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Take your Bible, if you will, and turn to Acts 24. Some passages in the Scripture are very theological. I can remember when we were studying the book of Hebrews in the evenings, and how deep and penetrating and sometimes very difficult the book of Hebrews was. There is so much doctrine, so much deep theology, and other books are very much the opposite. They are very much historical narratives, and Acts is one of those. The Gospels have an amazing way of being doctrinal and historical in a beautiful combination.
Here in the book of Acts, you pretty much have a running historical narrative, and doctrine comes rather sporadically. Often, it's implied rather than stated. So as we come to the conclusion of the book of Acts, what we're really seeing is the moving of God in the life of one man. Last week, we saw how God's providence acts, didn't we? We said that God works today through providence rather than through the miracle.
That's a word we throw around a lot, and I believe there are miracles today. The miracles God performs today, primarily, are the miracles of the new birth. That is a miracle. But other than that, this is not a day of miracles. This is not a day, I believe, when people are doing miracles. This is a day when God is ordering His will through providence. It means this: miracle is when God violates the natural world to accomplish His purpose. Providence is when God uses all the circumstances of the natural world to accomplish His purpose. It's just a different approach.
Today, we see God moving through many ways and doing mighty and wonderful things, but it is not the day of the apostolic miracles. Nevertheless, God is at work.
As we move through the book of Acts, rather than seeing, at least in the latter part, the great, dramatic miracles, we see God working through providence. It's almost as if God is beginning to phase out that apostolic miracle era. It's almost a different feeling that you get toward the end of Acts. Boy, in the beginning of Acts, you see miracle after miracle after miracle. All of a sudden, as you flow toward the end, you begin to see that God starts working more with His providence through the circumstances rather than in direct violation of them, where He just injects Himself and violates what is the normal flow. God begins to kind of work through the circumstances.
Remember, early in the book of Acts when Peter and John were in jail? An angel just reached down and yanked them out. Later in the book, what happens? Through a series of circumstances and the byplay between the Romans and the Jews, Paul gets out. But it isn't miraculous; it's providential. We begin to see this. So it becomes more and more a historical narrative.
In the background, what you need to focus on, and I'm telling you this at the beginning because I don't want to say it all the way through, you need to be aware that God is moving. In this morning's discussion, we'll only get down to verse 9, though we'd need to cover to verse 27 to get the whole story. In these verses, in the back of your mind, be aware of the fact that through all that is happening, God is moving. Of course, you'll have to come back next week to see what God is moving toward, because that's good too.
This is really the story of a man, and as much the story of a bad man as it is the story of a good man. It's the story of Paul, but it's also the story of Felix. Felix was a bad man. He was bad in every sense; he was corrupt. He stole his wife. As a 15-year-old girl, she married another man, a king. But Felix lusted after her, seduced her, and stole her. Tacitus, the historian, said about Felix, "He had the office of a king and he ruled it with the mind of a slave." You know something? He had opportunity and he blew it. He is a great illustration of lost opportunity.
Have you ever thought about opportunity? J.J. Ingalls wrote these words describing opportunity. "Master of human destinies am I; fame, love and fortune on my footsteps wait. Cities and fields I walk. I penetrate deserts and seas remote, and, passing by hovel and mart and palace, soon or late, I knock unbidden once at every gate. If sleeping, wake; if feasting, rise, before I turn away. It is the hour of fate, and they who follow me reach every state mortals desire, and conquer every foe
save death; but those who hesitate condemned to failure, penury and woe, seek me in vain, and uselessly implore. I answer not, and I return no more." Opportunity.
The greatest story of opportunity lost in the history of man, I think, is Judas. Wouldn't you agree? Can you imagine living three years in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ, seeing all that He is, hearing all that He says, and being a damned suicide condemned to Hell for unbelief? Lost opportunity.
What might Judas have been? Have you ever thought about that? Judas might have been one of the 12 Apostles of the Lamb, reigning in the Kingdom, one of the 12 foundations of the heavenly Jerusalem, one of the 12 stones on the breastplate of the Eternal High Priest. He might have been one of the great heroes of all time; he might have been one of the great and glorified saints of all eternity. What was he? Traitor, thief, villain, hypocrite, the darkest of men of whom Jesus Christ Himself said, "Good were it for that man if he had never been born." Lost opportunity.
Judas lived in the face of the unclouded Son of God and his life set in the night of terrible despair, he blew it. But there is another like Judas, and I don't think he's very far behind. His name is Felix. Felix is kind of a later Judas. Do you realize that, as we will see in our story today and next Lord's Day, Felix had the Apostle Paul living in his house for two years? You say, "Well, maybe Paul didn't say anything." You don't know Paul. That's opportunity, friend. There wasn't a mind like him; there wasn't a man like him. Felix rejected all that Paul stood for and proclaimed.
Formally, his name is Antonius Felix. Formally, he is the procurator of Judea, or the governor of Judea, and he follows in the rather infamous line of Pilate. He ruled in Judea from A.D. 52-59, and the reason he ruled is because his brother, Pallas, was buddy-buddy with Claudius, and he got the job that way, not because he had any qualities.
His term as procurator was marked by trouble; everything went wrong. The Sicarii, who I told you were professional assassins, were around during his time. He did manage to quell some riots, but he did it in such a dramatic way and overdid it to the extent that even when he stopped the riot, he had killed so many people that he alienated the Jews he was trying to protect. They hated him. He is a figure of infamy. He comes off, in this story, not only as indecisive and a procrastinator, but also a coward.
You know, when you read about the byplay of the Romans in the land of Judea during the time of Christ and afterwards, you wonder whether there was such a thing as a hero, or a Roman that really believed in anything. Now, as we look at the passage, we have to take it as a unit from verses 1-27, even though we'll divide it. It really is one unit, and it's the trial of Paul before Felix. There are three ways to look at it. You can look at what Paul is doing (that's what we'll do today), you can look at what God is doing (that's what we'll do next week), or you can look at what Felix is doing (that's what we'll sum up with next time).
You know, like so many passages in Scripture, it's like a diamond - it has facets. You can look at it one way or another way; the perspectives are almost unlimited. You could use this passage to teach the attitude of Paul in trial. You could use it, as I am, to teach the tragedy of procrastination. You could use it to teach the providence of God. You could use it to teach the hatred of unbelief and the hardness of men's hearts when they turn against Christ. You could use it to go a lot of different directions, and I trust the Holy Spirit may just implant these things into your brain as we go through it from the one perspective.
Just to give you the background, the book of Acts records the history of the church from the day of Pentecost until the church had finally spread itself to Rome. Those were the great early years when the church first bloomed and brought its message all the way to the great capital of the world, Rome. During those years, we find, in the book of Acts, all kinds of exciting things happening, but two people dominate those years. The first few years are dominated by a man named Peter, and the last are dominated by Paul.
We're in the midst of the story of Paul. Paul is the man who took the Gospel to the Gentiles, and he really took three tours to the Gentiles. As we come to chapter 24, he has just finished his third one. This is the last of his tours as a free man; he is now a prisoner.
When he arrived in Jerusalem at the conclusion of his third tour, he was really trying to pacify some of the Christian Jews by going to the temple to show them he wasn't anti-Jewish, even though he was a Christian, and that he still believed in some of the customs of Israel. While he was there, some Jews from Asia Minor, where he had had such a dramatic impact on the Jews, and where he had won so many of them to Christ that the remaining Jews were very upset, they saw him there and attacked and tried to kill him. As we come to chapter 24, Paul has arrived in Caeserea.
His ministry as a prisoner took place in three cities: Jerusalem, Caesarea, and Rome. He only spent a few days in Jerusalem, a few years in Caesarea, and then he went to Rome. We remember what happened - the riot started when he came back to Jerusalem. The tribune, Claudius Lysias, was responsible for things in Jerusalem, was the ruler of Fort Antonia, and was under Felix, the procurator of the whole territory of Judea.
Claudius Lysias rescued Paul and assumed he must have done something terrible for people to be so adamant at trying to assassinate him, so he tried to get an accusation but couldn't. The mob screamed and yelled all kinds of things, since a mob never knows what it's doing anyway, and he couldn't get any answers. So he decided to torture Paul. He stretched him out on a rack to scourge him, but Paul reminded the soldiers standing by that he was a Roman and in a panic, they cut him loose. To scourge a Roman was a crime, and so there still wasn't an accusation.
Claudius Lysias then decided to take him before the Sanhedrin, the Jewish Council. Paul went before the council and they started fighting each other, but he still didn't have an accusation. So he's kind of in a hard place. As a Roman, he has a sense of justice and honor toward Rome and he wants to keep his job, so he can't execute a Roman citizen who is guilty of nothing. But in an area like Jerusalem, in a hotbed of Judaism, he's got to be sure that he pacifies the Jewish people or he'll have a riot on his hands, an insurrection, maybe lose his life and job because he hasn't been able to keep the politics to the level where there isn't a revolution.
So he's caught between a rock and a hard place. He doesn't want to break his knowledge of Roman justice or violate that, and he doesn't want to cause problems with the Jews. He can't accuse Paul of anything, he has no accusation, but he knows the Jews want to kill him. In order to try and get out from under the burden, he shuffles Paul out of town in the middle of the night and uses 470 Roman soldiers to get him to Caesarea. 470 people escort Paul.
Well, they got Paul to Caesarea, and that's where he comes to Felix. He's turned over to Felix now, and you can imagine Claudius, up in Jerusalem, saying, "Whew! Am I glad that's over." But now Felix is saying, "What do I do?" Claudius pushed the whole thing upstairs, and now Felix has the same problem. He's got a sense of Roman justice and an obligation to Rome, he can't kill a Roman citizen, either, without an accusation, and he's got to pacify the Jews too.
You see, this is the thing that finally destroyed Pilate, remember? This is the thing that destroyed him. He came out and said over and over again, "I find no fault with the man," but he wound up letting the Jews crucify Him because they put pressure on him. They said, "We'll report you to Caesar for allowing a seditionist to exist." He was trapped. Here we see the same thing happening to Felix. He reacts very much the way that Pilate did.
The passage divides itself into three very simple parts: the prosecution, the defense, and the verdict. It's really kind of a hearing. We'll see the prosecution. What are they going to accuse him of? They have to have an accusation. Claudius Lysias sent Paul, and a letter with him, saying, "I'm sending this guy, but as far as I can see, it's only a matter of Jewish theology. He hasn't really done anything for which he should be put in jail or killed." He really gives him a stamp of innocence. Then, Claudius Lysias goes to Paul's accusers and says, "Now, if you're going to pursue your case, you have to go to Caesarea; it's in the hands of Felix." So off they go.
You'd think that maybe these Jewish leaders would be content just having Paul out of town. No, they wanted him dead. He was a tremendous threat to them. You see, he undermined their security. They were smug and content, they ate up their prestige, and they loved their spiritual prominence.
Paul came along and just tore the slats out of it. He called them hypocrites, and preached Jesus Christ as the Son of God, the Messiah, the very one they had deemed a blasphemer and executed through the Romans. So Paul was doing the same thing Jesus had done - he was stomping all over their ecclesiastical toes. He was destroying their theology, and they couldn't tolerate it. They wanted to get rid of him. Besides, he was winning Jews to Christ all over the place, and this was really creating problems.
So they march on down to Caesarea; they make the 60-mile trip down there, ready to accuse him. We see the prosecution in verse 1. First of all, we meet the accusers. "After five days, Ananias, the high priest, descended with the elders." You always 'descend' from Jerusalem. Anywhere you go is down. "With a certain orator named Tertullus, who informed the governor against Paul," or who made the indictment.
Here are the accusers; it's an interesting group, frankly. First of all, there is the high priest, Ananias. Now for a high priest to get in on an accusation is _________. This guy was upset. Of course, Ananias was corrupt; he was as corrupt as you could be corrupt, in every way. We talked about that last time and won't go over it again. He was a corrupt man, saw Paul as a threat, and wanted to get rid of him, so there he goes. He is part of the entourage that comes down to accuse. In addition to Ananias, you've got the elders. That would be key leaders out of the Sanhedrin. So you not only have the ruler of Israel, there's the Supreme Court too. They're all down to accuse Paul.
They didn't want to do it alone, so they hired a smooth-tongued, oily, slick character by the name of Tertullus. He's sort of a hired Italian, professional case reader. He's a guy who could come in and read this deal off, figure it all out, and then could go and plead the thing. This is a man who was probably versed in legal procedure as far as Rome went. He probably spoke eloquent Latin, and he was the guy they were going to have plead the case. It says at the end of verse 1 that, "He informed the governor." The high priest and others from the Sanhedrin just stood there while Tertullus did the talking.
Now it was very common for orators in those days to do what Tertullus did. In the first two verses, he just lays it on thick. The Latin description of what he did is captatio benevolentia. Do you know how that translates? Soft-soap job. That's a free translation.
What he did was butter Felix up with flattery; I mean it was so thick it was ridiculous. In the first place, there wasn't two minutes worth of good that could be said about the guy, so what he does is give a lot of generalities. You know, like the politicians who say, "My, that is a baby." A whole lot of generalities without any significance. But it was a very common approach to get a favorable hearing. Even though you know it isn't true, you like to hear it, right? It's like Herod. He sat up on his throne and gave his speech, then everyone said, "He's not a man, he's a god." Herod loved every bit of it, even though he knew it wasn't true. We know that about flattery; we know it isn't so, but we love it.
So he butters him up, even though the man is intelligent enough to know that the Jewish people hated him. They've hired a professional to come in and tell him how wonderful he is. Well, let's see what he says that's flattering. Verse 2.
"When he was called forth," the hearing began; we don't know if it was very formal or informal. Apparently, though, it was informal, because there had to be a later determination of the case according to verse 22. So it was some kind of official but informal hearing. He calls forth Tertullus, and Tertullus began to accuse Paul. This is how he began his accusation, "Seeing that by thee [referring to Felix] we enjoy great quietness." He says, "Felix, first of all, let me begin by saying we are so happy with the peace that you have brought."
Now, Felix had nothing to do with peace, he had made absolutely no contribution to Roman peace whatsoever. In fact, the only time Felix had brought peace was when he stomped out a riot that shouldn't have started in the first place if he had known what he was doing. And when he stomped it out, he did such a lousy job that he alienated everyone else. So he hadn't really done anything that had contributed to peace, it was just a flattering statement. "We enjoy much peace."
Listen, many of the Jews didn't see the Pax Romana as peace at all. Tacitus said, "The Romans create a desolation and call it peace." It may have been peace for Rome, but it was oppression for everyone else. So when he says, "Oh, we enjoy this great quietness," that's just not so.
Then he goes on, "And very worthy deeds are done unto this nation by thy provision. Oh, you've done so much for us, Felix!" You know, I checked out 12 different books this week to try and find one thing Felix did and couldn't find one. Whatever he was supposed to have done, history never recorded it. But notice the generalities; there are no specifics. He doesn't say, "You did this, or that other thing," he just says all these generalities.
He had driven off the Egyptian impostor, which really potentiated a revolution, he had done that. He had quelled a few riots, but certainly no reforms of any consequence. He did some bad things. He assassinated Jonathan, the high priest, because he didn't like him. One way to be popular with the Jews is not to assassinate the high priest.
Tacitus, the historian, says, "He thought he could do any evil with impunity." That is, he thought he could do any evil and get away with it. Tacitus went on to say, "He indulged in every kind of barbarity and lust." Very worthy deeds? I don't think so. History hasn't recorded one; but he butters him up. Verse 3 gets even thicker.
"We accept it always. Whatever you do, oh Felix, we accept it. Always and in all places, most noble Felix, with all thanksgiving." Notice all the 'alls': always, all places, all thankfulness, all bologna. I can just imagine the Jewish leaders standing there, the high priest and those from the Sanhedrin, just gagging. I mean, now I know why they hired a lawyer. They could never have said that with a straight face, it was impossible. I know Felix didn't believe it, and he was there with his tongue in his cheek, smiling from ear to ear because those Jewish people had to stand there and endure while he said that about Felix. So he was loving it because he knew they detested it. "Most noble Felix." There was nothing noble about him at all.
Verse 4 is interesting. How are you going to turn the corner after that? Well, this guy was pretty oily, pretty smooth. Verse 4. "Notwithstanding, that I be not further tedious unto you, [I don't want to take your time reciting all the wonderful, wonderful things you've done, so I'll get on with it] I beseech you that you would hear us of thy clemency," that means yieldedness. The idea is that one is to give place to another, to give over your rights. "That you would be kind enough to yield to us a few words. I don't want to continue to recite all these things; that would be tedious to you." The real truth was, he didn't have a thing to say. That was it. It's like when a preacher says, "I have much more I could say on this subject," that means he's run out of material.
So he butters up Felix in order to get a hearing. Incidentally, the idea that 'I don't want to be tedious, I want to get this over with' was very common. There is historical evidence that orators did this very often before judges. They said, "This is going to be very brief." The reason they would do that would be to get the concentration of the man at the very beginning. It didn't always turn out to be brief, but it was a good way to sort of win over an immediate response.
So Felix is there, and I know he's smiling because these Jewish leaders are having to sit there and acknowledge all this flattery. I know they're gagging because of the flattery. Tertullus is doing his job. So there they are, all the accusers and their hired mouth have come down to bring their case against Paul. We'll leave the accusers now and listen to the accusation.
Verses 5-9 give us the accusation. I want you to notice that the accusation falls into three categories, and it's a very clear accusation. Sedition, sectarianism, and sacrilege. It's easy for you to remember that way. They accused him of sedition, that's a violation of Roman law, sectarianism, a violation of Jewish law, and sacrilege, a violation of God. They get him on his relationship to Rome, to the Jews, and to God. That's the accusation in total. Let's look at it in part.
First of all, the accusation of sedition. Sedition could be translated treason. Of course, if they could make this stick, they could really get him. If the Romans think for a minute that this man is committing treason, or is stirring up sedition or insurrection or riot, he is in deep trouble. Verse 5, and this is a generality, "We have found this man a pestilent fellow." What that really translates is 'a nuisance, a plague, a pest'. In the modern day, this man would be a pain in the neck. That isn't an accusation, that's just a statement, a very general statement, reflecting their attitude. "He causes us trouble."
Then they define the three areas in which he is such a pestilence. "He's a disrupter. He creates problems wherever he goes." First of all, sedition against the government. He is a mover of sedition among all the Jews throughout the world. The idea is that he is getting Jews to revolt against Rome. This man is gathering Jews and they're revolting all over the world! He's treasonous. There is insurrection, riots are happening.
You know, they could have supported that. Paul didn't stir up riots, but he sure was in on a lot of them. He would preach, then someone else would get excited and stir up the riot, but he was usually there when the riot was happening. So if there had been any weight of evidence at all that this guy could have pulled out of his hat to support this, he could have had Paul in trouble because it was true that Paul had been in riots. We'll see, interestingly enough, in a few moments, that even in the midst of those riots, Paul could never justifiably be accused. That is made clear in the book of Acts.
There was, though, the potential that this could stick, if the right twist on the truth could be brought to bear. So they accuse him of being a man of sedition, and one who moves people to riot. The Romans did not tolerate that; they were paranoid about revolution, insurrections, and riots, because they had managed to conquer. They had placed all their rulers and soldiers in these areas to keep the peace, and this is the one thing they feared.
Notice the exaggeration. It says, "He is a mover of sedition among all the Jews throughout the world." I mean, that is a little broad, but again, these are great generalities. He doesn't name any riot, you know why? If he had named a riot in any area, it would have immediately removed the responsibility from Felix because they would have had to transfer Paul into that area to be tried under whoever had jurisdiction over the area.
Remember back in Acts 23:34, when Paul was asked the question where he was from, what province? He said, "Cilicia," and when he said that, Felix said, "That's my jurisdiction." If they had accused him of something that he had stirred up somewhere else, then they would have had to pass him on to the other person who was responsible for that jurisdiction. So they don't even bring that up. If in fact they knew very much about it, they may have been able to get information about it, but they wanted it done now. They didn't want to push him off somewhere.
So they accused him, then, of leading sedition among all the Jews throughout the world; it's an accusation of treason. It isn't true. He was accused, of course, of creating dissention everywhere he went, but that was only because people created dissention in response to what he was preaching.
This particular thing, just to give you an historical note, this particular accusation was very common in ancient times. Petty tyrants, tyrannical emperors, used this concept of sedition or treason or riot or insurrection at will to execute anyone who disagreed with them. It was a very handy little idea. So here is Paul, accused of this.
Let me add the note I mentioned I'd add. It is very interesting to me that, all through the book of Acts, Christians are on trial for their preaching. With great detail, the Holy Spirit records all the features of the trial. As you read the end of the book of Acts, you wonder why in the world the Holy Spirit tells us every detail of every one of these things. Why doesn't He just say, "Paul went here and had a little thing with Felix, then he went there," and then give us a bit of doctrine. I mean, why all this detail? I mean, we start out at the very beginning, and even in Paul's ministry, there is a trial before Gallio, there's the Sergius Paulus thing, you've got Felix, Festus, Agrippa, and all of these trials in the book of Acts. Even in the early part of the book, there's Peter and John before the Sanhedrin repeatedly.
Why does the Lord feel that all the details of all these trials have to be here? I'll tell you why I believe the Lord put it here. Because throughout history, in the early church in particular, in the early years, Christianity was always condemned on the basis of the fact that it was treasonous, that it was an insurrectionist movement, a revolutionary movement. The Holy Spirit is careful to record, in the book of Acts, trial after trial after trial after trial of Christians. In every single case in the book of Acts, it is abundantly clear that they were innocent of any violation of civil law. I think that is important.
Christianity is not political treason. The Bible is explicit about that. Jesus said, "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's." The Apostle Paul said in Romans 13, "The powers that be are ordained of God." Peter said, "Submit yourselves to the kings and governors and police," in I Peter. Christians are not political insurrectionists; Christians should be class A, number one citizens, law-abiding. Unless you come to the place where you live in a society where there are laws that violate the laws of God, then you have the right to choose whether to obey God or men, and you should choose to obey God. But that's the abnormal.
So very carefully, competent judges like Gallio, Sergius Paulus, and Felix, really come up exonerating the Christian. Luke makes this very clear in the book of Acts, for all who would read, particularly in those early centuries, that Christianity was not political revolution.
They come, then, and they accuse him of this insurrection. It's interesting that I don't think Felix believed this, because Claudius Lysias had already written a letter. In his letter, he had said, "I perceive this to be a question about their law, having nothing to do with death or bonds." In other words, "It isn't a legal matter for us to consider, it's strictly a theological issue between them." I think he probably believed his own tribune, his own chiliarch. Lysias wouldn't have been in the position he was in, if Felix didn't think he was capable. So here, he knows these people would lie to him to get their whims and wishes, and he probably just accepted it for what it was.
It starts out, then, with a vague, non-specific charge, which is really inadmissible as any kind of evidence. The first charge is sedition against the government; the second is sectarianism against the Jewish people. This is most interesting. Verse 5 says, "A ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes."
Today we still have some people who call themselves Nazarenes, they're wonderful Christian people. That name was a name originally given as a term of derision, a mocking term, so was the term 'Christian'. But the term Nazarene came because Jesus of Nazareth was called the Nazarene. So the people who identified with Jesus came to be known, in a derisive sense, as Nazarenes. Remember what had been said? "Could anything good come out of Nazareth?" I mean, that was really out in the boondocks. It was an uneducated, hick town. Nobody came from there and amounted to anything. So when Jesus arrived from Nazareth, they all laughed and said, "Could anything good come out of Nazareth?"
So when they called these people Nazarenes, it was a slur. They say, "This man is a leader of the Nazarenes," and you can find six times in the book of Acts, Jesus is called a Nazarene. This is the only time that the people who followed Him are called Nazarenes. It was a term of contempt. Apparently, it was a very popular term, because Tertullus does not bother to explain it to Felix, he assumes he understands what that means. You know, they probably felt this could be a problem, because there were a lot of Messianic groups at the time.
The Messianic groups, at this particular time, not that they believed that Jesus was the Messiah, but there were various Messianic factions, and these factions were very troublesome to Rome. The factions of the Nazarenes would be classified with this other pile of Messianic factions, and so they could well have been a threat to Rome, at least an irksome thing. So by calling Paul a ringleader of this sect of the Nazarenes, he throws him in the bag of a bunch of troublesome, Messianic offshoots of Judaism.
What they are accusing him of, from their standpoint, is heresy. He's anti-Jewish. He not only violates Roman law, but he violates Jewish laws. The third accusation appears in verse 6. This really was the thing that got them going in the first place, although it was a lie. It says in verse 6, "Who also have gone about to profane the temple."
Now the temple, to the Jews, was a very sacred thing. The laws of the temple were very binding. There was an outer court, and it was where the Gentiles could come. But Gentiles could not go past the barricade into the inner part of the temple. In fact, there were signs posted there, disallowing them to go in. We have even found archaeological remnants of those signs from Herod's temple; so much so, that we even know exactly what they said. But the signs were there that if a Gentile went into the inner part, he would pay with his life.
That was such a serious violation of Jewish law that the Romans allowed the Jews to have the right of capital punishment for that offense, and that offense only. That's why I said the Jews had to get the Romans to crucify Christ, because in any other area of violation of their law, they had no right to take a life, except in the violation of the sacredness of the temple. That was such a high priority that Rome gave them the right to take the life of one who violated that.
When Paul was in the temple, these people from Asia Minor, these Jews from Asia Minor who saw him there, accused him of bringing a Gentile in there. He hadn't done that, but they accused him of it. They were going to kill Paul. As I told you, that was ridiculous. If a Gentile came in, the Gentile would be the one killed, not Paul. The law said, "A Gentile who enters gets killed," not the one who brings him in.
So they were twisting the whole thing. Here, though, they back off of that, and don't say that he brought a Gentile in. They say, "He goes about to profane the temple." They didn't say he did it, they said he tried to do it.
You say, "Well, why did they back off? Why not just say that he did it?" Because that would be stupid, since it couldn't be proven. You know why? Because he didn't do it. They couldn't find any witnesses. But by saying, "He tried to do it," there was no way to prove that he didn't try to do it. So they figured that was a safer accusation, to accuse him of trying to profane. They put it in terms that were vague enough that maybe the judge would say, "Wow, if he's profaning your temple, you know you have your rights. Go execute him."
It's amazing to me that religious people are often the most immoral and unethical. I look back at some of the things that Christianity has perpetrated and it staggers me. Throughout the history of civilization, you find terrible things done by Christians. Things like the Crusades, where the 'Christians' marched across Europe to take the holy places from the Turks, and while they were marching, they slaughtered all the Jews along the way so the Jews wouldn't hassle them about the holy places. This in the name of Christ.
You wonder why Jews have a hard time with Christians? They know their history. They know that Germany was the birthplace of the Reformation of Christianity, the home of Martin Luther. They know all that. They don't see that Christianity had much of an effect on any of the Germans that they're aware of.
At that time, in the time of Hitler, there was a state church, a 'Christian church'. You know, religious people, and I don't mean truly Christian people. Religious people are sometimes the most immoral and unethical of all. I mean, we're still having religious wars, you know. It isn't really that simple, but let's face it: the Catholics and Protestants are still killing each other, and that's in the name of Christianity. You understand that it's not true Christianity, but does the world? Why would they understand that?
You see, it's a very difficult thing to try to connect any kind of honest morality with religion, it just isn't there. True ethics and true morality comes with a true relationship with God. Apart from that, religious people can be just as criminal as anyone else. Sometimes even more so when they start to defend their little square inch of religion. There were people who, in the name of God and in zeal for God, wanted to kill a man who was innocent and they wanted to accuse the man with lies. That's how bad they wanted him dead, all in the name of religion.
What happened when they came and accused him? Three things. Verse 6 mentions an interesting thing, and I'll just give you a note on it. Some manuscripts do not include the end of verse 6, all of verse 7, and the first part of verse 8.
In other words, when we go to put together the text of the Bible that you hold in your hand, we have to make it up from the manuscripts that we have from ancient history, way back as far as we can go. We find old manuscripts of the book of Acts, for example, and maybe there's a variation. One manuscript has these verses and one doesn't, so we have what's known as a problem. Wait until I finish! I know you're saying, "Brilliant, MacArthur, brilliant!" That's the objective of lower criticism, trying to find out what texts are right. There are certain principles that we use to try to determine which one is right, but in this case, it's very difficult to know whether the end of verse 6, the whole of verse 7, and the beginning of verse 8 should be in or out.
If you have a New American Standard, it's in the margin. It's more likely to be out than in. If it's more likely to be in than out, they'll have it in the text.
Now, I'm not any great expert in this area, but looking at it from a textual standpoint, I kind of lean toward the side of it being in. The reason I feel that way is, let's just assume, number one, that God maybe preserved this thing, since there's any doubt at all about it, and it was in some. We don't have clear indication that it isn't out. Let's just accept that it isn't going to hurt anything. Plus, it poses an interesting fact. If, in fact, it isn't there, it would read this way. Verse 6. "Who also hath gone about to profane the temple." Then jump to verse 8. "By examining of whom thyself might take knowledge of all these things of which we accuse him."
Now, if that middle section isn't there, who does that 'whom' refer to in verse 8? The examining of whom? Well, it would refer to Paul, wouldn't it? So what Tertullus is saying is, "Look, he's profaned the temple and if you'll examine him, you'll find this out." I have a problem with that. You know what the problem is? If he examined Paul, he wouldn't find it out, because Paul didn't do that. That's the problem.
So if you take it out of there, it's crazy. Why would the lawyer say, "All you have to do to get the truth is ask him," that doesn't make any sense. Paul is not going to agree with him. But if you leave those other verses in there, it changes everything. It reads, "Whom we took and would have judged according to our law." That's a lie. They weren't going to judge him according to their law; they were going to lynch him.
"But the chief captain Lysias came on us and with great violence took him out of our hands!" Sure he did. They were trying to kill him and Claudius rescued him, "Commanding his accusers to come to thee, he sent us here to carry out this trial." Now, "By examining of whom," and who does the 'whom' refer to? Lysias. That makes sense. They say, "If you want to know what happened, you just ask Claudius Lysias." You say, "Well, they told lies!" Sure, but Claudius Lysias wasn't going to get into a fight with them.
If you look at verse 22, it says, "Felix heard all these things…and deferred them and said, 'When Lysias the chief captain shall come down, I will determine your case'." It seems as though, the indication of 22 is that the reference was to hearing from Claudius.
So Tertullus says, "I've given you the accusations. If you want corroboration, you can get it from your chief captain. We were trying to carry out justice, then he swooped down and with great violence, he hauled Paul away. He commanded us to come to you. Check with him and see if that isn't so." So later on in 22, Felix says, "I'll check with him." You know something, he never did. We'll see that next time.
If you're any kind of a lawyer worth anything, you'll have witnesses, right? You won't just stand there and state your case, you'll support it too. So in verse 9, he brings in a bunch of witnesses. "And the Jews also assented, saying these things were so." So-and-so took the stand, then another elder, and they all said, "Oh, everything he says is true." They just perjured themselves up one side and down the other, lying through their teeth. In the name of God, 'servants of God' they called themselves, 'lovers of God, lovers of the law' and here they are, blatantly lying in order to preserve their religion and to execute a man they didn't want around.
Now listen, this is a very clear illustration of what a Christian should expect. How many times have we seen that, if a Christian really lives his life in the face of an ungodly world, he'll make waves. Isn't that right? II Timothy 3:12 says, "Yea, all that will live godly in this present age will suffer persecution." If you're going to live a godly life in the midst of an ungodly society, you're going to get some flack. That's expected, that's how it will be. If you're not getting any flack, you're not living a godly life in the midst of an ungodly world. They can't handle it.
Listen to what Peter said in I Peter 3:14. "If you suffer for righteousness' sake, happy are you, don't be afraid of their terror nor be troubled. Sanctify the Lord God always in your hearts, be ready to give an answer to every man that asks you the reason for the hope that is in you with meekness and fear." In other words, stand up there and give an answer boldly, meekly. "Having a good conscience," which means you can stand up with a clear conscience and give an answer. "Whereas they speak evil of you as evildoers, they may be ashamed to falsely accuse your good manner of life in Christ."
What is he saying? Two things. One, have a blameless life; two, have a clear testimony and let happen what happens. If you can't support your clear testimony with a blameless life, you're going to get shot down.
Jesus put it this way in Matthew 5. He said, "Blessed are you when men shall revile you and persecute you and say all manner of evil against you falsely. Blessed are you." What do you mean 'blessed'? That I made enemies? Jesus made enemies.
Let me close with this. Last week I spoke about the Jews' plot to kill Paul. There was a Jewish person here in the church, listening. I got a letter from this person this week, and the letter said that this person, in effect, was very upset. In fact, the letter just bounced around on the desk before I opened it, it was just short of ticking. I opened the letter and my heart was grieved, I mean grieved. This person was so upset that they were just near standing up and screaming at me in anger and accused me of anti-Semitism. Now this is not something new to me, this is something I hear frequently. I heard it when teaching about Jesus Christ and the crucifixion of Christ in regard to the part the Jews played in it. Also, teaching in Acts when we talked about the fact that the Jews were given the guilt for the death of Christ.
It came again this week; this letter went on for page after page. What grieved me was the fact that this person does not understand that it is my obligation to teach the Word of God with clear conscience, and it does not reflect a lack of love for the people of Israel. If I can clearly state that, let me state it at this point.
When I pick up the pages of this 2,000-year-old book and tell you what happened 2,000 years ago with these individuals on that day in Caesarea, that nowhere reflects on any living person today. You are what you are before God; this isn't you. And I don't know, for the life of me, why Jewish people would feel they needed to defend something that some evil people did 2,000 years ago any more than I need to run around and get all excited when someone condemns a Gentile who lived 2,000 years ago. Listen, there have been a whole lot of scruffy, crummy, corrupt Gentiles. I don't go around trying to defend them all.
You have to accept that this is the revelation of God. This is what those people did in rejection of their own Messiah, in violation of their own law and the Word of God given to them, this is what the Bible says. I stand here with a clear conscience, as Paul did, and I proclaim it. I couldn't help but read that letter and think, "I'm in the same shambles that Paul was in. I'm getting the same thing that he got." What was it that the Jews accused him of? Being anti-Semitic. Against the law, against the people, profaning the temple. He said, "Wait a minute! I am not. I'm just telling you the facts of what happened." Paul turns around with tears running down his face and says, "My heart's desire and prayer is for Israel, that they might be saved."
He says in Romans 9, "I could wish myself accursed for my kinsmen." You know, if you want to see what Paul's attitude was toward the Jews, you read the whole book of Acts. You'll see him go in and give his body to stoning, and give his back to rod and beatings, and jail for the sake of reaching his people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I do not accept the criticism that I'm anti-Semitic; I don't accept that. I stand before you with a clear conscience, saying that I love the children of Israel.
I mean, I told someone not too many weeks ago, when they asked me about that. I said, "The people I love most in the world are Jews, all of them. I spend more time with Jewish people than I do with any other people." They said, "What do you mean?" I said, "I spend almost all my time with Jesus, Paul, Peter, John, David, Abraham, Moses…" That's true, and I love every one of them. There is no one in the world that I love more than Paul, I love him. My heart is for Israel.
I can't go to the land of Israel, like I did this summer, without having my heart in my throat, because I see God's people and I see what God is beginning to do in the restoration of Israel. I have great hope for Israel, great love for Israel, great concern for Jewish evangelism, but I still must preach the Word of God the way it's written. I don't think people should become completely oriented to defending those evil people back there; that's history. The letter said, "Well, you Christians learned to hate the Jews. You make the people hate the Jews so much, they'll hate all the Jews today." That's foolish, foolish. We don't hate the Jews for what they did. Our hearts grieve.
Do you know what God said through Jeremiah? He said, "You had better repent, and if you don't, you'll die." In the very next verse, in Jeremiah 13, God says, "And if you do, My eye will weep tears, bitterly I'll cry." See? God's attitude is, "You have to repent because you've sinned. But if you don't repent, you'll die. And if you die, I'll cry." That's love, and it's there.
The Apostle Paul loved those people. I'm sure, in his heart, he had compassion for Ananias and the elders, just as we would for Jewish people. Just like anyone else. There's no need to even separate them. You don't love the Jews as a little glob in the corner as some strange commodity, these are just people that God loves. Yet, in God's wonderful plan, they have a unique place.
Well, we didn't get very far, but we got through the prosecution. Come back next week and hear the defense. Let's pray.
Thank You, Father, that this morning You gave us the privilege of looking into Your Word. Thank You for what it is, that the Spirit instructs us as we open our hearts and minds to the truth.
God, give us a love for Israel. Cause us to remember that we're not to be ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, to the Jew first, then the Greek. Help us to remember that our Lord Christ came through Israel; salvation came through the Jews. There is so much to be thankful for. Help us to be grateful.
At the same time, Father, help us, with a clear conscience, to speak boldly, and to realize that there will be reaction. Father, I pray for this woman who wrote the letter, whoever she is, that the initial reaction of anger would turn to conviction. That she would truly see her Messiah, fall at His feet, that the Holy Spirit would convict her heart and bring salvation.
Thank You for our fellowship this morning, we praise You for it. In Jesus' name, Amen.
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Alternate Path Destiny ... Crossroads
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Sequel to Destiny...Rewritten What if you knew what the future held for you? What if you were able to go back in time and change the past? What decisions in your past affected the life that you led? Could you pinpoint the mistakes that you made and change the wrong into something right? If the end of the life would remain the same, but the life you led to get there would be different, would you live it all over again? If you held secrets in your heart and held them for years, would you go back and reveal your secrets earlier? In the previous series of novels that revolve around the small town of Sars Springs, Arizona, the characters followed a path that each character wished they had a chance to change. This new series of novels takes one monumental moment and changes the outcome. What will happen to the family when one instance in the past has change? What will change and what will always remain the same because it was destined to happen?
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Product Details
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The impact of providing two years of pre-kindergarten on academic performance and cost benefits in the San Antonio Independent School District. Ozuna, Tambrey Johnson. (2011-05-12)The purpose of this study was to examine the academic performance of students who attended two years of pre-kindergarten in San Antonio Independent School District (SAISD), and to determine if there was a cost benefit for ...


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Set in a 400-year-old stone house overlooking the water, this taverna offers local cuisine, such as bougiampessa fish stew, and amazing sunset views across the harbor. Karaoli and Dimitriou 257 B; (30-2) 2310-658-985; www.boukadoura.gr.
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Home to stalagmites, stalactites, fossils, a 700,000-year-old skull and two pre-human skeletons, this cave in Goat Mountain and its accompanying archaeological museum make for an intriguing (and slightly eerie) site. (30-2) 3730-71671.
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Aaron Ofseyer is an award winning meteorologist who joined WZZM in 2011.
Aaron grew up in Dallas, Texas where he fell in love with severe weather. He would often stay up way past his bedtime listening to his weather radio following storms.
In elementary school, lightning split a 100 year old pecan tree in half, sparking a fascination with weather that continues today. To this day, he still sleeps with his weather radio.
After high school, Aaron attended the University of Hartford majoring in psychology and broadcast journalism.
Aaron studied meteorology through Mississippi State University. His forecast was awarded the prestigious seal of approval by the American Meteorological Society.
He even entertained a career in baseball after playing semi-professionally for the Detroit Tigers for a summer. But a bad elbow and genetics conspired to cut his career short. Luckily, these limitations haven't hindered his prowess on the weather wall.
When he's not forecasting, you can probably find Aaron eating cheese with his wife, two kids and two cats.
E-mail: email@example.com
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MetLife (NYSE: MET) is one of the largest insurance and financial services companies in the U.S; the company collected $26.5 billion in premiums for 2009.[1] It has a very diverse range of products and services, including many different kinds of insurance, savings plans, and retirement plans.
MetLife's main source of revenue comes from insurance premiums. The company takes the money paid by those who buy insurance policies and invests it in a number of different ways. If the return on investment (the "spread") plus the premiums is greater than the payout to policy holders, the company profits. This business model while common in the insurance industry is especially vulnerable to natural disasters and swings in the equity markets. The former in form of hurricanes, earthquakes and forest fires, can result in hundreds of millions to billions of dollars in losses in a single year. The company paid out $333 million in homeowners insurance in 2006 related to Hurricane Katrina. A poorly preforming market on the other hand can result in a loss of investment income which is often a crucial component of profitability.
Over the past several years, MetLife has focused on organic growth and cost reduction. While it has experienced some success in this area its expenses still continue to be high compared to those of the insurance industry.
The Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, MetLife, began in 1863 to insure "life and limb" with only $100,000. It has since expanded to a multi-billion dollar diverse financial institution. MetLife provides insurance and financial services for individuals and institutions throughout the US, and is currently pursuing international opportunities. Services include life, auto and home insurance, annuities, and retirement and savings planning.
In 2009, MET earned a total of $41 billion in total revenues.[1] This was a decline from its 2008 total revenues of $dsdsds51 billion. This had a negative impact on MET's net income. Between 2008 and 2009, MET's net income went from a net profit of $3.3 billion in 2008 to a net loss of $2.3 billion in 2009.
Metlife breaks its operations into four segments.
Insurance sold to businesses as group plans makes up about half of MetLife's revenue. This category includes group life insurance, retirement plans, and savings services sold to third parties, rather than directly to the customer. Insurance in this category generates less revenue per unit than individual insurance, but each plan has multiple units leading to greater overall revenue. This portion of MetLife's business has remained relatively stable over the past few years.
This is MetLife's retail department. The company sells individual life insurance plans and annuities directly to the end consumer. Although second in terms of revenue generated, this business is number one in terms of net income. It is MetLife's most profitable business. For more discussion of what might effect sales of individual policies, see the Trends and Forces section.
Although this is a smaller portion of MetLife's business, auto and home insurance are still significant to the company's profits. Plans are bought by the individual consumer, like individual insurance, but for homes and cars. A booming economy with higher sales of new cars and homes, as well as state laws mandating auto or home insurance increase revenues in this category.
MetLife has a large operation in Mexico and several businesses in Korea and Japan selling financial services. MetLife also recently acquired Travelers Life & Annuity (mid-2005) which helped to open up channels for sales in Europe. As part of its plan for further international expansion the company is targeting developing economies such as China. Typically it will "seed" these countries by offering a few services on a small scale. Based on the outcome MetLife will than make a decision to expand its service offering or shut down its operations in that country.
Due to shifting demand and inherent risk in insuring and investment, diversification is essential to provide a "buffer" for market shocks. If each business area accounts for only a small portion of a company's revenue, the effects of fluctuations will be minimized. MetLife has a very diversified mix of businesses that are[spread-based, protection-based, and fee-based. This means that it is collecting revenues through different types of plans. MetLife's subsidiaries focus on institutional businesses, retail customers, as well as global interests.
In addition to diversification of products, economies of scale are essential to success in the insurance industry by providing a large number of services companies like MetLife can spread the fixed costs of running a business, such as technology, advertising, compliance, over multiple streams of revenue.MetLife is similar in theory to a conglomerate of many small businesses which have merged in order to share an office. Each additional customer or business is less of a proportional risk, and thus expansion of MetLife's business incurs little incremental cost.
Insurance and financial companies can easily be perceived as cold and uncompassionate; Over the years, movies and news stories, about insurance companies' attempts to defraud their customers have only strengthened this portrayal. MetLife has tried to combat this image with an innovative marketing campaign involving Snoopy and the MetLife Blimp. MetLife uses characters from the Peanuts cartoon strip in many of its advertisements, creating brand recognition that is associated with warmth. In addition, the company leases two blimps, Snoopy One and Two, which fly around the country to different events throughout the year. This combination of tactics creates name recognition and urges consumers to consider managing uncertainties today rather than waiting until problems arise. Brand recognition is very important, as there can often be little else to distinguish financial service companies, and so MetLife's friendly advertising campaign is definitely an innovative way to build recognition and then loyalty.
I do agree with all of the ideas you have introduced to your post. They're relaly convincing and can definitely work. Still, the posts are very brief for starters. May just you please prolong them a bit from subsequent time? Thanks for the post.
In the insurance industry there are three main determinants of profitability: premiums collected, investment performance, and losses incurred. Increasing the amount of premiums collected equals higher revenue. This revenue can then be invested, hopefully at a profit. Each year the company has to pay claims against the premiums that it has collected. The fewer payouts a firm has in a given year, the more money remains for investment. Ironically, in some years the payouts are greater than premiums received, and the firm has to rely on its investments for profitability.
Some of MetLife's top competitors are Allstate, Progressive, and Liberty Mutual.


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Community Partnerships Events
San Luis Valley Museum Mural
The completed mural on the San Luis Valley Museum in Alamosa represents more than a year's work and centuries of San Luis Valley history. Although the mural was on the SLV Museum's exterior wall quickly, Adams State University's Community Partnerships staff worked with mural artist and ASU Art Department alumnus, Ian Wilkinson, extensively prior to his arrival. Several community outreach activities, including social networking, were organized in order to get community input into the design and concept of this public artwork. Sykpe sessions were held with Mr. Wilkinson, who now lives in Ashville, North Carolina, to explore what the community wanted from this project. ASU Community Partnerships staff, Karl Jolliff created an online survey as another means of obtaining design and concept ideas. With forty-eight responses to the survey, the overwhelming conclusion was that a representation of the entire San Luis Valley's past, present and a glimpse of what the future might hold would be the theme of the mural. The mural is intended to spark conversation and interest in exploring the San Luis Valley's history, landmarks and legends. "Ian Wilkinson's interest in the Valley was demonstrated by the countless hours he spent researching what to include in the mural" said Mary Hoffman, director of ASU Community Partnerships. Ms. Hoffman wrote the $20,000 funding proposal to the National Endowment of the Arts (NEA) after Ian Wilkinson returned to Adams State for an Art Department's Visiting Artist Lecture. The NEA is an independent federal agency that funds and promotes artistic excellence, creativity, and innovation for the benefit of individuals and communities. Adams State is eligible for NEA funding because of its excellence in the arts background, documented by its exhibit history, including community art exhibit involvement. Many local organizations provided support to meet the community NEA funding match requirement. The Alamosa Marketing District, San Luis Valley Federal, 1st Southwest Bank, The Floyd Dale Higel Family, San Luis Valley Builders, Inc. and the San Luis Valley Museum all provided support that leveraged the federal funding.
Sustainability 101 Summer 2015 Course
Over the Summer 2015 Semester, SEED Park, International and ASU Community Partnerships will be bringing a new course, Sustainability 101, to students and community members within the San Luis Valley. This class, taught by Dr. Nick Parker formerly of Texas Tech University, will empower attendees to take action and improve both their local and the global environment. Through instruction and examples of practical application, this course will grant attendees knowledge of key environmental challenges, worldwide viewpoints and proposed solutions to these challenges, and an education on how they can be a force for environmental change. It will be made available both to ASU students and to the general community. For more information, please see the syllabus or contact Karl at 719-587-8209
Southern Colorado Film Festival
The Southern Colorado Film Festival seeks to relate the unique issues of
our community in the San Luis Valley of Colorado to the world through
the medium of independent film. Building off of the successes of the
Alamosa Film Festival, this festival was organized to use the power
of film as a means of enhancing communication, enriching a sense of
community and spirit, and bringing voice to important matters from
around the world. Now in its inaugural year, it provides a venue for
independent filmmakers to showcase their work and bring their
creativity, viewpoints, and personality to a new audience.
From September 12th through the 15th in Carson Auditorium at Adams State University in Alamosa, Colorado, the Southern Colorado Film Festival will feature unique independent film programming of a variety of types covering a variety of subjects. From animations to documentaries and nature to city life, the Southern Colorado Film Festival has independent film programming to match almost any set of interests.
The 2013 Southern Colorado Film Festival will take place at Adams State University in Alamosa, CO, home to Great Sand Dunes National Park, The Rio Grande Scenic Railroad and 300 days of a sunshine a year. A town of just under 10,000, Alamosa sits in the center of the San Luis Valley, the largest high Alpine Valley in the world. With Rocky Mountain panoramas to surround it, The San Luis Valley is home to diverse stories and history that make up a dynamic and vibrant community.
In an effort to reflect the issues pertinent to both our community and communities across the globe, the festival has chosen the the theme LAND, WATER, COMMUNITY to represent this year's festival. In our rural region of Southern Colorado these concepts, both tangible and abstract, manifest as symbols of where we have come from and where we want to go.
If you have any questions feel free to email the festival at email@example.com or visit their website at socofilmfest.com.
Autumn @ Adams End of Life Panel Discussion
As part of Autumn @Adams State activities, local healthcare author and registered nurse Tom Deegan is facilitating a panel discussion Monday evening, September 9th. This discussion, titled End of Life… the Practicalities, will feature a panel of experts from many perspectives of caring for people at the end of their life. The panel includes:
- ICU Charge Nurse, Lauriann Blakeman, BSN
- Bill Brinton, MD, internal medicine physician, LTC Medical Director
- Crestone End of Life Project founder, William Howell
- Director, Hospice Del Valle, Helen Lester, MSN
- Robert Mabry, SLV Health pharmacist, trained in palliative care
- Neil Rudolph, Professor Emeritus, Adams State University
This presentation is free and open to the public, and anyone with an interest in learning more about end of life care is encouraged to attend. The discussion will start at 7PM on Monday, September 9th, in McDaniel Hall Room 101.
With changes about to unfold due to The Affordable Care Act, commonly referred to as "Obamacare", Adams State University Community Partnerships is facilitating a "Talk Straight with Adams State" forum around the issue. This upcoming forum and panel discussion will get behind the headlines and look at how the Affordable Care Act will impact citizens here in the San Luis Valley. The panel will include Gigi Darricades, CEO of Valleywide Health Systems, Inc; Tom Deegan, Registered Nurse and author of Healthcare: A View from the Trenches; Reginaldo Garcia, PhD. UCD, Rocky Mt. Prevention Research Center; Russ Johnson, CEO of the SLV Regional Medical Center; Cindy Palmer, CEO of SLV HMO; Marguerite Salazar, Regional Director for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; Armando Valdez, Professor of Healthcare Administration , ASU. The audience will have this rare opportunity to have their questions answered by this panel of experts.
This forum will be held on Saturday, April 13th, 2013, from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m in McDaniel Hall Room 101. Attendance is free.
Go here to submit your questions for our panel ahead of time.
Art for Endangered Landscapes Starting
November 30th and lasting through December, ASU Community Partnerships and the San Luis Valley Ecosystem Council will host an art exhibit celebrating the sanctity and fragility of the San Luis Valley's land. This exhibit will feature works from David Montgomery, Randy Pijoan, Evelyn Sprouse Rowe, Perla Kopeloff, and many, many more. Through a wide variety of mediums, the artists featured in this exhibit depict the landscape surrounding the site of a proposed development in Rio Grande County, capturing the beauty held. A portion of the sales of artwork from this exhibit will benefit the SLV Ecosystem Council.
Everyone is welcome to attend this exhibit, held at the ASU Community Partnerships' gallery at the corner of Main Street and Edgemont in Alamosa Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. An opening reception will be held on Friday, November 30th, from 4-6 p.m., at which many of the artists will be present and refreshments will be served.
Sacred Ground
Democracy School
Be the first in our community to attend this nationally offered program from the author of "Be the Change: How to Get What You Want in Your Community"
Project Director Thomas Linzey will teach participants their rights in working with government agencies to protect the environmental integrity of their area. This workshop will cover the history of people's movements and corporate power, as well as exploring the abilities of citizens to confront corporations and their governments.
This class will be held Saturday and Sunday, September 8th and 9th, in Room McDaniel 101 on ASU Campus. It will be from 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. on the 8th, and 1:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m. on the 9th. College credit is available for ASU Students. The registration fee for non-students is $125. This program is sponsored by ASU Community Partnerships, the SLV Ecosystem Council, and Autumn @ Adams.An additional free workshop will be held on Monday, September 10th, starting at 7:00 p.m. in McDaniel 101. This workshop will be open to the general public, and everyone interested in local environmental matters is welcome to attend.
EPA San Luis Basin Pilot Study Meeting
ASU Community Partnerships will host the EPA's San Luis Basin Sustainability team as they discuss the next phase of this national pilot project on May 16th. The project started in 2007, when a team of EPA professionals from a variety of disciplines began the three year study in order to develop a computer tool that measures the rate in which a community moves towards or away from sustainability.
The next phase of the project will be to develop the metrics further so that it will serve as a predictive futures model for community leaders to use when making decisions. Dr. Herb Cabezas, Chief, Sustainable Environments Branch of the EPA's Cincinnati, Ohio's office will update the community on the San Luis Basin Sustainability Project. This meeting is free and open to the community. It will be held on May 16th, noon-2pm at ASU Community Partnerships (corner of Main St. and Edgemont Blvd. in Alamosa, Colorado). For more information, please call ASU Community Partnerships at (719)587-8209. Light refreshments will be available.
SEED Park, International Holds Public Meeting to Brief Valley on Upcoming Events
Sustainable Environmental and Economic Development (SEED) Park, International is an organization working to establish a zero-waste industrial park in the San Luis Valley. The core concept of the Park is to create sustainability through use of self-generated energy and by-product utilization. This Park will provide new economic opportunity for local residents with minimum environmental impact.
This business development park will serve as a pilot project, spawning other such Ag-business industrial parks around the globe. A public meeting will be held covering SEED's recent and planned activities towards this goal, and their application for a zone change of Alamosa County property, east of Alamosa.
This meeting will be held on Friday, May 11th, 2012 starting at 7:00 p.m. in the Adams State Community Partnerships building, on the corner of Main Street and Edgemont in Alamosa. Any interested person or party is welcome to attend. For questions, please contact Karl at 719.587.8209.
The Lone Ranger Casting Call at Adams State
In conjunction with the Southern Colorado Film Commission, ASU Community Partnerships is proud to welcome Sande Alessi Casting to the San Luis Valley as they seek extras for the remake of The Lone Ranger movie starring Johnny Depp. The casting company will be at the ASU Theatre in Alamosa on Sunday, March 25th, 2012 from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., seeking males to be background performers in the feature film.
Those interested in applying to be extras should show up at the ASU Theatre on the above date and times. Only males who are at least 18 years old and legal to work in the United States will be accepted. All applicants should bring a pen or pencil, a valid ID, and a current color 3 x 5 photo - without wigs, makeup or sunglasses and shot from the waist up. You should also be prepared to provide your social security number. There's no need to get ready for an interview, the casting company just wants to meet you, then have you fill out a small registration card with your information.
For directions to Adams State, please see here. If you have any questions, please contact Mary at (719) 587-7372.
Steel Magnolia Book Signing
Soft spoken Dorothy Brandt lied about her age to serve our country during WWII. Motivated to be part of something bigger than herself, Dorothy slept on the doorstep of the Charlotte, North Carolina Army Recruiter's office at age 16 in order to enlist first thing one February morning in 1944. Dorothy still remembers the feeling of patriotism she had then, that she shared with so many other people. Dorothy tells of the friendships she formed and the world the Army opened up to her. Dorothy excelled in the Armed Forces, achieving the rank of Sergeant, which was unheard of, for a woman, during that time.
Recently, Dorothy developed a book that tells her story, along with other underage women veterans entitled: "America's Youngest Women Warriors." The stories not only serve to honor veterans, but also to demonstrate that women can achieve anything they put their minds to. To provide a time period perspective, select stories from the book will be read by teenage girls, of the age at which many of these women enlisted in WWII. Dorothy and guests will also be featured on KRZA radio's "Spoken Word" Sunday, March 11th at 5pm.
ASU Community Partnerships will be hosting Dorothy Brandt's book discussion and signing Thursday, March 1st from 5-6pm (corner of Main Street and Edgemont Blvd. in Alamosa, Colorado). Please join us for some apple pie and a glimpse of women veteran stories from the 1940's. Call 719-587-8209 for more information.
Oil and Gas Drilling: A Winning Proposition of a Risk We Can't Afford to Take?
The San Luis Valley could become the next site for oil and gas drilling. Find out what that means to property owners and residents by attending the Community Partnerships Talk Straight to Adams State panel discussion "Oil and Gas Drilling: A Winning Proposition or A Risk We Can't Afford to Take?", starting on Saturday, October 15th at noon in the Adams State Theatre Building.
The event will include information tables, a welcome by Adams State President Dave Svaldi, fracking videos and an overview of the event by Dr. Marty Jones, professor of chemistry. Key note speakers include Lance Astrella, Travis Yee, and Gilbert Armenta will start at 1pm with a panel discussion following, allowing for audience interaction. Astrella concentrates his practice in the area of energy and environmental matters. He has been a member of the State Bars of Colorado and California since 1974. He received his bachelor's degrees in chemistry and economics from California State University at Chico, a master's degree in economics from the University of California at Davis, and his doctorate of jurisprudence degree from the University of the Pacific– McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento. Astrella is a frequent speaker on energy and related environmental matters and he is often associated as counsel by other law firms which seek his expertise. He was named as one of Colorado's "Super Lawyers" in 2007. Yee recently graduated from Colorado School of Mines with a bachelor's in economics and a masters in international political economy of natural resources. His education has been focused around the study of natural resource economics and social licensure. Yee began work with COGA in November last year being the purveyor of information of all things oil and gas related to those within industry, legislators, and communities. Recognizing the controversy surrounding oil and natural gas, Yee is also a seeker and lover of balanced data, studies, and discussion. Like any other industrial process, the extraction of oil and gas is not without its faults, but it is also not without its benefits, which are certainly plentiful. Working for an oil and gas trade group has taught Yee the value of fair and balanced discussion in this ever increasingly polarized world. His activities principally focus on researching and staying alert on upstream activities. Armenta, a fifth generation Hispanic and Native American (Cochiti) rancher, has lived with the industry in his backyard for more than half a century in Bloomfield, New Mexico. Armenta is featured in the movie "Split Estate." After struggling for years to protect his ranch and family, things got even worse. A drilling boom accelerates the number of wells going in on his property. One day, Armenta came home to find a port-a-potty and a huge pile of gravel on top of a small cemetery near his house where his great grandfather and eight other family members are buried. The event will include music by Wildwood Sounds. Key note speakers will join other panel members, from a variety of perspectives, including Christine Canaly, San Luis Valley Ecosystem Council director; Gopa Ross, La Veta property owner, and Sierra Club director; Dr. Ed Lyell, Adams State professor of finance and economics. For more information contact Community Partnerships at 719-587-8209.
Gasland Filming and Director Presentation
On Tuesday, September 6th, Community Partnerships, Grizzly Activity
Board, Rio Grande Watch Dogs and the Southern Colorado Film Commission
will be hosting Josh Fox, winner of a 2010 Sundance documentary award, for
his movie "Gasland" The movie is about the largest domestic natural gas
drilling boom that is sweeping the United States.
Screening starts at noon in Carson Auditorium (at the Student Union Building) on Tuesday, September 6, 2011. Josh Fox, himself, will talk about his movie after the film screening. This event is free and open to the public. The Student Union Building is located on First Street in Alamosa, between Edgemont Blvd. and Richardson Ave., right next to the stoplight. Parking will be available for this even in the lot just north of the building, as well as in the parking lot next to the Nielsen Library.
Community Partnerships Hosts Recycle Runway Fashion Workshop
Renowned artist and environmental educator Nancy Judd is coming to Adams State. Ms. Judd created Recycle Runway to further the use of re-purposed materials and found objects in couture fashion. Her elegant recycled fashion designs have been commissioned by companies such as Delta Air Lines®, Coca-Cola® and Target ®. Ms. Judd's work has been featured in the Wall Street Journal. On October 21st she will provide a free and open to the public presentation of her work at 1pm at the ASU Art Dept. Room 227. A hands-on workshop that requires application by Sept. 9th, 2011 will follow. Entrants will be accepted into this workshop only by application. Community Partnerships is offering a limited number of scholarships to attend the Recycle Runway workshop (valued at $150). Clothing designer Nancy Judd will provide guidance and hands-on feedback to participants. Participants must be committed to creating an outfit primarily constructed of inorganic, previously used material for Community Partnerships' November Recycle Fashion Show. Selection of participants will be based on the following criteria: 1) commitment to complete an outfit made from discarded material 2) outfit concept 3) creative use of material. Applicants will be notified of the results of their application via email by Sept. 12th, 2011 Workshops will be held: every other Wednesday from noon to 1pm at Community Partnerships (corner of Main St & Edgemont Blvd) starting September 14th. Questions? call (719) 587-8227
On Tuesday, April 12th, starting at 6:00 pm at the ASU Community Partnerships building , the ASU English Department and ASU Community Partnerships will be proud to host author and San Luis Valley native Terry Marshall as he goes on tour promoting his new novel, Soda Springs: Love, Sex, and Civil Rights. The book is set in 1963, in a fictional town located inside a familiar mountain valley in southern Colorado. The novel features illustrations from former Alamosa resident and ASU Alumnus Chuck Asay. The Alamosa installment of this book tour will feature Mr. Marshall meeting with San Luis Valley residents and giving them a quick look at his new book through a series of readings.
Author Terry Marshall calls Soda Springs "the untold story of America's turbulent civil rights years: the Mexican-American struggle for justice. It confronts those topics our mothers told us to steer clear of in polite company: sex . . . religion . . . politics . . . racial conflict." The story in a nutshell: after a hormone-driven college guy, Rick Sanders, fails to sell Martin Luther King's civil rights message to his backwater hometown, he plunges unwittingly into a bare-knuckle battle for Mexican-American equality. In the process Rick teams up with a sexy soul mate and finds shattered dreams, rejection, and finally, love.
In the year Soda Springs is set, King led the controversial children's crusade in Birmingham, Alabama, that made national headlines when the police sicced dogs on Negro protestors, and firemen blasted them with high pressure fire hoses. It was also the year of King's famous "I Have a Dream" speech. Both events play important roles in Marshall's novel.
Published by Friesen Press, Soda Springs: Love, Sex, and Civil Rights is available in hardcover, paperback, and e-book editions from Amazon.com, the author's website, or the publisher's website. Excerpts, background information, and photos not included in the book may be found on the author's website: www.TerryMarshallFiction.com.
Indiana Jones Autographed Poster Raffle
Green Home Design 2011
The Southern Colorado Film Commission is holding a raffle for an Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade movie poster, signed by the film's star, Harrison Ford.
Raffle tickets will be available until April 1st at select locations, including Community Partnerships, and the Gator Farm. The Raffle will be held on Friday, April 1st, during the reception for the Filming in the Valley exhibit from 4-6 p.m. at Community Partnerships. This benefit raffle is supported and sponsored by the Monte Vista Chamber of Commerce, Ski Hi 6 Theaters, Colorado Gators, and Community Partnerships.
This poster is being raffled in conjunction with the Filming in the Valley exhibit currently being held in the Community Partnerships Gallery on Adams State campus. This exhibit features behind the scenes photography from films that had been shot in the San Luis Valley in the past, such as Where the Hell's That Gold? starring Willie Nelson and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade starring Harrison Ford and more recent productions such as "What if" and "The Unstoppable Tour".
This raffle is held to benefit the Southern Colorado (SoCo)Film Commission, an organization that is supported and incubated by Community Partnerships. The Film Commission is comprised of local economic development groups and business owners, and seeks to bring more activity from the film industry to the San Luis Valley. The Southern Colorado Film Commission has brought both standard television shows, such as Spike TV's What If? to the San Luis Valley, as well as internet programs, such as EAS Sport's Unstoppable Tour.
They've also been instrumental in getting the San Luis Valley considered by major motion pictures. Film production has an immediate positive economic impact within the community and helps support long term tourism.
For the third year running, San Luis Valley contracting company Natural Power and Adams State are presenting a workshop series teaching proper techniques and methods when building an environmentally friendly building. These workshops give participants a firm grasp on the basics of energy efficient home design, and provide a great foundation for anyone wanting to enter the green construction industry, anyone who's interested in making their current home more energy efficient, or anyone who would one day like to build a home of their own. This class covers a wide variety of topics, and includes hands-on lessons and home tours in addition to lectures, giving students a practical education on building their home.
This course will cover topics such as use of solar energy, conservation of energy and water, straw bale and adobe housing, and retrofitting an existing home among many others. The class is available to both SLV community members and students currently registered with Adams State. ASU students may take the class for credit by registering for it through the college (Green Home Design, ID 179, CRN 13153). Community members may register for the class, without college credit, by contacting Karl Jolliff at 587-8209, or email@example.com. Community members can take the course as a whole for the discounted price of $275.00, saving $100, or may take the classes individually. Individual courses will cost $35.00 for each lecture, or $60.00 for each hands-on lesson and home tour. Classes will be held every other Saturday, starting January 22nd, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., with a break in March for Spring Break.
The course will be taught by Chuck Reel, owner of Natural Power. To register for the course, or if you have any questions, please contact Karl Jolliff at 587-8209 of email@example.com.
Cultural Awareness/Global Business
Men & Women in the 21st Century must use their understanding of cultural customs and traditions, cultural etiquette and proper use of gestures to establish and maintain international business partnerships.
Yusri is presently a professor at the School of Business at Adams. He has lived and worked in many regions of the world and has found his knowledge of and respect for these various cultures an asset to his careers. As an electrical engineer, a micro-financing consultant, an international corporate banker, and as an instructor; including having to adapt to the United States' traditions and cultures in order to live and work here. Yusri has shared his experiences numerous times at universities and colleges and includes this global understanding when teaching his students international business and finance courses.
Allison has also lived and worked internationally. Her work as a K-12 VI teacher, and an internationally known artist, the founder and president of the VISG, a support group for people with low vision in Jordan, her work with the Royal Family to assist people with disabilities and as the Jordanian Delegate to Retina International. Through her various work Allison has learned ways to break through cultural barriers. She has found that without an understanding of the culture and traditions/customs it is impossible to build a lasting working relationship.
As new comers to Alamosa, we look forward to meeting you. We hope you will enjoy our presentation; we encourage you to share your ideas and experiences regarding cultural awareness by sharing stories about your own cultural mishaps and misunderstanding.
This cultural awareness workshop will be held at the Community Partnerships building on Friday, October 8th, from 5:30 -7:00 p.m. A second workshop will be held at the San Luis Valley Museum on Sunday, October 10th, from 1:00 - 3:00 p.m.
'Sustaining Our Natural Resources' Presentations
Community Partnerships is hosting an afternoon of presentations from community environmental organizations. The afternoon will feature presentations from the SLV Energy Coordinator, S.E.E.D. Park, International, EarthNest Institute and Wandering Dog Films.
Wednesday, September 1st, 2010
Porter Hall 130, ASU
3 p.m.-8 p.m.
3:00: SLV Energy Coordinator Jeanna Puluzzi on the Governor's Energy Office Main Street Energy Initiative
5:00: S.E.E.D. Park International on the status of their Sustainable Economic and Environmental Development Park project.
7:00: EarthNest Institute and Wandering Dog Films on their plans for a documentary series of SLV water stories.
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade Benefit Filming
One of the San Luis Valley's claims to fame is the 1989 filming of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade in the Valley. The movie put the Valley's beautiful scenery on the map and provided residents of Antonio story material to tell children and grandchildren about the day Steven Spielberg and Harrison Ford came to town. The railway scenes in the movie were filmed on the Cumbres & Toltec train. In celebration of Cumbres & Toltec's 40th Anniversary, Ski Hi 6 Theatres, Alamosa Chamber, ASU Community Partnerships and Southern Colorado (SoCo) Film Commission are joining forces to create a fun filled evening that will include the viewing of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.
The night will start with a reception at the Grove Theatre in downtown Alamosa. Dress up like one of the characters in the movie for the reception and you might win a dinner for two at a local restaurant! Or win one of several door prizes just for showing up. Scenes from the Valley will be on display at the reception so that the observant can easily identify areas shot in the Valley.
Insider production information will be shared at the reception which starts at 5:30pm. Movie starts at 7:30pm at Ski Hi 6 Theatres in Alamosa, Colorado, August 26th. Limited tickets are available, so call or stop by Community Partnerships, the Alamosa Chamber, or 1911 Hotel in Antonito to pick up your commemoratory tickets. Cost is just $25 per ticket (includes movie and all reception events). All proceeds will go to SoCo Film Commission's effort to bring more film production to the San Luis Valley. Call Alamosa Chamber at (719) 589-3681 for more details.
Green Home Design Course
Have you ever wanted to make your home more environmentally friendly? Will you be building a home in the future, and want to know how you can save on energy costs? SLV-based green home contractor Natural Power, in conjunction with Adams State Community Partnerships are presenting a series of classes and workshops teaching environmentally friendly home design that just may interest you. The classes and workshops are available to college students as well as community members not registered with the college. Each class session may be taken individually, without signing up for the full course. Workshops (all workshops will last from 10a.m.-4p.m., and will be held in room School of Business 142, except for the Apr. 10th workshop, which will be held in room School of Business 238) The course as a whole may be taken (non-credit) for $275. Prices next to workshops only apply if taken individually. For more information, please call Karl Jolliff at 587-8209.
Community Partnerships hosts Jewelry Exhibit
ASU Community Partnerships will be hosting the debut of the San Luis Valley Jewelry Exhibit to kick off their 2010 community art exhibits. The Exhibit will run from Monday, January 11 through Thursday, January 28, 2010.
The Valley Jewelry Exhibit will feature the work of local jewelry makers from the San Luis Valley. A wide range of jewelry metal smiths and bead artists will be highlighted, including copper, gold and silver metal smithing, along with antique and unique beading. The Exhibit is also an inaugural event and outreach opportunity for members of a newly formed jewelry networking organization. The purpose of the group is to increase sales opportunities, share resources and ideas, and learn from one another as a jewelry guild.
Come visit the Valley Jewelry Exhibit, learn more about the work done by jewelers in the Valley, and receive more information about the jewelry organization. All are invited to the Exhibit Reception on Thursday, January 14, 2010 from 4pm to 6pm at Community Partnerships; the event is open and free to all. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday, 9am to 5pm. The Exhibit and Reception are located at Community Partnerships on the Adams State campus at the corner of Main Street and Edgemont Blvd in Alamosa, CO. Call 587.8227 with questions.
Holiday Crafts Show
ASU Community Partnerships welcomes you to celebrate the season without breaking the bank. A wide variety of locally produced, affordable gifts are available for purchase. All items are less than $50. The show is open December 1st-18th, from 9-5.


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For more information about National Park Service air resources, please visit https://www.nature.nps.gov/air/.
Air Quality at Yosemite National Park
What's in the Air?
Most visitors who come to national parks expect clean air and clear views. However, Yosemite National Park (NP), California, experiences some of the worst air pollution of any national park in the U.S. The park is downwind of many air pollution sources, including agriculture, industry, major highways, and urban pollutants from as far away as the San Francisco Bay Area. Air pollutants carried into the park can harm natural and scenic resources such as forests, soils, streams, fish, and visibility.
How is air pollution affecting Yosemite National Park?
- Ground-level ozone in the park often reaches levels harmful to plants; ozone levels also exceed human health standards at times. more »
- Nitrogen and sulfur in air pollution are carried by rain and snow into park ecosystems causing changes to high elevation lakes and streams. more »
- Airborne mercury and pesticides deposit on park lands and waters, potentially accumulating in fish to levels harmful to wildlife and human health. more »
- Fine particles of air pollution, often a result of fire and smoke, cause haze in the park, affecting how well and how far visitors can see vistas and landmarks. Fine particle levels also exceed human health standards at times. more »
What is the National Park Service doing about air pollution at the park?
- Monitoring nitrogen, sulfur, ozone, mercury, fine particles, and haze to assess status and trends. more »
- Evaluating the impacts of air pollution on park ecosystems. more »
- Working with federal, state, and local agencies, industry, and public interest groups to develop strategies to reduce air pollution and protect and restore park resources. The NPS also reviews plans for development that may increase air pollution in national parks. more »
- Using an environmentally friendly alternative fuel vehicle fleet and the free Yosemite Shuttle hybrid bus system for park visitors, reducing the number of vehicles on some of the busiest roads in the park. Learn more about the steps Yosemite NP is taking as part of the Climate Friendly Parks program.
Featured Content
Pollutants including ozone, nitrogen, mercury, and fine particles affect resources such as forests, streams, and scenic vistas. Find out how on our Yosemite NP Air Pollution Impacts web page.
Studies and monitoring help the NPS understand the environmental impacts of air pollution. Access air quality data and see what is happening with Studies and Monitoring at Yosemite NP.
Related Links
Last Updated: February 03, 2016


text: The Maguire MGF Series gravimetric device for feeding colorants and additives into plastics processing machines has a new modular design that increases production "uptime" while continuing to be more accurate and no more costly than conventional volumetric feeders. The improved design increases uptime (time spent in production rather than changing colors or jobs) by making it possible to remove all main feeder components separately. The basic concept of the MGF feeder is still the same: use of load cells to accurately monitor the loss-in-weight of colorant in the hopper as the material is fed into the processing machine by an auger. But now the only component mounted on the load cell is the hopper, and this is readily removable from the device, as are the auger, the auger tube, the motor, and the load cell bracket. As a result, it is easier and faster to access components for cleanout or servicing. Maguire Products Inc., Aston, PA 610-459-4300 www.maguire.com