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ALMATY, Kazakhstan (AP) — Seeking even a small step forward in a yearslong dispute, negotiators from Iran and six world powers mulled options Tuesday for preserving Tehran's nuclear program while still trying to keep it from becoming an atomic arsenal.
It was the latest meeting in excruciatingly technical diplomatic discussions. Iran spent the day studying a new offer from the West to curb some tough international sanctions that have ravaged its economy in exchange for limiting its uranium enrichment and other activities that could be used to make weapons.
Talks in Almaty, Kazakhstan's largest city, were due to continue for a second day Wednesday, but diplomats at the negotiations warned that a major breakthrough was unlikely.
Western negotiators say they have brought small, if significant, proposals that should prove tempting to Tehran, although they have declined to divulge any details.
"The Iranians went away to consider our proposal during the course of the afternoon and the evening," said Michael Mann, spokesman for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, who is leading the negotiations. "There was a useful discussion on that proposal."
He said Iran is "in breach of their international obligations, therefore the onus is on them to begin the process of building confidence."
Mehdi Mohammadi, a member of the Iranian delegation, said Tehran will make an offer of its own to end the deadlock but is resisting some of the West's core demands.
The Obama administration is pushing for diplomacy to solve the impasse but has not ruled out the possibility of military intervention in Iran to prevent it from acquiring a nuclear weapon.
"Our proposal includes reciprocal measures that encourage Iran to make concrete steps," U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told reporters in Berlin. "My hope is Iran will make its choice to move down the path to a diplomatic solution."
Israel has threatened it will use all means to stop Iran from being able to build a bomb, potentially as soon as this summer, raising the specter of a possible Mideast war. In Jerusalem, former Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman called Tuesday on the international community to take more "significant" steps to dislodge Iran from its nuclear program. Lieberman, who is acting head of the influential Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee in Israeli's parliament, did not elaborate, but Israeli officials often hint at a possible military strike on Iran's nuclear facilities.
"Sanctions alone will not be enough to rein in those same extremists from their goal to achieve nuclear capabilities and the time has come to move toward steps that are much more significant than the talks and sanctions that we've seen to date," said Lieberman.
Lieberman resigned from his post as foreign minister in December amid legal troubles but remains a top political ally of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Off-and-on talks between Iran and the world powers — the United States, China, Russia, Britain, France and Germany — began after the six offered Tehran a series of incentives in 2006 exchange for a commitment from Tehran to stop enrichment and other activities that could be used to make weapons.
A senior U.S. official at the talks said some sanctions relief would be part of the offer to Iran but refused to elaborate. The official acknowledged reports earlier this month that sanctions would be eased to allow Iran's gold trade to progress, but would neither confirm nor deny they are included in the new relief offer, and spoke only on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive diplomatic talks more candidly.
Before the talks began Tuesday, the Interfax news agency cited Russia's envoy as saying the easing of sanctions was possible only if Iran can assure the world that its nuclear program is for exclusively peaceful purposes. China's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Hua Chunying, said diplomacy offered the only route to resolve the dispute and called for all sides to show flexibility, calling the Iranian nuclear issue "very complicated and sensitive."
Members of the Chinese and Iranian delegations met at a bilateral session before the main talks got under way.
Interfax cited an unidentified Iranian delegation member as saying Iran might also hold one-on-one talks with Russia, but ruled out direct negotiations with the United States in Almaty.
Officials from both sides have set low expectations for a breakthrough in Almaty — the first time the high-level negotiators have met since last June's meeting in Moscow that threatened to derail the delicate efforts.
While Mann acknowledged the Almaty talks would unlikely lead to a firm outcome, he insisted that it remained an important stepping stone toward a definitive solution.
"We're not interested in talks just for talk's sake. We're not here to talk, we're here to make concrete progress," Mann said.
The first session of talks were held in private at a hotel in Almaty and were deemed so sensitive that reporters were not allowed on the premises Tuesday save for a handful of TV cameras and photographers allowed to watch Ashton greet Saeed Jalili, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council.
Tehran maintains it is enriching uranium only to make reactor fuel and medical isotopes, and insists it has a right to do so under international law. It has signaled it does not intend to stop, and U.N. nuclear inspectors last week confirmed Iran has begun a major upgrade of its program at the country's main uranium enrichment site.
Over the last eight months, the international community has imposed heavy economic sanctions on Iran, hoping they would be so painful that the Islamic republic's clerical regime would slow its nuclear program out of a moral obligation to its public. Negotiators now hope that easing some sanctions will make Tehran more agreeable to halting production of 20 percent enriched uranium — the highest grade of enrichment that Iran has acknowledged and one that experts say could be turned into warhead grade in a matter of months.
World powers also want Iran to suspend enrichment in its underground Fordo nuclear facility, and to ship its stockpile of high-grade uranium out of the country.
Mohammadi said shuttering Fordo was "out of the question" and that Iran first wants the U.N. Security Council to withdraw all of the sanctions it has heaped on the nation.
Iran has been unimpressed with earlier offers by the powers to provide it with medical isotopes and lift sanctions on spare parts for civilian airliners, and new bargaining chips that Tehran sees as minor are likely to be snubbed as well.
Iran insists, as a starting point, that world powers must recognize the republic's right to enrich uranium.
Associated Press writers Charles Hutzler in Beijing, Tia Goldenberg in Jerusalem, George Jahn in Vienna and Matt Lee in Berlin contributed to this report.
Follow Lara Jakes on Twitter at https://twitter.com/larajakesAP and Peter Leonard at https://twitter.com/pete_leonard


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subset: commoncrawl


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Guest Info
Robert DeJesusGuest Artist
Robert DeJesus is an Indiana born, self-taught artist. In 1990, he got his first art career break when he sent an eight page short story to Antarctic Press' anthology, Mangazine. From that, he was asked to work on other assorted AP comics, such as Ninja High School, Mangazine, Not Ninja High School, Again and SB Ninja High School.
After working for Antarctic Press for about four years, Robert went on to do freelance work. He teamed with other artists such as Adam Warren on Bubblegum Crisis and Dirty Pair, Phil Foglio's Xxxenophile card game, and co-produced a portfolio 'zine with Steve Bennett. His art has also attracted invitation by Japanese artists Kenichi Sonoda (Gunsmith Cats, Riding Bean) and KoKoMai (character designer for Japan's PlayStation, Crime Crackers) to do work for their own personal dojinishi circles.
Robert's biggest claim to fame has to be designing Banzai Chibi Chan, the mascot for PlayStation Magazine: 100% Independent. He recently worked on two childrens books based on Spiderman, released on the weekend of the movie debut.
Robert and his wife, Emily, have started their own company, Studio Capsule. Capsule will be involve in creating a line of underground doujinshis, animations, portfolios and other sorts of memoriblia. Find out everthing that's new with either Studio Capsule or Robert DeJesus at www.robertdejesus.com


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Lamar University student organizations honor Veterans Day
Lamar University will honor the sacrifice, commitment and service of veterans on Veterans Day, Friday, Nov. 11 with a ceremony, "Remembering our Heroes," presented by the 23rd Cardinal Command and the Alpha Upsilon Chapter of Phi Iota Alpha Fraternity. The ceremony will take place in the quadrangle at Lamar University at 11 a.m.
"We definitely wanted to do something to honor the service of the veterans not just at Lamar but across the nation," said Willie Broussard, Division of Distance Learning Associate Director and sponsor of the 23rd Cardinal Command. The 23rd Cardinal Command is a new Lamar University student organization that helps support students who are active military members or dependents/spouses. Any Lamar student is able to join the organization.
The Phi Iota Alpha Fraternity has collaborated with 23rd Cardinal Command on the project. "Phi Iota Alpha has been great to work with. They had reserved the quadrangle before us, and they agreed to work together on the project," said Broussard.
The ceremony will start at 11 a.m. with the Precession of Wreaths, donated by Carl Johnsen Florist Inc, and the Presentation of Colors. The national anthem will be sung followed by a welcome and a moment of silence at 11:11 a.m. Taps, played by Rebecca Kent, a music major from Orange, will conclude the moment of silence followed by remarks from Stephen Doblin, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs; Luis Lopez, President of Phi Iota Alpha; and Jay Lawrence, Commander of 23rd Cardinal Command. A reception for veterans will be held in the Setzer Center in Room 210 after the ceremony.
Lamar University has been named a military friendly school by GI Jobs Magazine for two years and Military Advanced Education Magazine for three years. "A military friendly school is one that allows for active military members and veterans to complete their educational pursuits," said Broussard.


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Global Warming
- Articles
In past years global warming has a been a topic of political debate. Is it real, or is it just some made up problem Al Gore made a big deal about? Which it is I think, is still up for discussion. However, recent advances have not been toward what the cause of it is but how it should be dealt with. I am far from a scientist, I'm just an ordinary guy that lives in a small town. Yet, at times I find myself noticing a signs of it. This year has been one of the most bizarre winters i have experienced. It seems that spring is coming early this year, which just one sign of global warming. However small the signs they are real. It may not be possible to stop Global Warming, but its affects can be slowed down. And that, is something that I believe is worth investing in.


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CANNES, France (AP) — The Associated Press is all over the Cannes Film Festival — from its glitzy premieres to the celeb parties and quirky moments in between. Here's what reporters have seen and heard:
Glowing Oscar-winning actress Lupita Nyong'o shone bright at the Calvin Klein celebration of Women In Film event in Cannes. She wore a shimmering blue Calvin Klein strapless dress with a slashed bodice styled with silver sandals. To complement that look, the "12 Years a Slave" star wore enviable teardrop cut out crystal earrings. During the exclusive event, she hung out with fellow WIF attendees Julianne Moore, Rooney Maara and Naomi Watts.
— By Thomas Adamson — http://www.twitter.com/ThomasAdamsonAP
One of the hottest properties in Cannes has been acquired by Paramount Pictures.
Paramount has purchased the North America and China distribution rights for "Story of Your Life," a sci-fi thriller to star Amy Adams. Directing is Denis Villeneuve, the Canadian filmmaker who made last year's kidnapping thriller "Prisoners" and the 2010 Oscar-nominated, French-language mystery "Incendies."
Based on a short story by science-fiction writer Ted Chiang, "Story of Your Life" is about a linguist (to be played by Adams) recruited by the military to translate invading aliens. It's being produced and financed by FilmNation Entertainment in partnership with Lava Bear Films.
Paramount, which said it expects to release the film in 2016, paid $20 million for the rights to the film, according to Variety and The Hollywood Reporter.
— By AP Film Writer Jake Coyle — http://twitter.com/jake_coyle
Gong Li is a participant at Cannes, but next month, she'll have higher profile role at a film festival closer to home.
The Chinese actress will head up the jury at the 17th annual Shanghai Film Festival, which begins June 14. She said she agreed to it reluctantly because she fears she may get too emotional.
"It is a respect to a film, to a piece of art work. However, it can only be given to one person. So when you're judging the award, you feel bad, because I, too, am in the business," she said Thursday. "So I hope when I'm the president of the jury, I can pull it together and not be so emotional."
Here at Cannes, she won't have to deal with such weighty matters. She is a L'Oreal ambassador and also has a film showing out of competition here.
"Coming Home" reunites her with Chinese director Zhang Yimou, with whom she made some of her most notable films like "Raise the Red Lantern," ''The Story of Qiu Ju" and "To Live." Gong plays an amnesia patient whose husband returns home after years of being away in prison.
Gong said it was one of her most challenging roles: "If everyone can relate to this character, then I would have succeeded as an actor, but it was very, very hard to portray."
The film premieres at Cannes on Tuesday.
— By Angela Y. Chen
As France is electrified with buzz of a possible Kim Kardashian and Kanye West wedding in the country this month, sister of the bride-to-be Kendall Jenner has taken the other side of the country by storm in Cannes.
The tall, raven-haired 18-year-old wowed crowds in the French Riviera, hitting the red carpet Wednesday for the "Grace of Monaco" premiere in a black-and-white Chanel silk crepe dress from the cruise collection.
The TV reality star and aspiring actress would conveniently be able to whizz up the country to attend if her more famous sister weds in Paris, as is rumored.
— By Thomas Adamson — http://www.twitter.com/ThomasAdamsonAP
A documentary chronicling Michael Jackson in his last years has been acquired at the Cannes Film Festival.
"Michael: The Last Photo Shoots" follows the late superstar as he prepared for his ill-fated comeback. It features interviews with his photographers as well as stylists and friends.
Renowned photographer Bruce Weber photographed Jackson in 2007 for the re-release of "Thriller" on its 25th anniversary, and celebrity photographer Matthew Rolston shot him the same year for Ebony magazine, his first U.S. magazine interview in years.
Lightning Entertainment has acquired the international sales rights. Its executive vice president, Ken Dubow, said in a statement Thursday that the documentary will provide fans with "a rare behind-the-scenes look into his life."
Jackson died shortly before his London comeback concerts in 2009. "Xscape," a second posthumous album, was released this week.
EDITOR'S NOTE — "Cannes Watch" shows you the Cannes Film Festival and the events surrounding it through the eyes of Associated Press journalists across Cannes and around the world. Follow them on Twitter where available with the handles listed after each item.


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WORCESTER — A procession of tow trucks is expected to descend on the city Saturday in honor of John W. Duggan Sr., a tow truck driver killed last weekend along with a Florida state trooper after responding to a two-car accident on Interstate 75 in Ocala, Florida.
Mr. Duggan, 57, a Worcester native and Worcester Boys Trade School graduate, was the owner and operator of S.M. Duggan Towing Co. in Ocala.
Mr. Duggan had responded to an accident just before 2 p.m. last Saturday in a southbound lane of I-75 when he, a Florida Highway Patrol trooper and a third person were struck as they stood in the median of the highway, according to Florida Highway Patrol. Both Mr. Duggan and the 30-year-old trooper, Chelsea Richard, were pronounced dead at the scene.
The third victim, George R. Phillips of Ocala, died hours later at Ocala Regional Medical Center, the highway patrol said in a news release.
They said the second crash that claimed the three lives resulted from a multi-vehicle accident that occurred when the driver of a sport utility vehicle abruptly braked to avoid colliding with vehicles that were already stopped because of the first accident. The SUV was then sideswiped by a pickup that ran onto the median, striking the cruiser and three people standing there, according to The Associated Press.
Charges are pending the completion of the traffic homicide investigation, which could take several months, the highway patrol said.
Tow truck operators from across the state are expected to attend Mr. Duggan's funeral and plan to drive their vehicles in a procession from Alfred Roy & Sons Funeral Home, 12 Hammond St., to an 11 a.m. Mass at Blessed Sacrament Church, 555 Pleasant St. From the church, the procession will go to Worcester County Memorial Park in Paxton, where Mr. Duggan will be interred.
The procession of tow trucks is intended as a show of respect for a fellow tow truck operator killed while performing his duties, according to one organizer of the event.
Mr. Duggan owned and operated the 3D Garden Center on Chandler Street before moving to Florida 10 years ago.
Contact Winston W. Wiley at email@example.com.


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Hunterkun wrote:
I really liked the episode but thought that the translations could have been much better. I know Crunchyroll subbers probably aren't familiar with the manga but it would be nice if some of the terms are used properly in future releases. First off, her name is ELSEA or ELSEE not Elci. Secondly, I really don't like seeing Divine One every two seconds - it'd be better if you just wrote Kami-sama or God-sama instead and in later releases Elsee will begin to call Keima "Kami-nii-sama". Thirdly, Keima is the God of Capturing, he performs Captures on the girls, and conquest sounds silly. Keima is also called otamegane - a combination of otaku and megane (glasses), if you say dweeb it just looks different and isn't an actual translation.
I'm sure there are more terms that I'll - and other fans of the manga - will notice later on. I'm not trying to be rude or criticize anything, I just would prefer if the subbers for TWGoK would take the time to read this and implement the real terms/names for things, I'm sure that many fans - including myself - would be tremendously pleased if the subs were as close to the manga as possible.
Thank you, ;)
Bah sorry for the double post... I'll keep it short... It could also be though that they aren't completely free in the way they translate... maybe I'm mistaken. I would like to think there is at least some thought that goes into the translation and even if they have read the manga the translator may be told to just translate everything no matter how out of place it sounds.
I haven't read the manga, but I agree... kami-sama would have been better than "divine one" and the actual japanese term with a translator note for his character type would have fit a bit better too... I'm just used to it being that way and certain things when they are translated turn silly or annoying, or just lose their punch.
Example would be in Gintama I saw CR subs where they called... ugh I forget his name, guy with the shades, DORK instead of madao (I believe)... eventually they started translating it as madao... it would be nice to develop a standard, certain things just shouldn't be translated... I even think brother instead of nii and what not sounds weird.
Also the only reason that I bothered to respond to this with some support is that your argument wasn't "omg cr your subs are teh sucks"... you gave constructive criticism that is actually a really good idea, made excellent points, and backed them up... thats something that most people don't do.
I don't know how many of the decision makers and what not read these boards, but it would be nice to be able to put this kind of constructive advice in a place where they could see it and would read it.
So far behind on anime... need to catch up
TheAncientOne wrote:
varnlestoff wrote:
""All you all-access and anime members will now be able to watch this manga-adapted series RIGHT NOW! For all you free members out there, don't fret! Next week at 11:30 am PDT you too will be able to see this week's episode for free!""
Or I can just go watch it for free right now on any other site.
Of course you can, and the company that made it doesn't get a red cent.
You are not alone in being able to state the obvious.
They don't make a red cent if I wait it out a week to watch it either. And not everybody is willing to risk identify theft by making transactions on a website.
~~Rawr is so sweet~~
varnlestoff wrote:
They don't make a red cent if I wait it out a week to watch it either. And not everybody is willing to risk identify theft by making transactions on a website.
So basically, you are saying that CR takes the money they get from the commercials and pockets it? The only way that would work is if the paying members were footing the entire bill for the license.
As to "risking identify theft", I assume you never purchase anything on the internet and never use PayPal, right?
If you are going to try and rationalize, the key is to at least make it sound reasonable.
Yes, that's my real age
TheAncientOne wrote:
varnlestoff wrote:
They don't make a red cent if I wait it out a week to watch it either. And not everybody is willing to risk identify theft by making transactions on a website.
So basically, you are saying that CR takes the money they get from the commercials and pockets it? The only way that would work is if the paying members were footing the entire bill for the license.
As to "risking identify theft", I assume you never purchase anything on the internet and never use PayPal, right?
If you are going to try and rationalize, the key is to at least make it sound reasonable.
I suppose it might not be reasonable to someone who buys all their porn, dvd's, groceries and crap online. But not everybody sees the need, hence to each person, what is reasonable differs.
And yeah I wouldn't doubt it if shinji takes all the money of the paying members, puts it in a collective funds bin and says here, this is the total of the members and ad revenue, all the while pocketing the freebies. It wouldn't be the first time someone did it. This whole site has become a profiteering expedition anyhow.
~~Rawr is so sweet~~
Well, they have to pay for the rights to do these simulcasts, so the makers of the show are getting some of the profit from the site. The rest of the profits go to the owner(s), which is how it should be. These shows are made to make money, not solely for the art! It is a business. If they don't make money, they don't produce product, and you don't have shows to watch.
If you like having the ability to watch shows like this legally, it is worth the small amount Crunchyroll charges to support the industry. If you would rather watch illegal fan-subs, that is your business, but having these shows legally available is worth it to me!
I'm happy to wait the time out, whilst doing offers to earn CR bucks and help out until the day I can pull out my credit card. As I live in the UK, this and Youtube are the only legal sources for anime.
If I can get it legally streaming, even if I have to wait it out, I'd much rather go for a higher quality legal stream with a couple of Ads which raise money for the companies than a lower quality illegal stream with hundreds of pop ups advertising scams, which really irritates me.
I also have a look into the mangas of the series I watch when they are available where I live (I actually prefer manga, and can't wait for this "manga on crunchyroll" thing to start).
Back on the subject, looking at the episode 1 preview that us ordinary members get, I really want to start watching this. It looks funny. xD I actually feel bad for people who only prefer anime/2D characters to real people though, there are so many nice real guys out there who are better in both looks and personality that I can't help but drool. xD
an easy solution for terms and word twisters is to add pinpoint headers like -dono in the end of names relate to samurai and -sama to leaders, masters and nobles etc
i totlly agree with you guys about dono, sama, meganetaku and nii-san. translating that stuff is rediculous but im pretty sure crunchyroll dosnt do the subs themselves i personally still miss dattebayo's subs but crunchyroll pays the producers so thats good. i think, and correct me if im wrong but i think CR gets the subs from whoever the official iicense holder is. i havent had the motivation to find out that info and complain to them though. some kind of standardization for the translation process might be interesting
looks like a good show will consider watching it~
Good-a.. episode.
Nvm, nvm.
This anime is great!
great,, I hope it's available in my region and I can watch it even if I don't have an anime membership...
Errare humanum est


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OMCA Community | Nature Journal Club
Wednesday, January 15, 2014, 12–1:30 pm
Wednesday, January 15, 2014 - 12:00pm
Join naturalist, educator, and artist John Muir Laws in this free monthly workshop. Each session highlights a new aspect of journal keeping such as drawing flowers, making quick landscape studies, sketching birds, noticing important scientific details, or nature poetry. Enjoy a diverse community of artists and naturalists of all levels, and connect to nature through art.
All ages are welcome. No experience necessary. Museum admission is not required.
For additional information on workshop topics and schedule of all journal club workshops, visit johnmuirlaws.com


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My passion for wildlife was stimulated in my teenage years, mainly thanks to my Mum (a biology teacher) who made me look at the world differently and being inspired by writers such as Paul Colinvaux. This early interest developed into biological research in my 20s, when I did practical conservation work in places such as the Comores and Mongolia.
Today, any free time I have I spend pottering around the flatlands of East Anglia or escaping to our hut on the Northumberland coast looking for wildlife and castles with my wife and children.
I studied Biological Sciences at Oxford and Conservation at UCL, and worked at Wildlife and Countryside Link before spending five years as Conservation Director at Plantlife.
I joined the RSPB as Head of Government Affairs in 2004, became Head of Sustainable Development in 2006, before becoming Conservation Director in 2011.
If you have the memory of an elephant, you might recall that last summer I had an enjoyable day at Rainham with a local school and their local MP, John Cruddas. This was part of our festival of field teaching and it helped reinforce the importance of people – young and old – getting out and enjoying wildlife in their every day lives. And, of course, this goes hand in hand with the need to protect and create places full of wildlife for people to enjoy - which has been the focus for our campaign battles over the past few weeks.
At the heart of the RSPB's work is the desire to connect more children to nature as part of their every day lives – or, more rightly, preventing them from becoming disconnected from it – and inspiring them to become the environmental leaders of tomorrow. As a Dad, I do my bit, but the learner plates still flash on my back.
Our 'Every Child Outdoors' report in 2010 brought together evidence of the benefits to children of having contact with nature. This research was from schools inspectorates – like Ofsted – and leading academics. It not only showed that contact with nature helps children with their education, but it also highlighted the mental and physical health benefits, and the development of social skills.
I have always been convinced that schools must play some sort of role in all this (particulary as some parents are not around as much as they should be). At the very least, schools can provide a safety net to ensure the most under-privileged children can experience and learn about the natural world.
It is hugely encouraging that the Government's own expert panel on the National Curriculum Review (in England) recently suggested that it "considers a recommendation that the school curriculum should also contribute to environmental 'stewardship'" (alongside economic, social, cultural and personal purposes). We agree. And we'll being doing what we can to promote this over the coming months.
We also warmly welcomed the reduction in the health and safety bureaucracy required for teachers to actually get children out of the classroom, and the support given to this from the HSE last summer. Along with investments by organisations like ourselves into the 'kite mark' Quality Badge for Learning Outside the Classroom, it really is much easier for schools to teach outdoors than just a few years ago.
But it's not just about schools, nor putting more expectation on them and their staff. For starters, we know that it is also critical for children to have nature near to their home if they are really going to connect and value it, and for their families and communities to encourage that.
This approach has been reinforced today with a welcome new report from the National Trust – 'Natural Childhood' – written by naturalist, author and TV producer Stephen Moss. It again highlights the very real threat of nature-deficit disorder amongst young people, and asks what can be done to tackle the problem. To try to answer that question, there is also a two month inquiry online asking what people think the solutions are to the 'extinction of experience' we are faced with.
We will be contributing the RSPB's insights and experience to this inquiry. But this is rightly a challenge for all of us, so please take a look and share your thoughts too.
Andy Hay (rspb-images.com)
It was a real pleasure to walk in to our Land Use Planning team's office yesterday to see obvious joy and satisfaction at a job well done. The more they looked at the detail, the more they recognised the contribution that their own advocacy had made. We shall be publishing more of our analysis tomorrow. It is perhaps one of the most pleasing things for an advocate to see their own text in a published government document. This is often hidden, hard graft that rarely hits the headlines, but it is something for which we can be proud.
And, here's a mini toast to Greg Clark, the Planning Minister, referred by an unnamed Conservative MP (in the Times by Alice Thompson yesterday) as the "Clarke Kent of politics" for his looks and for his ability to have achieved the impossible for satisfying all sides in resolving the planning dispute.
It's been quite a hectic fortnight, so it is not surprising that a few things went by without reference in this blog.
Here are a few bits and bobs that some of you may have missed:
1. Wildlife friendly farmers descend on Brussels
Colleagues travelled with a trusted band of wildlife friendly farmers to meet their MEPs so they could champion the role of the CAP in rewarding farmers to protect and improve the natural environment. Our common agenda was to secure more support from agri-environment schemes but also through much needed but currently absent support for High Nature Value farming systems. As you can see from the blog post here, each of the farmers was impressive and we hope that by enabling them to tell their story about how funding for the environment is not just great for wildlife but for farmers and wider society too, we have made some positive steps towards convincing the European Parliament that this funding should be increased (and at the very least, not subjected to further cuts).
2. Welsh government shelves plans for a badger cull
Last week, the Welsh Government announced that the Welsh badger cull was being scrapped and replaced with a vaccination programme. This was announced by John Griffiths, the Wales Environment Minister, after consideration of a review of the science that he instigated last summer. He deserves credit for sticking with the science and finding the money for vaccination. The review has yet to be published but I imagine it will have highlighted the risk that culling could have made the TB situation worse by stirring up the badger population, whereas badger vaccination does not bring such a risk. I know that the proposed cull had divided the community in Pembrokeshire and I hope that everyone can now get behind badger vaccination and help bring TB down in this area. I am sure that in the long term this will be a win for farmers and a win for badgers too.
3. Elgin gas leak
Days after the Chancellor announced the go-ahead for a deep-sea oil well off Shetland, there has been a gas leak off the Elgin platform. You can read more about our reaction here. My colleagues in Scotland have said, "The situation on the Elgin platform poses a significant potential risk to the environment, particularly if there was to be a considerable leak of oil, either directly or as a result of a further problem (such as an explosion – this is suggested as a possibility by the RMT spokesperson). This area of the north sea is known to be used by large populations of auks at this time of year, including puffins, razorbills and guillemots. Reports of a sheen being seen on the surface of the water have now been confirmed and are a particular cause for concern. It needs to be established, as a matter of urgency, exactly what is causing that sheen. We await further news on this as we understand that a spotter plane has been sent out to examine the site further. We will be monitoring events closely."
As ever, it would be great to hear you views any of these issues.
Last October, I suggested in a radio interview that the draft National Planning Policy Framework should be put in a park bin. It was a rather cheeky reference to Oliver Letwin's error of judgement in disposing of constituency correspondence in a similar fashion. There was real anxiety that the original draft would undermine the UK Government's own ambitions to pass on the environment to the next generation in a better state.
The environment sector was united in their condemnation of the proposals and a public campaign (with the support of the Daily Telegraph) kept the issue alive politically for months.
But yesterday we had reason to celebrate.
To the surprise of many, in publishing the final National Planning Policy Framework, the Planning Minister, Greg Clark, graciously accepted many of the recommendations made by environmental groups and the Communities and Local Government Select Committee. While we are still ploughing through the detail, we believe that the NPPF as published yesterday has addressed most of the RSPB's concerns including our top three red lines.
1. The Government has adopted the definition of sustainable development as described in the 2005 Sustainable Development Strategy. Crucially, this incorproates the prinicple of living within environmental limits.
2. The incendiary phrase "the default answer to development is yes" has been removed. This essentially means that economic interests will not be given priority in the planning system. It also means that many of the positive elements of the guidance regarding nature conservation are no longer undermined. This includes the headline statement "the planning system should contribute to protecting the natural environment by... minimising impacts on biodiversity and providing net gains in biodiversity where possible, contributing to the Government's commitment to halt the overall decline in biodiversity, including by establishing coherent ecological networks that are more resilient to current and future pressures".
3. We believe (although our lawyers are doublechecking the text for us) that the protection afforded to Sites of Special Scientific Interest has been upheld. In the original draft our lawyers had concluded that protection of SSSIs had been undermined by essentially turning the precautionary principle on its head. The old system essentially advised local authorities to reject development that damages SSSIs unless the benefits of the development outweigh the negative impacts. Under the draft NPPF, local authorities would have been obliged to consent development "unless the adverse impacts of allowing the development would significantly and demonstrably outweigh the benefits". We are delighted that the Minister listened to our concerns. The final document now says "when determining planning applications, local planning authorities should aim to conserve and enhance biodiversity by applying the following principles: proposed development on land within or outside a Site of Special Scientific Interest likely to have an adverse effect on a Site of Special Scientific Interest (either individually or in combination with other developments) should not normally be permitted. Where an adverse effect on the site's notified special interest features is likely, an exception should only be made where the benefits of the development, at this site, clearly outweigh both the impacts that it is likely to have on the features of the site that make it of special scientific interest and any broader impacts on the national network of Sites of Special Scientific Interest."
So, the sun is still shining and the NPPF has been radically redrafted which means I can remain cheerful for the rest of the week.
One last thing - while I it is sobering to think how hard that many of us have had to fight to maintain existing protection to wildlife (through the red tape challenge, review of habitats regulations and now the NPPF), it is now clear to any minister that the public is not going to take lightly any proposal which potentially undermines the natural environment.
Are you reassured by the final National Planning Policy Framework? What lessons do you think the Government will now have learnt?
It would be great to hear your views.


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bigThursday, September 17, 2009
This weeks cookie of the week. Big. Big peanut butter cookie of the week.
Honestly. Check out the size. A true treat to find one of these after school or in your lunch box. All three kids said they were the best peanut butter cookie they ever had. I'm thinking they were really loving the size. Out of this same cookbook. I couldn't find the recipe but it is basically this except with creamy peanut butter and made into cookies.... not cookie sandwiches.
43 comments
Man, those look yummy! I had an urge to bake pumpkin muffins last night. :-)ReplyDelete
Can I come over and steal a cookie from the cookie jar? those look so yummy. and there is something about a GIANT cookie I think. Lucky kidsReplyDelete
My hubby and I love peanut butter cookies. I find that I really love the one's on Smitten Kitchen, but these look better for ice cream sandwiches.ReplyDelete
Because all large cookies are better as ice cream sandwiches. Maybe with the grape sorbet, so it will be like having a pb&j without the extra bread.
I love a good peanut butter cookie and the bigger the better. (love that photo of the cookie in your son's hand)ReplyDelete
Oh man, that's it...I have to make some. STAT!ReplyDelete
big, big blessings! yum!! they look absolutely perfect.ReplyDelete
yum! my girls are requesting cookies, those look great!ReplyDelete
Big is right! They look like the best cookies - EVER!ReplyDelete
Those look so good! Big cookies are the best.ReplyDelete
oh my, those look amazing!!ReplyDelete
They look delicious! Love the cookie jar.ReplyDelete
Great pictures! (I love peanut butter cookies. Mmm...)ReplyDelete
I made these GIANT peanut butter cookies last week for my brother-in-law as a gift. I mailed the package to their house--and let me tell you, they were heavy!! He called the night of receipt with rave reviews. These are awesome cookies!! Thanks so much for the recipe. I am glad the cookie of the week is back in action.ReplyDelete
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Tonight we embark upon the adventure of the letters to the seven churches in Revelation chapter 2 and 3, so you may now take your Bible and look with me to the second chapter of the great apokalupsis, the revelation of Jesus Christ. And we're going to consider the first of these seven letters to the seven churches, verses 1 through 7, the letter to the church in Ephesus.
You are well aware of the fact that this letter is known for the very singular statement that is made in verse 4, "But I have this against you that you have left your first love." And so we can fairly call this church the church that left its first love. Not necessarily in total but certainly in part, so much so that it was characterized in that way.
As we read this letter, we're going to come to grips with the matter of love growing cold in the lives of believers. And that leads me to say as a basic introduction that the reality of loving the Lord Jesus Christ is at the very core of a saving relationship to Him. We cannot spend as much time as I would like on that singular theme but if we were to collect all that has been said from this pulpit in the last 20-plus years, it would fill several volumes with regard to the matter of Christians loving the Lord Jesus Christ.
Just to touch base with that great reality, Matthew chapter 10 verse 37 and 38 put it in perspective. "He who loves father or mother more than Me, Jesus said, is not worthy of Me and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me."
In other words, being worthy of Christ means loving Him to the point where you are willing to take up your cross which means to die if need be because of the demands and the compulsions of that love. In John chapter 8 and verse 42 Jesus said, "If God were your Father, you would love Me." No more definitive statement is made in the New Testament than that. "If God is your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and have come from God."
Knowing God and being a Christian involves loving the Lord Jesus Christ. Again in John chapter 14 verse 21 says, Jesus is speaking again here, "He who has My commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me and he who loves Me shall be loved by My Father and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him." There the whole of the Christian relationship is summed up, God loves us, we love God and therefore we keep His commandments. Verse 23 similarly says,"I"If anyone loves Me, he will keep My Word and My Father will love him and we will come to Him and make our abode with Him." If we were to turn that verse around and read it backwards, when God takes up His abode with us He loves us and we keep His Word because we love Him.
Jesus wanting to identify the spiritual condition of Peter in John 21 asked him three times the same question...Peter, do you...what?...love Me? Therein is the substance of spiritual identity manifest. Those who are Christians love the Lord Jesus Christ. In fact, in 1 Corinthians chapter 16 and verse 22 it says,"I"If anyone does not love the Lord, let him be accursed." People who love Christ are the saved and the blessed. People who do not love Christ are the accursed, the damned. Peter reminds us in 1 Peter 1:8 that we love Him even though we've never seen Him.
So that love for the Lord Jesus Christ is present in all Christians. But it is subject to fluctuation as to intensity. All Christians love the Lord Jesus Christ. All Christians do not love the Lord Jesus Christ with all their heart, soul, mind and strength as they ought to. There is unquestionably a fluctuation potential in that love relationship. And no better illustration of the seriousness of a waning intensity of love than this letter to the church at Ephesus.
Let me read it to you. "To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: The one who holds the seven stars in His right hand, the one who walks among the seven golden lampstands says this, I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance and that you cannot endure evil men and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles and they are not and you found them to be false, and you have perseverance and have endured for my namesake and have not grown weary, but I have this against you that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen and repent and do the deeds you did at first or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place unless you repent. Yet this you do have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans which I also hate. He who has an ear let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches, to him who overcomes I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the paradise of God."
Now let me remind you that this is a letter to a church, a real church in a real city called Ephesus in Asia Minor. I want you to remember that when we deal with these churches in these two chapters of Revelation, we're dealing with real churches, historical churches. And the Lord is writing a letter that applies at that period of time to that church. But also, these are not only historical churches, they are perennial churches in the sense that each of these churches is a little bit different type church, has a little bit different characteristic, is a little bit unique from all the others. And so they represent the types of churches that perennially exist throughout the church age. We are dealing then with a real historical church but we are also dealing with a perennial problem in churches and that is in the case of the Ephesian church there are plenty of churches throughout all of church history that could be characterized as those who had grown cold in the matter of their love for Christ.
We also mentioned to you last time that these churches, for the most part, at least five out of seven of them, have evil mixed with good. It is not uncommon for churches to have those kinds of characteristics. There will be a mixture of good and evil. And we also noted that as you flow through the seven letters with the exception of the two churches where there is no evil mentioned, the church in Smyrna an the church in Philadelphia which seem to be good churches on a total level, with the exception of that the five churches that have the mixture of good and evil are on a descending scale. In other words, they become progressively worse. So you have here historical churches which had problems that needed to be dealt with that are perennial illustrations of types of churches in all periods of time that also illustrate that churches can be a mixture of good and evil and we also see a descending kind of disastrous scale as you move from the first church to the last church. The first having grown cold with love, the last being totally apostate.
So what we learn here then is relevant to all churches in all times. And frankly, any church in any age of the church could have a mixture of these problems characterizing it.
We're going to look at these letters one at a time and I believe the Holy Spirit has put them here because they are so perennially relevant. They can speak to churches today that have these characteristics and they can warn all of us about the potential of these characteristics in our own church.
Now the first church then to which a letter is addressed is Ephesus. It is one of seven churches in the province of Asia Minor, today you would know that as modern Turkey, that's the area. The Ephesian church was perhaps the most prominent one since all the other six were founded as daughter churches out of the Ephesian church and the Ephesian church was founded really by the extensive ministry of the Apostle Paul which lasted something around three years or more. Forty years before this letter was written, Paul had written the letter of Ephesians which, of course, reached them among other churches. Forty years later you have the Holy Spirit giving to John this letter which reveals the very words of Jesus Christ to that same church. So we could say that the church in Ephesus receives two letters, the letter of Ephesians from Paul and the letter here from the Lord Jesus Christ through the pen of the Apostle John.
Now as we look at these letters, we're going to see some pretty typical features in all of them and the outline will flow pretty much the same as we look through them. First of all, let's look at the correspondent...the correspondent. Who is the writer? Who is the writer? He is not named by name but it is very evident who He is. This letter is sent to the angel of the church in Ephesus. Just to note, the angel refers to the leader of the church. We have no reason to assume that it refers to an actual angel, although that it is a possibility. The weight of evidence for that viewpoint is that every other mention of angels in the book of Revelation refers to actual angels. The word angelos can also mean messenger. So there are some who would say that this is a letter given to a certain angel who is associated with each of these churches. The problem with that is we have no such teaching about angels being associated with churches and we have no word of Scripture ever given to angels...they are always given to men and the word can mean leader. And since we don't get to the futuristic part of the book until the third chapter, there is every reason to assume that the word angelos here means simply messenger which would be a representative from the Ephesian church, one of its leaders who had come to be with John perhaps on the Isle of Patmos and was bearing this very letter back on behalf of John and the Lord Himself to the church in Ephesus.
But the one who writes the letter is really not John. He may be the emanuensus, the one whose pen moves as it were on the scroll, but the one who writes, verse 1 says, is the one who holds the seven stars in His right hand, the one who walks among the seven golden lampstands. He is the one who says this. And we know from our study of chapter 1 and the vision that flows down through the chapter from verse 9 on that this is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the one who holds the seven stars in His right hand and He is the one who walks among the seven golden lampstands. Verse 20 of chapter 1 says, "The seven golden lampstands are the churches and the seven stars are the messengers of those churches." So it is the Lord who controls the leadership. It is the Lord who controls and cares for and ministers to and moves among the churches who is saying this.
And it is a fascinating thing to note that if you'll study the vision in chapter 1 from verse 12 on, you will see the characteristics of Christ in that vision are used to identify the writer of these letters. Here you can see He is spoken of in chapter 1 verse 20 as the one who has the stars and who moves among the lampstands. And that's the way he's identified to Ephesus. Look at verse 8 just to see how this flows...in verse 8 it says, here is a second letter to the church in Smyrna, and the writer is the first and the last who was dead and has come to life. And that is the designation of Christ in chapter 1 verse 18.
If you go down to verse 12 to the church at Pergamus, or Pergamum, the one writing is the one who has the sharp two-edged sword. And again that is the description of Christ in chapter 1 verse 16. If you go down to chapter 2 verse 18, the Son of God who has eyes like a flame of fire, His feet are like burnished bronze, says this, and that is the description of Christ in chapter 1 verse 15. You go to chapter 3 verse 1 and He is the one who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars and again He is noted in that way in the vision in chapter 1 verse 16 holding the seven stars.
And so you see that the description of Christ in chapter 1 is carried out through these letters for the purpose of identifying the very one described in chapter 1 as the one who moves through the church. Also even in reference to the church at Philadelphia He is noted as the one who has the key of David who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens and again He is noted as one who has different keys, chapter 1 verse 18, the keys of death and hell, but you can be sure that on His belt hang all the keys. And so the identification of the writer is simply to reiterate the very one described in the vision of chapter 1, the Lord Jesus Christ. These are letters directly from Christ to the churches. He walks among the golden lampstands. What does it mean? Scrutinizing, examining, looking, seeing, assessing, evaluating and then He puts down, as it were, the pen of John and begins to dictate the message to every church based upon what He sees as He listens to them and as He watches them. So the one in charge of the church is about to write, our head, the Lord Jesus Christ, He is the correspondent, He is the one who actually writes the letter.
Secondly, we want to note the church...the correspondent and then the church. And again I remind you in verse 1 it says to the leader, the messenger of the church in Ephesus. I don't want to spend a lot of time dealing with the details of the founding of the church, you can go back in the book of Acts and read it yourself. But this was a spiritually strong church founded and taught, of course, by the Apostle Paul and other Apostles who followed him, located in the unique city of Ephesus. It is...it is probably true that even before Paul did the yeoman work of giving form to the church that Aquila and Priscilla who had been left there by Paul did some preliminary foundation work. You'll find that in Acts 18:21. So they were initially under the influence of Aquila and Priscilla, also influenced by that powerful Old Testament preacher by the name of Apollos who came there to Ephesus from Alexandria. When he got there the only thing he knew was the baptism of John, John the Baptist, he didn't yet know about the Messiah Christ, and so Aquila and Priscilla, you remember, according to Acts 18:25 and 26 taught him more perfectly the gospel and so he must then have articulated with his great gifts the meaning of Old Testament truth in the light of the gospel which he had learned. So before Paul even really did the...the work himself, Aquila, Priscilla and Apollos had had some influence on that church.
Paul, first of all, met people from Ephesus, you remember, when he met on his third journey a group of believers in John the Baptist who had only known the baptism of John, Acts 19. He gave them the gospel, baptized them in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ in Acts 19:5. And that really began Paul's direct work in building the Ephesian church. And he was there for three years, according to Acts 20:31. So they had some very strong beginnings with some very wonderful and godly and powerful people. Paul not only was there for the period of time three years, but he also came back at a later time and was instrumental on his way to Jerusalem in stopping there to give a final course in church management to the elders recorded in Acts chapter 20. It is also true that Timothy served that church and a very well-known person to the Colossians, Tychicus served there also. And I want to happily add, so did the Apostle John. John was no doubt the leading elder in the church at Ephesus when he was arrested by Domitian and exiled sixty miles away from there to the Isle of Patmos, that rock in the middle of the Mediterranean where he was when the Spirit of God revealed all of this to him.
So, you talk about a church that had some powerful influence, you're talking about the Ephesian church. The list of the greatest had been through there to influence that church. The beginnings of that church in terms of its identity as a church really are brought to us in Acts 19, and I don't want to belabor the point but you need to understand that if you read Acts 19 you're going to see some wonderful and remarkable things happen as God begins to put that church together.
For example, in chapter 19 verse 8, Paul entered the synagogue, continued speaking boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading them about the Kingdom of God. And when some were becoming hardened and disobedient, speaking evil of the way before the multitude, he withdrew from them and took away the disciples, reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus. This took place for two years so that all who lived in Asia heard the Word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks. I mean, this thing was so effective it went out of Ephesus, spread all over Asia during those two years and resulted in the founding of the other churches of Asia Minor to which the letters in Revelation 2 and 3 are also addressed.
Verse 11, "God was performing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, hankerchiefs and aprons were carried from his body to the sick and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out." There were some Jewish exorcists who went around from place to place attempting to name over those who had the evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus saying, "I adjure by Jesus whom Paul preaches." And seven sons of one Sceva, a Jewish chief priest were doing this and the evil spirit answered and said to them, "I recognize Jesus and I know about Paul, but who are you guys?" In other words, what are you doing using the name of Jesus? Even the demons know who belongs in the kingdom and who doesn't.
So there were some pretty dramatic things happening in this beginning time of the Ephesian church. We find in verse 18, "Many also of those who had believed kept coming, confessing and disclosing their practices, their evil practices, demonic practices, their occultic practices. Many of those who practiced magic...verse 19...brought their books together and began burning them in the sight of all and they counted up the price of them and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver." Listen, there are accountants in every audience and they'll count and they were counting...fifty thousand dollars worth of books are going up in smoke because these people are turning from magic to Christ.
This, of course, threw the entire city into chaos because the city was deeply involved in idol worship. Verse 23 says, "About that time there arose no small disturbance concerning the way." Why? Because it was hurting the business of the idol makers. "And so the city...verse 29...was filled with confusion. They rushed with one accord into the theater dragging Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul's traveling companions from Macedonia." And so it goes. A riot ensued. You can read it yourself.
This church was born in an unbelievable time. Miracles, powerful preaching, the Word spread, other churches were founded, people turning from idols, turning from the occult, magic, evil practices, burning their magic books at a tremendous price, putting the idol makers who made the silver gods out of business, creating a riot in the city when the union of idol workers found out about it...this is a remarkable place. And so this church was born in a great revival.
But by now Paul is gone. In fact, it's been about 40 years since he wrote the letter to the Ephesians. And there's a new letter coming to him and the one who brings it really is John, the one who writes it is Christ.
Thirdly, we come to the city. And we need to say a word about Ephesus, it's quite a place. Pergamus was the official capital of the province of Asia Minor. And we'll find out about Pergamus in a minute...in a week, I think, next...two weeks actually, two weeks from now we'll look at that letter. Pergamus was the actual capital city but Ephesus was by far the greatest city. In fact, a Roman writer called it, "Luminasia, the Light of Asia." It was prominent for a number of reasons and I want to run them by you briefly just to give you a feeling, you don't have to remember every detail.
It had the greatest harbor in Asia Minor. And any time a city had a harbor, that was the influx and the outgo, that was the trade center, that was the metropolis. It stood not only on the sea but it stood on the mouth of the Cayster River and the Cayster River flooded into this harbor. It was a sort of an inland city about three miles from the sea actually, but the broad mouth of the river allowed access. Even now when John is writing, however, the silt from the Cayster River is beginning to stop up the harbor. And they've had to leave some lanes where the ships can come and go. If you go there now and see the ruins of Ephesus, it is six miles from any water, from the sea because the silt deposit of the Cayster River literally filled it up completely. But in those days there was still access and it was the primary harbor for Asia Minor. Ships would come up that river through a man-made canal into a turning basic, dock within the city, turn around and go back out.
There were also four great roads that went in to Ephesus. One came from the north, from Pergamus and Smyrna. One came from the northeast from Sardis, Galatia, Phrygia. One came from the southeast, the great trade route from the Euphrates through Colossae and Laodicea into Ephesus. Another came from the south from the rich Meander(?) Valley. Consequently Ephesus became known as the marketplace of Asia or the gateway to Asia. It was a very very important place.
In later times when the martyrs were brought from Asia to be thrown to the lions in the arena in Rome, they would come through Ephesus on the highway and it became known as the Highway of the Martyrs. Its position made it sort of a vanity fair for the ancient world.
Politically it was a free city, that it was self-governing. Rome gave Ephesus the right of self-governing, no Roman troups were stationed there at all. Great games were conducted there. The Ephesian Games, and they rivaled the Olympic Games. Some writers say the whole pageant of Greco-Roman life could be seen in its most brilliant colors in the city of Ephesus...athletic contests, drama. In fact, there's a massive theater in the ruins there. From the harbor this great promenade ran right to that theater. They were big in drama, pageantry. There were sacrifices given there as well in a religious fashion.
In fact, it may well be when Paul says in 1 Corinthians 16:8 that he doesn't want to leave Ephesus, it's a great door, an effectual open and a wonderful opportunity and he's going to remain in Ephesus...it may well be because he was waiting for the month of May. In the month of May the Ephesian Games took place and pilgrims from all over the ancient world would descend into Ephesus and it would be the greatest evangelistic outreach opportunity of the year...and that may have been the reason he said he wanted to stay there, because of that opportunity. Although we have no indication that he actually was able to remain that long.
Most importantly perhaps for us is the religious aspect of it. It was the center of the worship of Artemis...Artemis being a Greek name, the Roman name Diana. It again indicates this confusion because Artemis appears to be a male kind of name and even sometimes male figure, and Diana a more decidedly female figure but you find in ancient ritualistic religions and occult kind of religions, Babylonian Mystery Cults, the male/female identity of gods is switched all the time as a part of Satan's ploy to mingle and confuse sexual identities. But the place of the worship of Diana was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. I doubt if I gave you a quiz that...you've heard about them but...you could name them all...so let me run them by you.
One of them was in Alexandria, the Pharos Lighthouse. Another was near Cairo, the pyramids. Another was in Babylon, the hanging gardens. Another was in Halicarnassus, the tomb of King Masolus(?). Another was the Colossus at Rhodes. Another was the statue of Zeus at Mount Olympus. And the seventh of them was this amazing temple in Ephesus to Diana. It was made of glittering Persian marble. According to archaeologists, 425 feet long which would be about one and a half blocks, 260 feet wide, columns stood 60 feet high, 130 columns, 37 embellished with gold and jewels that had been given by kings and embedded in the marble. The altar was beautiful beyond words, carved by Praxittiles(??) who was the famous Greek sculptor. This temple was a museum, collections from all over the world. It was a sanctuary for criminals. All the criminals who wanted to escape and cross their fingers and say "King's X, you can't touch me," got in this temple. So you can imagine the kind of riff raff that lived there.
It was the bank of the Mediterranean which makes it convenient for the criminals. The wealthy kept their treasures there in the inner shrine. Supposedly no one was allowed to violate it but it was a place of unbelievable graft and confusion and chaos. It was big business also. They sold little gods. They sold gods for your neck. This is the first place we find little idols to put on the front of your chariot. The Roman Catholic Church, by the way, and you need to know this historically, the Roman Catholic Church has taken its forms of worship not from historic Christianity but from historic idolatrous worship out of the Roman world. That's where they get their hollidays, their pilgrimages, their temples with craftsman selling images, their medallions, that's all taken from the pagan world, much like was going on in Ephesus. That's where the gods and goddesses were that they now call saints.
The worship of Diana itself was frankly beyond description. The very idol itself was a big ugly black cow-like buffalo-shaped thing with paps hanging down from it...not some beautiful goddess Diana that you might assume looks like a contemporary model or movie star...not at all. This was an ugly beast who was supposed to suckle people and give them spiritual life. But the worship itself was beyond description. There were scores of eunuchs who had been castrated for the purposes of serving this god or goddess. There were thousands of priestesses who were nothing but prostitutes who believed that in sexual orgies they could live the worshiper up into the presence of the deities. There were unnumbered heralds, those who proclaimed. There were singers, there were flutists, there were dancers. And just...you can imagine the chaos in this temple...people doing banking, criminals trying to find asylum, people trying to look at the museum pieces, worship going on, prostitution, music, feasts, festivals and the whole hysteria became a frenzy of shameless sexual mutilation. Heraclitus says,"T"The morals of the temple were worse than the morals of animals, for even dogs do not mutilate each other." And he said, "The people there were fit only to be drowned."
Now this is a messy town with a messy centerpiece. Huddled in the middle of this is a church...a church. And you can understand when the church was born in the middle of all of that why it became a very very significant sore spot and why persecution broke out. The preaching of Jesus Christ by Paul had affected the worship of Diana, affected the idol sales, it dropped off so seriously that that precipitated the riot of Acts 19. This is the beginning of the little flock at Ephesus. No wonder God gave them Aquila, Priscilla, Apollos, Paul, no wonder God gave them Tychicus, Timothy, no wonder God now even gave them John. This was a very very wicked city.
That brings us to a fourth consideration and takes us actually into the letter...the commendation...the commendation. It is the pattern of these letters that Christ first of all gives a commendation, then a condemnation. It's almost as if He sets them up and then sort of knocks them off. Verse 2, "I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance." I know your deeds, He says, a general statement which includes all that follows and He recites them, "Your toil, perseverance, you can't endure evil men, you put to the test those who call themselves apostles and they are not and you found them to be false, your perseverance, you've endured for My namesake, you haven't grown weary." Then verse 6, "This you do have, you hate the deeds of Nicolaitans which I also hate."
There is the commendation. First of all, notice He says, "I know your deeds, or your work, your labor." The risen Christ is praising them for kopos, which means labor to the point of sweat and exhaustion. You work hard, you labor to the point of weariness. This is the kind of toil which takes everything of mind and muscle that a man or a woman can put into it. Their labor for Christ was with major effort. They were toilers. He said, "I know that. I know you're busy toiling for Christ." They weren't the kind of Christians who wanted the box seats. They weren't the kind of Christians who wanted to be entertained. They wanted to be involved. They didn't want to just eat the fruit of the harvest, they were willing to plow, plant and do the harvest. They were teaching, sharing Christ, planting, helping people in need. They were aggressive, they were active.
Secondly He says, "I know your perseverance." Again that word hupomone, I know your endurance, I know your patience. Not a grim resignation but again that courageous gallantry which accepts hardship, suffering, loss and turns it in to grace and glory. You're sticking with it, you're staying with it, you're persisting even though they were chewed up and beaten down and cast out, they endured it. They remained faithful. They hung on.
Thirdly he says, "I know you cannot endure evil men. I know your suppression of evil." You are intolerant of sin, that's what he's saying. You still have a holy standard. They were characterized by service, steadfastness and sanctification, we could say. They had not lost their sensitivity to sin. You cannot endure evil men. They were probably engaged in church discipline.
Paul had told them when he wrote his letter in Ephesians 4:27,"N"Neither give place to the devil," and they hadn't. They really hadn't. They resented evil. And they resented evil doers. Please notice, he doesn't say you can't endure evil, he says you can't endure evil men. And I remind you that neither can God. Sometimes you hear people in a well-meaning fashion say something like, "God hates the sin but loves...what?...the sinner." Well you have to be careful about that because in Psalm 5:5 it says, "Thou dost hate all who do iniquity." God not only hates the sin but God hates the sinner. "Jacob have I loved, Esau have I hated." And this church not only hated the sin but they had a holy version to the sinner, for he is inextricably bound up in his sin. God, of course, also loves the sinner and that's the wondrous balance of it.
They hated all that was morally bad. They hated the people that were morally bad with a holy righteous hatred. And they knew that a little leaven would leaven the whole lump. And so obviously their hatred of evil men caused them to keep evil men out.
You remember, Paul once warned them about this on that trip to Jerusalem when he stopped to meet the elders. He gave them a warning. He said to them in Acts 20, and this warning, I suppose, could have been given to any church in the New Testament or any church today. But he says to them this in Acts chapter 20 verse 29,"A"After my departure, savage wolves will come in among you not sparing the flock and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore, be on the alert." And he said for three years night and day with tears I have been warning you. That didn't go without good results. Three years of warning night and day, you're going to get it, they're going to come from inside, they're going to come from outside, evil men, perverse men, seducing you. And here we are 40 years later and they are still hanging in there and they're still hating evil and evil men. They took the word from Paul and they applied it. And here is a whole new generation still faithful to that kind of aversion to evil.
Fourthly, they had another component, "They were characterized by spiritual discernment. You put to the test those who call themselves apostles and they are not and you found them to be false." You put them to a test and the test must have the right test because it gave the right conclusion. You have known by your doctrine how to evaluate somebody who says he's a teacher. Many an evil man has come into a little congregation and sown error and that error has ripped and torn a church to shreds.
Jesus warned about false prophets. As I just read in Acts 20, Paul warned about them. And here is this church 40 years later and it still has solid doctrine and it still knows how to evaluate a teacher and how to put him to the test. Surely they got all kinds of evil men coming in and teaching falsely. Surely they got all kinds of false apostles, as they are called here, who came in, emissaries of legalism, or emissaries of libertinism, or emissaries of ritualism, or emissaries of professionalism. But they had the standard of sound doctrine and they measured them and their measurements were correct and so they made the right evaluation.
Only those teachers were welcome who were faithful and true to the Word of God. And that's the way it has to be. The Ephesians knew it and they lived by it. They put to the test those who called themselves apostles and they are not and you found them to be false.
They were dealing with some heavy-duty folks. They were literally claiming to be apostles and they were false. And the church today must measure people who make such claims with the same standard Ephesus did to come to the same result.
Verse 3, he further adds, "And you have perseverance and have endured for My namesake and have not grown weary." Through all of this, through your service, through the difficulties, through the evil and sin, through the false apostles that have come and gone, you have remained faithful...you have endured it all. And look please, you have endured it for the right reason, for My namesake...you've done it for Me. Here is, beloved, still a pure motive. You've done it for me. You are spiritual marathoners. For all these years, at least 40, you fought the battle, you've stayed true and you've done it for me. And I love this at the end of verse 3, "And have not grown weary." You remember Galatians 6:9 where Paul reminds the Galatians, "Do not grow weary in well ddoing." You can, you know, from disappointment, ingratitude, criticism, rebellion, lack of response, but they hadn't. Faithful to the Word, faithful to the work, faithful to the Lord, faithful to the criteria by which you judge people and in it all through the spiritual discernment, through the trouble, through all of it, they had never grown weary and always with the right motive...for Thy namesake. That means for your glory, for your honor, for your name, fr your reputation, not ours. This is a marvelous church. This is a great church.
Go now to verse 6 where we pick up the final note about the commendation. He says, "Yet this you do have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans which I also hate." After having indicted them a bit in verses 4 and 5 seriously, he now comes back to commend them again as if to in some way acknowledge to them that what he has just said is not an indication that they are wholesale in a disastrous condition...so he circles back here and picks up another thing for which they are to be commended. They hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans which I also hate.
Now this poses to us a problem and I'm not going to try to forever and always solve the problem, but help you to understand it. There is no way that we can dogmatically identify the Nicolaitans. We can make some assumptions and I'll try to make some that might help you. We want to ask, what is the deeds of the Nicolaitans? What are the deeds of the Nicolaitans? What were they doing? What was their doctrine? What was their error? What were they all about?
There are a number of possibilities. But we find this heresy in another location. The letter to the church at Pergamus down in chapter 2 verse 12, we find it again...verse 15, please notice verse 15, "Thus you also have some who in the same way hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans." What do you mean the same way? Go back to verse 14, "I have a few things against you because you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam who kept teaching Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit acts of immorality." Balaam we understand...right? Back to Numbers 22 and following, Balaam came along and seduced God's people into idolatry, seduced God's people into immorality. He posed as a prophet which he was and he came along and instead of leading people to godliness, he led them to sin, to idolatry and to immorality...that's what Balaam did.
Verse 15 then, "Thus you also have some who in the same way hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans." It seems to me that whatever Balaam did, the same thing was being done by the Nicolaitans. Let me take it a step further. The word "Nicolas" comes from two Greek words, nike from which you get the word today Nike which means to conquer and the word laos, the word means conqueror of the people, one who conquers the people. Listen to this, the Hebrew word Balaam means destroyer of the people...the Hebrew word Balaam means destroyer of the people. What you have here with Nicolas in the New Testament appears to be the same as you had with Balaam in the Old Testament. This is someone who by false teaching leads people into destructive sin. How in the world this could ever be allowed in the church as it was in Pergamus is shocking but here in Ephesus it was not allowed. They could spot a Nicolaitan because they could test the false, their criteria was still intact.
Furthermore, one of the deacons named in Acts 6 is Nicolas. Some early church writers, namely Iranaeus, say that it is this Nicolas who appeared early in the church, was made a deacon but who was a false believer. Went bad, became an apostate but because of his credential as a one-time deacon was allowed to come in and lead the church astray. And he was no different than a Balaam, he was a destroyer of the people just like Balaam was and he led them in to immorality and wickedness.
So that's probably the best guess at who these people were. For sure we know that those who followed Nicolas were involved in immorality and uncleanness and they plied the church with sensual temptations. Clement of Alexander says, "They abandoned themselves to pleasure like goats, leading a life of self- indulgence." They were involved in immorality, loose living. Liberty was replaced with license. They were involved in teaching perverted grace. They were probably a pre-gnostic group thinking that through their sexual activity and their superior knowledge they had ascended to the deities. They may even have perpetrated on the church a classical hierarchical structure which found its final form in Catholicism. But whatever, verse 6 says Christ hates them...I hate what they do and so do you.
Now the sum of all this commendation is, this is a noble bunch and I don't want you to underestimate that, this is a great church. I don't want to be so bold as to say this for certain, but of all the churches in these two chapters, this one seems to me more like ours...hard working, toiling for the Kingdom, persevering through difficulty, unable to endure evil men and acting in behalf of holiness and virtue and righteousness and putting church discipline into action, able to recognize false apostles, not being victimized by those who come along no matter who they are and advocate ungodly licentious, wicked, evil living, a church of great character.
Fifthly, we come to the concern. What could be wrong in a church like this? Verse 4, "But I have this against you, that you have left your first love."
Let me tell you something, folks, I don't mind some people having something against our church but when the Lord has something against your church, that's serious...that's serious. When it's the Lord who says, "I have something against you," it's time to shake. Such beautiful commendations but they missed the most important thing. Jesus said to Peter three times, "Do you...what?...love Me?" The most important thing. And when they read this, I believe when they read this in Ephesus it probably hit them like a thunder bolt, it probably shocked them because all those congratulations and then they are blasted with this and I doubt that they ever even realized it. What had happened? This is one of the best churches, if not the best church...yet the clear penetrating spiritual laser vision of Christ found a fatal fault that probably nobody else saw. Their hard hearts, that labor of passion and fervor was becoming the cold orthodox function. That was deadly, dangerous. The service had started to become mechanical.
Jeremiah chapter 2 verse 2, "The Word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, Go and proclaim in the ears of Jerusalem saying, Thus says the Lord, I remember concerning you the devotion of your youth, the love of your betrothals, your following after Me in the wilderness through a land not sown." Israel was holy to the Lord, the first of His harvest. I remember, God says, I remember the way it used to be.
But then the Lord says, "What injustice did your fathers find in Me that they went far from Me?" I remember how it used to be and it isn't that way anymore. This is nothing new, this happened to Israel. In Ezekiel 16, a powerful Scripture, Ezekiel 16 verse 8,"T"Then I passed by you and saw you...God speaking to Israel...behold, you were at the time for love, you were ripe for love so I spread My skirt over you and covered your nakedness. I swore to you and entered into a covenant with you so that you became Mine." What is He saying? I married you, you were in a season of love and I found you and I took you and I embraced you and I married you. And I bathed you with water and I washed off your blood from you, anointed you with oil and I clothed you with embroidered cloth and put sandals of porpoise skin on your feet and I wrapped you with fine linen and covered you with silk, and I adorned you with ornaments and put bracelets on your hands and a necklace around your neck and I put a ring in your nostril and earrings in your ears and a crown, a beautiful crown on your head. And thus you were adorned with gold and silver and your dress was of fine linen and silk and embroidered cloth. You ate fine flour, honey and oil, so you were exceedingly beautiful and advanced to royalty. Then your fame went forth among the nations on account of your beauty for it was perfect because of My splendor which I bestowed on you, declares the Lord God.
Listen to this, "But you trusted in your beauty and played the harlot." I remember the time of your beauty, I remember the time of your love. I remember the time of your betrothal, I remember...God said to Israel. This is exactly what He's saying here. The honeymoon ended in Israel, the honeymoon ended in Ephesus. You don't love Me like you once loved Me. Your love has cooled. That, beloved, is the forerunner of spiritual apathy. That is the forerunner of indifference. And that is the greatest fear that I have for this church for that is step one that moves you through the rest of the steps that you see in these churches into a love for the world, compromise with evil, corruption, death and judgment. Doctrinal yes, solid. Morally pure, yes. Zealous, yes. Disciplined yes. Hard-working yes. Born in an incredible way out of powerful pagan idolatry with the best spiritual leadership. Fanatical start and now grown cold.
How would you like it, ladies, if your husband came to you some time and said, "I don't love you anymore but nothing will change?" Is that enough? "I'll still earn a living, I'll still eat with you, sleep with you, drive with you, I'll still father the children and be your husband. Nothing will change, I just don't love you." Devastating. How would you feel if your wife came to you and said,"I"I don't love you but nothing will change?"
In a sense we couldn't imagine saying that to the Lord. "Lord, I don't love You like I once did, that's gone. But I just want You to know I'll still come, I'll still work, I'll still sing, I'll still give, I'll still even believe the truth, I just don't love You." We wouldn't say that but the Lord knows if it's true.
The correspondent, the church, the city, the commendation, the concern, sixthly, the command. The command, verse 5, "Remember therefore from where you have fallen." You've got to go back and remember. You want to know something? One of the reasons...I'm revealing an inside secret here...one of the reasons we have baptism services in this church every Sunday night is so you will not easily forget how it was when you were first saved. How do you remember? By hearing again and again and again and again the exhilarating joy and testimony of transformation. We don't...we don't do this just for the sake of these folks, that is not all God had in mind when He designed it. We do it for the sake of you folks who having moved a long way in time from your conversion could perhaps easily forget the first love but are brought Sunday after Sunday after Sunday after Sunday face to face again with first love. You need to remember that. And it needs to remind you of how it was with you when you first passed out of darkness into light. Remember from where you have fallen. Go back and remember how it used to be.
So often spiritual declension comes from forgetting. This is a new generation in Ephesus. The first generation, for the most part, is gone. They still had the strong tradition but not the intense love. That's why I have said so many times that a church if it's going to stay vital in its love for Christ has to be a maternity ward where there's the constant cry of newborn babes in Christ. Why? Because they continually bring us in to touch with first love. That's absolutely crucial. You always want to have a large first generation of believers in your church. Remember, that's where it starts, remember.
Secondly, repent because to lose your first love is sin. The decreasing intensity of your love for Christ is sin. Lack of loving Him with all your heart, soul, mind and strength is sin. Repent, get on your knees before God and ask Him to forgive you for that weakening love.
Remember, repent...third word, repeat. Do the deeds you did at first. I was talking to Mal Hankenson(?) last night after the basketball game. We were talking about the Scripture. And he was telling me how that when he became a Christian he said I committed my life to Jesus Christ and he said...I started to read the Bible and I read the whole Bible in a month. And I read it again, and I read it again, and I kept reading it and I kept reading it. And people would say to me, "What's wrong with you? What's gotten into you?" And he was describing that passion, that hunger for the Word of God. And then it was such a wonderful thing, he said to me, "And I want you to know that I'm going through the book of Romans with you right now, years later in my Christian life and I listen to ten tapes a week over and over until I comprehend the truth." And he said, "I've listened to 50 so far and you're only in chapter 8." And you know what my heart was saying? I rejoice, the first love is there. That's how it was when you first fell in love.
And you see people who come to Christ, fall in love with Christ, as it were, and they want to serve and they want to tell their friends, and they want to teach, they want to pass on what they know. They want to sing. They want to pray. Those are the first things. Go back. If you once taught but you don't teach, if you once prayed with folks but you don't pray, if you always used to come on Sunday nights and now you come very rarely, if you always went to Bible study and were a part of a fellowship group and you went to every opportunity to be trained, but you don't do that anymore...that's an evidence of the loss of first love, that's a sin. Remember how it was, repent before God and repeat the things you used to do.
This is pretty serious. Look back at verse 5, "Or else," or else what? "Or else I'm coming to you." Oh, you say, that will be fine, I'm waiting for the Second Coming. No, this isn't the coming you're waiting for. He says, "Or else I'm coming to you and I'll remove your lampstand out of its place unless you repent." I'll come and I'll take away your lampstand. That's what He says to Ephesus. You're a great church, you have a great reputation, you have a great ministry. If you don't change you're going to have nothing...you're going to have nothing. I'm going to come and it's over.
Whew....unless you repent, I'm going to remove the lampstand. The lampstand represents the church. I'm going to take the church right out, your church will be gone, your church will be terminated. Did it happen? Yes. That's the sad part. Yes, today there's no city, there's no church. Ephesus is a bleak reminder, a bleak reminder of a church that didn't heed the letter and the light went somewhere else.
And then one final note, the counsel. Each letter closes with some counsel...verse 7 is that counsel. The counsel takes shape in two ways...first an invitation and then a promise. The invitation,"He who has an ear let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches," which is God's way of saying you better listen. And, by the way, you will find that at the end of each letter, all seven...you better listen, I'm not kidding, this is serious, please listen. I'm looking at your church, I'm analyzing it. I'm telling you what its problem is. I'm telling you what the solution is, please listen. That's the invitation.
And then the promise, "To him who overcomes I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the paradise of God." That's the promise. To whom is this addressed? To him who overcomes. You're going to find that phrase repeatedly through these letters...to him who overcomes...you see it in verse 11, you see it in verse 17...to him who overcomes...common, down in verse 26. And it always refers to the same person. You know who it is? Believers. It's just a reference to believers. People have done all kinds of gymnastics to try to figure out what this means, it just means Christians. You say, "How do you know that?" First John 5...1 John 5, same writer John, "For whatever is born of God overcomes." Whatever is born of God overcomes the world and this is the victory that has overcome the world, our faith and who is the one who overcomes the world? He who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. That's John's own definition of his own term that he writes on behalf of Christ. An overcomer is a Christian. To you true believers, he says, to you true Christians, I want to give you a promise.
Isn't it wonderful? He's commended them in the beginning. He's hit them with a bullseye, a jolt about their sin. He's told them to listen and He closes by saying, "Because they are true Christians let me leave with a promise." It's like signing the letter with a whole lot of hope. To you overcomers, you true believers, I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the paradise of God. That's another way of saying I promise you...what?...heaven. I promise you heaven.
The overcomer in the book of Revelation, chapters 2 and 3, is contrasted with the cowardly, in chapter 2:10 and 13. The overcomer is contrasted with the sexually immoral, chapter 2 verses 14 and 20. The overcomer is contrasted with the idolaters of chapter 2 verse 14 and 20, the liars of chapter 2 verses 2 and 9 and 20, chapter 3 verse 9. The overcomer is the true believer.
In chapter 21 of Revelation verse 8, "For the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone." Those people that are identified in chapters 2 and 3 are assigned to hell in chapter 8 and they are in contrast to the overcomer who has the promise of heaven. There's no question who the overcomer is. It's not some second-level kind of Christianity, this is a definition of a true Christian. To this person, I will grant to eat of the tree of life. The tree of life is first mentioned in Genesis 2:9, the source of life God put in the Garden. It is mentioned lastly in Revelation 22 verse 19, right at the very end, the Lord is going to give us the tree of life and not take it away but He will take it away from those who tamper with His truth. The tree of life in the Garden was on earth, the tree of life in the book of Revelation is that eternal glorious tree that speaks of life in heaven. In fact, you could see in Revelation 22 verse 2 a description of that tree, it had 12 kinds of fruit yielding its fruit every month and the leaves of the tree were for the health of the nations. Not because we're sick but it speaks of vigor and wholeness and prosperity and eternal health.
And where is it? In the paradise of God which is John's way of speaking about heaven. So He ends with a promise.
Now what should we learn from this lesson? Be certain you're a true Christian and overcomer headed for heaven. Two, be certain you maintain your first love. Very practical.
Father, thank You for our time tonight in Your Word. We thank You, Father, that we're a church that has known Your blessing. And, Lord, we would never want to leave our first love, we don't ever want to say to You...I don't love You like I did but nothing will change," and then carry out mechanical functions. Lord, make us faithful to love for Christ's sake. Amen.
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