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Sophia Loren on Her Life in Hotels
I haven't seen anything because I've seen hotels. I've seen a lot of people. I've seen my films, but I am eager very much to choose, let's say two weeks, three weeks with my children to go a little bit around and to see like a tourist. What's a beauty …
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Finding cheap flights can be a daunting task. Some of us have been so ruthless to spend more time searching for the cheapest flights we actually spent our holiday. Some sites allow you a price that others you pray call. If you book through a travel agent then you have a middle man and get a big cut.
Even with a travel agent you can get airfare tickets for free and all you have to do is pay the tax! There are ways to take a free vacation including airfare and hotels. Did you fly children free in most cases? There are a lot of loopholes in the aviation industry that most people are not aware of! So you could save up to 70% on first class or business class. There are many secrets of the airlines do not want you to know.
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There are other people who just prefer a travel rewards credit card and earn air miles in essence this will allow you to fly for free. If you travel a personal travel agent and wish to Las Vegas, Fort Lauderdale or Orlando, there are a few solutions that hit trolling around the search engines Dailey find the cheapest flights and ending with the lowest rates are available cheaper than you think agent.
Seven New Orleans hotels with amazing history
It also has one of the richest histories of all the hotels in the city. Tennessee Williams, William Faulkner and Ernest Hemingway were all notable former guests — and the latter was often spotted at the Monteleone's legendary Carousel Bar, which slow …
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Every honeymoon should be as perfect as it can get. One of the ways to reach perfection is sometimes highly dependent on the accommodations chosen.
frontierairlines.com The honeymoon accommodation can make or break the entire honeymoon and maybe even the entire marriage. The first few days spent in dreamland by a married couple can be the first real test of the marriage.
Some of the worst things that can happen in a honeymoon location that can truly test a newly-married couple's marriage are as follows:
1. Lack of privacy of the honeymoon lodgings.
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Honeymoons are meant for the couple to enjoy each other's company before work, kids, and other events come into the picture. Lack of privacy can really be annoying because instead of enjoying each other's company, the newly-married couple will end up worrying about the nosy couple next door or the fact that the place is really exposed to the prying eyes of the public for the couple to enjoy doing anything on their own.
2. Rude staff and unreliable service.
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Every guest in vacation lodgings expects very accommodating staff and excellent service. This is so much more with a couple on their honeymoon. That phase of the marriage should be relaxing and enjoyable but rude staff and unreliable service can really ruin the whole event because it runs very thin in this scenario.
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There's no place like home, or so the saying goes. Even on vacation in luxury five-star hotels, it can be difficult to feel comfortable in a space that isn't really your own. However, there are some things you can do to help make your next hotel stay extra special.
1. Incorporate smells you like to use in your home. Next time you pack, be sure to throw in your favorite scent, whether it's a candle or a room spray you typically use in your home. Travel candles with lids and even some of the plug-in devices with oils can be very convenient, adding a cozy, familiar scent to your room.
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2. Buy some fresh flowers. Visit a local florist or farmer's market for some freshly cut flower arrangements. Sometimes, if you aren't staying in a suite with dishes or vases, the hotel's concierge can provide you with an appropriate container. If you decide to buy your own vase, you might consider leaving it for the next guest to use so they too can have the feel of home.
3. Make a playlist. Bring along your favorite MP3 player or your phone and create a playlist of songs that remind you of friends and family back home.
cheap tickets If you require speakers, some hotels offer iDocks or alarm clocks with auxiliary cables. Songs can help to set the mood of a personal atmosphere and break the silence, especially for those traveling solo on business
Like Jolie, Brad, and the kids winging off to $35 million estate for some rest and relaxation in the South of France, charter flights inevitably evoke images of wealth, glamor and celebrity. Money fuels the world of private jets and the prestige of it all merely adds to the allure.
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Truthfully, private jets are as common in little American airports like Horseshoe Bend, North Folk Valley, Mackinac Island, and Turners Falls as they are in the South of France. These are airports near the plants, warehouses, and facilities of companies large and small. They research, manufacture, and sell products the world needs and desires.
canada airline tickets porter Jon M. Boyd, a flight service sales and marketing director at Westchester County Airport in New York, says, "Businesses with plants in various locations, people that multiply their time by visiting a half-dozen plants in a day or two instead of a week, they're our backbone, our strength." More often than not, charter flights are a matter of time. Is time better invested in a half-dozen employees preparing for a meeting on a jet with every boardroom amenity at their fingertips or with those employees stalled in security, waiting to board a plane, or stuck on a runway at the mercy of air traffic control? For some, time is the most valuable commodity.
The nation's commercial airline industry took a major hit in the wake of 9/11. This was also evident in the business of renting jets.
cheapest travel deals Next came the Great Recession of 2008, with rising fuel prices and environmental emission regulations adding to the travails. Then came the Big 3 auto company CEOs flying on executive jets to Washington to plead for taxpayer bailouts.
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A private jet rental may sound like something that only wealthy corporations and powerful politicians have the option to indulge in, but you may be surprised at its affordability and convince as an alternative to commercial airlines. These are just a few benefits (of many):
Business Travel- Many businesses find that private jet rental is a better option than commercial airlines for flying executives or clients back and forth.
Corporate Events – Besides individual travel, some companies may want to send employees on retreats or special business meetings in other cities. With this option, they can travel together to better coordinate on-ground transportation and hotel stays.
Would you could be a great experience on a vacation, to the planning and paying for it is where the crowds really start. For people with low incomes, single parents, people with disabilities always find it difficult to extract from life the most, but now you can holiday with the best of them. Just because you are on a budget does not mean you can have a great vacation, and by following these tips, you'll be able to get the best vacation package for your income.
First, check your budget realistic. This would be the first step when a person plans to spend much money, but it is important when planning a vacation package. Figuring out exactly how much money you can immediately spend, and how much you can afford to put away in savings. Set aside even a small amount of money each week will help you to save a decent amount, so your coffee and start saving.
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The second thing to do, once you get the amount you can spend is to decide where you want to go. You can find a great vacation packages for anywhere, but can far out of your budget already are in some places. If you are immediately made the list, but you have a cultural tour of Sydney Australia to live a trip to Paris in New Zealand.
Parties / Group Events – Even for individuals, a private jet rental may be something you consider for a special birthday party, or a graduation gift for that college senior.
Weddings – You may want to fly your entire wedding party to go to a destination for the big event, or maybe send a small group to a reception location after the wedding.
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Vacations – Whether just for your family or with a large group of friends and family, chartering a plan can be a nice alternative to regular flights.
Private jet rental companies usually offer different options for travel. Some may have regular routes that they travel on a daily or weekly basis. Others have regular destinations, but only as those trips are reserved. Others may have some great last minute deals that may allow you to do that spur-of-the-moment beach trip for the weekend. Many businesses offer lease packages where you reserve specific time on a jet on a monthly basis.
Did you ever wonder when the best time is to purchase airline tickets and which days are most economical to travel? Knowing the answers to these questions can save you money and valuable time.
Best Time to Book Airfare
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Many travelers do not realize that the best time to book air tickets is at the time that the airlines announce their sales. This happens weekly on Tuesdays, making this the best day to book. And to be even more specific, 3:00PM Eastern Standard Time, so synchronize your watch if you are hoping to get a great fare!
Best Time-Frame to Shop
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Procrastination is not a good thing when shopping for or booking travel. Many passengers mistakenly think that if they wait, the fares will come down. This is not necessarily the case, and as a result, individuals end up spending even more than they had bargained for.
Depending on whether you are traveling Domestically or Internationally, here is the time-frame you should keep in mind if you are hoping for the best airfare prices:
Chennai is an important urban centre in the southern part of India, and is a site of a major seaport. Owing to all these reasons, it has become a busy air transit point in the nation, being served by a large number of the leading carriers of the world.
kayak cheap deals online As per statistics, Chennai International Airport sees an annual passenger footfall of more than 1,28,90,000, and over 1,21,000 aircraft operate from here, every year. According to some reports, New York is one of the most travelled destinations from this city, with over 34000 passengers flying there between 2011 and 2012. Fliers, who wish to travel on this route, may easily book a Singapore Airlines flight as it has a regular scheduled service between these cities.
The Carrier
Singapore Airlines is a popular carrier among passengers as evident from the numerous awards it has won. It was established in 1947, and since then has been on a high, generating huge profits, buying new aircraft and expanding its network. As of December 2014, it had a total of 108 aircraft and was awaiting deliveries of 114 more, with the first deliveries expected from 2015 onward. Four travel classes, namely Suites, First, Business and Economy are available for booking with it. All classes feature TV screens, individual power supplies, USB connection ports and adjustable lighting. Krisworld, its in-flight entertainment system, offers movies, TV programmes, video games, flight path information, texting services, a big music library and fax facilities.
ba.com cheap airways The airline also has lounges at many international airports, featuring restaurants, internet connectivity, televisions and dining areas. There is a high probability that at least one in the series of connecting Chennai to New York flights will be on-board an Airbus A380 as the airline has more than 15 of them in its fleet.
Are you searching for a convenient long-haul trip that can save you from paying for a towering airfare rate? If so, there is always a solution to that. One primary thing to consider is to book in advance (weeks or a month) before your departure date.
hotwire flights Keep away from booking during school vacations and weekends, because within this period the prices of airfares in spite of the airlines are commonly rising due to the crowd.
If you want to have a convenient preparation for a long haul journey and avail cheap flights, ensure to clarify the rules!
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1. To compare multiple airlines is not 100% reliable, because there are many airlines that set up a number of airplanes in the fleets with numerous seating. Be known that these seating greatly differ in every airline. Thus, it is wiser for you to search for the type of airplane instead of the airline.
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2. Check the weight and size of your luggage to carry on and be certain with the time when the entrance closes.
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KLM is the flag carrier of the Netherlands and also one of the leading airlines in the world. Founded almost a century ago in 1919, its first aircraft flew between its primary hub in Amsterdam and London in 1920. Beginning in 1959, it started acquiring jet planes and expanded its network and services. The most important event in its operational history was perhaps its merger with Air France in September 2003.
delta air Even after this, it flies under its own banner and Amsterdam has been retained as its base. As per reports, it possessed a fleet of over 110 aircraft in December 2014 and had more than 30 on order. It serves roughly 130 destinations with two in the Netherlands and the rest outside. The carrier has received numerous awards for its services, including travel classes, entertainment facilities, in-flight dining and the hospitality of its staff. Passengers, making a KLM airlines flight ticket booking, are sure to have a good time on-board as it regularly asks for their feedback and makes improvements based on them.
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Greene County�s 15th annual Relay for Life event starts today at 5 p.m., beginning with the Torch of Hope Run at the courthouse.
SNOW HILL � Greene County�s 15th annual Relay for Life event starts today at 5 p.m., beginning with the Torch of Hope Run at the courthouse.
The event, celebrating cancer survivors and remembering those lost to the disease, continues at the James Fulghum Athletic Complex at 6 p.m. with a welcome, lighting of the torch and cancer survivors� first lap.
There will be 18 teams participating this year. Proceeds go to the American Cancer Society.
This year�s event, organized by Vangie Vandiford and Julie Sutton, is locally themed �Strike out Cancer.�
�It�s amazing how families, friends, co-workers, business and community leaders, children, and grandparents,� Vandiford and Sutton wrote in their welcome message, �are all here for the same reason: to put an end to cancer, the disease that never sleeps.�
Participants can walk around the track anytime through the night until the closing of the event at noon on Saturday.
Ten team campsites will be selling goodies, such as fish stew, pork tenderloin sandwiches, barbecue, turkey legs, homemade strawberry ice-cream and other goodies.
Margaret Fisher can be reached at 252-559-1082 or email@example.com. Follow her on Twitter @MargaretFishr.
Schedule of Events
2:30 p.m. Team registration, drop off supplies
5 p.m. Veteran�s Torch of Hope Run, Greene County Courthouse
5:30 p.m. Survivor�s registration
6 p.m. Celebration Ceremony, lighting of torch, presentation of colors, National Anthem, invocation, Relay talk, introduction of survivors first lap, caregivers lap
7 p.m. Kids Walk
7:15 p.m. Zumba fitness
8 p.m. Cold Reign
8:45 p.m. Winners of silent auction
9 p.m. Lighting luminaries
9:15 p.m. Remembrance Ceremony, memorial fireworks
11 p.m. Remembrance names read
Midnight Night games (spades, bunco, movie time
1-6 a.m. Theme music begins
7:30 a.m. Pancake breakfast
10 a.m. Celebration time, closing remarks, survivors/caregivers victory lap

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BWW Reviews: Hypnotic Drama WAR HORSE Trots Triumphantly to the OC
Hands down one of the most hypnotic, creatively-staged plays ever conceived for the theater, the Tony Award-winning WAR HORSE -- whose National Tour is now on stage at Costa Mesa's Segerstrom Center for the Arts through February 3 -- is an utterly stirring feat of theatrical magic, expertly combining dazzling technical wizardry with a touching story of hope and perseverance. Using remarkable life-size animal puppets created by the Handspring Puppet Company, which are then brought to jaw-droppingly realistic life by an ensemble of expert puppeteers, this superb production is a moving, honorable tribute to those that have suffered through the horrors of modern warfare.
Originally produced for the London stage in 2007 by The National Theatre of Great Britain before opening a successful Broadway production at the Lincoln Center Theatre in 2011 (which yielded five Tony Awards including Best Play), WAR HORSE is an ingeniously-devised epic drama that depicts the precious, unwavering relationship between a young man and his intelligent beast (The play was also later adapted into an Oscar-nominated film directed by Steven Spielberg).
The simple yet gripping story -- based on the best-selling YA novel by Michael Morpurgo -- tracks the life of Joey, a once young foal sold off at an auction in rural Devon, England in 1912. Won by town drunk Ted (Todd Cerveris) after a heated bidding war with his older brother Arthur (Brian Keane), Joey is taken to his new farm home, much to the frustrated protests of Ted's wife Rose (Angela Reed), who is furious that Ted had used that month's mortgage payment to buy Joey. But Ted's teenage son Albert (the very likable Andrew Veenstra), however, is delighted by his father's impulsive purchase.
Soon Joey blossoms -- under the patient, loving tutelage of his young, caring "master" -- into a steadfast, loyal, highly-intuitive work horse. The two form a deep, unbreakable bond...that is, until Joey is forced into combat during the outbreak of the first World War. As recruitment for soldiers and supplies grips the countryside, Joey is sold off to the war effort by Ted -- without Albert's consent. Devastated by his four-legged friend's shocking departure and afraid for Joey's well-being, Albert eventually fakes his age and illegally enlists in the army, in hopes of finding his beloved horse and bring him home to Devon.
Meanwhile, in the midst of hard labor alongside another army horse, Topthorn, Joey is captured with his British army unit in France by an invading German contingent, which includes the affable Captain Friedrich Muller (Andrew May). Both Joey and Topthorn are then put to work, this time for the German army, showing prowess in pulling carts of dead bodies through the French terrain.
As the war rages on, Friedrich's loving admiration of all horses -- and his budding friendship with a young local villager Emilie (Lavita Shaurice) -- soon helps reverse his personal stance on the war. An opportunity for escape comes after an attack decimates his unit, sparking an idea in Friedrich to switch identities with one of the deceased German soldiers and to desert the German fight altogether.
The parallel journeys that both Joey and Albert each travel within the scope of this new kind of war -- one that employs new technologies like rapid-fire guns, all-terrain tanks and flesh-piercing barbed wire -- make up the bulk of the play's riveting progress. Much of the story is also told through haunting musical chants and rough, animated sketches that are projected above the action. At the edge of our seats, we all wonder... Will Albert and Joey ever reunite amidst all this destruction and devastation?
Beautifully poetic as it is marvelously innovative, WAR HORSE is, by any measure, an astonishing triumph in stage-craft. Aside from the complex puppets (animal and otherwise) that populate the play -- themselves wonderful works of art -- the gorgeous, animated "sketches" that are projected on a gigantic ripped piece of parchment floating above the actors feel like moving paintings, helping to illustrate the story by adding a bit of a legend/fable quality to it. The play's clever use of shadow and light are also quite stimulating, providing appropriate moods and moments that further heighten the drama.
To that end, a plethora of kudos must be bestowed on Rae Smith, credited for this play's original sets, costumes and drawings; Adrian Kohler and Basil Jones for the puppet designs; Paule Constable and Karen Spahn for the beautiful lighting; and Toby Sedgwick for choreographing the play's movements (animal or otherwise). Bijan Sheibani directed this US National Tour, taking the reigns, no pun intended, from original co-directors Marianne Elliot and Tom Morris.
Never has such imaginative technology worked in favor of a play's storytelling than it does so magnificently in WAR HORSE. Instead of acting as a distraction to the story (even though, admittedly, it's a paper-thin plot), the show's use of puppetry and animated backgrounds actually enhance the show tremendously, helping to visually trigger many of the play's emotional touchstones and fill in the many gaps the dialogue may not convey so well on its own.
And speaking of the dialogue... I don't think it's much of a stretch for me to point out that, perhaps, I am not alone in feeling a bit perplexed by the play's authentic, heavily-accented speeches from the cast. Whether in the Queen's English or French or German, most of these exchanges whiz by like incomprehensible jabbering. Thus, these visual aids certainly help. These remarkable visual innovations are smart, non-verbal tools that improve the way we follow the narrative along, even if much of the spoken dialect is indecipherable.
But, luckily, some things in life -- like fear, pride, love, and compassion -- just transcend translation.
Funny enough, that's a recurring theme echoed in the play's story itself: the inability to communicate, causing much misunderstanding. Of course, there's miscommunication between humans and horses; after all, only one of these two species actually speaks. Then there's miscommunication caused by language barriers, one of many instances of which is hilariously depicted when a German soldier and a British soldier try to aid a trapped horse together. And then, on a deeper level, there's the miscommunication between father and son -- as shown vividly in the tumultuous relationship between Albert and his stubborn father.
But perhaps the most pleasant surprise of WAR HORSE is that, in a way, the play is almost a stage musical as well. Music plays a significant part in the show, and much of it is sung by a character identified simply as "Song Man" played in the drama by John Milosich. Dressed as one of the villagers, Milosich -- accompanied by Nathan Koci on the accordion -- sings lovely musical verses like an omniscient narrator that enters and exits fluidly throughout the play. Sometimes, certain individual characters and even the entire ensemble bursts forward in song directly to the audience, proving to be quite a rousing ingredient to the mix.
While the human cast -- particularly Veenstra, May, Reed and Cerveris -- provide extraordinary, moving performances that bring a lot of humor and emotion to the tableau, there's no denying that the play's ultimate star is Joey, a massive mechanical creation of movable parts, straps and hinges that is just as alive as its human co-stars. Who would have thought that an inanimate object could be so full of life?
Joey's "soul," so to speak, is provided by his puppeteers/handlers: Jon Riddleberger, Patrick Osteen, and Jessica Krueger. From a playful flick of a tail to a snort of frustration, Joey and, in fact, all the animals, are manipulated in such a brilliant, purposeful way that they all feel like real, living, breathing masses of flesh and bone. After a while, you don't even notice the humans beneath the wires and rods -- but you can certainly feel their humanity.
In one of the most shudder-inducing sequences of the play, one of the horses dies of exhaustion and fatigue. As it writhes on the floor while its last bits of life evaporate from its body, its three puppeteers -- in choreographed, eloquent unison -- slink out of the horse's body and somberly walk away, leaving behind a truly lifeless corpse.
Talk about art imitating life... and so very, very realistically, too!
Aside from Joey, there are 20 puppets in all, ranging from a scene-stealing busy-body goose (puppeteered by Jon Hoche) to flying swallows that circle and dive overhead. There's also Topthorn, a rival horse with a mean streak puppeteered by Jon Hoche, Danny Beiruti, and Aaron Haskell; and horses Coco (Brian Robert Burns and Gregory Manley) and Heine (Grayson DeJesus and Jason Loughlin). Joey as a young foal is handled by Laurabeth Breya, Catherine Gowl, and Nick LaMedica. Every puppeteer has mastered every nuance of an animal's mannerisms in absolute detail.
The work of these incredible artists -- from the actors and the puppeteers to the scenic and puppet designers -- is certainly a huge testament to the power of what live, theatrical stage-craft can achieve. And WAR HORSE is a living, breathing example of what is possible when these elements are combined. Bravo!
Follow this reviewer on Twitter: @cre8iveMLQ
Photos by © Brinkhoff and Mögenburg. From top: Albert (Andrew Veenstra) rides Joey (John Riddleberger, Patrick Osteen, Jessica Krueger); Albert prays; Topthorn readies for battle.
Performances of War Horse at Segerstrom Center for the Arts continue through Sunday, February 3. Tickets can be purchased online at www.SCFTA.org, by phone at 714-556-2787 or in person at the SCFTA box office (open daily at 10 am). Segerstrom Center for the Arts is located at 600 Town Center Drive in Costa Mesa.
For tickets or more information, visit SCFTA.org.


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Let's have a word of prayer as we approach our study this morning. Father we do thank You that the privilege is ours to look into the book. Father we pray that as we examine the life of this most wonderful man, Stephen, that our hearts might be drawn to him, that he might become a pattern and an example for us, that we might consider him as one whom we can follow for he followed Christ. Father we pray that the Spirit might teach us. Human words are so failing and human thoughts are so faulty. Lord, we just commit this time to You. May there be no glory for the one that speaks, but only for the Son of God. In His name we pray. Amen.
Acts Chapter 6 this morning is our study in a continuing study of the Acts of the Apostles, or if you like the acts of the Holy Spirit. This most wonderful book that traces for us the early years of the church in all of its energy and all of its dynamic and all of its effect on the world. In today's study we come to the ministry of Stephen. You'll remember last week Stephen was selected to be one of the seven men responsible for the business of the early church. Chosen in order to free the apostles for the priority of preaching and teaching and praying. Stephen thus was introduced to us in Chapter 6:5. He then becomes the main subject for the remainder of the 6th Chapter and the entire 7th Chapter.
He's a very important individual and even though I think so often we only reflect on Stephen in terms of him as a martyr and know very little else about him, the wealth of information that is here in these passages opens up to us a real depth perception of the character of this man. Now he has to be one of the greatest man who ever lived. I would venture to say that he's on a par with Moses and that's a very strong statement, but if you stop to consider Matthew 11:11, in which Jesus made the statement that John the Baptist was the greatest man who ever lived, even greater than Moses, or Abraham, or Elijah, or Elisha, or anybody else, David or Solomon. When you think that John the Baptist was the greatest man that ever lived and in the same verse Jesus said, "Nevertheless he that is in the kingdom of God the least among them is greater than he, then there's a sense in which all believers are greater than all of those in the Old Testament. For we have a relationship to Jesus Christ, which commits unto us a greatness that is really not our own, and yet is our own. The very greatness of Christ becomes ours through faith.
And so there's a real sense in which all of us within the kingdom reach a place of union with God that the Old Testaments saints, even the best of them, never experienced in life. And so in that sense Stephen is greater. But even in the sense of just looking at it from a strategic point in the plan of God Stephen ranks with Moses. And we'll see why I believe that as we conclude our message this morning.
Now the testimony given to Israel in the initial chapters of the book of Acts is basically on the shoulders of Peter. Peter was commissioned as the apostle to the circumcision or to the Jews. The testimony of Peter is coming to an end, at least in the book of Acts, and the testimony of the apostle Paul to the Gentiles is beginning to open up. And in Chapter, the end of Chapter 7 we're introduced to Paul and Chapter 8 begins to unfold Paul. So we're seeing the end of Peter and the beginning of Paul and the bridge in the middle is Stephen.
Peter ministered to Jerusalem Jews. Paul ministered to Gentiles. Stephen filled the bridge in the middle. He ministered to Jews, but they were Jews in Gentile places, or Grecian Jews, scattered Jews, Hellenist Jews, so he's very much a bridge. Stephen is also a bridge between Peter and Paul because Peter's ministry dominated Jerusalem. Paul's ministry went to the world. Stephen was the catalyst that sent the church from Jerusalem into the world and he did it very indirectly. He did it by being martyred, for when Stephen got killed persecution broke out and the result of persecution was the scattering of the church and the scattering of the church had as its result the evangelization of Judea and Samaria and the uttermost part of the earth.
So in consequence of the death of Stephen, the church was thrown out of Jerusalem, which is exactly what God wanted to happen anyway because Jerusalem was done at that point. And I say that only because it says that Jesus wanted them to be witnesses in Jerusalem and the Jerusalem leaders said you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine; therefore, they had accomplished their task and it was time to move on. And I believe they had reached those that God had in that city at that moment because at this juncture we'll see what happens. The people who had been favorable all of a sudden turned hostile and killed Stephen, which says to me that God had accomplished His purpose for the moment. He had redeemed the elect of Jerusalem and it was time to move on and those who were now remaining in Jerusalem were the hostile ones toward Christ.
And so Stephen is a transition between Peter and Paul. He's a transition between the evangelization of Jerusalem and the evangelization of the world. In a very real sense Stephen is a forerunner of Paul. Stephen busied himself communicating the gospel to foreign Jews by going to their synagogues. Apparently verse 9 indicates this. In Jerusalem the foreign Jews maintained their own synagogues so that when they came to Jerusalem for feasts and pilgrimages they would have a place to meet. Stephen went to those synagogues and perhaps even went further than that on some occasions, prior to this occasion. We do not know. But nevertheless his ministry was in the synagogues of the foreign Jews and in that sense he's a forerunner of Paul because if you read anything about Paul's style you know that the first thing that he did when he went into a city was find the synagogue and he went into the synagogue and reasoned there. And after reasoning in the synagogue with the Jews who were foreign Jews, scattered Jews, he would then move out to the Gentiles.
So Stephen in a very real sense is kind of a preliminary to the ministry of the apostle Paul. He confronted congregations of Jews and countered the opposition of Jewish bigotry, treated with violence, he was insulted and stoned and so was Paul. So in a very real sense the mantle of Stephen fell on Saul Tarsus another Hellenist Jew and incidentally one of Stephen's bitterest opponents.
In fact, it just may be that Saul owes his earliest exposure to Stephen, because Saul was definitely a part of this group that was hassling with Stephen here, as we shall see in a moment.
Now apart from Stephen being strategically important historically as I've just tried to analyze. He was important because of his individual life. You see men are important in history, but men are also important as men. Men move history, but men also move the hearts of other men by their individuality as much as their effect. And Stephen was not only important because he had great historical effect, he was the catalyst that caused the explosion of the church. It was his martyrdom that scattered them, but he was also important just because of who he was and the very character of his life. He is great proof, mark this, he is great proof that the effect of a man's life has nothing to do with the length of it. And the effect of a man's ministry has nothing to do with the length of it. His ministry was so short, so very short, and yet it was the catalyst that caused the church to move out in the next step in its commission and reach Judea and Samaria with the gospel. Stephen was the trigger that shot the church into the world.
And I don't think anybody can fully estimate the results even of a brief work, even of a brief work of one man, when that one man has the courage to do and say what he knows is right whatever the consequences. And Stephen did. He took no thought for himself. He did what he knew was right and let the chips fall. When he was killed it was a sad loss for the church. It says in Chapter 8:2 that they cried a lot over him. I'm sure they missed him. And yet he didn't die one day sooner than when he had accomplished all that God wanted him to accomplish. And dear ones, he will die in vain in terms of your life unless you learn what it is that God wants to teach you through him this morning. Don't let him die in vain in your case. Learn what it is that God wants to say to you through the life of Stephen. Great man; loveable in every way.
Now Stephen was the first martyr. Before the death of Stephen the opposition of the Jews had been limited to threats of imprisonment, had been limited to verbal abuse, and finally to imprisonment and beating, but now it burst forth with a roaring fury, a raging kind of madness that results in the execution of Stephen by stoning. They reached the point of fury that can only be satisfied with blood. And thus they introduced the first in the series of persecutions that have plagued the church through its history, people dying for their faith in Jesus Christ. Stephen began it all.
Now let's refresh our memories for just a moment as we come to this text. I always like to kind of sneak up the text so we understand what we're doing. The church was commissioned in Chapter 1. and our Lord said, "you shall receive power through the coming of the Spirit. Then you shall be witnesses unto Me in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the world." That was their commission. In Chapter 2 the church was born and immediately and the first day they were born they began to fulfill the commission, right? Peter stood up and said, "Be this unto you and hearken unto my words," and he proceeded to preach Christ. The church began its evangelism and it was effective. They literally turned the world inside out. They had an effect on Jerusalem, so much so that they became the topic of conversation everywhere. They dominated Jewish society. Now what was it that made them effective? Well we've been studying a lot of things. Let me summarize. First of all they were effective, and these are things for us to remember if we want to be effective as a church, and indeed we do. They were effective first of all because they had unity. Now we're summarizing previous messages. They had unity. They were of one heart, one mind, had all things in common, they loved each other, they had a powerful united testimony. And the world looked at them and they read their love and there wasn't any confusion about the clarity of their testimony, and there wasn't any question about the fact that Jesus Christ could give joy and could bind together broken pieces of humanity into a beautiful whole, for they were living proof. They were united.
Secondly, they had courage. They were effective because they were courageous. They were bold and they boldly confronted the world. Relentlessly they accepted persecution only as an opportunity for further boldness. They had courage. No church every really effects the world that doesn't have the courage to stand up in the face of the world to speak the truth. And no believer really makes an effect on the world that doesn't stand up boldly and speak what he knows God wants him to speak.
Thirdly, they were effective because they had total involvement. Every church suffers from the syndrome of hangers on. You know I told you there are people who make things happen. There are the people who watch things happen, and there are people who haven't figured out what's happening. And that's what the church suffers from. There are always people in the church who hang on and do nothing. It's a great traumatic experience in their spiritual life to be here on Sunday morning, let alone to be involved in communicating Christ during the week, or be out on Sunday night, or be in a Bible study on Thursday evening, or whatever goes on in opportunities and so forth. It is a great thing just for them to manage to get it together for an hour or an hour and twenty minutes.
But the Jerusalem didn't have any of that. They had total involvement. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and they all spoke the Word with boldness. Everybody was doing it. Now that's impact, right? No dead weight. Total involvement.
The next key to their success was content. They knew what they were supposed to do. They knew what their message was. They never got bogged down in social issues. They kept preaching Jesus. They knew to what they were committed in terms of priority. There's nothing wrong with social things at all, but there are priorities and they established theirs and they operated on that basis. They preached Christ crucified, risen, and coming again and they never got sidetracked; content, content, content, preaching, preaching, teaching, teaching. Their chief business, the ministry of reconciliation.
Next they were effective because they had discipline. They dealt with sin. The church that deals with sin is the effective church. The church that deals with sin is the pure church, and the pure church is the church God uses. God uses pure instruments. Sin was dealt with immediately. The price of belonging to that church was very high. You'd have your sin exposed and dealt with and so only the true joined and; therefore, they kept the church pure.
Lastly they were effective because they were organized. Not because they mapped out a big plan and told the Holy Spirit to do it their way, but because they saw what the Spirit of God was doing and then they put a structure around it to help it be done more smoothly. They chose these men to take care of the business in order that the apostles might be free to teach and preach and pray.
The keys to their evangelism very simply: unity, courage, total involvement, content, discipline, and organization. Now all of that was in good order when we come to verse 8 of Chapter 6. All of that had been taken care of. And now with a base like that they were ready to move out and Stephen is a catalyst that's going to get them going. And the way he did it is very interesting. It's very negative in a sense that it was a death that brought about the expansion of the church. But it's only negative in that sense. It's positive in the sense that it's just what God designed exactly the way He designed it.
Now God knew it was time for the church to move out and Stephen was going to be the key and indeed he was. You know I've often thought reading about William Carey who, I think the biographer said that it was some 30 or 35 years of laboring in the mission field without ever seeing a single soul come to Christ, and yet since that time all the missions of India have been based upon the work that he did in terms of translation, and so he has a part in all that God has done since then. And I think of Stephen, a man who lived and died without ever recording one single convert. You say, "The poor guy." I mean if he'd stuck around and hadn't been so blatant with those Jews, he might have stuck around long enough to lead somebody to the Lord and get a few stars in his crown. When you think of a nice guy like that running around heaven with a baseball cap on it's just not right. There's got to be more for him, he's such a wonderful fellow.
Listen, I'm sure that there are all kinds of stars from Judea and Samaria that are going to stud the crown of Stephen, already have. Some plant, some water, and God gives the increase. Stephen never saw anybody come to Christ, at least that's recorded in the text. Now that's no excuse for you to say, "Boy I've never seen anybody either. I'll just leave it that way and pick up on somebody else's stars." No no. If you can come to the commitment that Stephen did and operate like he did and not see anybody come you'll be rewarded. But Stephen, as far as we know in the text, saw nothing happen in response to his preaching except they killed him. I mean there are always people who could explain that away and say, "Well Stephen got a little bit too involved and then he gets so blatant over there. After all that hassle he stands up and says to them, 'You killed Christ.' And that just did it. They grabbed the rocks and it was over. If he'd been smart he'd just kind of quieted down. Think of all the people he could have discipled. Think of all the people he could have taught, this and this and this." But you see he did what was right and he took no thought for the consequences because he believed that was in the hands of God, you see.
You know ours is not the reason why. Ours is but to do or die. But Stephen was great. He was one of the greatest men who ever lived. No, not as the world counts, but the world doesn't know what greatness is anyway. The world says if you're born in the right family you're great. It's family name. If you happen to be a prince Charlie, or duke somebody, or the daughter of the President or something like that, you're great. That's greatness. Or if you happen to have a lot of money you're great. If you're successful you're great. But God says those are all wrong. That's not what measures success. Popularity, that's not success. The world judged Stephen a failure and they killed him. God said he was super and gave him a face like the face of an angel. But then the world never does get it right anyway, do they? I mean they killed the Son of God, beheaded Paul, crucified Peter, stoned Stephen. They're right on every time, doing exactly the opposite. But that's the way sin works. The world is never right. Stephen was great.
I want to show you four features of his greatness. And it's just a simple lesson but I hope God will speak to us through it. Four reasons that he was great. There's an outline if you'd like to follow. It's in your bulletin. His choosing, his character, his courage, and his countenance. We could also add his confession and his conclusion, but that would be Chapter 7 and we'd never get to that.
First of all, his choosing. Now let's back up into verses 3 to 5 and let me read it to you. This is review, but I'll pull a point out of here that is important. "Wherefore, brethren," there needed to be some careful work done in making sure everybody got equal amounts of the distributed food and money within the church. Some people couldn't carry their own load, and so others did, and they needed to be distributing it equally and there was a little problem here, so the apostles say, "Wherefore, brethren, look among you for seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business." We need somebody to handle the organization thing here. "So that we will be able to give ourselves continually to prayer and the ministry of the Word. And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Procorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas a proselyte of Antioch." Now notice this. Now there's probably somewhere between 20 and 30 thousand Christians, would be an educated guess, maybe more, certainly not less. And out of those 20 to 30 thousand Christians they were to pick seven men full of the Holy Spirit and who is the number one name on the list? Stephen. Now that gives you a little idea of what kind of a man that man was. He was one in 30,000.
The spirituality of the man goes without saying at this point. It's assumed by the fact that the church chose him and these men had to be of honest report, full of the Holy Spirit, and full of wisdom. And so we find that when the body went to look for seven men out of the thousands and thousands of Christians Stephen was one of them. In fact he is listed first. And his choosing reveals the high esteem that the church had for him. And you know something? For a man to be approved by those who know him best is the epitome of approval, right? His name is Stephanos, victors crown. Certainly he won that. The pure early church filled with the Spirit would be so careful in choosing they would only select men of the highest quality and thus Stephen virtually establishes his unique spirit. He was approved by the body for the highest office the body could appoint, for the apostles were only higher and who appointed them? Jesus Christ himself. The highest rank the body could possibly choose from itself were these men at this time in the church. Stephen was chosen first among them.
You know something selection of those to lead in the church is so important. Serious business. The highest spiritual character, the highest spiritual quality is demanded of them. You people who choose from among you elders and deacons choose wisely, choose prayerfully, choose those whose ministry among you is that of spiritual depth. And you who serve, you who stand as elders and deacons even as I do, make sure that you understand the tremendous spiritual responsibility that belongs to you. When you come to the writings of the apostle Paul to Timothy and Titus in which he qualifies the instructions of deacons and elders he doesn't lower the standards from Acts 6. If anything he makes the qualifications more stiff. Here there's no qualifications about marriage, family, relationship to the outside world, attitudes, drinking, all these things. But Paul lays all those in addition to these. And so the leadership in the church today is to be held by men of the highest kind of spiritual stature.
So the very choosing of Stephen initially indicates to us something of the kind of man that he must have been. And you know something? The choice was validated by the second point, his character. Everything about his indicates that they chose well. Let's look at his character. It's in verse 5 and then we'll jump down to where we're going to start in verse 8. His character: and mark it now, this should be the standard for every Christian. Verse 5: It says, "Stephen, a man full of," what? "Faith and the Holy Spirit." Now that guy was full of two things: the faith and the Holy Spirit. Now full, we need to talk about that so we understand what this means. I want you to understand this because it's a beautiful thought here.
Full of faith, full from plarace, the verb plara or the fill up, means to be filled up. Now I've told you before and I repeat, the concept of filling in the spiritual realm, or for that matter in other realms in the New Testament, has to do with domination or control. When it says he was full of faith it means that, that which totally controlled him was faith. For example, the Bible talks about people who were full of rage, full of sorrow, full of joy, full of love, full of madness, full of anger, and what that means is that they were controlled at that moment by that thing.
In life there is peacefulness, a calm. On the other end of the scale there is wrath, anger, and violence. Most of us find an equilibrium. We get irritated and yet we have our moments of calm. Some of us are heavy on the calm. Some of us are heavy on the irritation. But to be full of either one means to be totally dominated, so when a man is totally dominated by rage the scale tips all the way and he's clear over here and nothing is mixed with rage. He's lost control of his ability to get equilibrium. When we say a man is full of sorrow we mean that he can no longer balance off his sorrow with his happiness and be somewhere in the middle. He has unloaded everything on one end. He is totally controlled by sorrow. But the idea of filling is control.
Now there is in the balance of every man a scale and on one end is believing God, faith, and on the other end is doubt. Got it? And mostly we do a little of this…we believe…we're not too sure we believe and so we do like this. Stephen was full of faith. There wasn't any doubt around. Remember the man, "Lord I believe, help my unbelief." That wasn't Stephen. Stephen was full of faith. You know what dominated his life? Trust. He believed God. He was dominated by that. There wasn't even any mixture in it. He just believed God.
You say, "Well what specifically did he believe in." If you study his sermon in Chapter 7 it tells you everything he believed in, basically. First of all he believed that God ruled history. That's in verses 1-51. The whole 7th Chapter is his great sermon on how God rules history. Stephen believed God rules history. I'm a part of history, God rules me. God determines destiny. I'm within the framework of destiny God has determined my destiny. What am I going to worry about? God is in control. He could say with the apostle Paul, "If I live I live unto the Lord, and if I die I die unto the Lord, so if I live or die I am the Lord's. It doesn't matter. You see Stephen was full of faith.
Now there are many Christians who have faith, but they're not full of faith. They're full of faith and doubt. 60-40? 70-30? 80-20? Stephen was 100-0, all faith. The Bible even talks about all faith, doesn't it? He not only believed God was controlling history, but he believed Jesus was the Messiah. He totally believed that. He believed Jesus was the fulfillment of all messianic prophecy and that also was indicated in Chapter 7:52. Thirdly he believed that Jesus was risen and exalted to the right hand of the Father. That's in 55 and 56. Fourthly he believed Jesus cared for him verse 59. Fifth, he believed in the Holy Spirit verse 51. He believed. And he rested in his belief and it never bothered him that he was going to get into trouble because he wasn't trying to protect anything. He knew God was in control of it. Ever tried to run your own life? I've, that because I must keep my life in this little box that I've got for it.
Now he knew that the only person controlling his life was God. He absolutely believed it so he did whatever God told him to do and didn't worry about. Say, but if I do that I'll lose my job see? Well that's because you don't believe that God's running your life. You think you need to help Him. Stephen didn't think that. He said, "God is in control. He runs the show. I believe it so I do what He tells me." Full of faith!
Now faith has different dimensions, varying levels. I mean I think all of us believe God. Someone says to you, "Do you have faith in God?" Yes! There's all levels of that. And I think many of us have given our soul to God. We haven't yet given our body to God. We don't worry too much about our eternal destiny, but we sure worry about our headaches and our stomachaches, and whether we get enough food. Well I've given my soul to God, now my body I kind of hang on to that. Some of us haven't been able to give God our emotions. We can't trust God with certain things in life so we get emotionally uptight and we worry and we fret. I mean why pray when you can worry? I mean why give it to God when you can ulcers over it yourself?
But you see Stephen bet his eternal destiny on God and didn't worry about it. He believed. He was full of faith. What a classic illustration. He just figured if there's going to be pain, and there's going to be torment, and there's going to be death, and if that's what God wants I'll do it. He bet his life on God.
Now secondly look at verse 5. He was full of the Holy Spirit. That's just terrific too. It means that he was under the control of the Spirit. He was not only totally dominated by faith, but he was totally dominated by the Spirit of God, which meant he trusted and he obeyed. You see? Full of faith is to trust and to be full of the Spirit is to be obeying his control, right? The two greatest words in the Christian life: trust and obey, and Stephen had them both. He believed God and did what the Spirit told him to to. His life was full of the Holy Spirit.
What does it mean to be filled with the Spirit? It means to be under the control of the Holy Spirit and Paul says to every Christian, "Be filled with the Spirit," Ephesians 5:18. In that early church it just says, "They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the Word with boldness." Bang, bang, you don't get filled with the Holy Spirit and say, "Oh, I'm filled with the Spirit now what am I going to do? Let's see gee." No, if you're filled with the Spirit you're just doing it. I use the illustration of a hand in the glove. You put a hand in the glove, the glove doesn't say, "Oh hand, show me the way to go." The glove just goes because the hand is in it. The Christian is a glove. If you're filled with the Spirit you don't need to ask anything. You just do whatever the energy of the Spirit does in you.
And so once Stephen was filled with the Spirit of God he was doing already. And so he was full of faith, full of the Spirit. Two things: believe God and yield to His Spirit. That's the balance of the Christian life, trust and obey. Very simple.
Now I want you to compare with that in verse 8. Stephen, there's something else, full of, some of your Bibles say faith, some of them say grace. The better reading in grace. Now let me give you a free for nothing footnote. I say this frequently, helping you to see a different word than you have in your King James. The King James is based upon text disreceptives, which is an ancient manuscript. Since the time that King James was written way back in 1600 the textus receptious has been replaced in terms of scholarship by the Westcott and Hort text and this is just a study of archeology and picking up old manuscripts and putting together what we believe is the correct manuscripts and all this.
The New American Standard and most of the modern translations are based upon Westcott and Hort text as opposed to the old textus receptious, which didn't have the benefit of some of the later archeological discoveries. Consequently when the New American Standard says grace it is reflecting Westcott and Hort as opposed to the old one reflecting textus receptious and that's why sometimes there's a word difference. But you'll find even though from time to time there may be one word difference, the content of the Word of God is accurate and it is the same as God intended it to be.
The simple words that are indicated in it only show us the humanity of its transportation. But if God could write it, believe me beloved He can preserve it. Do you believe that? And so the Scripture that we have in our hands is the way God intended for us to have it and He's also given us the benefit of this archeology and study to be sure that what we have is accurate. So, all that is only a footnote.
Stephen was full of grace then. Make a little line through there and write grace, if you have faith, full of grace and power. Oh this is terrific. I don't know why it's so terrific. It sounds like what he said in verse 5. It sounds repetitious. Oh no. Not at all! He was full of, watch it, full of faith and the Spirit; therefore, he was full of grace and power. Now watch this. To be full of grace, charis, which means God's favor, is the result of being full of faith.
Now there are several kinds of grace, but all grace comes as a result of faith, right? For by grace are you saved, what? Through faith. Grace comes from faith. How about I Peter where he says, "If you're willing to suffer for me upon you shall be the spirit of grace." If you'll believe God to the point where you die for Him, the way you confront your world, God will give you dying grace. Do you believe that? I believe that when a martyr comes to the place where he dies for his faith in Jesus Christ that God dispenses to him divine dying grace. And so there's grace that comes in salvation and it comes by faith. There's grace that comes in persecution, I Peter 3, it comes by faith. Watch this: then there's the grace of loving kindness toward others. That also comes by faith. And I think that may be the dominate kind of grace he's talking about here. He was full of grace toward others.
Now that may be part of the reason they chose him to be one responsible for helping the widows and everything because of the graciousness of his character. But, more than that, look at his grace at the end of Chapter 7 in verse 60, they've just been stoning him and the rocks are smashing against his head and shattering his body and he looks up to heaven and he cries with a loud voice, "Lord lay not this sin to their charge." Now that is nothing short of graciousness, is it? That is loving kindness. That is bestowing favor upon those who kill you. Say how in the world could he do that? If those guys were doing that to me I'd be screaming all kinds of invectives at them. How could he be so forgiving? Because he believed God was in control of even that, you see? And he wasn't busy trying to protect himself. He was only happy to die if God wanted him to die and consequently he never had anything for anybody else but a gracious kind of loving kindness. The only way a man can ever really graciously love everybody else is when he's not trying to protect himself. Did you get that? That's worth 15 cents. A quarter, thank you. Do I hear 35?
When a man really believes God it is at that point that he extends grace toward everybody else, because you see everybody is only contributing to the plan of God in his life. If you're going to run around trying to salvage yourself in your little box that you built for yourself then you'll only get irritated when somebody puts a dent in your box. But you see Stephen wasn't trying to protect himself. So in verse 60 he says, "Don't blame them, Lord." Say where did he get the grace to say that? In verse 59 it shows us his faith. He said, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." I'm coming up. Get ready. You say, "Had he ever been there before?" No. How did he know it was there? He believed. Faith then grace. So every time you find grace you always find it coming as a response to faith. Whoever believes God, God dispenses grace to. So being full of faith he was full of grace.
Let's look at the second thing. Verse 8, "He was full of power." Where do you think he got that? Because it says in verse 5 he was full of what? The Holy Spirit! If you're full of the Holy Spirit what are you? Full of power! So you see what you have in verse 8 is a statement of identity, what you have in verse 5 is a statement of identity and in verse 8 is a statement of effect. He was full of faith; therefore, he was gracious. He was full of the Spirit; therefore, he was powerful. His power is seen in that very verse. "He did great wonders and miracles among the people," verse 8.
Listen, you will be filled with the Spirit of God and you will be powerful. "Ye shall receive power after the Holy Spirit has come upon you." Stephen was the right man; therefore, he gave up the right vibrations. No watch it. Trust and obey equals grace and power. It's a simple spiritual principle outlined for us right here. You see, now watch this, when the man is right in his own heart, when he is full of faith toward God and obedience toward the Spirit he will then be gracious toward man and express the power of God in their behalf.
You see the right man does the right thing. And you never know grace toward men and you never know power toward men until you know full faith and until you are filled with the Spirit. Simple spiritual principle; very practical. And boy he had power. His power is indicated in verse 8, "He did great wonders and miracles among the people." Here he comes doing miracles. This leads me to believe that he's more than just what we think of as a deacon. Another reason that I don't think those men in 6 are just the deacons as we know them later in Paul's writings. They are special men. I think he's more like a New Testament prophet.
So the power of God and the grace of God was exhibited in his life because he believed God and obeyed the Spirit. Those are the highest possible qualifications for the Christian's experience. All right we see his greatness in his choosing and his character.
Thirdly, his courage. In this we'll look at verse 9 to 14 and it's a very simply narrative so it'll only take us a minute to look at it. But he had courage. There's nothing as wonderful as courage. Terrific thing, courage, so often a missing thing, but terrific. Stephen went right into the hostile world. I mean he was so full of faith and so full of the Holy Spirit that he had so much love and so much power he just went right smash into the whole system.
The two key words that I pull out of this whole passage is verse 13, "This man," hear the words, "Ceaseth not." Isn't that good? Can't stop that guy. He won't shut up. He was just like the rest of those early Christians. They couldn't shut them up. "He ceaseth not." Oh it's so easy for us to quit and chicken out and cop out at the first sign of resistance. No, not Stephen.
Let's look at this, verse 9. Let's see how he began. "Then there arose certain of the synagogue," and again the word arose doesn't mean they got out of their chair. It means they got their dander up, right? "Then there arose certain of the synagogue, which is called synagogue of the Libertines and Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and of them of Cilicia and Asia," what were they doing? Disputing with Stephen. The word disputing means having a fair debate. All right let's sit down and have a fair debate. They pulled all their brains together. Notice that they got the Libertines, Cyrenians, Alexandrians, Cilicians and Asians to talk to Stephen. That says something about Stephen. They had a little meeting there.
Now Satan has only three tactics to destroy the church. I gave them to you last week. Number one: persecution. Shut the saints up by scaring them to death. Shut them up by making them feel they'll be implicated in some kind of a religious movement and people will think they're odd balls, whatever physical persecution or mental. We talked about that.
The second tactic Satan uses is sin in the individual members. Blatant sin in the life of a Christian destroys the testimony of Christ in the world. The third one is dissention in the body, right? We talked about those. Satan tried the other three already. Now he's back to number one again: persecution.
Stephen has confronted these people. Notice the word synagogue, sunagoges. It means a gathering together. And the synagogues were places where Jewish communities assembled to read the Scripture and worship. And it's interesting, I think, for us to note that these synagogues probably began back at the Babylonian captivity when the Jews were scattered apart from the temple and they started these little meeting places. And even when they went back and rebuilt the temple they maintained these little things to some degree so that by the time of Christ in the New Testament historians say there were at least, listen to this, 480 synagogues in Jerusalem. Now we thought that was the problem that only the church had having 75 churches in the same town. Can't get together. They couldn't get together too well either. It's an age-old problem. Everybody's got their own little deal and want to do it their way. If you don't like it we'll take our little ball and go down the street and pack up our scroll and start our own thing. It only took ten adults to constitute a congregation for a synagogue so they had 480 of them at least.
Now some of these synagogues were foreign speaking synagogues. They were kept maintained in the city of Jerusalem for the foreign Jews who came in at the feast seasons and pilgrimages. So there would be a synagogues for the Libertines, Cyrenians, Alexandrians, Cilicians and Asians and it would be maintained by a certain of their people who would remain in Jerusalem to keep it functioning and when they came there they would go there because they spoke their language and they were their people and so forth. So they were very much pocketed in little segments.
Now scholars tells us some say that there were five different synagogues indicated here. Some say that there are three that there are several combinations. Some say that all these went to the same one. I hesitate to believe that. I think the Libertines probably had one. The Cyrenians and Alexandrians had one together because they were both from Africa and the Cilicians and Asians because they were both from Asia Minor probably had one and so I lean toward the fact that there were probably three synagogues in view here, but all these people came into one meeting to argue with Stephen. Apparently he hit all of them at one time or another and they got together to have a debate about what he was saying.
Now the word Libertines is interesting. This introduces to us a community of Jews known as Freedmen. Pompey in 63 B.C. had gone into Israel and taken slaves from the Jews. He had hauled them off to Rome and after a certain number of years had released them. They then had kind of moved out of Rome and established a community of these freed slaves and they were called the Libertines. Well in Jerusalem they had their synagogue.
Then there were groups from Africa. The Cyrenians, a city in Africa in the province of Libya, had a large Jewish colony and Alexandria, as you know named for Alexander the Great, was the capital of Egypt, and there was a great community of Jews there, in fact scholarly Jews lived in Alexandria, did much work on the Old Testament. They had their synagogue.
Then there was Cilicia and Asia, two districts in Asia Minor and by Asia Minor we mean north of Israel occupying area from what is near Syria west through the area of Turkey and so forth and so on. The principle city of Cilicia, notice the word there, was Tarsus. Hang on to that thought. Who was from Tarsus? Saul. So guess who Stephen was arguing with. I'm sure the brainiest brain in that whole conglomerate of foreign Jews was Saul. I mean he was sharp. He had studied at the feet of Gamaiel, but you want to know something? He was no match of the sanctified mind of Stephen. Boy I'd like to have gotten into a debate with an unregenerate Saul and a regenerate Stephen. Wouldn't that have been a thriller? That's one thing that's not in here, but I'm going to ask the Lord or Stephen or Paul when I get there what went on.
But anyway, Asia Minor, Cilicia, was very near Syria. It had a large Jewish colony. Principle city was Tarsus and Saul was from there. And we know that Saul was around because in 7:58 it says, "And they laid the clothes, their clothes, they took their coats off in order to throw the rocks and they put their clothes down at the feet of a young man named Saul." In verse 1 of Chapter 8 says, "Saul consented to Stephen's death." So he must have been involved in this whole thing.
Then there's Asia, which is a Roman province west of Cilicia. The chief city there I suppose would be Ephesus. Another important city Pergamum. So, here he was, he had confronted him, they had all come together and were disputing. The word means having a debate, a fair debate. Two brilliant minds perhaps dominating Saul and Stephen.
Verse 10. And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit, small s, by which he spoke. They couldn't handle Stephen. That is so terrific. He won the debate. Now in a very heated debate over critical issues, when you loose the debate what's the next tactic? Slander, right? Well you see it in politics all the time. If you don't have an argument you just defame the guy's character. And so they took after Stephen. We couldn't beat him in a fair debate so let's get him by slander. They couldn't handle number one, his wisdom, and number two, his spirit. I think it's a small s there. That means his demeanor, his energy, his power, his zeal, his sincerity, his fervorancy, his ability to create.
Stephen had two things that every good speaker needs: content and delivery. They couldn't handle either. People say to me what do you think are the two most important things in preaching and I always say, "Knowledge and enthusiasm in the preaching itself." You've got to say something and you got to say it so people get excited about it. Now you know my secrets.
Well they couldn't handle Stephen. They couldn't resist him. One spirit-controlled mind was more than a match for the conglomerate minds. Couldn't handle him, so they decided there was only one other thing to do. Verse 11, "Then they suborned." That's a strange word. What it means is they hired false witnesses. They suborned men. They hired purgers. They paid them off who said, "We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God." You notice who they ranked first. That shows you what they thought of the law. So they hired false witnesses. You say, "That's terrible." That's nothing new. Remember Jesus at His trial? What did they do? Hired false witnesses. What did they accuse Jesus of? Blasphemy. Same thing. Same thing. Verse 11 says that they accused him of blasphemous words against Moses and God.
Now blasphemy is to speak evil of something that God deems sacred. Blasphemy is to speak evil of what God says is sacred. And so they figured that Moses was sacred and if anybody blasted Moses he was blasphemed. Now notice that they held Moses in great esteem. They claimed that Stephen had spoken evil of Moses. Later on they claimed the same thing about Paul. But here they claimed that Stephen had spoken evil about Moses and that would really be treading on soil. That would really be walking on holy ground. No doubt I think Stephen probably argued and he probably banged right into the legalism of Israel and probably said something like the law of Moses can't save you. He probably said the old covenant has passed by. There's a new one here in Christ and the law can't save; only Christ can. And they were figuring well that is blasphemy.
Now I don't think he did it in a blasphemous way or it wouldn't say in the text, "They set up false witnesses." They would have been truly reporting what he did if he had done it in a blasphemous way, but the witnessing was false. Not that Stephen hadn't told them that Moses was to be replaced by Christ, but it was in the way that they said it, and I'll say more about that in a minute. They were so zealous for the law that what Stephen was doing was dynamite. But again that was his courage. I mean he could have gone in there and emasculated the gospel, watered it down so it didn't offend anybody, but that isn't the way he did it. He said what needed to be said with no thought of what it would cost him personally,
And then they accused him of blaspheming God and I imagine he was presenting the deity of Christ because this is what they did in John 10:36. They said, "You're a blasphemer. You're claiming to be God. So here he was talking about the new covenant and the person of Christ and they accuse him of blaspheming Moses and God. And in fact he did neither.
Verse 12. But it was effective slander and set up false witness. Verse 12. And they stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes and came upon him and caught him and brought him to the council. They stirred up the people. Wow, that's a first. The elders and the scribes of the Sanhedrin had been stirred up for a long time. The people had never been stirred up before. But now they get to the people. Why? Because I think most of the elect had already been taken from out of Jerusalem and what was left was hostility and the people got stirred up. Those are the same people that a few chapters before were really in favor of the church. And they caught them. The word caught means much violence. And notice it's used in Luke 8:29 and Acts 27:15, if you want to compare what it's used for. It's a word that means violence. They actually seized him and dragged him away. Isn't it interesting how the people have changed? Isn't it interesting that a little while before the leaders wouldn't be violent with the apostles because the people might stone the leaders? And now the people themselves are violent with Stephen.
Now watch this, a good point. It is a fine line between a willing hearing of the gospel and a violent hatred of the gospel. It's the fine line of apostasy. A man comes up and he's willing and he listens and he rejects and walks away and he hates him. Violent. It's a fine line.
So they brought him to the council. They set up false witnesses, Verse 13, who said this: "This man ceaseth not to speak blasphemous words against this holy place and the law." He's knocking the temple, boys. Knocking the law and they really twisted it around. Verse 14, "For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth," they always throw Nazareth in there because it was a crummy town, "This Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place and shall change the customs that Moses delivered to us." You know what? You say how was that false witness? It's all true. You're right. It was only false because of the slant they gave to it because at no point had Stephen really blasphemed God at all. And because of the term false witnesses, I believe Stephen presented this in a very positive way.
They could have come to the council and said this: "Stephen is claiming that the hope of Moses has come." Stephen is claiming that that prophet, which Moses predicted is here. Stephen is claiming that all of that sacrificing, which needed to be repeated in the old covenant, was finally accomplished in the death of Christ. Stephen is saying Messiah has come. Stephen is saying that the old covenant has now led into the new covenant, which our prophet Jeremiah predicted. Stephen is saying that the access to God, which the old system couldn't bring Christ can bring. Stephen is saying that He who is the fulfillment of the law is here. Stephen is saying that the dreams of all of us who have hoped for Messiah have come true. For I believe that is what Stephen had been saying. But you see they perverted it and said Stephen blasphemes and they took it only from the negative. He is destroying all of this, destroying all of this. They said nothing of what it was that he was saying of positive truth. They twisted it to sound like insurrection and revolution.
But notice in verse 13, this man ceaseth not. He never stopped. He knew what this message would do; yet he did it. He preached it, never flinched, with courage. And then on 7:51, he got right in there, 52 I mean, and he says at the end of verse 52, "You have been now the betrayers and murderers." You killed the Just One. Oh man, Stephen, why did you say that? That's the end, wham. The rocks came. Courage and he had it and he exhibited it. So his greatness is in his choosing his character and his courage. He said what was true and he counted not the cost.
Lastly quickly, his greatness in his countenance. Don't turn off your brain on this point. I want you to get it. It's very important. Verse 15, "and all that sat in the council, looking steadfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel." Boy that is terrific. That is one of the greatest rebukes I've ever read. They're saying evil evil, blasphemer blasphemer and he's sitting there with a holy face. Can you imagine the rebuke? They were saying to themselves, "There's something wrong guys." The face of an angel, a holy angel of God manifesting the glow of God that he receives from being in the presence of God Stephen had on his face.
I believe Stephen manifested the glory of God for Peter says, "The one who suffers persecution upon him shall be the Spirit of grace and," what? "Glory." I believe Stephen had radiating from his face the glory of God. What a rebuke! Unbelievable rebuke! They had said you blaspheme Moses, but listen to this: God had put on Stephen the face of the glory of God. Only one other man in the history of the world ever had the glory of God on his face. Who was it? Moses. I said at the very beginning I think Stephen ranks with Moses and I think God was rebuking them by saying only one other man ever looked like that man looks and that's Moses and I made Moses look like because I approved of his covenant and I now make Stephen look like that because I approve of the new covenant.
You see what God's saying? God's saying both of those were mine. In Exodus 33 and 34 you can read the story yourself of the glory of God on the face of Moses. And as he came down from the mountain with the glory of God what did he have in his arm? The old covenant. And Stephen there has proclaimed the new covenant and God puts on his face the glow of God and what is God saying? I approve of Moses. I approve of Stephen. Don't you see this is fulfillment.
I need to read you this. This is absolutely fantastic. II Corinthians 3:7-11. I'm going to read it to you. Listen. "But if the ministration of death," now that's the term for the old covenant under Moses, "Written and engraved in stones," right, the law was written in stone wasn't it? "If that was glorious, so that the children of Israel couldn't look on the face of Moses because the glory was overwhelming," if that was glorious, the old covenant and Moses was lit up, and that covenant was glorious, verse 8, "How shall not the ministration of the spirit be" what? "More glorious." Listen to the next verse. "For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory." Verse 11, "For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious." What was God doing putting the glory of God on the face of Stephen? He was approving the new covenant in the face of Israel. What a rebuke! God's great man Stephen, with the glory of God on his face.
What made him great is choosing his character, his courage, and his countenance. Let's pray. Father, we thank you that you desire from us the same kind of greatness and you've given us the same kind of capacity. God help us to live the kind of lives that cause others to lift us up as examples and patterns and leaders for them to follow. May we be full of faith, full of the Spirit, and thus full of grace and full of power. May we be bold, relentless, courageous, expendable, preaching truth. And may we give off the glory of God for we know that's possible. We know the apostle Paul said as we gaze into the glory of Jesus Christ we're transformed into His image by the Holy Spirit from glory to glory. May we radiate Christ even as Stephen did. Father we believe that Saul probably never forgot Stephen. May we never forget either. We pray in Christ's name, Amen.
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|MLBPA/MLB News Release
NEW YORK -- If you share skills with Eric Dittelman, then you won't have to read any further, because you would already know that the mind reader will display his mind-blowing talent for guests and golfers attending the Players Trust's Superstorm Sandy benefit golf tournament on Bethpage Black in Farmingdale, Long Island, on Wednesday, July 17.
Dittelman, a semifinalist on "America's Got Talent" and guest on "The Ellen Degeneres Show" who reads minds at colleges, comedy clubs and private events across the country, will perform his unique and amazing mind-reading and stand-up comedy act during the Trust's post-golf tournament dinner at Carlyle on the Green, located adjacent to the famed Black course.
Whether playing a round of Pictionary with his eyes taped shut or revealing a dinner guest's personal thoughts from his or her mind, Trust supporters are in for an experience they'll never forget.
The Players Trust is making a limited number of dinner-only tickets available to the general public for individuals not able to golf on the July 17. Proceeds benefit charitable organizations supporting Superstorm Sandy recovery and rebuilding efforts.
Individual and foursome golf slots are still available. Golfers will enjoy a memorable day on Bethpage Black, one of the world's most famous courses, when they join more than 20 current and former Major Leaguers including event co-hosts Ike Davis of the New York Mets and David Robertson of the New York Yankees, Bobby Bonilla, Jim Bouton, Phil Bradley, Mike Cameron, Frank Catalanotto, Royce Clayton, Jose Cruz Jr., Ron Darling, Ken Griffey Jr., Jeffrey Hammonds, Rick Helling, Al Leiter, Jim Leyritz, Jeff Nelson, Jim Rice, Steve Rogers, Reggie Sanders, Gary Sheffield and Chris Singleton.
For more information, please visit MLBPlayers.com, call 888-714-0755 or send an e-mail to firstname.lastname@example.com.
The Players Trust All-Star golf tournament enjoys the support of WFAN, SNY and Long Island Business News. WFAN's Mike Francesa will broadcast his show live from the Black course on July 17.
The Players Trust all-star golf tournament is part of the non-profit's disaster-relief programming efforts. In addition to what many players have done individually, Major Leaguers have committed up to $500,000 in aid from the Players Trust to non-profit organizations helping victims of Sandy recover from the destruction. To date, the Players Trust has directly contributed more than $175,000 to various organizations providing needed assistance to storm victims. Among those receiving funds are Red Hook Initiative (Brooklyn); Project Hospitality (Staten Island); Rockaway Reach (Rockaway, N.Y.); NJ 2-1-1 (New Jersey); Pitch In for Baseball and Points of Light's Long Island Recovery Volunteer Center. A separate $100,000 contribution from the Players Trust to New York State's Natural Heritage Trust will go toward the removal of hundreds of downed trees and improvements to damaged turf on public golf courses.
On Nov. 2, 2012, Major Leaguers joined forces with the Commissioner's Office in contributing a combined $1 million to the American Red Cross, the Salvation Army and Feeding America to assist emergency relief efforts in the most devastated areas along the East Coast affected by Sandy. On May 9, the MLBPA and MLB-operated Baseball Tomorrow Fund joined with the New York Mets Foundation to contribute up to $1 million through a relief grant program for youth baseball and softball organizations that were directly affected by the storm.
Since hurricanes struck the U.S. Gulf Coast in 2005, the Players Trust has contributed more than $3 million in the wake of natural disasters in the U.S., Haiti and Japan, long after the spotlight faded. These funds have been used by non-profit organizations to provide and/or sustain services and aid such as senior housing, mobile medical units and after school programs in the Gulf Coast; improved drinking water, medical supplies, prosthetics and training in Haiti; mobile community cafes, organic agriculture, mental health clinics and volunteer centers in Japan and new homes for families in tornado-ravaged Tuscaloosa, Ala., and Joplin, Mo.
Golf lineup is as of July 8, 2013, and is subject to change.


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Isobel Campbell
Top SongsSee All
Time of the SeasonIsobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan 2010
Come On Over (Turn Me On)Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan 2008
Come UndoneIsobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan 2010
Snake SongIsobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan 2010
Come UndoneIsobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan 2010
No Place to FallIsobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan 2010
AlbumsSee All
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CompilationsSee All
About Isobel Campbell
After vaulting to fame as a founding member of the beloved indie pop collective Belle & Sebastian, Isobel Campbell enjoyed success as a solo artist, recording lush and elegiac chamber pop under her given name, under the moniker the Gentle Waves, and with longstanding duet partner Mark Lanegan. Born April 27, 1976, in Glasgow, Scotland, Campbell studied classical cello as an adolescent. At the age of 19, she met aspiring singer/songwriter Stuart Murdoch at a New Year's party, and although their romance proved brief, she nevertheless agreed to participate in a planned recording session sponsored by Stow College's Music Business Administration curriculum. Dubbed Belle & Sebastian in honor of a beloved children's book and attendant animated series, the group issued just 1,000 copies of its 1996 debut LP, Tigermilk. Its shimmering, literate folk-pop immediately earned a worldwide cult following that further expanded with the release of If You're Feeling Sinister later that same year.
On 1998's The Boy with the Arab Strap, Campbell delivered her first lead vocal, "Is It Wicked Not to Care?" With her ethereal voice and striking, Jean Seberg-inspired looks, it was inevitable that she earned much attention from fans and media alike, and in the spring of 1999 she released her first full-length solo project, the Gentle Waves' The Green Fields of Foreverland.... A second and final Gentle Waves release, Swansong for You, followed a year later, but Campbell nevertheless remained a full-time member of Belle & Sebastian through mid-2002, co-writing the Top 20 U.K. hit "Legal Man" before finally exiting just prior to the release of Ghost of Yesterday, a collection of Billie Holiday covers recorded in collaboration with jazz musician Bill Wells.
After 2003's Amorino, Campbell kept a low profile for several years, finally resurfacing in the spring of 2006 with Ballad of the Broken Seas, a collection of duets with former Screaming Trees frontman Mark Lanegan. The two again collaborated on 2008's Sunday at Devil Dirt and 2010's Hawk. ~ Jason Ankeny
- Glasgow, Scotland
- Alternative
- Apr 27, 1976
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Women's Hupana Knit Jacquard
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Red Meat & Colon Cancer Risk
Last Reviewed: March 24, 2011
Dear OncoLink "Ask The Experts,"
Is it true that eating a lot of red meat causes colon cancer?
David Metz, MD, Professor of Gastroenterology at Penn Medicine , responds:
Eating a Western diet which includes a high proportion of red meat is probably associated with a higher incidence of colorectal cancer than not. However, it is difficult to distinguish how much of an influence diet or red meat specifically has on the overall risk. Other risk factors such as heredity appear to play a far more important role.
This question and answer was part of the OncoLink Brown Bag Chat Series. View entire transcript from Advances in Colorectal Cancer Screening.


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|Teen Volunteer Orientation
Event Type: Teen Specials
Age Group(s): Teen
Date: 11/29/2018
Start Time: 6:00 PM
End Time: 7:00 PM
Have you ever wanted to give of your time and talents, but you just don't know how to help? Look no further, BPL always needs volunteers! If you are in grades 7-12, and wish to participate in valuable service for your community, please fill out an application for Volunteer service under the "Volunteer" tab on our website.
During your Orientation we will have a short interview with potential volunteer candidates, a tour of the Library that highlights safety concerns and procedures, as well as an introduction to Library Volunteerism with Sarah Herford, Teen Services Librarian. Attendance is limited to 5 per Orientation.
Attendance to a Volunteer Orientation is mandatory for volunteer service. If you are unable to attend on a Thursday, please contact Sarah Herford (Volunteer Coordinator) via e-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com to discuss further options.
Location: Teen Zone
Registration Ends: 11/28/2018 at 5:00 PM
Contact: Sarah Herford
Contact Number: (479) 273-7755
Presenter: Sarah Herford
Status: Closed
|Please Note


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In remembrance of Mary Richardson Kennedy: 100 photos from the archives.
In remembrance of Mary Richardson Kennedy: 100 photos from the archives.
The "lost and alone" estranged wife of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. hanged herself Wednesday in a barn behind her Westchester home — the latest tragedy to claim a member of the famed Camelot clan.
Mary Richardson Kennedy, 52, was the mother of four children, the oldest 17 and the youngest 11. She was discovered by a family housekeeper, sources told the New York Daily News.
The Kennedys, who married in 1994, split almost exactly two years ago in what friends say was a devastating blow to Mary.
The May 2010 divorce filing, coupled with the media frenzy following her arrest for drunken driving three days later, started Mary Kennedy on a tragic downward spiral that ended with her suicide on her Bedford property, friends said.
She had struggled with alcohol for years and went into rehab in February, a family friend told the Daily News.
"She always seems lost these days, whenever she came into the village," said a neighbor. "Lost and alone and sort of out of it."
Her husband, a prominent environmentalist and high-profile member of the Kennedy dynasty, has been living primarily in California, palling around with movie stars and dating TV actress Cheryl Hines.
Mary Kennedy had not found a new romance.
News of her suicide stunned her family and friends.
"She's my best friend," said her sister-in-law, Kerry Kennedy, who introduced Mary Kennedy to her brother.
"Our whole family is devastated by the loss and we appreciate everyone's prayers."
Bedford police responded to the house at 1:36 p.m. to investigate a "possible unattended death," according to a press release. It was not immediately clear when she died.
The children were away from home — the two oldest at boarding school and the two youngest with their father, family sources said.
One family source said Mary Kennedy was due to fight her husband for custody, but that could not be confirmed.
An autopsy will be performed Thursday, said Westchester County spokesman Kieran O'Leary.
A somber RFK Jr. arrived at the house late Wednesday amid a stream of mourners. He said nothing to gathered reporters.
"We deeply regret the death of our beloved sister Mary, whose radiant and creative spirit will be sorely missed by those who loved her," Mary Kennedy's family said in a statement.
"Our heart goes out to her children who she loved without reservation."
She had overseen the renovation of the couple's home into an environmental showpiece.
Family and friends descended on the red brick mansion Wednesday night, bringing food, flowers and comfort.
"Why? This is terrible. We don't need this," said one teary-eye woman holding a bouquet.
Mary Kennedy was working as an architectural designer in Manhattan when she became the Kennedy heir's second wife just three weeks after he divorced his first bride.
She had been friends with the family for years, since meeting Kennedy's sister, Kerry, when they were teenagers. They were so close they chose to room together at Brown University, and Mary was Kerry's maid of honor in 1990.
Mary and Robert Kennedy tied the knot on a boat on the Hudson River.
A Catholic Mass was followed by a civil ceremony, with Kennedy's two children from his first marriage on deck with the bride and groom.
They had four kids together — Connor, Kyra, William and Aiden — before he filed for divorce on May 12, 2010.
Three days later, she was arrested for driving under the influence after police saw her drive over a curb outside a school carnival.
She failed a number of sobriety tests and her blood-alcohol level registered 0.11. The criminal charge was dismissed and she was given a one-year conditional release.
On Aug. 21, 2010, she was pulled over in Dutchess County and arrested for driving under the influence of drugs.
She had mixed prescription medications. The charge was later dismissed.
"Bobby tried really, really hard to shield the kids from her condition," a source said.
The divorce that so upset her has not yet been finalized.
Neighbors in Bedford called Mary Kennedy a lovely woman who was active in community and school affairs, but had recently seemed a "bit off" — either medicated or intoxicated. But a friend of Mary's told The News that Mary feared her husband was trying to "gaslight" her — make her think she was going crazy.
Although the split hit her hard, her problems began long before Robert filed for divorce.
As early as 2007, Robert Kennedy tried to drive her to a hospital for treatment, but she left the car and ran into the road.
"I remember she was acting kind of out of it, kind of crazy," witness Rae Kesten told the Journal News at the time. "She was running into the street and flailing her arms around. He was trying to restrain her. I didn't know if they were fighting or not, but I was concerned."
Robert Kennedy is the third of 11 children of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1968, five years after his older brother President John F. Kennedy was killed in Dallas.
Michael Kennedy, one of his younger brothers, died in 1997 when he slammed into a tree while tossing a football on a ski slope. Another brother, David, died of a drug overdose in 1984.
– With Kenneth Lovett and Edgar Sandoval


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4th round pick from last year Matia Marcantuoni tweeted that he is en route to WB/S from his CHL club in Kitchener.
Marcantuoni, injury plagued forward, probably would have been ranked in the 2nd round last year if it werent' for just 24 games played after he took a knock and suffered a wrist injury.
Only 7 goals in 64 games this year for MM, a bit of a disappointment last year from an offensive perspective.
Probably the fastest player in his draft class. Speed for days. Let's see how he does in the AHL or if he gets any playing time.