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Name: Frankie Lewchuk
Hometown: Mentone, Ala.
Current city: Chattanooga, Tenn.
Occupation: Car stereo installer
"I used to be a wimp in school. ... Since I started playing football in 9th and 10th grade, all I did was get a haircut, start wearing decent clothes and play sports. Now I'm a popular person... and I want to keep it going that way."
Frankie was a high school football star whose picture was in his hometown newspaper every week. He thought he and his family were normal, until he learned that his father was on the run from the law. One day, the FBI showed up, and his dad landed in prison. Frankie's diary explored his relationship with his father, and how his life was both ordinary and extraordinary.
Years after graduating from high school, Frankie was back in the hometown paper, this time for drug-related crimes. He has struggled with an addiction to crystal meth. Now, Frankie is becoming a dad. He takes his recorder along as he attempts to repair his life and his relationship with his family.
Produced for All Things Considered by Joe Richman and Sarah Reynolds of Radio Diaries, edited by Deborah George, Ben Shapiro and Sarah Kate Kramer.
You can subscribe to the Radio Diaries podcast at NPR.org.
From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Robert Siegel.
And I'm Audie Cornish.
All this week, we've been reconnecting with people we first met on this program in 1996 when they were just teenagers.
AMANDA BRAND: Hello. Nope, wrong button. There. Hello.
JOSH: Let me do the introduction now. My name is Josh.
BRAND: My name is Amanda.
MELISSA RODRIGUEZ: My name is Melissa Rodriquez.
FRANKIE LEWCHUK: Hi, my name is Frankie and I'm going to give you a little tour from my Cadillac here.
JUAN: Here I am. My name is Juan and I'm here in the U.S.
JOSH: It's my radio show, thank you.
CORNISH: These Radio Dairies came from independent producer Joe Richman. He gave teenagers tape recorders and the chance to tell their own stories. This week in our series, Teenage Diaries Revisited, we're hearing just how much can change in 16 years. Today, we head to the Alabama/Tennessee border, where Frankie Lewchuk has spent his entire life.
When we met him as a teenager, he was a small town football star. Here is Frankie's new diary.
LEWCHUK: Hello. Hello. Hello. All right. My name is Frankie Lewchuk. It's been 16 years ago in my story.
LEWCHUK: ...it just sounds different. You know?
UNIDENTIFIED MAN #1: Hey, y'all buy some new jacks? Them RCA jacks ain't no good.
LEWCHUK: Here we are right in front of Studio City in Eastridge, Tennessee.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN #1: I pulled this radio out and all the wires and the dash are cut.
LEWCHUK: I sell car audio and install car audio. It's our family business. We're off I-75 right behind the Wendy's. See if it works.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN #1: There it goes. There it goes. There it goes.
LEWCHUK: We got power, boys and girls.
Catching up on my life now, well, about six years ago, well, I got in some trouble and I can talk about that later. But other than the trouble, the last 16 years nothing has really changed except my age.
I live in a trailer but it's a two bedroom, two-bath trailer. I got my wife with a baby coming and I'm going to be a daddy. And, I mean, all I want to do is keep working and helping mom and dad. And that's all I really ever did since I've been out of school, really. Give me one minute.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN #2: Ed, where is our book?
LEWCHUK: When I come in the shop, dad is working there at his desk every morning.
DENNIS LEWCHUK: And what am I supposed to say?
LEWCHUK: I'm Dennis Lewchuk. Frankie is my son.
LEWCHUK: I grew up watching dad sell radio stuff when I was a kid. Dad's still there doing the same thing, wearing the same pair of overalls he's had his whole life. He has a beard with long hair, kind of like ZZ Top. Just anybody that comes in, he'll sit down all day long, talk to you the whole day.
LEWCHUK: (Singing) Dreaming...
LEWCHUK: Then he gets into his music mode where he plays guitar after song after song. He even has our customers in there singing with him.
LEWCHUK: (Singing) Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh, I'm dreaming.
LEWCHUK: I mean, I love my dad with all my heart. But it's just, my dad is one of those kind of people, if you do something to him one time then he holds a grudge or he stays stubborn. Or, you know, when we first opened up this business he named it Frank's Stereos, you know, after me. But it's not like that anymore. He's scratched the Frank's off the window and changed it to Stereo City.
That really broke my heart. You know? But I don't think he'll ever trust me again, ever...
LEWCHUK: ...because what I did when I was on drugs.
LEWCHUK: This is Frankie again. We're in Valleyhead, Alabama, where I grew up, right between two mountains in the middle of nowhere. I know every piece of woods in here, every tree, everything there is to know about this, I know.
LEWCHUK: What are you doing, boy?
DARRELL: I'm waiting on your ass.
LEWCHUK: Goddamn, that's a way to talk to an old neighbor. Oh, you want to be on the radio, too?
LEWCHUK: Here's Darrell. The first time I did my drugs was with him.
(unintelligible) a minute ago, ain't it.
DARRELL: Yeah.
LEWCHUK: Darrell lived up the road from me, just invited me over one night. And I seen him get some tinfoil out of his pocket. And I asked him what he was doing. And he said, don't tell my wife, he said, but I am fixing to take me a hit of crystal meth. The next thing I know he's like, you want to try this. I said heck, no. He was like, come on, come on, just tried once. He goes, I won't tell nobody you did it.
Well, I tried it once with him and I liked the feeling that it gave me, the high that it gave me. And from that day on, for about a year straight, I couldn't go without it.
DARRELL: You got hooked to it on that first draw.
LEWCHUK: Yeah, I know it.
DARRELL: That's all it takes. I got you hooked.
LEWCHUK: No, I know. It ain't your fault. You didn't break my arm. I wasn't a dope.
LEWCHUK: Well, I was going to get down the other way and I stopped and said hi to you.
DARRELL: I'm glad you come by 'cause I do need some speakers.
LEWCHUK: I was 24 years old when I started doing what I did. And I went from being on the front page of football, representing my little bitty school, to being on the front page as a thief and a meth head. My family meant nothing to me. My life meant nothing to me. I didn't care. All I wanted to do was get high. I would steal, like, push mowers or tools out of garages, just stuff that I knew I could resell real quick to support my drug habit. And I would steal stuff from my dad, out of our store, too.
I just - I'd go sit up in the middle of the road, right in front of my house where I lived at, and I'd just sit there and smoke meth and listen to the radio.
LEWCHUK: Just listen to the radio and just sit there.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: You weren't even my son for that year. I could talk to you and you were just like in the daze.
LEWCHUK: Yeah.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: I never ever, ever, ever dreamed like something would happen to you like this, Frankie. Never ever thought you would get on drugs.
LEWCHUK: I never thought it would happen either but...
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: 'Cause you weren't that type of person. At 16, you were a whippersnapper. And every day, remember, when you'd get ready for school you come in: Mom, mom, is my shirt tucked in straight in the back? Does my hair look good? I mean, you were so preppy in school and football. And then to see how you transform your life with the drugs, it was just like from night and day.
Oh, boy. It tore me to pieces.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: Every night I would come home and pray and pray. And when you got arrested I was happy, I mean, 'cause I knew that you were going to get some help.
LEWCHUK: I was in the DeKalb County Jail in Alabama. I was in a jail cell that had eight beds in it with about 70 people in it. So you had to sleep on the floor, sleep by the shower, sleep right by where everybody uses the restroom - that's where I'd sleep. I was right beside the urinal where I had to lay my head every night. That was my fork in the road.
It took going to jail and going to rehab and getting told what to do by someone else - like I was a kid all over again - to straighten my life up. But I did it.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: When dad went to prison, Frankie, back in '94, it was hard. And then when dad come home this happens to you. And it was just like another cycle again. But we all stuck together as a family.
LEWCHUK: We've been through a lot of stuff.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: Well, I'm proud of you.
LEWCHUK: Yeah.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: I mean, there's nothing I wouldn't do for you, no matter what.
LEWCHUK: I know.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: Do you love me?
LEWCHUK: I love you, yes.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: Do you love me?
LEWCHUK: Yeah, I love you, Momma.
LEWCHUK: Yeah.
One thing that I haven't talked about was my dad was in jail, too. He stabbed a guy in self-defense. But I'm not for sure exactly what the charges were. He had to do 18 months in prison.
LEWCHUK: Hi, Mom, Frankie, Jenny, Johnny, Angel. You know I'd give everything if I could be with you tonight...
LEWCHUK: He had a tape recorder and he would talk to us.
LEWCHUK: And he would sing us music on his guitar while he was in prison. He did that the whole time he was in there. And it would happen to dad and it happened to me.
LEWCHUK: I love you, everybody.
LEWCHUK: How did you feel when I went to jail knowing you was in jail?
LEWCHUK: Well, after me being in there and then to see you there, I didn't know back then if you'd ever get right again or if we'd ever get you back.
LEWCHUK: Oh, you know I stole stuff from you, was on drugs. But you know I'm sorry for it.
LEWCHUK: That stuff that you took, I forgave you for those, but I mean, I don't forget about what I went through with you. And I do fear some day that - trying it again and...
LEWCHUK: That ain't even in my mind.
LEWCHUK: It happens to lots of people. Never say never. It could happen again.
LEWCHUK: No.
LEWCHUK: I still worry about it as a father and I always will.
LEWCHUK: Dad, I told you I ain't gonna do that crap. It's been since 2006 when I got off drugs. I've been clean since.
LEWCHUK: Well, Frank, I believe I've taken advantage of my second and you have a second chance, you need to use it. Am I right?
LEWCHUK: We'll find out, I guess.
LEWCHUK: Come on, baby. This is Frankie, again. It's been a couple months since I talked to you. A lot's happened since then. Had a little baby girl and I'm a daddy now and her name is Aubrey Crimson Lewchuck. Crimson Tide, that's Alabama's football team. She's making some kind of crazy noises. I got the recorder sitting on her belly and she's holding onto my thumb.
She's got her mommy's eyes and her momma's hair. And hers got two necks like I got. Just can't believe that - I don't know that God makes stuff that beautiful. What are you doing? I'm gonna be the best dad I can be. I hope to be running that shop someday and then my kid be down there helping me hook up radios.
The world's so crazy. I mean, you never know how things are gonna turn out. You never know. This is Frankie Lewchuck and Aubrey Crimson Lewchuck. We'll see you guys later. Bye-bye.
CORNISH: The music of Frankie Lewchuck's father, Dennis. Aubrey Crimson Lewchuck is now three months old. Frankie's story was produced by Joe Richman and Sara Reynolds of Radio Diaries. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.


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subset: commoncrawl


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27 Comments
Camille Grammer Quits 'Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills'
One of the most dramatic women on the show will not be returning for the third season — find out why!
Camille Grammer has decided to quit The Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills.
Camille, 43, wants to keep her private life private, PEOPLE reports.
"She's been in discussions and at the end decided she wasn't willing to expose her personal life anymore," a source close to her says. "She's at peace with her decision. She's in a great place in her life right now. She's grown a lot in this past year and she's made some wonderful friendships [on the show]. It has steered her life in a direction she never imagined. She's ready for new challenges."
Are YOU shocked that Camille is off the show, HollywoodLifers?
— William Earl
More Camille:
- Camille & Kelsey Grammer Settle Custody Case — Amicably
- Is Camille Grammer Leaving 'The Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills?'
- Camille Grammer: We Are Happy For Kelsey Grammer & Pregnant Wife Kayte Walsh


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Longtime Vandalia resident Sandy Johnson has retired after working for 47 years in various businesses in Vandalia.
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The honours year in science is a widely recognised and highly regarded additional year of undergraduate study available to you after you complete your undergraduate course. It's a unique opportunity for you to explore your research potential and put the theory from your undergraduate studies into practice. An honours qualification in science is not only well regarded in academia, but also in industry where laboratory experience and a command of scientific thought processes are highly sought after.
Summer Scholarships are a great way to gain research experience and an insight into research process while working alongside our leading scientific researchers. Research projects are available in most disciplines for a duration of between 4-6 weeks over the Summer holiday period (November-February). Find out more.
"Throughout honours you really mature and develop as a scientist and get to put everything that you have learned in undergraduate into practice. You become the world expert in your small topic and that is really quite
a rush." Kate Quinlan, honours in molecular bioscience. Read more
- Profile: Jonathan, honours in immunology
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Phillip Crawford finished 12 of 17 for a career-high 29 points and 17 rebounds as Alabama State held on to beat Mississippi Valley State 73-65 Monday.
Jamel Waters scored 11 points and Shawntez Patterson added 10 to help Alabama State (8-16, 5-6 Southwestern Athletic Conference) snap a three-game losing streak.
Trailing at halftime 40-27, Mississippi Valley State fought back to take a 54-53 lead on Davon Usher's jumper with 6:49 remaining.
After Usher's 3-pointer gave the Delta Devils a 59-56 advantage, Patterson's 3-pointer sparked a 7-0 run for Alabama State to give the Hornets the lead 65-59 with 4:26 left.
Mississippi Valley State (3-18, 3-8) would cut the deficit to 69-64 on Ervin Thomas' dunk with 1:14 to go, but Waters made a layup and Ryan Watts converted two free throws down the stretch to seal the victory for the Tigers.
Usher led the Delta Devils with 19 points.


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First some background. I just signed up with a new ISP that gives me a fairly decent internet connection. It's a PPPoE connection, which means that I have to "dial in" before I can start surfing. The PPPoE drivers used are RASPPPOE. However, the ISP has provided me with a custom dialer program for use. The dialer program makes a PPP connection using the RASPPPOE drivers. Now for the rant.
At first, I trusted that a big ISP like this would have done a decent job on writing a dialer software which, for all practical purposes, just calls a few functions from the RASPPPOE API and provides a pretty interface. Guess what? I was wrong . I immediately noticed a few problems with the dialer.
1. It required admin rights to run. That generally means that a program is badly written. If I had been the sole user of this computer, I might not have minded too much. But to have to teach my Mom and Dad how to use Run As and give them the admin password is going too far.
2. Since it had placed a connection in the "Network Connections" in Windows XP, I tried using the connection. Didn't work. Great, that means it's doing some kind of voodoo before or after the connection is made. The connection would fail at "Verifying username and password" with an error message of "The supplied username or password is invalid on the domain".
3. It caused intermittent crashes on my otherwise rock solid XP box.
All this was enough to piss me off enough for me to try to do something about it. Calling Customer Service didn't help either. So, I fired up ethereal and checked the packet that the dialer sent against the one that the connection in "Network Connections" sent. It turns out that while the password itself is sent out unencrypted, the dialer performs some operations on the password before it is sent. So, a password of "abcdefg" might become "avbfgfherotbfgklghrt". However, this affords no protection against a sniffer, since the server doesn't decrypt "avbfgfherotbfgklghrt" to "abcdefg". It simply accepts "avbfgfherotbfgklghrt" as the password. Substituting "avbfgfherotbfgklghrt" for "abcdefg" in the connection in "Network Connections" does the trick. The only reason for this "encryption" seems to be to force people to use the dialer.
Now, overall I'm really pissed off with this ISP because not only is their software badly written, it's also blatantly insecure and very vulnerable to sniffing. I got around their protection in a very short time and am not using their dialer anymore. However, most people will have to put up with this and will become a very easy target for an unscrupulous person. /me kills ISP. AAAAARGH!!!!!


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MAC Round-Up: New Bremen falls to DSJ in OT, Minster knocks off ranked Tigers
DELPHOS — With a four-point lead with just 16 seconds left in regulation the New Bremen boys basketball team had at least a share of the Midwest Athletic Conference title in its grasp. Delphos St. John's Curtis Geise's heroics and later a technical foul at an inopportune time let it slip away.
Delphos St. John's rallied to send the game to overtime on Geise's game-tying shot at the end of regulation and then Geise scored 11 points in the overtime to lift the Blue Jays to a 64-57 win in the Midwest Athletic Conference showdown between one-loss teams at The Vatican on Friday.
Parker Manger hit a basket with 31 seconds left to give New Bremen a 57-56 lead, but New Bremen head coach Adam Dougherty was hit with a technical foul just seconds when he didn't receive a requested time-out on the ensuing inbound play.
Geise hit the two ensuing free throws to take the lead and DSJ took control.
Dougherty received a second technical with a few seconds left in the game, leading to an automatic ejection.
Geise led the Blue Jays with 33 points.
"As far as Curtis Geise goes he has been with me for four years and he continues to amaze me in late game situations and he has a knack for making big plays," Delphos head coach Aaron Elwer said.
Dougherty did not addresss the technical fouls after the game.
"I told the kids after the game that we have to band together," Dougherty said. "All of our goals are still out there. We had our kids ready tonight and we will have them ready for tomorrow night and we will have them ready two Fridays from now. We will bounce back. We have tough kids and all of our goals are still out there. "
The Cardinals led 49-45 with 16 seconds left, but Geise drew a foul from behind the 3-point arc with 13 seconds left. He hit two-of-three to put New Bremen up 49-47.
New Bremen then missed two free throws, allowing Geise to come down and make the tying basket with 5.4 seconds left. Carson Manger's last second shot missed at the buzzer to send the game to overtime tied at 49-49.
In the overtime the two teams traded points before setting up the dramatic final 30 seconds.
Ben Homan led the Cardinals with 19 points and six rebounds and Carson Manger had 17 points.
New Bremen theoretically could still earn a MAC title tie with no conference games left on the schedule. The Cardinals need Delphos St. John's and St. Henry to lose next Friday. More realistically, New Bremen is now looking ahead to a game tonight against Spencerville followed by a sectional final game on Friday, March 1 against the winner of Fort Recovery and Marion Local.
New Bremen (17-4 and 7-2) will conclude their regular season tonight at Spencerville, while DSJ (14-4, 7-1) will travel to Coldwater next Friday.
MINSTER — Minster found a way to inch past the Tigers, 43-42 in Midwest Athletic Conference action.
Minster's Ethan Wolf hit out-of-two free throws to go ahead, 43-42 with 20.4 seconds left in action.
Wolf led Minster with 13 points, seven rebounds and seven blocks. Niemeyer finished with ten points. Hoying and Poeppelman each finished with eight points.
Versailles' Kyle Ahrens was held to 13 points. Damien Richard added 11 for the Tigers.
Minster improves to 12-8 overall and 3-5 in the MAC. Versailles falls to 15-5 on the season and 5-4 in the league. Minster travels to Troy tonight before returning home for their last regular season game against New Knoxville on Feb. 22. The Wildcats will then turn around and play New Knoxville in the first game of sectionals at Coldwater on Feb. 27.
NEW KNOXVILLE — Coldwater emerged from a nip-and-nuck game against New Knoxville with a 64-62 win on Friday night.
Coldwater overcame a 24-point game from New Knoxville senior Jake Allen. Ryan Lageman added 14 points and Shane Topp had 11 points for the Rangers.
Austin Bruns led the way for the Cavaliers with 24 points, with 10 of those coming at the free throw line.
New Knoxville led 33-32 at half, but the Cavaliers outscored New Knoxville 13-9 in the third quarter.
New Knoxville's four game winning streak came to an end. The Rangers fall to 10-9 on the season and 3-5 in the MAC. New Knoxville hits the road to go to Crestview tonight.


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Speed Dating Rationally
Lesson 2 of 12
Objective: SWBAT solve a rational equation for a specified variable.
Big Idea: Efficiency and accuracy improves as students solve rational equations with their 'date' in this interactive and self-checking speed dating activity.
Warm-up: Become an Expert
As students come into class today, I am going to have the Speed Dating Cards spread out on a table with the problem facing up. I am going to ask students to pick up a card as they enter class. Students will become an expert on the problem that they choose, so I want students to be able to pick a problem that they feel is accessible.
Once all of the students arrive I present Flipchart Rational Equations Day 2 (p.1-2) and explain the plan for class. Them, students have 10 minutes to solve their problem and become an expert on how to explain the solution process to someone else. During this period, they can ask anyone for help. After ten minutes they will need to be the expert on the problem. The answers are copied on the back of the card so that students can check their work.
Lesson Preparation:
- Before today's lesson, I will photocopy the rational function cards (Speed Dating Cards - Rational Functions) so that the problem and answer are copied back to back. Each student will need their own card. I plan to make a double set of copies of these 16 problems.
- When we come to the middle part of today's lesson (The Speed Dating Activity) we are going to need to have the desks grouped so that two rows are facing each other: Speed Dating Classroom set-up
- I will also have whiteboards and markers available for student work. At this point, I want students to have practice solving rational equations and seeing how others solve the equations.
Resources (4)
Closure: Clicker Question
To close out today's lesson and assess students current ability to solve rational equations, I will present Page 3 of the Flipchart and ask students to determine the area of the given rectangle. I may review with students for a moment to make sure they recall how to find the area and perimeter of a rectangle. I know I should expect students to know this by now. I want to make sure that there is no confusion. I want an accurate representation of which students can and cannot solve a rational equation when it is applied in context.
Technology Note: If students will be texting in their answers, they are not expected to text in units as it will not mark the answer correct.
Resources (1)
Resources (1)
I will assign Homework 2 - Rational Functions for homework. The assignment helps students to continue to build their skills in solving rational equations and has students review past concepts of compositions, identify zeros of a polynomial, and finding the inverse of a function.


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Kids Stuff Superstore
At Kids Stuff Superstore our buyers travel all over the U.S. in search of large selections of unique merchandise not found at the 'big box" stores. Our selection of products found typically in boutiques and an enormous selection found only at mass merchants, Kids Stuff Superstore is truly a "one stop" shopping experience. Our trained staff looks forward to walking you through and answering all your questions helping you be assured you made the right decision with your purchase.
Since 1981, Kids Stuff Superstore has been many growing families destination for everything from cribs, bunk beds, strollers, car seat, gifts, and all the latest "must have" baby products. Voted one of "The 20 best baby stores in America" by Baby Bargains book, we hope you can visit one of our stores serving Sioux Falls South Dakota, Omaha and Lincoln Nebraska. What if you can't stop by? Online you will find our same huge selection of crib bedding, furniture, toys, coupons, sales, and so much more! We hope you find Kids Stuff Superstore to be your "one stop baby shop"!
eChildstore.com is the online shopping website for Kids Stuff Superstore. Here you will find one of the largest selections of online products offered anywhere. We continuously add content and products to make our website a great resource for parents and parents to-be. When you call our customer service department at eChildstore.com, your connected with a staff member who is trained and works on our showroom floors. This is to be assured that someone will answer your questions with hands on product experience. We believe this sets our website apart from many of others that don't have actual retail stores.
605-361-8636 http://www.echildstore.com/


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Welcome to Mountain View Eye Center.
We recognize the seemingly endless variety of options for eye care that are available through the internet and through other traditional avenues, and appreciate your interest in our facility.
We believe you will find our approach to medicine refreshingly practical and uniquely different. We have the latest in high-tech instrumentation, but we still check our answers by hand. No matter what your eye care needs, from the latest laser vision correction or cataract surgery to glasses and contacts -- we're here to help!


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Program Office: International and Foreign Language Education Service
CFDA Number: 84.116N
Program Type: Discretionary/Competitive Grants
Also Known As: Institutional Cooperation and Student Mobility in Higher Education Among the United States, Canada, and Mexico, U.S.-Canada-Mexico Program, North American Program
Program Description
The program promotes a student-centered, North American dimension to education and training in a wide range of academic and professional disciplines that complement existing forms of bilateral and trilateral exchange programs among Mexico, Canada, and the United States. Consortia are funded for four years with the first year of funding dedicated to establishing consortium agreements or memoranda of understanding among institutions in the participating countries.
Types of Projects
Projects are intended to:
- Encourage cooperation and exchange among higher education institutions in the United States, Mexico, and Canada;
- Increase the knowledge of the languages, cultures, and institutions of these three countries;
- Increase the quality of human resources development in the three countries;
- Explore ways to prepare students to work throughout North America; and
- Augment student mobility, through mutual recognition and portability of credits and by developing joint curricula and degrees.
Please click on this link to view the Google Map showing the 30 North American Mobility in Higher Education Program grants awarded between FY 2007 and FY 2010. The pins indicate all U.S., Canadian, and Mexican-lead institutions.
Additional Information
The Program for North American Mobility in Higher Education is a grant competition run cooperatively by the governments of the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The purpose of this competition is to promote a student-centered, North American dimension to education and training in a wide range of academic and professional disciplines. The Program will fund collaborative efforts in the form of consortia consisting of at least two academic institutions from each country. The funding period will be for up to four years.
The Program for North American Mobility in Higher Education fosters student exchange within the context of multilateral curricular development. Students benefit from having an added "North American" curriculum and cultural dimension to their studies through combination of trilateral curricular innovation and study abroad.
The Program is administrated collectively by the U.S. Department of Education; Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC); and in Mexico by the Secretariat of Public Education (Dirección de Desarollo Universitario, Secretaría de Educación Pública - SEP).
Conceived in the spirit of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the first grant competition for this Program was held in 1995. The principles of this program are based on recommendations that emerged from the Guadalajara Conference of 1996, the Vancouver Communiqué 1993 and the Wingspread Declaration of 1992, which called for strengthened cooperation in higher education, research, and training among the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
The Program aims to improve the quality of human resource development in the three countries and to explore ways to prepare students for work throughout North America through -
- the mutual recognition and portability of academic credits among North American institutions;
- the development of shared, common, or core curricula among North American institutions;
- the acquisition of the languages and exposure to the cultures of the United States, Canada, and Mexico;
- the development of student apprenticeships or other work related experiences; and
- an increased cooperation and exchange among academic personnel among North American institutions.


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Governor Schweitzer has unveiled a new plan to do what must be done to eliminate unfunded liability in the Teachers' and Public Employees' Retirement Systems.
"We affirm our choice to climb on board the governor's plan or some close approximation and save our public employee pension plans," said MEA-MFT President Eric Feaver. "We refuse to surrender to the likes of politicians Dave Lewis and Rick Hill."
(See additional quotes by Feaver in the two articles below.)
By MIKE DENNISON IR State Bureau | Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Gov. Brian Schweitzer Tuesday unveiled his proposal to fix Montana's troubled pension funds for 78,000 public employees, teachers and retirees, with a mix of cash infusions and increased payments by workers and employers.
Schweitzer said his plan, if adopted by the 2013 Legislature, would erase a combined $3.4 billion in long-range "unfunded liability" in the two major public retirement systems in five to eight years.
"We will fix it without raising taxes — not one penny of new taxes," he said at a Capitol news conference. "We adopt this plan, we'll be the first among the states in fixing pension liability."
Schweitzer, whose final term as governor ends in less than eight months, said he presented a plan now so he could explain it to the public and garner support among those affected by the pension fund and legislators who must adopt it.
Schweitzer's plan would require workers covered by the Teachers Retirement System and Public Employees Retirement System to increase their contribution by a percentage point, to 8.15 percent for TRS and 7.9 percent for PERS.
School districts would contribute a lump sum of $14.7 million to TRS, while a state lands account would kick in another $25 million.
For PERS, the state and local governments would pay a lump sum of $18.1 million and also increase their payroll contribution for employees by one percentage point.
The governor said the state can cover the payments without raising taxes, and that local governments should be able to do the same. PERS covers not only state workers, but also county and city workers.
TRS covers about 18,500 workers and pays benefits to nearly 13,000 retirees. PERS covers 28,700 workers and pays pensions to 18,000 retirees.
Eric Feaver, the leader of the state's largest public-sector union, said Tuesday it supports the proposal, which resembles what the union has been talking about for some time.
"The governor is on the right track," said Feaver, president of MEA-MFT, which represents teachers and some state and local government workers.
Rep. Pat Ingraham, R-Thompson Falls, who chairs the State Administration and Veterans Affairs Interim Committee, said she looks forward to hearing about the plan, because the panel has done little to develop its own proposal.
The bipartisan panel advanced a major pension-fund reform bill in 2011, but Schweitzer vetoed the bill after it was passed by the Legislature, with Democrats opposing it. The bill would have created a new, hybrid pension plan for new hires covered by TRS, tied to the amount of contributions by the employee and a matching amount from TRS.
"We only have three meetings left; we've not come up with anything at this point," she said. "We've sort of been waiting to see what the stakeholders were going to bring forth, for us to consider."
Sen. Dave Lewis, R-Helena, who last year sponsored a bill requiring new hires under the PERS system to have a 401(k)-style retirement plan rather than a pension, said Tuesday he plans to introduce the same bill in 2013. His bill died during the legislative process.
"We have to stop the bleeding," he said. "We've got to shut off the defined-benefit (pension) plan and go to a defined-contribution plan."
Schweitzer, however, said he's very much opposed to a defined-contribution plan, because it would make the pension funds even less stable and make future retirees entirely dependent on their own investment decisions and Wall Street.
Matt Gouras - Associated Press - April 10, 2012
HELENA, Mont. — Gov. Brian Schweitzer proposed an aggressive public pension fix Tuesday, a plan that comes as he nears the end of his term and one that faces a very uncertain future when it goes to his successor and the Legislature next year for potential implementation.
Key aspects of the proposal met with immediate criticism from a leading Republican candidate to replace Schweitzer. The leading Democrat was more receptive.
The projected shortfall for the state's government worker pension system exceeds $3 billion over the next 30 years. Lawmakers are currently discussing potential fixes in an interim committee but have not identified any solutions.
Schweitzer's plan calls for employees and their public employers to each increase their contributions an additional 1 percent of the salary paid. His plan would also funnel some revenue from natural resource development into the pensions, and require local governments to kick in more for their employees as well.
Schweitzer said he expects local governments and school districts to pay their share out of current revenues and without raising taxes.
"This is a very deep hole," Schweitzer said. "And you cannot continue to look the other way."
An influential union leader, Eric Feaver of MEA-MFT, said employees would agree to pay more to fix the problem.
"We can do this quickly, and it is fair," Feaver said.
Schweitzer leaves office in December. Republicans hold large majorities in the Legislature, and very possibly could control it again after November's elections. In the past, the GOP has been hostile to the governor's proposals and critical of several moves he has made since the Legislature adjourned last year.
The Democratic governor thinks the problem is so large that lawmakers will support it.
"I don't think they have another choice," Schweitzer said. "You can't continue to kick the can down the road."
Schweitzer argued the Montana Constitution requires the state to ensure the pensions are sound.
Many Republicans hope to take away the pension for new government employees and replace it with what is known as a defined contribution plan, similar to a 401K in the private sector.
Schweitzer beat back the idea, saying it is not fair to turn public employee retirements over to "the sharks on Wall Street."
"I don't trust Wall Street," the governor said. "They are good at putting money in their own pockets."
Rick Hill, a former congressman who has been topping a crowded Republican field for governor in fundraising, said he disagrees with the portion of the plan that earmarks increased revenue from natural resource development to fix the problem. He said it should be used as part of a plan that aims to reduce local property taxes.
"Government employees should not have benefits more generous than those offered in the private sector, but the governor's plan would provide excessively generous pension benefits for eternity," Hill said in a statement. "New government employees should have a defined contribution plan similar to those in the private market place and reform should include a shared responsibility between the employer and employees."
Attorney General Steve Bullock, the presumptive Democratic nominee aiming to replace Schweitzer, will review the governor's offering. Schweitzer said he would be talking to Bullock about it more. Like the governor, Bullock laid blame on pension decisions that preceded Schweitzer.
"Gov. Schweitzer is proposing responsible fixes to the big problems we face, and he's proposing to do so without raising taxes," Bullock spokesman Kevin O'Brien said. "Steve is reviewing the plan and looks forward to discussing it in detail with the Governor."
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Seems these young explosive guard are having a lot of trouble with their lower extremities. Is it all that jumping and landing or just bad luck? But what ever it is.... Please stay away from Tony.
Pg's with leg problems, Rondo, Curry, Williams, Rose. John Wall, Chris Paul have had issues too. Just amazing.
I think its the pg's who are explosive, as you said. The ones that are always trying to dunk, sky for rebounds, jump from side to side, etc. Tony doesn't do any of that, and is one of the more durable pgs.
Russell Westbrook to miss at least 27 games
Russell Westbrook has played in the Thunders last 16 games, which seemed like a decent accomplishment for someone who had knee surgery in April and again in October.
Westbrook was supposed to miss the first four to six weeks of the regular season. Instead, he missed just two games.
It took him a while to hit his stride he was even a healthy scratch for a game but lately, hes started to come around.
Thats what makes this news, from Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman, even more surprising
Darnell Mayberry @DarnellMayberry
Russell Westbrook underwent scope surgery on his knee today to address recent swelling. He's expected back post All-Star break. More coming.
2:27 PM - 27 Dec 2013
Thunder general manager Sam Presti, via Daily Thunder:
Russell has been playing pain free, but recently had experienced increased swelling. After consultation and consideration by his surgeon in Los Angeles, a plan was established to monitor the swelling that included a series of scheduled MRIs, said Sam Presti in a release. On the most recent MRI it was determined by the surgeon that there was an area of concern that had not previously existed, nor was detectable in the previous procedures, and it was necessary to evaluate Russell further. The consulting physician determined that arthroscopic surgery was necessary to address the swelling that was taking place. We know that Russells work ethic and commitment will help him return to the level of play that we have all come to appreciate.
Anthony Slater @anthonyVslater
Sam Presti: "His estimated time is after the All-Star Break...That doesn't necessarily mean the first game after the break."
3:05 PM - 27 Dec 2013
This is a significant blow to the the Thunder. Even if Westbrook returns the day after the All-Star break, hell have missed 27 games, nearly a third of the season.
Though the Thunder are just a half game behind Portland for the Western Conferences top seed, the Spurs lurk only one game behind Oklahoma City. Plus, the Clippers and Rockets, two teams with key new faces still jelling, are just 4.5 games behind the Thunder.
If Westbrook is fully healthy for the playoffs, the Thunder should be playing at the same level theyd be if Westbrook hadnt missed time. Their veterans have spent a lot of time together and dont need to acclimate with each other.
But if Oklahoma City loses homecourt advantage due to this injury, even if just for a round, that could derail the Thunders title hopes. The Western Conference so deep at the top, any edge could be crucial.
Announcement: Pro Basketball Talks partner FanDuel is hosting a one-day $50,000 Fantasy Basketball league for Friday nights games. Its $25 to join and first prize is $7,500. Starts at 7pm ET on Friday. Heres the FanDuel link.
Of course, its no guarantee Oklahoma cedes ground in the standings. The Thunders other four starters have actually formed a better lineup with Reggie Jackson, Oklahoma Citys backup point guard, than with Westbrook this season.
With Westbrook:
Offensive rating: 97.5
Defensive rating: 103.2
With Jackson:
Offensive rating: 106.2
Defensive rating: 78.4
But Westbrooks numbers are held back by his early struggles, which seemed to be behind him. And with Jackson starting, Oklahoma Citys bench is losing a valuable contributor.
Theres no way to spin this as anything other than bad news for the Thunder. The only question is how bad.
Link to article: Russell Westbrook to miss at least 27 games | ProBasketballTalk
Former Houston Oilers coach Bum Phillips when asked by Bob Costas why he takes his wife on all the road trips, Phillips responded: "Because she's too ugly to kiss goodbye.
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And as we come to the tenth chapter, I've entitled it, "The Glorious Vision--The Glorious Vision" We could subtitle it, "The Heavenly Visitors." These 21 verses in this particular chapter are rich and full, loaded with truth.
I had the opportunity this week to read about a dozen or so commentaries, as I normally do--commentators out of the past and the present who comment on books of the Bible. And one commentator at the conclusion of his discussion of the tenth chapter of Daniel said, and he was of the opinion that there was nothing in this chapter that had any value for preaching. And I thought, "How in the world he could ever conclude that is beyond me because it has so much tremendous value for preaching."
Let me see if I can get you into the chapter in your thinking. It is the nature of man that he is bound by time and space. We are captives of the natural world. We have no capacity to get out of the natural world. We can't leave. We're locked, confined. If then we are to see and interact with the divine world of the supernatural, it is going to have to come to us because we cannot go to it. God must invade space and time for we can't leave. And that's exactly what happens in this chapter--heaven comes to earth in a shocking, startling series of glorious visions. In fact, in this chapter, Daniel is visited from heaven by some incredible beings who give him the fourth and the last of his great prophetic revelations.
Now in this book of Daniel there are four great prophetic revelations. This is the last of them. And it stretches from chapter 10 through chapter 11 and chapter 12. This final great vision fills up and finishes the book. Chapter 10 introduces the vision. Chapter 11 gives the prophecy. And chapter 12 adds an epilogue. So we've come now to the end of the things to come that are given to the prophet, Daniel.
Now the prophecy that we'll be dealing with in chapters 10 through 12, sweeps over the same period of time as the prophecy did in chapter 8. It stretches from Daniel's day until the Great Tribulation and the return of Christ. It stretches throughout all of the remainder of human history until Christ comes again. However, the prophecy in chapters 10, 11 and 12 gives greater detail about the Tribulation than any other prophecy.
In the previous chapter, chapter 9 of the book of Daniel, Daniel was reading in Jeremiah. And Daniel was very much aware that Jeremiah had prophesied that the captivity of Israel would only last seventy years. And you remember now, Daniel is a prophet in Babylon. He is with the captives who have been taken aware from their land and their land has been destroyed. But Jeremiah said it would only last 70 years, and so as Daniel was reading Jeremiah's prophecy in chapter 9, he came across those two prophecies where Jeremiah says it will only be 70 years and he knew that it had been nearly 70 years since he had been taken captive and so he began to realize that the time must be coming for it all to end. And so, in chapter 9 he began to pray. And he began to fast. And he began to confess his sin. And he began to ask God to fulfill the promise that the 70 years would fill up the chastisement and the people could return to their land. That was his prayer in chapter 9. And you'll remember that the end of the chapter, God gives him a tremendous prophecy in answer to that prayer.
Now, that prayer in chapter 9 and the subsequent answer by God, occurred in the first year of Cyrus, the king. The first year of the king of the Medo-Persian Empire. You'll remember that in that first year, according to Ezra chapter 1 all the way through Ezra chapter 3, Cyrus made a decree and he said all of the people of Israel can now return home. You can all go back. Daniel's prayer was answered directly in the very year in which he prayed that prayer.
But you know what happened? As we come to chapter 10, what's the first statement? "In the third year of Cyrus." Where are we now? Two years later. And you know what? Two years later, a very disheartening and a very discouraging reality has occurred. You want to know what it is? The people didn't go back. They were comfortable. They were sufficiently paganized. They were enmeshed in the society in which they lived. They were prosperous. They were absorbed. They were too involved to care about the Promised Land, too involved to care about the rebuilding of Jerusalem, too involved to care about restoring the temple.
You say, "Didn't any go back?" A few. Ezra tells us 42,000 went back. You say, "Well, that sounds like a lot." Not really. They had flourished in Babylon. There were myriads more than that. That was only a drop in the bucket, just 42,000 went back. There had been many born in captivity, they didn't go back. The few that did go back were led by a man named Zerubbabel and Zerubbabel was in the line of D avid. He had kingly seed. And he couldn't establish again the monarchy, he just couldn't pull it off. He was accompanied by a man named Joshua, not the Joshua of old but Joshua the high priest who was to be their spiritual leader. And when they got back, it took them seven months just to clear the rubble off the temple ground to say nothing of the city. And as they started to try to rebuild the temple, they were opposed and they were harassed and they were mocked and they were scorned and they were hated and finally the work came to a halt altogether.
So, you see, all of Daniel's great anticipation had not been fulfilled. The great dream of his heart was that 70 years after he was taken captive, the whole nation would go back and they'd rebuild the temple and they'd rebuild the city and they'd rebuild the wall and they'd reconstitute their nation and their worship and everything would be the way it used to be. But it wasn't so. A small number went back and they couldn't pull off anything. They couldn't establish the nation. They couldn't establish the monarchy. They couldn't rebuild the city. They couldn't even get the sanctuary going.
At that same time, in the first year of Darius, a third monumental thing happened. Daniel retired. And he was one of the presidents of the Empire. He had been a president through the Babylonian period. And now even into the Medo-Persian period he kept his place of tremendous power. And in this particular situation, it was time for him to retire. He was approximately 85 years old. And so, he left the presidency, according to chapter I verse 21, he was only in the government until the first year of Cyrus.
You say, "Why didn't he go back? I mean, if the 42,000 went back and it was that big of a deal to him, why didn't he go back?" I'll tell you why I think he didn't go back, and it isn't why the commentators say. They say he didn't go back cause he was too old. I don't believe that. I think he didn't go back because he was too disappointed. In other words, I think that he saw himself as having the responsibility to motivate the remaining Jews to go back, so he couldn't leave because he wasn't satisfied. He had a passion to see his sinful people forsake Babylon and return to their country.
Surely he would have longed to go himself, back to the land he loved, but he was utterly unselfish and he was far too burdened for his needy people to worry about his own desires. And so what he does is what he always does. What does Daniel always do in the midst of a crisis? Pray ... always. And as chapter 10 opens, that's exactly what we find him doing again. He stays to deal with his people and here he faces the dilemma of their indifference in his usual way, through prayer. And again, the vision that comes in chapter 11, the revelation that comes in chapter 11, is in divine response to this prayer.
Verse 1, "In the third year of Cyrus, king of Persia, a thing (or a word, better translated) a word was revealed unto Daniel whose name is called Belteshazzar." Just so you know it's the same Daniel, that's the name the Babylonians gave him when he first came, that's a Babylonian name connected with their gods, their deities. They were trying to brainwash Daniel and one of the ways they tried to do that was by giving him a name of one of the Babylonian deities. And just to let you know that it's the same Daniel, we're given again that Babylonian name. Even though you're now into the third year of Cyrus in the Medo-Persian Empire, it's the very same Daniel."And the thing was true, or the word was true that was given to him, but the time appointed was long and he understood the word and had understanding of the vision." Now that basically is an overview of what's going to happen in the following verses:
Daniel received a revelation.
The revelation was true.
He understood very well the revelation.
That's what that's telling us.
Now notice the statement there that the thing or the word was true. You say, "Is that to assume that other things in the Bible are not true?" Of course not. But listen, the character of this revelation is so startling and so astounding and so humanly unbelievable that the affirmation that this is true is made to assure the reader not to be thrown off by the astounding nature of the prophecy--it is really true. We do that when we have a conversation. We want to tell somebody something they won't believe, we say, "Now I want you to know that this is the honest-to-goodness truth." And that's essentially what we have right here.
Notice the phrase in verse 1, "And the time appointed was long." Now that is a phrase given in the King James. If you have a New American Standard, it probably says something like this: "And it involves a great warfare," or "It involves a great conflict," or something like that. And the reason you have a discrepancy there is that it is a very difficult Hebrew phrase with some very obscure words. A nd the best rendering, the very best rendering, I believe, is to read it ... just forget what it says in the KJV and read it this way: "Whose name was called Belteshazzar and the word was true and involved a great warfare." It involved a great warfare ... I think that fits the context, I think it best fits the Hebrew phrase tsavahgadolwhich is used here, and I think that's the essence of what is being said and I think they've rendered it properly in the New American Standard.
Now you find there the word for "conflict," or the word for "warfare."
That's obviously there. And that word is used to speak of an army. It is used to speak of a the host of angels. And sometimes it is used to speak of an actual warfare. So you have armies of men, armies of angels and actual warfare, all three referred to by that same word. And I believe that the context best argues for the use of "warfare" or "conflict," as you will see as we move through the tenth chapter. You'll see how the confl ... the context points to the use of the word "conflict."
So, Daniel is saying, "Look, this revelation is true and it involves a great warfare or conflict." And as you shall see, it is indeed a great warfare and conflict. In fact, before you're done with this prophecy, you're going to see warfare all the way from the demons in space to men on earth and everywhere in between. This is a prophecy about conflict, warfare, all the way from holy angels and demons in space to Russia and Israel on the earth, all the way from Daniel's time to our time, stretches the conflict.
Now the previous vision had left Daniel pretty well upset and confused. If you go to the end of chapter 8, "And I Daniel fainted and was sick certain days, afterwards I rose up and did the king's business and I was astonished at the vision but none understood it." So the last particular vision that he had in chapter 8, left him totally confused. But in this case, he says I understood it and I had understanding of the vision. He got the message in this case. I hope you will, too. And may I add that you and I have the benefit of the indwelling Holy Spirit to instruct us as to its truths.
Now, we're going to look at several points, we're going to move pretty fast. So hang on to your Bible. We're going to see six points as we flow through this chapter: mourning toward heaven, manifestation of heaven, mastery by heaven, messenger from heaven, mischief in heaven and message from heaven. All of these elements tell us that heaven is come to earth.
First of all, mourning toward heaven ... mourning--in the sense of weeping--toward heaven, verse 2. "In those days, I Daniel," and that's a phrase he uses five times, that I Daniel, so that you know that this is truly his testimony, "was mourning three," and literally it says in the Hebrew, "three weeks of days," to distinguish from the weeks of years in chapter 9. "For three weeks, I was mourning."
Now, when was this? "In the third year of Cyrus." But we know more than that. We know what day it was. Look at verse 4. "In the four and twentieth day of the first month." The twenty-fourth of the first month would be the twenty-fourth of Nisan. Now, he began ... if he was mourning on the twenty fourth of Nisan, and that's the day he received the angelic visitation, and if held been mourning for three weeks, 21 days, he started then on the third of Nisan, right? Three from twenty four equals twenty one ... it's a lot simpler than the 70 weeks, isn't it? So he had been mourning since the third of Nisan. What is particularly interesting about that is that Passover always fell on the fourteenth of Nisan. So he is mourning all through the Passover time and the seven days of feast of unleavened bread. That was a very special season, a season of some celebration, a season of some activity, but all through that most important season of the Jewish calendar, Daniel is wrapped in mourning, praying, fasting to the end of the feast of unleavened bread on Nisan 21 and three days after that. And yet, all of this three weeks, heaven is silent. The sky is like brass. No response. And Daniel's not used to that kind of treatment because back in chapter 9 he prayed and the angel came and you know what the angel said? H e got there before he was done praying, remember that? On the same day? And he says when you began to prepare to pray, God dispatched the answer. So, Daniel was used to relatively fast service. Certainly not 21 days without any answer. But that was the case.
Verse 3, "I ate no pleasant bread." And by the way, that little phrase means "bread of delight," or "food of delight." In other words, he didn't eat the delicacies, the really good stuff, the really special stuff, the fancy food. That was one form of fasting, by the way. Fasting in the Bible was not always eating nothing, very often it was restraining from delicacies and fancy foods and just eating the staple stuff to keep alive. It was refraining from the banquets and the festivals and the times of special indulgence in food. But beyond that, he not only ate no bread of delight, " ... neither came flesh nor wine in my mouth." And that's sort of like meat and potatoes, I mean, I didn't even eat the routine stuff--wine and meat. N either the delicacies nor the normal things. "Neither did I anoint myself at all. "
You say, "I didn't know they had aftershave in those days." W ell, they didn't. And that's not what he's talking about. They used to use a fragrant oil on their bodies and they applied it to their skin for several reasons. One was to protect the skin from the strength of the sun, another was to keep the skin soft, and another was to add a fragrance to the body because they did not have all of the deodorants and whatever else that we have today and so they would anoint themselves. And it became a symbol of joy.
When you went out and wanted to grace a social scene, when you wanted to mingle among people, you put on that oil. It was a sign of social interaction. It was a symbol and a sign of joy.Proverbs 27:9 makes that clear. It's also told us in 2 Samuel 12 that during times of mourning, the anointing was not done. You didn't want social interaction. You didn't want a manifest symbol of joy. You were living in a moment of sorrow.
And so, he eats nothing and he puts nothing on himself. Now keep in mind, people, that for an 85-year-old man, a 21-day fast is relatively significant. Now these acts in themselves, and I don't want you to miss the point, do not solicit God's favor. If you don't eat for 21 days, that's not necessarily going to make God do anything for you that He wouldn't otherwise do. However, if you are so tuned into God and so burdened and your heart is so pure and so right that you don't eat for 21 days, God will bless you for your heart attitude, not for your abstinence from food. That's just the manifestation of a preoccupied concerned heart.
Now why was he doing this? I mean, the guy seems to be sort of overplaying the role. You got the decree of Cyrus two years ago. Forty-two thousand, six hundred people went back. Here you are two years later and for 21 days you don't eat and you weep and you mourn all this time. What is the problem?
And the problem is simple. They didn't go back. Only a small remnant went back. And the ones that went back were totally unsuccessful. You see, Daniel didn't realize what you and I now know that the 70 years of desolation was not begun at the time of Daniel's captivity because Jerusalem wasn't destroyed until 586 B.C., nearly 20 years later. So the 70 years didn't really begin till 20 years later. So that the decree of Cyrus was only a preliminary one. It's always fascinated me that there were three deportations: 605 and then one in 590 something, and then one in 586. And there were also four decrees. So that God began to send them back in shifts as they'd come in shifts. But the fullness of 70 years decreed on the desolation of Jerusalem couldn't begin until it was desolated in 586, so Daniel didn't really realize it but it wasn't quite time yet for all of that to be completed and everybody to go back. But anyway, he's praying. And in his selflessness, he longs for his people and their place.
So, we see mourning toward heaven. Now let me tell you something. That kind of heart attitude and that kind of spirit gets a response from God. And that's what we find in the second point, manifestation of heaven--verse 4. This is incredible. Manifestation of heaven. All of a sudden, here comes heaven. "And in the four and twentieth day of the first month," that's Nisan 24, "as I was by the side of the great river which is Hiddekel." And by the way, Hiddekel is an old form for the word diglia, which is the current modern Arabic name for the Tigris River. It comes from Hidigliawhich is the ancient name used by the Babylonians and Hiddekel simply means "The Tigris." There were two great rivers, the Euphrates and the Tigris, and the Tigris would be 60-plus miles east and he was way out there by the Tigris. It doesn't tell us why. We don't know why. We don't know whether he was officially there or unofficially. We know held retired from his presidency. He may have been there trying to stir up some of the Jews to go back to the land. We don't know what he was doing there. But nonetheless, that's where he was.
Verse 5, "Then I lifted up mine eyes and looked and behold," and that's an exclamation term, "a certain man clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with the fine gold of Uphaz. His body also was like the beryl, and his face like the appearance of lightning and his eyes like lamps of fire, and his arms and his feet in color like to polished bronze, and the voice of his words like the voice of many waters."
Now that's a pretty shocking thing to see. I mean, you've been praying and fasting for three weeks and you're standing out there in the middle of nowhere, along side the Tigris River and all of a sudden a creature like this appears. In the form of a man, clothed in linen, girded with gold,his body was like beryl, b-e-r-y-1, it says in the Authorized, his face like the lightning, his eyes like lamps of fire, his arms and feet like polished bronze, and his voice, like the rumbling of the ocean--this, friends, is a heavenly visitor. It's taken three weeks, but he's gotten a visitor.
And some suggest this is Gabriel. And some suggest it's Michael. And some suggest it's some other unnamed angel of equal rank. But the vision is best seen not as any angel at all, now watch this, but as God Himself. And I'm convinced that this is none other than God, and listen, in the form of the preincarnate uncreated second member of the trinity, the Lord Jesus Christ. This is a preincarnation appearance of Christ. It's what we call a Christophany, a preincarnate appearance of Christ.
You say, "Well, why do you parallel this with Christ?" Look at Revelation chapter 1. Revelation chapter 1, verse 12, John says, "And I turned to see the voice that spoke with me, being turned, I saw seven golden lamp stands. In the midst of the seven lamp stands was one like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment to the foot, girded about the breast with golden girdle. His head and His hair were white like wool as white as snow and His eyes were like a flame of fire and His feet burned like fine bronze as if they burned in a furnace and His voice was like the sound of many waters." See a parallel there? Almost identical except for the addition of the hair. The almost exact parallel.
And who is the one who appears to John in Revelation I? It's "I am the Alpha and the Omega," who's that? Christ. You have almost an identical description here. John saw Christ in Post-resurrection glory- Daniel saw Christ in preincarnation glory. Jesus Christ was not created when He was born. He existed eternally. And so, we see its exact parallels, in these descriptions.By the way, it is not unusual to have Christ appear in this form in the Old Testament or in a similar form. There is a phrase used in the Old Testament 50 different times. It is the phrase "the angel of the Lord." Have you read that phrase? Most commonly, the angel of the Lord refers to Jehovah God in the second person coming into time and space, a preincarnate appearance of the uncreated Christ. And you can read it all through Genesis, particularly the sixteenth chapter. You can see in Exodus chapter 3, you can see in Joshua chapter 5, you can see in Judges chapter 6 and Judges chapter 13, you can see it in Zechariah chapter 1, in Zechariah chapter 3 and many, many other places the appearance of this angel of the Lord who is best understood most often as Jehovah, the second person of the trinity appearing in time and space.
And there's another interesting thought on this, and that is this, that whenever the angel of the Lord appears, the things that He does are most interestingly parallel to the things that Christ does on behalf of His church. The angel of the Lord in the Old Testament was the ultimate protector of Israel. And Christ is the protector of His church. The angel of the Lord came revealing truth. He came commissioning Moses. He came commissioning Gideon. He came commissioning Samson. He came delivering His people. He came, as Psalm 34 says, protecting His people, "He encampeth round about them that fear Him and delivereth them." He came interceding for His people. He came as an advocate in Zechariah 3. He came with Abraham, confirming the covenant. He came with Hagar Offering comfort. A 11 of these are parallel to what Christ does in His ministry to the church. And I really believe what you have here is God coming down to Daniel in the form of a preincarnate, uncreated Christ.
Now, since Christ is the Commander-in-Chief of all of the invisible angelic army and since He has all authority, it is fitting that He should appear in this particular place because of the nature of this prophecy. This prophecy is going to show you the angelic conflict and warfare that stretched from Daniel's time until finally the angelic battle of Revelation 12 where Michael and the holy angels defeat the demons and their forces. But all of this period in between now and the Tribulation, in between Daniel and the Tribulation, is a period of angelic warfare. Also, that has gone on since the fall of the angels behind ... or before even the creation of man.
And so, at a time when Daniel is going to see the tremendous angelic warfare, it is fitting that he have a vision of the Commander-in Chief. And I believe that's exactly what God gave him.Look with me at this vision, for a moment. First of all, He was clothed in linen. Fine white linen is the garment of the priests. Frequently, also, in the Old Testament such as Ezekiel 9 and 10, heavenly visitors appear in fine white linen. In Mark 16, the angels that appear at the tomb of Christ are clothed in fine white linen. Again and again you see this associated with heaven, associated with those who represent God. And fine white linen is a symbol of God's holiness ... holiness--the first and foremost attribute of God.
Secondly, it says that His loins were girded with fine gold of Uphaz. Now we have no idea what Uphaz is. We don't know where that is or what it is. But the idea is that there is a belt that is overlaid with fine gold. I really believe that speaks of God's sovereignty, of His sovereignty, beautiful, brilliant, shining gold, the richest, the wealthiest, the purest metal, the sovereignty of God.
Then you have the beryl, a transparent flashing jewel. That sometimes can be translated crystallite, it has to do ... in some cases they've even translated it topaz. I'm not too sure exactly what topaz or where that comes from. But the idea seems to be a transparent flashing jewel which would be reflective of God's glory.
So, you have the holiness of God, the sovereignty of God, the glory of God. Gold is the gold of a sovereign, a king. And the brilliant transparent flashing diamond jewel speaks of glory.
Then it says His face was like the appearance of lightning. And I believe this is power and omnipotence. Revelation says He has the face like the sun. The brilliant light that's manifest in His face speaks of His omnipotence and His power. And then it says His eyes are like lamps of fire searching out, discovering reality. This is omnisciences penetrating knowledge. He knows everything.
His feet like polished bronze. And that is to stamp out judgment ... judgment, that attribute of God, the wrath of God.
And when He speaks, His voice is like the roar of many waters.
What did Daniel see? He saw God. He saw the holiness of God represented the sovereignty of God, the glory of God, the power of God, the omniscience of God, the judgment of God.
Now by the way, do you remember this is the third Christophany that he's had. This is the third time the second member of the Trinity has appeared to him. You remember the first time? Where was it? In teh fiery furnace. Do you remember the second time in chapter 7 when he had a vision of the throne and on the throne was the Ancient of Days and there came one like unto the Son of Man? Three times, not unlike the apostle Paul who lived after Christ, and God gave him three visions of the glorified Christ as well.
Now this vision must have been the source of sweet hope for the old prophet. His heart had been so heavy. And all of a sudden God arrived on the scene to give him a first-hand visit.
Now that leads to a third point, what I call mastery by heaven. Any time heaven invades earth like this, we will be mastered by that invasion. We will be overawed. And that's what happened to Daniel verse 7: "And I Daniel alone saw the appearance," it wasn't really a vision in the sense of a dream, it really was there, it was real, a man clothed in linen. It isn't in a dream or a vision, the man was there. We find that out because of the way He interacts later on with the other visitors.
And he says, "The men that were with me saw not the vision," but watch this, "a great quaking fell upon them so that they fled to hide themselves. Now I don't know who these people are, it doesn't tell us whether they're unbelieving Jews or a bunch of pagans. I don't know who they were. But what amazes me is they never even saw the vision but they knew something was going on and they got out of there and they began quaking. They started to shake. And they fled to hide. From what? From something they couldn't see, but believe me, wherever you have the presence of God, there is the power of His presence that is more than sinners can bear. It's a very understandable reaction in the face of the majestic holiness of God.
You remember, even a good man like Job, when he saw God said, "I have heard of You with the hearing of mine ear but now I have seen Thee with mine eye and I abhor myself in dust and ashes." You remember Isaiah who was a good and godly man but when he saw God he said, "I am unclean, I have unclean lips and I dwell amidst a people of unclean lips." I think of Peter when he saw the power of Jesus displayed, he said: "Depart from me, O Lord, for I am a sinful man." He wanted Jesus away.
You read it in Revelation chapter 6 when God chose Himself in glory, they scream and cry for the rocks and the mountains to fall on them, to hide them, from His face. You see, whenever the holy confronts the unholy, it is an utterly devastating experience. Even though they didn't know what was going on, when absolute holiness came on the scene they were blown away.
And Daniel was left alone. And he entered a severe trauma. They couldn't even handle what he could handle and he couldn't handle much of the presence of God. Verse 8, "Therefore I was left alone and saw this great vision, and there remained no strength in me for my comeliness was turned in me into corruption and I retained no strength." He says, "I lost all my strength." My comeliness, that means his appearance, his healthy look, his face, his color turned to a death-like pallor, a grotesque wrenching of his face, pure panic set in, absolute panic. He was so afraid that his strength was zapped in the presence of God. I retained no strength.
You know, that's exactly what happened to John the Apostle in Revelation chapter I when he saw the vision he saw. He said, "And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as ... what? ... dead." To stand in the presence of the living God is to be in a position of absolute panic because all of a sudden you're exposed, overwhelmed with your sinfulness.
Verse 9, "Yet heard I the voice of His words." Like the roaring of a sea, I'm sure he heard Him saying something. "And when heard the voice of His words, then was I in a deep sleep on my face and my face toward the ground." H e f dinted. He utterly lost consciousness. The Hebrew rendering is, "And my face stayed toward the ground." This is an 85-year-old prophet, flat out with a mouthful of dirt. His nose against the ground. Has no strength. His friends have flown. And he hears the muffled roar of the voice of the Son of God. He was shattered. He was like a dead man. He had seen the glory of God. And heaven had mastered him in just that.
Now I believe this is the last that he ever saw the glorious uncreated Christ. And He disappeared. And then God brought some angels who began to minister to Daniel. By the way, it's not strange, is it? God often travels with a few angels. Read Genesis 18. That's the way He came to Abram. So from the mourning to heaven, we see the manifestation of heaven, the mastery by heaven.
Fourthly, the messenger from heaven. Now all of a sudden, here comes a messenger. "And behold a hand touched me." You see, it's not a vision. It's really there. A hand touched me. And angels can take on the form of man. They have that prerogative. "And it set me upon my knees and upon the palms of my hands." Literally the Hebrew says the angel shook me on my knees and my hands, or you could translate it, the angel set me on my knees and my hands trembling. The angel reaches down now and touches Daniel and Daniel comes back out of his deadness to a point of consciousness and he's able to get up on his hands and knees. And he is there in a trembling unsteady condition, tottering back and forth, trying to regain enough strength to stand UP.
You know, it just ... as I began to think about this, I began to look at my own life. Do I have such awe of the presence of God? I rush in and out of His presence without a thought for His majesty. I come to worship Him and when I should be having such great overwhelming thoughts that literally drain my strength, I'm indifferent or thinking about the world or some enterprise that has nothing to do with Him.
So this 85-year-old prophet of God, weakened by 21 days without anything to eat, with a mouthful of dirt, gets up on his hands and knees and he shakes all over. Verse 11, "He said unto me, O Daniel, a man greatly beloved." I love that. You know, God doesn't make personal appearances to everybody. This was a special man.
There are those in the Bible. David is called a man after God's own heart. Abraham is called a friend of God. John was called the disciple whom Jesus loved. Mary, it says, found favor with God. There are those people who by their special delight in God and by their consistent obedience, in a very real way become greatly beloved. And the angel tells him, you're greatly beloved. I think he told him that just to take the fear out. This is going to be a good thing, Daniel, not a bad thing. You don't need to fear judgment, you're greatly beloved.
And he gives him two orders. "Understand what I say, and stand up." In other words, get up, Daniel, so you're going to get the message clear. We want you to understand, now get on your feet. Come to full attention. Get your mind alert. And get this message.
"And when he had spoken this word to me, I stood trembling." Daniel gets up and now he's tottering all over the place, trying to stand up. He's seen God, you see, in the glory of the uncreated Christ.
Now comes the angel's message. First he has to clear up a detail. Point five, mischief in heaven. This is fascinating. "Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel." Oh, would that have taken the pressure off, huh? "Don't be afraid, Daniel, you have nothing to fear, for from the first day that you did set your heart to understand and to chasten yourself before your God." And he means by that to fast. You chasten yourself in the fasting and when you really wanted to understand why the people weren't going back and what the plan was and you fasted to understand and you prayed to God, I want you to know, Daniel, from the first day, your words were heard and I am come because of those words. Daniel, don't think God isn't interested, don't think 21 days passed. From the first day, you were heard.
Well, where have you been for three weeks? How far is it from up there to down here? Did you come to Babylon and couldn't find me? Where have you been? Last time you came the same day before I was done with the prayer.
Look at verse 13. "But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days." What? A holy angel from the presence of God got hung up in space by who? The prince of the kingdom of Persia? And you were hassled by that creature? "Yes, and, lo, Michael," Michael is super-angel, hero angel, champion angel, "one of the chief princes, came to help me and I remained there with the kings of Persia."
Now listen, people, after a word of consolation in verse 12 saying your prayer was heard, there's a word of explanation about some mischief going on in heaven. What is this? Look at verse 13, the prince of the kingdom of Persia. The ruling kingdom of that time was Persia. Persia had a prince. Listen, but that prince was not a man, that prince was a demon being. His job was to so control and order the affairs of Persia as to work against the people and the plans of God. Now mark it, people. It is an incredible insight. This prince had some very close relationship to Persia. He must have been more than mortal or he couldn't have resisted the coming of a holy angel and wouldn't have had a battle with Michael. He must have been evil because he was trying to stop God from carrying out His plan and he must have desired there be no future for Israel in redemptive history or he wouldn't have been trying to thwart the plan. And further, verse 20 indicates that he had a continuing relation with the kingdom of Persia cause the angel says, when I'm done with you, Daniel, I've got to go back and fight this guy some more.
Now listen to this. Satan has an incredibly clever organization. He has set up a network of demons that are behind all of the activities of human history. There was a demon assigned to Persia. Verse 20 says there's a demon to be assigned to Greece. The Bible says that all the gods of the nations are demons. And I believe without question, throughout all of human history Satan's network of demons have been behind the scenes, endeavoring to do all they can to foil the plan of God.
IIH never forget meeting a young man who came out of the occult who had been involved in the Mark Age (?) Society, which is a very advanced part of the occult. He told me they told him, they told him all about Satan's network, how he operates from space and assigns demons to certain institutions. In fact, he said I know the names of people in the United Nations who are demon-possessed in whom dwell demons who control the working of Satan in that nation. They gave him those names because they were the heroes of the occult that he was involved in. It's a bigger issue, as I said this morning. It isn't Iran and Iraq. It isn't Russia and the United States. If you think that, you're very superficial. Behind that is an incredibly sophisticated demonic supernatural network of beings cared demons who are doing everything they can to thwart the plan of God.
His task, this prince of Persia, was to hinder the will and the working of God in regard to Persia, to do all he could to hold back God's plan. And when Persia passed away, and Greece became the third great world empire, according to verse 20, there would be another demon assigned to be the power in Greece and he would have under him a whole plethora of demons to carry out his bidding.
Listen, the human systems of this world are demonic. That's why Paul says we do not wrestle with flesh and blood. There are demon forces attached to the United States of America, to pull us down and destroy the plan of God. And I'm sure there have been holy angels in the past who have been defending us, I don't know whether they're still defending us or not. But it's a rare glimpse behind the scenes in world history.
And so God had to send Michael who is super-angel. He's mentioned three times in Daniel, two times in the New Testament, five times in all in the Bible. He is called the archangel, which means the first angel His name means "one who is of God." And by the way, in Revelation 12, if you want to read about the most wonderful battle of all, Michael and his hosts in Revelation 12 in the Great Tribulation once and for all destroy all the demonic forces and they win the final battle.
But look what it says in verse 13, even after the struggle, he says, "I remained there with the kings of Persia." He kept his place of dominant influence. In other words, this angel overthrew the prince and kept a good influence in Persia. The demon lost and so he remained in his place of influence for God with the kings of Persia. And that tells us another thing. Apparently, God has assigned holy angels to nations to carry out His purposes. And this warfare goes on all the time.
Now think about that in terms of America. I wonder what's really going on right now.
So, we see the mourning, the manifestation, the mastery, the messenger, the mischief and finally, the might from heaven. I'm going to go through this very fast. The angel having dealt with that says, "Now listen, I am come to make thee understand what shall befall thy people in the latter days, for yet the vision is for many days."
I'm going to give you a vision, not just for now, not just for the 70 years, I'm going to give you a vision that will stretch for many days. And he did mean that, clear to the end of the Tribulation this vision goes. I'm going to give you a vision that will tell you what's going to happen to your people in the latter days, from Daniel to the Antichrist. And the issue here is your people, not the Gentiles but Israel. You wait till you see what happens in chapter 11 when he unfolds the vision.
Well, here's Daniel standing there just tottering around and after he gets that information, verse 15, "When he had spoken such words unto me, I set my face toward the ground and became dumb." And some commentators feel that the Hebrew means he fell down all over again. He hit the dirt again. He's never heard anything like this in his life. He never knew anything about angelic warfare, not like this. And he's lost his speech. And he falls down all over again. He's flooded with a renewed state of weakness and he lies prostrate on the ground. His mouth is slammed shut, he can't even speak.
Verse 16, and here comes another one, "And behold, one like the similitude of the sons of men," another one who appeared in human form, "touched my lips." You can't have a prophet who can't speak, right? Makes it very difficult. So he touched his lips, "And then I opened my mouth and I spoke and said unto him who stood before me, 0 my lord, by the vision my sorrows are turned upon me and I have lost my strength." The angel touches his lips and gives him the power to
speak and he says, doniy, not donay. Donay is deity, doniymeans respect. Oh, I respect you, sir. He says, my pains--the word sorrow means my writhings, or my twistings, my tremblings, are turned upon me. In other words, I'm a wreck. I don't have any strength.
Then verse 17, he says: "How can the servant of this my lord talk with this my lord?" How in the world can you give me any revelation? I'm a basket case. "For as for me straightway there remained no strength in me, neither is there breath left in me." Can't even catch his breath. Oh, you say, "This is really hard on an old 85-year-old guy."
Verse 18, "Then there came again and touched me one like the appearance of a man and he strengthened me." Now that's a miracle. All of a sudden these angels have the power to put strength right back into a body. "And he said, 0 man greatly beloved, fear not: peace be unto thee, be strong, yea, be strong. And when he had spoken unto me, I was strengthened and said, Let my lord speak for thou hast strengthened me." Got his thing together.
Daniel was given strength by that angel. That's, to me, an incredible scene. To imagine what it would be to stand before the living God. We saw a little of that last week, didn't we? We saw how when the holy enters the presence of the unholy, the unholy wants to find a hole to crawl in, is devastated. And there's Daniel. I don't know if a better lived in his day than that man. But when he was confronted with the living God, he was utterly devastated. I don't care who you are. I don't care how good you think you are. When you stand someday to face the living God, except you be protected by the blood of Jesus Christ through faith in Him, youth be devastated, infinitely beyond this by His very presence.
Well, he said I feel strong now. I'm ready to hear the message. And what a message it must be for all this activity. Then there's a PS in verse 20. "Then he said, Do you know why I came unto thee? Do you know why I'm here?" Now, that's a kind of rhetorical question. Daniel's answer would be, "Well, no I guess I dontt.11 W ell, what the angel's implying is this, "Daniel, you're going to get a whole lot more than you ever asked for, friend. You spent 21 days saying, Lord, well what's going to happen to my people? Are they going back? And you fasted and the extent of your desire was to know this picture of right now. I want you to know you're going to get a visitation from heaven that's going to expand you clear beyond this period till the end of the age."
He prayed for the people, and their return and their revival. But God let him in on facts that were far beyond his purview. He found out that demons and angels are carrying on warfare in space. He found out about supernatural battles. He found out what it was to stand in the presence of the uncreated Christ. He found out about the supreme power of the holy angelsespecially Michael. He had met the Commander-in-Chief of the forces. And now when you go back to that thing in verse 1, it kind of makes sense, where it says, "In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia, a word was revealed to Daniel whose names was called Belteshazzar and the word was true and involved a great conflict."
Listen, sometimes, you know, we ... I just think of this so often ... we dawdle around with petty things. Boy, you know, I tell you, it gets sometimes so disgusting. We piddle around with petty little things while God is trying to let us have glimpses of monumental eternal truth. You know, some Christians, they don't really ever get into their own study of the Bible, they piddle around with churchianity, never ever plumb the depths. The angel said you're going to get a lot more than you asked for, Daniel.
And by the way, verse 20, "And now will I return to fight with the prince of Persia. And when I'm gone forth, lo, the prince of Greece shall come." In other words, I've got to give you this message quick cause I've got to get back to the battle. I'm fighting the Persians on the behalf of Israel. He's fighting Israel and I've got to make sure I'm there to do my work.
Is that an insight? God actually carries out His will through the angelic conflict. Incredible. And this angel says I've got to hurry and get my message so I can get back to the war. And when I'm done with this Persian deal, Greece is going to come along and I've got to fight that one, too.
P.S. "But I'll show you that which is noted in the Scripture of truth, I'm going to give you the revelation before I go, and it's true, and there's none that holds with me in these things but Michael, your prince." Oh, what a word of comfort. And he says, I'll tell yousomething, between me and Michael, we can handle it. It's all I need is Michael. That's all. I'm up there battling, if I get in trouble, I get hung up for 20 days, Michael... Michael fires out and that settles it. And then he calls him, "Michael, your prince." The prince of the people of God. Oh, he must be an incredible creature! You think there's anything in this chapter worth preaching? I hope. You know what I see in this chapter? Let me run this by you fast...in about 30 seconds, listen. I see insight into God, His holiness, His majesty and His glory. I see insight into the role of Jesus Christ. I see insight into the angels and demons and their warfare. I see insight into the heart and life of a man without equal, Daniel--a man of prayer. I see insight into the stuff that is the core of intercessory prayer, a broken heart, a selfless heart. I see insight into the first response to any crisis, again which is prayer. I see insight into the condescension of God that God should come to man shocks me. Why does He bother? I see insight into the grace of God who can take a frail weak trembling man, touch his mouth and make him speak for God. I Ill tell you, that's one that hits me. Man, I'm so glad that God could take a frail instrument, touch his mouth and let him speak. I see insight into my own inadequacy, and your inadequacy and how God can come at our point of greatest weakness while we lie on the ground as dead men with a mouthful of dirt and He can lift us on our feet and strengthen us to be used for His glory. It's a message of condescension. It's a message of heaven coming to earth and infusing power into men that they may speak for God. What a glorious thing.
That's only the introduction. Two weeks from tonight, we'll get the vision. Let's pray.
Thank You, Father, for our time tonight. We thank You for this great chapter. I just have such a deep love in my heart for Daniel. I admire him so much. He's so much the man I wish I was. In so many ways he exemplifies the principles that all of us should emulate. Help us, Father, to not only see the biblical truth but to see the man and the pattern and example he sets. And we'll give you the glory in Jesus' name. Amen.
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Tropical Storm Arthur threatens East Coast July Fourth plans
SAVANNAH, Ga. — A hurricane watch was issued for part of North Carolina's coast early Wednesday as Tropical Storm Arthur moved northward, threatening Fourth of July plans along the East Coast. The hurricane watch in North Carolina covers an area from Bogue Inlet to Oregon Inlet, including Pamlico Sound. A tropical storm watch was … [Read more…]