text:
This morning you might want to 1 Corinthians Chapter 12 and look at verse 1 with me, because that's the verse we're going to get to study this morning. And we have a very, very important study that we're entering into this morning. One of the most interesting important and controversial sections of Scripture and it is that relative to spiritual gifts. And as we study this what has become really the most controversial or the greatest rift in evangelicalism today interpreting the meaning of the use of spiritual gifts, I want us to have a full understanding. So we're going to pursue it very much from the teaching aspect rather than preaching and really dig into it and be concerned about supporting each position and each view carefully. Because I have the feeling that this is going to be very definitive for our fellowship and for many others around the nation and around the world that will be hearing this by tape.
Nothing has been more abused in our modern time and nothing more misunderstood in evangelicalism than this whole area of spiritual gifts. And it is critical that we understand it because it is absolutely vital to the life of the church. There is nothing that is any more vital apart from the divine energy of God, Himself, than the ministry that the believers have by way of their spiritual gifts. So they're endowments from God for ministry. Some people think, of course, that the church is a visible religious organization that is governed by a hierarchy of sort of semi-official tight people. Other people think that the church is an efficient social or quasi-social agency that's supposed to pass out things to the community when they community needs them.
Other people think that the church is that thing across the street that they keep building that we would like to stop them from building. And other people think that the church is a useful place to go if you die or have a wedding or have a baby or want to get baptized or whatever. Some people think that the church is nothing more than a social club, a group of people who all agree about the same things religiously and they get together and have parties about it. And I suppose in some sense there's an element of truth in all of those views. But may it be established at the very beginning of our study that biblically the church is a living organism. It is the body of Christ and Christ is the head of that living body.
It is the fullness of Him that fills all in all. And the church is not a human institution. And it is not an earthly organization. It is an organism and as such, it is eternal. The church cannot die and that is its property that gives us the understanding that it is eternal. That it is supernatural. Its head is Christ who lives forever. It's members are believers who have been given eternal life. In Matthew 16 Jesus said the "The gates of hell cannot destroy the church." It is indestructible, eternal, and supernatural.
As such it is an organism. And it's supernatural character I think becomes manifest in many ways. We worship a supernatural god. We believe in a supernatural intervention in a human history in terms of the revelation of the Bible. Another supernatural intervention into human history in terms of the living Christ. We believe in a supernatural Holy Spirit who indwells us. We are the result of a supernatural transformation that has made us new creatures. And we have been given by the Holy Spirit a supernatural endowment of gifts by which we can minister within the organism to the building and edifying of that church till it comes to the fullness of the stature of Christ and has a powerful witness in the world. That's the church.
And because the church has been endowed by the Spirit of God with supernatural gifts for its ministry of edification and evangelism, they then become critical to its operation. That is why we must understand spiritual gifts and that is why we must understand that Satan counterfeits them. He counterfeits them because they are absolutely necessary to the life and functioning of the church. The church is not a spectator sport. The church is not a professional pulpitism financed by lay spectators who sit there and watch it happen. The church is a living, breathing organism that functions as life and breath. And it is functioning on the basis of the ministry of each member within that church to minister to the other and that's why it's seen as a body. And everyone of us is like a member of that body. We have a function in harmony and symphony with every other member.
And so it's critical that we understand how it works, how we operate within it, how the spiritual gifts function in order that the church might be built up. And that we understand when Satan counterfeits it, how it is recognizable that it is a counterfeit. In fact, that we're seeing not the genuine gift and that its end result will not be to build the church, but to tear it down. And there's some tearing going on today and we want to make sure you understand the distinction.
Now there are many questions that surround spiritual gifts, all of which we will be answering as we study Chapter 12, 13, and 14. Now we're not going to be able to cover it all in one session. You know that. The Lord would not want us to do that, but we will cover one verse today and then over the next four or five years, we will finish. No, we'll try to hurry a little bit. But let me say that I must deal deeply and basically with an introduction or you won't have any idea where we're going. So it's important. And as I said we're going to carefully, verse by verse, word by word deal with grammar and context and history and everything there is in order to get the right answer.
And some of the questions that we're going to be answering are what are spiritual gifts? How many are there? Are they important? How many do I have? How do I get them? How do I know what they are? Can I seek certain gifts. How do I understand the purpose of gifts? What about miraculous gifts like languages and healing. Are they still in operation? What is the baptism of the Holy Spirit? Does every Christian possess the fullness of the Holy Spirit. Are all the gifts still in operation. If not, which ones and how did they cease and why? What is the baptism of the Holy Spirit? What is the gift of languages? What is the gift of healing? Have some gifts ceased? Can the gifts be counterfeited? What is the most important gift and on and on and on?
All of those questions we want to deal with know that we might understand the subject. Now remember the situation of the Corinthian church because that is basic to an understanding of the whole picture here. Now we've done this all the way through 1 Corinthians, so we're not departing from any other technique. This is the normal process of what we call historical, grammatical interpretation. We have to know what was said. We have to know what was meant by it in the time in which it was said and so we've got to reconstruct some history.
Now you'll recall what we've learned in our study is that the church was established, the Corinthian church by the apostle Paul during his second missionary journey. It's establishing as recorded in the 18thChapter of Acts. He spent 18 months there and during that 18 months he established the saints, he built up the church, he fought his enemies and then at the end of that time he left. They then had other pastors who came to minister to them with some distinction. Paul's ministry just being foundational.
But not long after Paul left, severe moral and spiritual problems developed in the Corinthian church, so severe that this first letter to the Corinthians deals exclusively with these problems. You say well where did Paul find out about the problems. Well, he had three basic sources regarding these problems. Source number one was in Chapter 1 verse 11 where he said some of the household of Chloe came and told them about them. So source number two is at the end of 1 Corinthians 16:17 says, "I'm glad for the coming of Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus for that which was lacking on your part, they have supplied. So here are three people who came from the Corinthian assembly with information regarding the church.
So from the house of Chloe and from Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus and thirdly apparently those three folks brought a letter which further asked questions. Chapter 7, verse 1 introduces a section to us when it says now concerning the things about which you wrote unto me. So from these three particular sources, the apostle Paul was informed about the problems that were going on in this assembly. In response to the letter, the information from Chloe and the three others he begins in the 1stChapter to write and solve these problems at least on paper and give them information so that they can solve them in actuality.
Now just to remind you about some of the problems, it is inconceivable that anyone church would have manifested to the fullness all of these problems, but the Corinthian church did. For example, they had divisions every way you could cut it. They were divided about human opinion of little picky things. They were divided over human philosophers. They were divided over human wisdom. They had human personality cults and cliques. They manifested carnality. They were sexually perverted so that in the congregation was both fornication and incest. There was worldliness, preoccupation with the things of the world. They were suing each other. There was rebellion against apostolic authority. There was a failure to discipline. There was marital conflict. There were conflicts in the area of the single people. There was abusive liberty. There was idolatry, selfishness, pride, demon worship. The insubordination of women. Abuses of God's intended roles for men and women. Abuses of the Lord's Supper. Abuses of the love feasts and add to that folks, abuses and perversions of spiritual gifts. That's the context in which 12-14 is written.
It isn't any different than anything else in the whole letter. It's just right in line with all the other things that were going on in the Corinthian assembly. Just as they had perverted everything else, they were perverting this dimension of their life. Now if you study it carefully you will find, and as we have, you will recognize this that they had managed to drag into the church life all of the features of their former pagan existence. They had not made a clear cut separation, they had not come out from among them and been separate. They had not ceased to handle unclean things. They had dragged them all into the assembly.
And even though they were rich in spiritual gifts, Chapter 1, verse 7 says "So that you come behind in no gift." In other words, they had everything. They lacked nothing. They had a fullness of the gifts. In spite of all of that, with all the knowledge that they should have had, with all the gifts that they did have, they were ignorant of how they should function. Especially regarding the gift of languages, modern day called tongues. But biblically the word is languages.
Further, in Corinth a concept of the Holy Spirit was dominating and that concept that dominated their thinking confused the Holy Spirit with ecstatic, enthusiastic in the true sense of the Greek word activity. For example, to them, somebody who stood up and gave an utterance whether it was a language or whether it was a prophecy or whether it was an interpretation or whatever it was, somebody who gave an utterance seemed to be more godly the more wild the utterance was. The more miraculous it appeared so that the gift of languages became the one that was exploited if you will. The ecstatic speaking that went on as if it were the true gift of languages was then given credence as the highest degree of spiritual maturity because it demonstrated that the greatest manifestation of an outside power.
And it couldn't be identified with any normal faculty of man. So they tended to lean toward what which was more bizarre and more far out. Now this carnal concept was a remnant of their unsaved, idolatrist days when ecstatic utterances made by pagan priests and worshipers under the control of a demon were thought to be the highest level of religious experience. That's the kind of culture they lived in. And this had been dragged into the assembly. Now from the very start the Holy Spirit had been doing amazing things in their midst. He was at work. The gifts were there as I said in concert, ready for a divine symphony of body life to the edifying of the church. There were tremendous things that the Spirit of God had done in the founding days and they had seen Him manifest. But in that age in which they lived, an age when religion was connected with ecstasy and frenzy and bizarre things, that kind of hysterical enthusiasm and extremism that existed in their pagan religion got dragged into the church and became a delusion regarding the work of the spirit.
Now in their culture, they had a kind of religion that we call the mystery religions. And the mystery religions had as characteristic of their function these kinds of frenzies and ecstasies and enthusiasms that went on. And it was easy for them in their carnal state when these things infiltrated the church to confuse them with the true gifts of the Holy Spirit. And this is exactly what happened. And it isn't surprising, not at all.
Let me show you why it isn't surprising. In their church, for example, there were divisions. Where did those divisions come from? They came because they dragged into the world, the things that they had held to before they were saved. For example, we said remember when we studied way back in the first three chapters that the Corinthians were enamored with philosophers? They all sort of rallied around this philosopher or this philosopher or this one and so they learned in their culture to have sort of personality cults. They would worship one philosopher as over against another. So when they came into the church, they did the same thing. I am of Paul, I am of Apollos, I am of Cephus, I am of Christ.
They created more personality cults. In their pagan kind of life, they also identified around different philosophies. And they used to argue philosophy. This was a big thing in Greek culture to argue philosophy. It was sort of an intellectual stance and when they got into the church they did that. They argued about the words of human wisdom. Remember Chapter 2 where Paul says I didn't come to you with human wisdom. And human wisdom doesn't leave you anywhere. And the natural man with all of it's human wisdom can't understand the things of God. Well, that's what happened, they dragged all their human philosophies and their human personality cults. That same mentality into the church and so they polarized.
You remember too that the name of the city Corinth became a verb. There was a certain thing identified with the city that it literally became a verb. The verb to Corinthianize, and to Corinthianize means to go to bed with a prostitute. When somebody thought of Corinth that's what they thought of because that's the kind of culture they lived in. So what happens in the church? They dragged that same morality into the church didn't they? And in Chapter 5, you've got a person who is having sex relations with his mother or his stepmother. You've got people who are joining themselves to prostitutes in Chapter 6. The same thing they had known in their pagan life, they dragged into their assembly in the church.
Another thing, we learned in Chapter 6 that the Corinthians loved to go to court. It was kind of a sport to go to court and dialogue and all that. They just loved it. So when they became Christians, what did they do to each other. They sued each other. Again, dragging the same mentality from the world into the assembly of believers. Another thing we see in their society was the terrible decline and the fouling up of marriages. Chapter 7 deals with fouled up marriages in the church because you have the same problems there. They drag them right in from the world.
We found out later in Chapters 8,9, and 10 that they had a terrible time abusing their liberty. Why? Because they had come from existential society where anything goes. And they came into the church and they started doing whatever they wanted no matter how it affected anybody and Paul says you can't do that in the church. You have to limit your liberty for the sake of another. We've studied a little bit about feminism and their culture and how there was a feminist revolution and it came into the church too and women wouldn't wear veils in the church or women wouldn't be covered in the church, which was the symbol of modesty.
You see everything that was culturally a part of their life because they were carnal manifested itself in their church, you see. So if all of that is there why wouldn't we assume that the pagan style of religion would also manifest itself in their assembly under their carnality. Of course it would. That is precisely what happened. The world's religion came right in infiltrated the life of the church and they began to do the things within the confines of Christianity with new definitions and new terms to try to make it look right that they were doing essentially before they ever knew Christ. And calling them gifts of the Holy Spirit.
Now let me tell you a little bit about their religion. They worshipped under a system known as the mystery religion. For over a thousand years these religions dominated western culture and we still have the remnants with us now operating in Europe and in the Roman Catholic church all over the world. The remnants of the mystery religions. There were many forms of the mystery religions. They found all different categories and all different forms, but they can all be traced back to a single origin. To show you that, I want you to look at Revelation 17, verse 5.
And we need to understand this. It's worth our time to get a grip on it, so we're going to take a little while on this. It's discussing here the final form of world religion, in the tribulation, at the end of the tribulation, the true church is gone and the world begins to establish a form of religion. There is a composite form of world religion comes together under one heading. And that form is called in verse 5, mystery Babylon the great, the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth. The final form of world religion is called mystery Babylon. The mystery religions came out of Babylon so that all, now watch it, all false worship stems back to the tower of Babel. And so when it all comes together at the end, it is just a final form of the Babylon false system.
And notice that mystery Babylon, that is the false religion that begin at the tower of Babel is the mother of all other false systems. The true church is the bride, the false one is a what? A harlot. So the harlot religious system, the false religion systems were spawned, they were mothered by Babylon. And they will regroup again in the end time, all in one category, all the false systems of the world are spawned out of the evil system that came at the tower of Babylon.
Now listen, the tower of Babel was man's first sophisticated, organized, counterfeit of true religion. Genesis 10, the first sophisticated and organized counterfeit of true religion occurred in Genesis 10 at the tower of Babel. They built this tower to God and Nimrod was the patriarchal apostate who set it all up. He was the grandson of Ham, the son of Noah, and he set the whole thing up. And they established a false system of religion. As a counterfeit to the truth and every system since then, mark this, was spawned out of that.
Why? Because when God judged those people what did He do to them? He scattered them all over the world and they took with them the seeds of false religion begun at Babel. They adapted it, they altered it, they sophisticated it even more. They changed it here and there. They added to it so that it became complex and varying in varying cultures. But the seeds of it all were at Babel. That's why mystery Babylon here is called the mother of all false systems. Now Nimrod then spawned a network of false religious systems. And that's when you go around the world, you find so much similarity in these false systems. And Nimrod had a wife, which was bad for Nimrod because she was a very, very evil person. Her name was Semiramis. Have you heard that name?
Semiramis the I just to distinguish her from anybody else who may have that name. Semiramis the I, now she was the first high priestess of the tower of Babel religion. She really founded what is known today as the mystery religions. She was the mother of it all. And now when God scattered these people they took with them Semiramis' system. And in different countries, you remember God not only scattered but He changed their what? Their languages. So then she got all different names because different cultures have different languages and that means different pronunciations and different names.
So in Assyria she was called Ishtar. In Phoenicia her name was Ashteroth. In Egypt her name was Isus. In Greece her name is Aphrodite. And in Rome her name Venus. It's all the same Semiramis. They're worshiping Semiramis, the priestess that spawned false religion. She also gave birth to a son. This is the bologna that came out of the mystery religion. She didn't really give birth to a son in the way she claimed. But she gave birth to a son who's name was Tammuz. Tammuz, you can even read his name in the Bible in Ezekiel. In Phoenicia his name was Baal. Same person. In Egypt Osirus. Remember of Isus and Osirus in Egypt. In Greece his name was Aeros. And in Rome his name was cute little loveable cupid.
That's Baal. Let me tell you something about him. She said that he was conceived by a sunbeam. You know why, because that's a counterfeit to what? The virgin birth. He had no earthly father. He was conceived by a sunbeam. Isn't it amazing that clear back at the tower of Babel if the rest of the world doesn't understand Genesis 3:15, Satan did. He knew there was a seat of a woman and this phony one. And amazingly enough Tammuz or Baal or cupid or Aeros or whatever you want to call him Osirus was killed by a wild boar and 40 days later rose from the dead.
You want to know where lent comes from? It doesn't come from the Bible it comes from the 40 days that Semiramis mourned for Baal. Now that's part of the mystery marriage between Babylonian mystery religions and Romanism. Or Christianity that became Romanism. So here you have this very sophisticated system that spreads all over the world. Well, you come to Greece and they're going to know about it. They're going to be in the same thing worshipping the same system with some sophistication. And that's precisely what they did. They had all kinds of sophisticated rights and rituals, many, many things.
Let me just give you a few items. They believed in baptismal regeneration. That's interesting to check that source too. They believe that people were saved by being baptized in water. So they had systematic baptisms. They also believed in sacrificial systems, so they slaughtered pigs and lambs and dogs and birds mainly. They had feasts and fasts. They believed in mutilations and flagellations. If you wondered where that came from, it didn't come from the Bible it came from the mystery system. Because later on the whole Babylonian system moved to Rome historically and it was there waiting until the church developed and married with it. They believed in pilgrimages. They believe in public confession. They believed in offerings, religious ablutions to pay for sin. They believed you had to give...you had to pay for your sin.
There was one...one of the mystery religion systems in Greece that said you had to go dunk yourself X-number of times and hold yourself under ice cold water that was cut in a frozen lake to get rid of your sin. You had to crawl...one other one was you had to crawl so far on bleeding knees. Listen, I saw that in a Roman Catholic church in Mexico City. Where did it come from? It came from this system which infiltrated Christianity in terms of Rome. Now among all these other things and we could really have a long discussion about all those things, there's one thing that was characteristic of the mystery religions that found it's way into Greece and this is all historically verifiable and that is that they had indulged in what they call ecstasy.
Now ecstasy is not what you feel when you kiss your girlfriend. That is not what we're talking about. You say when you say ecstasy, ecstasus, what is that? What do you mean? Ecstasy to somebody involved in the mystery religions was cultivating a magical sensuous communion with deity. In other words, you do anything you could do to get yourself in a sort of a semiconscious hallucinatory sort of hypnotic spell where you would sensually commune with a deity and you would have a euphoric kind of feeling. Almost an anesthesia would take place.
And they assumed that that was a union with God. Let me quote from S. Angus who has a significant book entitled The Mystery Religions in which he writes as a historian. Very objectively about it and these things are not some obtuse discoveries. This is normal routine well-known fact about these systems. And I'm going to take the time to read you some things so that you'll understand how this operated because it's the basis of the mess in Corinth. Listen, the person, this is describing ecstasy. "The person was brought into a mystic, ineffable condition in which the normal functions of personality were in abeyance." Okay? "And the moral strivings which form character virtually ceased or were relaxed while the emotional and intuitive were accentuated."
Now here's a situation where a person gets into a condition where his personality becomes abnormal, where his normal morality is set aside that he indulges in orgies or whatever, and where his brain goes into neutral and emotion takes over. This ecstasy. These states were ecstasy, ecstasus, and in enthusiasm, enthusiasmos, and that's not like we think of enthusiasm. Enthusiasm in our society means something different. My mother used to serve us dinner. It was always leftover, you know, and we'd say we had enthusiasm for dinner because she put everything she had into it. And that's we define enthusiasm. We define enthusiasm as something really giving it your all, but that is not the Greek term. It is a state of euphoria induced on someone so that you become semiconscious.
Now, they were able to do this, he goes on. "Both of which might be induced by vigil and fasting, tense religious expectancy, whirling dances, physical stimuli, the contemplation of the sacred objects, the affect of stirring music, inhalation of fumes, revivalistic contagion," that's just sort of mob frenzy. "Such has happened in the church at Corinth," he notes. "Hallucinations, suggestion and all other means belonging to the apparatus of the mysteries." I'm going to stop there for a minute. You see what he's saying?
They could induce it through lots of ways, by vigil and fasting, that's contemplative. By tense religious expectancy, whipping people into some kind of anticipation. And I see this sometimes in an absolutely overemphasized, unrealistic expectation of the second coming where people lose the rational approach to life and they give over to a totally emotional response to that undue dealing with something like that. And then he talks about stirring the effect of stirring music. Certain music was used. Inhaling certain fumes such as incense and so forth that some do today to create a euphoric state and on and on.
Now these, continuing quote, "these two kindred abnormal states of consciousness often indistinguishable are united by Proclus when he speaks of men "going out of themselves to be holy established in the divine and to be in rapture." So they were able to do this through these means in ecstasy further the devotee was lifted above the level of his ordinary experience into an abnormal consciousness of an exhilarating condition in which the body ceased to be hindrance to the soul. Ecstasy might of a passive character resembling a trance or an active orgiastic character of excitation resembling what Plato calls divine frenzy. According to the means of induction, the temperament of the initiant and his spiritual history, ecstasy might range any where from none moral delirium to that consciousness of oneness with the invisible and the dissolution of painful individuality which marks the mystics of all ages."
Now, that's a very important paragraph. He's saying there this that the...in ecstasy a person can go into all different kinds of responses in trance like ways. For example, have you ever seen the guru that crosses his legs and sits there and sort of goes into oblivion. That's a form of ecstasy. And it can be created in the mind. The Buddhist, for example, his ultimate aim in life is to enter Nirvana. Nirvana is where you sink into a state of total nothingness. You contemplate yourself out of existence. Such a total trance are you in that you don't come out of it.
On the other hand, you have the whirling diverses and the mad wild frenzy of ecstasy that you see in other kinds of religion that ends up in orgies. This goes way back to Baal even, doesn't it? Same thing. You see it even today. You see maybe somebody who's "slain in the spirit" where they go flat out into a trance. Or other people who are acting bizarre. They used to call them the holy rollers. Running up and down wildly friends and you see the stirring of this kind of thing. Further he says, "in ecstasy in the freeing of the soul from the hampering confinement of the body, in its communion with the deity powers arise within it of which it knows nothing in the daily life hampered by the body. It now becomes free as spirit. To hold communion with spirits. Also released from transitency it is endowed with capacities to behold what only the eyes of the spirit can behold that which is removed beyond time and space."
Now listen to that folks, this euphoria creates a tremendously good feeling. And people say this is fantastic and they would say we have communed with the deity and folks that is exactly what people today are saying and they're saying it's a result of certain gifts of the Holy Spirit and their conclusion is well I felt so good I've never felt this way before. It's got to be God. Listen, I know people who could stick cocaine up their nostrils and feel better than those people feel. Or who could smoke dope or could shoot heroin. That is not the criteria.
There are drunks who've never been so happy. That is not the answer. But what happens is this artificial euphoria is created and then the assumption is made that you must have connected up with God. You see? Well, if you think that is a must in Christianity you better know that is the same feeling that the pagans got when they did it their way. Totally apart from anything Godly. "Further, physically," says Angus, "the condition was one of anesthesia. Unconscious of pain or of anything hostile or disconcerting in the surroundings." I'm going to stop there. Unconscious of pain. Have you ever notice somebody who goes to a healer with terrible pain who walks away feeling nothing. Only a day later to be in agony again. Because there is created a euphoric anesthetic response in the mind.
"There's ample evidence," for example, says Angus, that the Bahki, and you've heard of the cult of Bahkus, the orgy and the wine drinking we saw when we were in Balbeck. We saw the temple to Bahkus, an incredible place. But, "there's ample evidence that the Bahki, for example, were insensate to pain and indued with supernatural strength. So were the priests of Sabiland the priests and priestesses of Mah. This anesthesia to pain is a religious phenomenon known in all ages especially in great revivals and in many forms from that of the India yogi on to martyrs whose ecstasy took away the terrors of agonizing death by imparting miraculous fortitude. We may assume that this semi-physical, semi-psychic state was much coveted by the initiates." Well, sure that's what they were seeking in these false religions. "To be lifted above sense, to behold the beatific vision, to become incorporate in God was the end sought in ecstasy and the satisfaction sought or derived was a various kinds physical, sensual, esthetic and intellectual."
Now that's ecstasy, enthusiasm was the kindred state of communion often accompanying and confused with ecstasy. He goes on. "Under enthusiasm were included by the Greeks all forms of mantic," that's magical formulas, "prophesies, soothsaying, revelations and dreams and visions, such revelations being the direct utterances of the deity." That was enthusiasm. The deity speaking through them. In all forms of enthusiasm there is the same underlying idea that God is involved.
Now you see those two things made up the system of religion in which the Corinthians had lived and grown. Now when they became believers it was very much like them, because they were not spiritual, but what? Carnal to manifest the same type of behavior religiously as they dragged every other dimension of the world into their assembly. So their kind of religion was ecstatic, orgiastic, frenzy, it was chaotic, it was confusing and Paul says look, for one thing let everything be done what? Decently and in order and another thing, let it be done to edifying and in Chapter 14 he gives them rules to change the whole pattern on how they're doing it.
Let me give you...let me say you're a visitor in Corinth and you say to your wife, "Wife, let's go to church today. We've got today and let's attend the First Church of Corinth. Oh wonderful. Let's go there and have our hearts blessed." So you go and you arrive at wherever they meet and they must have met somewhere. Wherever they met, you go in and you're right on time, but all the rich people have already been there an hour and finished the love feast. And there's nothing left for you or all the poor who are just arriving because they get there later from work because they have to work harder. And the rich are over in the corner eating the food real fast so there won't be any left for the poor at the love feast.
And you go in and you notice that they're not only gluttonous in the corner, but they're stoned. They're bombed, they're drunk. They're over there having a terrific time. And all the poor people are sitting on the other side of the room with their stomachs gnawing saying those rich people, those dirty...they don't...what kind of a love feast and you've got a great division. And then somebody brings up a certain issue and they argue about it. And they hassle about it. And the drunks are loud and obnoxious. And you're saying to yourself this is a funny church we're in. And then somebody says it's now time for the Lord's Supper and they abuse it. They drink too much of it and they eat it up, because you see the poor haven't had anything yet.
And it turns into a mockery and when that's done they go into the regular service and everybody stands up and starts yelling and hollering and talking at the same time and people are speaking in ecstatic utterances and somebody's trying to give a prophecy and some are over here singing a song and you say oh this is incredible. Then they give you the little brochure, welcome to the First Church of Corinth. And if you happen to have a unbelieving guest he would go away saying these people are what? Mad. They're mad. They're out of their minds. Well, you see that is exactly what was going on in Corinth and that's why Chapter 11, verse 17 says when you come together it's not for the better, it's what? It's for the worst.
It's a mess. And so here they all are in this wild crazy frenzy carrying on. Paul's got to straighten it out. You know one of the reasons that I believe that true gift of languages is just that, languages not ecstatic babble is that God would never give a gift that would be the same as Satan uses, among other reasons. So Greek religion invade the Corinthian assembly and they wrote the letter and they said would you please tell us how we could tell what's good and what's bad and who's what and what's going on. We don't...we've lost it folks.
I'll never forget I read a book recently written by a Pentecostal writer and this was one of his statements and I quote it to you. "When someone stands up and gives a divine utterance we know one of two things, it is either of God or it is not." Well, that's narrowing it down to two, but that's leaving you with a small dilemma. Well, that's exactly where the Corinthians...we know it is either God or it is not. How can we tell? Things have gotten out of hand. We can't tell any more. Well, the full answer's going to take us through Chapter 14. And all of it will come together. So here they are in Corinth, the city filled with priests and priestesses and soothsayers and people in ecstasy and enthusiasm claiming divine power, divine inspiration, and in the church they're carnal and carnally dragging all this mess in there. And they've abused it all the way to it's limits. They expected the Holy Spirit to work. No question about that.
The Holy Spirit had promised to work. They knew Joel 2 had begun to fulfilled. "I'll pour out my spirit on all flesh and there will be visions and dreams and prophesies and all." They knew that was beginning to happen. And they knew that Jesus had said to the disciples that when the spirit comes amazing things are going to happen. People will speak with languages and according to the end of the 16thChapter of Mark there are going to be amazing things attending those who believe. They knew the spirit of God was going to work. Jesus promised in John 14, 15, and 16 to send the spirit.
In Acts 1:5 before he ascended he said you'll be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now. They were expecting it and it was happening and then it all got muddled because of Satan and they didn't know how to tell what was what. Now you remember that 1 Corinthians is one of the earliest letters in the New Testament. You just remember that it didn't take long to muddy the water. Why? Because Satan doesn't let any grass grow under his feet. And if anybody is silly enough to say today and sometimes they'll say to me, well look what happened it must be of the spirit. Oh? That is the assumption that Satan doesn't counterfeit.
I was talking with a man recently who is a leader in the modern Pentecostal movement who said to me, "well, you can't deny this experience." And I said, "well, let me ask you this when that experience occurs, wherever and whenever, do you always, without question know it is of God? Be honest." "No." "Could it be of Satan." "Yes." "How do you tell the difference?" And he had no answer. And that's exactly where the Corinthians are. And I say to these folks if you want the answer, come and study this with us, because it's here. And we'll see it as we go.
Now what was the question that they asked him. Well, probably they said something like this, Paul, you know we have so many richly gifted people in our church, but the problem is everybody wants to do everything at the same time. And then we've got all kinds of wild things happening and it's all causing confusion. Could you help us solve our problem? And so he begins to solve their problem in verse 1. Let's read it any way.
Verse 1, we've got five minutes left. "Now concerning spiritual gifts brethren, I would not have you ignorant." Now that's a good introduction. Paul says the one thing I don't want about this and that is I don't want you to be ignorant. I don't want you to be agnostics literally. People who don't know. I want you to understand this subject. Why? I told you why folks. Listen, the church can't function without the operation of spiritual gifts. That is how the Holy Spirit works. That's how the Holy Spirit operates. And that's how the body is built. It has to happen.
And it's vital and another thing Satan is counterfeiting so you can't be ignorant. You must understand. And you can't base your understanding on experience because you can't be that perceptive. The Corinthians weren't and they admitted it. That's more than I can say for some folks. And the spiritual gifts in the Corinthian church were doing exactly the opposite of what God intended. Instead of unifying the body they were splitting it. So Paul starts at ground zero and point number one, just looking at the beginning of it, we gave you three points I think on that outline. The importance of spiritual gifts, the source and the kind, just to begin with he discusses the importance of spiritual gifts starting in verse 1.
"Now concerning," and that's like saying now my second point. His first point is 11:18 and it dealt with abuses of the Lord's Supper. "Now," he says and he uses the Greek deas a transition. It's the same as saying in the second place in this case any way. In the second place, you're abusing your fellowship concerning spiritual gifts and I do not want you to be ignorant. Now notice the words spiritual gifts. You probably have gifts in italics because that particular word does not appear in the text. The only word that appears is spiritual. "Now concerning spirituals brethren, I would not have you ignorant." What are spirituals?
Pneumatikon, now mark this for me. Pneumatikon, that word is a simple word. You can understand a lot about it's meaning by understanding the word. Pneuma is what? Spirit. Any time you see an i-k-o-s or an -i-k-a or an i-k-o-n ending on a Greek word it means characterized or controlled by. Pneumatikonthen would be controlled by or characterized by the Spirit. "Now concerning certain things characterized or controlled by the Spirit brethren," now what are these things. Well, some say he's talking about spiritual persons. Now concerning spiritual persons brethren. In other words, the carnal people are in the first 11 Chapters. The spiritual people are from here on out. They're the ones who speak in tongues and have the gift. They're the spiritual people.
Does it mean spiritual people? You say well, is it in the neuter or the masculine? We don't know, it's the same form for both. So it could be spiritual persons if masculine or if neuter spiritual things. Well, how do you know? Well, the only way you can tell is to go to Chapter 14, verse 1 where the same term is used in reference to the same thing. Verse 1 of 14, "Follow after love and desire spirituals," same word and this time it is neuter. It is a distinct neuter form. So it has to be things. Desire spiritual things and rather that you may what? Prophesy. And then he goes on to talk about prophesying and speaking in languages.
So the spiritual things that he's talking about in Chapter 14 are what? Gifts. So we go back to Chapter 12 if it could be a neuter or a masculine we will assume because it is a neuter in 14:1, it is a neuter here because the subject is the same. So concerning spiritual things. What are those spiritual things? Verse 4, "diversities of," what, "gifts." And that's why we put gifts in there. Now concerning spiritual gifts. He's not referring to spiritual people here but gifts. Spiritual gifts. The word pneumatikos, appears 26 times in the New Testament. Twenty-five of those times it means characterized or controlled by the Holy Spirit. One time it is used in reference to Satan. But it's normal use is controlled by the Spirit.
Now concerning certain gifts under the control of the spirit brethren I would not have you ignorant. Now you learn a lot about spiritual gifts right there in that word don't you. Because that word tells you spiritual gifts are controlled by whom? The Spirit. If you go down to verse 5, you'll see another word. He uses five different terms to refer to these gifts. Verse 4, the word gifts that's charisma, grace. It means they receive by grace. You can't earn them. You go to verse 5, he uses the word administration. In the Greek it's diakoneowhich means serve. The word indicates that spiritual gifts are used to do what? To serve. And you go down into verse 6 and he uses the word that refers to energy, energeo, and uses that in reference to gifts which means they are energized by God. So spiritual gifts controlled by the spirit given by grace from God, used to serve the body and controlled by the Lord or empowered by the Lord.
So you see the different terms that he uses come at the same term or the same idea of gifts with a different emphasis. So here he's just calling them spirituals. That is these items that he's going to talk about are those things under the control and characterized by the spirit. All right, he says, he calls them brethren in order to kind of soften the blow before he talks about their ignorance. "Now concerning spiritual gifts brethren, I would not have you ignorant." Now that's what we call an idiom. It's a Greek idiom for something that's super emphatic. Paul reserved it for use when he wanted to say something very important like I would not have you ignorant concerning them that sleep. 1 Thessalonians 4 he's talking about the rapture.
He uses it when he's talking about something very vital like in Romans Chapter 1. "I would not have you ignorant that often times I purpose to come unto you that I might have fruit among you even as among the Gentiles I am a debtor...". You know, he doesn't want them ignorant about the impotence that he has to preach the gospel. In Romans 11, he doesn't want them ignorant about Israel and the place God has in restoring them. We see this term used again and again when Paul has something of vital importance. So I want you to understand spiritual gifts. I don't want you to be ignorant about it. You must understand it.
You say why? Because the church can't mature without it. The church can't function without it. Satan is going to counterfeit it and it's going to confuse and cause chaos and it's going to split the church and folks that is exactly what it's done today? You must understand it. You must understand how you are to understand a gift and how you are to minister your gifts. And what is a gift and what isn't a gift. There's a lot of ignorance today. Ignorance manifests itself in the abuse of gifts, ignoring them, neglecting them, over-emphasizing the wrong ones, confusing them with counterfeits and Paul says the ignorance has got to end.
And that's precisely what we have in mind. Hopefully the spirit of God will direct us in the understanding of that so that ignorance can come to an end. Well, that's at least a start. We'll finish it up as the Spirit directs us. And I want you to be a part of our study. I know it's going to go into the summer and if you can't get it here, if you'll be on vacation or something you plan on getting it on tape so we stand together in an understanding of these truths.
Let's pray. Father, we have dealt with this in a very teaching, learning, context and we feel a tremendous sense of importance in dealing fairly and in detail. And so we ask Your spirit to teach. Help us to realize that the sphere in which all of our Christian life operates is Chapter 13 love and to be loving and kind and dealing with truth. But nonetheless firm in our understanding of that which you have said.
Help us to be faithful Bible students, to not be swayed by subjectiveism, but to deal with truth as truth. Help us to grow and mature in the knowledge of Your word and Yourself for Your glory in Christ's name. Amen.
This sermon series includes the following messages:
Please contact the publisher to obtain copies of this resource.Publisher Information


text:
In cesarean birth, a baby is delivered through an incision made in the abdomen and uterus. Sometimes a cesarean is planned before labor begins. Sometimes it becomes necessary during labor.
There are several reasons why it may be necessary to have a cesarean birth. These reasons include:
Spinal anesthesia or epidural anesthesia is used most often. These methods numb the body from the waist down. You are fully awake for the actual birth of your baby. The baby's father or support person may stay with the mother during the cesarean delivery when spinal or epidural anesthesia is used.
If general anesthesia is used, you will be asleep during the delivery of your baby. The father or support person will not be permitted in the delivery room. But he or she will be able to see your baby shortly after delivery.
The anesthesia staff will give you oxygen through a plastic mask covering your nose and mouth. This will be removed after the baby is delivered. Someone will be with you during the entire procedure.
An incision is made through your abdomen and then through your uterus. There are 2 types of incisions. One is vertical and goes from the navel down to the pubic hairline. The other is horizontal or "bikini." It goes from side to side, just above the pubic hairline. Your doctor will decide which type of incision you need. Your baby and the placenta are then delivered through the incisions. They are stitched or stapled closed after your baby's birth.
After your surgery is complete, and if conditions permit, you may hold your newborn. The nurses will closely check your progress and the baby's.
As with other operations, you may be uncomfortable. Pain medicine will be available. You will need to ask for it. Be sure to ask for pain medicine before the pain becomes too severe.
You and your baby are usually discharged 2 to 3 days after the cesarean birth. You will be encouraged to make follow-up appointments for yourself and your baby before you leave the hospital. It is important to keep these appointments so your doctor can check your incision and your general health. Your baby's doctor needs to check your baby's general health.
At first, you will be limited to ice chips. You will then have liquids and will move to solid food before you go home.
You will usually be able to get out of bed in about 6 hours. You can help with the baby's care as you progress.
As with vaginal births, you may breastfeed your baby shortly after delivery.
It is best to follow your doctor's advice about when you may safely resume sexual intercourse. You can become pregnant before you have a period, or while breastfeeding. When you do resume sexual intercourse, you must use birth control if you do not want to become pregnant right away.
In the past, if you had a baby by cesarean birth, any future babies also were delivered by cesarean. Today, this is not always the case. More and more women are able to deliver through the vagina even if their other children were delivered by cesarean birth. Talk to your doctor or midwife. The decision will depend on factors such as your medical history, the reason for your previous cesarean birth, and the type of incision you have.
Affiliated with the University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences
| Supplemental content provided by Healthwise, Incorporated. To learn more, visit www.healthwise.org
For help in finding a doctor or health service that suits your needs, call the UPMC Referral Service at 412-647-UPMC (8762) or 1-800-533-UPMC (8762). Select option 1.
UPMC is an equal opportunity employer. UPMC policy prohibits discrimination or harassment on the basis of race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, age, sex, genetics, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, familial status, disability, veteran status, or any other legally protected group status. Further, UPMC will continue to support and promote equal employment opportunity, human dignity, and racial, ethnic, and cultural diversity. This policy applies to admissions, employment, and access to and treatment in UPMC programs and activities. This commitment is made by UPMC in accordance with federal, state, and/or local laws and regulations.
Medical information made available on UPMC.com is not intended to be used as a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. You should not rely entirely on this information for your health care needs. Ask your own doctor or health care provider any specific medical questions that you have. Further, UPMC.com is not a tool to be used in the case of an emergency. If an emergency arises, you should seek appropriate emergency medical services.
Pittsburgh, PA, USA | UPMC.com

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Laminated Check Trench Coat – Online Exclusive
€2,095.00 €2,095.00
€840.00 €840.00
All orders will be fulfilled by Burberry Limited and shipped from the UK. When you place your order, you accept Burberry's Terms and Conditions and confirm that you have read our Privacy Policy.
Size Guide
Use the Size Guide to choose the best fit for your measurements.
In this window, you can find out the shipping and returns options for the selected item.
In this window, you can contact customer service for further assistance.
- Our classic trench reworked in a laminated neon check. The lined design is cut in a relaxed longline silhouette with raglan sleeves. Wear with elevated tailoring to add a lo-fi aesthetic.
- 115cm/45.3in. This is based on a size UK 10 as proportions change slightly according to size.
- Model's height: 175cm/5ft 9in
- Outer: 52% cotton, 48% polyester
- Undercollar: 100% cotton
- Check lining: 100% cotton
- Sleeve lining: 100% viscose
- Buckle: 100% calf leather
- Throat latch
- Button-through welt pockets
- Signature details: epaulettes, hook-and-eye collar closure, gun flap, belted cuffs, D-ring belt, storm shield
- Wipe clean with a damp cloth
- Made in Italy
Item 40673271
Wear this with
Embroidered Cotton Poplin Shirt Dress
€390.00 €650.00
Buckle Detail Woven-toe Leather Shoes
€280.00 €550.00
Recommended Products


text:
By Kathy Finn
NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - A second person died on Friday as a result of an explosion that rocked the Williams Olefins petrochemical plant in Geismar, Louisiana, and injured more than 100 workers a day earlier.
Scott Thrower, 47, died as a result of injuries he suffered in the explosion, Louisiana State Police said.
Zachary Green, 29, a plant operator who had worked at the facility since October, died on Thursday shortly after being hospitalized following the incident.
Five people remained hospitalized in conditions ranging from critical to fair on Friday.
The blast sent a huge fireball and column of smoke into the air above the plant along the Mississippi River, about 60 miles from New Orleans.
Williams Olefins CEO and President Alan Armstrong called the explosion "a tremendous tragedy."
"A lot of us in this industry have spent much of our careers working to make it safe, so when something like this happens, honestly, it feels like a big failure," Armstrong told a news conference, his voice shaking, shortly before police announced a second person had died.
"Your heart sinks, and it's just hard to know what to do, you feel pretty helpless," Armstrong said.
Parent group the Williams Companies Inc operates the plant and holds an 83-percent stake in it.
The company had yet to identify the cause of the explosion and will launch an investigation as soon as all the remaining flammable hydrocarbons in the plant dissipated and it was safe to re-enter, plant manager Larry Bayer said.
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal on Thursday vowed to hold responsible whoever may be at fault.
The company's injury toll of 100 was higher than the figure of 73 given by Jindal on Thursday.
Bayer said 839 people were at work in the plant at the time of the explosion, a larger-than-normal number because a major expansion was under way.
A small number of employees were working in 12-hour shifts "to assure the plant is being safely shut down and monitored," Bayer said, declining to speculate when the plant would reopen because the extent of the damage was still unknown.
The materials that burned in the fire after the explosion were primarily propane and propylene, Bayer said.
"We anticipate we will have everything burned off in a day or so," Bayer said.
Three of the injured remained in a burn-care unit at Baton Rouge General Medical Center, listed in critical to fair condition, and two others were at Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center, listed in critical and fair condition, respectively, according to information from the hospitals.
Louisiana State Police concluded operations at the site and relinquished control of the plant back to Williams Olefins, police said in a statement.
The state Department of Environmental Quality would continue to assess air and water quality in the area and U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration personnel would begin an "in-depth investigation as to the exact cause of the fire," police said.
(Reporting Kathy Finn; Editing by Daniel Trotta and Marguerita Choy)


text:
Chris Brown has broken his silence after wrecking his Porsche while trying to escape the paparazzi in Los Angeles on Saturday (09Feb13).
The R&B star reportedly attempted to reverse down an alley after his path was blocked by two snappers as he was making his way to a charity event, but he collided with another two vehicles.
But Chris Brown didn't let the accident stop him from attending the bash, and he put the crash and a difficult week of court dates behind him to hit the red carpet at the Grammy Awards on Sunday (10Feb13) dressed all in white.
Asked about reports he had written off his motor in the collision, Chris Brown told E! News, "I'll get another one, insurance is good."
Explaining what happened, he added, "The paparazzi tend to get out of hand."


text:
Ronnie Talbot has gone to ground.
Doubts have surfaced about the identity of the Whitney Pier man whose expletive-laden posts about someone stealing a case of beer out of the back of his truck went viral last month.
"I'm not sure if others have contacted you about the Ronnie Talbot piece you covered, but I'm sorry to say it's not true," Donnie Calabrese said in an email Monday.
"The too (im)perfect impression of an incensed stereotypical Cape Breton man is from a fake account. I don't know the guy who invented Ronnie Talbot but I do know it's made up, and the well-meaning news outlets who've covered the FB post have been had. I would encourage you to look more into the person you spoke to for the interview — it's definitely not the half-cooked Summertime Revue jape he's claiming to be."
In an interview Friday, Calabrese said people who speak like Talbot don't try to include their accent in their writing.
"Some people do — James Joyce and Alistair MacLeod write accents when they're trying to depict those characters," he said. "But those characters aren't trying to impersonate themselves."
- Cape Breton beer bandit becomes viral sensation
- Purported beer bandit inspires Cape Breton band to write song
The information Talbot gave about the beer heist and Terry, the prime suspect, just don't add up, said Calabrese, working on a PhD on Joyce at Western University and teaching at CBU.
"It's too perfect," he said. "It sounds like the screenplay from Margaret's Museum."
An employee at the Whitney Pier Tim Hortons — where Talbot alleged a flat of beer was stolen from his truck in the parking lot — said Friday no theft was reported to staff at the coffee shop. "We honestly don't know if it's true or not," said the woman, who wouldn't give her name.
"We do have kids that work here that say they worked that evening and nobody . . . came in and asked about any guy stealing his two-four."
Cape Breton Regional Police also have no record of anyone complaining about the stolen beer. The man who identified as Talbot during a phone interview last week has not responded to multiple notes or calls.
Cory McNeil, one of the administrators of the Cape Breton Rant Room, where Talbot's orginal post appeared, said Friday he believes Talbot is real because they share friends on Facebook. But he suspects the post about the stolen beer is not.
"Something like that could happen around here, but I don't think there's any truth to it," said McNeil, a lineman with Nova Scotia Power.
A song by Cape Breton band Pretty Archie about the alleged beer burglary is getting lots of radio play on the island, he said. "It's the big talk," McNeil said of lore surrounding Ronnie Talbot and Terry, the culprit who allegedly took his beer. "You can't go anywhere and someone's not making a joke about Terry and Ronnie."
A GoFundMe page set up by David Jones to replace the allegedly stolen beer had raised $400 by Friday. But Jones, too, did not respond to multiple interview requests over the course of the week.
Whoever is running Ronnie Talbot's Facebook page has indicated that the money will go, instead, to the Whitney Pier Youth Club. But, so far, that organization hasn't seen the cash.
"No one has officially reached out to us to say, yes, any moneys that are coming into this will be donated," said Suzanne Gray, who heads fundraising efforts at the youth club. She has heard all the buzz around Talbot's lament for lost beer. "It's hilarious."
Gray said the youth club recently spent $65,000 on a 24-passenger bus. The non-profit doesn't want anyone to confuse in-house fundraising efforts with the one associated with missing beer.
"We appreciate the help anytime," she said. "But . . . you can appreciate the position it puts us in if people are fundraising on our behalf without actually telling us."


text:
Back injury ends Troughton's career
Warwickshire club captain Jim Troughton has announced his retirement from professional cricket with immediate effect after failing to overcome a long-standing back injury.
Troughton has only been able to represent Warwickshire sporadically in the last couple of seasons and made what would turn out to be his final appearance for the county in the LV= County Championship Division One defeat to Yorkshire in June.
He scored 8,491 runs in 167 first-class matches and was named captain ahead of the 2011 season, with arguably his finest moment in the game coming the following year when he led Warwickshire to the Division One title.
Jim Troughton has played his last match for Warwickshire
"After what has been a difficult 14 months dealing with back problems, I am devastated to have to concede that my playing days are over," Troughton said.
"I simply am no longer able to do myself justice and after much deliberation and consultation with the club's medical team, my surgeon, family and close friends, I have to accept that I can no longer train and perform to the level required to fulfil my duties as a first-class cricketer and club captain.
"Warwickshire has been my life and I feel privileged to have been associated with such a fantastic club. I have been lucky to have played alongside so many amazing players and coaches, who I will regard as friends for life. Captaining Warwickshire has been the proudest achievement of my career."
The 35-year-old made six one-day international appearances for England in the summer of 2003, although a top score of 20 in five innings meant he was not considered again.
Dougie Brown, director of cricket at Warwickshire CCC, said: "Jim has been a model professional, having won multiple trophies, leading the club to a County Championship title and setting outstanding standards, on and off the field, for young cricketers to follow.
"Whilst we're very sad that he has to retire in this way, all members of the playing and coaching team are very proud at what he has achieved in the professional game.
"It has been a pleasure to work and play alongside him and as a championship winning skipper he will always have a special place in the history of the club."
Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article.


text:
Gorgeous dark haired babe Doroty is joined by stunning hottie Silvia in today's scene on ViPissy which is extremely horny! These girls are eager and start to undress before they squat over our guy, pissing... Show more
Doroty - Silvia
Tags: Hardcore - Boy Boy Girl pissing - Girl Girl Boy pissing - Piss drinking - Pissing on self - Pissing in glass - Pissing on Pussy - Pissing girls - Pee Swapping - Wet Hair - Pissing in mouth - Golden Shower - Piss Play - Piss Spitting - Licking Up Piss - Clothed Pissing - Xtras - Pissing During Insertion - FFM - Behind The Scenes
Duration: 36 min 15 sec
Available in: 4K HD SD
© 2008 - 2018 Vipissy.com • Follow us on twitter
All rights reserved. Reproduction without permission is strictly prohibited.
All models were at least 18 years old when they were photograped.
18 U.S.C. 2257 Record-Keeping Requirements Compliance Statement
For privacy policy click here. Webmasters program. For support click here.
Learn how we protect your private data and how we use cookies on our websites.
Segpay Billing Support • Billing support - Epoch.com • Vendo is our authorised reseller


text:
By Gaby Moran
Big 12 Campus Correspondent
Although he has been at the top of several different rankings and won numerous tournaments and awards over the past few years, Brandon Stone only cares about the game of golf and not any of the glam that comes with it.
"I am not really the kind of guy that gets caught up in that kind of stuff. I am more worried about what we are eating for dinner than (titles). I really don't get fussed with awards and all that," Stone said.
Stone grew up in Pretoria, South Africa and started golf at a very young age. As he came into his teen years, Stone proved that he was well qualified to become a professional after medaling at a several major tournaments and being ranked first among all amateur players last year. However, his father had other dreams for him before Stone started his professional career.
"It is not really well known back home to come to school in the United States, but my dad was always adamant that I had to come," Stone said.
The next step in his life was choosing where to go. Stone decided early on he wanted to go to a university that had a previous South African on the team, which left him with four choices: University of San Diego, TCU and The University of Texas at Austin.
"South Africa, we have some fantastic golfers and there is no doubt about that, but what the U.S. has is a greater depth in great players," Stone said. "When you play poorly in a tournament, you wouldn't finish like I did in South Africa in the top 10 but you finish 35th or 40th. From a competitive point of view, it is definitely a lot better here."
Dylan Frittelli, who was a senior on the 2012 National Championship team, is also from Pretoria, South Africa. Stone and Frittelli are good friends who shared the same coach and were members are the same golf clubs.
"We grew up together. I know him very well and he knows me very well and we still chat every now and then. We have a pretty good and strong relationship," Stone said.
Stone had scheduled to visit all three schools. After his visit San Diego, his next stop was Austin, which Stone knew right away that this was the best place for him.
"I knew I was not going to find anything better than this," Stone said. "It is a fantastic place with great people, and it is very homey to me -- very similar to home which is quite nice."
With his decision in place, Stone took the 19-hour flight in August and got ready for his first semester at Texas.
"Coach (John) Fields and (Ryan) Murphy are fantastic. They had really done a fantastic job making me feel comfortable and getting settled here," Stone said. "They made sure I had everything I needed and that I had rides to the golf course and getting to know the guys. They have this amazing ability of making a person feel welcomed very soon."
From day one, Stone wrote out both golf and personal goals he wanted to accomplish his first year. Some of the golf goals were to win one collegiate tournament, have a subpar stroke average and climb into the Top 20 rankings in GolfWeek.
"I went far and beyond what all of my goals were so I am really, really happy and really impressed with myself. I am just living in the moment right now and it is fantastic," Stone said.
Stone won three tournaments, including medalist honors at the Big 12 Championship, averages 70.87 after 30 rounds, has competed in all 10 tournaments Texas has played in, and is currently ranked second in the GolfWeek rankings.
"He's moving in on a lot of postseason honors, and you can't get too focused on those, you still have to go out and play the best golf you can," Fields said.
With the loss of Jordan Spieth and Frittelli from last year's team, Stone has been a key asset in helping Texas stay on top since last year's National Championship title. Texas has won its last three tournaments, including the first Big 12 Tournament win since 2004, allowing the Longhorns to move up in rankings to third in the nation.
"I knew coming this year we were obviously going to have that target on our backs being the National Champions, and with Jordan and Dylan leaving, it was going to be quite challenging," Stone said. "But the team has done so well and we still have a chance to do it. We are so motivated to prove those who are doubting us wrong."
Stone and Texas continue on to the NCAA South Central Regional Championship in Fayetteville, Ark. where they will compete against 13 other teams for advancement to the NCAA Championship in Atlanta.
"We haven't played our best golf yet because we all feel that we can do better even after winning the last three tournaments. It is a huge motivational factor for us knowing that we have the capability to win even if we aren't playing at our best," Stone said.


text:
Author Visit - Jennifer Chiaverini
Bestselling author Jennifer Chiaverini will present a program featuring her latest book, The Spymistress, a work of historical fiction set during the Civil War and based on the life of an actual person, Elizabeth Van Lew, of Richmond, Virginia. Already well-known for her Elm Creek Quilt series, Chiaverini is also the author of Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker, published in 2013 and the forthcoming Loyal Union Sampler From Elm Creek Quilts. A book sale and signing will follow the program, with copies of the author's latest books provided by University Book and Supply. This program is sponsored by the Kathryn Ray Fund for use by the Library at the Cedar Falls Civic Foundation.
Filed under: author


text:
Welcome to XSPC - Leading manufacturers of high-performance water cooling components and accessories.
New products from XSPC
The highest performance sTR4 waterblock on the market is now available.
RX V3 Radiators
Our highest performing radiator just got even better with the latest revision. The V3 outperforms the V2 at all fan speeds.
Ion Pump/Reservoir
The XSPC Ion is a compact, powerful and reliable pump/reservoir for PC water cooling.
About Us
XSPC is a leading manufacturer of premium high-performance liquid cooling systems and components for your computer.
We started XSPC with one vision – water cooling components that don't sacrifice reliability and offer superior performance.
Over 14 years later, XSPC continues to lead the market in custom liquid cooling solutions, delivering a complete range of cooling components worldwide.
Our award winning products continue to offer superior performance and ultimate cooling power, with proven product reliability.


text:
Forums for The Webcomic List
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
TWCL Forum Index
Webcomic Gubbins
View previous topic
View next topic
Joined: 21 Dec 2007
Posts: 150
Location: Portland, OR
Posted: Sat Jun 14, 2014 10:51 pm
Post subject: CreateSpace!
I always see questions on print-on-demand services, especially concerning Amazon's CreateSpace, so here's my thoughts!
I've printed all of my books with CreateSpace. Here's my most recent one:
Not a perfect picture, but you can see how colors look on their pages
This book is 220 pages, full color, and costs me $16.25 to print. My previous book is 102 pages and costs $7.99 each, also full color.
The quality is probably as good as you'll get with print on demand. Not to say that's it's the best, but you can only get so much quality out of this kind of service. The covers are really nice and glossy and the paper is a good thickness. It doesn't feel flimsy and cheap at all.
Anyway, I chose CreateSpace for my first book at the time (years and years ago) mostly because it was cheapest. The only real alternative at the time was LuLu. CreateSpace also automatically puts your book for sale on Amazon, which is pretty neat. I've never had any problems with their service. PDF approval times can take as long as 24 hours, but I've found that they've become much quicker in recent years. Shipping times are good and I've never had any issues with the 100 or so books I've ordered from them.
As for e-books, I've republished my first book as an e-book but I'm not an expert on it. You push the "Publish this book of Kindle" button and that's it! I don't think I even had to make any changes to the PDF. It links up with a separate service called "Kindle Direct Publishing." I've only sold, like, one e-book and I don't have a Kindle myself, so I can't really say anything more about it.
Here's what they're
store front
looks like, and
here's a little video
showing my CreateSpace books.
Hope this helped!
Back to top
Joined: 03 Feb 2013
Posts: 323
Posted: Sat Jun 14, 2014 11:56 pm
Post subject:
This is really helpful, thanks for sharing. They look really good from the photos.
I'm not ready to print my book yet, but I've been looking at
. I actually used their page sizes when I was first deciding dimensions for my comic. I've never printed so I don't know much about this, but do you know how flexible their page sizes are?
Back to top
Joined: 21 Dec 2007
Posts: 150
Location: Portland, OR
Posted: Sun Jun 15, 2014 12:36 am
Post subject:
Here's the full-color book sizes from their site (https://www.createspace.com/Products/Book/ > Printing Options)
5 x 8 inches
5.06 x 7.81 inches
5.25 x 8 inches
5.5 x 8.5 inches
6 x 9 inches
6.14 x 9.21 inches
6.69 x 9.61 inches
7 x 10 inches
7.44 x 9.69 inches
7.5 x 9.25 inches
8 x 10 inches
8.25 x 6 inches
8.25 x 8.25 inches
8.5 x 8.5 inches
8.5 x 11 inches
Some of the sizes are listed as "industry standard." You can even use a custom size!
I forget which one mine is... 7.5 x 9.25 I think.
Back to top
is not a fish.
Joined: 22 Jul 2008
Posts: 113
Location: Seattle
Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2014 7:33 am
Post subject:
I usually print my books in a run of 100 from keness.com - their quality is comparable but they're WAY cheaper (usually around $6/copy for my stuff). They also let you use whatever trim size you want.
The downside is that it's a small business mostly run by one dude who isn't always the most responsive (I get the impression it's at that awkward spot where they get too much business for it being the size it is but not enough business to justify growing).
Well, also, it means not having automatic fulfillment by Amazon, and Amazon's sales support for small-time publishers is abysmal (I really should write a rant about that how many different ways they've screwed me over someday, now that I no longer work for them and don't worry about getting fired).
i am a busy bee
Back to top
Joined: 18 Apr 2008
Posts: 559
Posted: Thu Jul 24, 2014 5:26 am
Post subject:
Huh! I've heard of Keness before and was intrigued. So their printing quality was decent? When you say they weren't responsive, did it impact how long it took to fulfil your order, or was the actual printing fairly prompt?
Back to top
Joined: 09 Feb 2013
Posts: 31
Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2014 11:24 pm
Post subject:
huh! I've never heard of that before. Thanks for posting, that's really interesting, something to keep in mind.
Back to top
is not a fish.
Joined: 22 Jul 2008
Posts: 113
Location: Seattle
Posted: Thu Aug 21, 2014 12:28 pm
Post subject:
Oops, I really need to remember to subscribe to topics I'm participating in.
The actual printing was really quick, once I got my assets delivered to them and got onto their printing schedule. The problem is that sometimes getting a response regarding asset delivery can take a while. I get the impression that Ken has an overactive spam filter that silently discards a lot of email.
Also, in my experience, whenever he handles a print job himself it goes well, but when he hands it off to one of his assistants, everything that can go wrong does, and they don't know how to respond correctly (and that response is usually "convert it until it works" instead of "contact the author with the error that's occurring"). That's a big part of why the first proof for book 2 of Unity came back with everything converted into composite black (which looks TERRIBLE) and the color gamut was all screwed up.
Back when Ken and I were both in San Francisco it was much easier to get rapid turnaround on color correction, but now that we're on opposite ends of the country that gets hard too. Also, for whatever reason he won't provide an ICC profile for his printers, and feels that profiles cause more trouble than they're worth. Which seems kind of crazy to me. Sure, ICC can't make the printer output look exactly like on the monitor, but it gets you a lot closer and limits the amount of fiddling you have to do...
Oh well. Mainly I stick with them because of the custom trim size. After I wrap up Unity I'll probably start designing my comics around a standard trim size, probably 5x8, because that opens up way more cheap printing possibilities.
i am a busy bee
Back to top
is not a fish.
Joined: 22 Jul 2008
Posts: 113
Location: Seattle
Posted: Thu Aug 21, 2014 7:45 pm
Post subject:
Note also that formatting comics for Kindle is a huge pain in the butt, and they only seem to want to support the mainstream comics publishers (DC, Marvel, etc.). Getting an indie comic even listed as a comic is a challenge.
Unless you're going to have a huge audience, gumroad is probably a better option than KDP. They also let you set up bundles with digital+physical goods. I'm pretty happy with
my Gumroad store
for that reason.
i am a busy bee
Back to top
is not a fish.
Joined: 22 Jul 2008
Posts: 113
Location: Seattle
Posted: Thu Aug 21, 2014 10:19 pm
Post subject:
Of course there's nothing wrong with putting something on both Kindle and Gumroad. I'm just offering alternatives. Never did I say to put something on Gumroad
Just because you have a large potential audience doesn't mean you'll necessarily be discovered on it. The chances of being randomly found via the Kindle store are infinitesimally small, and so you're going to be doing your own marketing to drive people over to it anyway - so why not use a storefront that's designed around the creator, rather than around the distributors?
Gumroad is a self-service digital goods storefront, which allows you to sell any DRM-free digital good you want (and you can also offer physical goods as well). It's gotten quite popular with lots of comic creators, such as Ryan Estrada, who has used it to great effect (including selling serialized content such as Broken Telephone).
You can also do pay-what-you-want pricing (setting a minimum amount that people can add on to, including $0), and customers get a library of everything they purchased so they can redownload it whenever they want - same as on Kindle.
Basically, Kindle takes a pretty large cut of your sales and provides you no marketing support and traps you into a specific distribution channel that isn't particularly consumer-friendly. Gumroad takes a tiny cut and is way better for both the creator and the consumer, and you're going to have to do your own marketing anyway so why not do it on the nicer platform? Putting something on Kindle isn't a magical thing that ensures that everyone who would enjoy your content would find it. Just because the Kindle platform is more visible doesn't mean your content will be.
Or, looking at it another way: why NOT put it on Gumroad if you're going to put it on Kindle anyway?
i am a busy bee
Back to top
Joined: 03 Nov 2015
Posts: 5
Posted: Tue Nov 03, 2015 5:12 pm
Post subject:
I actually used their page sizes when I was first deciding dimensions for my comic. I've never printed so I don't know much about this, but do you know how flexible their page sizes are?
action webcomic
Back to top
Display posts from previous:
All Posts
1 Day
7 Days
2 Weeks
1 Month
3 Months
6 Months
1 Year
Oldest First
Newest First
TWCL Forum Index
Webcomic Gubbins
All times are GMT + 1 Hour
Jump to:
Select a forum
The Webcomic List
General Ramblings
Webcomic Gubbins
Help! I've lost a comic!
The Dogpile
The "Check out my comic" forum!
Jams and Competitions
Webcomics and Real Life
Site Problems / Broken Comics
The Archive Room
post new topics in this forum
reply to topics in this forum
edit your posts in this forum
delete your posts in this forum
vote in polls in this forum
Powered by
© 2001, 2005 phpBB Group
Hosted by
The Webcomics List
is operated and owned by
Ash Young
the comic updates.


text:
Refrigerator Water Filter - In the Grille Turn
This Refrigerator Water Filter is used in side-by-side refrigerators with filter access in the base grille. Simply turn the filter 1/4 turn to remove and replace. This NSF® Certified filter reduces chlorine taste and odor, particulates (class II), lead, and mercury. The contaminants or other substances removed or reduced by this water filter are not necessarily in all users' water. Replace every 6 months ensures clean, safe drinking water. Replaces 4396547, 4396163, 4392857, 4396919, 4396509, 2186444, 22200203, 2203220, 2255518, 2255519, & NL300.


text:
FIX FAST (FIX Adapted for Streaming) Decoder and Encoder
FAST (an acronym for FIX Adapted for Streaming) is a binary compression algorithm optimised for real-time distribution of high-volume market data. It was developed by FIX Protocol Ltd (FPL) to reduce the bandwidth requirements and the latency of message oriented data feeds. This protocol has gained recognition and adoption among major exchanges and ECNs (Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), ICAP, Eurex, the International Securities Exchange (ISE), NYSE, OM Exchanges (OMX), to date).
One of the key features of FAST is the ability to avoid sending data that has been sent before.
The major advantage of FAST is reduced bandwidth requirements and reduced latency, but they are achieved at the expense of increased processing time/load and more complex processing algorithms.
FAST does not define any requirements to the business structure of the messages; it only addresses the data representation. Therefore, FAST can be used to compact not only FIX messages, but also non-FIX proprietary messages structures.
The FAST Protocol assumes that the structures of the transferred messages, as well as encoding rules, are agreed between the counterparties. This is usually done via the exchange of machine readable XML-based FAST templates.
FAST uses the following approaches to compact data messages:
Implicit Tagging: The order of fields within the FAST message is fixed, so the field meaning is defined by its position in the message and there is no need to transfer the field tag to describe the field value.
For example:
Part of the FIX message:
The corresponding part of the FAST message:
Information about the previous field value as well as about the initial value is used to reduce the amount of redundant information sent with each successive message.
Field Encoding: Field Encoding Operator defines the actions that need to be taken on the received field value, the previous field value and the initial value in order to obtain the final value.
For example, if the Default Field Operator with the initial value "FUT" is defined for SecurityDesc <107> field in the FAST template and this field is empty in the received message then the "FUT" is used as the final field value.
Field Encoding Operators are specified in the FAST Template.
Presence Map: A presence map is a sequence of bits that starts each FAST message. Each bit in the presence map can signal the presence or absence of a particular field value in the binary streams that follow.
Stop Bit: The most significant bit in each byte is used as an indicator of the field delimiter instead of a dedicated 8-bit field delimiter value.
Binary Encoding: Field values are represented as bit sequences (contrary to the character (text) representation that is used in the FIX protocol).
FAST (FIX Adapted for Streaming)
The OnixS FIX Engines include out-of-the-box fully standard FAST 1.1/1.2 implementations for C#, C++ and Java.
They include versatile diagnostic and a comprehensive suite of sample applications (with the source code) designed to significantly reduces the time and cost of FIX FAST development and implementation.
The OnixS FAST libraries are used within the OnixS directConnect venue specific Market Data Handler solutions for the CME, ICAP EBS, Eurex and NYSE LIFFE.
OnixS has published a series of FAST Encoder/Decoder performance profiles based on real world use cases. These are available as Technical Information Notes and available on the links below:


text:
Lipton® Iced Tea And "Dance Central 3®" Kick Off The New Year With 'Game On,' A Nationwide Sweepstakes To Get Fans On Their Feet
Jan 14, 2013, 10:16 EST
Grand Prize Winners Will Receive Ultimate Entertainment Room Makeovers
PURCHASE, N.Y., Jan. 14, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Lipton® Iced Tea announced today, 'Game On,' a nationwide sweepstakes with "Dance Central 3®" only available on Kinect for Xbox 360, to get consumers on their feet and dancing. From now through April 30, consumers can pick up specially marked bottles of ready-to-drink Lipton Iced Tea and visit www.GameOnPromo.com to see if they have won instant prizes, and are automatically entered for a chance to win one of four ultimate entertainment room makeovers.
In addition to Lipton Iced Tea's refreshing favorites, consumers can now unleash the sweet, clean taste of honey and ginseng with Lipton's new Diet Green Tea Honey Ginseng and sip on Lipton's new 100 Calorie Half & Half (Tea & Lemonade), which offers a delicious combination of two great classics that is sure to please everyone's taste buds. Both of these Lipton offerings are perfect beverages for players so they can groove along to the dance classics available for "Dance Central 3" like "The Hustle" and "Electric Slide," and new favorites "Gangnam Style" and "The Dougie" to keep the party going.
"Lipton is thrilled to be joining the dance party by partnering with one of this year's hottest games on Kinect for Xbox 360," said Marc Hanson, Director of Lipton. "This exciting sweepstakes allows us to share the fun and energy of 'Dance Central 3' with consumers and celebrate bringing family and friends together with the same refreshing spirit."
Consumers can pick up specially marked ready-to-drink Lipton Iced Tea products that feature a unique promotional code to enter for a chance to win the 'Game On' sweepstakes. Four grand prize winners will have their choice of an ultimate entertainment room makeover, which may include a Samsung 60-inch Class LED HDTV, Samsung Blu-ray Home Theater System, Xbox 360 250GB Kinect Bundle, Xbox 360 Essentials Pack, "Dance Central 3" for Kinect for Xbox 360 and the Vision Fitness TF20 Classic treadmill with Passport™ module.
In addition to the four grand prizes, instant prizes are available to be won throughout the sweepstakes, including, Xbox 360 Gaming Bundles, Xbox 360 Console with Kinect, Xbox 360 Live 1600 points, "Dance Central 3" games and more.
For more information on the 'Game On' sweepstakes and official sweepstakes rules, please visit www.GameOnPromo.com.
About Pepsi Lipton Tea Partnership
The Pepsi Lipton Tea partnership is a joint venture between Purchase, NY-based PepsiCo and London-based Unilever. The partnership includes a complete portfolio of ready-to-drink iced teas for every occasion, including Lipton Iced Tea, Pure Leaf Iced Tea and Brisk Iced Tea.
About PepsiCo
PepsiCo is a global food and beverage leader with net revenues of more than $65 billion and a product portfolio that includes 22 brands that generate more than $1 billion each in annual retail sales. Our main businesses – Quaker, Tropicana, Gatorade, Frito-Lay and Pepsi-Cola – make hundreds of enjoyable foods and beverages that are loved throughout the world. PepsiCo's people are united by our unique commitment to sustainable growth by investing in a healthier future for people and our planet, which we believe also, means a more successful future for PepsiCo. We call this commitment Performance with Purpose: PepsiCo's promise to provide a wide range of foods and beverages for local tastes; to find innovative ways to minimize our impact on the environment by conserving energy and water and reducing packaging volume; to provide a great workplace for our associates; and to respect, support and invest in the local communities where we operate. For more information, please visit www.pepsico.com.
About Unilever North America
Unilever is one of the world's leading suppliers of fast moving consumer goods with strong operations in more than 100 countries and sales in 190. Consumers buy 170 billion Unilever packs around the world every year, and our products are used over two billion times a day. In the United States and Canada the portfolio includes brand icons such as: Axe, Becel, Ben & Jerry's, Bertolli, Breyers, Caress, Clear Scalp & Hair Therapy, Consort For Men, Country Crock, Degree, Dove personal care products, Good Humor, Hellmann's, I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!, Just for Me!, Klondike, Knorr, Lever 2000, Lipton, Magnum, Motions, Nexxus, Noxzema, Pond's, Popsicle, Promise, Q-tips, Ragu, Simple, Skippy, Slim-Fast, Soft & Beautiful, St. Ives, Suave, tcb, TIGI, TRESemme, Vaseline, and Wish-Bone. All of the preceding brand names are trademarks or registered trademarks of the Unilever Group of Companies.
Our ambition is to double the size of our business, while reducing our overall environmental impact (including sourcing, consumer use and disposal). We are also committed to doing what we can to improve health, nutrition and hygiene, with goals to help more than a billion people take action to improve their health and well-being, as well as to source all our agricultural raw materials sustainably by 2020. Supporting our three big goals are more than 50 time-based targets in the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan.
Unilever employs more than 13,000 people across North America –generating over $9 billion in sales in 2011. For more information visit www.unileverusa.com or www.unilever.ca.
Media Contacts
Jillian Galasso
Lipton Iced Tea Communications
Ying Lee
Zeno Group, for Lipton Iced Tea
SOURCE Pepsi Lipton Tea Partnership


text:
OverDrive: the gift that keeps on giving
Ho ho ho! Santa's on his way and a lot of you are getting e-readers this year. In fact, sales of e-readers are projected to go way up this year. Whether this will be your first e-reader or an upgrade, the library is here to help.
E-books and digital audiobooks are available for download from OverDrive Media. These books are available for free to all library users. All you need is a valid library card. A variety of devices, including Kindle, are supported by OverDrive. There are tons of titles available. For a quick guide of how to use OverDrive, watch this handy video, made by yours truly.
We know that you want to read the newest, most popular titles as soon as possible, so libraries around the state have pooled their money to purchase additional copies of the hottest titles. You'll see more copies, more titles, and shorter wait times.
In addition, we'll be offering e-reader user groups in January. Our resident e-book expert, Debbie, will be leading discussions on how to use your e-reader and find free books from both the library and other sources. Sign up at the calendar.


text:
What to CookCommunity
Editors' Picks — Picnic
Any food52 member is welcome to help us test our Editors' Pick candidates, so go call dibs on the recipe you'd like to test in the comments section below! We'd love to see some new testers in the mix. Don't forget to email us your notes (about 100 words) to [email protected] by next Tuesday at 5pm.
We'll collect your comments, decide the official list of Editors' Picks and publish your evaluation in the headnote if the recipe is selected as an Editors' Pick (with credit, of course!). And even if the recipe you test isn't chosen as an Editors' Pick, please feel free to leave your testing notes in the recipe's comments section. Constructive criticism is always encouraged!
- Editors' Picks (these are the ones we've tested — congratulations!)
- Slow Roasted Lemon Chicken
- Roasted Garlic Potato Salad
- Grilled Garden Sandwich
- Spiced Simple Mango Slaw
- Dill(icious), Pickled Cukes and Spuds Summer Salad
- Quinoa Springtime Salad
- Sesame Noodles with Spicy Pickled Shrimp
- Editors' Pick Candidates (these are the ones we want you to test)
- Melanzane sott'olio all'eoliana
- Mediterranean Pressed Picnic Sandwich
- Taj Mahal Salad
- Lemony Lentil Salad
- Herbed Chicken Thighs Roasted in a Paper Bag
- Garbanzo Bean and Baby Arugula Salad with Cumin Vinaigrette
- Cornish Pasties
- Curried Zucchini, Chickpea and Green Apple Salad
- The Patio Salad
- Rosemary Skewered Baby Red Potatoes with Skordalia
- Artichokes with Mint, Lemon, and Pepper
- Chipá
- Tomato Galette with Goat Cheese, Caramelized Onions, and Bacon
- Summertime Salmon Salad with Black Pepper Water Crackers
- Finger-Lickin' Finger Lakes Chicken
- Em's Buns
- Grape Leaf Pilaf
- Southwestern Sweet Potato Salad
- Dukkah Deviled Eggs


text:
La Quinta Inn & Suites Atlanta Roswell
Roswell, GA 30076
Just 18 miles north of downtown Atlanta in historic Roswell, the La Quinta Inn Roswell is close to many fun family attractions, including Stone Mountain Park, Six Flags Over Georgia, and White Water Park. In half an hour, reach Turner Field and the venues of downtown, like CNN Center, World of Coca Cola, and Underground Atlanta. Find great restaurants for all tastes nearby and shopping malls in every direction. We are about 15 minutes from Emory University and Georgia Tech.
Room choices include free high-speed Internet access, Lodgenet pay-per-view movies, Nintendo and more. Tasty free Bright Side Breakfast, outdoor pool and a fitness center. If you are visiting Kimberly Clarke and the Buckhead Financial District, or North Fulton Regional Hospital, this is the place to stay. We have plenty of bus, RV, and truck parking and a guest laundry facility, so book as many rooms as you want, and stay as long as you like.
Info & Amenities
Hours of Operation
Sunday: All Day
Monday: All Day
Tuesday: All Day
Wednesday: All Day
Thursday: All Day
Friday: All Day
Saturday: All Day
Average Nightly Rate
Call for Rates
Facility Amenities
Complimentary Breakfast
Exercise Room/Fitness Center
Free Local Calls
Free Parking
Outdoor Pool
Parking on Site
General Information
Internet Connectivity
High-Speed In-Room
Room Amenities
Hair Dryer
In-Room Coffee Maker
Iron/Ironing Board


text:
Snow predicted for region
A significant weather event is in the forecast for this week, beginning tomorrow. The National Weather Service in Hastings has issued this weather briefing. The main snow problems are expected in VALLEY, SHERMAN, GREELEY, DAWSON and parts of BUFFALO, GOSPER and HOWARD counties. A broad range of 1 to 5 inches of snow is expected in those areas. Some locations in NORTHWEST VALLEY and WESTERN DAWSON counties may pick up 6 inches of wet snow. Steady winds in the 15 to 20 mph are expected. Snow IS NOT expected to be a significant issue across the rest of south central Nebraska or north central Kansas...although we may see some flakes before the precipitation ends.


text:
Not necessarily open to the public.gypsymonkey wrote:So is a turn key camp open to the public then? As I understand it, all theme camps must have open access to at leas a part of their camp. Sorry if this has been answered in the last 23 pages, I have a little project planed and was just curious.
A Turn Key camp simply means a camp that provides an unusual amount of infrastructure for their members at a high price. (Examples of these over-the-top Turn Key stuff: RVs delivered on-playa, bikes, or costumes chosen for you.) Turn Key camps are not necessarily placed. A wealthy, cushy camp could locate itself way out on 3:30 and L street. But a lot of them probably try for placement because having a location on the inner streets, closer to the Esplanade and the Man, can be a selling point. And Turn Key camps are motivated to profit, not just break even.
Some Turn Key camps try to offer something to the public and get placed, some don't. A wealthy camp that genuinely offers a lot to the public is different than a camp that makes a wall of RVs and buses and offers nothing to the city.
This is what the Placement team is looking for when they place a camp:
* Camps should be visually stimulating.
* Theme Camps must be interactive. They should include activities, events or service to the Burning Man Community in general. We are most impressed by the new and unique camp plans we receive. In most cases creating a chill dome with music and relaxation is not enough to receive placement. Some camp members should be at your camp at all times in order for your activities to be as accessible to others as possible.
* The placement registration questionnaire goes live mid-February and the deadline for submission is the end of April. See http://forms.burningman.com for exact dates in a specific year. In order to be eligible to have your camp placed, you must
register before the deadline, upload a digital file of your Camp Layout Plan within the questionnaire, and make a comprehensive Leave No Trace pledge within the questionnaire.
http://www.burningman.com/themecamps/th ... teria.html


text:
Legends® Damask Stripe White Goose Down Blanket
Overview & Details
- Goose down blanket.
- Legends® damask stripe goose down blanket features silky smooth 400-thread-count cotton cover.
- Goose down blanket woven with damask stripes and bound with silky satin trim.
- Lofty goose down blanket filled with premium 600-650 fill power white goose down.
- Legends® down blanket provides lightweight, year-round warmth.
- White goose down blanket available in twin, full, queen and king sizes.
- Legends® down blanket coordinates with our Legends® Luxury Ultimate goose down pillow.
- Blanket comes with a lifetime guarantee.
- Dry clean only.
- Handcrafted in our La Crosse, Wisconsin factory of fine imported materials.
- Exclusively ours.
Enjoy the luxury of down every day of the year with our luxurious Legends® damask stripe goose down blanket. An incredibly sumptuous bedding essential, our cozy down blanket is filled with premium, 600-650 fill power white goose down for a lofty look and feel. The ultimate in lightweight, year-round warmth, this plush goose down blanket is also wrapped in silky 400-thread-count cotton that feels soft and smooth against your skin. Subtle damask stripe embellishment and elegant satin trim add lovely finishing touches to this must-have Legends® bedding.
Available in twin, full, queen and king sizes, our Legends® white goose down blanket also comes with a lifetime guarantee so you can rest easy. Pair the warm and welcoming down blanket with our Legends® Luxury Ultimate goose down pillow for a well-appointed bed. Handcrafted in our La Crosse, Wisconsin factory of fine imported materials, our Legends® damask stripe goose down blanket is available exclusively at The Company Store®.