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We have the privilege this morning of returning to our study of Matthew's gospel. Take your Bible, if you will, and prepare to look with me at Matthew, chapter 8. Matthew, chapter 8. The end of our sabbatical this summer, we departed from our study of Matthew to share some things out of 2 Peter, chapter 1, and I think it was as the Lord would've had it. But now, with great joy and anticipation, we come back to our ongoing study of the gospel of Matthew. We've covered the first seven chapters, and now we proceed further in this tremendous and exciting gospel.
The 8th chapter through the 12th chapter is really, in many ways, critical to the understanding of the life of Christ and the message of Matthew. For in this section, Matthew records a series of miracles performed by Jesus Christ. There are countless thousands of miracles that are done, nine of which he singles out as examples of the power of Jesus Christ. They are really His credentials as the Messiah. They are those signs which point convincingly to His deity, for only God can do the things that He does. The sad part is that, after the miracles in chapters 8 and 9, after the preaching that occurs following that, the Jews conclude in chapter 12 that Jesus is of the devil. That was their conclusion. So in many ways this becomes the heart of Matthew's message. Christ does everything possible to manifest His deity, and they conclude exactly the opposite. And then in chapter 13, He turns from the Jews toward the establishment of a Gentile church. This is a monumental section of Scripture. Now you'll notice that it begins with three miracles: miracle of healing the leper in the first four verses; healing the man with paralysis, verses 5 to 13; and the woman with fever in verses 14 and 15. This is the opening triad of miracles. There are nine miracles in these two chapters. They come in three sections of three: three miracles, then a response; three miracles, then a response; three miracles, then a response; all designed to manifest the deity of Jesus Christ.
Miracles, you see, were God's way of attesting to the deity of His Son. They are creative miracles. They manifest power that is only defined by the essence of God. They are things that man could never do. They are supernatural. Now, this approach of giving credentials to the Messiah through miracles is not only Matthew's approach, but is also John's approach. Look with me for a moment at the gospel of John; and I just want to use it as an illustration so that you'll see the import of this issue. John 1:14. In John 1:14, we read this: "And the Word [and, of course, that refers to the Deity Himself, to God Himself], and the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us," John says. Then this: "And we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father." John says Deity became man, and we beheld His deity. That's what he's saying: "We saw His glory. We saw the divine in the human. We saw essential Deity. We saw God." How, John? How did you see that? Where was it made manifest? That's easy for John. John then proceeds from that statement to give a string of miracles in his gospel, performed by Jesus, that are the manifestation that He was the fullness of Deity Himself. And, throughout the gospel, the Holy Spirit calls us to make that conclusion.
Turn in John 5, to verse 19. I'm just going to give you a quick overview of this gospel. John 5:19: "Then answered Jesus and said unto them [that is, to the Jews], 'Truly, truly I say unto you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever things He does, these also do the Son in the same manner." In other words, Jesus says, "What you see Me doing is exactly what God can do." Now that is a monumental claim, frankly. Verse 20: "For the Father loveth the Son and showeth Him all things that He Himself doeth; and He will show Him greater works than these, so that you may marvel." In other words, Jesus says, "Look, what I'm doing is what only God can do." Should make you marvel. Verse 36 of the same chapter, "But I have a greater witness than that of John. There's a greater testimony than that of John the Baptist, and it is the works which the Father has given Me to finish. The same works that I do bear witness of Me that the Father hath sent Me." How did He manifest deity? Through not only what He said, but even more so through what He did: his miraculous supernatural creative power. Only God can create, and the miracles of Jesus were creative miracles.
In John chapter 10 and verse 25, we find it again. "Jesus answered them [and again it's the Jews], 'I told you.'" That is, "I spoke and you believed not. You didn't believe what I said. You didn't believe My words. The works that I do in My Father's name or My Father's power, they bear witness of Me. You deny My sayings, but how can you deny My works?" Verse 32, "Jesus answered them, 'Many good works have I shown you from My Father. For which of these works do you stone Me?'" Sarcasm. It's obvious these have been supernatural. "For which of them do you stone Me?" Verse 37, "If I do not the works of My Father, believe Me not. If I can't do what God can do, don't believe Me. If I can't show you that I'm God, then don't believe it. But if I do, though you believe not Me, that is, what I say, believe the works...that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him." Chapter 14, verse 10 essentially says the same thing: "Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me?" In other words, in John 14:10 He is saying, "You don't believe that I and God are One? You have a problem with that? The words that I speak unto you, I speak not of Myself, and the Father that dwells in me, He doeth the works. Believe, literally, My words that I'm in the Father and the Father is in Me, or else believe Me for the very works' sake."
Chapter 15, you have the same thing in verse 24. "If I had not done among them the works which no other man did, they had not had sin [that is, the sin of rejection] but now they have both seen and hated both Me and My Father. They saw it. They couldn't deny it was God, and they have manifested that they not only hate Me, but they hate God." See, that's the issue of the gospel of John. See the miracles? Conclude that He's God. And that is even stated as the purpose of the book in chapter 20 verse 30. John 20 verse 30, key statement: "And many other signs [or wonders or miracles] truly did Jesus in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book." John says, "I've only given you a sampling, like Matthew. It's just a sampling. Many others were done. Why? These are written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ." These, what are written? These signs, these miracles, and that you, "believing, might have life through His name." You see.
John's whole thesis is to present the miracles of Jesus as the affirmation of His deity, so that men might know and believe and be redeemed. Now go back to Matthew 8 and find that is exactly Matthew's purpose, as well. These are the credentials of the King. This is the proof that He is divine. Now, by the way, it comes at a very strategic point in the gospel of Matthew, because Jesus has just delivered a blistering sermon in chapters 5, 6, and 7. He has literally turned their religious world topsy-turvy. He has told them, in effect, that their teaching is wrong and their living is wrong. Their attitude is wrong. Everything they stand for, believe in, and hope for is wrong, and He never bothered to quote any rabbis or any of their well-known sources. He just repeatedly says, matter-of-factly, absolutely, dogmatically, "This is the truth." In fact, repeatedly, He said, "You have heard it said, but I say. You have heard it said, but I say." And over and over and over, He kept saying that, and when He was all finished, in verse 28, "It came to pass [chapter 7 verse 28] that when He ended these sayings, the people were astonished at His teaching." Why? Verse 29: "For He taught them as one having authority, not like the scribes."
I mean, He just said these things dogmatically. How did the scribes do it? They quoted other rabbis. They were fallible, so they needed a whole bunch of other fallible sources to support their material. Jesus just said it: unbelievable authority. And He overturned their entire religious system. He stripped them naked. He unmasked them as the spiritual phonies that they were; and, obviously, this brings up a very dramatic question. A first century Jew is going to say this: "Who is this saying these things? By what authority does He speak? Why should we hear this? Why should we listen to this? Why should we believe this? What gives Him the right to say these things and to affirm that they are true?"
And chapter 8 and 9 is the answer to that question. I'll tell you what gives Him the right. He is God. That's what does it, and that is what Matthew is saying in chapter 8 and chapter 9. He is showing beyond a shadow of doubt that Jesus is God. And how do you know He's God? Because only God can create, and for two chapters, nine examples, Jesus creates situations, circumstances that do not exist, even physical limbs, and we see God at work. It presents the answer to the question, "By what authority does He say this?"
Now, let's look, first of all, at the beginning, the first three miracles. I want to give you some general thoughts about them. There are three: the healing of one with leprosy; the healing of one it says has the palsy (That's paralysis; and it could've been caused by many things.) and then one of a woman with a fever. Those three. And there are several key things to note about these first three miracles. Number one: They begin at the lowest level of human need, the physical. Life is more than physical, yes, but Jesus is also sympathetic about the physical. It's wonderful that the miracles of Jesus were not only miracles that dealt with spiritual things, or that dealt with comfort or riches or circumstances or providence, but that they touched man at the lowest level of need, the physical. He goes to the depths of human disease. Later on, in the second set of miracles, He deals more with the spiritual; and in the third set of miracles, He even touches on the ultimate enemy of man, death itself, as He raises the dead. But in this point, He's dealing with that low level of human need, which shows us not only the power of Christ, but the sympathy of Christ.
The second thing I see in just kind of an overview is that He responds in all three cases to appeals, to appeals. This shows us His compassion. In the first case, the leper says to Him, "If You will, You can make me clean." In the second case, the friends of the centurion say, "The servant is in the house, sick of paralysis," and He says, "I'll come." In the third case, according to what Luke adds in the parallel passage, the friends of the family of Peter say to Jesus, "You know, his mother-in-law is sick, and it sure would be wonderful if you could go over there and take care of her." In all three cases, He responds to the appeal of the heart of people.
The third thing to note in these three miracles is, in every case, He acts on His own will. Though He is sympathetic and though He is at the same time deeply compassionate, He is also sovereign; and that is an important thing. In each case, He acts on His own volition. "I will; be thou clean." "I will come down and heal him." "He reached His hand and touched her, and the fever left."
And, fourthly, and this is beautiful. In each of these miracles, He touches someone who, in the terms of the understanding of the Pharisees and the Jews, was at the lowest level of human existence: first a leper, the scum of the earth; second, a Gentile; and third, a woman. In just that alone, there is a subtlety here that devastates the Jewish pride, the Pharisees' pride, and you see where Jesus really puts His emphasis: on the humble, and the meek, and the outcast. You know that the first person He ever revealed His messiahship to was a harlot in Samaria who wasn't even a Jew? That says something to the Jewish society of His day. So from the very start, He makes it clear that He is going to establish His authority by miracle power, but He's also going to show His sympathy for those who are hurting at the lowest level of human need. He is compassionately going to respond to the cries of their friends and those who have those needs, and yet, He is going to act sovereignly as the Lord that He is. And the, the sad thing, the thing that just breaks your heart, is that with all of this, they turned their backs on Him; and they conclude, in chapter 12, that what He does, He does by the power of Beelzebub, the prince of demons. They hated Him. In fact, they had to kill Him, because he upset their religious security.
In this section, His power is awesome, people. It's awesome. He cleanses a leper, heals a servant, raises up a woman, controls the sea, casts out demons, makes the blind to see, makes crippled people walk, makes dumb people speak, heals every single sickness that's brought to Him. Incredible display of power, and if you look backwards in Matthew, and go back and start at the beginning, you can see that this is just one more great category of affirmation of the messiahship of Christ. First chapter: genealogy. That attested to the legal qualifications of the Messiah. Second chapter: birth, and all of the fulfillment of prophecy attested to the prophetic qualifications of the Messiah. And then you come to His baptism: attested to the divine approval of His messiahship. Then you come to the temptation: attested to His spiritual qualifications to be the Messiah. Then you come to the sermon: His theological qualifications. And now you come to the miracles, the most essential qualification of all, the proof that He is God. He's God.
By the way, chapter 8 begins where chapter 4 left off; the sermon is stuck in the middle. But when we closed chapter 4, do you remember what He was doing? Verse 23? "And Jesus went all about Galilee, teaching in the synagogues and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people. And His fame went throughout all Syria. And they brought unto Him all the sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those who were possessed with demons, those who were epileptic, those who had paralysis, and He healed them. And there followed Him great multitudes of people from Galilee and Decapolis and Jerusalem and Judea and beyond the Jordan." You see, this is right where He left off, isn't it? He went up in a mountain, preached a sermon, came down, and started it all over again. Thousands, uncounted numbers of healings, and He healed all who came to Him. And the first three we've kind of introduced to you. For this morning, we're just going to look at the first one. Beautiful, beautiful story. Let me read it to you: verses 1 to 4, just a short one. "When He was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him. And behold, there came a leper and worshiped Him, saying, 'Lord, if Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean.' And Jesus put forth His hand and touched him, saying, 'I will; be thou clean.' And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. And Jesus saith unto him, 'See thou tell no man; but go thy way, show thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded for a testimony unto them.'"
That's it. At first thought, you say, "Well, isn't that nice?" Wonderful little story. Let me see if I can take you deep enough in it to see what it's really saying. Verse 1: "When He was come down from the mountain." What mountain? Well, the mountain where He had just been teaching the sermon, near the village of Capernaum. "Great multitudes followed Him." Why? Want to know something? Wasn't because they loved Him. Wasn't because they adored Him. Wasn't because they believed in Him. It was because they were curious, first of all. Because they'd never heard anybody speak with such authority, and they had never seen anybody who could go around healing people. He attracted a huge crowd, and they came down the mountain after Him, and they're all ready to see what happens, and it happens in verse 2. "And behold, there came [or literally in the Greek, there approached, and that's kind of an interesting word, there approached] a leper." Now what's interesting is lepers don't approach. This one did. Do you know anything about leprosy, what a leper is in the Bible? It's from the Greek word lepros, which comes from the root word lepis, which means scale or scaly. And basically, leprosy, as it's translated in the English, reflects this Greek word lepros. In the Old Testament, you have another Hebrew word that is also translated leprosy that comes from the Hebrew word that means scale or scaly, also. So, in both cases, it had reference to some kind of a manifest, visible, scaly skin—at least, the skin was part of the, the disease. Skin visible disease. A scaly skin disease. It could go much deeper than that, as Leviticus 13 indicates, but that is the term they used.
Now, there's a lot of argument and a lot of debate about whether this leprosy, as it's called, and the Old Testament leprosy was the same as we know today, which is called Hanson's disease, which is the leprosy that we know about. There's a lot of people who argue about the words that are used and is it or isn't it the same as that kind of leprosy. Well, we can't be sure, because over the period of the centuries, diseases may take on new forms for whatever reasons, people building up immunities, or for whatever happens in human society, and whatever particular germs exist, and bacteria, and so forth. Diseases can take different form. Some can be eliminated altogether, and so we don't really know if it was exactly the same. But it seems best to assume, from the description of Leviticus 13, which we'll see in a moment, that it was extremely similar; and the only real comparison that we can draw to whatever this disease was will come from our understanding of the disease of leprosy. Throughout the history of study of these things, most people have drawn that parallel, and so I'll continue to do that as we look at it this morning.
A horrible disease found its way into the children of Israel's life. This disease, leprosy, as it's called in the Bible, was no doubt picked up in Egypt. Most of the classic writers feel that leprosy originated in Egypt and, by the way, it is caused—they now know in medical science—by a bacillus or bacteria called mycobacterium leprae. And this disease has been found in at least one mummy that's been uncovered in Egypt and it's manifest on the physical body (because of the mummification) that this particular person did have leprosy. So we know it stretches way back into ancient times. This disease then, of course, as the children of Israel were in the land of Egypt, was transmitted to them; and when they came into the Promised Land, they carried this disease with them.
Now, it was a problem, because of the horror of the disease itself. And so God, as he built in many laws to the life of Israel to protect them from plagues and things, gave them laws to deal with leprosy, so they would not contract this disease. Now, modern-day leprosy is only really communicable to less than 10 percent of the people. In other words, 90 percent plus of people in our day today cannot get leprosy, even if you got all of the bacilli in you, because it's just the way we're made today. We don't know whether the disease then was more communicable. There is a statement made in Luke 4:27 that there were many lepers in Israel, of whom only Naaman was cleansed. So it may have been highly communicable then, when it's less communicable today.
By the way, you might also be interested to note that it is on the rise in the United States of America, and the state that leads America in incidents of leprosy is California. Ten years ago, we had thirty to forty new cases a year, and now we're over 300. So it can be controlled also today by what is called DDS Dapsone, I think it's called. It's some kind of a drug that is used, and it can only control the superficial elements of leprosy. It can't eliminate it altogether, because it's one disease that you can't kill. It's there till you die, as far as they can tell. There may be some cases, but normally, that's the way it runs.
So, in Israel came this disease, and God, wanting to protect them, gave them a very clear direction as to how to treat it. I'm going to read from the 13th chapter of Leviticus. I'll read it out of the NAS, because it clarifies some of the terms. You can listen, or you can look at it, if you have that version. But I'm going to read some, some lengthy passages here just to point it out. You'll find it fascinating how God directed them.
"The Lord spoke to Moses [Leviticus 13:1] and Aaron, saying, 'When a man has on the skin of his body a swelling or a rash [that's a better word than scab] a rash or a bright spot, and it becomes an infection of leprosy on the skin of his body, then he shall be brought to Aaron the priest or one of the sons of the priest." In other words, anybody who gets leprosy, bring them in to the priest. "And the priest shall look at the mark on the skin of the body, and if the hair in the infection has turned white and if the infection appears to be deeper than just the skin, [in other words, it's more than a superficial skin disease as indicated by the hair turning white down from the roots being infected, and if it looks to be deeper] it is then an infection of leprosy; and the priest shall look at him and pronounce him unclean. But if the bright spot is white on the skin of his body and doesn't appear to be deeper than the skin, and the hair on it has not turned white, the priest shall isolate him who has the infection for seven days." This is just to keep him isolated to give him the test to watch what happens. "The priest shall look at him on the seventh day, and if in his eyes the infection has not changed, the infection has not spread, then the priest shall isolate him for seven more days." Two weeks. "Priest shall look at him again on the seventh day, and if the infection has faded and the mark has not spread on the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him clean. It's only a rash." And that could stand for psoriasis, eczema, what's called vitiligo, lots of things; just not a serious thing. "But if the rash spreads farther on the skin after he's shown himself to the priest for the cleansing, he shall appear again to the priest. Priest shall look, and if the rash spread on the skin, the priest shall pronounce him unclean. It's leprosy." It keeps getting worse.
Now, there were some obvious cases where you didn't really need a two-week test, and in verse 9, he talks about them. "When the infection of leprosy is on a man, then he shall be brought to the priest. The priest shall look, and if there is a white swelling in the skin, and it has turned the hair white, and there is raw flesh, then it's chronic leprosy, and the priest shall pronounce him unclean." And don't bother to isolate him for a week, because it's already very clear what he's got. "If the leprosy breaks out further on the skin, and the leprosy covers all the skin of him who has the infection from his head even to his feet, as far as the priest can see, then the priest shall look, and behold, if this skin disease or leprosy has covered all his body, he shall pronounce him clean, if it's all turned white." In other words, if all he does is get a white thing all over him, and it doesn't break out in oozing, open, raw sores, then it isn't the leprosy that's serious. Herodotus and Hippocrates, in ancient writings, wrote about a disease known as leucodermia, which was something that attacked the pigmentation of the skin and turned the person kind of a white, patchy color; and it could've been that. Or it could've been eczema or psoriasis or vitiligo or any of these other things that were harmless, less than serious skin disorders. In other words, if all he got was this stuff all over him of a very limited nature, just a turning white or a patchy pale color, then it wasn't the real thing, and you could pronounce him okay. In fact, if you look at leprosy today, and it could refer to this here; there are two kinds. There's one called lepromatous, which is severe, serious; and then there's one called tuberculoid leprosy, which is a harmless kind that just turns the skin patchy, and is gone in one to three years.
So these are the tests that were given and they had to be examined very carefully. Now, if he's got the severe kind, the rest of the 13th chapter deals with him. What do you with this person? Well, verse 38: "When a man or woman has bright spots on the skin of the body, even white bright spots, priests look, and if the bright spots on the skin of their bodies are a faint white, if it's just a faint white thing all over him, it's eczema." That's the way they translated that Hebrew word, just something less than the serious disease. "He's clean. Now, if he loses the hair of his head, he's bald; but he's clean." Some of you are sighing a great sigh. "But if on the bald head or the bald forehead, there occurs a reddish-white infection, and the leprosy breaks out on the bald head," and you look at him and it swells and so forth, then it's leprous. In other words, another examination.
Now verse 45 is the key. "As for the leper who has the infection, his clothes shall be torn, the hair of his head shall be uncovered, and he shall cover his mustache [that is, his mouth] and cry, 'Unclean! Unclean!'" Leprosy is passed—and I read this just in an up-to-date LA Times journal thing on, on the, on the medical analysis of Hanson's disease—leprosy is passed when it is inhaled through the air. It comes from the mouth into the mouth. That's one way it is passed, and that's why, when he goes around, he covers his mouth. Also, they found that people have contracted leprosy when they have both touched the same object; that the bacillus can exist on the same object. For example, they have cases where people have gone in to get tattooed, and when they were tattooed by the same needle, they came up with the same kind of leprosy. So they had to take his garments to do away with those, as well. And then he spends the rest of his life going around with all his face covered, saying, "Unclean! Unclean!" He has to make an announcement everywhere he goes. So nobody will get near him. The Talmud said you can't get any closer than six foot to a leper, and, if there's a wind blowing, 150 feet is the limit. And there were sixty-one defilements in Judaism. Number one defilement, top of the list, was a dead body; and number two was a leper. Didn't go near him. Didn't touch him. R.K. Harrison, in a very important article on this Old Testament word for leprosy points out that all of the symptoms of Leviticus 13 could presage clinical leprosy. Very well could, and it needed to be distinguished, so that's why all these tests; that in obvious cases of leprosy, person was put out. Now serious leprosy, folks, is a terrible, terrible, terrible disease. In the first place, we can sort of control it today, so people can live a sort of a normal life. But in those times, would be utterly uncontrolled. The first thing that leprosy does, it attacks—apart from its physical symptoms, what you see, the patchiness and so forth—it attacks the nervous system and immediately anesthetizes the limbs.
People say, "Well, their noses just fall off, and their fingers fall off." Not really. Part of the problem is, when they lose all their feeling, they literally rub their extremities off. They found in the leprosarium in Carville, Louisiana, in the United States, that when they've studied people who have leprosy that this is what happened. For example, a man who has leprosy has ill-fitting shoes, and because he can't feel that they're ill-fitting at all, they rub his toes off. And a woman who works with her hands finds that she rubs her fingers off, because she has no sensitivity to what's happening to her hands. And they rub their faces the same way; and you add to that that leprosy further attacks the bone marrow. It infects, then, the blood supply. The bones begin to shrivel, and as the bones shrivel, they draw the skin and the tissue in so that they appear to have fingers like claws and feet like claws that do the same thing. And there is then that oozing that occurs, as well as the skin disease has its infection; and all of that combined when, when you use those infected, atrophying fingers, results in rubbing them off. Horrible thing. They literally lose their limbs.
It attacks the eyes and brings blindness, the teeth, and they fall out. It attacks the internal organs so that sterility occurs. Frankly, it's not that painful. It's just the most ugly thing imaginable in the world. Starts with a white or pink patch on the brow, the ear, the, the nose, the chin or the cheek. Then it begins to spread and becomes spongy, tumorous, bulbous, swellings all over the face. Then it becomes systemic, and that's when it begins to come into the liver and the bone marrow, the blood supply. You lose your feeling, blindness.
Dr. Huizinga has written about it: "The disease which we call leprosy today generally begins with pain in certain areas of the body. Numbness follows. Soon the skin in such spots loses original color, gets to be thick, glossy, and scaly. As the sickness progresses, the thickened spots become dirty sores and ulcers due to poor blood supply. The skin, especially around the eyes and ears, begins to bunch with deep furrows between the swelling, so that the face of the afflicted individual begins to resemble the face of a lion. Fingers drop off and are absorbed back into the body. Toes are affected similarly. Eyebrows and eyelashes drop out. By this time, one can see the person in this pitiable condition is a leper. By the touch of the finger, you can feel it. You can even smell it, for the leper emits a very unpleasant odor. Moreover, in view of the fact that the disease produces agents that attack the larynx, the leper's voice assumes a grating quality. His throat becomes hoarse, and you can not only see, feel, and smell the leper, you can even hear the leper; and if you stay with him for some time, you will find a particular taste in your mouth. All the human senses repulse at a leper."
This disease was feared, horrifying; and whether or not it could attack the total population or only a few, it was enough to want them to be out of the camp to, to protect the people. They have to go out of the camp. In 2 Samuel 3:29, there's an amazing statement. David was pronouncing a curse on evil Joab, and David said, "May his family never be without a leper." That is the worst thing you could say about someone, and the disease had no cure.
But you know what was even beyond that? Unbelievable? It wasn't bad enough to be ugly beyond all imagination. To add to that they were classified as ceremonially unclean, and God had a purpose. Leprosy, mark this, was the most graphic illustration of sin available to God. Sin defiles the whole body. Sin is ugly. Sin is loathsome. Sin is incurable. Sin is contaminating. Sin separates and alienates and makes outcasts of men. So every leper not only lived with the stigma of his own disease, but he lived with having to be a walking illustration of sin. Ceremonially unclean. Wretched. One of the rabbis in the Talmud said, "When I see lepers, I throw stones at them lest they come near me." One other rabbi said, "I would not so much as eat an egg that was purchased on a street where a leper had walked." They hated them. They despised them. They feared them. Isn't it shocking that Jesus presenting the credentials of His messiahship begins with such a man and ignores all the sick Pharisees in town.
Let's look at Him. Back to verse 2. Boy, I get wound up on these things. Almost forget there's a verse here. Now you know why the word behold is there? Huh? Behold or lo or, in the vernacular, you'll never believe this. "A leper came." Lepers don't approach. That's forbidden. It was unthinkable. Personal shame. I mean you wouldn't be seen. Social stigma. Old Testament law. The ceremony. You just didn't do that. You just went around covered, mumbling, "Unclean! Unclean! Unclean!" So no one would come near. This is incredible. Four things stand out about this leper. No. 1, he came with confidence, and, "Behold, there came a leper." I like that. He didn't crawl or sneak around: "Psst, psst." "Shoo." Just came. I like, and the verb in the Greek is, is good: He approached. Comes right up; I can imagine that crowd split fast, right up there. You know what I see in this? I see a man who senses so desperately his need that he really couldn't care less what anybody thinks, right? I like that. You see, people like him would be so devastated socially that they wouldn't show up in a crowd. This one did. He lost all sense of shame. He lost all sense of social stigma. He approached. He didn't even think of it. That's how deep his need was. Josephus tells us that lepers were treated like dead men. That wasn't going to stop him. He may have been dead in everybody's eyes, but he came. He came because he saw he had a very deep need and he wanted help more than he wanted to save his reputation. File that somewhere, will you?
Second thing, he came with reverence. Oh, I love this. "There came a leper and worshiped Him, saying, 'Lord.'" Ah, we can't say much about his body, but we can say a lot about his soul, can't we? There were the Pharisees all decked out, all their fancy garb, fancy robes. Their little hats they wore. The beard trimmed to a T. Inside: wretched, rotten, dead men's bones. Here was a leper: outside vile and wretched and filthy and on the inside beautiful, reverent, worshiping. You know what I believe? I believe when he said, "Lord," he wasn't using it in the title sense of sir. I believe he knew he was in the presence of God, else why would he have worshiped? Proskuneo. Fallen prostrate. Here he comes up to Jesus, falls prostrate before Jesus, and says, "Lord." I don't know where he got his information, but there'd been enough going on in his area to know. There had been healings upon healings upon healings. Maybe one of his friends had been healed. But he comes and he worships, and men prostrate themselves before kings and before God. I believe he came because he had a worshiping heart. I believe he was in the presence of God, and he knew it; and it was wonderful to see that his soul was turned toward God; and he came to worship first. That's because he understood the soul was more important than the body. He came worshiping. He came exalting God. Before he sought anything for himself, he sought something for God. File that somewhere, will you? That's another important thing.
Third, he came with humility. Don't you like this? He says, "Lord, if Thou wilt." "If You will." That's humility. He didn't demand anything. He didn't speak his will as if Christ had to comply. He didn't come and list the reasons why he had to be healed. He didn't come and try to affirm his own worthiness. He didn't bellyache because of the fact that he got this disease and a lot of other folks didn't. He didn't talk about his rights. He didn't even talk about his desires. He didn't even say, "I'd like to be healed." He didn't even say that. He only said, "If You wanted, You could. I'm not saying myself what You ought to do, because You're the Lord." Don't you like that? A far cry from the stuff you hear today where people are told to demand healing out of God, to demand wholeness, to claim their healing. This man had no such thing to claim. He worshiped first; never asked for anything; just said, "I know You could if You wanted to." I guess I agree with Lenski that the leper is willing, if Jesus shall so will, to remain in his living death. I guess I believe that he would've gone away still believing if he was a leper, or he wouldn't have worshiped first, and he wouldn't have left out any request on his own behalf. It manifests a pure heart.
Finally, he came with faith. "If Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean." Dunasai, dunamai, dunamis. Power, dynamite. That's the word in the Greek. "You have the power. You are able. I know that. I am convinced of that." And, by the way, Luke tells us, and Luke always gives us the clinical analysis of everything, because he was the doctor. He says, "He was full of leprosy." And he said, "You can do it." Where did he get that information? Hey, maybe he was around in Matthew 4 and saw it all going on. "You can do it." Beloved, when a man says, "If You will, You can do it," that is faith at its highest point, because it knows that God is able; and it submits to God's sovereignty. There are lots of people who believe; they say they believe He's able, but they want to corner Him that He has to do things. There are other people who question whether He can. A true faith says, "I know You can. I don't know if You will." That's the highest level of faith: but whatever, that's your choice. So he came with confidence, because he had a deep need; with reverence, because he saw God; with humility, because he realized that God was sovereign; and with faith—he knew he could do it. What happened?
Verse 3: "And Jesus [watch this] put forth His hand and touched him." Now that's all it says in this text, but it could be added, "And the whole crowd gasped." You don't touch lepers, folks. Leviticus 5:3 says you are never permitted to touch the uncleanness of a man. But you know what a leper probably needed more than anything in the whole wide world? Just to be touched by somebody who was clean. He touched. He didn't have to touch him. He could've gotten on a roof and said, "Be clean," and the angels sang and the earth shook, and thunder. No big dramatics. I love that. I love the, I love the simplicity. Just some very simple—one of the greatest proofs of the inspiration of the Bible is the lack of comment by the Bible writers. I mean if I had said this, seen this, I'd have gone on for 18 pages: "and then the finger began to ..." And, you know, you don't. There's a lack of that. One of the great proofs of inspiration is the absence of that, because men would make big deals out of it. No, just touched him.
"He said, 'I will.' [I will. It's My will.] Be clean!'" And immediately the leprosy was cleansed. Immediately, all Jesus' miracles were immediate. Bothers me when people say, "Well, I went to the healer, and I was healed, and ever since then, I've been progressively getting better." That's not healing. "Jesus put forth His hand and touched him." You know, when we touch defilement, we get defiled. When He touches defilement, the defilement goes away. When we touch a disease, we get contaminated. When He touches a disease, it gets cleansed. That's power. I mean I don't know what that scene was like, but I can imagine. Those shriveled up claws instantly becoming beautiful hands, as if the skin of a baby. The feet, the face, incredible. Jesus touched him. He was clean immediately. His power: shocking. The forehead eaten away. The eyes with their absent brows and lashes. The scaly, bloody skin rubbed off. The nose and throat and eyes destroyed. The fingers and toes like claws and worn off. And instantly, he's whole. You know, I just, I just say to myself, "All the modern so-called healing fades into absolute nothingness in comparison with that kind of an omnipotent display. You can—listen—you can line up all the so-called healers in the world, and they can pick out any leper they want, and they're not going to do this. Let the so-called healers be silent. Their claims are folly in comparison to the power of Christ. So foolish when you read about the, all around the world, every, every civilization has its supposed healers. Not like this. They don't create fingers. They don't create feet. He did, immediately.
Verse 4: Watch this. "And Jesus said unto him, 'See thou tell no man.'" Don't say a word about this to anybody. Oh, my heart, that is painful; to nobody. "But go your way and show yourself to the [literally used the word for temple] to the priest in the temple, and offer the gift that Moses commanded for a testimony unto them." What is the first test when Christ has invaded your life? One little word. Starts with O. Obedience. Says: "All right, you've been healed, now do this. Two things. Number one, do what Moses said to do. Keep the law of God." And Moses, in the Old Testament, had an amazing thing. When a leper was cleansed, he had to go to the temple and, I mean, it was amazing. Just to give you an illustration of it, I'll run through it very rapidly. Leviticus 14, here's what happens. The guy believes his leprosy has been dealt with, all right? In the event that this happened; and, as I say, there may have been isolated cases when there was a healing.
First of all, you had to take two birds, and you had to kill one of them over running water. In addition, they take cedar, scarlet, and hyssop. You take them with the living bird, dip it in the blood of the dead bird, and then send the living bird to fly away. It's a picture of resurrection. Then you wash yourself and your clothes, shave yourself. Seven days are allowed to pass, and you're reexamined. Then you shave your hair, your head, and your eyebrows. Sacrifices are then made consisting of two male lambs without blemish, one ewe lamb, three-tenths of a measure of fine flour mingled with oil, one other measure of oil. Then you had to touch all the stuff on the tip of your right ear, right thumb, right big toe, mixed with blood; and then the final examination; and if the cure was real, you were given a certificate for your wall: "Ex-leper lives here." Well, that's what He wanted to do, was to fulfill Leviticus 14: Go take care of all that. You say, "Well, I can understand that. He wanted him to obey." See, Jesus didn't come to destroy the law, but to what? Fulfill the law. And while he was devastating the system of the Pharisees, He didn't want them to think for a moment that he was violating God's Word.
Now, you say, "Well, why did He tell him not to tell anybody for?" Think about it. Some people say, "Well, He didn't want to stir up a crowd following Him just as a miracle worker." And that's very possible, because it became difficult for Him to function—didn't it?—soon after this, because the crowds were so great He had to get away. Others say, "Well, it's really because Jesus didn't want the people to see Him as a power who could throw off Rome and look at Him as a political leader," like they did. Remember in John when they tried to make him a king to overthrow Rome? And others say, "Because this was the time of His humiliation and he didn't seek exaltation." And there may be truth in all of those, but let me tell you the best reason. If you'd read the rest, "See thou tell no man." Just read the rest, and you'll know why. "But go your way and show yourself to the priests." Why? Here's the whole issue. "You go down to the temple, and you go through this whole Mosaic thing. You got an eight-day examination. Offer yourself with your friends as a, as a leper who's been cleansed. Let them go through the whole shooting match testing you; and when they're all done, they're going to conclude, 'This leper is cleansed.' And then you may say, 'Would you like to know who did this? Jesus of Nazareth did this,' and then they are trapped in their own conclusions." See? Pretty powerful. The priests will confirm that he's clean, and they'll discover it was Jesus; and by their own testimony, and their own examination, they will confirm the power of Christ. Humph, and it all hinges on the fact that he hurried to Jerusalem and didn't spread it around, or the word would get there first that Jesus did it, and then they wouldn't be interested in examining him.
Well, you know what happened? The guy didn't do that. He shot off his mouth everywhere. Mark tells us that. He just got so excited that he failed to obey—and so the story, in that sense, kind of sad that he didn't do what he was told—but for this morning, I don't want it to end there. I want you to think about this. Jesus said, "Which is more difficult? To heal disease or forgive sin?" He said that a couple of times in different words. You know why? Because all the while that He was doing these kinds of miracles, He was not only revealing His power over disease, but every one of them was an illustration of His power over what else? Sin. Sin. And I see in this an analogy. This text, to me, is analogous to a conversion. Follow this thought in conclusion: leprosy, ceremonial unclean, demonstration of sin, it's just like sin. Sin is pervasive. Sin is ugly. Sin is loathsome. Sin is communicable. Sin is incurable. Sin makes you an outcast. But the leper came with confidence. Why? Because he got desperate enough over his leprosy, right? That's how conversion happens. People don't get saved unless they get desperate over the loathsomeness of the disease of sin. And, beloved, that is so missing in the evangelism of our time. The man came. He lost all the social stigma. He lost all of the fear of being ostracized. He didn't care about that anymore. He was overwhelmed with the loathsomeness of his disease. Coming to Christ is not getting on the bandwagon. It's being wretched and knowing it.
Secondly, he came worshiping. I believe that true conversion occurs when desperate people come worshiping God, not seeking things for themselves, but seeking God's glory, a recognition of His majesty, a sense of awe, Lordship. "Lord," he says, "It's up to You." I think true salvation demands that kind of wretchedness and that kind of affirmation in reverence of worshiping Him as Lord.
Thirdly, he came humbly. I think true salvation doesn't take the perspective of you doing God a favor. There's no self-will, no self-centeredness, no sense of worth, worthiness, no sense of value, no rights, no claims, no nothing. It's the meek who inherit the kingdom.
Finally, he came with faith. He believed He could do it, and you can't be saved without faith. There must be an overwhelming wretchedness in sin. There must be a worship of the lordship of Christ. There must be humility and faith, and you'll be touched and cleansed when you come on those terms; and may I say that the disease of sin is infinitely worse than the disease of leprosy? And then when you're saved, you know what the Lord says? "Do two things, will you? Number one: Will you obey the law of God? Will you obey the law of God? And number two: Let people discover for themselves that Christ changed your life, so it's not just verbal." Isn't that an interesting thing, that analogy? It's better for you to say nothing and let the world see that Jesus changed your life by their own examination, than for you to shoot off your mouth and not be able to support it with the way you live. Here was a guy running around, "Jesus changed my life. Boy, look at me. I used to be a leper. Hosanna!"
And somebody says to him, "Hey, why aren't you down and showing yourself to the priest?"
"I'm going to get to that." A disobedient life in the midst of a testimony is meaningless. The testimony is rendered invalid. Be obedient; and, in the midst of your obedience, God will manifest out of that the transforming power of Christ. It's your life that speaks.
So we see in this lovely story the healing of the soul from sin in an analogy. Well, someday when I get to Heaven, I'm going to say to that guy—because I believe he's going to be, he's there now—I'm going to say, "What? How come you didn't go to Jerusalem?"
Let's pray.
Thank You, Father, for our time this morning; and what a thrilling, thrilling experience it is to see Your power again, speaking to us across these 2,000 years from the day this man lived, ever yet as vivid as then. Touch our lives today, especially those in our midst who have the leprosy of sin. Cleanse them. May they be pure before this day is spent.
While your heads are bowed and your eyes closed just a second, if you don't know the Lord Jesus Christ, oh, my. If leprosy sounded fearful to you, you don't even know the half; to be in sin and under the judgment of God forever. May this be the day that you come to Jesus Christ. If the Spirit of God speaks to your heart, and you feel Him inside of you, sense His voice drawing you, will you be obedient to that? I trust so. He'll touch you and make you clean. He'll even forgive your disobedience, though it grieves Him.
Thank You, Father, for our time, for the wonder of Your power, as we've seen it expressed in Christ; and, oh, we're so thankful that He's touched us and made us clean. May we be faithful to obey, and may the world in its examination know that Jesus Christ transformed our lives. His is all the praise. Draw to the prayer room those that You would have to come. We can help in this most critical decision. In Christ's name, we pray. Amen.
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ANNAPOLIS, Md.—Seniors Sam Boimov (Montgomery Village, Md./Gaithersburg/Salisbury) and Keri Wilson (Columbia, Md./Long Reach) each finished 33rd as the UMBC men's and women's cross country teams competed at the Navy Invitational. The Retriever men placed ninth with a total time of 2:07:48.72, while the women came in 10th with a total time of 2:02:00.76.
Boimov led the Retrievers across the line in a time of 25:15.31, while sophomore Brandon McGee (Hiram, Ohio/Crestwood) and freshman Eric Schuler (Columbia, Md.) finished 40th and 49th overall, respectively. Seniors Chris Snyder (McConnellsburg, Pa./McConnellsburg) and junior TJ Cowing (Severna Park, Md./Severna Park) rounded out UMBC's scoring five.
Wilson was the top female finisher for the Retrievers in a time of 23:36.81, while freshman Mary Katherine Kulp (Vestal, N.Y.) finished 68th overall in a time of 24:19.98. Freshmen Julie Gessler (Ellicott City, Md./Institute of Notre Dame) and Alyse Gibson (Columbia, Md./Reservoir) and sophomore Kristen McGovern (Sykesville, Md./Century) rounded out the scoring five.
The Retrievers return to action Friday, Sept. 30, at the Paul Short invitational.


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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration will have to begin furloughing air traffic controllers in early April because of a looming $627 million in automatic spending cuts, the head of the agency said on Wednesday, while Republican lawmakers argued there were other ways to handle the budget crunch.
"We're looking at all options to reduce costs. We're looking at a hiring freeze, at cutting contracts and travel and other items not related to day-to-day operations," FAA administrator Michael Huerta told the U.S. House of Representatives Transportation Committee.
"But to reach the large figure we need to cut, we have little choice but to make up the rest through furloughing employees," Huerta said, referring to the automatic federal spending cuts known as "sequestration" due to take effect on Friday.
His testimony echoed a warning last week by Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, who told White House reporters the automatic cuts would lead to delayed flights, shuttered control towers and irate passengers from coast to coast.
Republicans took issue at the hearing with that grim scenario, telling Huerta it should be possible to find some $627 million in savings from the agency's $16 billion budget without having to furlough most of its 47,000 employees for one to two days every two weeks.
"Looking at the budget, there are places you can shift money around and make the tough choices you need to make," said House Transportation Committee Chairman Bill Shuster, a Pennsylvania Republican. "This is a time we really need you to sharpen the pencil of the FAA."
The plan outlined by LaHood last week includes eliminating the midnight shift in more than 60 control towers and closing more than 100 towers at smaller airports.
Huerta said the agency was trying to reduce furloughs by focusing first on a hiring freeze and then looking at its various contracts, the largest of which covers the FAA's telecommunications infrastructure and is important to maintaining the operation of the system.
"Under the sequester, our flexibility is very limited because we must cut proportionally from all affected accounts. We can't move money around and we have limited flexibility to choose what it is that we are able to cut," he said.
Representative Sam Graves, a Missouri Republican, said he found it hard to believe that reducing FAA to spending levels of just a few years ago could have such a dramatic effect.
"The sky isn't falling. We're not going to have more meteors hit because of sequestration. I don't understand why the administration continues to take this attitude that the world is absolutely falling apart as a result of this," Graves said.
Separately, Huerta told the panel that the FAA was "working around the clock" to get to the root of battery problems that prompted it last month to ground Boeing's 787 Dreamliner.
He said the FAA was carefully examining the company's proposals to address the problems and "won't allow the 787 to return to commercial service until we're confident that any proposed solution has addressed battery failure risk."
Huerta said he expects to receive an internal report next week on Boeing's proposed short-term fixes to the battery problems, and also said the U.S. aircraft manufacturer has not asked the agency for permission to conduct more flight tests on the 787 to check out its proposed fixes.
Reporting By Doug Palmer; Editing by Eric Beech, Paul Simao and Mohammad Zargham


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Why See Dancing With the Stars?
Light up the night!
ABC's number one entertainment show is hitting the road! This year, the multi-Emmy award winning Dancing with the Stars is heading out of the studio and into your local dance hall. Featuring some of the show's most popular competitors, this live tour will recreate the most memorable dances from the programme's previous seasons, as well as showcase brand new never-before-seen routines! The line-up is set to include a host of famous names, as well as some favorites from the show!
If you think the dancing is spectacular on television, just wait till you see it live! Combined with a playlist of hot chart tracks and the always gorgeous costumes, this promises to be a great night out at the theater for the whole family. Dancing with the Stars shimmies its way to you soon!
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Consider yourself on notice, Mr. Neil. It's one thing to compare the Mitsubishi Evo MR's squat comport to a groundhog, but it's a whole 'nuther to point your fancy wordstick at a defenseless 500-lb child.
The stubby and thick Evo MR, on the other hand, is more like a rocket-powered groundhog, or a baby hippo fired out of a cannon. Fast. Ugly.
Still, ugly's not the whole story, says Neil. The top-of-the-mast Evo MR is also fast as hell, sticky in the corners, and costs close to $40,000. But boy, is it ugly.
On the outside, the Evo MR looks like it went into a performance parts store and got dressed in the dark.
That's ugly.
Fast. OK, really fast [LA Times]
Dan Neil on the Suzuki Grand Vitara [internal]


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text: Are Brisbane property prices starting to slowly decline? If you do research we now have discovered that after natural disasters and event such as Queensland floods that property prices in food impacted areas have declined. In the US funding currently within a dyer state, that impact has scared property buyer to hold upon their pennies. With vendors who will be currently selling property they must adjust their expectations to connect with the market place. It�s far better sell now other than wait some three years as property experts predict that house prices will decline even further before we come across some sort of stabilisation in the real-estate market. Many successful and wealthy businessmen have decided to rent property, rather buy property with interest that come from the bank. The methodology behind this is certainly that they won�t possess the burden of getting stuck in the one house for a few years and keeping extra expenses such as council rates and mortgage interest rates plaguing them. Study shows that individual who have a property inside an above average socio economic area are struggling and stressing more than individuals who rent property. The return on property is just not a good idea. The wise entrepreneur nowadays value more highly to invest his money into online businesses and similar to they claim �internet real estate� in preference to forking out every dollar right into a mortgage. With credit rates for against 2010 the economic state of the country may seem much more resilient to this in a big number of all the countries. Although our economy is stronger than almost every other countries, we are most certainly still feeling the impact of a typical US stock exchange. Mortgage brokers have given insight to know what to expect in the way of the good interest rate. They are saying if your currently paying a mortgage off with interest rate over 7% you aren�t receiving the leading deals. The advisable way to possess a lower interest rate in Queensland is usually to sit down with your local Mortgage Broker and compare different rates of interest with all the major banks. Although property prices are declining the rental market seems to be stable. Renting always seems to be a lesser amount than paying a mortgage according to the fortune you could have borrowed that come from the banks. When renting a property in Brisbane or Queensland, make sure you express your interest with a broker operating in the possible area. The Property Managers and Property Agents have undisputed knowledge on the subject of qld houseprices in their section of specialty.


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Jacob Megehee hops out of his pickup with a spryness that belies his 71 years, grabs a five-gallon bucket of dried distillers grains, and shouts across the pasture, "C'mon, babies! C'mon, babies."
Cows leave their grass munching and shade loitering and come loping to him.
"They love this stuff — it's like ice cream to them," he says as he pours piles of the corn byproduct on the ground, then backtracks to the pickup for another bucketful.
Here in the rolling prairie land just outside Macon, Miss., he and his wife, Martha, operate Megehee Cattle Company, raising quality beef cows. They also utilize, as part of the cow-calf operation, a family farm in Pearl River County in south Mississippi where they both grew up.
"My family had a dairy/beef/hog farm on the edge of the Pearl River swamp," he says, "and Martha's family had a farm not far away; her father raised cattle and grew tung trees for oil used primarily in marine paints [a thriving industry in southeast Mississippi until Hurricane Camille, one of the strongest storms in U.S. history, wiped out most of the trees in 1969].
Jacob Megehee: From bull riding to Vietnam and back, the circuitous making of a cattleman
"I hunted small game and fished in the swamp," he says. "I was in 4-H and FFA and got a degree in dairy production at Mississippi State University, thinking I'd make a living in dairy industry like my two brothers."
But military service intervened and he spent seven years on active duty as an Army helicopter pilot, including a year in Vietnam, where he flew 2004 hours, received five Purple Heart medals, a Silver Star, a Distinguished Flying Cross, a Bronze Star, 27 Air Medals and an Air Medal With Valor device.
For three years, he flew Medevac missions all over Europe. It was during flights over Germany and the Netherlands, Megehee says, that "I'd look down and see beautiful dairy herds grazing on stunningly gorgeous forages. In the Netherlands, they had portable milking machines that they rolled into the field and milked cows right there. I got the dairying bug badly. But Martha, more sensibly, said she didn't want me to be a dairyman, because we'd never have a life outside of milking cows.
"By the time my duty in Europe was nearing an end, we had a young daughter and $10,000 that we'd saved from my military pay. That money was burning a hole in my pocket to buy some farmland. But construction of the John C. Stennis Space Center had pushed land prices in our home county out of our reach.
"My older brother married a girl at Brooksville, not far from Mississippi State University, and I was familiar with the area from my MSU, 4-H, and FFA days. I knew these prairie soils could grow good forages.
"So, we looked around and bought this land, which we leased out while I was at Ft. Rucker, Ala., as a test pilot. We bought 93 steers and put them here, and we drove over almost every weekend just for the pleasure of seeing our cows on our land. We had horses, too, for our young daughter to ride."
When his seven years of military active duty ended, Megehee started a master's program at MSU, managed the university's south farm, flew helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft for the university, and continued flying three weekends in the Amy National Guard. He served in reserve components for 22 years, retiring as a full colonel.
'Bigger is not always better'
"We put a double-wide trailer here on the farm and I told Martha if we were able to make a living, I'd build her a house. And with a carpenter and a little outside help, we later built this place. She did all the painting, staining, and decorating, and has planted and looked after all the roses and flowers. She has turned a hillside pasture into a beautiful yard and home."
After completing his master's degree in ag economics and moving into a Ph.D. program, Megehee says, "I was working full time for the university, flying three weekends a month in the National Guard, and by then we had 200 cows here on the farm and three children. I was just burned out."
He took a teaching position at East Mississippi Community College, "a welcome respite, allowing me to devote more time to the farm, while still flying in the Guard."
The farming enterprise grew, and at one point they were renting another 1,100 to 1,200 acres, growing soybeans, milo, and wheat, and had a 600-head cow herd.
"But bigger is not always better," Megehee says. "We were working ourselves to death. In 1986 we quit row crops and cut cow numbers to what we could comfortably handle with a little outside help. Now, we're strictly a cattle operation.
"All our cows, some with Charolais blood, are bred to black Brangus bulls from Cow Creek Ranch, a nationally-known cattle operation at nearby Aliceville, Ala. We decided to work with Cow Creek because the demand in the industry is for black hide cattle. These cows have easy calving and put live calves on the ground. We're now into our eleventh year of Cow Creek genetics."
He moves 55 or so 500-pound heifers to their south Mississippi farm in the fall, "and if things go right, we'll bring back 900-pounders.
"We sell the black bred heifers at the Cow Creek auction. They handle marketing and promotion, and our heifers have gone all over the Southeast and out to Texas. We also do video marketing through Superior Livestock Marketing (American Rancher), which allows us to reach a wide audience. They have a national advertising program — and in this business you need to get your product before the buyer.
"Our black and white crossbred heifers go to the August sale at Hattiesburg, Miss., and our bred heifers are sold at Cow Creek and at Hattiesburg. The last two years, our heifers have beat the top selling prices of the big commercial sale at Uniontown, Ala., and for five of the last seven years, our 2 to 2-1/2 year old commercial heifers have topped the Cow Creek sale. This past year our heifers averaged $1,677 in two sales. That's a pretty fat price, and I think this year we could see around $2,000.
"We like to use our own stocker steers, but we'll also buy some at the sale barn or locally. We start with 300 pounders in the fall and when we get them up to 750-800 pounds, we'll sell them in truckload lots via video auction. "We'll put about 70 steers in the Home Place video auction at Hattiesburg in August. We like to put together a load of steers (approximately 50,000 pounds total) all the same color, with 100 pounds or less variation from lightest to heaviest. Last year, our big steers averaged 866 pounds.
"We really like video auction marketing — it saves time, there's much less stress on the animals, and we can choose our delivery date."
In February, Megehee says, "We'll have some steers that would be too big for delivery in September, so we sell them through Prairie Livestock, Inc., at West Point, Miss., when they need to fill out a truckload."
At mid-June this year, the Megehees had 125 mama cows with their calves, 55 bred heifers, and 90 steers on their farm at Macon and another group of heifers on their south Mississippi farm.
Prairie soils 'really grow grass'
"We have 329 acres here and lease another 124 acres for steers," he says. "These prairie soils will really grow grass. I have one field that's been in Marshall ryegrass since 1986 and has continuously reseeded itself each year. There's a lot of dallisgrass,, common bermudagrass, and five varieties of coastal bermudagrass on pastures. In south Mississippi, I depend on bahia and common bermudagrass, plus crabgrass behind ryegrass.
"I plant ryegrass on a prepared seedbed, and like to start the breeding heifers on it in January when I bring them up from south Mississippi. If there's enough ryegrass for them to graze just one hour a day, it's like a magic potion because they start their estrus cycle immediately.
"I've tried five varieties of coastal bermudagrass, but it's costly to keep up because it requires expensive chemicals and excessive fertilizer. I've also tried some of the new fescues, but they just fade away when summer heat sets in. I've pretty much got to the point that I soil test, lime and fertilize the pastures, and am happy with whatever comes up."
Megehee serves on the advisory board for the Mississippi State University Northeast Mississippi Producer Steering Committee and is chairman of the Beef Committee.
"Among our recommendations to the university is that we need development of a good cool season perennial forage grass that can survive our summers," he says.
"We also desperately need a summer perennial legume that needs no nitrogen. Durana clover is a good forage, but it quits growing in the summer heat. Lespedeza also warrants some consideration."
The dried distillers grain with solubles that he uses as supplemental feed is a corn byproduct from ethanol production. "It's 10 percent fat and 28 percent protein, and the cows love it," he says. "The price varies with the price of corn — the last load was $276 per ton delivered from Hopkinsville, Ky.
"I put up a lot of hay, about 500 round bales that weigh 1,400 pounds each. Our mama cows eat hay starting about Thanksgiving and continue until mid-March. I nutrient-test my hay and supplement it with protein and/or energy as required.
"I have about 300 rolls of hay in reserve in the barn that I've had since 1986. It's still high quality, 8.5 percent protein and 53 percent total digestible nutrient, and has good color. If we have a horrible hay year, as we did in 1986, I can fall back on this reserve."
Megehee has used hen litter on pastures for the last 10 years, applying 2 tons to 4 tons per acre. "It provides about 1 percent nitrogen, 3.6 percent phosphorus, 2.2 percent potassium, and 3.9 percent calcium," he says.
"But with that fertility, I can also count on a lot of weeds. Horse nettle is a big problem, and we get foxtail and barnyardgrass. I've worked hard to get clover in the pastures, but I have to wait until it becomes dormant before I can spray the horse nettle."
All breeding age females are pregnancy checked each fall, and heifers receive a pelvic area evaluation. "Experts say if a cow doesn't breed, it should be sold," he says, "but I believe in giving them a second chance. I've got a number of good calves from 'second chance' cows, and often the cows will then get back on a regular breeding schedule.."
All of Megehee's bulls get a breeding soundness evaluation each year and bulls are culled if necessary. He never names his cows — "It makes it too personal "— but he knows each one, it's pedigree, and how it's performing. He uses ear tags with numbers and an elaborate ear notching system to track when calves are born.
Input costs outpacing beef prices
Beef prices are very good now, he says, "And that's good — but our costs have shot up too. Ammonium nitrate, for example, is now over $525 per ton. There has always been a rough rule of thumb in this business: How many 500 lb. feeder calves does it take to buy a pickup truck? And that number has kept going steadily upward. The price we're getting for our cows hasn't kept up with the price of our inputs."
However, Megehee says, increasing land values help offset some of the inflation in other prices.
"Many farmers charge a 3 percent to 4 percent opportunity cost for land. But land value usually increases that much or more — which is good, considering you'd be hard pressed these days to get 1 percent on a bank CD.
"That's one reason land prices are going up and people are investing in farmland. Even this black prairie land is bringing $3,500 to $4,000 an acre — if you can find any for sale."
Megehee is vice president of Mississippi Cattlemen's Association and he and Martha travel to meetings all over the state, as well as to national meetings and events.
He's also on the Mississippi 4-H Foundation board. "It's a joy to see so many smart, talented young people doing agriculture projects and thinking about careers in agriculture," he says.
"The cattle business isn't one that young people can readily get into, because it doesn't provide cash flow unless you've got land and equipment. For most people in the cattle business, that's their second job — we're mostly a bunch of old folks. But once you get everything paid for, cows will cash flow, and if you're careful you can have a pretty good income."
He cautions, though, "Cows are like row crops — you'd better have a marketing plan before you put the first cow in the pasture."
Cows are " like a savings account on hoof," Megehee says. "If you need new tires for the pickup, or a new fridge for the house, you can take one or two cows to the sale barn and walk away with cash. And you can run cows on land not suited to row crops.
"But, you've really got to love cattle to stick it out in this business, because invariably they seem to get through fences when you're on your way to Sunday School or to an important meeting. Martha has received calls from the Sheriff's Department late at night when I was away, telling her that black cows were on the highway near our farm."
Megehee also serves on the Beef Board, which handles the $1 checkoff fee that's paid every time a cow changes hands.
"It brings in about $800,000 a year," he says."About half of that stays in the state of Mississippi to promote beef."
He has led a crusade for a statewide additional $1 checkoff to promote the beef industry, which must be approved by the legislature before the state's 17,000 beef producers can vote on the measure. He hopes to continue an education program "to get producers proactive on beef issues instead of continuing in a reactive mode.
"This money could be used for research, education, youth programs, and any other imaginative means to promote our beef industry," Megehee says. "The money would be removed from the proceeds at the sale site and could be refunded to the seller by written request to the Beef Board. The additional $1 would be completely voluntary for each producer.
"It's something that's very much needed, because research has shown that each $1 invested returns $5.55 to the beef producer."


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Stay in Danish history
If you choose to stay at one of Denmark's more than 100 inns, you will come into close contact with a piece of genuine Danish history. The Danish kroers (inns) date back to the early 1200s, when the Danish King Erik Klipping decreed that a series of inns be established around the country to accommodate him as he travelled his kingdom.
What they offer
Inns were built to be quite small and were often run by an innkeeper and wife. As a result, inns in Denmark today tend to have a very homely size and feel. Many inns serve food and offer you more than shelter and a full stomach. They are a cosy base from which to set out into the Danish countryside and enjoy outdoor pursuits such as golf, fishing and walking.


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Miranda Kerr Wearing Leather Shorts and Acne Sweater
Miranda Kerr's Leather Looks Just Don't Quit — Copy Her Perfect Party Look
If there's one thing we know about Miranda Kerr, it's that the girl loves her leather. Over the past couple months, we've seen the leggy model step out in sleek pieces from Balenciaga and Givenchy (plus, who can forget those thigh-high Hermès boots?), and just yesterday she was snapped walking in NYC wearing a pair of supershort leather shorts from Maison Martin Margiela. While Miranda has sported this particular pair before, we think her most recent look highlights the perfect way to wear your shorts throughout the chilly Winter season. Miranda layered up with black tights and a cozy Acne sweater (another repeated wear!), then pulled on a black wool coat and sexy lace-up ankle booties. Her spot-on styling makes for a pretty amazing holiday party look, and all you need to dress it up even more are a cool statement necklace and a sweep of red lipstick. Swap out Miranda's Givenchy tote for a slim clutch, and you've got yourself a slick soiree ensemble that seamlessly blends high fashion with downtown cool.


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SOCHI SCENE: Shining Diggins
KRASNAYA POLYANA, Russia (AP) — Even before the race, cross-country skier Jessica Diggins knew she was going to shine in the opening event of her first Olympics.
Like her American teammates in the women's 15-kilometer skiathlon Saturday, Diggins put on a massive layer of glitter makeup.
But it wasn't just her face that sparkled. Her skiing did, too. The Afton, Minn. native finished eighth, trailing gold medalist Marit Bjoergen of Norway by 1 minute, 31.9 seconds.
Jessica Diggins, of the United States, competes during the women's cross-country 15k skiathlon at the 2014 Winter Olympics, Saturday, Feb. 8, 2014, in Krasnaya Polyana, Russia. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
"That was awesome, that felt incredible," Diggins said. "I am so happy I am just on cloud nine right now."
Diggins said she targeted a finish "in the top 20, not the top 10."
"This was one of the best races in my life," she said. "It just felt so good to have a good race, and especially on a hard course at the Olympics, my parents watching, to hear them out cheering for me just gave me the boost I needed."
Diggins, who won the world team sprint title alongside Kikkan Randall last year, said she will stick to the same glitter makeup routine for her upcoming events in Sochi.
"This is fun. I do it because I love it," she says. "When I am happy and when I am having fun, then that's when I race well."
The only thing that didn't work out perfectly for Diggins on Saturday was her attempt to paint her ponytail red, white and blue: "Well, it's more like pink, white and blue."
— By Eric Willemsen — Twitter http://twitter.com/eWilmedia
Associated Press reporters will be filing dispatches about happenings in and around Sochi during the 2014 Winter Games. Follow AP journalists covering the Olympics on Twitter: http://apne.ws/1c3WMiu
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The Sports Xchange
By Mike Shalin, The Sports Xchange
Bruins 3, Maple Leafs 2 (SO)
BOSTON - Patrice Bergeron tied the game in the third period and then had the deciding goal in the shootout, lifting the Boston Bruins to a come-from-behind 3-2 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs Monday night.
The victory, coming on the heels of a 1-3 road trip, gave the Bruins a split of the home-and-home Original Six series with the Leafs, who won 3-2 in Toronto Saturday night.
Tyler Seguin and Bergeron connected against Toronto goalie James Reimer, and Tuukka Rask then sealed the win with a save on Nikolai Kulemin.
The Bruins, who moved back into a tie with idle Montreal atop the Northeast Conference (Boston has two games in hand), scored just six goals on their four-game trip and trailed this game 2-0.
After second-period goals by Joffrey Lupul (No. 4) and Kulemin (No. 5), the Bruins came back when Milan Lucic scored his first goal in 16 games (fifth of the season) in the second period and Patrice Bergeron tied it at 10:36 of the third with his ninth of the year.
Rask, beaten only by Tyler Bozek in the shootout, improved his record to 12-8 in career shootouts, including 4-1 this season.
The Leafs have lost all four shootouts this season, and Reimer is just 3-8 on his career.
Bruins coach Claude Julien shook up his lines for the game (mostly to demote Lucic to the third line). Bergeron was back with his regular linemates, Brad Marchand and Tyler Seguin, when defenseman Dougie Hamilton got him the puck in front. Bergeron beat Reimer with a backhander the goalie probably should have had.
Before that, the Bruins had put on all kinds of pressure as they were able to erase their deficit.
Julien talked about his team's struggles earlier Monday.
"What is disappointing right now is that we are not playing the type of game that we should," he said. "Tonight if we are mad, we've got to be mad at ourselves; for not playing our game and going out there and being a bit more hungry. Hopefully our work ethic and the talent we feel we have will take over.''
In addition to shaking up the lines, the Bruins also played a home game in their white jerseys.
Nothing much worked early. After a scoreless first period, Lupul, returning from a two-game suspension after a head hit, converted a power play pass from defenseman Jake Gardiner at 2:04 of the second.
Less than six minutes later, Nazem Kadri, who has been on fire, hit Kulemin with a breakaway pass between defensemen Andrew Ference and Aaron Johnson and beat Rask. It was Toronto's ninth shot of the game; after the Leafs scored three goals on just 13 shots Saturday night.
But Lucic ended his drought by breaking in around defenseman Cody Franson and scoring at 9:49 to cut the deficit in half.
NOTES: The Bruins remained two men short on defense, with Johnny Boychuk missing his second straight game with a foot injury that has him day-to-day and joining defense-mate Adam McQuaid (shoulder) on the sidelines. Julien revealing McQuaid is expected to miss 4-6 week with his injury, a longer prognosis than the original 3-4 weeks. He missed his third straight game Monday night. ... Toronto defenseman John-Michael Liles was out after suffering a foot injury against the Bruins Saturday. ... Lupul played his 100th game in a Leafs uniform. ... The Maple Leafs host the Panthers Tuesday night, while the Bruins have the rival Canadiens in town Wednesday. Montreal won on its first trip to Boston in this shortened season, while the Bruins won up north. ... Kadri, who came into the game with 34 points in 32 games, is the youngest Leaf (22) with 30 points in the first 30 games of a season since Ed Olczyk (also 22) did it in 1988-89.


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America's millions of pet lovers apparently aren't too worried about the threat of a double-dip recession.
The American Pet Products Association estimates pet owners will spend $50 billion this year, with the biggest single expense veterinarian bills, which are expected to top $13 billion.
Kiplinger's Personal Finance found dog owners pay $310 to $7,100 a year on their dogs -- that's $4,070 to $101,070 for an average dog's life.
Cats cost $490 to $940 a year -- $7,760 to $15,260 in their lifetimes -- not counting any expenses from an emergency like a cat or dog being hit by a car or mangled by a hungry coyote.
Emergency care expenses can be off the chart.
The American Veterinary Medical Association advises animal owners not to skimp on preventive healthcare for their pets.
"Despite the ever-increasing emotional bond we have with our pets, research shows pets are getting less preventive healthcare," said Dr. Rene A. Carlson, president of the association based in Schaumburg, Ill. "Consequently, illnesses that are totally preventable, such as dental infections, intestinal worms and heartworms, ear infections and diabetes, are on the increase. Every October, we encourage pet owners to bring their pets into their veterinarian for regular checkups."
The annual checkup for my 9-year-old Fox Terrier at a private veterinary hospital cost $128 and included a nose-to-tail wellness check, a heartworm test and two vaccinations.
My mom paid more than $300 for a similar checkup for her 4-year-old cocker spaniel at a national chain pet hospital, but in all fairness, the visit included three shots, medicine for an early detected ear infection and $100 a biopsy of a small lump on the dog's back.
The dog was fine.
Fortunately our dogs are not overweight -- a serious problem that affects some 40 percent of dogs and cats in the United States.
"Once you determine your pet has a weight problem, the next thing you should do is speak with your veterinarian," said Ohio State University veterinarian and pet nutrition expert Dr. C.A. Tony Buffington. "Having a conversation with your veterinarian about your pet, its eating habits, activity, lifestyle and general health allow you to develop a specific and workable plan to keep your pet healthy."
The vet who checked my mom's cocker advised her to switch the dog's diet to a healthier formulation of dog food. Mom complained about the extra cost but as she looked down at the dog wagging its tail grabbed a bag of the higher-priced, presumably more nutritious, food.
Lost pets get ride home
Animal control officers in Fort Wayne, Ind., are using 11 old laptop computers from the police department to get lost pets back to their homes without a stop at a shelter.
The program -- called "Home Again" -- seeks to reunite pets and owners as quickly and efficiently as possible. The pet's registration can be accessed on the computers and pet owners pay $10 the first time a pet is returned, The Journal Gazette reported.
The fee goes up to $30 the second time a pet is returned and is $75 the third time a pet is picked up and returned by Animal Care & Control. Lost animals previously were taken to a shelter and owners had to go there to get them back.
"It really gets an animal home within minutes," animal control supervisor Randy Thornton told the Journal Gazette. "It saves time, money, energy, resources and fuel."
About 66 pets have been directly returned to their homes since the program began in August. A city ordinance requires registration of all dogs and cats and that information includes the pet's veterinarian.
Mandatory microchip law vetoed in California
California Gov. Jerry Brown this month vetoed legislation that would have required all dogs and cats reclaimed from animal shelters to have ID microchips.
In his veto message, Brown said while he supports mircochipping of pets that there was no need for a new law.
"Under current law, local agencies and shelters can -- and should -- require animals be microchipped before being released. There is no need for state law to mandate the procedure, which would then require that state to pay for it."
Legislation backer state Sen. Ted Lieu said the law would have saved taxpayers millions by reducing the number of unclaimed cats and dogs euthanized annually. California animal shelters impound more than 1 million dogs each year -- and about 500,000 are put to death, the Los Angeles Times reported.
"This process costs taxpayers up to $300 million a year, according to the state comptroller. Nationwide, this costs local taxpayer-funded shelters and humane societies $1 billion. This has to stop," Lieu said in a statement to the governor.
Microchips are implanted just under the skin of animals and their radio frequency information, usually an ID number that can be linked to an owner in a database, is read by passing an electronic scanner over the pet.
U.S. malls plan pet sale ban
Global Animal, an online animal news magazine, reports Macerich, a major U.S. shopping mall developer, is banning sales of live animals in its 74 malls to break the puppy mill industry.
Macerich reportedly will not renew leases of existing pet stores that sell live animals and plans to open stores that promote adoption of rescued pets. Some of the corporation's premier malls include Westside Pavilion in Los Angeles, Fashion Square in Scottsdale, Ariz., and Chesterfield Towne Center in Richmond, Va.
Halloween scary for pets
With Halloween coming at the end October, pet health insurer PetPlan is warning people to take precautions to keep their animals safe.
-- If you expect a lot of trick-or-treaters at the door, consider putting the pet in a closed room with water, food, toys and a comfortable bed. That will prevent a spooked pet from bolting outside and running away.
-- Nearly 15 percent of pet owners plan to dress their animals in a costume. If you do, make sure the animal can see and can move around unencumbered, and that the seasonal getup doesn't have frills that can be chewed off and swallowed. If it's warm make sure the pet is not overheated or dehydrated.
-- And of course keep candy, especially chocolate and sugary sweets like raisins, away from pets.


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NFU & Owen Paterson misleading farmers
Dr Brian May, Queen guitarist and founder of the Save Me Trust has spoken out after former Defra Secretary Owen Paterson claimed 'An extraordinary reduction' in bovine TB disease levels seen in the Somerset and Gloucestershire pilot areas proveing badger culling works. Dr May said "Calling an ex-minister a liar is, of course, a very serious accusation, but, in the light of new expert analysis of the statistics on the Government's badger
cull, it is an inescapable conclusion. Much more serious is the fact that Owen Paterson is apparently deliberately misrepresenting the facts to the farming community, giving them false hope that killing badgers will solve their bTB problem. We, the public, of course, continue to foot the bill for this cruel, misguided, and ultimately doomed policy."
NFU president Meurig Raymond has also highlighted the 'dramatic reduction' in disease levels in the cull areas as evidence the cull was working. He said he had received personal assurances from David Cameron and Defra Ministers that 'the TB strategy is on the table and they are determined to drive it forward'
The claims of the NFU and Mr Paterson are in direct opposition to the science and research of the 10 years RBCT Trial, widely regarded around the world as the leading scientific study in relation to culling badgers.
The criteria of the current culls are based on the RBCT trials that require a minimum of 70% of badger population are killed within six weeks to achieve any reduction in the disease. The RBCT trials demonstrated that a failure to achieve the targets would result in perturbation, an effect where the disease is spread by transient animals out of the cull zone. Increased TB on adjoining land is expected by Defra for these culls - the concern is that as the criteria isn't being met it will increase TB inside the cull zones themselves
Professor Lord Krebs who oversaw the RBCT as Chief Scientific advisor to the government said "It's simply not true that the pilot culls in Gloucestershire and Somerset have resulted in a decline in TB. The NFU should be more honest with the public and its members."
Anne Brummer, CEO of the Save Me Trust said "Mr Paterson is being deliberately misleading with his comments, he and the NFU know that the same figures show an increase in bTB around the cull zones. They are making this problem worse for farmers, the tax-payers, cattle and wildlife."


text: Nothing like a quick BASE jump before Super Bowl XLV. I love how he brings his dog up for the hike, then tells her to head back down to the truck before he jumps. Keep your eyes peeled for the deer running away at 1:55 (appears just above his left foot). What were your pre-Super Bowl plans?


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I am interested in bringing history to life through telling a story using fictional characters in a well researched historical plot. I am going to explore the historical fiction genre to see how useful it is in honing in on aspects of history which are often overlooked or brushed aside by mainstream historians.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
The joys of owning an ereader
I have an ereader courtesy of my daughter who has upgraded her ipod and given me her old one.
I don't mind that it's secondhand. I'm just delighted to have one. It doesn't seem right to be publishing ebooks which I would like other people to purchase and download on to their ereaders if I am not reading ebooks myself.
Now I can! I can tackle my list of books to read before I die list electronically instead of searching the secondhand book shops for the out of print ones and spending fortunes buying new ones from bookstores. Think of all the trees I won't be responsible for cutting down.
Already I've investigated the Amazon catalogue under the historical fiction heading and found enough titles to keep me reading for years. I'll concentrate on anything related to the War of the Roses for the moment as I am half way through the course I'm teaching at the University of the Third Age in Ballarat and contemplating redrafting my children's story Abbie in the Abbey.
Once that is done I will have to decide which direction my historical interests take me. Perhaps I'll go back to the Irish Diaspora theme of my enovels Brigid, A Terrible Paradise and The Liberator's Birthday. There's an Irish Diaspora feel about the one I am writing now. But then there is French history and all the great novels which have been written about France and the people who have played a part in shaping its destiny. Or the Tudors! The scope is endless. All I need now is time to read.
Jill's ebooks
2 comments:
- AnonymousJune 30, 2011 at 12:29 PM
I too have just received an ereader, the Amazon Kindle. As much as I love having a printed copy in my hands to fully immerse myself in the reading experience- I must admit the electronic device is very convenient! Especially for making quick purchases and accepting review copies.ReplyDelete
I hope you find yours just as enjoyable.
As a person who loves to sit in coffee shops and write, I am having to adjust my thinking to writing on my ipad. I tried it yesterday and was surprised how easy it was and the ideas flowed just as well as they do under my pen. I must be the grooviest grandma in Ballarat I reckon. And if anyone interupts my writing I can subject them to all my granddaughter photos. They're all on the ipod as well. Watch out. I have a family of photographers so you could be in for quite a session,ReplyDelete


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Beauty Schools of America-Homestead Swimming Scholarships
Found 10 listings, displaying 1-10
Current undergraduate women in Nevada are eligible to apply for this scholarship. Applicants must be majoring in public relations, communication, media studies, marketing or journalism and must be planning to pursue a career in sports or sports broad ...Awarded By: The Floyd Mayweather Jr...more
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The John A. McCluskey and Helen McCluskey Scholarship scholarship is available for graduating African American seniors at Middleton High School in Middletown, Ohio who display a passion for athletics. Applicants must have a grade point average of 3.5 ...Awarded By: Middletown Community...more
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This award is available for graduating high school seniors in Massachusetts who identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender. Applicants must participate in athletics and serve as a constant role-model or advocate for LGBT causes.Awarded By: Parents, Families & Friends of Lesbians & Gays...more
This award is for U.S. female students who are graduating from South Charleston High School. The applicant must have a 2.5 grade point average or higher and an ACT score of 20 or higher to be eligible.Awarded By: Greater Kanawha Valley FoundationAward Amount: $600 annuallyApplication Deadline:...more
This award is for U.S. high seniors graduating from Nicholas County High School who are athletes and current residents of West Virginia. The applicant must have a 2.5 grade point average or higher and an ACT score of 20 or higher to be eligible.Awarded By: Greater Kanawha Valley FoundationAward...more
Swimming Scholarships near Beauty Schools of America-Homestead
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