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Nissan Altima Lease Questions
in Nissan
Hi everyone. Please use the following discussion to post any questions that you have about leasing a Nissan Altima. Thanks.
Smart Shopper / Prices Paid Forums
Smart Shopper / Prices Paid Forums
kevhollywood Posts: 12Wow, not a very popular forum. Hey Car_man. What's the current lease program on a 2006 Altima 3.5 SE? Thanks.0
I'm surprised that there haven't been more posts about leasing the Nissan Altima as well, kevhollywood. Perhaps this discussion is a little less popular than it would normally be because it fell to the second page of the Prices Paid forum. I would be happy to give you an idea of what this car's lease program is currently like. You never mentioned how long you want to lease it for or how many miles per year you need to be able to drive it, so for now I will assume that we are talking about a 36 month lease with 15,000 miles per year. Let me know if you would like info for another term or mileage allowance. If you were to lease a 2006 Nissan Altima 3.5 SE through Nissan Motor Acceptance Corp. right now for 36 months with 15,000 miles per year, its buy rate lease money factor and residual value should be .00130 and 56%, respectively.
Smart Shopper / Prices Paid Forums0
Hello again! Your advice in the past helped me get an unbelievable deal on a 2005 BMW 545, now I'm looking for a car for my sister. She wants a 2006 Altima 3.5 SL looking for purchase or 36 month lease with 12k per year. MSRP is $27,905.00.
italia10 Posts: 10Car_Man,
Your past advice has helped me and other friends/relatives negotiate the best deals on several cars. I am now looking for the best incentives out there for the Nissan Altima. I've been quoted $260/month on a 2.5S w/spec edition (msrp of ~$22000) and $2000 down (includes all fees). Is this a good deal?
Are there any other similar cars with deals in the $250-$275/month ballpark?
Thanks as usual!!0
What would the money factor and residual be on a 2006 Altima 3.5 SL 36 and 39 month with 12k per year?
wdhayden Posts: 4I posted this a week ago or so on another board. May help some folks here as well.
Just agreed on the car, here are the details. Use these numbers any way
you would like.
Dealer: Arch Abraham Nissan in Elyria, OH
2006 Altima 2.5 S Series - Automatic
Added options: ABS Package, Splash Gaurds, Floor Mats.
42 Month lease with 15K miles per year.
MSRP: $21,695 (Includes destination fee)
Invoice: $20,222 (Includes destination fee)
Price Paid for Car: $20636.32 (Includes destination fee)
Taxes: $792.46 (All taxes paid up front, Ohio Law)
License Fees: $140.50
Acquisition Fee: $550.00
Commission $100.00 (I think this is B.S, but didn't want to haggle
Residual: $11702 (54%)
Money Factor: .00196
Money Down: $0 (nothing down out the door, first payment in 30 days)
Payment: $314 Per month (If I understand correctly, I only pay 41
monthly payments)
No Trade in.
My experience:
(Everything is 42 months 15K)
We went to Honda, VW, Toyota, and Nissan. Nissan started at $339 per
month for a S Series car without the ABS package, zero down. We went to
Honda, they gave us a quote of $291 per month with $550 down for their
2006 Accord LX. Toyota was $365 for their 2006 Camry LE, zero down.. VW
was at #378 for their 2005 Jetta 2.5 package #1, zero down.
We went to the Nissan dealer Saturday and he told us we could test
drive the car until Sunday. We put about 100 miles on it. We turned it in
Sunday and then went to the other dealers. We liked the Accord and
Altima the most. We decided we would go with the best deal, but maybe pay a
little extra for the Altima because we liked the styling inside much
We went back to the Nissan dealer on Monday night and told them they
had to match the offer we had for the Honda Accord and add in the ABS
package. He told me the best they could do was $299 a month. He gave me
all of the numbers and I told him that we would think about it and come
back Tuesday. We arrived Tuesday and told him that we didn't want to put
any money down and that we wanted the car. He put a hold on the car we
wanted because it was at another dealer. We will be picking it up
Hope this helps,
Hello again Frank. I am glad that I was able to help you out in the past. Let's see if I can do so again. If your sister was to lease a 2006 Nissan Altima 3.5 SL through Nissan Motor Acceptance Corp. right now for 36 months with 12,000 miles per year, its buy rate lease money factor and residual value should be .00115 and 59%, respectively. A base '06 Altima 3.5 SL has a spread of around $2,000 between its full MSRP and invoice prices, so for now let's assume that your sister is able to get a $1,500 discount on this car for the purpose of calculating a lease payment on it. Using the aforementioned lease program, an MSRP of $27,905, and a selling price of $26,405, I estimate that this car should have a zero down, pre-tax monthly payment of around $326. If your sister ends up paying more for this car her lease payment will be higher, and vice versa. You may want to stop by the following discussion to see how much other community members have paid for similar cars lately: "Nissan Altima: Prices Paid & Buying Experience".
Smart Shopper / Prices Paid Forums0
Welcome back italia10. You never mentioned the selling price or MSRP of the car that you are interested in leasing. These are important numbers for you as a consumer to know for two reasons. First, the selling prices of leased vehicles can be negotiated, just as if you were paying cash for them. Without knowing this car's selling price in relation to its MSRP you don't know how much of a discount you are getting on it. The second reason is that one needs the selling price and MSRP, including the destination charge, of a vehicle to calculate its lease payment. I would be more than happy to give you my opinion on this deal if you let me know what these numbers are.
As far as other cars that probably have similar lease payments to the Altima, take a look at the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord.
Smart Shopper / Prices Paid Forums0
Thanks for taking the time to post such a detailed description of your recent lease experience, Bill.
Smart Shopper / Prices Paid Forums0
andreyd Posts: 3looking to buy this in the next week to a month or so, depending on how things go and what kinda deals i can find.
im looking into the 3.5 SE with the sports option (sunroof and spoiler). the msrp for it is $26005 and the invoice comes out to $24025. from all the research i've been doing there seems to be a $1000 cash back on all altimas until the 31st of this month and a 3% apr (are these two combined, meaning i can get the 1000 back and get the low interest on the lease?). what kind of a lease am i looking at here for 36 months and 15K with no money down? from the calculations i did on the site it comes out to around ~$330 (depending on 12k vs 15k it varies up and down).
when i go to the dealership should i try to get the price down below invoice, or is getting invoice good enough on it's own? i understand that the rebate comes off on top of the invoice, but say there was no rebate involved, should i push to get invoice or below, is that reasonable?
basically trying to get the most for my money here, thanks for any info!
also are there any other deals coming out for after oct 31st? wondering if i should hurry on this and try to get in on the current promotions or if something else is going to come out after this is done.0
Can you please detail the 36 month, 15K program for an Altima 2.5 and 3.5 SL? tier 1+ credit. Thanks again, and thank you for your past and continued help!0
Follup up to above post, here is the deal I've been offered:
2006 Altima 3.5SL
$338/month + tax - zero down
36month/15K per year
Residual 57%
With splash guards, sunroof wind deflector, and full floor mat set. Includes acq fee and waived security deposit since I already lease an M45.
I'm not complaining, but I keep running the calcs and don't see how he can offer this to me but I must be missing something, because given those variables and using .0014MF I keep coming up with $358/month. He states he is making $200 over COG (maybe including holdback???) AND including first 2 years of oil changes (up to 8!)0
b22squared Posts: 6hi car man,
I'm interested in the residual values/money factors for an 06 Altimae 3.5SE automatic. 15k/mile lease and would appreciate the numbers for 36/39/48 month leases. Thanks a lot. If you need an invoice price, you could use 23k.
By the way, is there a website where we can get updated residual values/money factors or do you rely on inside sources or use reverse calculations? Thanks again!0
I had posted on the Maxima board for factors but I'm still undecided as to go for the Maxima or the Altima. Can you also please provide me with the money factor and residual for November for a 2006 Altima 2.5 SL w/o Navigation for both 24 & 36 months with 15K miles per year.
Thanks again for your help0
Hello andreyd. Consumers are not allowed to combine the customer cash that is currently available on the 2006 Nissan Altima with its special financing or lease programs. Also, Nissan's lease money factors (the interest rate that is used to calculate its lease payments) are different than its special finance rates. I would be happy to estimate what this car's lease payment should be like for you using its current lease program. According to my calculations, if you were to lease a 2006 Nissan Altima 3.5 SE with an MSRP of $26,005 and a selling price of $24,525 ($500 over invoice) through Nissan Motor Acceptance Corp. right now for 36 months with 15,000 miles per year, its zero down, pre-tax monthly payment should be around $315. I'd say that $500 over is a reasonable price for this car right now.
Smart Shopper / Prices Paid Forums0
I'd be happy to help you out, sdiver68. If you were to lease a 2006 Nissan Altima 2.5 S through Nissan Motor Acceptance Corp. right now for 36 months with 15,000 miles per year, its buy rate lease money factor and residual value should be .00078 and 57%, respectively. The numbers for an otherwise identical lease of a 2006 Altima 3.5 SL should be exactly the same.
Smart Shopper / Prices Paid Forums0
Sdiver68, $200 over dealer invoice is a good deal on this car. I would be happy to calculate a lease payment on this truck using Nissan's current lease program for you so that we can compare what I come up with to the payment that you were quoted, however in order for me to do so I need you to tell me its exact MSRP and selling price.
Smart Shopper / Prices Paid Forums0
Here's the information that you're looking for, b22squared. If you were to lease a 2006 Nissan Altima 3.5 SE through NMAC right now for 36 months with 15,000 miles per year, its buy rate lease money factor and residual value should be .00078 and 55%. The numbers for an otherwise identical 39 month lease should be .00090 and 54%. The numbers for an otherwise identical 48 month lease should be .00082 and 45%. Unfortunately, I am not personally aware of any source that provides this sort of information to the general public.
Smart Shopper / Prices Paid Forums0
Hey andy2812. If you were to lease a 2006 Nissan Altima 2.5 SL through NMAC right now for 24 months with 15,000 mils per year, its buy rate lease money factor and residual value should be .00078 and 64%, respectively. The numbers for an otherwise identical 36 month lease should be .00078 and 55%.
Smart Shopper / Prices Paid Forums0
Thanks so much for your help. It's greatly appreciated.
One other question: On the CarsDirect website it shows a customer rebate of 1,250 on both the Altima and Maxima. Will this rebate also be available to lower the cap cost for a lease?
Car man,
Have been reading your forums on the Acura TSX & Altima for some time and I'm ready to pull the trigger. Here are the details of the deal!
Altima 3.5L $27,300 MSRP plus mat and splash guards and $605 destination charge. Total MSRP $28,195. I'm getting it at invoive of $26,070 less $1250 rebate. Total purchase price is $24820.
I'm putting $2500 down and paying tax and title up front.
Lease term is 36 months and they are giving me a residual value of $16,353. 15,000 miles per year!
Once I strike the deal I'm turning it over to my CFO as it's going to be a company car.
Any thoughts or insights you may have before I jump would be much appreciated
car man,
Can't get the $1250 rebate so cost is $26,219.
otoluva Posts: 167Just signed the papers, taking delivery Monday morning.
06 2.5 SL dark Blue/ Blond leather, every single option Nissan offers except nav.
Sticker $27165
Selling price $24900
36 month/15k miles a year $2500 down $255 a month.
The car is for my wife and she is excided especially with the Sirius radio.
For Folks looking to refresh their marriage, buy her a new car, trust me0
carguy8532 Posts: 7Carman,
I'm part of the Nissan VPP program and before I go to the dealership and get hassled I want to know how low payments would be on a 06 Altima 3.5SL with a sticker price of $28,065. The invoice on the car is $25,972. VPP says I get a 2.87% deduction under invoice but have to pay a 2.5% delivery fee?.. From what I worked out the car would end up being $24606 after VPP and incentives. I want to lease the car for 24months with 15000 miles per year and put $6000 down so I have payments as low as possible. Can you let me know what ballpark I'm in here? Thanks a lot!0
allencali Posts: 11Hi Car_Man:
Thanks for being here, looking to lease a 06 Altima 2.5 S Special Edition package, MSRP $21500, 12000 miles/year 36 or 39 months can you please help me with residual value and money factor through Nissan Acceptance?
Also do you know if they have any program for less mileage like 10K/year?
georgiman1 Posts: 2I was hoping someone could help me out. I'm looking to lease a 2006 SE-R that has an MSRP of $31,660 in NY. I have not negotiated a selling price yet so I was looking for some help. What is the invoice price on this car and what can I expect as a selling price/residual/money factor? I would like to lease the car for 39 months with 17,500 mi/year and about $3500 up front. What should I expect ballpark as a monthly lease payment? Thanks!!0
czr Posts: 7Here is the deal we just got for a 12k miles per year lease on a 2006 2.5 S with special edition package:
$2500 down total
$219 a month for 39 months
This includes all tax, tags, fees. I think this beats the advertised Nissan lease special b/c this deal includes all dealer fees, taxes, tags, etc.
We might have done a tad better but this we were short on time and this was the FIRST dealership with only 5 hours logged on.
Hope this helps.0
I'd like to jump in and hope you can answer. Am considering a 36- or 39- month lease on a 2006 Altima S model. Want AC, automatic, cd as only really important "options." Have a '96 Altima now in bad shape as trade in, 150,000+ miles. Looking to put down as little as possible but keep payments to close to $200 a month. Is residual value based on MSRP (my assumption) or net capitalized cost?
I've done all my Edmunds (and other source) research and am hoping scenario is possible. Also...what can I expect my "lease inception fees (including registration, title, tage, etc.) to be? I'm trying to have as few surprises as possible.
Can I also expect a money factor in the .00078-00090 range and a residual value in the 55-54% range, depending upon # of months with lease?
Thanks for anybody's response. And Happy Thanksgiving!0
Forgot to mention....would like the 15,000 mile per year option rather than 12,000. How much more per month should the lease be?0
I guess I should have included all my questions in one post, but one more question came up: If I do get stuck with some fees (license, tag, title, etc.), are they out of pocket when I sign the lease...or are they typically worked into the monthly payment schedule? Thanks, Tom0
This discussion has been closed.


text:
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Big Win! Homer Derby! Everybody's happy, right?
It's easy to discount last night's offensive explosion since it came off Carl Pavano, who is only marginally more effective than putting a tee over home plate. Still, a win's a win and if you're one of those who still ponders the imponderable (Playoffs!!!1?), then we're going to need to take advantage of every sucky pitcher that gets thrown out against you.
Speaking of sucking
Here's a mild suggestion to big time slugger Vernon Wells: When you are having a sucktastic season and your contract is the albatross that is yoked around this franchise's neck, then maybe you should consider scaling back on the kiss-the-fingers-point-to the-sky routine when you cross home plate after hitting a rare home run. Just sayin'.
Elsewhere in home run celebrations
Marco Scutaro can keep kissing his bat all he wants.
Not that we want to talk about The Trade That May or May Not Be, but...
Has anyone noticed how Halladay seems to be one of the first people up to congratulate the starter after he comes out of the game? Maybe this is something that he has always done, but we've just noticed it in the past week or so. What does it all mean?
And furthermore on The Trade That May or May Not Be, which we prefer not to discuss
We saw J.P. on Jim Rome is Burning, and what we can read from that interview is the following: We still don't like Jim Rome. That dude has not changed at all in the five years since we stopped listening to him. Same hair, same douchey goatee. We're assuming that "clones" have still got to "have a take" and "not suck" or they "will get run". Or, they can string together a few stolen jokes and fratboy cheap shots for an "epic!" take, and get "racked". So we probably haven't missed a thing.
Coming soon
We'll throw a game thread up before today's game for those of you who like that sort of thing, and we're plugging away on a couple of historical trade deadline posts that we hope to be able to get done before tomorrow. Stay tuned.
9 comments:
All right about the trade. Is it just me or are the Jays just willing to let Doc walk for nothing at the end of next season. I got a this really bad gut feeling that they are.
If that's the case then I have to say I think we need to make another kick at the can for the playoffs next year. If it doesn't work then blows this thing up. It's time for Rogers to open the wallet and commit to getting a 2nd man in the rotation and maybe a true 1B/DH and let's do as Jake Taylor says and "Win the whole fucking thing"
- July 23, 2009 at 11:03 AM
- eyebleaf said...
Re: the Rome interview; J.P. basically said Doc has expressed that there's no way he's not testing free agency. Which means he will be traded. Either right now, in the off-season, or next July. I vote next July. Just so I can continue to dream that the Jays might be able to compete in 2010.
- July 23, 2009 at 11:43 AM
- Voodoo Matt said...
Ark! *clutches at chest* Delucci rage rising... don't want to curse-up your thread.... talk about something else...
It was nice to see all the home runs. Rios and Wells especially. Lind's double was sweet. Remember last year when he went 1 for 19 and was sent down? Seems like so long ago. What's this? 1 for 26? Delucci? DELUCCI!! FFFFFFUUUUU.......
- July 23, 2009 at 11:57 AM
- Tao of Stieb said...
Actually, in lieu of putting up our own game thread, we'll just send people over to the Score liveblog with eyebleaf.
I always like to see big traffic numbers just to make myself feel like a big important bloggerman, but there's probably no need to clog things up.
- July 23, 2009 at 12:05 PM
Ol' Leroy may be feeling guilty. Remember how AJ became extra-huggier when he knew that he wasn't going to be re-signing
- July 23, 2009 at 12:24 PM
- eyebleaf said...
You're a rudey, Tao.
And Anon is right about the hugs. FUCK!!!!1
- July 23, 2009 at 12:27 PM
Thanks for the Rome update Tao. I can head back to the basement now.
- July 23, 2009 at 5:04 PM
- Joanna said...
Doc always comes and congrats guys.
- July 23, 2009 at 11:52 PM
- MK Piatkowski said...
Joanna, that's one of the reasons Doc is more valuable than the "only plays one in 5 games" justification would have you believe.
- July 24, 2009 at 12:54 AM

subset: commoncrawl


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Official: Iraq's top judge removed from post for alleged ties to Saddam Hussein's party
BAGHDAD – Iraq's panel tasked with purging government ranks of former members of Saddam Hussein's party has removed the country's top judge from his post because of alleged ties to the now-dissolved Baath party.
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Considering the overall lack of quality Tron games since the time of the first film, I'm willing to give Hope This Works Games' upcoming neon red and blue Android and iOS free-runner Polara a couple of identity discs and call it a day.
It's a little bit color-shifting shooter Ikaruga, with a hint of color-shifting action platformer Outland. You've got red, you've got blue, which you survive depends on the colour of your machine-like glow. Only a machine intelligence could come up with such a convoluted security system and still leave enough room for an iPhone or Android gamer to slip through.
Polara comes to the app stores on October 11. End of line.


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I managed to broke something on my iMac's internal HD. I have now done a successful restore using
DiskDrill, but just in case I want to make an exact copy of the internal HD. Not just some partition, but everything, even "free" disk space.
I have tried creating a disk image with
Disk Utility and
CCC, but they both seemed to clone the only working and empty partition, not the free space where all my data is.
I should also mention, the internal HD is 1TB, and the external one where I planned to put the disk image is 2TB with some (about 150GB) used space.


text: A brunette goes to the doctor and says, "Everywhere I touch it hurts." He asks "What do you mean?" So she showed him what she meant. She touched her knee and said "Ouch!" Then she touched her chest and said, "Ouch!" Then her shoulder, "Ouch!"The doctor looks at her and asks, "Your really blonde, aren''t you?" She replies "Yes, as a matter of fact I am. How did you guess?" Doctor says, "Well your finger is broken."


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Almost 10 years after the launch of the idea and 5 years of intense discussions on the design, IPBES has adopted its first work plan for 2014-2018. The plan includes developing a set of assessments on pollination and food production, land degradation and invasive species aimed at providing policymakers with the tools to tackle pressing environmental challenges.
At a meeting - held last month in Antalya, Turkey - Member Governments agreed on a three-fold programme for the Intergovernmental science-policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). The programme aims at addressing the capacity and knowledge needs, providing sub-regional to global assessments on the status and trends of biodiversity and ecosystem services, and assessing knowledge related to various issues including threats, drivers and methods.
In addition, the governments decided to implement supporting activities such as maintaining catalogues of tools, developing a data and information management system, carrying out communication and outreach. Such a plan requires US$ 43.5 million to be availed with more than half already pledged.
"This excellent start is partly due to the determination and commitment of many scientific networks, including the IUCN Commissions of experts, which have reached out to national governments stressing the need to establish a global credible science-policy interface for decades," says Dr Cyrie Sendashonga, Director of IUCN Global Policy and Programme Group. "The adopted IPBES programme 2014-2018 shows an excellent potential for providing support to the formulation and implementation of international policies."
The subregional assessments could be strong drivers of better regional cooperation while the global assessment will provide the necessary data to evaluate the success of the CBD Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020, which bridges several international conventions. The thematic and methodological assessments have the potential to drive changes in sectoral policies, including on trade, agriculture and land-use planning. The methods that will be elaborated by the Platform could also have concrete impacts on the decision-making processes and on the recognition of natural capital in economic accounting.
"The task is huge and IPBES will have to demonstrate its ability to turn its reports and findings into useful tools for policy-making, in addition to creating substantial debates between the scientific and policy communities," adds Dr Tom Brooks, Head of IUCN Science and Knowledge Unit. "An equally big challenge will be to show its added value for filling the glaring gaps in research and technical capacity between countries."
He continues: "This first work plan provides for activities related to capacity building and matching the needs with resources, overseen by a dedicated Task Force. However, the financial resources allocated to these activities are far lower than the ones dedicated to assessments and the experts involved less numerous. This may impede the progress that can be made."
The Platform also envisions to contribute to setting the global agenda on biodiversity science and to develop methods for working with indigenous and local knowledge. The Plenary created two Task Forces to this end, however the resources are needed to make a difference and add value to the existing mechanisms and initiatives.
IUCN stands ready to support the ambitions of this work plan and recommends that more attention be given to policy support, capacity-building and knowledge production. On many topics the work of IPBES can build on and benefit from the existing work prepared by IUCN Commissions, Members and Secretariat.
"Substantial inputs are available from IUCN, including on pollination, land degradation and restoration, sustainable use of biodiversity and invasive alien species. Regional mechanisms for harnessing biodiversity expertise are in place under IUCN auspices and could be used and leveraged for determining the most useful work to be done," explains Dr Brooks.
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About IPBES
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Coming to the 14th chapter of Acts, we come to the continuing story of Paul and Barnabas, companions on the first missionary journey to the Gentiles. The good news of Jesus Christ in the Book of Acts started in Jerusalem. It spread to Judea, Samaria, and now the first two missionaries, Paul and Barnabas, and if ever there is a pattern for what a missionary ought to be, here it is. The 14th chapter of Acts narrates their journey through the area known as Galatia. Galatia is not a city; it is a region. And within the region of Galatia, there were many states and many cities and in their travels through Galatia recorded in the 14th chapter, they exhibit the characteristics or the qualities of truly effective missionary and so the title of our two-week study, which began last time, is "The Qualities or Qualifications of a Great Missionary." What really makes somebody effective in the service of Jesus Christ?
And this is not a chapter that lists the principles. It's not a chapter where Paul preaches on the things that make a good missionary. It's a chapter where Paul and Barnabas just in the flow of their ministry make very obvious what are the qualifications and the qualities. It's not a lecture; it's a living illustration. And as I read through this chapter, I was just saying to the Lord a couple of weeks ago, "Lord, how do You want me to put this thing together? What do You want me to say out of this chapter?" And I just kept getting so excited about all of the things that these two guys were exhibiting in their lives that make up effective Christian service, and so I began to write them down and I wrote down at least eight things, eight qualifications, of an effective missionary and they are on exhibit in this chapter and they're on exhibit, I think, for all time, for every church in every age and for everybody who serves Jesus Christ, as the keys to success in the ministry.
Now we started to see them last time and looked at the first three, which I'll mention just quickly by way of review. The first thing that made them effective, the first quality of an effective missionary, was they were ministering spiritual gifts. Now we have made quite a study on the gifts of the Spirit and within a week, I suppose, it's past due date now, a book which I have written on the church, The Body of Christ, to be released by Zondervan Publishing and should be available, and in that is a fully study summarizing many of the things that we've learned here about spiritual gifts and you can follow your own study up in the past with that perhaps as a help to you and so I don't want to spend a lot of time on the subject but let me say this. We do know, having studied the Word of God, that Christians serve most effectively when they serve through the gifts that the Spirit has given them. For me to not have the gift of teaching and to spend my time teaching doesn't make much sense. For me to have the gift of teaching and not spend my time teaching doesn't make much sense either.
In other words, to have the spiritual gifts and to operate them is basic to any ministry. Now as we saw last week, they had certain spiritual gifts which become very apparent and I think they were characteristic gifts that the Apostles had and I also think that they are the gifts today that for the main belong to evangelists and teaching pastors. We saw four prominent ones. First of all, they both exhibited the gift of preaching or prophesy. Verse 21, "When they preached..." Verse 25, "When they preached..." This is the gift that allows them to proclaim the gospel with results. They had the spiritual gift of preaching; some people don't. And so they had the gift of preaching. They also had the gift of teaching, verse 21, "And when they had taught many, they returned..." So they preached. That's to proclaim the gospel. To teach is to confirm, as verse22 points out. So they followed up their preaching with teaching. Verse 22 also points out they had a third gift, exhorting, "Confirming the souls of the disciples and exhorting them to continue in the faith..." Then a fourth gift that is manifest, verse 23, "When they had ordained elders in every city..." This is the gift of administration.
So I don't know what your gifts are...I know what some of your gifts are, but I don't know all of you enough to know your gifts...but I do know this. Every believer has gifts and gifts are to be ministered and you cannot function in areas where you're not gifted with real success, with ultimate success, as God has designed it, and so we do desire first of all in any kind of effective service to be using people in accordance with their gifts. I suppose that is a problem for much of the work on the mission field and much of the work in the church, that you have people in areas where they're not gifted and you have people who have the gifts who aren't ministering them. Peter said in 1Peter chapter 4 verse 10, "As every man has received the gift, so let him minister the same as good stewards of the multicolored or manifold grace of God." In other words, God has given everybody gifts and they're to be ministered. He said, "As you have received a gift, minister the same." Whatever your gift is, do that. Really effective Christian service then begins with the ministry of your spiritual gifts. You say, "I don't know what mine are." Then you're one step removed from effectively ministering it. You say, "How do I know what my gift is?" Pray about it, ask God about it, be filled with the Spirit and the Spirit of God will automatically do it through you, if you're available. God wants you to know your gift and He wants you to minister.
All right, so they, first of all, minister their gifts. Now we went into this in detail last time so we'll go past it. Then they had a couple of apostolic gifts that don't belong to us today, the gift of miracles in verse 3, signs and wonders, and the gift of healing in verse 10, as Paul said to the lame man, "Stand up. And he leaped and walked." So the Apostles had the basic permanent gifts of preaching, teaching, exhortation, and administration. Now I believe those four gifts belong in the main to the teaching pastors and evangelists today. If a man is in the pulpit, if he's a teaching pastor or an evangelist, those are the gifts that he needs to preach, to follow up his preaching with instruction, to exhort, that is to encourage people to take action that is consistent with their profession, and to administrate, that is to make the body as a unit in a sense of ruling. Those are the gifts that the Apostles had and they're still gifts today exhibited in the leadership of the church. Whatever your gifts are; if you have the gift of ministry, minister, Romans 12 says. If you have the gift of giving, give. If you have the gift of administration, administrate. Use your gifts. That's basic. Whatever you do in the Christian ministry in terms of success, it is based upon the effectiveness of the ministry of your spiritual gifts.
The second thing we saw in terms of effective ministry was boldness and this we really looked at in verses 1 to 7 as we approached the text in a contextual sense going right through. Verses 1 to 7 told us about the boldness of Paul and Barnabas and the key verse was 3, "A long time therefore abode they speaking boldly in the Lord...." We saw that they were bold. They knew there was a brewing persecution. They were now in the town of Iconium, having been thrown out of Antioch. They'd just got thrown from one town to the next through Galatia but they were kicked out of Antioch. They went to Iconium and there, there was a brewing persecution. Verse 2 says, "...Unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles, and made their minds evil affected against the brethren." Well, they knew this was going on, but it never deterred them because they were bold. It never hindered them from preaching. They didn't hesitate to declare what they believed to be true.
And we talked last time about how boldness is the key to success really. Once you begin to minister, Satan is always going to resist you. If you don't have boldness, you quit at that point. If you quit at the point of resistance, you quit before victory, and so boldness helps you to push through. Effective ministry demands boldness and they were bold. The city was polarized. The place was a powder keg. Persecution was brewing and they knew it was going to come any minute and they continued boldly to preach...never hesitated. And incidentally, they were only 18 miles south when they moved to Lystra. And when they got to Lystra in verse 6 they continued to preach, verse 7 says. So even though they were thrown out of Iconium and it got so hot they finally had to leave, they only went 18 miles away and continued to preach, which again is indicative of their courage and their boldness.
All right, the third thing that we saw last time that is so necessary and basic to Christian service is divine power. They didn't do things in their own energy. They did them in the power of God and we saw the illustration of the healing of the lame man in verses 8 to 10, how Paul spoke and he was healed. Now men can't do that, can they? You don't have the ability to do that. Neither did Paul, but God's power flowed through Paul. Now God's power may not flow through you in the area of healing obviously. That's an apostolic gift. Paul had that gift. But God's power flowed through Paul in the area of preaching and teaching and exhorting and administrating as he ordained the elders. The power flow was obvious in the life of Paul and the life of Barnabas. They did everything in the power of God. They didn't do it in their own strength.
Peter said in 1 Peter 4:11, "If you have the gifts of speaking, speak the oracles of God. If you have the gifts of ministry, do it as of the ability which God gives..." You don't ever minister in your own strength. "...be strong in the Lord, and in the power of...what?...His might," Ephesians 6:10 says. Not in your own strength but in His. We cannot minister effectively in our own energy. Jesus said, "You shall receive power after...what?...the Holy Spirit comes upon you..." And of course in the first chapter of Acts, I mean they had received all the knowledge, all the information, all the promise, all the orders and with all of that information, Jesus says, "Don't take one step until the Holy Spirit gets here. You couldn't do one thing. With all you know, all you've seen, all you've experienced, all the facts, you aren't worth anything without the energy of the Holy Spirit." And so He said, "You wait until the Holy Spirit gets here.
You know, in Ephesians 3:20, it says, "Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all we can ask or think, according to the power that works in us." You know that great verse where we can do what we can ask; where we can do what we can think or ask; that we can do all we can think or ask; we can do above all we can think or ask; we can do abundantly above all we can think or ask; we can do exceeding abundantly above all we can think or ask. That's a lot of power! You say, "Where'd he get that power?" You back up a little bit in the chapter and it says this: "I pray God that you would be strengthened by His Spirit in the inner man." In other words, the strength for that is the Spirit in the inner man, you see? The believer cannot do anything in his own strength no matter what he knows and haven't we all tried and found out.
Paul, as he was filled with the Spirit of God, saw power flow in his life, and it flowed unrestricted. Now, this power can't be bought. You remember back in Acts 8 verse 19, Simon came along and he said, "Hey, this is terrific stuff." You know, he had a bag of tricks anyway that he'd probably bought off every magician he'd run into and now he saw the laying on of hands and the arrival of the Holy Spirit and Peter was there and he said, "How much you want for that? Boy, I'll buy that trick. That's a terrific trick." So he offered Peter money and Peter just blew a cork and said, "Your money perish with you for thinking that you could buy the Holy Spirit." You can't buy this power. You say, "Where do you get it?" You get it when you get saved. The moment you're saved, "God has not given you a spirit of fear but a spirit of...what?...power, love and a sound mind." That comes at salvation. God gives you His Holy Spirit but the power doesn't flow until you live under the control of the Holy Spirit, right? Some people are like a full automobile engine, the whole shot, the 426 Hemi or whatever it is, the whole thing with the supercharger, but they haven't found the ignition switch. They don't know how to turn it on. They don't know what to do to get off the pad and that's to learn how to be controlled by the Holy Spirit, the Spirit-filled life.
Well, the Apostle Paul and Barnabas were under the control of the Holy Spirit so that the power just flowed. Everywhere they went, things happened. I mean lame people walked and people got saved and saved people grew and people evangelized and believers came together and the church got organized so it wasn't an organization, it was an organism, and things really happened everywhere they went. Why? The Spirit of God was free to do what He wanted. Paul was up in the middle of his sermon and all of a sudden the Holy Spirit said, "Interrupt your sermon, Paul, and tell that guy to get up and walk." Paul said, "Get up and walk," and the guy got up and walked. I mean that's the free flow of the power of God. Paul didn't have to go on his knees and spend eight hours in prayer to get ready to pull that one off. Most Christians, in the flow of life, when you realize, you think, "Oh, no. Now I've got an appointment with somebody tomorrow and I might have a chance to share the gospel. Boy, I better get my life straightened out." That's not living in the fullness of the Spirit, see, that's getting ready for the crisis. That's what's known as remedial Christianity. You just shape up at the crisis times. But these guys lived in the fullness of the Spirit. They lived yielded to the control of the Holy Spirit. They lived spiritual lives rather than carnal lives and so when it came time for great things to happen, it was happening all the time because the power flow was unrestricted. That was basic. Now you can go out to the mission field or you can go out to approach some Christian service in your own strength, and I don't care what you know or how clever you are, you're not going to have spiritual results from carnal effort.
Well, ministry of gifts, boldness, divine power...basic. Let's go to the fourth thing and let's pick it up where we left off last time. You take somebody whose gifts are really functioning and who's got boldness and who's got divine power really flowing and you know what the temptation is? It's to come away from that kind of ministry and say, "Hey, Barnabas, boy, did we knock them dead in Lystra. Whoo! Man, did you see what I said to that guy and he did it? Did you see that?" It's very easy to be tempted to be proud, isn't it? And even in the...this is something we all...you go out and you preach and maybe people come forward and receive Jesus Christ and you go away and you think, "Boy, MacArthur. That was really good. You had that one worked out so well and look what happened. Isn't that terrific?" And you just sort of "Hmm, hmm." And somebody comes up to you and says, "My, that was a wonderful sermon" and down under your breath, you say, "I know it." That's a real temptation because, you see, when you're ministering in the Spirit there is going to be results, right? And it's very difficult sometimes to cut yourself off when you see the results and say no to self and to acknowledge totally that it's God's power and so the great temptation that immediately follows effective gifts and boldness and power is pride.
So the very first thing you have right here is a great illustration of humility. And, believe me, people, and I say this with a sense of awe in my own heart and a sense of fear, I know that every really effective ministry is the ministry of humility. It has to be that way. Now humility isn't sort of a mealy-mouthed kind of wishy-washy, spineless kind of rug thing where everybody walks all over you and you go around saying, "I'm nothing. I'm lower than the scum" and all this thing. Humility is simply this. You want to know what humility is? Humility is knowing that everything that happened for the good was God, and everything that happened for the bad was you.
Peter was closing off 1 Peter and giving some final instruction as to why. Listen what he said. "In like manner, you younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility...put on the clothes of humility; be dressed in humility...for God resists the proud." I mean if you want to fight God, that's your prerogative but God fights proud people. But what does he do for the humble? "He giveth...what?...grace to the humble. Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that He may...what?...exalt you in due time." Get your perspective right. Over in James 4:6 and 10, He says exactly the same thing, "...God resists the proud, gives grace to the humble... Humble yourselves before the Lord and in the right time, He'll lift you up." Remember what Jesus said in Matthew 18:4? He looked around at His disciples and He said, "Whosoever shall become as this little child, the same shall become the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." Humility.
Well, immediately after great success, Satan comes and hits you with pride, and he hits Paul and Barnabas between the eyes with the problem of pride. Watch how this happens and it really is a strange incident. They're in Lystra. They've been preaching away. This guy just stood up and walked and the crowd is absolutely flabbergasted. I mean the guy has been...he has been crippled from birth and he's jumping around and they're just completely flabbergasted and so immediately here comes the temptation. Watch verse 11, "And when the people saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices...that's eros tense; they all started crying one great big yell, just shocked them...saying in the speech of Lycaonian...Paul and Barnabas couldn't understand them; listen what they said...the gods are come down to us in the likeness of men." See? The gods are here. Did you see what they did? You say, "Where did they ever get the idea?" They had a tradition in Lystra, interesting one. There was an old traditional story that had hung around Lystra for many years. This was it. One time, Zeus and Hermes, two gods, came to earth in disguise, incognito, and they came to the town of Lystra, which was an outpost Roman colony, way out Asia Minor, and they came to Lystra and they asked for hospitality, a place to stay and something to eat, and everybody refused them, everybody in town but two people: an old man named Philemon and his wife Baucis. They took in the gods in disguise not knowing they were anything but strangers, fed them, kept them, so forth. The result? The whole town of Lystra was wiped out by those two gods. They killed everybody. But Philemon and Baucis were made the guardians of a splendid temple outside the city and when they died, they had the honor of being turned into two great trees. Now that's the story of Philemon and Baucis, but, you see, that was in the tradition of Lystra.
Now all of a sudden, here come two guys and they pull off that miracle and immediately everybody says, "Uh-oh, Zeus and Hermes are back. We're not going to blow it this time." Verse 12, "They called Barnabas Jupiter...and that is simply the Latin for Zeus...and they called Paul Mercury...which is the Latin for Hermes...because he was the chief speaker." They said, "They're here." They weren't going to blow it again. Well, you know, this is an interesting temptation. They had seen this healing and they were determined not to make the same mistakes and ignore the gods again and so they thought...well, Barnabas must have been a big, handsome kind of guy because Zeus was the king of all gods and they said Barnabas is Zeus. He must have been something. And Paul, as we know, was a little bald-headed, kind of bandy-legged little guy and they called him Mercury, which is Hermes, and that was the god of speech, the god who invented speech, and since Paul was always the one doing the talking, they called him that. But that was the same two gods that had visited them earlier supposedly in their tradition. Of course those two gods don't exist. It was all just in their idolatry.
But anyway, they started a big celebration and, of course, at this point, Paul and Barnabas don't know what's going on. The Spirit puts a footnote in there "...saying in the speech of Lycaonia...." because Paul and Barnabas couldn't speak Lycaonian and they were probably wondering, "What is going on here?" And they didn't really know anybody around and so it was kind of a strange thing. The place went wild. They were babbling in their native tongues and Paul and Barnabas apparently hung around and saw what was going on and they were tempted, I'm sure, and I'm sure this was the approach of Satan. You could rationalize this. You could say...Paul could have turned to Barnabas and said, "Barn, you know, if we play this right, we could really be something in this town and we could get ourselves in a position to be heard." They could have rationalized. "Just think if we get elevated and glorified and exalted and really become something, just think, we can preach the gospel. What a terrific opportunity. Boy, this is great." But Paul didn't think...Paul was too smart for that. Satan is so subtle. The town before, he wanted to kill them. This time, he wants to make them a god, see. His approach runs the gamut. If persecution isn't successful, he'll exalt you. There's two things that a Christian has to learn to handle: persecution and pride, right? Tough; both ends of the spectrum...tough. Sometimes pride is more devastating than persecution. Pride is a disaster. If Paul and Barnabas had succumbed to this, it would have been the end of them.
I remember when I was in Minneapolis one time not too long ago and I was speaking for a week at a very well-known church, the First Covenant Church of Minneapolis, and we were having meetings there that were meetings with really young people part of the time and the whole church at other times and I was the preacher and the teacher and they had invited some music group to come and I didn't know anything about it. Of course, they invited me to preach and teach what I wanted and I usually take that opportunity, didn't put any strings on it, and I didn't know they were going to have this group. But they had a musical group for the young people and I have certain preferences about music and I did not like this at all. It had a lot of stuff I didn't like. It had a whole bunch of dancing and stuff in it and I just didn't like it. So they did a whole...and some of the...I know some of the older people in the church thought the Tribulation had arrived. You know, I mean they just...I mean it was in the auditorium and, oh, it was something, you know, and whew, but anyway, some of these dear saints turned off their hearing aides. There was no question about it.
But I'll never forget after...it was pure entertainment. It had no redeeming value at all as far as I could see. It was absolutely pure entertainment with no spiritual content at all, and so one night we were having a barbecue before the meeting and I just sat down with the kids and I said, "I'd just like to ask you a question." I said, "What are your desires? What are you trying to do with what you're doing?" And I'll never forget what this guy said to me, the leader. He said, "Well, I'll be real honest with you." He said, "We're trying to make it big in the entertainment world and we see the church as a stepping stone." And that was his statement and I didn't say anything and he qualified it further by saying, "If we can get established and get some good rehearsals and make a little money to buy some equipment, we can bounce off into the nightclub circuit and really do it up." And then I asked him, "Is that why you leave every night just before I speak? Where have you been going?" And they'd been going over to some concert place to hear some rock groups and so they talked for about a half an hour about this and then one kid said, "Yeah and if we get really big in the nightclubs then we can witness for Christ."
And so finally, after listening to them, I said...and I'm not a prophet or the son of a prophet but I said it anyway. I said, "I predict that in less than six months your group won't even exist because God can't honor that." That was the last engagement they ever had in Minneapolis. It was over. It didn't take God six months. It didn't take him six days. The whole thing fell apart. It doesn't exist anymore. You see, when you get to thinking that what you want is exaltation and some kind of exaltation is going to give you an avenue for the gospel, you're not kidding God or yourself. When a person seeks to be glorified in the world's eyes, that's a disaster. You don't need to be popular in the world to be successful with God. All you need is the energy of the Holy Spirit, right? They always say, "Well, you know, so if you were an ex-so-and-so or you can get up and you were some famous thing and you became a believer, oh, think of..." Wait a minute. The Holy Spirit does what He wants to do through the vessels He has by the way they're spiritually gifted and by their sensitivity to the Holy Spirit. I don't care if it's Joe Schmow from nowhere. Believe me. Paul and Barnabas tore city after city apart and they weren't anything special in the world's eyes.
Well, anyway, pride is a disaster and they could have fallen at this point, been lifted up and exalted. Well, they didn't even know what was going on by this time. Verse 13 says, "The priests...or the priest; some manuscripts have a plural there...the priests or the priest of Jupiter, whose temple was before their city, brought oxen and garlands unto the gates." Here comes oxen; they got flowers around their necks. You say, "What are they going to do?" They're going to make sacrifices. To who? Paul and Barnabas and Paul and Barnabas by this time had probably gone back to wherever they're staying. They don't know what's going on here. Boy, I never saw a city in such turmoil. Wonder what they're talking about? And the priests have decided this is in fact the gods, Zeus and Hermes, and they're going to sacrifice oxen.
Well, verse 14, they finally found out what was going on. "Which when the Apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of, they tore their clothes, and ran in among the people, crying out, and saying, 'Sirs, what are you doing?'" Now stop there. Outside the city was the temple to Zeus and if the gods had descended, the gods were to be honored, and so they had to get the oxen, get them ready for sacrifice. We're going to give offerings to Paul and Barnabas. Well, when they discovered that the town was planning a ceremony to honor them as gods, they really got upset. I mean a holiday spirit had gripped the city, and the sacrificial oxen were being paraded through with garlands around their necks, and whatever kind of stuff went on to attend the pagan spree was going on and all of a sudden somebody got the word to Paul and Barnabas and they couldn't believe it. Not having understood Lycaonian up to this point, they rushed back into the marketplace and they yelled, "What are you doing?" I like that. They didn't want anything from the world at all. They didn't want any of the world's fame. They didn't want to be lifted up as gods. You know what? They saw that as blasphemy. How do you know that? Because look what Paul and Barnabas did. When they heard of it, they did...what?...verse 14. They tore...what?...their clothes. You say what does that mean? That was a sign, and that was a Jewish thing, a very Jewish thing. That was a sign of desecration. That was a token that something was blasphemous.
Back in Matthew 26, this is such a...just a powerful scene. Jesus is before Caiaphas, who was a crumb from the word go, and Jesus didn't say anything and they kept asking Him questions "...and like a lamb before his shearers is dumb, so He opened not His mouth," as Isaiah put it, and finally the high priest said, "...I adjure Thee by the living God...Matthew 26:63...tell us whether You are the Messiah, the Son of God." Boy, he was really uptight. "Jesus saith unto him, 'You said it.'" And then Jesus says this, "...nevertheless, I say unto you, hereafter shall ye see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven." Well, that just blew the lid off Caiaphas. Verse 65 says, "Then the high priest tore his clothes, saying, 'He hath spoken blasphemy.'" To blaspheme God, to desecrate God, was a horrible thing and Jews customarily tore their clothes in horror when it was done and that's exactly what Paul and Barnabas did here. Only while Caiaphas did it in stupidity, Paul and Barnabas did it correctly. They tore their clothes and said, "Stop this desecration. We don't want to be exalted. We don't want to be deified."
Just a footnote. It's a great way to tell a false teacher. Do you know how to tell a false teacher? He wants to be exalted and deified. Inevitably, a false prophet wants to build a cult around himself that exalts him and you see them all the time. Jesus said that. He said there's a test. In John 7 verse 18, I'll just read it to you. Listen. Of course, they were saying "Well, why should we believe You, Jesus? I mean give us a reason. You've come making these claims. What gives You the right to do that and what makes us believe it?" This is what He said, verse 18 of John 7: "He that speaketh of himself seeks his own glory; but He that seeks His glory that sent Him, the same is true...." You want to know how you can tell a true prophet from God? Whose glory does he seek? God's. You know how you can tell a false prophet? Whose glory does he seek? His own. And you can believe it. You see them from time to time on the television and you see them from time to time in city and their picture is in the paper and you can always tell a false prophet because it's a continual exaltation of himself, and you can always tell a true prophet because he always gives glory to God. Jesus said, "That's why you ought to know who I am. I've never asked for anything for Myself. I've continually given glory to God." Paul and Barnabas were true prophets. You know how we know that? They didn't want any glory. Boy, they could have had it. That would have been the false prophet's ultimate dream, to be mistaken for God. Not them.
Well, old Paul started to talk and they cried out in verse15 saying, "Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you." In other words, he doesn't mean here that we're lustful, evil men; he means "We feel the same things you do. We feel pain, and hunger, and thirst and we suffer sickness and we die. We're just mortal. What are you doing all this for? We're just plain old, everyday, common, ordinary human beings." And then he goes further. "...and we preach unto you that you should turn from these vanities unto the living God." We preach...euangelizo...we preach the good news. We've been preaching to you the good news to turn from these vanities. That word "vanity" is such an interesting word. Paul calls their whole idol worship vanity. You know what it literally means? "No things." You know who they worshiped? No things. They worshiped nothing! He says, "Turn from the nothing." Can you imagine? That's mataion. That's what idolatry is; it's worshiping nothing. You can't imagine the heathen bowing down and saying, "Oh, nothing. Vain, worthless, useless nothing." Paul says, "We've been telling you the good news. Stop worshiping no things and turn to the...what?...the living God." That's the message we've been...we've been giving you that message. Cut this stuff out, this stupid idolatrous nothingness. Vanity, that means worthless, useless nothing. Anybody who doesn't worship God worships nothing. Whatever he substitutes for God, which is usually self. Turn to the living God as opposed to the dead nothings. Which God? Well, he didn't say the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They weren't Jews. He says, "The God who made heaven and earth and the sea and all things that are in them."
You say, "A lot of good that does. They don't know that God." Yes they do. You say, "What do you mean, they do?" Every man knows that God. You say, "You mean that every man knows the God who made the world?" Well, I didn't say that; Paul did in Romans 1. "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men...watch this...who hold the truth in unrighteousness." You say, "Well, they don't know God." Verse 19, "...because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shown it unto them." And in addition to the inside, "...the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen..." They know it from inside, they know it from what they can see "so that they are without...what?...excuse." No man could say, "I don't know God." Only can a man say, "I reject the God whose knowledge is innate." And that's exactly what happened in Romans chapter1 in verse 28, "And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them up to a reprobate mind, to do the things which were unseemly, being filled with unrighteousness." Sure, every man born into the world has the knowledge of God. Paul said, "Turn from the no things to the God you know to be, the God of creation, the God of conscience, the God who...verse16...in time past allowed all nations to walk in their own ways." What does he mean by that? God didn't give them any written law. God didn't give them any ceremonial law. God didn't give them any specific religious law.
You say, "Well, then they didn't have anything." Oh, yes, they did. Verse 17, "Nevertheless, He left not Himself without witness." Well, if they didn't have a ceremonial law and they didn't have a written law, religious law, what did they have? God gave a witness. What was it? I love this: "...in that He did good, and gave rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness." You know what that's known as? Providence. They're not excusable. You say, "But they didn't have any written law." That's all right. They had the law written in their hearts and they had the visible creation and the providence of God. Any man in this world is responsible for the knowledge of God, for God has written it in his conscience, God has revealed it in the creation, and God continues to reveal it in providence.
In verse 16, God did allow them to walk in their own ways. God...according to Acts 17:30, "...the time of this ignorance God overlooked..." In other words, God did not fully pour out judgment on the Gentile nations because they did not have the same revelation Israel had and the principle is to whom much is given...what?...much is required. So all through the Old Testament, we see Israel being judged. Now sometimes we see Gentile nations being judged, but in a sense, God held His judgment back somewhat. But I like Acts 17:30. "Since Christ," he says, "God now commands all men everywhere to...what?...to repent." And so Paul says, "The God that you know to be, the God that conscience tells you to be, that creation tells you to be, that providence tells you to be, that God that you know about." And he just...he really...that's a sermon on faith. He really believed in his heart that they did know the true God and I believe it. You say, "But they didn't have the written law." Yeah, well, look at Romans 2. Listen to this, verse 13, "For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers." Now watch, verse 14, "For when the heathen who have not the law do by nature the things contained in the law, these having not the law are a law unto themselves."
You know that a heathen, not having the written law, can still do the things in the law? You say, "How?" Verse 15, "They show the work of the law written in their...what?...hearts, their conscience bearing witness." Israel had a codified law written on tables of stone and a sophisticated law taken down by Moses, and they ended up in sin. It didn't do them a bit of good to have the law; they didn't obey it. Some Gentiles didn't have the written law, and they lived up to the conscience that God had placed within them. They saw God in creation, in conscience, and in providence and Paul is talking to them and you know what happened? He reaped some of those ripe ones, some of those Gentiles like Cornelius, who had lived up to that.
So he preached a sermon, a sermon to Gentiles. It's the first sample of one of Paul's Gentile sermons and I'm sure it's only a portion of it again. You say, "Well, what happened in result of the sermon?" Verse 18, "And with these sayings scarce...or hardly or with great difficulty...restrained they the people, that they had not done sacrifice unto them." It worked. The ceremony came to a screeching halt; reluctantly, hard to do, but they did it. Barely, but they did it. So Paul had preached. He had already preached in that town the gospel and this was just added to that to tie it all together. What did Paul and Barnabas do, people? They disclaimed any honor, any glory for themselves. They didn't want any. Believe me, that is a characteristic of effective service to Christ. It has to be there.
I always think about a guy that I always love and he's kind of a strange guy, lived out there in the wilds and wore a modified Tarzan suit and ate grasshoppers and his name is John the Baptist, and John 1:6 says, "There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. He was not the Light, but was sent to bear witness of the Light." Who was the Light? Jesus. Old John came along in verse 15 of John 1, "...This was He of whom I spoke...pointing to Jesus...He comes after me and He is preferred before me." John was humble. You know what Jesus said about John? The greatest man who ever lived, Matthew 11:11. "Among them that are born of women there has never been a greater than John the Baptist." Greatest man that ever lived...humility...humility.
Over in chapter 3, John's time was over and Jesus had arrived. What are you going to do with an old introductory prophet? Well, you can behead them and take them up to glory and that's exactly what happened to John. I mean he was through so the Lord chose that he be a martyr, but I love his spirit. He says in verse 28, "You yourselves bear witness that I said I am not the Christ." Some of his disciples were saying, "John, we love you, brother. We've been following you around in this deal. What happens now? I mean you're shifting gears. Everybody is going over to Messiah. What about poor old you, John?" He said, "I told you I wasn't the Messiah to begin with, didn't I?" I mean "He that hath the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, stands and hears him and rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. This is my joy therefore is fulfilled." John says, "I'm like the best man at a wedding. I mean I love the guy that's getting married. He's my buddy and he's going to marry the bride and when the wedding comes and the bridegroom takes the bride, I'm happy for my friend. This is my joy; it's fulfilled." John says, "I don't want anything for myself. I'm just happy that the bridegroom and the bride are getting together." Then he says this, "He must increase...what?...but I must decrease." That's humility. John had been the greatest prophet that ever lived, and he was ready to go whew. Boy, that takes some kind of character, to be at the top and just fade into prison. Whew, off with the head and it's over and with John, it's fine. The Lord's done with me. That's good...humility.
Well, Paul and Barnabas had it. They didn't want any of the world's accolades. What were the tremendous characteristics then? First of all, a ministry of gifts, boldness, power, and humility. One more, and just a brief one, and we'll quit...persistence. This is the "never say die" attitude. Oh, do I like this one. That's a great quality. Well, they apparently hung around Lystra for awhile. There was a little break and then verse 19 says, "And there came there certain Jews from Antioch and Iconium." Now they had been kicked out of both those towns and you can imagine when these Jews arrived in Lystra and found them at it again that they were really upset. So they "...persuaded the people, and, having stoned Paul, drew him out of the city, supposing he had been dead." They were afraid of the Roman law even though it was a frontier town to be sure. There was enough Roman law to scare them, so they thought Paul was dead after they'd crushed him with stones and, incidentally, it indicates that the Jewish antagonists had brought about the execution because Gentiles didn't stone people. They threw him off a little ledge and just crushed him with stones and thinking he was dead, they hauled him out to the dump and threw him in, hoping nobody would discover his body. Well, you say, "That's enough to discourage anybody in the ministry." Getting stoned like that, there's no question about it.
Isn't it an interesting thing how fast the fickle crowd changes? I mean the same bunch that threw the rocks at him was the same bunch that was saying these are gods. How soon they forgot the miracle, right? Oh, the fickle crowd, the fickle world. Disillusioned fanatics are easily led into the contradictory action. Disillusioned people grow sullen and sour, and usually they take out their resentments on the one who spoiled their illusion. So some skilled rabble-rousers appeared and whipped the crowd into a frenzy and the mindless mob was thirsty for blood and they stoned Paul. It was mob violence. You can imagine the picture just in your minds of a whole mob surging through town and screaming and yelling and grabbing Paul, and smashing him to the ground and just pounding rocks on him and then they hauled his body out and threw it in the dump. But I just love verse 20, "Nevertheless, as the disciples stood round about him..." Stop there. What disciples? How many guys went into that town? Paul and Barnabas. Where did the disciples come from? Fruitful ministry. There were disciples there. Do you know I know who three of them were? You say, "There's no names there." Yeah, but the names come later...Lois, Eunice...who's the third one?...Timothy. They were saved out of that community. And in fact they grew.
Verse 1 in chapter 16 says that, "Timothy, the son of a certain woman, who was a Jewess, and believed; his father was a Greek. And Timothy was well reported of by the brethren that were at Lystra and Iconium" and old Timothy became a dear and precious friend to Paul, and to all of us throughout all the years of the church since then. There were some disciples who stood around him. Well, they were about to see something funny, something exciting. "As the disciples stood around about him, he rose up." You say, "Was that a miracle?" I think so. I don't know what else you'd call it. It certainly was a miracle. But you know what I just love? The next statement: "And he came into the city." If I was writing this as a story, a fictitious, I would say he rose up and headed for the hills, where they nursed his wounds and he escaped. He got up and went back into town. That is persistence. He was not finished yet. The slight interruption had only delayed him a matter of a few hours and he had apparently communicated to these disciples certain courage or they wouldn't have been standing out there with him either. So he came into the city. Oh, he was so persistent.
And then to add to that...you imagine this? "...and the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derbe." You say, "Now, anybody knows he needed a couple of days to recover." Not Paul. The next day; no time to waste. Barnabas couldn't believe it probably. "Paul, you must be out of your mind. You've just been stoned yesterday. Why don't you take a week and rest?" It's a 30-mile hike to Derbe and they went the next day. Now that's what you call persistence. You say, "Oh, yeah, but he'll rest when he gets to Derbe." Verse 21, "And when they had preached the gospel to that city, and taught many, they returned to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch." He didn't rest at all. Well, there was a little rest. Derbe was the first city they'd been to they hadn't started a riot, so God did give him a little bit of a rest. But he didn't rest. There's something wonderful about that. Paul never lost a day. I just think it's so important that the Holy Spirit says "on the next day." If the Holy Spirit didn't say "the next day" there, we would assume that Paul rested. The next day, he went to Derbe.
Ephesians 5:15 and 16 just says it. "See that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise..." You say, "Well, yeah, it's good to walk wise. How do wise people walk?" Listen to the next verse, "...redeeming the time." Wise people know how to maximize time. In Colossians 4:5, it similarly says...and there's much similarity between Ephesians and Colossians..."Walk in wisdom toward them that are outside...unsaved people...redeeming the time." Remember Psalm 90? "Lord, teach us to number our days and so apply our hearts unto wisdom." People, I really believe that spiritual maturity has a lot to do with how you use your time. "To redeem" is in the middle voice there in Ephesians and middle voice means "buy up for your own profit, buy up for your own advantage, buy up for yourself, time." Not chronos, clock time, but kairos, opportunity. Buy up opportunity. We call a man a fool who throws away money. The Bible calls a man a greater fool who throws away time. Time, persistence. Paul was stoned. He was up, back in town, finish the job.
I've known people who've said, "I think I'd like to teach a class or do that." And they do it and "I don't like the way the superintendent looked at me. I'm going to quit. I can't come at that hour. I can't...don't have..." We have all these people, "We're going to offer a special thing," and everybody comes and six weeks later when it's finished...hmmm...attrition. There's a few faithful. What happens to persistence? Where is that "never say die" commitment that says, "No matter what happens, I believe God wants me here. I'm going to go against all odds." Melanchthon, who was a great reformer, all his ministry, kept records...get this...records every day of lost time not spent for the Lord. Boy, a little of that would shape you up. He kept records. Most of us don't keep records because we wouldn't dare. What do you do with your time? Are you persistent? Are you redeeming and buying up every kairos, every opportunity? Make it matter; make it count.
Well, Paul never got side-tracked, never got distracted. He just redeemed every opportunity. It didn't matter if he was beaten within an inch of his life. They thought he was dead; that's how bad off he was. Didn't stop him. You say, "Well, how could he do it? I mean everybody needs a rest. How could he do that?" I'll tell you how. Philippians 4, here's his secret. You ready for this? Philippians 4:11, "Not for that I speak in respect of want; for I have learned, in whatever state I am, in this to be discontent...oh, content...I know how to be abased. I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I am instructed to be full and to be hungry, to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Nothing daunted him; he was persistent. Boy, this is a great quality in Christian service, a great quality.
There they are: five thrilling features of the life of two missionaries...spiritual gifts, boldness, divine power, humility and persistence. Three more next week. Let's pray.
Father, we thank You that You've given us again illustrations of how we are to live for You and with effect. I thank You, Father, for the lives of these two beloved brothers in Christ. Thank You that the principles haven't changed and the Spirit hasn't changed, so the power is still there. Father, You require no less of us than You did of them. Father, we would pray even this morning that we would have learned well, not just in our heads but in our hearts, the truths that the Spirit has taught us. Help us to serve You with the same kind of commitment and the same energy and with the same undaunted, undistracted, courageous dedication that these two beloved men did. We pray in Christ's name. Amen.
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An inmate using a homemade weapon attacked and killed a guard at a federal prison in Waymart on Monday night, making him the first federal corrections officer killed on the job in nearly five years, officials said today.
Correctional Officer Eric Williams, 34, was working in a housing unit at the Canaan federal penitentiary when an inmate attacked him, according to prison officials. Other prison staff restrained the inmate, and Williams was rushed to a hospital where he was pronounced dead at 11:30 p.m.
"This is clearly the darkest day in our institution's short history, and we are in shock over this senseless loss of a colleague and friend," Warden David Ebbert said in a statement.
The high-security prison in Waymart, about 20 miles northeast of Scranton, was placed on lockdown and an investigation is under way.
Officials did not immediately release details of the attack, including the inmate's name, the kind of weapon or what, if anything, led to the attack.
But Williams' sister, Lauren Williams, said a coroner told her he was stabbed multiple times, then hit on the head.
"There was just no reason, no reason at all," Williams, 23, told The Associated Press. "There wasn't a mean bone in him. He was not confrontational at all. He's never been in a fight."
An FBI spokesman in Philadelphia declined comment, saying details would be released when the inmate is charged. It wasn't immediately clear when that would happen. The U.S. Attorney's Office in Harrisburg expressed condolences to Williams' family and colleagues, but declined further comment.
At least three inmates have been killed at the prison, which houses 1,350 high-security male inmates. A satellite camp houses 136 minimum-security inmates. The complex opened in 2005.
The last time a federal prison guard was killed on the job was June 2008 in Atwater, Calif., the Bureau of Prisons said.
Williams, from Nanticoke, began his career with the bureau on Sept. 11, 2011. His sister said he graduated from King's College with a criminal justice degree and worked in supermarket loss prevention and as a police officer before going to work in the federal prison system. "It was more of a stable job," she said.
She said they spoke nearly every day and he never reported any problems at work. In fact, "he said he was kind of bored sometimes," Lauren Williams said.
Eric Williams, who was single, loved to hunt, fish, play soccer and go bowling, and renovated a house near Lily Lake, a state-owned lake about 15 minutes from the family homestead in Nanticoke. In addition to his sister, he's survived by his parents and two other brothers.
"One of his biggest things was he was funny. He loved comedy. He had a joke for everything," recalled Lauren Williams, a senior at King's College. "He was in the wrong field. He should have been a comedian."
Of her brother's killer, Williams said: "He's already in jail. How do you get your justice?"
Officials: Inmate kills guard at prison in Waymart
An inmate using a homemade weapon attacked and killed a guard at a federal prison in Waymart on Monday night, making him the first federal corrections officer killed on the job in nearly five years, officials said today.


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Get Your Game Face On
... 'cuz we're going to a wedding!
Here's the pitch: the cake was SUPPOSED to look like this:
Which is a pretty ballsy choice, you must admit. Not to mention a little out-of-left-field.
But it ended up way, WAY off-base:
And that's how you strike out with three foul balls!
Thanks to today's anonymous wreckporter for being such a team player.


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Browse thousands of boats for sale from around the world. Select the first letter of a builders name or select from one of the most popular builders below. A number of boats of interest are displayed on each page in order for you to see (by length order) a selection of boats for sale.
Boats of Interest
|Selection of boats that may be of interest from the list of available boats for sale above.


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User Manuals
To find the user manual for your product, you can search by the product's serial number, SKU, product name or product description.
Please note: Products that are quite simple to use may not have user manuals.
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LG 23" 16:9 1920x1080 Full HD Height Adjustable IPS LED Monitor (23MB35PM)
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Blog Fight Devolves Into Legal Nastygrams
from the say-what-now?!? deptLet me kick this off by saying I don't know much about blogger Heather Armstrong, often known as "dooce." I remember that she got some attention for being fired for things she wrote on her blog a long time ago, and then built a successful blog-based business in the ensuing years. I also know that she seems to bring out strong emotions -- both for and against her -- from her readers. I can relate to that. What I can't relate to, however, is going legal because someone wrote a vague blog post suggesting that she happened to be in Los Angeles filming an online video. However, that appears to be exactly what's happened.
Another blog (which I'd never heard of until now) called "GetOffMyInternets.net" published a post, now deleted, though it wasn't too difficult to find the Google cache or popular press which quoted the key parts. As far as I can tell, the "dispute" is that Armstrong claimed that she was taking a break from blogging for a bit. Good for her. But "GOMI" wrote that the "break" was "fake" because she was really in LA filming a show for YouTube. Forgive me again for not quite understanding what's wrong with any of this. I'm not sure why it would be a problem whether or not she was in LA filming whatever she wanted. However, what does seem clear is that Armstrong was not happy about this, declaring publicly that it was defamation, and asking publicly for a lawyer. She appears to have found a lawyer who then sent a legal nastygram to GOMI and its hosting company, claiming that the original post was "defamatory."
Separately, the letter appears to suggest that Armstrong/her lawyer would drop the defamation issue if only GOMI reveals its source for the original story:
Once again, I have no clue if the original allegation is true or not. And I remain at a complete loss as to how it matters to anyone. If she was in LA, good for her. If she wasn't... um... good for her. Who really cares?
But what I do care about is legal bullying, and I have to raise questions about a legal nastygram sent over something as simple as a claim about where someone was at a particular time. While Armstrong and her lawyer seem to think that it's defamation, beyond the trouble understanding what the problem is here, the bar for defamation for a public figure, which Armstrong undoubtedly is, is quite high, and requires malicious intent. It's difficult to see how the original post would come anywhere within the same time zone as that bar.
That said, in looking over some of Armstrong's history, it appears she, too, was once against legal bullying:
I have no faith in our legal system, one that guarantees victory only for the party who can afford to pay for it, one that would allow a large company to bully a private citizen because it knows that she has no money with which to defend herself.Perhaps she got the wrong lesson out of that experience.
That said, in typical Streisand Effect fashion, this whole kerfuffle seems to only have called much more attention to the original issue, and brought a spotlight on what (again) appears to be a totally insignificant point. If she's just ignored the post in the first place, and let the matter pass, it seems likely it would have been forgotten long ago. So why waste time and money on lawyers to send a nastygram when, at best, all it's going to do is call much more attention to the original post? What actual "harm" was caused by anything here? Is going to LA to film a web video some sort of massive euphemism for something horrible I don't know about?
Filed Under: defamation, dooce, getoffmyinternets, heather armstrong, nastygram, streisand effect


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Office: (402) 291-2500
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Call us 402-291-2500
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Even the best online services and websites are useless if no one knows about them, which is why marketing is a key component. OK.gov utilizes a variety of marketing strategies to drive adoption of local online services. Each local entity has different marketing needs, and the OK.gov marketing and design teams work to determine specific goals and requirements for each project. OK.gov offers a number of marketing services which include, but are not limited to the following:
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To learn more about the local marketing service assistance that OK.gov can provide please contact us by visiting our contact us page.


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On today's market, some sellers struggle to get even a single offer - much less an offer from a qualified buyer, at a reasonable price, on terms they can live with. But just because the market is down doesn't mean sellers are utterly powerless. Proactively asking prospective buyers the right questions can help put together the best possible deal, and stacks the decks in favor of it closing, as well - so here are those questions! 1. Where's your proof? Real estate transactions fall out of escrow on today's market more than ever (that just means that a contract is cancelled sometime between the time buyer and seller sign it and the time it was supposed to close). This is a seller's worst nightmare - to get your hopes up and your moving plans in motion then have to cancel it all because the deal falls through. And that's just where the awful-ness begins; every seller fears pulling their home off the market in reliance on a contract that later implodes because of the reality that they might forgo other good buyers while your home is marked "pending." Deals often fall apart because the mortgage lender fails to approve the short sale, or the home appraises way below the seller's bottom line. But another common deal-killer is when the buyer's financing falls apart. While nothing is bullet-proof, smart sellers have their agents ask the buyers agent for robust proof that the buyer can actually do the deal. If your home's buyer plans to use mortgage financing, you should get a pre-qualification letter from a mortgage pro who has actually run the buyer's credit, seen their down payment money and checked their income and assets - it's not overkill for your agent to call the buyer's mortgage contact and check on how recent and how strong (or tenuous) this approval is. (The more recent the better - down payment savings can be spent and even jobs can be lost between the time of the approval and the time of the offer, if many moons have passed.) If the buyer is using cash, the listing agent should insist on receiving a recent proof of funds, like a bank account statement, documenting that the buyer has the cash they'll need to close on hand. 2. Is there anything you'd like? This question is all about personal property - the "stuff" that's inside your home, from your furniture to your home electronics (not including the children - or the in-laws, if you have some in residence). If you have things that are in great condition, are difficult to move, are very well-suited or custom-made for the home or that you were planning to sell in the course of your move anyway, you might want to ask your home's buyer if they are interested in them. Maybe you have a price in mind, or maybe you are willing to give it away for the convenience of not having to move it - I've even seen sellers who can't meet a buyer's counteroffer by reducing the price instead offer up a valuable item of property instead, sealing the deal that way. If you do agree to leave some things behind - whether for a fee or for free, make sure you explain to the buyer in writing that you cannot offer a warranty on the item(s), and work with your broker or agent to ensure that the paperwork doesn't run afoul of any lender guidelines. 3. For offers over the asking price: What's your plan if it doesn't appraise? Even on today's market, a well-priced home in a great neighborhood can generate multiple offers, with the top offer usually exceeding the asking price. The problem is that if the recent sales in the area aren't in that same price range as your amazing offer, your home could very well fail to appraise for the asking price (low appraisals are a very common problem these days - causing thousands of transactions to fall out of escrow). And the other problem is that some crafty buyers count on this, strategizing to make a sky-high offer to beat the others out, planning all the while to demand a price reduction when the property appraises low. Before you accept an offer that is higher than you or your agent feels your home will realistically appraise for, ask the buyer what they plan to do if the property appraises below their offered price. Better yet, when it becomes clear that you'll be receiving multiple offers, let all prospective buyers know that before you accept an over-asking offer, you will either (a) require that the winning buyer waive the appraisal contingency, and/or (b) require an agreement that the successful buyer will make up the difference between the appraised price and the purchase price, and proof that they have the cash on hand to do so. This is a surefire shenanigan minimizer, and will cause people to make only offers they will stand behind later. (Now, if the home appraises below the listing price, that's a horse of a different color.) 4. Did you read the reports? Some savvy sellers who know their homes need a little work here and there (or a lot, as the case may be) take the smart step of having their home inspected or appraised in advance of even putting it on the market. If they can't afford to do all the work indicated in the report, many will adjust the list price to account for needed repairs, some even going so far as to obtain repair estimates from local contractors and offer them up to prospective buyers in the home's disclosure packets. In their excitement to find a property that meets their needs, some buyers barely skim the reports and may not realize that the list price reflects a discount for the needed repairs. Best practices for sellers who have advance reports is to require buyers to acknowledge them (as by signing a receipt), and to even call out - in writing - the specific repairs for which the price is being discounted. Some listing agents in these situations even advise their sellers to insist on an as-is contract, so that the buyer has a crystal clear understanding that the seller cannot do any repairs. That way, you don't get two weeks into the transaction when the buyer understands the condition problems and (a) bails out of the deal, (b) asks for repairs or for more of a discount, or (c ) has their loan fall apart because a previous FHA appraisal came in low or their lender will not allow the home to be sold with your home's particular "issues." P.S. - You should follow Trulia and Tara on Facebook!
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U.S. Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission
Longview Fast Food Restaurant Refused to Hire HIV-Positive Applicant Despite His Qualifications, Federal Agency Charges
TYLER, Texas - A corporation that owns and operates several Popeye's Chicken and Biscuits franchise restaurants violated federal law when it discriminated against a job applicant because he was HIV-positive, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission charged in a lawsuit filed today.
The EEOC charged in its suit against Famous Chicken of Shreveport, L.L.C. that the general manager of a Longview, Texas Popeye's restaurant refused to hire Noah Crawford for a position, despite his qualifications and experience, upon learning that he was HIV-positive.
According to the EEOC's suit, in October 2011, Crawford, who had years of prior experience working for a fast food restaurant, including experience working as a fast food restaurant general manager, submitted an application for a position with Popeye's. In response to the question on the application, "reason for leaving" his most recent job, Crawford wrote, "medical." After submitting the application, Crawford was interviewed by the general manager and asked to disclose the "medical" condition referenced. When Crawford stated that he has HIV, he was immediately informed that he could not work for Popeye's given his condition.
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) prohibits disability discrimination and requires employers to make reasonable accommodations to employees' and applicants' disabilities as long as this does not pose an undue hardship. According to the Food and Drug Administration's Food Code, HIV is not listed as a disease transmissible through the food supply.
The EEOC filed suit, Case No.6:13-CV-644 in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Tyler Division, after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process. The EEOC seeks injunctive relief, including the formulation of policies to prevent and correct disability discrimination. The suit also seeks lost wages and compensatory damages for Crawford and punitive damages against Famous Chicken of Shreveport, L.L.C.
"On July 13, 2010, President Obama charged federal agencies to implement the National HIV/AIDS strategy, one goal of which is to better serve people living with HIV - including by preventing barriers to employment of people with HIV," said EEOC trial attorney Joel Clark. "Pursuing this case is part of the EEOC's overall strategic effort to encourage employers to prevent discrimination by making hiring decisions that are well-informed, rather than snap judgments that are based on myths, fears and stereotypes about people with HIV."
Janet Elizondo, district director of EEOC's Dallas District Office, added, "People who are HIV-positive are valued members of society and should be given the same opportunity as others to become gainfully employed based on their education, skills and qualifications."
Public resources such as "How to Comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act: A Guide for Restaurants and Other Food Service Employers," published by the EEOC for public reference, clarify that unfounded fears about HIV, or others' reactions, does not justify denying hire to a qualified applicant.
Famous Chicken of Shreveport also owns and operates chicken franchise restaurants in Laredo, El Paso and Killeen, Texas, and Louisiana.
The EEOC enforces federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. Further information about the EEOC is available on its web site at www.eeoc.gov.


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Practice Areas
Automotive Collisions
Analysis involves a study of the movements of the vehicle and its occupants and a review of the forces related to the body's injury tolerance.
Issues evaluated include injury causation, assessment of pain and suffering, and other physiological aspects associated with subjects.
Commercial Transportation
BRC has examined incidents involving tractor trailers, trains, and mass transit and analyzed the biomechanical and injury causation issues.
Industrial Incidents & Power Tools
Industrial and power tool incidents are commonly attributed to the operation of the equipment and/or being around or near such equipment.
Recreational Products
Though designed for fun and enjoyment, recreational products can and have resulted in both minor and catastrophic injuries.
Restraint Systems & Helmets
BRC's experience provides a unique background for understanding and assessing the performance of restraint systems and helmets.
Additional Areas
BRC is often asked to analyze biomechanical and injury causation issues in a wide variety of incidents.