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Look with me, would you, at the second chapter of the letter to the Ephesians, Ephesians chapter 2. And we're going to discuss what it means to come alive in Christ, what it really means to be saved. What it is to be a Christian. This is one of the great sections of the Bible about salvation. And much of this is not new to us but it's so refreshing to our hearts to go over these wonderful truths.
You know, this study of Ephesians is so very vital. Understanding what you have in Jesus Christ is really essential. I was talking to a...a gentleman in our church yesterday and he was saying to me, "You know, the study of Ephesians is so very important." "Because," he said, "I was raised in a family where I was told and in a church where I was told that when you get saved, when you come to know Jesus Christ basically nothing happens. The only thing that takes place is sort of a judicial act on God's part where He forgives your past sins and that's it. There's no empowerment, there's no gift of the Holy Spirit, there's no nothing, just the matter of past sins forgiven. And then when you get the second blessing," quote "Then you get all the goodies that go with it."
And it would be a horrible thing to think of but that's the way most of those people have to exist, somewhere in the limbo between believing though they're saved they have nothing and, trying to find that second thing that you finally get that can give you the power that you need. But that is not what we learn in Ephesians, is it? What we see here in Ephesians is that when we have Christ we have everything. We are complete in Him. And the wonders of all that God gives us are here, delineated explicitly in this wonderful letter.
We ask ourselves often the question - What does it mean to be saved? What does it mean to be a Christian? What does it mean to be really born again? Well here is the definition of that. And there's a lot of confusion about it. There are a lot of people, as we know, claiming to be born again today that it's very obvious don't know the meaning of it.
I remember when I was speaking to a group of movie people, actors and actresses in Hollywood one time, and I presented Jesus Christ. There was this handsome, strikingly handsome, dark- complexion man from India who was an actor, a young actor, and I got all finished and he come up to me and he said - "I am a Muslim." But he said, "What you have said has intrigued me and I would like to have Jesus Christ." And I thought - Boy, that's fabulous.
Because you don't have Muslims do that very, very often. So we went off into a little side room at the hotel where it was happening and I presented Christ to him and he prayed a little prayer and he...he invited Jesus Christ into his life. And then he opened his eyes and looked at me and said, "And now isn't it wonderful," he said, "I have Jesus and Mohammed."
And I said - "I don't think you understand. Christianity is not going up to the shelf and saying I'll take one of those and let's see, one of those. That isn't it."
A lot of confusion about what it means to be a Christian. What it means to have Christ. What it means to be born again. But if you'll look with me at Ephesians 2:1 to 10 it ought to eliminate any doubt and any question. Cause it's here.
Now remember that the book of Ephesians is concerned with what it means to be in Christ. What it means to be one with Jesus Christ.
What it means to be a part of His body, the church of which He is the head. What it means to have been master planned into the body from before the world began. We saw in chapter 1 through verse 14 that Paul presents the master plan of God in eternity past. Then in verses 15 to 23 he prays that we would understand it, that we would really get a grip on the meaning of being in Christ. What it means to be a part of God's eternal plan. What it means to have been elected, redeemed and granted an inheritance forever with God. We've talked about the tremendous wonders of our position. All that we have in having Christ is in chapter 1.
Now Paul moves from eternity past in chapter l into time in chapter 2. In chapter 2 we find the Apostle Paul describing the very process of salvation, the very act of salvation, the very miracle of salvation that drew us into realizing this eternal plan. The plan is in 1, how you get in it is in chapter 2.
Now I want to tie another thing into your thinking also. The Apostle Paul is very concerned that we understand that as Christians we are possessors of the power of God. All right? It isn't just that when you're saved you get your sins forgiven plus nothing.
No, no, you receive all the power of God. It's all there at the moment of salvation. And that's the message of verse 19 of chapter one where he is praying that we would understand the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe according to the already present working of His mighty power. In other words, Paul is praying - O, God, may these Christians know...they may they know the tremendous power that is theirs in You. That's what is on his mind. He wants us to understand this power. And so he gives an illustration of it in verse 20, you'll remember we looked at it last time. It is the power with which He raised Christ from the dead and set Him at the right hand. It is resurrection power, it is exaltation power. Okay? That's his first illustration.
He's praying - O, God, may these Christians understand their resource, their reservoir, their power, their might, their energy.
May they know what they have in having Christ. And in order to illustrate that he says - It is the power that was so powerful it unlocked the chains of death and set Christ free and drew Him right up to an exalted place at the right hand of God. That's the power.
Further he says in chapter 2, it is the power that raised you from the dead and lifted you to the exaltation of the sons of God to sit you at the right hand of God with Christ. In other words, this is point two; to understand the power of God look at the resurrection of Christ and His exaltation, secondly, to understand the power of God look at your resurrection and your exaltation.
You say - What do you mean? Have I been raised from the dead?
Have I been exalted? Yes, spiritually that's already happened. Physically, it will happen in the future. Someday you'll be raised out of this world physically. The redemption of the body, Romans 8 talks about it, and you'll be with Christ. And you'll be in His image. Someday the resurrection and exaltation of the body, but already past tense, if you're a Christian, God has accomplished the resurrection and exaltation of your soul, of your spirit. And that's the miracle Paul wants to talk about in chapter 2. And in so discussing it presents to us a great picture of the doctrine of salvation. But really this presentation is an illustration of the power of God granted to the believer.
Now let's look at it, and as we examine this, verses 1 to 10, I want you to see six aspects of salvation. Now the general outline of this text is that he presents salvation in three tenses; past, verses 1 to 3; present, verses 4 to 6 and 8 and 9; and future, verse 7 and 10. He sees the past, the present and the future of the Christian. What he was, what he is, what he will be as salvation takes place. And so we're looking at that.
But under that general thrust I want you to see six aspects of salvation. And these are the six, salvation is: colon: from sin, by love, into life, with purpose, through faith, unto good works. Now we'll give those one at a time.
First, salvation is from sin...from sin. And this deals with the past. The past...from sin. Look at verse 1. "And you," and we'll skip the part that's italicized, if in your Bible it's italicized that's meaning it's added and it's all right there but we'll skip it because it picks up later in the ...in the text.
"And you who were dead in trespasses and sins; in which in time past," now you see, we're in the time past of the Christian life, "You walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the sons of disobedience; among whom also we all had our manner of life," it's past tense again, "In times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others." We'll stop right there.
Now there is probably no clearer statement on the sinfulness of man in the New Testament than that. That really delineates it.
And it makes Paul's first point...you are a sinner and you are dead. Now if he's going to tell us about God's power, God's power is best demonstrated in resurrection. And the resurrection of Christ was demonstration number one, and your resurrection from sin is demonstration number two. If you're a Christian you've already been raised from the deadness of sin. And maybe that's a greater miracle than physical resurrection.
Look with me at verse one again, "And you who were dead." Now this describes the condition of every individual. You were dead.
Now listen to me, if you're a Christian this is your past. If you're not a Christian this is your present. This is where you are right now, you're dead.
You see, man's trouble is not that he's out of harmony with his environment. Man's trouble is not that he can't make meaningful relationships. Man's trouble is he is dead. In 4:18 of Ephesians it says he is alienated from the life of God. So that his deadness is not deadness in the physical, it is deadness in the spiritual. He is dead to God. His body is alive but his inner man, spiritually speaking, is dead.
You say - What does it mean to be alienated from the life of God?
Dead to God? The best way to see it is in reference to physical death. Physical death is an inability to respond, no matter what the stimulus is. Physical death means you can't react. You've been to enough funerals and so have I to know what physical death is. It doesn't matter what the stimulus is, no...no physically dead individual ever reacts to any stimulus.
I remember one time I was sitting in my office over here, some years back. And a little boy came banging on the door. And he was crying. And he said - Are you the Reverend, are you the Reverend?
And I said - yes. He said, - Come, please, come please, quickly, quickly. And so he took off running and I ran after him. We ran down Roscoe Boulevard half way down this block and crossed the street into a house. And I got in the house and the lady was standing there, a young lady and she was weeping and the tears were running down her face. And...And I said - Well, what is it?
What's wrong? And she said - My baby is dead, my baby is dead, my baby's dead. And she pointed to the bedroom and I walked in and lying on the bed was a little lifeless baby of about 3 months. It was turning a funny kind of a blue color and there was absolutely no breath at all.
And I asked her if she tried to revive the baby and she said yes, yes. And she picked up the baby and she caressed the baby to her breast and loved it and kissed it and cried tears all over its little head but there was absolutely no response. And soon the ambulance arrived and they were unable to do anything, the baby was dead.
And I thought to myself, you know, I'm sure that in terms of human relationships, the very strongest stimulus there is...is the love of a mother for a little infant. If that mother can't get a response out of that little infant, that's death, physical death, the inability to respond.
Spiritual death is the same thing. All the caresses and all of the affection and all the tears and the love of God draw out absolutely nothing. Because a spiritually dead person is alienated from the life of God. There is no capacity for a response. And it isn't just a question of...of being dead and inanimate, it's like John Eadie, the great Scotch commentator said; "It's a case of death walking." They are literal spiritual zombies, because they don't know they're dead, they're still going through some motions. Death walking.
Jesus put the two concepts together, physical death and spiritual death, in the eighth chapter of Matthew when He called a certain man to be His disciple and follow Him. And the man said - Well, I'll follow You but first let me go home and bury my father. And Jesus said in Matthew 8:22; "Let the dead bury their dead." And He put them both together. Let the spiritually dead bury the physically dead. I've got better things for you to do.
And so it is that man is in a state of death walking. First Timothy 5:6, Paul said; "She that lives in pleasure is dead while she lives." It's a case of going through a zombie-like activity.
And what is the activity of the death-walker? Look at it, verse 1; "Dead in trespasses and sins." Functioning in the area of sin, functioning in the area of trespass. Now I want you to notice something, we are not dead because of sin we are dead because we were born sinful. We are not dead because we commit sin, we don't do a sin then die, we're born dead that's why we sin. I always think of it this way, I am not a liar, I am not called a liar because I lie, I lie in the first place because in my heart...what?...I'm a liar. A man does not kill and thus he is a murderer, he kills because he is a murderer. The Bible says that it is what comes out of a man that defiles the man. And we are dead and that deadness functions in sinfulness.
The in here, in the Greek, is what is called a locative of sphere. It is talking about the sphere in which we live. It is not a because of...it is an in...it is a location, a position. And, by the way, the opposite of being in Christ is being in trespasses and sins.
The word sins is interesting, hamartia. Very familiar word, it's a hunter's word, it means to miss the target, to miss the mark. A man shoots his arrow and misses the target. The second word paraptema, the word trespass, means to slip or fall or stumble, or go the wrong direction. Both are true of man.
And I don't know, commentators through the years have tried to make distinctions between what these two words mean, there are basically two ways of looking at the same thing. And it's just that God uses two words, and both of them in the plural to show the totality of sinfulness that is the result of deadness. Being alienated from the life of God means total deadness, total sinfulness.
Now you say - But hamartia in the sense of missing the mark. What do you mean by that? Now watch, this is the real true biblical definition of sin. Sin is a failure to hit God's target.
All right?
Well, you say, - what's God's target? Here it is, listen, "For all have sinned even," kai there, "Come short of the...what?...glory of God." Sin is a failure to glorify God, Romans 1 says that. When they knew God they...what?...glorified Him not as God.
That is sin. Sin is coming short of glorifying God. It does not mean when we say a person is a sinner, it does not mean that they're all the same level of vile, rotten, degraded, corrupt, decaying sinners. You could have 20 dead corpses and they could all have varying degrees of decay, they'd all be dead but different degrees of decay. And so it is in human history and human kind, all are dead but there are variances in the decadent, in the decaying of what is left. But sin is a question of...not a question of decay ultimately, it is a question of falling short of something.
In other words, now listen to this, we all understand that a - robber is a sinner, and a murderer is a sinner and a rapist is a sinner and a liar is a sinner and so forth and so forth and so forth. We're all clued in on that. But listen to me, sin has much more to do with what you don't do than what you do do. You got that? Sin is really not an issue of what you do, but of what you fail to do. It is that you fail to come to the glory of God.
It is that you fail, Matthew 5:48, where Jesus said; "Be ye perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect." And that's where we fail, right? Or as it is written, I Peter 1:16, "Be ye holy for I am holy."
Glory, holiness, perfection that's the target and that's where we fail. Now there may be different levels of morality, different degrees of decadence but we all fall short. It would be as if the whole congregation from Grace all lined up on the Pacific Ocean and said we're going to have a jump-off, folks. We're going to see who can jump to Catalina. And you can have as long a run as you want. And we'll all run down to the beach and everybody jump and we'll see who gets there. Listen, we'd all end up at different levels in the water but nobody would get to Catalina.
And the same thing is true in terms of the spiritual. There are different levels of attainment in human life, there are different levels of morality and so forth, but nobody gets to the glory of God. And nobody gets to perfection. And nobody gets to holiness, that's why we only know that in Jesus Christ, when His righteousness is given to us by God. So in...you see, it is not so much that sin is what I do, it is what I fail to do. I'm trying to jump to perfection, I don't make it and I land in the sea of sin. So my behavioral sins are simply what is left when I can't make it to God's standard.
And I say that because a lot of times we meet good people. And we say - I'm a good guy. I mean, I do civic good, humanitarian good, I'm a wonderful father, I love my wife, love my kids, take care of things, I'm very generous, very kind. Listen, nobody would ever deny that and that's very wonderful. I mean, that's a good way to be. Jesus recognized that. In Luke chapter 6 verse 33, Jesus said, "If you do good to them who do good to you what thanks do you have, sinners do the same." Jesus said, sinners do good to each other. That's right. People do good to each other but Jesus said people who do good to each other are still called...what?...sinners. Because sinning is not an issue of what you are doing to each other, it's not relational, you can't say - Well, I'm all right because I do good to people.
That isn't the point. The point is it's what you don't do and you don't live a holy life. And you don't live a perfect life. And you don't reach the standard which is the glory of God. That's the issue.
And in Luke 11:13, Jesus said this; "If ye then being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask." In other words he says - There are people who give good gifts to their children. What kind of people are those, Lord? Evil.
What do you mean evil? Well, their evil is not manifest in the fact that they do good for their children it's manifest in what they don't do and can't do. And that is to reach the standard of the glory of God.
At the end of Matthew, chapter 28, after the ship wreck on the island of Malta or Melita, it says; "And the barbarous people showed us no small kindness." You know, those barbarous pagan, ungodly, Christ rejecting people showed great kindness to Paul.
You see, that isn't the issue. Good works isn't the issue.
Relational goodness isn't the issue. Being a good neighbor and a good father and a good mother and a good parent, that isn't the issue. The issue is the glory of God.
Let me show it to you in another way. John 16:8, John 16:8, we're going to hurry a little bit. So if you don't have it, just listen and I'll read it; "And when He is come," the Holy Spirit, "He will reprove the world of sin." Now watch, the Holy Spirit is going to convict people of sin. He's going to move into the hearts of men and convict them of sin. What sin? Verse 9; "Of sin because they believe not on Me.? Now notice, the sin of which the Spirit will convict is the sin of not doing something. You see that? It's not the sin of doing something, it's the sin of not doing it. You are not living to the glory of God, you are not perfect, you are not holy because you are not believing on Jesus Christ. And no matter what else you do, you're just ankle deep in the sea a long way from the goal. That's the problem. So, man is dead. He is dead in his inability to reach God's standard and he falls and slips and stumbles and goes the wrong direction because of his deadness. He is a death walking zombie manifesting a total inability to accomplish God's standard. Even though, from time to time, he manifests some moral goodness. So he's a death walker.
Let's look at verse 2. You say - Well, what environment is he functioning in? This death walker who is wandering through existence, what is the sphere in which he functions? All right, verse 2; "In which in time past you walked according to the course of this kosmos, this world, this age." Stop right there.
First thing he says - You are not only dead before you were a Christian, but you are functioning as a death walker, doing sins and trespasses according to the course of the world. In other words, you are a victim of the spirit of the age. People say - Well, we do what we want.
My football coach used to say to me - I'd become a Christian but I want to do what I want. And I used to say to him - But you're not doing what you want. You're doing what the world dictates.
You are walking according to the course of the kosmos.
Now the word kosmos here doesn't speak of a physical world, it speaks more of the ideological world of sin. The conceptual world of evil. The system of Satan. The system which he generates.
In other words, the zombie, the death walker, does indulge in the sins of the times. He's right up on it. He's current. He lives according to the world's standards, the world's values in his own time. He's conducting himself in complete harmony with the spirit of the age. The Germans called it the zeitgeist, the spirit of the times. He just does what the world does. It is an age alienated from God and he has a mind alienated from God.
They're in harmony with each other, he just walks in the sphere of sin in the spirit of the age. The kosmos which Satan dominates, according to John 12:31, the prince of this world, Jesus said, he dominates it and it pressures man and man succumbs and does what the world system tells him to do. That's total depravity.
Total depravity is death walking, death walking in sin and trespass according to the spirit of the age. That's total depravity. It doesn't mean you never do a good thing, it just means you're locked into a circle that you can't escape. A death walk in the spirit of the age.
What is the spirit of the age? You can see it around you. Three things would classify it to me, three things characterize our age; humanism, materialism and sex.
Humanism, that's do your own thing, do it your way, you're the boss, you're the king, you're the ruler. You know, Burger King says - Have it your way. Grab all the gusto you can get, the beer says. It's all the same stuff. You are the one. You are the only one. McDonald's tells you that. Everybody tells you that. It is to tell you that you're it, man. That's humanism. That's humanism. Just remember that the next time you stuff in a Quarterpounder. That's humanism.
And then there is materialism. And materialism says you've got to have it, you've got to have it...more money, more goodies, more things. And we're all so victimized that we can't even help ourselves in that area.
And then it's sex. This is the sexy seventies, everything from advertising to zoos and everything in between is promoted by sex. You almost have to drive with your eyes closed. Everywhere, billboards' signboards, everywhere. It's all over the place. We're drowning in a sea of it. Better, we're drowning in a cesspool of it.
In fact, one writer said that we don't have the morals of a barnyard. And humanism, materialism and sex is the zeitgeist, it's the spirit of the age, it's the stuff the system is selling And the death walker doesn't have any place else to go so he buys whatever its selling so he does whatever the society does and it just perpetuates the society like a snowball.
You say - Who's behind it all? Verse 2; "According to the prince, the power of the air." That's whose behind it, Satan is behind it. The prince of the power of the air, the prince, the arches, we have the kephale, the head, Christ, they have the arches, they have their leader - Satan who is the leader of the demons, who...who foments the system, who breeds the influence. It doesn't mean that everybody is literally indwelt by Satan, like Judas was. But it means Satan is behind the influences, he is behind the trends.
He and his demons carry out the objectives whether they are secular or religious, he is up to his neck in religion as well.
And notice the little phrase - the prince of the power of the air. What is this air? Well some people see it as the atmosphere, the first heaven around the earth, the atmosphere. The second heaven is the stellar heavens. The third heaven is God's domain.
And some people say well, it means Satan is around the earth, he's in that atmosphere. But there's more than that. And he may be floating around there and he may be clear up to the stars also.
And he may be up in the third heaven too, once in a while when he goes before the throne of God as in Job. And he's floating around in the atmosphere for sure, and fighting the holy angels and flying around doing his thing with his demons but there's more to it than that. The prince of the power of the air, I believe, involves also the realm of ideas.
We say there was an air of something or other in the room. There was an air...we mean more than atmosphere. We're talking about an attitude. We're talking about concepts. We talk about the world of music, the world of sports, the world of politics.
We talk about all of these things, the world of religion. Well, the world here doesn't just mean the globe. Walking according to the course of this world means according to an ideology, according to a system of ideas. And the air is the same thing.
Satan is not only functioning in atmosphere physically, he is functioning in terms of a manifest ideology. He is promoting concepts. He is breathing ideas. He is behind the whole system.
It is right from hell. The world of death walkers has an atmosphere generated by the archos of that atmosphere, none other than Satan. And the result is...he is the spirit that works in the sons of...what?...disobedience...He draws them into active disobedience to God. It is in opposition to God.
And so it's the realm of sinful thought - the air. It's the world of ideas...sinful ideas. And man is disobedient to God because he's a death walker locked into a sphere where he can't respond obediently.
Paul continues his description in verse 3, very quickly; "Among whom also we all had our manner of life in time past." We're all like this. We all operated on the lusts of our flesh. The death walker...the death walker who is meandering like a zombie through the system influenced, spawned, controlled by Satan issuing in disobedience functions in response only to his flesh, the lusts of his flesh that's epithumia and it means strong, evil passions here. And to the desires of the flesh, that's thelema, that means drives. Where you have a passion that turns to a drive. He is driven to fulfill the desires of the flesh and the mind. And, by the way, the flesh refers to his fallen nature, his humanness, his alienated soul without God. Physically in the flesh, mentally in the mind, he is drawn, he is driven into the functioning of sin and trespass.
Now that's a mess. A death walker...literally drowning in it. Totally lost in the spirit of the age which is promoted by Satan. Which influences his mind in disobedience. Disobedience which is....
Which he is drawn into by the lusts of his flesh, the lusts of his humanness which transmit into drives that compel him to fulfill what his body and his mind demand. And the end of it all is that he is a child of wrath, says verse 3, like everybody else. He's a child of wrath. In other words, he's a bull's-eye for God's guns of judgment. He's a sitting duck. He's a...he's a clay pigeon.
He is the target. He is the goal of judgment. Now that's a bad situation. Wouldn't you say? Now that's a great description of total depravity. That's man.
What are the first two words of verse 4? What are they? "But God..." Great words, huh? The first two words of verse 1, "And you."
The first two words of verse 4, "But God." And here we move to point two, and we'll hurry by these so we'll give them all to you.
Salvation is first from sin. Secondly, by love. By love...look at verse 4; "But God," oh, I love that. "But God," and here comes the power, are you ready? Here comes the power that's going to raise us out of this death, turning the zombie into a new creation, full of life, eternal life. "But God who is rich in mercy,"
Plousios, over...over abounding, loaded with mercy. Mercy for the sinner. Boy, if we got what we deserved we'd be in trouble, wouldn't we? So He gives us mercy which is holding back what we deserve.
And why? "For His great love with which He loved us." You see, salvation is based on love. God doesn't look down and say - Well, there's a good one, I think I'll pick him. Oh, there's another good one, boy, he's a terrific person.
It has nothing to do with us, it's His love. Salvation is by love. God is love and God's intrinsic, essential attribute of love manifests itself to us in grace and mercy. Love is His motive. He's rich in love, so He's rich in grace, so He's rich in mercy.
And He reaches out to love those of us who were dead in sin, we are the vilest, sinful, godless, ungrateful, unworthy, unholy, destitute, degraded, depraved humans walking around engulfed in sins and trespasses serving the prince of the power of a system of ideology that drowns us. And we are targets for God's wrath and it is to us that He comes and pours out His love. That's God. That's God.
And it's amazing, you know, when we have sinned because we've even sinned against His love. He's loved us all along. Man doesn't just break His laws, he sins against His love.
Imagine if I were driving in the neighborhood where I live and the little child was in the street and I was driving too fast or something and foolishly killed that little child. Well, first of all I would be charged with a crime. And I would be tried and perhaps found guilty. And then I would either pay a fine or be imprisoned for a period of time on manslaughter or something.
And after I had paid my fine or filled out my term in prison, I...as far as the law is concerned, would be a closed case. Nothing else matters, the law is satisfied, it has no more interest in me, has absolutely no more concern, it's over. But, that's a sin against the law.
What about the little boy's mother? That's another story, isn't it? Could I ever make up to her for the loss of that little life by paying a fine? Serving a sentence? No. You see, there's only one way I could ever have a relationship with her. I've sinned against her love not against the law. There's only one way I could ever have a relationship with her and that would be if she offered me unconditional and free...what?...forgiveness, forgiveness. That's the only way.
And that is precisely what God has done. We have not only sinned against His law, we've killed His Son. We have killed His Son and continue to do so in rejection and open defiance and not believing in Him. And yet God reaches out and says - I know you did that but I offer you unconditional and complete forgiveness. And so it is that God in His great love not only sees His law satisfied but He sees His love satisfied.
Salvation is from sin by love.
Thirdly, salvation is from sin by love, unto...into life, into life. What's the one thing a dead man needs most? Not a coffin, even more than that...life. Life...and you see, this is what Paul is trying to say here, He's going to make you alive. And he says it in verse 5; "Even when we were dead in sins He hath made us alive together with Christ by grace ye are saved." Now here's his whole point here. His point is if you are doubting the power of God in your life it is the power that raised Christ, it is the power that raised you. See that?
So when somebody comes along and says - Well, I'm sorry if you haven't had the second work, if you haven't had the special baptism, if you haven't had this little special thing, you don't have the power. I say to them - garbage. The power of God that raised Jesus from the dead has already acted in my life in raising me out of the deadness of sin. You see? That's his point.
And he's saying - Look, if you're worried about whether God can get you off to thi....off this globe and on to that pearly city, whether He can get you out of here and into there, whether He can handle you going into the grave and coming out again at the resurrection remember He already raised you once spiritually.
The physical part is easier. You see, he's trying to show you that you can have confidence in God's power. Man, Christian, get a grip on who you are, what you've got and what God's already done in your life. Salvation is into life. He made us alive.
When you became a Christian you were no longer alienated from the life of God. You came alive. You, all of a sudden, were sensitive to God. You opened the Bible and it said - Oh yeah, that's what it says. The Spirit of God was in your life. And things made sense. And you saw the meaning of history. And you had a real reason to live. And you felt God at work. And you knew Christ. And there was an immediate brotherhood with other Christians. You became the possessor of the common eternal life. That's living. That's living.
And He did it when He made Christ alive. He made us alive together with Him. We were there when He rose from the dead. We were there when He came out of the grave. We were raised with Him. And God's power already's been displayed in our behalf.
So, salvation is from sin, by love, into life. Fourth, salvation is from sin by love, into life, with a purpose. So what's a purpose? What's this purpose? Verse 8; "And hath raised us up together and made us sit together in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus."
Now this is so good. When God raised you from the dead He didn't leave you in the cemetery. You know, when Lazarus came out of the grave...I thought of an analogy just now...when Lazarus came out of the grave, he was alive. And then what did Jesus say? "Loose him and...what?...let him go." The guy can't live the rest of his life in those grave clothes. And when Jesus raised you from the dead it wasn't just to let you roam around the cemetery in the grave clothes, He picked you out of the grave, a miracle of resurrection.
And then He did a second miracle of ascension and exaltation. Verse 6 says He raised you up and gave you a seat in heavenly places.
Look, illustration number one of God's power - He raised Jesus and exalted Him to the right hand. Illustration number two - He raised you and exalted you into the right hand of God. You're already seated in the heavenlies. Is that super? past tense - it's already done. If you are a Christian you are already seated in the heavenlies. Your citizenship is in heaven, Philippians 3:20.
You're no longer of this world. You've been transformed out of this world. You have eternal life. And you just happen to be walking in this dead world. The very opposite of being dead in this world, you're alive. And your life is in heaven, hid with Christ and God.
He didn't just raise us and leave us in the grave yard He exalted us. He took us up into the heavenlies and we're blessed with all spiritual blessing.
Now what do you mean by being in the heavenlies? You say. Do you mean you're in heaven? No, I'm right here but I'll tell you, my mind exists in God's domain. Doesn't yours? That's what it means.
All my blessings are there. I talk to the Lord there. I talk to the Father there. I talk to the Holy Spirit there. I think about the Apostle Paul who is there. All the people who have gone to be with Him...that's my home, that's my dominion. All my commands come down from there. All my services go up to there. All my sacrifices are offered to there. You see, that's my world. And so He not only raised me from the dead but He raised me to His hand, His right hand.
You say - Well, why did He do all this? Why would God want to make a bunch of cruddy sinners come alive and bring them up to be with Him? Why? Verse 7, here's the purpose. "In order that in the ages to come," and you know when the ages to come begin? Immediately after you're saved. The moment you're saved the ages to come begin. And in the ages to come, "He wants to show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus." Do you know why God saved you? In order that He could be kind to you forever. Isn't that amazing?
You say, Why does God want to be kind to me? I don't deserve it. Yes, you're right, neither do I. But God is...what?...love. And Paul says love is kind, love is gracious. God is love. And love wants to be kind and gracious. This is the purpose, beloved.
You were saved not primarily to keep you out of hell, you were saved primarily so that God could just shower His grace and shower His blessing and shower His riches on you. Now for somebody to come along and say - Well, when you get saved you don't get anything. That's to take your fist and just give a shot to God. You're denying the whole point of salvation.
From the moment you are saved, from the rest of the ages throughout eternity, He is unloading on you the riches of His grace. It's all yours. He doesn't withhold anything...anything at all. He gives you everything through Jesus Christ. Oh, what a wonderful thing, people. You don't miss anything. It's all yours in Christ. All yours.
And then you know what He does? When He gets all done pouring out all His grace on you He just holds you up, Ephesians 3:10 says, and shows you off to the angels and says to the angels - Now do you see what a wonderful gracious God I am. And all the angels sing the Hallelujah Chorus. And in the end He gets...what?...the glory. That's the purpose.
So don't ever think you don't have any resources. God saved you for the very purpose of unloading on you every rich kind, gracious thing conceivable to the mind of God so that you might be so filled with His riches and filled with His kindness and filled with His grace that you can be held up to the angels and that they can praise Him for being such a loving, gracious, kind and wise God. So His own glory is at stake and He will never diminish His own glory. Therefore if He gets glory by pouring out grace on you He'll do it. That's what he says.
Salvation is from sin, by love, into life, with purpose. Fifth, through faith, it is through faith. Verse 8: "For by grace are ye saved through faith." Faith is simply believing, simply believing. It's not that complicated. It's a gift of God, not of yourselves and it's not of works. Because if it was we would all do...what?...? We'd boast. And then who'd get the glory? We would. God wants the glory. It's not of works. The work is done. It's all finished. Tetelestai on the cross, it is finished.
I always think of the story I told you some years ago about the guy who came to the revival meeting the night it closed. They were taking down the tent and he came running up to one of the men working with the peg. And he said - Oh, he said, what do I do to be saved? What do I do to be saved? And the man was taking all the tent apart, the evangelist was gone, the place was dark. And he turned to him and he said - I'm sorry, it's too late. It's too late.
Oh no, he said, what do I do to be saved? What do I do to be saved? You can't mean it's too late.
Yes, it's too late, he said. You see, it's already been done.
He was right. There wasn't anything to do because it has already been done, hasn't it? Jesus did it. It's not of works, lest any man should boast. It's of faith. Faith is simply believing.
And we're all creatures of faith. You live by faith everyday of your life. Every time you pop a lid off a Coca Cola and drink it, it's an act of faith. You don't have any idea what is in there. You go into a restaurant and you eat what they give you, you don't know what's really going on behind the golden arches. You te...I'll never forget reading in Reader's Digest about a city that converted from a storage water tank system to a pipe system. And they drained the old water system and they found at the bottom of this tank, the people had been drinking out of for 45 years, dead dogs, dead rats, animals, dirt, silt, and they all got retroactive dysentery. I mean, you turn on your faucets, you don't know what's playing in your pipes, you just drink the water.
You get on a bridge, I thought about that when I was driving over the Bay Bridge in Oakland one time, wouldn't it be funny if there was an unlucky lane with a hole in it every day and you just...somebody went through, you know. You don't believe that.
You go down a highway you've never been on and you drive 60 miles an hour without any fear that there's going to be a stone wall in your lane around the next bend. You live by faith everyday of your life.
And it's that ability to live by faith that's basic to human nature. And it's that that God uses to draw you to Himself. And if you can trust the people who make hamburgers and cokes and bridges and...and...and take care of your water, you ought to be able to trust the God of the universe. And that's the essence of faith. It's believing. Just believing. Just accepting, taking the gift.
And when you take the gift you come alive in that instant. And that's a great miracle, people. And God has already released His power, if you're a Christian, in your life to do that in the past.
You don't ever need to question God's power, you've seen it. Do you realize how dead you were in verses 1 to 3? And now all of a sudden, "For by grace you are saved through faith, it isn't of you at all, it's a gift of God, there's no works involved in it."
Because if there was you would boast and God wants to boast, not you.
If you breathe spiritually it's because God slapped you on the back. If you can hear the hearing of faith it's because God unstopped your ears. No self-congratulation, no religion of human achievement, it's all of God, none of us.
Salvation didn't come to you by your confirmation, by your baptism, your church attendance, your church membership. It didn't come to you by giving money. It doesn't come to you by communion, keeping the Ten Commandments, living by the Sermon on the Mount, giving to charity, believing in God, being a good neighbor, living a respectable life, none of those things. In fact, hell will be loaded with people who did all of those. Salvation is through faith, from sin, by love, into life, with purpose, through faith.
And last, salvation is unto good works. The result is good works.
Why? Because John 15:8 says; "Herein is My Father glorified that you bear much fruit. When God saves you He wants to see in your life good works. Because that manifests His power. He had the power to save you and the manifestation of that power in your good works is to His glory.
Now the Bible talks a lot about works. There are the works of the law which can't save in Galatians 2 and 3. There are the works of the flesh in Galatians 5:19 to 21. There are the works of darkness in Romans 13 and Ephesians 5. There are the dead works of Hebrews chapter 6. These are not the kind of works we're talking about. We're not talking about works that save because none do.
We're talking about the works that are the result of salvation, what happens afterwards. Look at verse 10; "For we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus," watch this, "Unto good works which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." Listen, if God before ordained that you should walk in good works believe me, He also gave you the power to do that when you were saved. That's Paul's point. You don't need somebody to prove to you the power of God, the exceeding greatness of His power toward us, all you have to do is look at your own resurrection, your own exaltation and your own power to do those things which are good works in the eyes of God. You are to be filled with good works, Paul said.
The word workmanship is a Greek word, the first four letters of the Greek word are p-o-e-m, poem, we're God's poem. And the word really came to mean a masterpiece. We are God's masterpiece. And He has designed from before eternity to conform us to Christ, to mold us unto good works and He does it, His power. Listen, God's power is at work in your life, shaping you molding you into the image of Jesus Christ. That power you saw it when you were saved. And you see it everyday as you live under His pressure to conform to Christ. You're His masterpiece.
You say - I'm not much of a masterpiece. Well, you're getting there. I always think of the junior teacher, had a little kid and he was teaching about the creative power of God. And God made this and God made this and God made us and so forth. And this kid was being real naughty and goofing around. And finally, in frustration, the teacher said - Who made you? And the little guy said - God did but He ain't done yet.
And none of us is done yet. But the shaping is going on. And the good works are part of it. Listen, who is the true Christian? The one who does the good works. You can have all kinds of people who claimed to be saved, and claim to be born again and claim to be Christians and you can look. And do you see in their life good works being produced by the power of God. See. To the glory of God. Because salvation is unto good works.
I hope you know more than just religion. I hope you really know this salvation. I always think about the drawing room function I read about years ago. A famous actor was there and everybody was asking him to recite famous pieces and he had an unlimited repertoire and he kept doing it. And there was an old preacher there, I don't know how he got to the party but he was an old preacher and so he yelled out to the actor - And he said, - Why don't you do the twenty-third Psalm? And the actor knew it and he said - That won't be good for this occasion.
He said - I want you to do the twenty third Psalm. And he said, All right, I'll do it if you'll do it. And the old man thinking, that's even better - that's twice. He said - I'll do it.
The actor began and his intonation was flawless and his diction was masterful and he handled the twenty-third Psalm with dignity and grace and beauty from beginning to end. And when he was finished there was applause.
And then the old preacher got up and in a gravel voice after years of shouting and preaching and not too good at diction and not such hot intonation he went through the twenty-third Psalm and when he was finished, there wasn't any applause but there wasn't a dry eye in the room. Tears came down the cheeks of the people.
And the actor turned to him and said - Sir, I see the difference. I know the Psalm but you know the Shepherd.
And that's the difference. A lot of people who know the extremities and the externals but knowing the Christ of God means to be alive and that's the message Paul wants to give. And if you've been made alive in Jesus Christ you don't ever need to question the power of God available in your life right now. Let's pray.
Father, thank You for this morning. Draw out, Father, to yourself those that the Spirit is wooing. May all of us be more grateful and more cognizant of the tremendous power already exhibited in our lives. We'll give You the praise and ask that You would bring to Yourself those who don't know You, draw them into the prayer room, Father. And bring us back together again tonight with excitement in our hearts as we worship and share in the baptism and the communion. We'll give You the praise in Jesus' name, 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


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DavidH wrote:Hey, CF, I didn't know you are/were at Oxford. I was at Hertford from 1965; in those days we didn't have the blessed knowledge of the FSM to throw at the OICCU and other religious loonies, of which we had far too many.
Still there - and town not gown BTW

subset: commoncrawl


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According to one David A. Knox, who runs a webpage devoted to the glory of the departed Renault Fuego, "I have tried to be accurate about my facts and figures, but, as anyone who has done automotive history knows, precision is often an unapproachable goal." While we feel that Knox may need to have a chat with Bruce, we do appreciate his dedication to Renault's oft-forgotten sports coup of the 1980s, which was available and your friendly, local and rather desperate American Motors dealer. Plus, at one point, it even had a hemi! Then again, so did the Starion, and it was actually driven by the correct wheels. Regardless, the Fuego's worldwide production span lasted until 1993, which gives it the longevity edge.
Renault Fuego: A Retrospective
Jalopnik T-Shirt Slogan Search: The Runoffs, Part Two [Internal]


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Bonus March
Adam Langer
Spiegel & Grau: 244 pp., $26
In June 1932, at the height of the Great Depression, a ragtag collection of World War I veterans converged on Washington, D.C., to demand money the government had promised them. About 20,000 men set up impromptu encampments around the capital, intent on serving as physical reminders of a broken promise.
The government's patience did not last -- perhaps because it couldn't pay restitution. On July 28, Gen. Douglas MacArthur, acting on President Hoover's orders, sent his troops to roust the veterans, a case of the Army acting against its own. The skirmishes cleaned out the camps, but not before a handful of men were killed.
Adam Langer heard about the Bonus March, as the protests were called, for much of his life. His father, Seymour, a Chicago radiologist, often talked about the futile effort of the Army men, even musing that he would like to write about it in a book.
When Seymour Langer died in 2005 at 80, he hadn't finished -- or really begun -- his project. To his son, a novelist ("Crossing California," "Ellington Boulevard"), this was a tragedy. The younger Langer had even entertained fantasies of accompanying his father on research trips and helping with the manuscript. "The book he never wrote," he explains in "My Father's Bonus March," his first work of nonfiction, "is the story of what we didn't do together, of the conversations we didn't have, of the projects we didn't finish, of the stories he left out, of the inner life, about which I knew so little, of what our relationship could have been but wasn't."
"My Father's Bonus March" recounts Langer's quest to discover the source of his father's fascination, as well as his attempt to understand their distant filial dynamic, which was marked by quips and retorts rather than real communication. "It was a typical relationship between a Depression-era father and son," he writes. "My Dad and I shook hands; we didn't hug. Love was not a word in our vocabulary."
Libraries are filled with memoirs of sons and daughters uncovering family secrets. At their best, such books reveal hidden history and a complex family dynamic. Here, though, the connections are too tenuous: No one in the Langer family served in World War I, nor did they march on Washington. So what was so compelling to Langer's father? To find out, Langer visits archives and libraries and his father's old Jewish neighborhood in Chicago. He interviews prominent Americans such as John Kerry and Norman Podhoretz about their perception of the march.
That's all fine, of course, but it never brings the relationship between Langer and his father into focus, nor gives us a sense of Langer's father as he really was. "I never knew he had a literary bent," remarks Seymour Levine, a family friend. "He never mentioned it. Marlene, did you ever hear anything about Seymour wanting to write a book?"
In some memoirs, the quest becomes a central feature of the narrative, but the journey here is so unrevealing that Langer resorts to weaving snippets of conversations with his father's friends and relatives into play-like dialogue. These sections feel stilted and call attention to the fact that the book is a hodgepodge of genres -- memoir, biography, history, documentary -- that do not cohere into a satisfying whole.
"My Father's Bonus March" is most vivid when Langer recounts episodes from his own life, such as the time his family got trapped at the home of relatives when a rainstorm made the streets impassable. Just as the family settled in for the night, the rain relented. His father insisted on driving home, and the picture that emerges is of a resolute family man, in charge and in command.
In another touching scene, Langer describes sitting on a stoop in Chicago with his 2-year-old daughter, Nora, and telling her stories about the neighborhood. He broods that he never had this kind of exchange with his father -- an insight that tells more about Seymour than the multitude of interviews in the book.
In the end, Langer realizes that his father was an ordinary man and not a thwarted author. But that revelation does not mean that his life was a failure. He made his mark by being a successful radiologist, a loving friend and a provider for his family. For Seymour Langer, it ends up being enough.
Dinkelspiel is the author of "Towers of Gold: How One Jewish Immigrant Named Isaias Hellman Created California."


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A classic and versatile ribbon made from 100% polyester yarn. Satin ribbon is the core product in the essentials collection.Sold in 1 to 20 metre lengths. Enter the quantity of each length you require from the listed options.


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The DMC is an AGENT for SL Models. We have castings & provide ongoing training. The DMC OS dept provides stores with models,& monitors schedulesThe DMA teaches state-of-the-art techniques, and provides hands-on training. We use a catwalk, and pageant stage for a full experience. The instructors take a PERSONAL interest in the success of each student assuring a supportive learning environment. To follow what has been going on at the DMC click the follow button to the right!
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Singer and songwriter Solange Knowles has credited her maturity with becoming a young mother and divorcee by the age of 19.
Beyonce's younger sister stunned fans in February 2004 by tying the knot with her high school sweetheart Daniel Julez when she was 17 and announcing she was pregnant.
She gave birth to their only child, Daniel Julez J. Smith, Jr., eight months later, but their relationship broke down and the singer split from her husband in 2006.
Knowles, now 27, has since managed to carve out a career for herself as a celebrity DJ, musician and fashionista, and she admits her down-to-earth attitude has a lot to do with struggling through her early years of adulthood.
She tells Harper's Bazaar magazine, "In a lot of ways, emotionally and mentally, I feel far older that 27.
"Just going through a marriage and a divorce – which I essentially did by 21 – will give you an insane amount of perspective on life.
"Everyone talks about how, in your 30s, all of these growing pains transition into wisdom and you feel more self-assured and confident, but I think I had a bit of a jump-start on that at 27.
"For the first time in my life, I'm basing every decision around the idea of whether I want to do it or if I think it will be inspiring. And that's paid off for me."


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Having a paved driveway or parking lot has many benefits over gravel, dirt, and even concrete. It's neater, looks better, and doesn't turn to mud when it rains. However, a paved asphalt lot or driveway comes with maintenance requirements of its own.
Asphalt expands and contracts with the temperature and weather conditions. This improves durability, but over time, it's important to make sure the asphalt is still holding strong.
Repaving vs. Seal Coating
There are two common ways to maintain aging asphalt pavement. Many people opt for repavement, but seal coating is also a good option. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages.
Repaving your asphalt driveway or lot entails putting new asphalt down. It can either be laid on top of the existing driveway, or the current asphalt can be torn up and replaced. If the asphalt has undergone major damage, such as large cracks, or is deteriorating from underneath due to groundwater erosion, repaving might be the best course of action. Putting it off might only make the problem worse.
The cost to rip up an old driveway, remove the debris, and lay down a new one is usually several thousand dollars, with some jobs costing up to $5,000, depending on the scope of work and the home or business location.
If your driveway is in fairly decent shape, and you are performing simple preventative tasks to keep it strong for many more years, repaving it completely probably isn't necessary. Repaving is a long and expensive process and only truly needs to be pursued when the driveway really is at the end of its life. A good rule of thumb is if one-quarter of the driveway or more needs to be repaired, repaving is the way to go. But if less than that is crumbling, a seal coat would be sufficient.
Seal Coating
Putting a seal on your asphalt driveway will help it resist water damage and can double its lifespan. It will also protect against oil spills and pothole formation, and helps ice and snow melt faster. Plus, it shields the driveway from UV rays, which can cause the asphalt to become brittle.
In addition to these benefits, seal coating is typically a much less expensive process than repaving. It generally costs a few hundred dollars. In 2016, the highest price was about $1,000 and the average homeowner paid less than $400 to seal coat their driveways. Every new asphalt driveway or parking lot should be seal coated, but the process must be done at least 90 days after the asphalt was laid. The optimal timeframe is between one and two years after the driveway is laid.
Types of Asphalt
It can be difficult to tell the difference between one paved lot and another. But when choosing an asphalt type for your driveway or parking lot, there are a range of options.
Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA)
HMA is the most common type used for driveways. Numerous benefits are associated with this style, including:
- High durability
- Low maintenance
- Polished look
- Resistance to salt, commonly used to prevent ice formation during the winter
- Able to withstand multiple freezes and thaws
- Easy to repair when needed
Perpetual Pavement
Perpetual pavement is generally used for roads and consists of three layers:
- The bottom layer is strong, flexible and resists deterioration. Either extra-thick or highly flexible HMA is typically used for this layer to improve durability. It's usually between 3 and 4 inches thick.
- The middle layer is strong and sturdy, as it will support the weight of the cars. Coarse aggregates combined with a binder are generally used to add durability and rut resistance. This layer is typically between 4 and 7 inches thick.
- The top layer is meant to be the driving surface. It's usually a high-quality HMA that's 1.5 to 3 inches thick. This layer is designed to combat rutting and stress cracking.
Roads made of perpetual pavement have their top layer torn up and replaced every few years, but the bottom and middle layers are meant to be permanent.
Quiet or Stone Matrix Asphalt
Stone matrix asphalt has several qualities that make it perfect for highways with heavy traffic volume. Using this type can reduce noise pollution by as much as 50 percent, which makes it ideal for travelers on long road trips or anyone who lives near a highway. It's also highly durable and very resistant to rutting. However, it's also significantly more expensive than other options, so it isn't often used for driveways, parking lots, or even smaller roads.
Porous Asphalt
Porous asphalt is usually laid on top of a recharge bed that rainwater can drain into through the pavement. It's a common choice in parking lots to prevent surface flooding and can also help improve groundwater quality.
Common Uses of Asphalt
Asphalt is highly versatile, very durable and fairly affordable for many people. It's primarily used for road surfaces; 94 percent of U.S. roads are made of asphalt. Other uses include:
- Driveways
- Parking lots
- Tennis or basketball courts
- Racetracks
- Airport runways
Questions to Ask When Choosing a Paving Contractor
While your driveway or parking lot certainly isn't what makes you or your home or business great, it is a contributing factor to people's first impressions. Bad pavement jobs can result in pooling rainwater and premature cracking, so you need to choose a paving contractor who can deliver a durable, professional-looking surface. Before deciding on a contractor, hold a few interviews to determine which company is best for your job.
Are You Insured?
Any time you hire a contractor to complete a project at your home, you should double-check to make sure the company is insured. Liability and worker's compensation are good starts, but having an umbrella policy and auto liability are also ideal.
Is Your Asphalt Recycled?
Most asphalt is partially made of recycled material. Some people prefer recycled asphalt because it's more environmentally friendly than new asphalt. However, too much older material in your new driveway can make it look worn down and decrease its lifespan. Be sure to inquire about the ratio of new to recycled asphalt.
What Type of Equipment Do You Use?
Asphalt needs to be laid quickly and efficiently to ensure it looks nice. Asphalt that begins to cool before the rest of the job is done will end up sloppy. If your contractor uses outdated equipment that is prone to breakdowns, you're taking the risk that this situation will occur.
If the contractor responds to this question by saying he or she can pave an asphalt driveway by hand, consider looking for another contractor. He or she might be highly skilled at hand-paving, but a machine will generally do a better job that will look nicer and last longer.
How Much Will It Cost?
Of course, you'll want to get a quote during your contractor interviews. One red flag is being asked for a down payment. The typical asphalt paving job shouldn't require a down payment.
If the quote sounds too high, ask what is included. The size of the job will make a difference, as well as necessary materials. If your driveway or parking lot needs to be leveled out or if there are drainage issues present, your quote might begin to creep higher. Talk about the grade of asphalt and any challenges your job requires - these could increase the cost.
On the other hand, if a quote seems unrealistically low, find out why. Perhaps their equipment is outdated or their asphalt is low quality. Worse is the possibility that there are hidden fees you didn't discuss during the initial conversation.
Do You Have References I Can Call?
Speaking to people who have worked with this contractor before is one of the best ways to get a feel for how they work with clients. You can also search online to see if anyone has reviewed the company on sites like YP.com.
Additionally, ask if there are any nearby examples of the company's work you can see. Perhaps they've done parking lots you drive by every day.
How Many People Will Work on My Project?
Ideally, your contractor will have a crew of between five and eight people. Too few will make the job challenging, which could result in a poorly laid driveway.
Common Issues and Hazards
When asphalt gets old, or if the wrong type of asphalt was used for a particular job, certain types of defects can begin to show.
Alligator Cracks and Potholes
These are scaly-looking cracks that run throughout a portion of a road. They are caused when the asphalt wasn't provided enough support or drainage. Over time, they can deteriorate until they become potholes.
Prevent alligator cracks by making sure the base layer is strong enough. If you begin to notice alligator cracks or potholes, only a full-depth patch can remedy them.
Longitudinal, Transverse, and Joint Reflection Cracks
Joints are usually the weakest part of a paving job, and inadequate joint construction can eventually lead to cracks.
Longitudinal cracks are parallel to the road's centerline or the direction the driveway or parking lot was paved. They are usually caused by poor joint construction or simply aging pavement.
Transverse cracks run perpendicular to the road's centerline, and can be caused by poor joint construction as well. Seasonal or daily temperature changes can also contribute to transverse cracks.
Joint reflection cracks occur on asphalt surfaces that are laid over concrete surfaces.
Bird Baths, Edge Cracks, and Rutting
These issues are usually seen on the sides of roads. Bird baths, or depressions, are caused when the pavement isn't as deep in one area, or the land on which the road was laid is uneven. A slight depression can be fixed with another layer of asphalt.
Edge cracks are generally caused by weak edges. When there isn't enough support at the edge, the road will begin to stress and crack over time.
Rutting occurs in the wheel tracks of a road and is generally seen when the asphalt isn't thick enough to support traffic.


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List Of Partnership Companies
Asset Management from Scottish Widows Investment Partnership (SWIP) (Rating: 1) , Votes:For asset management and investment intelligence, call in the team from SWIP. Browse through our list of investment funds.http://www.swip.com/Pages/default.aspxCategory: Directory/Business/B2B
Search Engine Optimization Companies (Rating: 3) , Votes:Find search engine optimization service providers with company details in one place. SEO service providers can list their company profile easily.http://www.findseos.com
Fabrics For All Types Of Projects (Rating: 13) , Votes:We supply fabrics to the general public, exhibition companies, contractors, schools & colleges, historic houses, museums, Film studio and Productions companies.http://www.fabricuk.comCategory: Directory/Shopping/Home & Garden
Mailing List Company (Rating: 14) , Votes:Marketing Lists Direct is a full-service direct marketing mailing list broker provider that supersedes the industry in turnaround time, quality, and experience.http://www.marketing-lists-direct.com
Mining Nerds: Mining Investment Information Resource (Rating: 19) , Votes:Provides a user powered mining investment forum containing facts and tips on Canadian mining companies as well as commodities such as gold, silver, and platinum. Includes stock reports, news links, and contact form.http://www.miningnerds.com/Category: Directory/Shopping/Investments
1000+ SE Friendly Directories (Rating: 64) , Votes:Directory Critic is a free SEO friendly directory list, directory rating, directory submission tracking and info site. Directory Critic gives webmasters a chance to rate web directories based on their experiences. Offers details like backlinks, PR and indexed pages.http://www.directorycritic.com
UK Insurance Companies Index (Rating: 3) , Votes:Directory of UK and international insurance companies with customer reviews and money saving guides to help you find the right cover.http://www.uk-insurance-index.co.uk
O-Rings Online (Rating: 0) , Votes:Parco Inc. has been manufacturing high quality o-rings since 1941. Please visit our website for information about o-rings and partnership opportunities.http://www.parcoinc.com/Category: Directory/Business/Resources
Call Brighton (Rating: 11) , Votes:Easy to use local business directory for the Brighton & Hove community. Local companies can submit their business details and add images and list products.http://www.callbrighton.com
Public Relations Scotland - Edinburgh PR Agency (Rating: 3) , Votes:The website of Holyrood Partnership, a full service Scottish PR agency based in Edinburgh. Also specialised in video production.http://www.holyroodpr.co.uk
Cell Tower Companies (Rating: 71) , Votes:Cell tower companies have a reputation for providing customer-focused programs and services. Crown Castle offers honest answers to your questions.http://www.crowncastle.com/landowners/frequently-asked-questions.aspx
Sgbizhub business directory (Rating: 6) , Votes:Find information about companies in Singapore, including products/services and related news. Site provides general information about Singapore as well.http://www.sgbizhub.com
IVR Solutions (Rating: 0) , Votes:A comprehensive IVR solution for companies looking to develop an onsite system or implement a hosted application. Plum delivers Interactive Voice Response (IVR) software, systems, and expertise that companies of all sizes rely on to simplify their global communications and improve their customers' self-service experience. Plum offers telephony automation products and services that enable companies to exceed their goals and streamline their processes.http://www.plumvoice.com/ivr
Juridicaldata: Payday Loans (Rating: 0) , Votes:Provides information about debt help lawyers and payday loan companies. Includes recommended companies, search by state, and testimonials.http://www.juridicaldata.com/Category: Directory/Business/Services
Car Insurance (Rating: 0) , Votes:Providing car insurance quotes from the best car insurance companies.http://www.insurancexfactor.com
Investment Management Companies (Rating: 5) , Votes:As a leading global provider among wealth management firms and investment management companies, SEI provides outsourced asset management services, investment processing and investment operations solutions. Our innovative solutions help companies, financial institutions, financial advisors and affluent families create and manage wealth.http://www.seic.com/Ancillary_SEI_Businesses.aspCategory: Directory/Shopping/Investments
Judges & Commissioners in WA state (Rating: 1) , Votes:Provides a list of judges, commissioners in Washington State family and custody law, difference between commissioners and judges.http://www.starklawoffices.com/washington-judge-commissioner-king-county-and-family-law.aspxCategory: Directory/Business/Law
Florida Van Lines (Rating: 0) , Votes:Local moving company that specializes in residential and commercial moving services to and from Florida.http://flvanlines.com/
Fahrzeugtransport - Shipping Companies (Rating: 3) , Votes:uShip is the biggest online marketplace where customers can place items which they want to move. They get competitive quotes from shipping companies.http://www.uship.com/de/autotransport/Category: Directory/Business/Services
Arizona Zip Code Map (Rating: 12) , Votes:List of all zip codes in each state of the United States.http://www.zipcodesexplorer.com/Arizona/Category: Directory/North America/Arizona
IRDB.com - Independent Reviews DataBase (Rating: 12) , Votes:Website contains independent reviews of biggest companies and services in Internet.http://www.irdb.com/
Company Searches (Rating: 2) , Votes:Providing company accounts, annual returns, company director information and original Companies House documents to download instantly online. Search from 6.4 million companies and 10 million individuals.http://www.companysearches.co.ukCategory: Directory/Business/Small Business
Middle East Business B2B Directory (Rating: 20) , Votes:Middle East Business and B2B Directory listing thousands of Middle East and Gulf Companies, products and business opportunities.http://gulfbusiness.tradeholding.com/Category: Directory/Middle East
B2B Marketplace & Import Export Portal (Rating: 3) , Votes:Product catalogs & business website for members.http://www.tradeboss.com/Category: Directory/Business/B2B
African Business Directory - Companies (Rating: 88) , Votes:Africa Business Directory with African Products, Companies and Trade Leads.http://africa.tradeholding.com/Category: Directory/Africa
Accredited Online College Degrees (Rating: 4) , Votes:Features a list of courses available through the University of Phoenix online including business, technology, and health care degrees. Includes accreditation information, admission requirements, and list of offered courses.http://www.accredited-online-college-degrees.com/Category: Directory/Education/Distance Learning
Manchester Dentist (Rating: 2) , Votes:The Mantel Dental Partnership serves the Manchester area and continually strives to provide its patients with the highest standards of dental care. As well as Emergency Dentistry, Cosmetic Dentistry (including Tooth Whitening and Implant Dentistry) we offer the following dental treatments: Dental Hygiene and Plaque Control, Dentures and Root Canal Therapy. Our dental surgeons, dental therapists, hygienists, nursing and support staff work as a team to maintain our patients' oral health.http://www.manteldentist.co.uk/Category: Directory/Health & Fitness/Family Health
Compare 3G Broadband and 3G Internet (Rating: 49) , Votes:Nucleus Networks compare 3G broadband tariffs & prices for deals from Vodafone, 3 Mobile, T-Mobile and O2 3G Broadband Providers in the UK. Also provides list PC and Mac compatibility and compare features such as 3G broadband speed & Skype support. More over, the company list Pay as You Go (PAYG) 3G mobile internet prices, so you can connect to the internet without a contract.http://www.nucleusnetworks.co.uk
San Diego Real Estate (Rating: 2) , Votes:San Diego Real Estate Group is an experienced, knowledgeable team of San Diego Realtors who list and negotiate short sales, locate properties for home buyers, locate REO and trustee sale properties for investors, list and market homes for our clients.http://www.sandiegorealestategroup.com/
ADisabilityInsuranceQuote: Disability Insurance (Rating: 0) , Votes:Enabling consumers to find, compare, and purchase disability insurance plans from many companies, all in one place. Contains service details, quote request form, and disability statistics.http://www.adisabilityinsurancequote.com/
Web Directories (Rating: 51) , Votes:This site was created as a list of the most quality and popular free, paid and article directories. The site offer submission services into web directories with high PR.http://www.greatdirectories.org
Top Web Host Reviews (Rating: 10) , Votes:Hostdir reviews all major hosting companies and allows users to add their own web host reviews. Video reviews and podcast reviews for certain web hosts too.http://www.hostdir.org/
Norman Freeman: Internet Marketing Blog (Rating: 5) , Votes:Search Engine Optimization Company providing information on list building optimization as well as viral and affiliate marketing to increase Website traffic. Contains articles on keyword research, Internet marketing strategies and Adsense.http://www.normanfreeman.com/
Connecticut Limousine Services (Rating: 1) , Votes:Limousine services in Connecticut state. Safe and reliable limo companies grouped by cities in CT.http://www.connecticutlimousines.net
Overseas Car Shipping Company (Rating: 3) , Votes:FirstBase Freight is an international car shipping companies in the UK. Look no further to transport cars, boats, trucks, SUV's or Motorbikes directly to 5000+ worldwide ports and depots. UK Car Shipping. Worldwide Vehicle Shipping. We have been shipping Cars from the UK, USA and Worldwide destinationshttp://www.firstbasefreight.com
Web Directory List - Directory of Directories (Rating: 6) , Votes:Highly promoted, organized, and useful resource that lists high quality web directories and directory-related sites, sorted by bid amount. The top 10 directories are shown on the homepage, and the top 20 on the top links page for greater exposure.http://www.webdirectorylist.com
New York City SEO Consultants (Rating: 2) , Votes:SEER Interactive is one of the Philadelphia-area's top SEO companies, serving New York City SEO clients. Our New York City search engine optimization services & consultants guarantee rankings and analyze ROI for each campaign.http://www.thinkseer.com/c/s/new_york_seo_company.html
KB Consultants - Public Relations Philadelphia (Rating: 3) , Votes:KB Consultants is a Philadelphia PR company/firm that offers services in marketing, public relations and media training, community relations, government affairs, executive training/CEO consulting, marketing, event support, and non-profit management.http://www.kbconsultants.net
Estate Sales - EstateSale.com (Rating: 1) , Votes:A large database of estate sales from thousands of professional estate sale companies nationwide. Search for estate sales by location or keyword search.http://www.estatesale.com
1st Online Real Estate Commercial - Residential (Rating: 0) , Votes:Realtors guide to residential and commercial property. Real Estate Listings for sale, lease and rent. Includes vacation rentals, luxury homes and apartments. Offers mortgage loans and commercial financing.http://pafund.com
Find Property Management Companies (Rating: 1) , Votes:Your guide to property management. Identify the right property manager for your management needs. Select real estate managers by the property types they manage and the locations they manage in. Once you have found the right manger you can request a FREE management quote.http://www.allpropertymanagement.com
Car Insurance Quotes Online (Rating: 0) , Votes:It's fast and easy with our simple form. Quickly, receive quotes from dozens of insurance companies!http://www.carinsurancequotesonline.coCategory: Directory/Shopping/Automotive
Food to Live (Rating: 0) , Votes:Food to Live is a provider of healthy, organic snack food online. We offer super foods, raw nuts, seeds, dried fruit, spices, legumes and more. Order today!http://foodtolive.comCategory: Directory/Shopping/Food & Drink
Search Engine Optimization New Zealand (Rating: 12) , Votes:Search Engine Optimisation is important because 55% of all online purchases originate from Search Engines as opposed to only 9% from banners. Truly successful SEO projects require the use of a disciplined approach and proven methodology. First Rate's approach to SEO has taken 9 years to perfect. First Rate is one of the most experienced companies in Australasia in this area.http://www.firstrate.co.nz
List Building Academy (Rating: 2) , Votes:Discover tools you can use to grow and manage your email lists!http://www.advertisesments.com/
Business Support Services from EEF (Rating: 0) , Votes:EEF is the industry body for engineering and manufacturing employers offering invaluable business advice, business resources & business support services.http://www.eef.org.uk/UK/Category: Directory/Business/Training
DirectoryofSchools: Online Degrees (Rating: 0) , Votes:Provides list of government accredited online High Schools, Colleges, and Trade and Technical Schools in United States. Offers educational articles, homework helps, and an education related blog.http://www.directoryofschools.com/Category: Directory/Education/Resources
Life Insurance.co (Rating: 1) , Votes:Learn about the choices consumers have with regards to renewable life insurance. With so many options to choose from deciding between annual, level or decreasing term life insurance can be confusing.http://www.termlifeinsurance.com
Thuraya - Mobile Satellite Communications Company (Rating: 1) , Votes:Thuraya is a mobile satellite communications company. We offer satellite phones, internet and more for a variety of sectors. Find a retailer today!http://www.thuraya.com/
Florida Area Codes Lookup (Rating: 20) , Votes:Offers a full list of area codes in the United States by state and city.http://www.areacodesexplorer.com/Florida/Category: Directory/North America/Florida
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WHS Daily Bulletin
The list for 2012 Madrigals will be posted on the Choir Room door by 2:15 today. Please check the list if you auditioned. The new group will meet at 7:30am on Thursday, May 24 in the WHS Choir Room.
Thursday, May 24:
Lunch: Chilled meat/cheese sandwich, chips – variety, lettuce salad, choice of fruit, packaged cookies, ½ pint of milk
Seniors – Mandatory Graduation Practice
– 9:00 AM, Breakfast and class picture after practice at
· Gabe Manning - shot put and discus
· Paul Priester - pole vault
· Mitch Owens - 800m run
· 4x100m relay team of Morgan Flynn, Sam Pensabene, JJ Watson, and Dalton Strocher
· 4x200m relay team of Flynn, Pensabene, Watson, and Calvin Walter
· 4x400m relay team of Flynn, Pensabene, Watson, and Alex Freschi
Period 1 Exam 8:18 – 9:48am
Period 8 Exam 9:52 – 11:22am
1st Lunch 11:22 – 11:52am
Period 5 Resource 11:56 – 12:41pm
Period 5 Resource 11:26 – 12:11pm
2nd Lunch 12:11 – 12:41pm
Period 5 Exam 12:45 – 2:15pm
Friday, May 25:
No School – Teacher's Institute
Saturday, May 26:
SB at Sectional Championship – 11:00 AM – at
BB at Sectional Championship – 11:00 AM – at QND – Bus leaves 7:10 AM
Saturday, May 27:
Graduation at
General Announcements:
Cheerleading Information:
· Tryout Clinic Dates: May 29-May 31st 5:30-8 pm at the HS Gym
· Tryouts: Saturday June 2nd at 9am at the HS Gym
For questions regarding tryouts please call Karrie Clark at 217-652-0823
Girls Basketball Players: Anyone who needs a summer league schedule can pick one up in the db20120709 office.
Girls Soccer Players: Certificates are in the office to be picked up!
Congratulations to Class of 2014 Officers
President: Samantha Benner
Vice President: Russell Konzelmann
Secretary: Jacob Hardy
Treasurer: Amber Robbs
All Choir students: please see Mrs. Bosworth before the end of the day Thursday for summer information and IMEA music.
Student Council Members for 2012-2013 are posted in the Office Window and in the Student Council Display Case outside Mrs. Walsh's room.
Congratulations to the Softball team on winning their sectional game last night against T-Town! Good luck on Saturday at the championship!
Congratulations to the Baseball team on winning their sectional game last night against Litchfield! Good luck on Saturday at the championship!


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Kyle Mattocks traded in his career track of repairing jets for acting. The former Kinston High School football player will play a guest role in �NCIS: L.A.� on Tuesday.
Football got Kyle Mattocks into college.
Mattocks� star performance playing football at Kinston High School earned him a scholarship to North Carolina A&T.
While in his junior year and headed toward a career in engineering, the football star switched gears.
The Kinston native left A&T to try his hand at acting at ECU, where he earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in theater in 2000.
It wasn�t a bad move.
Mattocks will be a guest star in an episode of CBS� �NCIS: L.A.� at 9 p.m. on Tuesday.
�I�m playing a naval officer,� he said. �There�s a woman who�s been kidnapped and I�m a suspect in the kidnapping because me and her boyfriend have had issues. I�m playing a naval officer who actually has two masters and a doctorate and, in working together, me and this gentleman have had problems.�
The episode was filmed in February.
Growing up, Mattocks said he loved airplanes � especially the SR-71 Blackbird supersonic spy aircraft, which he would have loved to work on.
That�s why he wanted to become an engineer.
�I remember saying to myself, if I could live two lifetimes, I would do both,� he said. �But since I only got one chance to live, I�m just going to do what I want to do.�
What Mattocks wanted to do � acting � was not apparent to anyone, not even his parents and girlfriend. As a child, he thought about it as he watched the television series �Different Strokes.�
�I kind of forgot about that dream,� he said, �because everybody was telling me how great a football player I was.�
Mattocks said he was afraid to tell his parents, Everett Sr. and Linda Mattocks, about his plans to quit the engineering track, return home and finish college with an acting degree.
On breaks, he would come home and fall asleep on the couch. He didn�t seem happy.
�When I first told my parents,� he said, �I remember my mother was just so happy that I had figured out what I wanted to do because I had known deep down that I wasn�t happy with where I was going. And my father has always been a guy who�s like, �You know what? I love you whatever you do. Go out there, do your best.�
�And that�s what kind of helped me make that change, as well, because with their blessing, I felt like, OK, I can go out here and give just whatever I want a shot, no matter what anybody else thinks.�
At ECU, Mattocks was accepted into the Meisner program, a theatrical technique developed over the years beginning in the 1930s by the late Sanford Meisner.
He found himself being rejected in auditions, but his director, Don Biehn, associate professor emeritus, said those rejections were preparing him for the real world.
And, indeed, it did.
After graduation, now what?
Mattocks decided to go to New York City, knowing he would eventually have to move to California.
He was supposed to go with a friend, but the friend dropped out the day before he was to leave. His dad said he had stayed at a YMCA when he was starting out as a young man and Mattocks could, too.
�I think the day he said that to me, like on a Tuesday,� Mattocks said, �and I left on a train for New York with a book bag and just a little roll-on, and just took the train up to New York that Thursday.�
He began walking around looking for auditions and finding a part-time night job. Because he was a big guy, he got a job as a bouncer at a club on his second day. Shortly after, he got another job opening a gym at 5 a.m.
He was accepted into an audition to showcase talent for agents and managers. The group putting on the audition was from Los Angeles, which meant moving to California he if got signed.
A friend of his father let him stay at his place in New York until something came along and he could move.
�I was sleeping on his couch, this hide-away couch, with two little friends that used to run under the bed every night,� he said about a couple of rats.
He made a pact with them to stay off the bed and he would leave them alone. The alternative was sleeping on the street. They never did get on the bed, he said.
In less than a year, an agent, Bonnie Black, signed him and he moved to Los Angeles. He and his brother, Everette Mattocks, drove across country in �record time,� making it to the California border in two days.
A friend let him stay at her aunt�s house when he first got there, until he found an apartment and a roommate in Calabasas, where many of the rich and famous live. He found a job as a projectionist � a job he did at the former theater behind Vernon Park Mall while he was in high school.
There were small roles here and there, but Mattocks considers his first real role in L.A. at least a couple of years after arriving there where he played a �cocky young gunfighter.�
�The one that I always go back to,� he said, �is this Western I did called �Withstanding the Elements.� �
In the part, he wanted to make a name for himself by killing an old gunfighter, who had by then become a retired teacher.
�He�s like this legendary gunfighter,� Mattocks said, �and I come to kill him and he ends up killing me.�
Once he got into the actor�s union, his roles improved.
�I considered one of the big breaks,� he said, �when I did a show for MTV and that got me into AFTRA.�
Once Mattocks was in the AFTRA � American Federation of Television and Radio Artists � for a year, he got into the Screen Actors Guild, which opened up opportunities for television shows.
Every year, he auditioned for �The Shield,� and each time his lines increased from one line to five pages of lines. He was never booked for the show, but just being at the casting allowed him to get recognized by and meet directors.
�I was going in for �Charmed,� � he said, �� and where they were casting it at was, I think, Aaron Spelling�s office or something. And I�m walking down the hallway and I�m looking at all of the signs of like �90210� and �Dynasty� and all that stuff like that. And you don�t think about that as a kid growing up in Kinston.�
Mattocks recalled sitting in the office of Joel Silver, a producer of �The Matrix.� The model of the Nebuchadnezzar, a hovercraft in the movie, was on the desk in front of him.
�As soon as you walk through the door,� he said, �they have a life-size replica of the predator with Arnold Schwarzenegger standing in the corner and the crypt keeper from �Tales of the Crypt� on HBO is also in the other corner. � It�s just a weird, surreal feeling because you�re like, you see these things on TV and then you�re actually in the same room.�
Last week, he finished filming a part for an episode on �Chosen� for Sony�s digital platform, Crackle. It will possibly be released online in January. He will be playing a hit man.
He�s seen an upsweep in the number of auditions and is getting more offers.
�I tell people,� he said, �acting is kind of like being in high school or dating � nobody wants you until somebody else wants you, it seems. And once somebody else wants you, everybody wants you at the same time.�
Mattocks said he enjoys both drama and comedy, but he prefers and has mostly done dramas � playing a tough guy, cop or quirky guy.
He generally approaches the auditions dressed in some way that puts him in a good light for the part, but he doesn�t costume-up for the part.
�What I am seeking,� he said, �is anything and everything that has some kind of substance to it.�
Small town to big city
�I find it surreal every time I�m on a studio back lot, �Mattocks said, referring to places like Paramount Studios or Universal Studios.
The back lot tour involves seeing movie icons like King Kong or riding on a transformer, he said. But through a different gate, parks the car and walks to his audition. Mattocks said the tram goes by with kids waving at him as he�s holding his script.
�It�s just funny to be in that position coming from Kinston,� he said.
Rather than waiting around for acting parts, Mattocks started a production company called Moon Dog Media.
I believe we�re going to start casting this next weekend,� he said, �for a horror film we�re going to be shooting in Michigan in November.�
He will be producing, not acting. He plans to pitch the film to a major network.
Mattocks now lives in Hollywood and still works two part-time jobs � only two nights a week.
He hasn�t forgotten his hometown.
�I do miss Kinston,� he said, �Kinston is not what I left. � When I come home to Kinston, I usually, since I�m away so much, I am 100 percent home and with my family.�
Margaret Fisher can be reached at 252-559-1082 or email@example.com. Follow her on Twitter @MargaretFishr.


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The Houma-Terrebonne Airport got some extra business over the Super Bowl weekend, but some people question whether airport personnel did enough to promote it.
David Slayter, executive director of the Airport Commission, last week predicted 35 to 50 aircraft coming in for Super Bowl weekend.
But there were only 21 aircraft, Slater said this week.
The airport is one of the closest outside the temporary flight restriction area that was enforced around the Superdome Sunday. It also has a control tower and runway big enough to land a 737.
Slayter said his initial estimate came about because of reservations the airport received earlier last week, but more canceled than he expected, which isn't unusual.
What typically happens is people will make reservations at a number of airports in advance and take their first choice, Slayter said.
Still, Slayter said the count is significantly more than what the airport normally gets, just "not as many as what we were expecting."
Maybe, just maybe, fewer people flew overall because they don't want to be treated like terrorists at the airport. Maybe more people drove this year because they don't want to be subjected to possible x-rays, strip-searches, poking, prodding, luggage searches, and detainment just to go see a football game.
But what do I know? I'm just an average guy with a blog who hasn't flown in decades.


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Rainwater Harvesting Workshop - Hillsborough County Residents Only
Hillsborough County Extension Service & Bruton Memorial Library
Saturday, June 1, 2013 from 10:30 AM to 11:30 AM (EDT)
Event Details
This registration site is for residents of Hillsborough County Only. If you live in another county, please go to Compost Happens, Water-Wise and Rain Water Harvesting Workshop (Non-Hillsborough County Residents) to register for these workshops.
10:30 AM - Learn how Rain Barrels are useful for collecting rainwater for irrigation while reducing erosion and stormwater runoff and how to make your own barrel using a 55-gallon plastic food-grade drum. Hillsborough County residents may receive 1 free rain barrel* (per household and the representative of the household must be an adult) when they attend a workshop.
*If you have attended any of this workshop in the past you are not eligible to receive another free item.*
Please arrive 15 minutes prior to the class start time shown
Attending workshops on behalf of another person is not permitted. No photographs or recording of presentations is allowed without prior permission from the presenter(s).
If you have any questions please contact the Hillsborough County Extension (813) 744-5519
When & Where
Hillsborough County Extension Service
5339 County Road 579
Saturday, June 1, 2013 from 10:30 AM to 11:30 AM (EDT)
Add to my calendar
Hillsborough County Extension Service & Bruton Memorial Library
The mission of the Hillsborough Extension Office is to respond to local issues and needs through customized education and training in agriculture, horticulture, 4-H/youth development, and family and consumer sciences.
Your Hillsborough County Extension agents offer educational services through a three-way cooperative arrangement between the Board of County Commissioners, the University of Florida, and the United States Department of Agriculture. Your local extension agents are off-campus faculty members of the University of Florida. They are trained professionals who are here to serve you.


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Asian golf returns this week with the search intensifying for a first global superstar to lead the region into a bright and innovative future — and put its current squabbles in the shade.
With four billion people, a growing middle class and thousands of courses, it is seen as just a matter of time before a player of genuine world stature emerges, but the process so far has been frustratingly slow.
As the Asian Tour starts its 10th season with the Zaykabar Myanmar Open tomorrow, Japan's Hiroyuki Fujita, 43, is the sole Asian representative in the world's top 50, with only nine others in the top 100.
South Korea's 41-year-old Y.E. Yang won the 2009 PGA Championship, but further successes have been scarce, with Asian players largely unimpressive against their European and American rivals in the region's biggest events last year.
It is a situation tacitly acknowledged by officials with the Asian Tour's eight-point wishlist for the next 10 years, unveiled last week, including three Asians in the top 10, three more major-winners and Asia's first superstar.
"Golf is in its infancy in the Asia-Pacific region. It takes time, and it takes time to develop personalities in particular," tour CEO Mike Kerr said.
"All sport is personality-driven, but I think the foundations are there, the fundamentals are there, the growth is going to be there. It [developing stars] won't necessarily happen by itself, it's not that easy," he said.
"But I certainly believe that we are poised now for a period of real and sustainable growth through full-field Asian Tour events and through partnerships with Europe, the PGA Tour, with Japan and with others," Kerr said.
Asian Tour officials argue that regional golf would be in a better place if not for the stand-off with rival circuit OneAsia, which emerged in 2009 and left the two fighting for their share of an increasingly crowded market.
However, there is little sign of a ceasefire this year. The Asian Tour is still considering whether to appeal November's important court judgement in Singapore which found it acted illegally by barring players from OneAsia events.
Women's golf is already dominated by Asians, with Taiwanese world No. 1 Yani Tseng among eight in the top 10 and Korean-born New Zealander Lydia Ko, 15 — the US LPGA's youngest-ever winner — the latest prospect for stardom.
Ko finished third as the LPGA season got off to an eye-catching start in Australia before moving to Thailand this week.
Among the men, Japan's Ryo Ishikawa, India's Gaganjeet Bhullar and Bae Sang-moon and Noh Seung-yul of South Korea, all in their 20s, are among Asia's leading hopes.
However, at Augusta in April, all eyes will be on Guan Tianlang of China when the slim schoolboy from Guangzhou becomes the youngest player to tee off at the US Masters, aged 14 years, five months and 17 days.
Guan's debut follows compatriot Andy Zhang's appearance at last year's US Open, also aged 14, and will raise expectations that China can increase its curiously poor tally of just two players in the top 800.
A record 761 players entered this year's Asian Tour qualifying school, showing the growing popularity of the game and lifting hopes that the region's first golf superstar is on his way.
However, the future golfing landscape could look radically different with Asia more prominent and a proliferation of innovative new tournaments, such as India's Golf Premier League.