text:
I've entitled the message, Portraits of Two Women. I thought about all different kinds of titles but that's the one I settled on. I'ts inoffensive in any way shape or form. The two women we're going to talk about one is transfigured and the other is disfigured. And I thought I could have spoken on figures of women but someone may have misunderstood. So we're going to call it portraits of two women and, you know, save ourselves from any embarrassment. A transfigured woman and a disfigured woman or if you will, a liberated woman and an enslaved one. And today, particularly we're going to talk about a lady that I call Lydia the liberated lady. And next Sunday we'll get to the second one.
Now these two women that we're going to meet today are opposites. One of them is godly and one of them is Satanic. One of them is liberated, one of them is enslaved. One of them belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ, one of them does not. And really they are mirrors of every woman. For to one degree or another every woman fits in to the Lydia category or the category of the maid who had a spirit of divination. There are only two kinds of women in the world, you know that don't you, liberated ones and enslaved ones. For that matter there are only two kinds of men in the world, liberated men and enslaved men.
Now let's back up a little bit in our study, just so we can get a feeling for what's happening in the text. For a while Paul and Silas on this the second missionary tour, must have had the feeling that the Spirit of God was practicing on the word 'no'. Because no matter which direction they desired to go they were stopped by the Holy Spirit. Now let me just help you by letting you look at the map for a moment. Over here off the map in this area is Jerusalem and they had come north, they had come from Antioch which is in the outside of the map area and they had progressed on the second missionary tour, Paul and Silas, and they had come to Galatia where Paul and Barnabas had come on the first tour. And you'll remember that the first time around Paul and Barnabas founded churches, in fact, they came this way, they came through Paphos on the isle of Cyprus, they came up and through this way. But on this journey they came backwards and so they came to the churches that had already been founded at Derbe, Lystra, Iconium and Antioch in the area known as Pisidia. And they had there strengthened the believers, believing that the priority in evangelism is strong Christians who will reproduce themselves. We covered that last week. Well having accomplished the conformation or the strengthening of the Galatian Christians they then desired to go further west and conquer some new territory for the cause of Christ. Now it seemed very natural to progress immediately west into an area known as Asia. Now this was Asia Minor. It was divided into several sections and we'll consider the section of Mysia in a moment but the whole area there is called Asia Minor. And so Paul's concern, let's go to Asia, great cities there, Philadelphia, Sardis, Thyatira, Pergamum or Pergamum, Smyrna, Ephesus these great cities that really became strong holds, for the gospel and later on became known in the book of Revelation as the churches of the Revelation. So he wanted to go west he couldn't go east. Why? He'd already been there. He couldn't go south. Water. He figured west and the greatest and the finest of the provinces was Asia and so he thought we'll just go there and work the gospel into Asia but it says in verse 6, notice it in chapter 16, "That the Holy Spirit forbid them to preach the Word in Asia." The Holy Spirit somehow shut the door. Now we don't have any specifics how He did that but it was done. Well that left them only one way to go, you can't go south, you can't go east you can't go west you go north. So they said, Aha, God is leading us to Bithynia which was another area to the north. And so they figured, - We'll press to Bithynia. The Holy Spirit had something to say about that in verse 7, "The Holy Spirit allowed them not." So the Holy Spirit had slammed every door. Now the average Joe Christian would have crumpled in a heap here and gone and bought a book at the local Christian bookstore on suffering. He would have no idea of what was next. He knew he couldn't go up or down and everything else was closed. But if you understand something of the persistence of Paul, you will know that he managed to wiggle a fine line between Bithynia and Asia and go along like that. And here was the persistence of a man that made him what he was. And in a sense we may believe that God actually closed all the visible doors in order to prove the faithfulness and the determination of this man Paul which would make him, really, the kind of man that God was really going to use. And it's a great thing for us, you know, when you see doors slam, keep moving that may be God's test of your faithfulness and out of that test may grow your capacity to do the job that really needs to be done. If you find yourself balking and folding when the first door closes it may be that you'll never see much of a door again after that. But if you're persistent as they were God will open some marvelous things.
Well, they kind of wiggled a tightrope and they went through the northern part, Mysia, it indicates that in verse 8, they came through Mysia to the little place called Troas which is located right there on the map. Now Troas was named Alexander Troas for Alexander, Alexander the Great. It was a town that became somewhat well-known, ten miles away from Troas was the city of Troy and I'm sure we're all aware of Trojans which comes from that.
Now this particular place had been a Greek city, a free Greek city until Caesar Augustus made it a Roman Colony. So Troas became a Roman Colony. This whole territory along the coast there on the eastern seaboard of the Aegean Sea was very famous. Helen of Troy, the great heroes of the Trojan War, Homer, Pythagoras, Hippocrates, Thales, Heraclitus a lot of very, very famous Greek names came from that area there. It was as Greek really as the land of Greece just across the Aegean Sea. It had been saturated and infiltrated by these Greek people. All right, so they arrived at Troas, well there's water next. Now what do we do? But having proven the faithfulness of their own commission and having really shown God persistence, God immediately gave them direction in verse 9. "A vision appeared to Paul. He saw a Macedonian man" perhaps he recognized him because of his attire or maybe the man said he was from Macedonia, apart from what he did say. "He said, Come over into Macedonia and help us." There was the call of God in a dream, in a vision, at night. And here they were at Troas, Paul was there, Silas was there, Timothy was there remember they had picked up Timothy, and one other fellow joined them there. You remember who it was? It was Luke. You say, - Where does it say that? In verse 10, his name isn't there but listen, "And after he had seen the vision, immediately", what's the next word? "We". who wrote the book of Acts? Luke, that's the first of the 'we's' in the book of Acts. Here, somehow, Luke joins up. Now we don't know the circumstances. We do know that Luke was a doctor, he was a physician, and it may have been that Paul had one of his chronic ailments act up in Troas and they managed to find a local doctor. When this local doctor plugged into Paul they had a house physician from then on because he went with them. But here, apparently, Luke joins up and it becomes a 'we' so the author is indicating himself in the situation.
Well from Troas, the call of God - Go to Macedonia. Now that's fantastic, because, you see, that's the first step into Europe and the gospel is moving into Europe. Now it may have been that a trickling of the gospel had gotten to Rome before, we don't know, it's possible but here's the first great movement at least generated by the Apostle Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles. And so the call of God is to extend the gospel to Macedonia.
Now Macedonia is a territory that is commonly today called Greece, it's this area, it was a part of it then, it's all really included in Greece now. And the gospel had now ceased to be a middle-eastern cult and had invaded Europe at its outpost in Macedonia. Macedonia, incidently, came under the power of Philip of Macedon, remember that Philip of Macedon was the father of Alexander the Great. And so from Macedonia, at one time, the rule of the world took place under Philip and Alexander. By now, though, it had become simply a Roman province but in it there were some great cities, Philippi, Thessalonica and down here was Athens and Corinth. So it was a very formidable area.
Now notice in verse 10 that when the vision had come there was no wasted time, immediately when they arrived at Troas God gave them the vision and I love what it says in verse 11, Therefore it's consequential to the call of God that immediately a means is provided to fill it out. Look, "Therefore, loosing from Troas", now the word loosing means to set sail. God never gave a call without providing a boat, do you understand that? God never asks somebody to do something without a vehicle to do it. It's a marvelous thing, but when the door opens you'll find the way right there ready. It's exciting. Now notice something further, "Loosing from Troas, as we came with a straight course", now that's unusual. They sailed on a straight course and notice that they had a middle stop there to Samothrace, here's Samothrace, this little island marked in red right there, it's pretty well half-way between Troas and Neapolis. And Neapolis up here is the Port of Philippi, ten miles inland to Philippi, they were going to Neapolis but they stopped at Samothrace which is this island that juts 5,000 feet in the air, it's a mountain coming out of the sea. And it's a nice little stopover place. So they stopped there for the night, "and the next day they proceeded to Neapolis", and were taken off the boat and, of course, they walked to Philippi. But it's a tremendous thing to note at the end of verse 11 it says, "That they went on a straight course to Samothracia and the next day to Neapolis. That only took two days. The return trip took five days. And so we conclude that the sea and the wind was favorable. And again without spiritualizing it let me remind you that when God opens the door, the boat is ready and the winds are favorable. When it's time to move then God really moves, see. There they were two days later landing at Neapolis, the soil was European soil. And the gospel had landed at the outpost of actual European control of the Roman Empire. Well, it's an exciting thing. Well, immediately upon hitting Philippi, they, of course, walked to Philippi, they met two women.
The first two that are pointed out in the ministry of Paul and Silas in Macedonia were these two women in particular. Now let me say that these two women, as I said, mirror for us ah - all women in one sense or another because everybody fits into these categories even men. I couldn't help but think in reference to this message to the subject of Women's Lib which has so dominated our thoughts. And I'm not going to bore you with all my thoughts about it, just a few of them. It's amazing to me that the world and all of these people who are talking about liberation haven't got the faintest idea of what liberation is. The idea that liberation is going to work, putting your kids in a day-care center, better yet, having abortions whenever you want, that liberation is being free to fool around sexually with anybody you want, liberation is blatant lesbianism where you join a group and put on a parade, that liberation is shirking the responsibilities of the home, that liberation is violating the God-given patterns of love and submission, that is ridiculous. That is not liberation. What these people are really doing is exchanging one kind of human bondage for a worse kind. The women who are always wanting everything that men have, who ever said that men were liberated? That isn't liberation. You know, what they're really doing is like the prisoner who exchanged cells and thought he got released. That is not liberation. They're exchanging one kind of slavery for a different kind. But down deep I think they soon discover that what they really want is the flight of the soul. They want the soul to be free to transcend the bondage that they'll never transcend. So they buy Jonathan Livingston Seagull and they try to learn to practice so they can fly 240 miles an hour, spiritually. That's why that book sells because it's a seagull who goes beyond the capacities of seagulls, flies 240 miles an hour, that's what people want to do, they want to fly beyond the situation in which they are caught. And all this talk about liberation is a terrible mirror of the fact that people are prisoners, they just have different cells they're in. There's no way out. I'll tell you something. We're going to meet a liberated lady named Lydia. And you know what happened to her when she got liberated? When she got liberated her liberation was content to be what God designed her to be and that's being liberated. You are liberated when you are free to accept yourself with full acceptance as God designed you to be. That's being free.
And Lydia, the liberated lady, was free. There's only one kind of liberation and Jesus put it this way, He said, "Ye shall know the truth and" what? "The truth shall make you free." There's no other liberation. Paul said, "Stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ has made you", what? "Free" There's only one kind of liberation. And if a person really wants to be liberated then he comes to Jesus Christ, he is liberated from sin and death and Satan and hell and he's free to accept all the eternal blessings of God and to accept himself as God made him and be content to be what God designed him to be, that's liberation.
Now, I want us to look at these two ladies. First of all the transfigured woman. Next week the disfigured woman. A transfigured woman. Look at this dear lady and we'll have to kind of work up to it at the end of verse 12; "...we were in the city abiding certain days." Now notice that this was the city of Philippi, a chief city of that part of Macedonia and a colony. Now the 'a chief city', protos or leading city, the definite article is not there or it would better be translated a chief city or the leading city, this is a very important city. We don't know all of the aspects of its importance but he indicated here that it was important. One of the reasons it was important was it was located on what was called the Egnatian Highway, starts with an 'El. Now the Egnatian Highway was one of those massive Roman accomplishments, it was a road 490 miles long. Now that would have been built by hand. The Roman had - The Romans had built this road as a military access to the east. It ran from the western coast of Macedonia on the Adriatic Sea to across Macedonia to the Aegean Sea up and then right across the top area there and it went right through Philippi. So Philippi was a very important area. It was an area where there was much traffic and trade and military movement. Incidentally that road was built in about 146 B.C. Another footnote on that, if you took the Egnatian west you'd finally hit the Adriatic Sea. You take a boat across the Adriatic Sea and it would connect up with another road in Italy called the Appian Way which you may be familiar with. Well, that was one long extension of highway just separated by two of those little, that little sea the Adriatic and the Aegean. And so they were well-known geographical areas.
Now notice that it says it was a colony, verse 12. That is the only city in the book of Acts which is called a colony. There are six colonies mentioned but this is the only one called a colony. You say, - Well, what's a Roman colony? Well a Roman colony was really ruled, in a sense, very loosely by the Roman Government. And incidentally, the fall of the Roman Empire came because they were too generous. If you're going to hold an Empire together it's going to have to be run by a dictator. That's why Nebuchadnezzar's Empire was so strong because he ran it with a rod of iron. And that's why in the Kingdom when Jesus rules He's going to rule the same way, central authority. Whenever you divide the authority up you get iron and clay mixed like the image of Daniel and that was the fall of the Roman Empire. Well they allowed these colonies to have three things; first of all libertas which meant self-government, secondly, immunatas which meant that they didn't pay tribute to the Emperor and thirdly eosatalicum which meant they had the rights of Roman citizens. Well they were so generous in giving them these things that they really became like a little Rome. And every city was ruled by guys called praetors or magistrates, they were the head mucky-mucks and under them was a group of people called lectors which were police and they walked around with clubs beating up the people the magistrates told them to hit. Now in verse 22 it says they did it to Paul and Silas, the magistrates, you know, caught Paul and Silas there and we'll find out about that next week and they commanded the lectors to beat them with their little rods. So really this was kind of imitating the Roman pattern and Ephesus was like a little Rome.
Well, here was the gospel landing in a little piece of Rome. You say, Boy, I'll bet they make a dent in that town. What do they do? Well, they didn't do anything, first of all. Verse 12 says they just hung around for a few days. You say, - What are they waiting for? Ah, my personal belief is they're waiting for Saturday. Why? Saturday was the Sabbath. When Paul went into a town where did he first go? The synagogues. Now he went to the synagogues, I told you, for several reasons, one reason - he went to the Jews first because if he went to the Gentiles the Jews would never take him. So he went to them first. Number-two, he went to the Jews because they would have a hearing for him there and a place to speak because he was Jewish and a Pharisee. Thirdly, he went to the Jews because if he could win some of them to Christ they could help him evangelize the Gentiles. So his custom was to go to the synagogue, however, in Philippi there was no synagogue. It took ten men to make a synagogue, a minian it was called, ten men. There weren't ten men. In fact, as far as I can tell there weren't any men. You say, - You mean that the whole gospel spread in Europe is going to begin with a bunch of women? Listen, my dear friend, the gospel spread all over the world has been beginning with women for years. Just check out the nearest list of missionaries that you have and find out. In Christ there is neither male nor female. There's no reason for a Christian to get involved with women's lib, it's an inconsequential issue, of course there's equality in the sight of God.
Now let's go on, look what happened "On the Sabbath day", here's that we again, Luke's talking, "we went out of the city by a riverside". See, they waited till the Sabbath. "Where prayer was accustomed to be made, we sat down and spoke unto the women which resorted there." Apparently there weren't even any men. They couldn't have a synagogue. These were exiled Jews. There's a sad thing, you know, they loved their temple, they didn't have that. And you remember when they had been carried off into Babylon they founded those places called synagogues, remember Psalm 137, they sat by the rivers of Babylon and yes, we wept, it says in Psalm 137. And here were some exiled and only women, no men to lead them, no men to teach them. But they faithfully met. And look, they had a place of prayer and the Greek is prosukee and it means a place of prayer. They had a set aside place. Maybe they had a little brush arbor built, maybe they just had a grove of trees, maybe they had a little wall, I don't know but they were there. And it was the same place that they were accustomed in going. Now apparently Paul had found out where the Jewish people met, he had found out there was no synagogue and they had a little prosukee, a place of prayer, down by the river. Why by the river? Well, they always put them by the river. One of the most important things the Jews did in their worship was ceremonial cleansing was it not? And here they would have access to the water. And so they had a little place by the river. Even as they had in the country of Babylon, gone down by the river and hung up their harps and wept. And so the river was the place that they met. Well, here is a little gathering of ladies. You say, - Well, that's not a very exciting beginning. Oh, but you don't know that one lady, Lydia.
Well, let's find out what happened. I believe, friends, that this is one of the most beautiful stories of the liberation of women that has been brought about by Jesus Christ. Women in the world - and whether you're talking about Greek women, Roman women or any kind of pagan women, women were looked upon as slaves. If a man didn't like his breakfast he had a right to kill his wife without recourse. You've thought of it but it wouldn't be possible in our society. No woman, now watch, no woman had the right to exchange her religion for another one apart from her husband. That was absolutely unheard of. Men so dominated women that any kind of an unruly woman cast terrible, terrible defamation on a husband. And one of the biggest problems of Christianity was this that in Christ there was no male and no female and a woman could come to Jesus Christ and be totally liberated independent of her husband's desires. And, boy, did that cause problems. Oh, a lot of women were getting saved and these husbands were getting uptight. Some of their friends would come along and say, - Well, I hear your wife joined that - that Christian thing over there. Man, you sure don't have any control over your women. Oh, that was bad defamation of character, hard to handle. And, you know, that was really behind the scenes when Peter wrote I Peter chapter 3. Have you read that chapter? Where Peter instructs saved women how to win their unsaved husbands? Not by talking all the time. Not by preaching at them but by living such a Godly life that they can't resist it. Why? Because this was a tremendous problem. Paul alludes to the problem in I Cor. 7 when he talks about the unbeliever who can't hack Christianity and finally just departs. And Paul says if he wants to depart let him depart. And so this created a tremendous problem but it was all because of the liberation of women. And do you know that even among some of the Jews women were seen as slaves? You know, Paul was raised a Pharisee, if he was a Pharisee you know what he had to recite? For a great part of his life? This prayer; Oh, God, I thank Thee that I am neither a Gentile, a slave or a woman. That's right. Some people have accused Paul of being anti-woman, being a male chauvinist. That is ridiculous. He just simply said, the way that I move around it's better not to be married. He's right. He's right. The Lord knew that.
But Christ liberates women. For the first time here was a religion and I hate to use that word but we'll use it. Here was a religion where a woman could choose totally and independently from the thought and desire of her husband if need be. Christ liberates.
Now as we come to verse 14 let's see the first lady that we meet. Now they sat down and they spoke to the women. "And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple of the city of Thyatira which worshipped God heard; whose heart the Lord opened that she attended to the things which were spoken by Paul, "And when she was baptized and her household she besought us saying, If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord come into my house and abide there. And she constrained us."
Now her name is Lydia. Lydia is also the name of the area she came from. So she's Lydia from Lydia. Lydia the Lydian. Lydia was an area in Asia Minor and in that little area was the city of Thyatira. Thyatira was a very important place biblically because the church was placed there, wasn't it? According to Revelation. But in archaeological studies they have determined also that there was a large Jewish synagogue there. And here was a Gentile lady who while she was living in Thyatira had become a God-fearer, that is she had turned to the God of Israel. Here was a Gentile lady, then, who was worshipping God. It says it right there. And she got started, likely, in the city of Thyatira because there was according to archaeological findings a very significant synagogue there. Incidentally, Thyatira was famous for purple dye. Homer in the Iliad says the art of the women in Thyatira and the area is the art of dyeing with purple. So we have historical evidence that this woman came from the right place and she did what the women in that area did. Now they had a most interesting trade. There were two kinds of dyes they used. The first kind was for the rich people. You know, most of the purple stuff was for, you know, royalty and all that. And they use to extract this purple dye drop by drop from a little thing called a murex which was a shellfish. And they would catch these shellfish and they would extract drop by drop this precious purple dye and really super rich people would have purple dye from the murex shellfish for their garments. And like everything, once the elite get it all of us peons want to get in on the thing, so the next thing you know they had to come up with a second class dye and they got it from an extraction from a madder root and they used that for the commoner's dye. Well, she was in this business. And she was the one that the Lord had in mind, unbelievable, as Paul's first convert in Europe. God was going to begin the work with a woman. Now if you ever get the idea that God second classes women, get rid of it. Never - never - never.
Now watch, I want to show you several things that happened in the liberation of Lydia. Incidentally, I want you to know this, a footnote, when she got saved, God didn't say - Now that you're saved, get rid of your business and go home - do the dishes. Didn't say that. Didn't say that at all. God loves an enterprising woman. Ladies, one chapter that you really ought to get in your head is Proverbs 31. You ought to know that chapter because that tells what God thinks about an enterprising woman. God wants a woman to be as creative and as enterprising as she can possibly be as long as it never affects the responsibility she has to a husband and a home. And it can be done. Read it, Proverbs 31, it's all there. You have to get up in the middle of the night, though. It says it right there, Proverbs 31. I woke my wife up at three this morning and said - You overslept.
All right, so God is not against enterprising women. Now watch this, first thing about Lydia that is really remarkable in her conversion and gives us a sequence of salvation that may be helpful to us is that she feared God. Look at verse 14, it says that this lady worshipped God. Now this means she had already turned from paganism. If she would have been in a polytheistic kind of typical Greek God culture and somewhere along the line had turned to the true God. Now this is the beginning of her liberation. The beginning of her freedom. She was a slave to sin, to Satan, to Hell to death and then she turned to the true God, she saw revealed among the people of Israel. She became what we call in the technical term a God-fearer which is a Gentile which turns to the God of Israel. And we've seen that repeatedly in the book of Acts. And there was step one in her liberation. She sought to know God. Beloved, that's the beginning of salvation. That's the beginning. Now let me remind you of this, she didn't do this independent of God, no- no. Romans 3:11 says, "No man seeks after God." God had drawn her to Him. God had drawn her. And she was moving already seeking God. And she plugged into Judaism. Now already Jesus had lived, died, rose and ascended into heaven, the gospel was signed, sealed and delivered and she was a pagan, she didn't know the gospel but she was seeking to know God. People always say, - Oh, what about the heathen who never hear? Listen to me, the simple principle that we've seen over and over again in the book of Acts, with the Ethiopian eunuch, Cornelius and Lydia is if there is a pagan who in his heart honestly seeks to know God, God will reveal Himself in the fullness of the gospel to that individual. Don't worry about God, He knows exactly what He is doing. And He knows exactly where the seeking hearts are. Listen to this, John 7:17, You ought to know this, Jesus was, you know, nose to nose with some Pharisees who were laying it on Him and they were talking about how to know whether Jesus was for real or not. How do you really know He's who He claims to be? And this is what He said, "If any man", if who? "Any man", no qualifications, "If any man wills to do God's will he shall know of the doctrine whether I speak concerning Myself or whether I really be of God." What is it saying? It's saying if there's a willing, seeking heart God will never shut Himself off from that heart. I don't care whether it's in Thyatira, Philippi or the darkest part of the central area of Africa, if there's a seeking heart God will move heaven and earth to get to that seeking heart. You say, - Why all of this to get to her? She was a seeking heart. Can you imagine, - I mean, He closed out the whole area of Asia? Don't go to Ephesus. Don't go to Asia. Don't go to Bithynia. Go there and He just kept pushing and they got down there - and what do we do here? Here's a seeking lady. You hear - these are four pretty important people, Paul, Silas, Luke and Timothy and they're running a little thin line wandering through all these countries just to get to one lady. Well that's what God will do to get to a seeking heart. Don't you worry about that guy in Africa who hasn't got a missionary there if he's a seeker God will get him one or God will reveal it to him somehow. God never lets anyone who wants to know His will come up empty. And I'll tell you something, friend, that's true in your Christian life too. If you really want to know His will it's available. As God told Israel through Moses He said this; "If thou shalt seek the Lord thy God thou shalt find Him", watch, "if thou shalt seek Him with all thy heart and all thy soul." God will always meet a seeking heart. Listen to Psalm 119:2, I just love it, it says this; "Blessed are they that seek Him with the whole heart." Sure. Do you ever read Hosea 6:3? It says this; "Thou shalt know if thou follow on to know the Lord." Isn't that a beautiful thought? You'll know, if you pursue the knowledge of the Lord.
And so she was a seeker and God never turns down a seeker. Second thing, she not only sought she listened. Oh, is that important. She listened. Look at the indication. "She worshipped God", what's the next word? "Heard" You know, some people have ears but they don't hear. I always think of the situation of Paul on the Damascus road fell down and everybody kept hearing sounds but couldn't make out the voice. That's like most people. They hear without hearing. You know, while Jesus was on earth He encountered the hypocrites, all of them - the Pharisee - Well, we - we have God who teaches us. And you know what? They didn't hear anything. They were like guys who went to a concert or a great musical extravagant production and they had on blinders and earmuffs. They had no idea what was going on. They didn't see the truth when He stood in their presence and when He spoke they never heard Him. They heard His words but they didn't hear with faith, did they? Matthew 13 is so important in what it says in response to this, listen; "Jesus said, For whosoever hath shall he be given and he shall have more abundance and whosoever has not from him shall be taken away what he has", this is an indictment to the Pharisees who thought they had a lot, then He said this, "Therefore speak I unto them in parables". He says - I talk to them in parables. Why? "Because they seeing see not and hearing hear not neither do they understand." And they're fulfilling prophecy, Isaiah said, "By hearing you shall hear and not understand and seeing and you shall not perceive." You say, - But why? I mean, how could they be in the presence of Christ and not hear? Verse 15, - "Their heart is fat," it's gross, it's evil is what it means. "Their ears of dull of hearing, their eyes they have closed lest at any time they should see with their eyes, hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart and be converted and I should heal them." Then He looks at the ignorant disciples and says - "Blessed are your eyes for they see and your ears for they hear." You know that same Isaiah passage is quoted at the very end of the book of Acts? Paul was talking to the Jews, he says - "Well, he said, Isaiah said, verse 26, Go to the people and say hearing you shall hear and not understand, seeing you shall see and not perceive." Do you know that Isaiah predicted the rejection of Israel? "For the heart of His people is fat, their ears are dull, their eyes are closed, they can't hear and they can't understand so they can be converted etc...be it known therefore, verse 28, that the salvation of God is sent to the Gentiles", I love this, "And they will hear it." Israel wouldn't hear, God sent them out to the Gentiles and here's goes Paul - God says here's a lady and she's ready and she'll listen. Paul preaches and she heard it. And the implication, beloved, is that she heard it with faith. Faith comes by what? Hearing. And the actual Greek of that verse in Romans is Faith comes by hearing a speech about Jesus. We translate it faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. That is not correct translation, Faith comes by hearing and hearing by a speech about Jesus.
Now she heard, she heard. You know, the people didn't hear and there's a reason. They were dull of hearing. Well, you say, what made them so dull of hearing? Well, Jesus answered it in many places but one of them is John 8, listen; He says "Why don't you understand My speech?" Verse 43, Why don't listen to verse 44; "Because you are of your father, the devil", you see, and there is no truth in him but when he speaks lies you listen because you're plugged in to that kind of stuff. Then He says in verse 45, "And when I tell you the truth you don't hear Me." You are only in the wavelengths of lies, you can't recognize truth. Oh, wow, that is some indictment.
Well, blessed Lydia, she wasn't like that. I mean, she heard, she heard. Some people never get to step one. They don't seek God to begin with and then when the opportunity comes they don't hear. Do you really know what God is saying? She did. Third thing about her; she not only sought and she not only heard but then God opened her heart. Look at verse 14, "Whose heart the Lord opened that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul." Attended means she responded to them. She put her faith in Christ. Why? Because the Lord had opened her heart. Do you know - salvation is of the Lord did you know that? That's what the Bible says. You didn't open yours and say Oh, I opened my heart to the Lord. No. No. You couldn't pry your heart open if you had the biggest crowbar in the world. You can't do that. Who opened your heart? It says it right there. The Lord opened your heart. You know, people say to me - John, don't you get discouraged? If people don't respond and they don't open their hearts to the gospel? I say - No, that's not my job. If I thought somebody's salvation depended on me I'd go crazy. Do you know what I mean by that? If I thought whether people were going to make it into heaven was dependent on me and how well I presented things I would go stark raving mad. Salvation isn't dependent on John MacArthur, I'll tell you, it's dependent on God. He's the one who does the opening. You say, - Oh, I don't know about that. Listen, listen, I tell you - I Cor. 3 - I'll give you a verse. Listen to this; "Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos?" You say, Who said that? Who would run them down? Paul wrote that. Paul, big deal, Apollos, big deal. They're just ministers, they're nothing. "I've planted and Apollos watered" and what? "God gave the increase." Next verse; "Then neither is he that plants anything neither he that waters but God is everything, who gives the increase." That's the point. God opened her heart. Don't ever forget, beloved, evangelism isn't your work it's God's work. You know, I can't open a heart. Boy, you know people think of all kinds of gimmicks to get people to respond. No, no, no. Let me give you a little footnote about evangelism that I think is crucial. The most important thing in evangelism, this is it, it is not a clever approach. And there's - I've seen all kinds of them. It is not how fast you can whip through the gospel before the guy has a chance to say anything and you've got him saved and he doesn't know it. It is not how emotional you are and so forth. It is not what a salesman you are. You know what the most important thing in the presentation of the gospel is? Just get it - one word - clarity. Clarity of content. You say, - Why? Because it is God who opens the heart, if God does the preparing of the seeking heart and God opens the ears that they may hear and God's going to open the heart, all you need to do is give the clear content so that God can open the heart in response to the truth. You got it? You got that? Simple. You go through the book of Acts and you never hear Paul say, - Let's just sing another verse. Now that's fine, I'm not against that but that is not the heartbeat of evangelism. You know, we always talk about evangelism like it's an emotional decision, it is not. It is God's work in the heart of an individual. And the most important thing we can do is give proper content so that God has the content with which He can open the heart. Do you see? And you go through the book of Acts and what are they doing all through the book of Acts? They're speaking about Christ. They're reasoning and opening and alleging out of the Scriptures and they're talking about the resurrection and they're giving a recitation of historical fact concerning who Christ was and what the gospel is. And they leave the heart opening to God. And, believe me friends, that is evangelism. Evangelism is me giving somebody the content which God can use in their already prepared heart to open it up. Do you see what I'm saying? And so whenever we evangelize it must be with the fullness of understanding. That's why some of us can't remember when we were saved because we got dribbles of the gospel and we don't know when we really understood enough of it to be saved. And you know I think sometimes we don't give the gospel good enough for the unbelievers to reject it. There are some people who aren't prepared and I think we've got a lot of them making some kind of a decision about something they don't even understand. Well, you can read through the book of Acts yourself starting with chapter 2 and you'll find they preached the Word, they taught the gospel. Chapter 4, chapter 5, chapter 8, chapter 10, 13, 16, 17 right on out to the end it says they declared Christ, they preached Christ, they spoke of Christ, they opened and alleged out of the Scriptures, they reasoned with them, they studied with them, they went home and studied again, and all of this. It's always content, content, content. And when the time comes right and man understands the content God has the ability then to open his heart.
This lady heard the facts which is all she needed because she was a ready vessel and God opened the heart. And she was liberated. You know, it's God who works in us to will and to do of His own good pleasure, isn't it? And all we need to do in evangelism is to make that possible. Well, she was saved. The Lord did it. And, you know, I thrill because people - we don't always have a whole lot of people streaming forward and getting saved but I know people are getting saved because I know God's opening hearts. And it may not always be dramatic and it may not always be emotional but it's happening. Sometimes it may be and I'm not against emotion, I mean, I get emotional. And when I say you give content you don't say - Now sit down and I will recite the gospel. No. No. It ought to be alive, exciting and thrilling and you ought to be as emotional about it as you want to be but you ought to give the content along with it. That's important.
Well, let's go. "Then she was baptized", verse 15, "And when she was baptized", isn't that interesting that that's just assumed, it doesn't say then they all - then they all had a big discussion about whether she ought to be baptized? No. That was assumed because that was the outward statement of her identification with Christ so she was baptized.. I love this. She must have been a lovely lady and she must have had a tremendous influence because not only did they baptize her but they baptized her whole household. You know, this sixteenth chapter of Acts is the household chapter. The next person that gets saved is the jailor and he gets saved and his whole house. You say, What's God doing? God's building an instant church in Philippi, a couple of households. She was saved and her whole household. You know, your influence is tremendous particularly with your own household. Isn't it? It speaks well of Lydia, doesn't it? It speaks well of Lydia that she would believe something and they would look up to her so much that what she believed she would be eager to hear. Well, of course, we know that apart from the human thing, God was in it as well obviously. But nevertheless she believed, her whole house believed and together they were baptized. What a glorious beginning. You say, - Just that little old household and that lady was the beginning of the church in Philippi? Yes it was, a local church. You want to know something? Lydia's house became the place where the church meets. Look at verse 40; "They went out of the prison and returned entered into the house of Lydia and when they had seen the brethren they comforted them and departed." Now the church met in Lydia's house. So Lydia became a leader in the church. The little prosukee by the river became God's ekklesia, God's church in Philippi. You say, - But it was only women. Well, no. You can't have a church without men. Who's going to be the deacons and elders? Now, ladies, you can make that concession. Women are important in the church but the lead and the rule of the church belongs to the men. You say, - Well, where are the men? Ah, they're there, verse 40. I don't know - they must have been in Lydia's household and the jailor and maybe his household. They went out of the prison and went into the house of Lydia where they had seen the what? The brethren, there's got to be some men, that's a collective term but if it was only women they wouldn't have used brethren. So there were some men there. But you know, what's interesting. In later date, that little church that began with that group of women, some of those women still wanted to run things. They did. That's too bad but they did. You say, - How do you know that, John? Well, it's in the Bible. Phil. chapter 4, you know Paul loved the church at Philippi, he just loved them so much. Look at chapter 1 for a minute verse 3; he says, Phil. 1; "I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy." He says, I'm just so excited about all of you, "For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day", what was the first day? We've Just been there, haven't we? For that first day by the river. Oh, did he love them. But he says, You've got one problem named Euodias and Syntyche, both ladies. Verse 1, pardon me, verse 2 of chapter 4, "I beseech Euodias and beseech Syntyche that they be of the same mind in the Lord." Now he says, I'm going to ask you true-yoke-fellow, the Greek is suzugos and it is likely a proper name so he says, Suzugos, help those ladies, get that issue straightened out. Here were a couple of women who were problematic. Now there's no hierarchy in the body of Christ, men and women, male and female are one in Christ. But in the church the men are set to put things in order. So he says to this man, Suzugos, you take charge over these women and get them together. They are dear women who labored with Clement and with me in the gospel.
Well, here was the founding of a beautiful little group of believers and Lydia was right at the heart of it. I want to show you something wonderful. Look at it, verse 15, I Just love this; "And when she was baptized and her household, she besought us saying, if you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord". In other words, If you think my salvation is real. That is the Greek term there that is used, faithful to the Lord - is used - is translated often - to believe. If you've really judged that I'm a true believer and I'm for real, "come on into my house and abide there." You want to know something? You want to know how I know that's a liberated lady? There's a lady who was busy working on all kinds of enterprises. She came to meet Jesus Christ and got liberated and said, Come on in I want to make a home for you. That's a liberated lady. She gave evidence of her salvation by the desire to be in the place that God designed her to be. Isn't that beautiful? There's not a higher calling in the world, ladies, then being in the place where God designed you to be. Believe me, she gave evidence of the genuineness of her liberation. You know why? She went home. That's liberation. Come on in, she said, and hospitality. And, boy, did she put it on. She even constrained them. The word constrain is an interesting word, it's a forceful word. It's only used one other time in the New Testament and that is the time when Jesus was walking with those two disciples on the Emmaus Road and they kept constraining Him, same word, to come to their house and abide with them. She really laid it on, come, you're really going to stay here now, you know how ladies can do, you know. You're not going - and so forth. That's hospitality. And we're going to stop there because I want to give you a biblical view of hospitality before we go on to lady number two. But I just want you to see what liberation really is.
Dear ladies, don't be discontent with God's marvelous plan and that which He has designed for you - that - when you experience full joy in that you're liberated. And it's only Jesus Christ that can free you from the true prison to be content to be what He designed you to be. Let's pray.
Father, thank You again for this time together. We just cherish every dear lady in this congregation, every young girl, every grandmother, every single woman even, Lord, that all of them might be all that Jesus designed them to be in purity and loveliness. Enterprising - yes and caring about those things that are needful in regard to her place as a woman.
Father, we thank You that liberation doesn't come from any of the false standards of the world that it comes only from Jesus Christ in whom we are free indeed. And in whose name we pray. Amen.
This article is also available and sold as a booklet.
This sermon series includes the following messages:
Please contact the publisher to obtain copies of this resource.Publisher Information


text:
A book between octavo and folio in size; approximately 11 to 13 inches tall. To make a quarto, a sheet of paper is folded twice, forming four leaves (eight pages).
A book of about five inches wide and eight inches tall to about six by nine inches. Octavo is the most common size for current hardcover books. To make octavo books, each sheet of paper is folded to make eight leaves (16 pages).
A book approximately seven to eight inches tall.
A small book, approximately four inches wide and six inches tall. To make it, each sheet of paper is folded four times, forming sixteen leaves (32 pages).
Advertisements placed in the binding of the book.
The top, fore-edge and foot of the book are coloured in gold.
A handwritten letter.
A handwritten letter signed by the writer.
A manuscript all in the author's hand.
A suffix denotating a collection of sayings, anecdotes, or other material regarding a person or subject. For example: Americana, Hemingwayana, etc.
A copy for reviewers and/or booksellers, usually bound in paperwraps and usually with either the finished cover art or possibly trial cover art. Generally, this copy is as it will appear in the stores and differs from the Uncorrected Proof.
A book usually printed especially for a book club such as "The Book of the Month Club" or "The Literary Guild." These copies will usually have the words "Book Club Edition" printed on the bottom right corner of the front flap of the dustwrapper. Occasionally, if the book club does not wish to do a separate edition they will have a publisher blind stamp the rear board and print a supply of dustwrappers without a price on the front flap and now without the bar code data on the rear panel. Book Clubs are not solely an American phenomenon as there have been numerous British Book Clubs over the years.
A book with a cover of any type, or a periodical that has a cover other than its published wraps.
The cover of the book.
The stiff binding material for most modern books.
A pasted-in sign of ownership. Modern bookplates are pressure sensitive (peel-and-stick) as opposed to the older bookplates which were made with water-activated adhesive (lick-and-stick). Some bookplates from the last century were quite elaborate with engravings.
See Book Club
Usually describes illustrations, photographs, etc.
A cloth-bound book. The covering can be linen, buckram or another textile.
Check or cash (payment) with order.
Decorated. Often refers to binding, as in dec. cl.
A term synonymous with Dust Wrapper, indicating the usually decorative paper wrapper placed around a book to protect the binding.
See Dust Jacket
Edited, Editions, Editor
The sheets of paper pasted onto the inner covers, joining the book block to the covers. One side of the sheet is pasted to the inside cover, the other is left free.
A particular copy of an edition.
A term used to indicate a book was once in a library. They are usually identified with one or more markings of the library such as stampings, card pockets, cataloging numbers, etc. Frequently they are marked as "discarded" or "withdrawn" when sold by a library.
As in Book Condition.
Has several meanings: (1) a leaf numbered on the front; (2) the numeral itself; and (3) a folio-sized book.
The sheets of paper pasted onto the inner covers, joining the book block to the covers. One side of the sheet is pasted to the inside cover, the other is left free.
The portion of the end-paper pasted to the inner cover of a book.
As in Book Condition.
See Gilt Edges
The page carrying nothing but the title of the book, usually preceding the title page.
"Hors texte" is French for "outside of the text," and the term usually refers to plates, without printing on the reverse sides. The plates may be tipped in to paper of a different stock from that of the text.
An alphabetical listing of names or topics mentioned in the book, with their page numbers. For serials and journals, the index is usually published after the volume is completed and is usually found in the last issue.
Decorated with pictures or other graphical material to portray or clarify the text.
Usually indicates a book signed by the author, either with an inscription to a specific person or bearing some brief notation along with his signature.
A single sheet in a book; each leaf contains two printed pages, one on each side.
Large-paper Edition
Any book whose publication is deliberately restricted to a comparatively small number of copies, usually numbered and often signed by the author and/or illustrator.
The most common paperback book, about four inches wide and seven inches high. Seen most often as mystery, science fiction and romance books.
No date of publication mentioned within the book.
As in Book Condition.
An issue of a periodical.
No place of publication listed in the book.
A book no longer being printed.
As in original binding
Books in paperwraps published since the 1930's, although it can describe any book with a paper cover.
Paperback Original
The price has been clipped from the corner of the dust jacket.
Whole-page illustrations printed separately from the text. Illustrations printed in the text pages are called cuts.
A digital printing technology that allows a complete book to be printed and bound individually, as opposed to traditional publishing that produces several hundred or thousand books in a lot. Print On Demand books are printed when your order is placed.
Prior owner signature
Author's introductory statement.
When a book has ceased to sell, a publisher may get rid of his overstock by "remaindering" the title.
See End Papers.
The publisher will mark the bottom edges of books sold as remainders with a stamp, a black marker, or spray paint, which speckles the bottom.
The portion of the end-paper pasted to the inner cover of a book.
A group of volumes with a common theme issued in succession by a single publisher.
See Gilt Edges.
A typewritten letter signed by hand.
The title page, near the beginning of the book, lists the title and subtitle of the book, the authors, editors, and/or contributors, the publisher or printer, and sometimes the place and date of publication. The title page information should be used for cataloguing (not the half-title page or covers).
Used in describing periodicals to indicate that the title page and index are present; without a title page and index, the volume is incomplete.
The pages are not numbered (although each signature may be designated by letter).
As in Book Condition.
The outer covers of a paperbound book or pamphlet. Not to be confused with Dust Wrapper.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
|Click Here to Login
« Earl and Countess of Wessex: Visit to Canada and the US - June 3-11, 2009 | Wessex Title - Influenced by "Shakespeare in Love"? »
Our communities encompass many different hobbies and interests, but each one is built on friendly, intelligent membership.
» More about our Communities
Our Marine websites focus on Cruising and Sailing Vessels, including forums and the largest cruising Wiki project on the web today.
» More about our Marine Communities


text:
Subscribe and get unlimited access.
Be inspired by the best creative work from around the world.
Founded in 1932, Energy BBDO is a full-service advertising agency based in Chicago and a unit of BBDO Worldwide, the most awarded agency network in the world. Energy BBDO functions as a highly creative and nimble boutique with all the benefits of a vast agency network. The agency's philosophy is "Energize People. Energize Brands.®" and demonstrates the belief that only through powerful connections with consumers can a brand thrive. Energy BBDO creates award-winning and sales-driving marketing for clients including Wrigley, Bayer, Anheuser-Busch, PepsiCo, and Rosetta Stone.


text:
20th Century Fox has released more TV spots for Chasing Mavericks. Watch them below!
Pre-order Frosty Hesson's book, Making Mavericks, where he shares his remarkable life story, the story of his extraordinary friendship with wunderkind Jay Moriarty, and his advice on how to be the best.
GerardButler.Net continues to receive Amazon.com commissions to help support the website expenses, but those commissions are down with the economic challenges of the times. While our hosting fees are covered, we still have expenses like domain registrations, postal mailbox, postage for contest winners and our newsletter service. These expenses total close to $750. Looking forward to 2013, we would love to cover those charges now and donate the Amazon.com commissions to charity at the end of the year. Thanks to all those who have contributed so far!! To date, we have raised $100.
If you would like to help support the website, click here. Every little bit helps and thank you so very much for all your support in the past. Without you, the fans, we would not still be here over 11 years after we began!!


text:
Olive Oil Pecan Pie
Flaky Olive Oil Crust (for a single layer)
Mix dry ingredients in a metal mixing bowl and place in the freezer or refrigerator. Because the oil will melt very quickly, it is important to keep all the ingredients cold and to work quickly. When dry ingredients and bowl are chilled, and oil is a thick consistency, use a pastry cutter to cut the oil into the dry ingredients until the oil is the size of small peas. Be careful not to over-blend.
With a fork, gently stir just enough of the cold water/egg yolk mixture to get the bits of dough to begin to stick together, being careful not to over-blend. If dough is too dry, sprinkle on more cold water just until it holds together. If it is too wet, sprinkle some flour over the dough and mix lightly and quickly. Roll out dough or simply press it directly into a tart tin or pie dish, pressing it down gently with your fingers, working quickly, to fully cover the bottom and sides of the dish. Crimp the edges and reserve in the refrigerator until needed.
For the filling, blend together the oil and sugar; add the salt, corn syrup, eggs and vanilla, and mix well. Place pecans on the prepared pie crust and gently pour the filling on top. Bake for 10 minutes at 450 degrees F; reduce heat to 350 degrees F, and bake for 35 minutes more, or until a knife comes out clean.


text:
Please Note: We can only sell & deliver our products to Australian customers.
Minimum plant order 5 plants, postage is extra according to the number of plants ordered.
Quarantine information: We are unable to send plants to South Australia, Western Australia, Tasmania or the Northern Territory due to quarantine restrictions.
Postage pricing will be added to the Affordable Tubes range at the checkout, all other items have postage included.
The plants are grown in 40mm tubes, the small size of the plants means they are cheaper to buy and to post, but will need extra care while they are being established.
- You cannot add "Lomandra 'Little Con'" to the cart because the product is out of stock.
Grevillea 'Fireworks'
A hardy and compact small shrub, with bright red and yellow flowers from autumn, winter and spring, and attractive blue-green foliage. Grows to around a metre high and wide. Flowers occur on the ends of short branches making this a great feature or pot plant. Frost tolerant.
Out of stock
Grevillea 'Fireworks' is part of our AFFORDABLE TUBES range.
You can order from any combination in stock in our AFFORDABLE TUBES range. Unfortunately due to quarantine restrictions, we are unable to send plants to Tasmania, South Australia, Western Australia or the Northern Territory.
Delivery will be via Australia Post Express Delivery to ensure your plants arrive in top condition, and dispatch will be on a Monday or Tuesday following your order. Orders for more than 12 plants will get a FREE tub of BUSH TUCKER fertiliser added! Minimum order is 4 plants.
Postage costs are as follows, and will be added to the plant prices at the checkout-
1-5 plants = $15
6-12 plants = $20
13-24 plants = $35
25-48 plants = $65
49 and over = $90


text:
December 20, 2017
All Day
Devonshire Mall
3100 Howard Ave.
Windsor, ON
Add to Calendar (iCal) Add to Google Calendar
Join the Canadian Mental Health Association, Windsor-Essex County Branch and presenting sponsor The Toldo Foundation, as we kick-off this year's Light the Way campaign at Devonshire Mall.
Our Light the Way display (outside Lids) will run from November 22 through December 26 and will offer Mall shoppers the opportunity to learn about CMHA's Bereavement Program. Visitors are encouraged to purchase a star ornament for a $2.00 donation, write the name of a loved one on it, and hang it on one of our display trees. The interactive display will also feature local entertainment.
Proceeds from Light the Way support CMHA-WECB's Bereavement Program and Client Assistance Fund.


text:
Jacksonville Home / City Guides Home / Bullz-Eye Home
You may not be able to afford anything more than McDonald's or Taco Bell after dropping all that cash on your Super Bowl tickets, but Jacksonville has some fantastic restaurants for those of you with the extra loot.
Ruth's Chris
1201 Riverplace Boulevard, Jacksonville; 396-6200
814-A PGA Tour Boulevard, Ponte Vedra Beach; 280-9050
Ruth's Chris has locations on the downtown Southbank and in Ponte Vedra. You probably know the drill -- great big steaks, great big sides, great big price tag. In fact, if you can afford to eat here, you've already printed directions from MapQuest.
2940 West University Boulevard; 733-3734
11633 Beach Boulevard; 642-3800, 3930 Sunbeam Road; 260-6100
One of Jacksonville's native-grown eateries (I almost used the word quaint), you can't get a Lubi anywhere else. For the uninitiated, a Lubi consists of loose ground beef on a hoagie roll. They mass produce these things, wrap em in foil, and then nuke them after you've made your choice of toppings. Weird, yes, but also strangely addictive. Don't ask how they can microwave the foil without fireworks, nobody seems to be able to explain it. They also serve another Jacksonville favorite, the giant cherry limeade.
Hala Cafe
4323 South University Boulevard; 733-1855
9735 St. Augustine Road; 288-8890
9551 Baymeadows Road; 739-3354
Casbah Cafe
3628 St. Johns Avenue; 981-9966
For whatever reason, Jacksonville has a huge Arabic population, and has since before World War II. Outsiders find it remarkable that they have assimilated so well into the countrified background noise of Duval County. If you have a taste for things like hummus, tabbouli, kibbi, labneh, and other Levantine dishes, Jacksonville has a number of truly outstanding Middle Eastern restaurants. Hala was the trend setter, beginning way back in the mists of time with a pita bakery. The Casbah, located in the Riverside/Avondale neighborhood southwest of downtown, offers entertainment as well as the elaborate water pipes often associated with the Caterpillar in Alice in Wonderland. No, they won't put hash in for you, even if you bring it yourself.
Marker 32
14549 Beach Boulevard; 223-1534
Marker 32 is tucked away behind a marina on Beach Boulevard. While this may seem like an inauspicious place to park such a creative, innovative restaurant, it offers an excellent view while you dine. There's no telling what to expect, since the menu changes daily, but they will have something you won't soon forget. Marker 32 has a strong wine list, full bar, and absolutely incredible desserts and breads baked in-house, not dropped off the back of a Sysco truck. If you come to Marker 32, come hungry, but make sure your loan has been approved.
The Homestead
1712 Beach Boulevard; 249-9660
Located just across the Intracoastal Waterway on Beach Boulevard, the Homestead is a converted log farmhouse that has been in business since the Earth cooled. They've always specialized in down-home fare, but following a recent renovation, the menu has been updated and up-scaled. The fried chicken is a trademark, as is the Redneck Pie: alternating layers of mashed potatoes, bacon, and smoked Gouda cheese baked in a pastry shell.
Bistro Aix
1440 San Marco Boulevard; 396-1949
Corner Brasserie
1430 San Marco Boulevard; 396-1414
Bistro Aix and the Corner Brasserie are located next door to each other, and provide a nice dose of sophistication. Bistro Aix is the brasher establishment, while Corner Brasserie is more relaxed and quiet; but either is an excellent place to take a date. Both offer a creative take on American cuisine with a French twist.
Ying's Chinee Takee Outee
5507 West University Boulevard
Nobody ever eats at the Chinee Takee Outee, but on the other hand, nobody can resist pointing out the sign. Be on the lookout where I-95 crosses University Boulevard.
You can follow us on Twitter and Facebook for content updates. Also, sign up for our email list for weekly updates and check us out on Google+ as well.


text:
- Home
- About Us
- Our Commitment To Public Health
- Resources
- Newsroom
- Blog
Our Partners
Foundations hire BMSG to conduct research when they want to better understand how the media frame the issues they care about. They also commission us to provide strategic consultation and trainings for their grantees.
Our clients include social change groups, news organizations, universities, health departments and other government agencies. Like BMSG, many of our clients are also funded by foundations.
other partners
BMSG's work is rooted in collaboration. We partner with a wide variety of organizations and individuals to build the capacity of advocates, public health professionals and community decision-makers to achieve common health goals. Sometimes we seek projects together with our partners and sometimes they invite us to join them on their projects.


text:
Atmospheric Sciences & Global Change
Research Highlights
June 2004
Cloud Phase Determination Using Ground-Based AERI Observations at SHEBA
In the frigid environs of the Acrtic, ARM scientists at the North Slope of Alaska/Adjacent Arctic Ocean (NSA/AAO) site are studying cloud and radiative processes at high latitudes. Data from these research efforts are being used to refine climate models and parameterizations as they relate to the Arctic environment. Now, a new algorithm that uses ground-based spectrally resolved infrared observations with thresholds determined from radiative transfer simulations will allow scientists to create the first climatology of cloud phase at the ARM site in Barrow, Alaska.


text:
Computer Problems?
FAST PC Repairs Computer Services can help! Our expert technicians will come to you in Bonbeach Kingston!
- Knowledgeable, friendly staff that can explain in plain English
- Professional & affordable service
- No fix, No charge & Free call out* - If we can't fix it, we don't charge you!
- 7 Day service - evenings, weekends, public holidays
- Servicing home, home office & business
- Specialising in after hours service
- Proudly Australian owned and operated
FAST PC Repairs Computer Services Bonbeach Kingston Services
- Virus & Spyware Removal
- Internet & Network Issues
- Email & Outlook Issues
- Training
- PC Startup Issues
- Notebooks & Macs
- PC Repairs & Upgrades
- Wireless Networks
- New PCs & Laptops
Call Fast PC Repairs Mobile Computer Services now for Computer repairs in Bonbeach Kingston!
Fast PC Repairs Mobile Computer Services can provide computer repair service to all Kingston suburbs including:
PC Repairs Aspendale 3195, PC Repairs Aspendale Gardens 3195, PC Repairs Braeside 3195, PC Repairs Bonbeach 3196, PC Repairs Carrum 3197, PC Repairs Chelsea 3196, PC Repairs Chelsea Heights 3196, PC Repairs Cheltenham 3192, PC Repairs Clarinda 3169, PC Repairs Clayton South 3169, PC Repairs Dingley Village 3172, PC Repairs Edithvale 3196, PC Repairs Heatherton 3202, PC Repairs Highett 3190, PC Repairs Mentone 3194, PC Repairs Moorabbin 3189, PC Repairs Moorabbin Airport 3194, PC Repairs Mordialloc 3195, PC Repairs Oakleigh South 3167, PC Repairs Parkdale 3195, PC Repairs Patterson Lakes 3197, PC Repairs Waterways 3195,


text:
Everyone knows that people have their differences. Groups are
marginalized, silenced, and oppressed based on who they are, what
they believe, and how they express themselves. Diversity
encompasses multiple dimensions, including but not limited to the
social and political constructions of race, culture, nationality,
ethnicity, religion, ideas, beliefs, geographic origin, class,
sexual orientation and identities, gender, gender identities and
expressions, disability, and age.
Courses with a diversity designation (DV) will give you another view of the world—through the eyes of those different than yourself. You'll explore current and past injustices and see how those in power can shape public perception of peoples' differences and how societies can adapt to or resist these definitions. You'll learn how diversity enriches society, come to understand why groups may hold different views on issues, and open your mind to views beyond your own.
OTBS20600 Culture of Disability
In this course students study the notion of disability as it has been constructed throughout Western history, providing an in depth look at the extent to which disability has been influenced by social, economic, political and historical contexts. Students develop a history timeline of events that have impacted the construction of disability as well as define disability from legislative, economic and other statistical sources. Multiple definitions based on historically embedded events, which have evolved over time are studied setting the background for the development of disability identity. Because disability is never a singular identity, the construction of individual and group identification of disability as a culture separate from or combined with other identities is discussed as well as this impacts power discussions among groups who may typically be disenfranchised (i.e women, people of color and LGBT). Comparisons are made between the impact that these other identity groups have as influencing power structures as compared to those who have disabilities and how the movements have been similar and different on the road to eliminating discrimination.


text:
PCAP(3) BSD Programmer's Manual PCAP(3)
pcap - Packet Capture library
#include <pcap.h> pcap_t * pcap_open_live(char *device, int snaplen, int promisc, int to_ms, char *errbuf); pcap_t * pcap_open_offline(char *fname, char *errbuf); pcap_dumper_t * pcap_dump_open(pcap_t *p, char *fname); pcap_dumper_t * pcap_dump_fopen(pcap_t *p, FILE *f); char * pcap_lookupdev(char *errbuf); uint pcap_lookupnet(const char *device, bpf_u_int32 *netp, bpf_u_int32 *maskp, char *errbuf); int pcap_dispatch(pcap_t *p, int cnt, pcap_handler callback, u_char *user); int pcap_loop(pcap_t *p, int cnt, pcap_handler callback, u_char *user); void pcap_dump(u_char *user, struct pcap_pkthdr *h, u_char *sp); int pcap_inject(pcap_t *p, void *, size_t); int pcap_sendpacket(pcap_t *p, void *, int); int pcap_compile(pcap_t *p, struct bpf_program *fp, char *str, int optimize, bpf_u_int32 netmask); int pcap_setfilter(pcap_t *p, struct bpf_program *fp); void pcap_freecode(struct bpf_program *fp); u_char * pcap_next(pcap_t *p, struct pcap_pkthdr *h); int pcap_next_ex(pcap_t *p, struct pcap_pkthdr **hp, const u_char **pktp); int pcap_setdirection(pcap_t *p, pcap_direction_t dir); int pcap_datalink(pcap_t *p); int pcap_snapshot(pcap_t *p); int pcap_is_swapped(pcap_t *p); int pcap_major_version(pcap_t *p); int pcap_minor_version(pcap_t *p); int pcap_stats(pcap_t *p, struct pcap_stat *ps); FILE * pcap_file(pcap_t *p); int pcap_fileno(pcap_t *p); int pcap_get_selectable_fd(pcap_t *); void pcap_perror(pcap_t *p, char *prefix); char * pcap_geterr(pcap_t *p); char * pcap_strerror(int error); void pcap_close(pcap_t *p); FILE * pcap_dump_file(pcap_dumper_t *p); long pcap_dump_ftell(pcap_dumper_t *p); int pcap_dump_flush(pcap_dumper_t *p); void pcap_dump_close(pcap_dumper_t *p); int pcap_breakloop(pcap_t *p); int pcap_findalldevs(pcap_if_t **alldevsp, char *errbuf); void pcap_freealldevs(pcap_if_t *alldevs); int pcap_getnonblock(pcap_t *p, char *errbuf); int pcap_setnonblock(pcap_t *p, int nonblock, char *errbuf); int pcap_set_datalink(pcap_t *, int dlt); int pcap_list_datalinks(pcap_t *p, int **dlts); pcap_t pcap_open_dead(int linktype, int snaplen); pcap_t pcap_fopen_offline(FILE *fp, char *errbuf); const char * pcap_lib_version(void); const char * pcap_datalink_val_to_name(int); const char * pcap_datalink_val_to_description(int); int pcap_datalink_name_to_val(const char *);
pcap provides a high level interface to packet capture systems. All pack- ets on the network, even those destined for other hosts, are accessible through this mechanism.
Note: errbuf in pcap_open_live(), pcap_open_offline(), pcap_findalldevs(), pcap_lookupdev(), and pcap_lookupnet() is assumed to be able to hold at least PCAP_ERRBUF_SIZE chars. pcap_open_live() is used to obtain a packet capture descriptor to look at packets on the network. device is a string that specifies the network device to open. snaplen specifies the maximum number of bytes to capture. promisc specifies if the interface is to be put into promiscuous mode. (Note that even if this parameter is false, the interface could well be in promiscuous mode for some other reason.) to_ms specifies the read timeout in milliseconds. errbuf is used to return error text and is only set when pcap_open_live() fails and returns NULL. pcap_open_offline() is called to open a "savefile" for reading. fname specifies the name of the file to open. The file has the same format as those used by tcpdump(8). The name '-' is a synonym for stdin. errbuf is used to return error text and is only set when pcap_open_offline() fails and returns NULL. pcap_dump_open() is called to open a "savefile" for writing. The name '-' is a synonym for stdin. NULL is returned on failure. p is a pcap struct as returned by pcap_open_offline() or pcap_open_live(). fname specifies the name of the file to open. If NULL is returned, pcap_geterr() can be used to get the error text. pcap_dump_fopen() allows the use of savefile functions on the already- opened stream "f". pcap_lookupdev() returns a pointer to a network device suitable for use with pcap_open_live() and pcap_lookupnet(). If there is an error, NULL is returned and errbuf is filled in with an appropriate error message. pcap_lookupnet() is used to determine the network number and mask associ- ated with the network device device. Both netp and maskp are bpf_u_int32 pointers. A return of -1 indicates an error in which case errbuf is filled in with an appropriate error message. pcap_dispatch() is used to collect and process packets. cnt specifies the maximum number of packets to process before returning. A cnt of -1 processes all the packets received in one buffer. A cnt of 0 processes all packets until an error occurs, EOF is reached, or the read times out (when doing live reads and a non-zero read timeout is specified). callback specifies a routine to be called with three arguments: a u_char pointer which is passed in from pcap_dispatch(), a pointer to the pcap_pkthdr struct (which precede the actual network headers and data), and a u_char pointer to the packet data. The number of packets read is returned. Zero is returned when EOF is reached in a savefile. A return of -1 indicates an error in which case pcap_perror() or pcap_geterr() may be used to display the error text. pcap_dump() outputs a packet to the savefile opened with pcap_dump_open(). Note that its calling arguments are suitable for use with pcap_dispatch(). pcap_inject() uses write(2) to inject a raw packet through the network interface. It returns the number of bytes written or -1 on failure. pcap_sendpacket() is an alternate interface for packet injection (provid- ed for compatibility). It returns 0 on success or -1 on failure. pcap_compile() is used to compile the string str into a filter program. fp is a pointer to a bpf_program struct and is filled in by pcap_compile(). optimize controls whether optimization on the resulting code is performed. netmask specifies the netmask of the local net. pcap_setfilter() is used to specify a filter program. fp is a pointer to an array of bpf_program struct, usually the result of a call to pcap_compile(). -1 is returned on failure; 0 is returned on success. pcap_freecode() is used to free up allocated memory pointed to by a bpf_program struct generated by pcap_compile() when that BPF program is no longer needed, for example after it has been made the filter program for a pcap structure by a call to pcap_setfilter(). pcap_loop() is similar to pcap_dispatch() except it keeps reading packets until cnt packets are processed or an error occurs. It does not return when live read timeouts occur. Rather, specifying a non-zero read timeout to pcap_open_live() and then calling pcap_dispatch() allows the reception and processing of any packets that arrive when the timeout occurs. A negative cnt causes pcap_loop() to loop forever (or at least until an er- ror occurs). pcap_loop() may be terminated early through an explicit call to pcap_breakloop(). In this case, the return value of pcap_loop() will be -2. pcap_next() returns a u_char pointer to the next packet. pcap_next_ex() reads the next packet and returns a success/failure indi- cation: a return value of 1 indicates success, 0 means that the timeout was exceeded on a live capture, -1 indicates that an error occurred whilst reading the packet and -2 is returned when there are no more pack- ets to read in a savefile. pcap_datalink() returns the link layer type, e.g., DLT_EN10MB. pcap_snapshot() returns the snapshot length specified when pcap_open_live() was called. pcap_is_swapped() returns true if the current savefile uses a different byte order than the current system. pcap_major_version() returns the major number of the version of the pcap used to write the savefile. pcap_minor_version() returns the minor number of the version of the pcap used to write the savefile. pcap_file() returns the stream associated with the savefile. pcap_stats() returns 0 and fills in a pcap_stat struct. The values represent packet statistics from the start of the run to the time of the call. If there is an error or the underlying packet capture doesn't sup- port packet statistics, -1 is returned and the error text can be obtained with pcap_perror() or pcap_geterr(). pcap_fileno() and pcap_get_selectable_fd() return the file descriptor number of the savefile. pcap_perror() prints the text of the last pcap library error on stderr, prefixed by prefix. pcap_geterr() returns the error text pertaining to the last pcap library error. pcap_strerror() is provided in case strerror(3) isn't available. pcap_close() closes the files associated with p and deallocates resources. pcap_dump_file() returns the stream associated with a savefile. pcap_dump_ftell() returns the current file offset within a savefile. pcap_dump_flush() ensures that any buffered data has been written to a savefile. pcap_dump_close() closes the savefile. pcap_findalldevs() constructs a linked list of network devices that are suitable for opening with pcap_open_live(). pcap_freealldevs() frees a list of interfaces built by pcap_findalldevs(). pcap_getnonblock() returns 1 if the capture file descriptor is in non- blocking mode, 0 if it is in blocking mode, or -1 on error. pcap_setnonblock() sets or resets non-blocking mode on a capture file descriptor. pcap_set_datalink() sets the datalink type on a live capture device that supports multiple datalink types. pcap_setdirection() is used to limit the direction that packets must be flowing in order to be captured. pcap_list_datalinks() returns an array of the supported datalink types for an opened live capture device as a -1 terminated array. It is the caller's responsibility to free this list. pcap_breakloop() safely breaks out of a pcap_loop(). This function sets an internal flag and is safe to be called from inside a signal handler. pcap_open_dead() is used for creating a pcap_t structure to use when cal- ling the other functions in libpcap. It is typically used when just using libpcap for compiling BPF code. pcap_fopen_offline() may be used to read dumped data from an existing open stream "fp". pcap_lib_version() returns a string describing the version of libpcap. pcap_datalink_val_to_name() and pcap_datalink_val_to_description() look up the name or description of a datalink type by number. These functions return NULL if the specified datalink type is not known. pcap_datalink_name_to_val() finds the datalink number for a given da- talink name. Returns -1 if the name is not known.
Van Jacobson, Craig Leres and Steven McCanne, all of the Lawrence Berke- ley National Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, CA.
Please send bug reports to email@example.com. MirOS BSD #10-current July 5, 1999 5
Generated on 2017-04-03 16:26:17 by $MirOS: src/scripts/roff2htm,v 1.88 2017/01/29 00:51:06 tg Exp $
These manual pages and other documentation are copyrighted by their respective writers;
their source is available at our CVSweb,
AnonCVS, and other mirrors. The rest is Copyright © 2002–2017 The MirOS Project, Germany.
This product includes material provided by mirabilos.
This manual page's HTML representation is supposed to be valid XHTML/1.1; if not, please send a bug report — diffs preferred.


text:
Featured News - Current News - Archived News - News Categories
Kaley Cuoco, Neil Patrick Harris, Faith Hill, Carly Rae Jepsen, Tim McGraw, Katy Perry and Keith Urban are the first presenters announced for "Music's Biggest Night"
Fourteen-time Grammy Award winner Alicia Keys and current nominees Maroon 5 will join together for a special performance, in addition to a performance by current nominee Frank Ocean on The 55th Annual Grammy Awards broadcast. Current Grammy nominees Carly Rae Jepsen and Katy Perry, as well as actor Kaley Cuoco, actor Neil Patrick Harris, five-time Grammy winner Faith Hill, three-time Grammy winner Tim McGraw and four-time Grammy winner Keith Urban will appear as presenters. The music industry's premier event will take place Sunday, Feb. 10 (8 p.m.), at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles and will be broadcast on the CBS Television Network.
Previously announced performers for The Grammy Awards include current nominees Dierks Bentley and Miranda Lambert, The Black Keys, FUN., the Lumineers, Mumford & Sons, Rihanna, Taylor Swift, Justin Timberlake, Carrie Underwood and Jack White, as well as Elton John and current nominee Ed Sheeran performing live together for the first time. Two-time Grammy winner LL Cool J returns as host of "Music's Biggest Night."
About The Recording Academy
Established in 1957, The Recording Academy is an organization of musicians, producers, engineers and recording professionals that is dedicated to improving the cultural condition and quality of life for music and its makers. For more information about The Academy, visit www.grammy.com. For breaking news and exclusive content, follow @TheGRAMMYs on Twitter: www.twitter.com/thegrammys,like "The Grammys" on Facebook: www.facebook.com/thegrammys and join The Grammys' social communities on YouTube, Tumblr, Foursquare, GetGlue and Instagram.


text:
Sell suff? I give it away. This is the account used by the RepRap Project http://reprap.org to distribute laser cut RepRap kits via Ponoko. The design is now complete and we're working on getting the costs down.
The RepRap Project an Open Source non-profit, and sells the electronics kits and motors needed to complete the design at http://rrrf.org . There are assembly instructions, source files and a blog on the RepRap website here http://reprap.org/bin/view/Main/PonokoRepRap
Joined: 19 Jan, 08
Currently selling:
1 design file
Giving away: 4 items
Sign up for our newsletterto get special offers:


text:
The New England Patriots once will again enter the weekend unsure if their best offensive lineman will be able to suit up against the Baltimore Ravens.
Left tackle Nate Solder (concussion) participated in practice for the second consecutive day Friday, according to the Boston Herald. It's a positive sign that Solder was on the field, but he still hasn't leaped every hurdle. He'll have to pass the final stages of the NFL's concussion protocol before being cleared. However, it is a step forward. He likely will be a game-time decision.
Rookie receivers Kenbrell Thompkins (hip) and Aaron Dobson (foot), on the other hand, are expected to play Sunday, assuming their last medical checkups come out clean, the Herald reported.
Having the duo back would be a huge boon for Tom Brady's passing attack, which displayed a lack of field-stretching weapons last week against the Miami Dolphins. No player in the NFL can fill Rob Gronkowski's role in the Patriots' offense, but having the rookie duo on the field would be an upgrade over what we witnessed last week.
On the flip side, improving rookie receiver Josh Boyce won't play due to an ankle injury. Boyce showed some flashes in the last couple games while Dobson and Thompkins were out with injuries.
We examine coaches on the hot seat and chat with Packers guard Josh Sitton on the latest "Around The League Podcast."


text: CHERRY — Cherry United Church of Christ and Holy Trinity Cherry will hold a pie and coffee social hour from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. Friday at Cherry Church Hall. There will be conversation, a tai chi (relaxation exercise) demonstration, bingo, cards and crafts. The event is sponsored by Malone's Auto Repair Cherry and Ladd. To arrange a ride, call Julie at 815-894-2006 or email email@example.com.


text:
Can selecting a pump system be as easy as ordering from Amazon.com?
That is the idea behind the Grundfos Product Center, which puts all Grundfos pump information at the customer's fingertips via a simple online system. Using search parameters as basic as head and flow, customers can find CAD drawings, instructional videos and service kits for all pumps that are appropriate for their specific installation.
"This is our virtual showroom for customers," says Global Marketing Manager Martin Pedersen. "It's a place where customers can see what Grundfos is doing and it's a tool that will help them choose which products they need."
Putting the customer first
All aspects of the Grundfos Product Center are designed with the customer in mind, says Grundfos department head Lars Larsen.
"We developed this using an 'outside-in' perspective. We wanted to know what our customers were looking for and how they wanted to find it," he says.
The new system allows the customer to find information via:
• Quick Search – Search for a specific pump and find size and replacement information.
• Liquid Guide – Enter your liquid, temperature, and concentration to find the pumps that can do the job.
• Quick Size – Simply enter the head and flow of your desired pump and the system will find all Grundfos pumps that meet those criteria.
• Customized Results – Search results for suggested replacements for existing pumps are categorized into options for the least expensive pumps, the pumps with the lowest energy consumption, and the pumps with the lowest lifecycle cost.
• Expanded Product Information – The center has a database of CAD drawings, spare part information, service kits, and instructional videos.
"We developed this using an 'outside-in' perspective. We wanted to know what our customers were looking for and how they wanted to find it."
Martin Pedersen, Grundfos Global Marketing Manager
Built from the ground up
Development of the Grundfos Product Center began two years ago with extensive customer interviews. Lars Larsen says that this research revealed that customers were looking for a system that was easier to use than the company's existing WebCAPS system.
"They were looking for a simple ordering tool that could be accessed 24/7 from any device," he says. "With this system we put the most important functions in front of the customer immediately."
Other user-friendly features include:
• Accessibility - Access to the Grundfos Product Center from any computer, tablet, or mobile phone
• User Settings - The system saves the user's language, currency, saved items, and recently viewed products.
• Saved Projects - Registered users are able to save their entire project for future reference. Replacements and spare parts are always just a click away.
The Grundfos Product Center replaces the current WebCAPS system, which was developed 12 years ago. Martin Pedersen says that while WebCAPS offered a wealth of information for customers, the new product center is easier to navigate.
"WebCAPS was made in Google's early days – before smartphones really kicked in," he says. "The digital world has changed since then, and Grundfos needed a platform that can adjust to the needs of modern customers."
"This Product Center is a tool box for our customers."
Martin Pedersen, Grundfos Global Marketing Manager
A future-proof solution
Martin Pedersen says that the Grundfos Product Center is designed as a solid base.
"It's flexible, modular, and scalable," he says. "This is not just a one-shot software that will stick for 7 years and then become obsolete. We see this as a platform to support our future development."
In the coming years Martin Pedersen says Grundfos will be developing specific application tools that can help customers who have certain needs – like CAD drawings for those in Commercial Building Services or a Pump Pit Creator tool.
"This Product Center is a tool box for our customers," says Pedersen. "Open it up and inside you will increasingly find tools that are specifically related to your project and industry."
More information
The Grundfos Product Center was launched in May 2014 and replaced the WebCAPS system. All user data from the WebCAPS system will be migrated to the new center. WebCAPS will no longer be in use after October 2014.
The center can be accessed without signing in, but registered users will have access to more information including saved user preferences, saved products, and recent browsing history.
The Grundfos Product Center works on all devices including tablets and mobile phones. An offline version of the product center will be released in 2015.


text:
Activities that Strengthen the Child's Cognitive Forces
Elizabeth Auer
I really, really like this book. It has just about every activity and craft I've ever witnessed at a Waldorf school, along with lovely pencil drawings, color painting examples, and instructions for stage craft, upright loom building, guidance for main lesson illustrations and content, as well as its core grade-by-grade discussion of activities to integrate into the lessons.
There is a vigor and a joy to it that will inspire and energize any teacher or parent who uses it as a resource. Whether you are teaching in a classroom, teaching at home, or simply want to integrate these activities into your child's life, this is a book to love. Thank you, Elizabeth Auer!
Grades 1 thru 8.
4 Reviews
How many pages does this have?
Thank you!
With only 94 pages, does it teach how to actually DO these crafts, or does it just list what to do? Thank you!


text:
What to Know When Traveling with your Pet
Vacation season is officially upon us. With the kids out of school and the temperature rising, it's time to get in your car or to the airport and go to that tropical (or historic) destination. While you may opt to board your pets during your trip, if you decide that you want to include them in your vacation, there are some things to consider.
"If you are driving with your pets it is great to know ahead of time if they get car sick," notes Dr. Mark Stickney, Director of General Surgery Services at the Texas A&M University College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences. "Before your trip, take short drives around town to see how your pet reacts."
If your pet does get car sick or is very anxious on car rides, your veterinarian can prescribe a sedative or an anti-nausea medication such as Dramamine.
"Although Dramamine is an over-the-counter medication it is still important to check with your veterinarian on dosage," states Stickney. "I would also take a couple of short rides after giving them the medication to make sure that it is working."
Once you've established that your pet can comfortably ride in the car, you will have to start packing up their stuff to take with you. Leashes, collars, bowls, food, and identification tags should all be a part of any pet's traveling bag.
"It's important to make sure that your pet is on a leash when you stop at a gas station or rest stop. These are high traffic areas and there are a lot of new smells that can distract them," remarks Stickney. "Even if your pet is on a leash, make sure that their identification tags are on their collar just in case. Microchips are even better because a collar or ID tag can get lost."
If your pet is on any kind of medication make sure you stock up before your trip in case you cannot get it where you are going. While you may be able to buy your pet's food at your destination, it is a good idea to make sure so you don't have to feed them an unfamiliar diet.
"While you can test your pet on new foods at home, you really don't want to change their food on a trip," warns Stickney. "This could upset their stomach and cause diarrhea- something you really wouldn't want to happen on the road or in a plane."
Proof of vaccinations and medical records are good things to have on any trip with your pet in case of an emergency, but might be necessary if you are flying with them.
"Most, if not all, airlines will require proof of vaccination and a health certificate in order to put them on the airplane," explains Stickney. "You have to get the health certificate from your veterinarian 10-15 days prior to a trip so make sure you leave yourself enough time to do this."
Checking with an airline on their rules and procedures can help make sure that all the paperwork is in order and can also give you a chance to ask any questions you may need to in order to make sure you have peace of mind.
"I would ask them what arrangements they make for the animals aboard in case of a layover. You want to make sure they don't leave them waiting out on a hot tarmac," advises Stickney. As much as you wouldn't want your pet sitting on a sweltering runway, it would be even worse to leave your pet in the car on a hot summer day.
"NEVER leave your pet in the car for any length of time," urges Stickney. "You might think that a couple of minutes are ok because you could stand it, but pets don't sweat, they pant. Because of this they need cool air to regulate their temperature and if they can't get it they get into trouble quickly."
Another safety note that Stickney adds is that because your pet might not be in a temperature controlled environment on an airplane, you don't want to give it sedatives or anything that might hinder their internal temperature regulation.
Once you have made all the arrangements and precautions for your pets and your family you are set and ready go.
"If staying at hotels, make sure ahead of time that they are pet friendly," advises Stickney. "Before you leave, make sure everyone has had a chance to use the bathroom and if you have any cats bring a litter box and fresh litter. If you do all these things you should be set for a great vacation with your family and your pets."
Pet Talk is a service of the College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, Texas A&M University. Stories can be viewed on the Web at http://tamunews.tamu.edu/.
Suggestions for future topics may be directed to email@example.com.