that have the room for chickens. You're not being fair to the chickens by housing them in a chicken coop in a residential, single-family home backyard where they don't even have the room to roam and can't roam because they have to be enclosed at all times. It's animal cruelty, a huge health risk, and, again, I feel the residents of St. Charles should vote on this, not the committee.
Road needs work
I've lived in the Campton Hills area for over seven years and I have to use the Campton Hills road to get to and from my home. The road has been filled with numerous potholes and patches for the entire period of time. I have called different offices to report the condition but so far only minor patching has been done. The traffic volume has increased significantly, including bicycles, since we've moved here, which adds to the problem. The part of the road that's in worst condition is from St. Charles park property, westward to Loblolly [Lane]. I have not been able to find out what entity has been responsible for repairing this section of road. This section of road appears to need a complete re-surfacing, not just patching.
Way to go
Once again, a big thanks to Roger and his crew for making our cemeteries look so nice. Way to go, Roger!
Another mistake
How come there's no coverage in the Chronicle about the proposed industrial park at Wind Energy and Kirk? This proposal is spot-zoning at its worst. It will devalue our property, cause extreme additional congestion and basically make the southeast entrance to Batavia feel like Melrose Park. I agree we need to be creative to balance the budget after the Prairie State energy debacle, but let's not follow one mistake with another mistake that we'll have to live with for years to come. (Editor's note – the Chronicle has published several stories on this topic.)
• You can sound off, as well, by calling our Sound Off line at 630-845-5240 or by sending an e-mail to firstname.lastname@example.com. Calls must be limited to 1 minute or less.


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