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We entitle it, The Men Who Turned The World Upside Down, and it covers the first 17 verses of Acts, chapter 17 in our continuing study. Now the world went haywire at the fall, there's no question about that, it slipped off its spiritual axis when Adam sinned. And it was a twofold problem, Adam not only fell and became cursed but the globe went with him. So, that earth itself is cursed, there's a cursed earth and in that cursed earth lives a cursed man. And consequently, it's very interesting that man is rather comfortable in his sinning, isn't he? And the reason for that is simply this, you put a cursed man in a cursed system and he's gonna get along with his system, pretty well. It's when you apply righteousness to that cursed system that you make waves. And that's why the truth of God, throughout all history, has tended to flip man's world.
The duality of this problem, I think, is indicated in John, chapter 3, where it says that, "Men love darkness." In other words, they love their system, they get along with their system, because their deeds are what? Are evil. Now, when you've got an evil man and an evil world, you've got a good partnership. And so there's a sense in which man is accommodated to his system through the curse.
The thing which really upsets his system, is the application of righteousness, or as the introduction of truth in a system of error. It would be like taking a mathematical system and premising it all on the fact that one and one equals three, and on that basis, developing an entire mathematical system. And everything is great until some guy comes along and says, no, one and one is two, which would absolutely destroy the entire system. Well, in a sense, man has developed a system of sin, and in that sin, as long as he can continues to be a sinful cursed creature, he can accommodate his system. It is when a Christian comes along and says, one and one is two, spiritually, that his system is flipped.
Now, all throughout God's redemptive history, God has had individuals who were sent by Him to do that to man's system. Who were sent to smash, head on, into man's system and show that it was wrong. Now, from man's viewpoint, his system is upside right, but from God's viewpoint, it's upside down. From man's viewpoint, he would say that the Christian turns the system upside down. From God's viewpoint, the Christian turns the system upside right.
Now, God has always used drastic means to smash into man's system - He has used miracles, in particular ages, but always He has used men and women, people, individuals, small groups, larger groups - people are the vehicle that throw the system into chaos. Righteous people running into an unrighteous system, create waves.
Now in this chapter we meet a few of these kinds of people - the people who really have an effect on the system. At the end of verse 6, the people in Thessalonica characterized Paul and Silas and Timothy, with these words, "These that have turned the world upside down" - from God's viewpoint, upside right - "are come here also." Now, the __ ___, these people are flipping our systems - they are creating chaos. Oh, what a commendation. Boy, wouldn't you like to be known as the person who turned upside right? What a tremendous thing. And so, they really commend them in saying that.
Now, as well look at this passage, 1 to 17, wanna pull out of this passage for you what I feel are the basic necessary characteristics of somebody who does that to the system. I suppose you're like I am. I mean if you really think about it, you wanna have an effect, right? You wanna make waves. You don't just float along on somebody else's waves. And you wanna be part of the trouble or you wanna be part of the issue, you know. I've heard of people who prayed, "God, make my life an issue in the world," that's right. "Make me count, in the world."
Anything - there's nothing worse than just being here you know, just being here. There's got to be a reason, there's got to be something affected by your life. Now, these people turned the upside down because of five simple things that are illustrated in the text - this is not absolute answer, there is no absolute list, this is just the five that popped in my attention, here. One is courage - you'll never affect the world, you're never gonna really belt the system between, unless there's courage there. Second is content, third is converts, so when you start changing people's lives within the system, then you really create chaos. Fourth is conflict, which will happen when the first three happen, and fifth is concern - and that's the motive that makes it all happen.
All right, to begin with, we'll review the first two. The first thing that makes an individual one who can really alter the system - one who really affects the world, who turns it upside right, is courage. Let me give you a definition of courage - you ready for this? Simple, biblical definition of courage; courage equals confidence in God, that's courage. That's simply the definition of courage, biblically. Now listen, if you knew that you were gonna be victorious in a certain enterprise; if you knew that you were gonna be blessed; if you knew there was gonna be joy; if you knew there was gonna be fruit; if you knew God would be pleased, would you do it? Yes. Well, wanna hear something wonderful? If God ever encourages you to do anything, you can know that all of that's gonna happen. The only remaining question is, if you actually have confidence enough in God to believe that?
You know, I've often thought, as I watch, you know, the replay of a football game, or instant replay; it would be kinda neat if you could see that before the game, see? Because then you would know what was going to happen. And in the Christian's life that is precisely what has happened, God has given us a guaranteed victory, a guaranteed joy, a guarantee of fruit - absolutely. And we can enter into anything that God designs for us to do, and encourages us to do, and the Spirit moves us to do, knowing that it cannot turnout except good, and so courage is only a matter of confidence in God, you either believe Him or you don't. And if you're hesitant to witness, or you're hesitant to do anything that encourages you do because you're or because there's fear that translates into a poor theology - you just do not have a proper perspective of God.
Or, if you feel that you gotta run your own life, and you can't free up, to let God run it, that again is the problem that you think you can handle you, better than He can. It's a lack of confidence in God. So, you see, everything goes back to the nature of God - that is the key, that is the cardinal understanding that a Christian must have - you must know who God is. So, courage is confidence in God. Now, I wanna show you how confident Paul was. He had been on this missionary journey - the second journey and he was pursing the plan as God has directed him, which was to the Jew, first. "And he came to this particular place called Thessalonica," in verse 1, "and there was the synagogue of the Jews there," verse 2, and "Paul, as his manner was, went into them." The first thing he does when he gets to Thessalonica is go to the synagogue.
Now herein lies his courage. You say, "Why?" Because before, in chapter 13 and 14, when he went to the Jewish synagogue, what always happened? Trouble, disaster, persecution, they tried to kill him. But you said, "If he knew all of that, how could he possibly go into the synagogue again, and jump right into fire?" Because he had confidence in the God, who was directing him to do it - that if God puts him, God's not gonna forsake him in the middle of it. And so he goes right, right into the synagogue, knowing, in the past, what has happened to him and expecting it to happen again, but believing in God. That's courage, that's confidence in God.
In spite of what had happened. Remembering all of the pain and the grief, he went in anyway. And he knew that he had to go the Jewish synagogue because he had to buck the existing religious system - he had to bring those Jews to a knowledge of Christ. I think of John Bunyon. John Bunyon bucked the religious establishment. John Bunyon was in England and the religious establishment was the Church of England and he wasn't real happy with the Church of England. So, he decided, "I'll operate outside the Church of England, and I'll just preach Jesus Christ, and teach Christ." And so, he started preaching all over everywhere, and they said, "You better shut up or we'll put you in jail. You can't preach outside an organized church.
And John Bunyan said, in effect, "Just watch me." And he continued to preach; so you know what they did? They packed him up and threw him in a cell and they left him there for 12 years. You say, "Oh John, now see what you did by being impetuous?" You know what he did for 12 years, in there, a good part of that time? He wrote, Pilgrim's Progress. Next to the bible, that book has affected more lives than any book ever written. Now, if John Bunyon hadn't have had the courage to do what was right, and take the effect of it, he may never have had the time to write that thing. Certainly not while he was running around preaching everywhere.
God knew he needed to be in jail, for 12 years, because he needed to put some things down paper that affect generations for history. And he had the confidence to believe God, and he bucked the established situation, he bucked the Church and he did what He felt God wanted him to do, and he paid the price and God honored him. Now, Paul is gonna buck the system too, knowing that if God wants to put in him jail, that's fine. The last time he got in jail, the whole jailer's family got saved - that's no problem.
So, he is willing to confront the system in Israel and now he did the same thing the same thing in verse 10. We're gonna jump back and forth between Thessalonica and Berea, in this study, because they're parallels. Verse 10, "He goes to the second little town on this tour from Philippi and he comes there by night, and he goes into the synagogue," at the end of verse 10, immediately again, here he goes again, there's no way to stop the guy. And you say, "It's amazing, the persistence" - yes, because he just got out of a riot in Thessalonica.
"He went to the Jewish synagogue in Thessalonica," in verse 1 and 2, and by the time you get to verse 5, there's a riot going on, and they were beaten and they were chased out of town and he bails out, in verse, and he goes right back into the next Jewish synagogue. That's courage, which translates to the confidence in God. Now, that's the kind of courage that is basic stuff to somebody who's gonna affect world. If you're afraid of your shadow and you don't really trust God, you're not gonna have the affect on anybody.
You say, "John, how could I have that kind of courage?" I gave you the principles two weeks ago. Let me just review. One, trust God - that's the basic, trust God. Two, confess sin, and three, thank Him in advance. Acts 28:15, it says, "Paul thanked God and took courage." Trust God, confess your sin, because if there's sin your life, you're liable to really get it, 'cause that'll come as chastisement, so trust God, confess, and thank Him in advance.
Now, the second thing that we see here, that's really be a part of a man who affect the world is content. Now, it wasn't just Paul's courage, it was what he said, wasn't it? You know, so many Christians say, well I'm a living witness at work. I haven't said anything yet but I am living it. Nobody ever got to heaven by watching somebody. You got to say it, sooner or later. It's nice to live it, and when you live it, maybe you earn to say it, right? But sooner or later you have to say something. There's no way you can give 'em a spiritual wink - it doesn't, it doesn't work that way, you see? You have to open your mouth, and something has to come out that relates to truth.
Now Paul - you know, people say, well Paul was what he was because of his dynamic. No, he was what he was because of his message, embodied in his personality. Well, there are a lot of people in this room who have fantastic personalities - they just have the wrong message. Now, Paul was the combination of the perfect package and the perfect content. And his message though, was the issue, believe the message is the issue; it's what we say that matters. You know, and Nehemiah, when Israel was being taken back to the land, and they were getting to rebuild the city, you know, and they were gonna try to put it all together, spiritually; the thing that Nehemiah did in chapter 8, verse 1, he stood up and he said, "Bring me the book", and they brought the book of the law, the Old Testament, and the people all stood up, and Ezra stood up and read the thing to 'em, and a revival broke out. There wasn't any emotionalism in that. It was just content. He just read them the truth. And believe me, that's the key to affecting the world is speaking the truth.
Boy, I really believe in this, and I believe that it's so important for Christians to know the Word of God, so they can give an answer to people. Now, notice that Paul, in verse 2, does this, "And Paul as his manner was, went into them and three Sabbath days, reasoned with them out of the scriptures." We saw in our last message that, the reasoning with them, means that he actually talked to them in a dialogue; he fielded questions, answered them, "And he took Old Testament," which was the scriptures in verse 2, "and opened and alleged out of them." In other words, he took Old Testament text and he opened and alleged from the Old Testament text, "that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead."
So, "He took the Old Testament and he proved to them, from the Old Testament that Messiah would have to die." - that would be easy to prove - Isaiah covers that, in 53, and so does Psalms 22. Then he proved that, as the Psalmist says - David, particularly - "The Messiah had to rise again." So, he said, "Now, you're looking for your Messiah, He must the one who died and rose." Then at the end of verse 3, he offers that, "Jesus, whom I preach, is that Messiah. So, he did an Old Testament study and then said, "Christ fulfills it," and he did this on three occasions on the Sabbath day, and perhaps in between he was busy, as well.
Now notice the term, reason. That implies the mind and not the emotions doesn't it? You know, you always hear about emotionalism - emotional response. You know that you can get an emotional response. I'm gonna speak at a funeral - they say, "Oh, please John. People's hearts are so tender, and they're so emotionally torn up, that maybe they'll come to Christ." And you know what I need to remind myself, that it doesn't do a bit of good to go in there and get them to make an emotional decision. That's the one time - maybe above all - that I wanna be sure that the Gospel is absolutely factually clear to them. See?
I mean preaching the gospel isn't just getting people all emotional, telling 13-deathbed stories and singing 84 verses of a hymn. That is not reasoning with people. That is not opening and alleging truth, out of the scripture, and applying it to Christ and into their lives personally. You see, facts are at the heart of this thing, and I don't mean to say that your emotions aren't involved. I mean I get emotional too. Emotion is fine - Jesus wept. I'm not against emotion, I'm against emotionalism - it doesn't do any good to get somebody who's emotionally - "Oh, you can..." You know if you're smart enough, and if you're good enough at it, you can get all kinds of emotional reactions.
You know, you could have all these people coming forward and then you say, "Why did you come?" And they say, "(Laughs)." See? They don't know what they're even there for. Just crying a lot. "Somebody told me to come, so here I am." We're not talking about that kind of emotion. There's no high pressure here, there's no hysteria, there's no super charged emotionalism. He gave the facts, and he reasoned with them, out of the scriptures. He didn't rely on anything but anything but allowing the Holy Spirit to apply revelation, you see?
Now, look over here in Berea, he did the same there, in verse 11. Now, he got to Berea - they were some wonderful people. In fact, there's a lot of Christians who call themselves
Bereans, because they like to identify with these noble folks, and which is fine. But anyway, the Brethren at the Berea were pretty sharp. They were noble. More noble than those in Thessalonica. Why? "Because they received the Word with all readiness of mind and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so." You see, the difference between them and Thessalonica was, they themselves, searched it out. In other words, they were more plugged into the Old Testament. They were more spiritual - if I can use that term - they were more spiritual Jews than the ones in Thessalonica, and Gentile proselytes.
I mean they were really studying the Old Testament. They could take that thing and look it up for themselves. Whereas, the ones in Thessalonica were concordance cripples, you know, they probably couldn't find anything in there, and so Paul had to just go along and go along, and point everything to 'em. This group was pretty sharp. But I want you to notice that what happened was, "They received the Word, with all readiness of mind," you see - "and they searched the scriptures." You see, basis of their exposure was content oriented, you see? Well, we've made that point so many times, but it's so very, very important.
"And the content was exposed to them by Paul on his feet." You know, that's a tremendous ability, to just be able to stand there and as Peter said, "To give every man an answer for the reason and the hope is within you." To be able to just reason with men - shoot it out, see? Tremendous. Paul knew the Word, and there's no shortcut. You always meet people - everybody wants a shortcut to bible knowledge. They want a gimmick. They want a formula. They want three easy lessons to master the bible. If I wrote a book like that, it wouldn't matter what it said, it'd sell like crazy. Mastering the bible in 2 hours. Woo, you know, see - or even two weeks.
You know how long it takes to master the bible? You couldn't do it, if you lived a thousand years. Now, you can get the principles, but the study never ends, because as soon as you got the principles, you forgot the first ones you learned; you gotta start all over again. And so, Paul knew he could stand on feet and he could use the scripture. Boy, that's a tremendous tool. You know, you say, well I'm not teaching a class, so I don't study very much. You know, the day might come when you're not even teaching a class at all but you're gonna walk up to somebody who's gonna need answers. And if you haven't been studying, then you don't have 'em for the crisis.
You know, it's one thing to know how to save a drowning person in the lifesaving class at the YMCA; it's something else to know how to save a drowning person when the ship goes down, and you're in the ocean. And you ought to be ready for that, that's the crisis time, so if you're not teaching a class, that's no excuse not to study. You better for crisis when the life comes across your life, that needs answers, and you're the only resource. So, they knew that he knew the Word, and that was it, content, is what really affects the world - it's the message that does it.
Now you say, how can I really know that message? How can I know the Word? Let me just review what I told you last time. One, confess sin. "Because if there's sin your life, you have a hindrance to knowing the Word," 1 Peter 2:1. You can't apprehend the Word through a sinful mind, clearly. Second thing, study the Word, there's no shortcut. There is no shortcut. Study the Word. 2 Timothy 2:15 "To show yourself approved unto God." Third, personalize the Word, make it living in your life - make it applicable. No, not just in your head, but in your life. And fourth, share it. You know the best way to learn something? Tell somebody else.
I find that what I preach, I remember. What I don't preach, I forget. I remember my sermons; I forget the books I read. And I think that's true in anybody's life - what you give away is what you really keep. And so, if you're gonna be effective in content, you need to one, confess your sins, so that you have clear mind and pure mind. Two, study the Word. Three, personalize the Word, and fourth, share the Word, even if it's just teaching your wife or your husband or somebody else. Well, that's review courage and content.
Now, let's go to the third one; there's a third thing - it makes somebody, one who really affects the world, and that's converts. You know when you start seeing other people come to Christ then you are really making an affect? Why? Because you're multiplying the waves, see? You say, "Oh," you say, "You mean that in order to really affect the world there's got to be converts as a result of my life?" Yes. You know and I believe that every Christian - now watch this one; this may seem like heresy, at first. I believe that every Christian should see converts. You say, "John." (Laughter) "What happened to your sovereignty of God?" Well, it may be that you plant, it may be you water, it will be that God, does what? Gives the increase. You may not see it now, but it's gonna happen, if you're faithful? Why? Jesus promised it. You say, "Jesus promised that every Christian was going to be productive?" Absolutely. "If any branch bear not fruit, it isn't even a true branch." Listen to John 15:16. "You have not chosen Me but I have chosen you and ordained you that you should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain." Now, that's a guarantee by the Lord Jesus himself, that a Christian is gonna bear fruit.
You say, "Well, I've tried evangelizing, I'm not too good. I don't think I'm called to that." See? - And all that. There's no such thing as not being called to that. You're gonna have fruit. Now, you may not see it all in this life; you may see it in the life to come. And I think it's gonna be fun sometimes when we get to heaven and find out who's there because of the faithfulness of our addition to the process that went in bringing others to Christ. I get letters sometimes from the tape ministry, from obscure places in the world, and somebody says, "Oh, I just received Christ from hearing your tape over here in Africa," or somewhere. You know, and I just - it's unbelievable that God is doing it. And it's a part of the process of many lives touching one life. But I believe there'll be fruits.
So, converts are part of it. Now, watch, you take a cursed system, a vile unholy system, and you multiply the number of holy people, and you really have an affect on that system. To change the world, you can't do it alone. You've got to be reproductive, you see that's what I'm saying. Converts. You know why Paul was so effective? Not because he went into town and nobody believed him, but because he went into town and a whole bunch of people believed him. And that's what messed up the system.
It's like Amalio said, you know, he said, "Well, don't worry about Paul. If he's of God, things will happen. If he's not, it'll go away." It didn't go away. You see, if you're reproductive, then you're effecting; you're not gonna do it alone, you're not gonna effect the world alone. You're gonna effect the world when you effect other people. And I believe that God intends for us to bear fruit. Well, Paul went into town, look at verse 4, and did all of this, and preached Christ - he hit issue right on the head. Verse 4, "And some of them believed." Terrific. There's a group of Jews who believed.
Now, notice the Greek word, believe, is not the word for the faith, is not the word for believing - it is a passive verb. It is the verb, patho, and it means, to be persuaded. They weren't noble enough to dig it up, themselves; they had to be talked into it. The were persuaded, it's a passive. But Paul could present such an irrefutable airtight presentation of Christ, that the Holy Spirit - and this implies, of course, at He's at work - that the Holy Spirit could bring them to salvation. Paul could answer their questions. Isn't that beautiful? They weren't necessarily looking, and Paul presented such a tremendous argument, that they were persuaded, as it were, against their will to believe.
Now, in Berea, they were waiting to believe - didn't have to persuade 'em, they were just waiting. All they needed to do was grab their Old Testament and see if it was true, and they were there. This bunch weren't even waiting for it - they had to be talked into it. Isn't it interesting how an evangelist and you run into those two kinds of things? Sometimes you'll meet the guy who isn't even - seem like opened, and you'll present Jesus Christ, and show him the argument, give him the whole plan, and he'll see how beautiful it is and how perfect it is, and the Spirit of God will bring him to Christ. Other times you get some guy just sitting waiting for somebody to deliver the truth. See?
Well, Berea was that. You go down to verse 11, "And they searched the scriptures" and so forth, verse 12, "therefore many of them believed." And it's not the word patho - we're persuaded, it's the word, pastuo, which means, to believe, it's an active verb. They believed - the others had to be persuaded. Now, how exciting it is that the believer can actually be ready for both situations. If he knows the Word well enough, he can persuade those who aren't even open yet, and he can give the information to those who are diligent students, so they can verify it on their own.
Well, the results were converts. It says, "Some believe"...verse 4, again - and we know one of them was Jason, and some people in house and then chapter 20, tells about Aristarchus and Secundus, which gives us at least three names of those. "And then they consorted with Paul and Silas and the devout Greeks, a great multitude." Just a few Jews believed. A whole of bunch of Gentiles believed, "And of the chief women, not a few." Apparently there were some women who had some pretty important positions in the town and they believed as well. And so there was a tremendous beginning to the church. A big number of Gentiles, a lot of chief women, and some Jews - they always were the most difficult.
Well, you know, it was a beautiful beginning for the church at Thessalonica, and that was it - that beautiful little church. Paul reflected on the beginning of that church. Just listen to this: 1 Thessalonians 1:5, he wrote back to them and he was remembering how they began. He says, "For our gospel, came not unto you in word only." Oh, I like that Paul, because we've been talking about that haven't we? We've been saying it's content, isn't it? You've got to give the content. But he says, "It didn't come in content only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit." You see? That's the thing. Don't run out here and say, MacArthur says, "All you need content." No, he doesn't. You need content, absolutely, but you need it bathed in the power and the energy of the Holy Spirit. He alone makes the miracle possible.
And he said, "You became followers of us, unto the Lord, and you receive the Word and much affliction with joy of the Holy Spirit and you are an example to all that dwell in Macedonia and Achaia." Well, that's quick. He's just been saying it a little while and the whole place knows about him. Look at verse 8. "For, from you," sound it out, the Greek word echo, "the Word of the Lord, not only in Macedonia and Achaia but in every place, your faith toward God is spread abroad." So that we don't need to make a comment - you know, that the ___ case of that little church just splattered all over the world? I mean the word just went like wildfire, they were sitting right on Egnation Highway - everybody that went through town, knew what was going on. It's exciting to see what happened to that group.
Now, you go down to the Berean group in chapter 17 and verse 12 and they believed, some Jews, many of them - more here, because they were more noble, more open, "And honorable women who were Greeks and Greek men" and not just a few of them either. So, they had another harvest down there - "and so the church in Berea was born." Let me give you an interesting footnote. This is just, I don't know, it may be interesting to you, it may not, but I'll give it to you. You never hear another word about Berea in the bible, but you hear a lot about Thessalonica. And Thessalonica became the most beloved church that Paul ever wrote to. He just loved those people. And of all the churches that are written to in the New Testament, they seem to be the most like Christ wanted the church to be.
Now, watch this. Isn't it interesting that with Berea, oh, they were so noble, so wonderful, but when they got saved, you never hear another thing about 'em? Thessalonica, they had to be persuaded, they weren't so noble, but when they got saved, man they went wild. They became what God wanted the church to be. You say, "What's that supposed to prove?" It is to prove that salvation is the equalizer. It doesn't matter what you were before you were saved - at the moment of salvation it becomes an issue of what you do with the resources that become yours, do you see? People say, "Well, so and so, before he was saved, was, uh, uh, uh, you know, he was into dope, and into, oh, Satan and into __ __ __. We can't expect much."
Oh, believe me, you can expect just as much as you can expect out of Citizen Number 1A. The finest guy that ever was, when he gets saved. Why? Because the resources are the same, you got it? And Thessalonica may not have been noble as Berea, but once salvation happened, the resources were the same and they tapped them in Thessalonica. Now, I don't know that Berea didn't; I'm just showing you that there's no reason to assume that if you come in barely or with all kinds of problems, you don't get there is. That's a lot of baloney. Salvation isn't gradual, it's instantaneous - you believe that? It's all yours. You're complete in Him.
And that's something that I think we have to remember because I think sometimes we don't expect enough out of certain people. Because we say, "Oh well, they've had such and such a background." Salvation is the equalizer, beloved - it's the equalizer. Well, let me just add a footnote. You know, I think - and just for...I think you'll agree with this. I think the most common reason - and I wanna say that carefully. The most common reason that people will not believe is that they do not investigate the scripture. Now, think about that. They do not investigate the scripture. You all, you meet a guy, and you'll say - I've had this happen many times, just say - start talking about witnessing to him somehow, about Christ or the bible. He'll say, "Well, I don't believe the bible. I don't believe the bible."
"Oh, you don't believe the bible? Do you realize that that is a very sweeping statement? You must be a scholar of tremendous repute to say such a thing. You don't believe the bible. You know the bible covers hundreds of years of history. It covers all of the revelation of God, who made the universe. It covers spiritual reality. Do you realize that such a statement encompasses a tremendous amount of information?" And the guy just goes, "Ah, hmm." You know, "Well, I'm..." "You must have studied for years because I know men who have studied the bible year after year, and they totally believe. My, how did you ever come to such a conclusion?" "Well, I... You know, I read it a couple times." (Laughs) You know? I was in a class somewhere in college. The guy said it was a lot of baloney." Yeah, that's about right, isn't it?
People don't __ it's the scripture. You know, Tom Paine? Tom Paine wrote The Age of Reason, which was the classic blast against God and blast against Christ. And he was an atheist and he blasted the bible, just...it was - of course, you know, repudiating everything he wrote. Died without God, and he knew it. But Tom Paine - here's an interesting quote of The Age of Reason, page 65, he said, quote, "I had neither the bible or the New Testament to refer, though I was writing against both." Now, what kind of scholarship is that? You try turning that in on your term paper. I had no sources.
You're gonna write a book against the bible, you at least ought to know what the bible's about. And the biggest problem, as I say, and the most common denominator in peoples' unbelief, is the fact that they have never searched it out. I actually believe people that we have, in the bible, all we need to give somebody if they're really open - you search the scriptures. Jesus said in John, chapter 5, "You search the scripture, for in them you think you think you have eternal life, and they are they which speak of Me."
I was in Cleveland and I was going to dinner. A very wealthy family of the man is the President of a big corporation, and his wife was driving me to dinner, you know, in their Mercedes limousine, you know? Boy, I was waving at the people, you know. I mean you only get one chance like that, right? So, I thought I'd live it up. And, so he takes us to dinner at this lovely kind of palatial house, you know, and they served us steaks - they were just monstrous things. Terrific. And they were so gracious Christian people and just exciting. His wife was telling me, on the way, about their conversion, and what an exciting conversion. They had been...just never really told the gospel. No one ever...she believed in God, for 10 years she had believed in God and prayed to God, but never knew Christ. No one had ever told them about Christ.
And so, her husband got this challenge from somebody to read the bible and to find out the truth. And she told me that he went into a room and read the bible in 80 hours. See? He read the bible. And he came out of there and he said, "This is true." And he sat down and led his wife to Jesus Christ, he, himself, having met Christ, during those 80 hours. Search the scriptures. Don't you ever come and say, "Well, I don't believe the bible" unless you know what you don't believe. That's fair. If there are ever to be waves, beloved, they're gonna be when we use the Word of God to win people to Jesus Christ.
I believe that people who make the world different are the people who multiply the holiness in the world. And the only way you can multiply holiness in the world is to lead somebody to Jesus Christ - that creates waves. You say, "John, I'd like to do that. How do I do it? How can I be a person that does that?" Let me give you the quick little pattern. One, recognize your obligation. That's important - recognize your obligation. "You say, you mean I have an obligation to share Christ?" Yes, you do, Matthew 28, Jesus said, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature." Acts 1:8, "You shall receive power after the Holy Spirit has come upon you and be My witnesses." John 15:26-27, Jesus said, "The Father wants to give testimony by the Spirit, through you, to the world." Recognize your obligation.
I woke up - well I wasn't asleep quite, last night. I was laying in bed and all of a sudden I just - I felt like God had dropped a rock on me. I just, ugh, I had this terrific heavy pressure and I was, in my mind, I was thinking about three or four people, that are on their way to hell. And you know, I don't know, it was very strange, it just overwhelmed me, and I said to myself, "God, they're going to hell. You know, what am I doing?" My first reaction, I gotta get out of this bed, you know, what am I - I'm sleeping, you know? Well, I tell you, I need to be reminded of that and the Lord knows that, and I thank Him for somehow reminding me of that tremendous...
You know, for me to have the truth, and not to share it - kind of a crime against humanity is that, and against God. So, recognize your obligations. Secondly, recognize the results. They're not always positive. That's very important. You ought not to say, "I witnessed and nothing happened. I'm not doing that anymore." People say, Well, I heard a guy that taught an evangelism class one time, he says, "Well, the more you do it, the easier it gets." I don't believe that for a minute. I do not believe. You know why? The more you do it, the harder Satan's gonna resist it. I'll tell you something else. The closer we get to the coming of Christ, the harder men's hearts are gonna get. It'll never get easier; it'll get harder, just so that you will know that. Not trying to discourage you, just wanna tell you the truth.
Recognize the results. Jesus told His disciples, "There's gonna time when people who kill, think they do God a favor." Thirdly, recognize your power, and whatever the negative reactions are, your power will supersede them. The Holy Spirit will do the convicting, the Holy Spirit will do the empowering, you've got so much power, and you don't need to worry about the negative. Recognize your obligation, recognize the results are not always positive and recognize your power; and last - I love this, recognize His promise. "You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you" John 15:16, "and ordained you that you should go and bring forth fruit. That's His promise. You go, and you'll forth fruit. Believe me. You will doubtless come again, ___ precious seed. That's a guarantee.
So courage, content, and converts that are affecting the world. Fourth, and will come out of those three, conflict. If you hit the world courageously with the right message and people get saved because of faithfulness, man, there's gonna be conflict. Why? Because you're creating holiness in an unholy environment, see? And you're making waves. That's what God wants you to do. You say, what happened in Thessalonica? Oh, they got it, verse 5; I mean the conflict was inevitable.
In fact, Paul knew it was coming because he was already gone by the time they came to get him. "But the Jews who believed not, moved with envy." Now, what were they envious about? Well, they may have been unhappy that some of their leading members were now part of the church and they lost the income, especially, from the chief women, but I doubt that that's the most serious. The thing that was envied was the Gentiles had been offered the Messiah on an equal basis that was always their hang-up. They were holding out for the singular quality of Judaism and of Jews, and so they were really burnt, they were jealous over Gentile inclusion on an equal basis with Jews.
And so they didn't - they decided they gotta do something. Boy, what was the reaction? The system cannot tolerate holiness. And so what happens is, "They took unto them certain vile fellows of the baser sort. Which is kind of funny Old King James English for saying they got a bunch of dissipated worthless characters who made a profession of lying around, looking for trouble - the local hoods. The literal Greek is marketplace loafers. Idle fellows - guys who hung around doing nothing in the marketplace, just waiting for trouble. And they got these guys to stage a riot. And you know, there are professional agitators today, well here are some, and they gathered a company and sent all the city in an uproar.
Boy, I mean they turned the city up. They got a riot going all through town, they were crying in this blowtorch kind of oratory. "These men are seditious and they are revolutionaries," and they got everybody all stirred up. Well, they knew they were staying with Jason - who must have been a new Christian there - and so it says, "They all assaulted the house of Jason." Here comes the whole town, down to Jason's house. "And they sought to bring them out to the people." But you know what? God is so far ahead. Paul and Silas and Timothy are gone - they're gone. And old Jason is there. Well, they didn't find them, in verse 6 "And when they found him not, they drew Jason and certain brethren under the rulers of the city."
So, they took Jason and the other Christians instead. "And they hauled them off." You know, it's amazing what Satan can do with lazy people. It's amazing too, what the Lord can do with lazy people who get busy for Him. I was thinking that lazy people must have been a problem in Thessalonica. I don't know if they had a welfare program or what there, but there was a lot of laziness. These guys were lazy, but later in, 2 Thessalonians 2, in verse 11, he says, "For we hear that there are some who walk among you, disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies." You know, some of the Christians were loafing around. I don't know whether that was a common thing but Satan can always use laziness.
And so, he does here - you get some of these lazy guys with nothing to do but hang around and wait for trouble. And they stir up trouble, they grab Jason and the guys who were with him in the house, and they haul him off to the rulers of the city. Now, this is a riot. They ransacked poor Jason's house, and they drag him out of there. They press two charges. And they got to include Jason now, since he's the only one that they could capture. He says, at the middle of verse 6, "These that have turned the world upside, are come here also." The first charge is a general revolution. These guys are revolutionaries. They're radicals. They're chopping at the roots of everything sacred in Thessalonica. They're messing up our continuity.
And so they charged them with general revolution. The second thing they charged them with is a very specific "treason against Rome," - verse 7, "whom Jason hath received, and these all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar." How? "Saying there is another king, one called Jesus." Oh, isn't that terrific? They got the message, loud and clear, Jesus. You know, that's the same thing they crucified for Jesus for, isn't it? They crucified Him for claiming to be a king. Remember Pilate questioned Him, "Are you a king?" And the Jews all cried out, "No, He's not our king. We'll have no king but Caesar." Well, it was the whole issue of His Kingship, and here Paul had been preaching the Kingship of Jesus Christ, and so they grabbed on that, the same thing that the crowd used to execute Jesus, they were gonna use again, to execute Paul.
Don't you see this, friends? It is always a terrible thing for the gospel to make a dominant claim on the lives of men, and it does in announcing that Jesus is King. And men don't like to hear that. And so they decided that they would just take care of this group. Verse 8, "They troubled the people and the rulers of the city when they heard these things." That whole city was in turmoil. But you know, these rulers were pretty smooth guys, they were pretty cool. And they really acted wisely. I'm sure God had something to do with this. And you know, this is the thing; it could've really exploded, they would've had one riot on their hands, if they didn't get rid of Paul. Because they figured that these people that Paul - that if they didn't get rid of Paul, these people that are so excited would get mad and start a riot.
And if they did get rid of Paul, they were very much afraid, just, if they punished him and just smashed him down; that he had won enough converts that those people would start a riot. So, they were between a rock and hard place, and they were pretty smart - shrewd guys. And in verse 9, what they did was, "When they had taken security of Jason and the others, they let them go." Boy, that's smart. You know, what they did, they made Jason come across with a bond, to guarantee that Paul and Silas and Timothy wouldn't trouble them anymore. So, they had Jason on the spot.
They really had a guarantee against the good behavior and the quick exit of Paul and Silas and Timothy, pretty smart. Well, they had to leave - Paul and Silas and Timothy, they had to go. "And they went to Berea." - in verse 10. And you know, Paul reflected back on this, in 1 Thessalonians 2:17, he says, "We brethren, being taken from you for a short time in presence, not in heart, endeavor to more abundantly to see your face with great desire." Paul says, I tried to come back and see you, but he says, "Satan hindered us." This whole setup, with the security, the bond, guaranteed by Jason - and Jason did it for their sake - meant that there was never a way he could get back in there, as long as those magistrates were there.
So, the conflict came. Believe me, that's a good thing. Conflict is a good thing. You know, that that wonderful little church in Thessalonica, became the best church, and probably one of the reasons was it existed in terrible persecution. Paul couldn't even get back to see them. "We went to Berea" - and what happened there? - You say, certainly, those noble guys wouldn't give him trouble. You're right, they didn't. But guess what? Verse 13, "The Jews of Thessalonica had knowledge that the Word of God was preached by Paul at Berea, and they came there also." - and did the same thing. So, here comes a gang, 60 miles away, from Thessalonica, and they stirred up trouble.
Boy, Satan if he doesn't have local people, he imports 'em. "And they dogged his steps." Paul, in 1 Thessalonians 2:14-16, talks about how the "Jews have dogged his steps all his life. And they stirred up" - the word, stirred, at end of verse 13, is like a wind, shaking, just shook the whole city. Well, Paul had to leave again. You know, I really think, just as a little insight into Paul; I think was the low point in Paul's life, up to point, as a Christian. He had left Luke at Philippi, and now it says, verse 14, "And they immediately, the brethren sent away Paul to go, as it were, to the sea." They faked it, like they were going to the sea, and then cut another in another direction. They didn't really go towards the sea, to the east. They made it look that way, so that they couldn't be followed, and then they cut a direction.
"But Silas and Timothy, abode there still." Paul, the ringleader, left but he left Silas and Timothy. Why? It's obvious. What was Paul's great concern for new believers? Discipleship. He left them there. So he left Luke, he left Silas, he left Timothy and, believe me, as strong as Paul, he wasn't an island. And I believe he was hurting inside, and I believe he was a lonely man, and he hustled him off to Athens. "And they conducted Paul," verse 15, "brought to him Athens and receiving the commandment unto to Silas and Timothy to come to him with all speed, they departed." He sent back word, tell Timothy and tell Silas, I need them down here.
Verse 16 says something you never read about Paul. "Now Paul waited." Well, you don't see him doing that much, do you? Some commentators think that he was just gonna wait there; till they got there, he was so low, so hurting. Well, that's conflict, beloved. But out of conflict came joy. And out of conflict came the productivity of those churches. You say, "But what about Paul?" Well, out of conflict in Athens came fantastic results, and we're gonna see that in the weeks to come. But let's close with this. The last thing - and I think this is the thing that has to be in your minds. If you miss this, you miss everything.
The last thing that made these guys - guys that changed the world was concern. You say, "Yeah, I can see it, concern for the lost." No. That is not the issue. Concern for the lost is great - that's not what ate Paul up. That's not what made him do what he did. You say, "What did?" Look at verse 16, "While he waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him." He got all torn up. Why, because, he saw lost men? No. He saw the city given to idolatry. You say, "What does that mean?" It means that he saw that God was not being glorified. And the greatest motive that any Christian could ever have is the motive of the glory of God - that's the overruling motive of all. Paul says, "I preach obedience under the Gentiles," Romans 1:5, "for the sake of His name." See?
Now, we at Grace Church know about the glory of God, I hope. If you don't, you get tape, The Greatest Theme, and you learn about the glory of God, it pervades the entire bible. Paul saw God not being glorified and it tore him up. Now, he could've looked at all the beauties of Athens. Man, that place was something else. Architecturally, it had art, science. Petronius said, "It was easier to find a god in Athens, than it was a man." It was so given to idolatry. But Paul didn't see the glory of Athens, he saw only the glory of God, and he saw God not being honored, and it tore him up.
Beloved, I'll tell you something, this is what made him a man that changed the world, and he was preoccupied with the glory of God, he saw every man as one who gave glory to God, or one who didn't, and he knew God deserved it. There's the ingredients - when he saw one given to idolatry, he disputed it in the synagogue and with devout persons and in the marketplace daily. He never stopped, when he saw that God wasn't being glorified. It's all there. You can be someone who affects the world. The pattern is clear. It's up to you.
Father, we thank You, that You've given us instruction, information, insight, incentive. Given us the Holy Spirit to empower us and make it possible. We thank You for these men who made a change in their world. Who are still affecting the world by what they wrote. God, make us people who count. Make us people who affect the world. Father, if there's some in our midst this morning who have never come to a knowledge of Jesus Christ, may this be the day they do. If they do not understand fully the facts, we pray that today, they might find out the truth. If they do understand and they're just open and ready to receive Christ, make this the day, of that reception.
And Lord, those of us that are Christians help us to desire, above all things, to affect the world. To live lives that count. And we'll give you the praise for what you're going to do in our lives because of the Word today, and through the Spirit, pray in Jesus name, Amen.
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Where to Buy
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Collin Earl brings you two amazing stories that you can try right here, right now, for free!
What do you have to lose?
Set in our world in the near future, Harmonics: Rise of the Magician follows the life of Samantha Montgomery of Academy City 676, a normal primary education girl, and the actions of MESA, a defense contractor responsible for the world's most advanced weaponry. Elsewhere in other parts of the world, the super governments of United Western Collective and the Jade Empire follow the exploits and dealings of the world's most notorious assassin, a man known only as "The Magician". Some consider him a myth, others think of him as a legend, while others still believe he's the world's most brutal slayer of men. Still all look on in awe at any mention of the Magician. With the supposed ability to manipulate his surroundings at will, the world has seen the actions of this man whose purpose and identity remains hidden. They all look for him. The government, the fans, the law enforcement agencies search the world over for him without really knowing how truly dangerous he is…They're about to find out.
A school in siege, a weapon so advanced it defies the law of physics, an assassin out for blood, and Samantha caught in the middle. When reality as you know it ceases to be, can you live with the reality yet to come? Join Sam as she discovers for herself how dangerous life outside of school really is.
Start for FREE today at the follow:
Fantasy, friendship, and fate await you in Collin Earl's The House of Grey,
based on the popular audio fiction by the same name.
14-year-old Monson Grey faces the same challenges that any freshman high school kid would: difficult classes, weird teachers, food fights…girls. Except, Monson Grey is not Monson Grey. At least, when he looks at himself in the mirror, the scarred face staring back is not someone he recognizes.
Now he finds himself attending an extraordinary school, the recipient of an incredible scholarship, among ridiculously rich classmates, all with no memory of how he got there or what to expect.
All he has from his former life are the flashes of haunting images that plague his dreams and the echoing voices that he hears, but cannot see.
Luckily, Monson finds fast friendship in two of his classmates, Casey and Artorius. Little  does Monson know, they too carry their own skeletons. Yet, as bizarre events start to unfold around them, Monson wonders what secrets lay buried in his mind or if he will ever be able to share his true fears with his newfound friends.
Join our three heroes as they roam the halls of the most prestigious high school in the country, finding love, mystery, and answers to their algebra homework- all while peeling away the layers of Monson's shadowy past.
Support independent authors and the craft that they love by downloading a book and telling a friend. Oh and a good review wouldn't hurt 🙂


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April 17, 2014How do you define which is the right copier model for your office needs? Simple, it depends most of the time on the monthly copy/print volume. So how do you define the copy/print volume for your office? Simple, ask your self "how much paper do I pu ...Read More


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For opening hours, please visit the venue's website.
At the corner of Sherbrooke Street and St-Laurent Boulevard, Hotel (10) is where the worlds of business and entertainment convene. Located less than a mile away from the Palais des congrès de Montréal and the central business district, the property of 136 guestrooms fuses modern and historical design into one distinctively Montréal property. Meeting rooms here are at the forefront of technology and can be arranged in multiple configurations to ensure that gatherings are exposed to a maximum amount of natural light throughout the day.


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Happiness (Self-Care) Workshop
June 13, 2018, 2 p.m. – 3 p.m.
This workshop will cover:
- What is self-care - how can you create your own self-care routine
- Who needs self-care - when do we need to practice it
- Discuss positive psychology techniques. How can we make a conscious choice to look for positive emotions every day
- Psychoeducation on PERMA (Positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning, and accomplishment)
- Discuss tangible strategies we can work on every day to help us find happiness, and how we can find a well rounded perspective of success
This workshop is part of a group activities that will be run from the newly created Zen Den. The Zen Den is housed in Counselling and Psychological Services and offers students access to a calm space on campus when they feel anxious, overwhelmed or simply in the need of emotional containment.
Room 300-22, Guy-De Maisonneuve Building (1550 De Maisonneuve W.), Sir George Williams Campus
Katelyn Ward, M.A.
Workshops & seminars


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Bourbon for Breakfast: New Knob Creek Smoked Maple Bourbon
New brands and bottles you should know.
Bourbon is no stranger to the kitchen—and it's not just that many chefs have a fondness for a few fingers of whiskey after a long day. Bourbon's sweet and spicy flavor profile marries very well with foods from pie to ribs (and even carrots!) But my personal favorite bourbon-flavored treat is the bourbon-barrel aged maple syrup that has been cropping up from a few producers as all things whiskey top the trend lists. The earthiness of the best syrups are a perfect foil to the more bitter, pointed oak notes and spices from the barrel. The only problem with this delicacy is it's a bit tough to drink by the glass. Enter the new Knob Creek Smoked Maple Bourbon...
Produced from the same whiskey stock that goes on to become Knob Creek Bourbon, the Smoked Maple expression is blended with maple and smoke flavors. We tasted it side by side with the flagship Knob Creek 9 year Bourbon to see how it holds up to the original.
The classic Knob Creek 9 Year is bottled at 100 proof, and is definitely a high-octane bourbon. Caramel and maple aromas are up front and center, with a heavy oak influence and dark fruits following behind. The taste begins with those same sweet maple and caramel notes, but it quickly turns more astringent with bitter char and licorice flavors. The finish is long, dry oak. Would this whiskey work with a maple spin?
Bottled with no age statement at 90 proof, the new Knob Creek Smoked Maple is a flavored bourbon that takes its stock pedigree seriously. It's an amplification of the flavors of the original, along with the addition of enough sweetness to round out some of KC's more harsh edges. The scent is all buttered maple, though with a hint of artificiality (think a slightly more understated Mrs. Butterworth's). The smoke is light and subtle (a relief, since added smoke is tricky to do well) and the oak nicely balances the sweetness and smoke. The body of the bourbon, and its spicy vanilla and clove flavor helps to round out the single-note maple that rises to the top of each sip. The finish is quite short and sweet, lacking in any real complexity.
Given the flavor profile of Knob Creek's flagship bottle, the decision to make Smoked Maple makes sense. The flavored whiskey is a perfect gateway drink for soon-to-be bourbon drinkers—and it is the most successful flavored bourbon we've tried to date. Diehard whiskey geeks won't necessarily be won over (they tend to prefer bourbon flavored bourbon), but for the rest of us maple fiends it's an easy investment at around $31 a bottle.
How should you drink it? Mix this stuff into an amazing whiskey and Coke—the maple sweetness plays really nicely off of Coke's crisp bite. It's also divine in a hot toddy, and plays really well in a dessert riff on a Manhattan.
Sample provided for review consideration.
All products linked here have been independently selected by our editors. We may earn a commission on purchases, as described in our affiliate policy.


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|Dover, Mass.
|High School:
|The Winsor School
|House Affiliation:
Senior • 2014
Rowed the third seat with the varsity eight all season, helping the crew to an undefeated regular season and the EAWRC Sprints and IRA Championships titles … CRCA Pocock Lightweight All-American … Named the IRA Crew of the Year … Helped set a new course record at EAWRC Sprints (6:26.536) … Part of the crew that defeated four of the top seven squads at the Lightweight Invitational to overtake the No. 1 spot in the country … Helped break the school record at the Head of the Charles (17:15.232) and finished first overall of collegiate squads.
Junior • 2013
Rowed the fifth seat for the first varsity all season, including five wins and a second-place finish at the IRA National Championship … Part of the boat that won the lightweight eights race at the Head of the Charles (16:58.83), a first for Harvard at the regatta (Oct. 20) … Helped Radcliffe produce the largest margin of victory, 8.259 seconds, in the Eastern Sprints first varsity race since 1996.
Sophomore • 2012
Rowed for the varsity eight all season … Helped the varsity eight take bronze at the IRA National Championships, the first medal the Radcliffe lightweight crew has captured since 2006 … Contributed to third-place finish at the EAWRC Sprint, the lightweight varsity's third straight bronze … Rowed in win over Princeton to reclaim the Class of 1999 Cup for the first time since 2009 … Topped MIT by over 30 seconds in a lightweight crew sweep to take the Muri Cup … Finished third against No. 2 Wisconsin and No. 1 Stanford in the grand final of a six-team regatta on the Charles River … Contributed to win over Georgetown.
Freshman • 2011
Joined the varsity eight late in the season after racing with the second varsity eight four times … Helped the varsity eight place fourth at the IRA National Championships … Raced to third place at the EAWRC Sprints … Helped the second varsity eight to victory over MIT April 30 … Helped the second varsity eight beat Princeton April 30 … Contributed to a second-place finish at the April 17 race, beating Buffalo … Contributed to the victory over Stanford at the April 16 race.
Before Harvard
Graduated with honors from The Winsor School … Member of women's varsity lightweight crew for three years … Team went undefeated in 2009 … Placed ninth in 2008 and eighth in 2009 at Youth Nationals, rowing in the women's lightweight four … Coached and volunteered at the Community Rowing adaptive rowing program.


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News Release 13-171
NSF awards first coastal sustainability grants for research on world's most populated areas
In wake of storms such as Hurricane Sandy, grants will lead to better management of coastal environments
September 27, 2013
This material is available primarily for archival purposes. Telephone numbers or other contact information may be out of date; please see current contact information at media contacts.
More than half the world's human population lived in coastal areas in the year 2000; that number is expected to rise to 75 percent by 2025.
With our large footprint in coastal sands--and in the wake of severe storms such as Hurricane Sandy--how do we co-exist with our coastlines? How do we use them sustainably?
A sustainable world is one in which human needs are met equitably, without sacrificing the ability of future generations to meet their needs. The National Science Foundation (NSF)'s Science, Engineering, and Education for Sustainability investments aim to address this challenge.
NSF's coastal SEES program is focused on the sustainability of coastal systems: the swath of land closely connected to the sea, including barrier islands, wetlands, mudflats, beaches and estuaries, as well as coastal cities, towns, recreational areas and maritime facilities; the continental seas and shelves; and the overlying atmosphere.
NSF's coastal SEES program has funded its first awards for studies of coasts in the U.S. and around the world. The 11 awards total $13.1 million.
Coastal systems are crucial to regional and national economies. They host human-built infrastructure and provide ecosystem services that sustain our well-being, says David Conover, director of NSF's Division of Ocean Sciences.
"We benefit from coastal environments for enjoyment, housing, food, industrial uses and commerce," says Conover. "In the process, however, we alter them physically, chemically and ecologically."
"These changes influence and interact with natural variability, extreme events and long-term directions to affect the system as a whole, including the benefits humans derive."
We need to better comprehend this coupled human-natural system, he says, so we might make better decisions about its future.
Toward that end, NSF's new coastal SEES projects address topics such as developing high-performance green infrastructure to sustain coastal cities; sustainability of the largest estuary in the U.S., Chesapeake Bay; planning for the hydrologic and ecological effects of sea level rise on coastal water resources; brine discharge from desalination plants; achieving sustainable urban estuaries; and the resilience of coral reefs.
2013 Coastal SEES Awards
Patricia Culligan, Columbia University: Coastal SEES (Track 2), Collaborative: Developing high performance green infrastructure systems to sustain coastal cities
Wayne Geyer, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution: Coastal SEES (Track 2), Collaborative: Toward sustainable urban estuaries in the anthropocene
Thomas Fisher, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Sciences: Coastal SEES (Track 2), Collaborative: Improving Chesapeake Bay water quality by creating sustainable coastal watersheds
Andrew Pershing, University of Maine: Coastal SEES (Track 2), Collaborative Research: Resilience and adaptation of a coastal ecological-economic system in response to increasing temperature
Christopher Hein, College of William & Mary Virginia Institute of Marine Science: Coastal SEES (Track I), Collaborative: Sediment Supply in a Regime of Accelerated Coastal Erosion (SedS-RACE): Paleo-perspectives, anthropogenic influences and future challenges
Carl Hershner, College of William & Mary Virginia Institute of Marine Science: Coastal SEES (Track 1), Collaborative: Chesapeake Bay sustainability: Implications of changing climate and shifting management objectives
Sally Holbrook, University of California-Santa Barbara: Coastal SEES (Track 1), Collaborative: Adaptive capacity, resilience, and coral reef state shifts in social-ecological systems
Jonathan Martin, University of Florida: Coastal SEES (Track 1): Planning for hydrologic and ecological impacts of sea level rise on sustainability of coastal water resources
Steven Murawski, University of South Florida: Coastal SEES (Track 1): Novel approaches to understanding human use patterns and mobility for coastal natural resources management
Adina Paytan, University of California-Santa Cruz: Coastal SEES (Track 1): Brine discharge from desalination plants--Impacts on coastal ecology, public perception, and public policy
Tamara Ticktin, University of Hawaii: Coastal SEES (Track 1): Understanding the links between local ecological knowledge, ecosystem services, and community resilience
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Understanding coastal seas: NSF grants offer new insights.
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Runoff from coastal cities poses a threat to their sustainability.
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As storm surge buffers, wetlands play an important role in coastal sustainability.
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NSF coastal SEES researchers will study Gulf of Maine species such as lobsters.
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Fertilizer washing into coastal waters causes surface algae blooms, depleting oxygen below.
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Scientists are studying the effects of dredging on sediment transport in urban estuaries.
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Media Contacts
Cheryl Dybas, NSF, (703) 292-7734, email: email@example.com
Related Websites
NSF's Science, Engineering and Education for Sustainability programs: http://www.nsf.gov/sees
NSF Publication: Discoveries in Sustainability: http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2012/disco12001/disco12001.pdf
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency that supports fundamental research and education across all fields of science and engineering. In fiscal year (FY) 2019, its budget is $8.1 billion. NSF funds reach all 50 states through grants to nearly 2,000 colleges, universities and other institutions. Each year, NSF receives more than 50,000 competitive proposals for funding and makes about 12,000 new funding awards.
Useful NSF Web Sites:
NSF Home Page: https://www.nsf.gov
NSF News: https://www.nsf.gov/news/
For the News Media: https://www.nsf.gov/news/newsroom.jsp
Science and Engineering Statistics: https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/
Awards Searches: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/


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Do your part to help save our parks:
#1 Buy a Discover Pass
If you already have one by one for a friend. http://www.discoverpass.wa.gov/
#2 Email or call your state represtentatives
Ask them to support Senate Bill 5977 and Senate Bill 6387. While you're at it ask them to introduce and/or support a bill to increase the funding for the parks. If you don't live in Washington you can use my address(3305 Allen Ave., Bellingham, WA 98225) to contact my reps and tell them even though you don't live here you come here to use our parks and you don't want to see them deteriorate.
Contact Form for State Reps: http://apps.leg.wa.gov/DistrictFinder/Default.aspx
Writing to all Members of the Senate Energy, Natural Resources, and Marine Waters and the House Environment Committees will help too.
#3 Email the Parks Commissioners
Ask them to discontinue the layoffs and re-instate those who were recently laid off due to the budget cut. Tell them you are contacting your state reps and asking them to increase funding for the parks in order to save jobs and to protect the parks.
#4 share this with your friends!


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Every day we are bombarded by promoters on all things "green." Television, radio, and print advertisements are rife with "green" products and services. Hundreds of items on grocery and general merchandise shelves sport green leaves, green trees and green seals. We hear regularly about Green Building Codes, LEEDS certifications, smart growth, sustainability and new urbanism.
Green cars, green homes, green cities and green toothpaste: The very air around us is suddenly thick and swirling with green terminology, to the point of no escape.
Well, that's not necessarily a bad thing since all of this emanated from the most lofty ideal of saving the planet. Right? Maybe, but let's take a closer look.
For the past quarter-century big business have been up to much mischief in terms of bringing their niche products to market.
For example, a chemical company that invents a strong fiber paper. Too expensive to put in your laser printer. But wait a second, how about wrapping homes with it and calling it an "air infiltration barrier?" Now that could be sold as an energy saver. Less energy to heat or cool the home means less "carbon" emissions, so we save money and the planet; and less dependence on foreign oil means it also speaks to national security.
From that point, huge dollars could be committed for advertising campaigns to target builders. But it's much more effective to spend the money on lobbyists. Target No. 1 will be Congress — if the product can be mandated for use, the marketing campaign is a complete success. Target No. 2 will be the building industry regulators. Again, shoot for mandates. Target No. 3? Our higher learning institutions.
Big manufacturing and big chemical have courted their favorite local universities for many years. Millions of dollars have poured in to build campus facilities and underwrite endowments, special scholarships, internships and even tenured chairs. These companies sit on the university and college boards, influence curricula, and, they teach. Today, there are no graduates in civil engineering, agriculture, surveying, urban planning, product design, etc., that have not been influenced. Viola, our seas have turned to green.
Even so, many will view this as the rightful education of our young professionals in the latest technological advancements. I'm all about that, but with eyes wide open.
The "greening" of America is big business; to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars a year. It is rapidly growing and will continue to expand market share into the foreseeable future — even though their offerings usually cost more and often don't live up to the hype. One executive likens it to the cell phone phenomenon: They cost a fortune in the early days but soon became affordable as demand and technology advanced.
Maybe it was also due to government deregulation of the phone industry. When the government gets out of the way the free market can do its thing. Now that's something truly sustainable.
The green revolution will be with us for awhile, but it's not all about saving the planet. Much has to do with the color of money.
Michael J. Raymond writes from a conservative viewpoint every Sunday. Barbara Kelly writes from the other side of the aisle on Wednesdays.


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Item Description
Letter, Ellen D. G. [Goodnow] to My Dear Husband [Isaac Goodnow]
Author: Goodnow, Ellen
Date: August 16, 1859
Ellen Goodnow wrote from Manhattan, Kansas Territory, to her husband, Isaac, who was traveling on the East coast. Ellen updated him on the progress of Bluemont College's construction, and suggested that they move into the school building temporarily to keep watch over loose supplies ("anything moveable is in danger"), especially doors and windows. She recounted an incident in which a housemate's accident left him with a deep headwound and included details of the treatment. Goodnow also listed more supplies that she needed from the East, gave Isaac clothing suggestions to keep healthy, and expressed her fatigue at running the household without him.
Location of Original: KSHS Call Number: Isaac Goodnow Collection, #357, Box 2 Folder 8
Item Number: 102397 Number of images: 4
Keywords: Bluemont Central College; Construction; Denison, Joseph; Domestics; Goodnow, Ellen; Goodnow, Isaac T., 1814-1894; Health; Manhattan, Kansas Territory; Marlott, Washington; Medicine; Riley County, Kansas Territory; School buildings; Wounds and injuries
pg. 1
pg. 2
pg. 3
pg. 4


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I am looking for an explanation about the idea of "operator mixing" and its associated concept about when anomalous dimension has to be thought of as a matrix.
For example this idea is slightly touched upon in this article though the link to anomalous dimension doesn't lead anywhere. Here they just introduce this notation of $\gamma_{kl}$ and leave it unexplained and undefined.
For some of its aspects that I want to learn about let me refer to this article. I would like to understand the meaning and derivation of the equation $12$ (..that thing called $\gamma_{\phi ^2 I}$..) in the beginning of the section "Perturbative Examples" (bottom of page 5) and the argument at the top of page $7$ and equation $18$.
{...also I would like to know if this is known by some other name since I was a bit surprised to not find these two concepts in various standard QFT books like even in Weinberg's!..}


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Giedre Trahan
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Top of the Charts: Michael Jackson's "Thriller"
On February 26, 1983, Michael Jackson's Thriller hit Number One on the Billboard 200 chart.
The 1982 release was revolutionary, a watershed moment in the history of rock and roll. It earned a record-breaking number of Grammy awards, sold in record numbers, resulted in music videos that changed promotional possibilities, broke down racial barriers and left a legacy of influence that continues to this day.
Thriller was recorded with a production budget of $750,000 in 1982 and was produced by 2013 Hall of Fame Inductee Quincy Jones. Jackson and Jones combed through more than 700 demos – some Jackson had committed to a voice recorder – to find songs for his new album, eventually settling on a handful of tracks that included Jackson originals "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'," "The Girl is Mine," "Billie Jean" and "Beat It." All four of the songs that Jackson composed were reflections of both personal and social issues surrounding the "King of Pop": In "Billie Jean," Jackson speaks about an obsessive fan who alleges that Jackson has fathered a child with her; "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" was a rebuttal against gossip surrounding his life and the media; "The Girl is Mine,"was a song about interracial love; and "Beat It" was an anti–gang violence masterpiece that was Jackson's first successful rock-cross over. All four songs reached the Top 10 on the Billboard charts.
The album remained in the Top 10 of the Billboard 200 chart for a full year, and it spent 37 weeks at the Number One spot – more than any other Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductee (Fleetwood Mac's Rumours spent 31 weeks). Thriller was released on November 30, 1982, and in a little over a year had become – and still remains – the best-selling album of all time. It is estimated that Thriller has sold between 65 and 110 million copies, worldwide. Thriller also won eight Grammys in 1984, including Best Pop Male Performance, Best Rock Male Performance, Record of the Year and Album of the Year. The album also won Jackson eight American Music Awards and three MTV Video Music Awards.
The video created for the title track, written by Rod Temperton, is among the most influential music videos of all time. The idea to create a music video for this song came in the summer of 1983, when the album's sales began to decline. Jackson's manager at the time, Frank DiLeo came up the idea to create a video for the title track of the album to reinvigorate sales, telling Jackson, "It's simple – all you've got to do is dance, sing and make it scary." The nearly 14-minute video was directed by John Landis (who had previously directed such films as Animal House and The Blues Brothers), who also co-wrote the screenplay with Jackson. "My idea was to make this short film with conversation… in the beginning – I like having a beginning and a middle and an ending, which would follow a story," explained Jackson. "I'm very much involved in the complete making and creating of the piece. It has to be, you know, my soul." The video starred Jackson, actress Ola Ray, noted actor Vincent Price (who supplied voiceover for the album recording) and a host of dancing zombies.
In addition to "Thriller," videos for "Billie Jean" and "Beat It" received regular rotation on MTV. At the time, Jackson's blending of film and music to create an entertaining story helped usher in more MTV airplay featuring African-American artists. Jackson effectively shifted the perspective of the video channel, broadening the mix from a more straightforward focus on pop music and opening the doors for other black artists to utilize music videos as a wildly effective promotional tool.
Jackson was one of a kind, and his music and legacy will live on, according to friend Steven Spielberg: "Just as there will never be another Fred Astaire or Chuck Berry or Elvis Presley, there will never be anyone comparable to Michael Jackson – his talent, his wonderment and his mystery will make him a legend."
Michael Jackson was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist in 2001 and is among the artists featured in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland's Legends of Rock exhibit.


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Without Them, Cinema Would Still Be A Boring Place/
Roger Corman and John Waters may well be the two people most responsible for cinema a gloriously odd and twisted place. It becomes more challenging than ever to create work that is outside of my mind -- we all regurgitate the work that comes before us, but these two have developed far more than their share of wonderfully WTF moments. I wish I could have been there to hear them speak with each other about LSD, Jack Nicholson, Fellini,and all things movie. But hey, YouTube delivers us there without the hassle of travel.


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Carver Bikes Ti 420 Frame w/ FD mount, M
With the advent of all-mountain 29er hardtails like the Kona Honzo and the Canfield Nimble Nine, the Ti 420 represents the culmination of the short-chainstay frame style. Ti softens the blows and drops the weight, while 420mm chainstays ensure snappy handling. Anodized black or bare sliding aluminum dropout inserts are available in either geared (with derailleur hanger) or singlespeed versions with 74mm Post Mount disc tabs. A 12x142 option is available now, as well.
Normally, chainstays this short force a bend in the seattube, eliminating the ability to use a clamp-on front derailleur. They also reduce crank and tire clearance, a big no-no for all-mountain riding. With the use of a CNC'd plate on the chainstay, the 420 can afford the crank clearance for a triple crank, and the frame will accept a direct mount front derailleur. With room for a high-volume 29x2.35'' tire on a 23mm rim, you won't have to hear the buzz when cornering at 20mph. A tapered 1-1/8'' to 1.5'' headtube allows the use of your tapered fork, and with a 44mm/56mm ID, you can run zero-stack headset cups on both the top and bottom.
We're offering a full size run of the Ti 420, including 14'', 16'', 17'', 18'', 19'', 20'', and 22'' offerings. Frame weights without sliders are as follows: 13'' = 3.32 pounds; 14'' = 3.44 pounds; 16'' = 3.46 pounds; 17'' 3.68 pounds; 18'' 3.74 pounds; 19'' = 3.78 pounds; 20'' = 3.9 pounds; 22'' = 4.1 pounds.
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Manufacturer: Carver Bikes
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Model: Carver Bikes Ti 420 Frame
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Pima (pē´mə), Native North American tribe of S Arizona. They speak the Pima language of the Uto-Aztecan branch of the Aztec-Tanoan linguistic family (see Native American languages). There are two divisions, the Lower Pima and the Upper Pima. Before the mission period, the Pima and the Tohono O'Odham, who spoke variations of the same language, called themselves the People—River People (Akimel O'Odham, the Pima) and Desert People (Tohono O'Odham). Archaeological evidence shows their probable ancestors to have been the Hohokam, who built a network of irrigation canals for farming. Many of the ruined pueblos in the Pima territory have been attributed to an ancient Pueblo tribe. Tradition further states that increased population caused the Pima to spread over a larger territory, but invading hostile tribes (probably Apache) forced them to consolidate. Thus in 1697, when visited by Father Eusebio Kino, the Pima were living on the Gila River in S central Arizona.
Although the Pima were warlike toward the Apache, they were friendly to the Spanish and later to the pioneers from the E United States; the Pima villages were a stopping place for pioneers who took the southern route to California. The Pima were sedentary farmers of the Southwest area; they farmed corn, squash, beans, cotton, and wheat (introduced by the Spanish). They lived in dome-shaped huts built of poles and covered with mud and brush. Women performed much of the labor, including basket making; their baskets are noted for their beauty. The Pima were expert with the bow and arrow and had war clubs and rawhide shields. The Pima numbered some 2,500 in 1775, but their population was increased when the Maricopa joined them in the early 19th cent. The Pima now live, together with the Maricopa, on the Gila River and Salt River reservations and, with the Tohono O'Odham, on the Ak-Chin reservation, all in Arizona. They earn their income from agriculture, crafts, and leasing land for mineral development. In 1990 there were over 15,000 Pima in the United States.
See P. H. Ezell, The Hispanic Acculturation of the Gila River Pimas (1961).


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Add Images to a Course
To Add Images to an Item
- In the item's toolbar view, click the expand icon in the upper right corner of the text editor (see image of this button, right)
- In the item's toolbar view, click the image icon (see image, right)
- On the window that pops up, you have 3 options:
Option 1: Browse My Computer
If the image is on your computer, click this option and:
- Browse to, and select, the image and click "open"
- Enter the "Alt Text" (an image title or a brief description for visually impaired users)
- If you want the image to be an active link to a webpage, paste in the URL to be targeted
- If the image is quite large, you may want to enter a pixel width such as 400. Blackboard will downsize the image proportionally
- Click Submit
Option 2: Browse Course
If you have already uploaded the image file to the files area (read more about the files area here), choose this option and:
- Place a checkmark to the left of the image file (you may preview the image by clicking on the image name)
- Follow the same steps as above
Option 3: Source URL
Note: these instructions apply if the image is on your zoo space or website:
- You'll need to capture the URL of the image itself (Note: this is not going to be the same address of the page where the image appears.) To do this, open a browser window and go to the web page where the image appears, RIGHT CLICK on the image and choose"Copy Image Location" (in Firefox) or Copy Image URL. This will put the URL (the image path) on your clipboard and you can paste this into the "Source URL" field of the Blackboard image form
- Note: Some browsers may not have Copy Image Location as an option. You may need to click "View Image" to isolate the image, and then copy that URL from the address bar.
- Click Submit
To Add an Image Directly to a Content Area
Under "Build Content," choose Image, and follow the directions.


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"All my life I've been sick and tired. Now I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired." - Fannie Lou Hamer, Civil Rights Activist
Some people get tired of fighting for what they believe in and give up. Others get tired, get angry, and fight harder. Fannie Lou Hamer would be in that second, much rarer group of extraordinary people. She spoke her mind, including the words in the above quote, during her fight for voting rights and political equality in the Deep South during the 1960s. She was jailed, beaten, slandered but still kept marching forward in the quest for basic rights for African Americans. After nearly a decade of political activism which often landed her in the spotlight, she remained active in a slightly quieter way as she pursued many grassroots endeavors regarding nutrition and food justice in economically vulnerable areas. Hamer started a "pig bank" in 1968 which provided local families with the opportunity to 'borrow' a pregnant gilt and then raise the piglets for food. About 300 families benefited from the program. The Freedom Farm Co-op was started in Sunflower County, Mississippi in 1969 and by 1972 was providing local families with approximately 70 acres worth of fresh produce. Hamer was also active in the Head Start program which provided education, health, and nutrition services to low-income children and their families.
As the food justice movement strengthens, expands, and is certainly challenged along the way, we can look at the life and work of Fannie Lou Hamer as inspiration to keep fighting for what we believe in, as sick and tired of the obstacles as we may become.
In honor of Hamer and her fight for food justice, Project New Village in Southeastern San Diego is holding a legacy luncheon on Thursday October 4, 11:30am – 1:30pm at the Bethel Baptist Church Campus (1962 Euclid Avenue San Diego, CA 92105)


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Date: 2011-07-08 (Friday) - 2011-07-09 (Saturday)
Venue: ZAS, Berlin
Organization: Manfred Krifka, Rainer Ludwig, Mathias Schenner
Any theory of the syntax/semantics interface has to deal with cases of apparent mismatches between the syntactic structure of a construction and its semantic interpretation. One type of these mismatches are so-called "reconstruction" effects which involve syntactic surface structures of the form [... X ... [ ... Y ... ]], where X c-commands Y, but in interpretation X depends on Y. There are two major strategies to deal with these cases: One is to enrich the syntactic component of the grammar (e.g. by assuming a separate level of syntactic representation, typically called "Logical Form", as the input to semantic interpretation). The other is to enrich the semantic component to make it deliver correct interpretations for surface syntactic structures (e.g. by assuming type-shifting operations on meanings).
This workshop aims to bring together researchers from both traditions in order to compare ideas and analyses developed in different theoretical frameworks. The empirical focus on reconstruction effects, especially those arising in relative clauses, serves to provide a common set of data against which different theories and frameworks are to be evaluated.
Reconstruction effects in relative clauses provide an interesting point of comparison because they are challenging for both theoretical approaches, albeit in different ways. Two prominent groups of reconstruction effects are scope reconstruction and reconstruction for Binding Theory. One instance of the former involves cases of semantic binding where the bindee is not in the c-command domain of the binder in the surface syntactic structure. This is illustrated in (1) (from Jacobson (2002)), where a quantified expression inside a relative clause apparently binds a pronoun in the external head of the relative clause. Another example that concerns the interaction of multiple scope-bearing elements is given in (2) (from Bhatt (2002)), where the superlative operator in the relative head can scope above or below "John said". This has been taken as evidence for a syntactic account of reconstruction that allows to interpret a copy of the relative head in any of the positions generated by successive cyclic head raising. However, alternative analyses have been developed and this conference aims to compare and evaluate their advantages and disadvantages.
(1) The [relative of his₁]₂ [that every man₁ likes _₂ the most] is his₁ mother
(2) The [longest book]₁ [_₁ that John said [_₁ that Tolstoy wrote _₁]] is "War and Peace"
Extended workshop description: pdf


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App Review: Paper Toss: World Tour by Backflip Studios
by Dorothy on
August 13, 2009
Filed under Daily App Reviews, Entertainment, Games, Kids
Paper Toss: World Tour is a simple yet addicting game from the makers of Ragdoll Blaster. If time wasting is your thing, have I got an app for you. The idea is simple, toss a wad of paper into a bin. Then, do it again and again. See how many shots you can make in a row. When you get three shots in a row, you unlock the next level of the game.
The levels are all essentially the same with a few differences. As you progress through the levels, the basket that you are trying to toss the paper wad into moves farther away. The levels also each feature a different background picture meant to reflect a different part of the world. Thus, the world tour in the title.
Paper Toss: World Tour would be a pretty boring game if every toss were the same. Flicking the paper wad at the same spot on the screen over and over would get old fast. However, there is always a cross wind to contend with. For each shot that you make, there is an arrow with a number displayed on the screen, giving you wind direction and speed. You have to adjust the angle of each shot to make it into the basket. The changes in wind speed and direction add variety and challenge to the game.
Paper Toss: World Tour is a great way to kill time now and again or just zone out after a long day at the office. Watch out, though, you may become addicted as you try to beat your high score. Nothing makes you want to play again more than almost beating your all time record.
Developer's Website: http://www.backflipstudios.com/papertoss_wt/


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Canastota's Great Swamp Conservancy Halloween fun continues Sunday
CANASTOTA - Children will have a blast at the Halloween fun days hosted by the Great Swamp Conservancy Sunday.
The park will be open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and will host several displays, games and crafts for kids to enjoy.
Kids will be able to meet the Good Witch, who will brew up a special surprise for each of them. They get to meet Old McDonald and walk around a frog pond and through a bird sanctuary.
They can even go to the pumpkin patch and meet the Great Pumpkin himself.
In addition to those displays, kids will get to crawl through the giant worm and the bat cave, or ride on a tractor-drawn wagon.
The conservancy will have games set up as well, including face painting, a coloring contest, dunk-a-pumpkin, ring toss, beanbag toss and splatball.
Kids can also enjoy a sandbox full of corn and refreshments can be purchased at the Ladybug Cafe.
A piñata will be drawn up every hour on the hour and Halloween storytelling will happen ever hour on the half hour. Every child who appears in costume will receive a trick-or-treat prize.
Child admission is $3.


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We're not gonna lie -- it took some work to get this scone recipe juuust right. (Scones are tricky!) But the delicious results make our latest recipe WELL worth it. Enjoy! Ingredients: Scones 1/3 cup light whipped butter or light buttery spread (like Brummel & Brown) 1 cup whole-wheat flour 1/4 cup old-fashioned oats 1/3 cup Splenda No Calorie Sweetener (granulated) 2 tsp. baking powder 1/2 tsp. cinnamon 1/4 tsp. pumpkin pie spice 1/8 tsp. salt 2/3 cup canned pure pumpkin 3 tbsp. low-fat buttermilk Icing 1 tsp. cornstarch 1 1/2 tsp. Splenda No Calorie Sweetener (granulated) 1 tsp. powdered sugar 1 dash cinnamon 1 drop maple extract 1 tbsp. Jet-Puffed Marshmallow Creme 1 tbsp. Cool Whip Free (thawed) Directions: Spread butter into a 1/4-inch-thick layer on a piece of parchment paper or aluminum foil. (If needed, let it come to room temperature so it's easily spreadable.) Freeze until solid, at least 3 hours. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a baking sheet with nonstick spray. To make the scones, in a large bowl, combine flour, oats, Splenda, baking powder, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, and salt. Mix well. Cut frozen butter into very small cubes. Using two forks, quickly and thoroughly mash butter into the flour mixture, until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add pumpkin and buttermilk, and stir until uniform. Form dough into a circle on the baking sheet, about 6 inches in diameter and 1 1/2 inches thick. Evenly slice into 6 wedges, but don't separate the wedges. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of a scone comes out clean, 12 - 14 minutes. Let cool completely. Meanwhile, to make the icing, in a small microwave-safe bowl, combine cornstarch with 1 1/2 tsp. cold water, and stir to dissolve. Add Splenda, powdered sugar, cinnamon, and maple extract. Mix well. Add marshmallow creme and microwave for 5 seconds, or until softened. Stir until smooth. Stir in Cool Whip, cover, and refrigerate. Once scones have cooled, separate wedges, and drizzle with icing. Serve and enjoy! MAKES 6 SERVINGS
Serving Size: 1 scone (1/6th of recipe) Calories: 155 Fat: 5g Sodium: 296mg Carbs: 23.5g Fiber: 4g Sugars: 3g Protein: 3.5g PointsPlus® value 4*
HG Alternative: Swap out the Splenda for the same amount of granulated white sugar, and each scone will have 196 calories, 34g carbs, and 15g sugars (PointsPlus® value 5*).
The scone is a bit of a food faker. It usually isn't overly sweet or dessert-like. It's typically baked, not fried. Its size is innocent enough. But this breakfast treat is often LOADED with way too many calories and fat grams. All of the usual suspects are here in abundance: gobs of butter, piles of sugar, tons of flour... Just LOOK at the stats below! Still, there's something VERY enticing about the beauteous baked goodie. Especially when it's infused with pumpkin flavor and topped with sweet icing! Luckily, we've got a TERRIFIC recipe for guilt-free pumpkin scones. And yes, our scones have schmancy icing too. So don't get sucked in by conventional versions. DIY!
Serving Size: 1 scone Calories: 454 Fat: 15g Sodium: 345mg Carbs: 70g Fiber: 2g Sugars: 32g Protein: 8g PointsPlus® value 12*
It's time to SHARE! Click "Send to a Friend" to pass along this recipe to all the deserving humans in your life...
What's that? It's National Peanut Butter Fudge Day, November 20th? To the Dreamy Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge recipe!
SmartPoints® value not what you expected? Click here for more info on how the values are calculated, plus more FAQs about PointsPlus® and SmartPoints® values on our website.