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Brussels, 11 January 2012
Communication on e-commerce – frequently asked questions
1. Why is the European Commission adopting this Communication?
The Internet in general, and electronic commerce - or e-commerce - in particular have enormous potential for boosting growth and creating jobs. In some G8 countries the Internet has accounted for 20% of economic growth and 25% of job growth in the last five years1. For every job that is lost by the introduction of information technology, the online sector creates 2.6 new jobs2. Companies that exploit the full potential of the Internet create more than twice as many jobs as the average company. In Europe, this potential remains largely untapped. The Internet only accounts for less than 3% of the EU economy (gross domestic product) and only 3.4% of all products and services are sold over the Internet.
The EU Single Market for e-commerce is still not functioning as it should as there are significant differences in the rules, standards and practices applied to e-commerce within individual Member States. As a result, companies find it difficult to provide online services or to sell goods across EU borders, and citizens miss out on the opportunity to purchase goods and services from websites based in other EU countries.
This communication sets out an action plan to overcome these problems and make e-commerce in Europe work for the benefit of all Europeans.
2. What kinds of activities are covered by e-commerce?
E-commerce is a term which signifies the sale of any goods or services on the Internet, ranging from flight tickets to garden furniture, newspaper subscriptions, 'apps' (smart phone applications) or music. But the communication also deals more broadly with any commercial service that a company offers, such as free web based email accounts, search engines, Internet call services (Voice over Internet Protocol services), news services or social networks. These services are often financed by advertising revenues.
3. What does the Communication on e-commerce actually propose?
The Communication contains an action plan to boost e-commerce in Europe. It is based on the belief that the EU can double the contribution e-commerce and the Internet make to the European economy from their current values of 3.4% of the retail sales sector and less than 3% of the EU economy respectively.
In order to achieve this, the Commission proposes actions which will lead to substantial and measureable improvements in a number of areas:
a) Better access to different kinds of online services for consumers across the EU
The Commission will:
- extend the Internal Market Information System (IMI) and the Consumer Protection Cooperation network (CPC); in order to ensure the correct application of the E-commerce Directive and of the Directives protecting consumers online;
- quickly implement the European strategy for intellectual property rights, in particular by presenting a legislative initiative on private copying (2013) and a review of the Directive on copyright in the information society (2012);
- report on the outcome of the consultation on the online distribution of audiovisual works (mid-2012); and
- ensure that the new rules on selective distribution are rigorously applied.
b) Easier ways to buy and pay for products online
The Commission will take a number of initiatives to further develop the market for payments by card, Internet or mobile phones, on the basis of the responses to a Green Paper adopted today (see IP/12/11 and MEMO/12/6). The Green Paper looks at (i) the barriers to entry and competitive environment in these markets, (ii) what needs to be done to ensure that these payment services are transparent for both consumers and sellers, (iii) how to improve and accelerate the standardisation and interoperability of payments by card, Internet or mobile phone (iv) how to increase the level of payment security and data protection. The Commission will present conclusions by mid-2012.
c) More efficient and affordable delivery of products across Europe
In 2012 the Commission will launch a consultation on parcel delivery, with a particular focus on cross-border deliveries. This will draw on the results of the study on the costs of cross-border postal services, in order to try to identify possible solutions to delivery problems encountered by businesses and consumers. The Commission will present the conclusions of this exercise and the next steps by the end of 2012.
d) More transparency on companies and prices on the Internet and better consumer protection
The Commission will:
- improve training for online traders in their obligations and the opportunities offered by the Digital Single Market, in particular through the Enterprise Europe Network. The Network of European Consumer Centres can provide input on consumer issues;
- encourage the development of transparent cross-border, price and quality comparison sites through dialogue with information intermediaries;
- boost the capacity of the Consumer Protection Cooperation (CPC) Network which consists of national authorities enforcing consumer legislation equipping it with instruments able to ensure the implementation of relevant legislation at European level;
- adopt a "European Consumer Agenda" in 2012 including digital issues, which proposes actions to guarantee an appropriate level of information and customer care online;
- present a European action plan for online gambling which will focus on administrative cooperation, consumer protection and the development of a legal market (2012); and
- ensure the adequate protection of patients purchasing medicines online through the application of the directive on falsified medicines; this will include contributing to the creation of "trust marks" to allow the identification of legal distance-selling websites, monitoring the development of falsified medicines and examining the potential specific risks linked to the online sale of medicines.
e) Better protection against abuses on the Internet
The Commission will:
- adopt an initiative on notice and action procedures in 2012 (see question 8); and
- propose an overall strategy for Internet Security in Europe in 2012 that will increase protection against cyber attacks, for instance through the establishment of the European Cybercrime Centre by 2013.
f) A better offer of high-speed Internet and better communication infrastructure for more citizens
The Commission will:
- adopt a recommendation on access-pricing schemes in the wholesale market in order to stimulate investment in fibre deployment (2012), prepare the projects which will benefit from the Connecting Europe Facility (2012-13) (IP/11/1200) and adopt a recommendation on the 2009 guidelines on State aid for high-speed networks (2012) (see also question 16);
- take the necessary measures to implement the radio spectrum policy programme (2012); and
- adopt an overall strategy on cloud computing (2012).
4. Who will benefit from a better-functioning Internal Market for e-commerce and how?
Consumers will benefit from a wider range of goods and services and lower prices, thanks in particular to online price and quality comparisons.
A better-functioning Internal Market for e-commerce will also create jobs, help people look for jobs, or work from home. It will bring environmental benefits because it will reduce the need for physical production methods (e.g. through more purchases of digital music or online newspapers) and cut the frequency of certain journeys (e.g. more working from home or provision of advice online).
There is a lot to gain. The cost of the failure to complete the Digital Single Market could be at least 4.1% of GDP between now and 2020, i.e. €500 billion or the equivalent of €1 000 per citizen.
A study into e-commerce in goods3 (as opposed to services) showed that consumers can save about €11.7 billion a year (an amount equivalent to 0.12% of EU GDP) thanks to lower prices and wider choice.
If e-commerce were to grow to 15% of the total retail sector and Single Market barriers were eliminated, total consumer welfare gains would reach around €204 billion, equivalent to 1.7% of EU GDP. This is four times higher than a situation with a similar share of Internet retailing, the continued existence of 27 fragmented national consumer markets. Two-thirds of consumer welfare gains are due to increased online choice, which is considerably larger across borders.
5. What is the link with other Commission initiatives?
The Communication responds directly to the request of the European Council of June 2011 to submit a roadmap for achieving an internal digital market by 2015. As such, it is linked to a number of ongoing EU initiatives launched under the Europe 2020 strategy4 for growth & jobs.
In particular:
- the Communication follows on directly from the 2009 Commission Communication on cross-border business-to-consumer e-commerce, the conclusions of which are still relevant.
- the Communication marks a big step forward in the implementation of the Digital Agenda for Europe since it identifies specific individual components of a coherent and strategic approach to encouraging the development of online services.
- as a follow-up to the Single Market Act, it deepens the Digital Single Market lever (IP/11/469).
The action plan focuses on new actions only. Actions previously announced in either the Digital Agenda or the Single Market Act are not repeated in this action plan, even if they are relevant to the development of e-commerce (for instance: the proposal for a Common European Sales Law, and the common regulatory framework for mutual recognition of eID and eSignatures).
6. Why not simply revise the e-commerce Directive?
The e-commerce Directive (2000/31/EC) contains rules which facilitate the offer of online services in the EU and ensure, in the interests of consumer protection, that these services meet certain standards.
The E-commerce Directive for instance determines that online service providers only need to comply with rules from the country in which they are established. The Directive also obliges service providers to place their contact details on their websites, and ensures that advertisements can easily be identified as such. It also sets out a "safe harbour" in the form of a liability exemption for online intermediary companies if they comply with certain conditions (see question 7).
In the second half of 2010, the Commission consulted stakeholders on the functioning of the Directive. Despite the numerous technological and business developments in the 10 years since its adoption, stakeholders consider that the Directive still offers a sound and balanced framework for the development of e-commerce.
The vast majority of the 420 responses to the public consultation on e-commerce asked the Commission not to revise the Directive. However, stakeholders said the Commission needed to clarify how certain provisions of the e-commerce Directive should be interpreted.
One of the two Staff Working Papers accompanying the Communication explains how the provisions on intermediary liability have been interpreted by the European Court of Justice and applied by national courts and other administrative bodies.
Stakeholders in particular asked for clarifications about how "notice-and-action procedures" should work in practice and this Communication presents an initiative that will help to clarify this. (see question 8).
In addition the Action Plan seeks to respond to the conclusions of the European Council of June 2011 to identify actions that will complete the Digital Single Market by 2015. Therefore this Communication also addresses the key enabling factors like high speed wireless and fixed broadband, cloud computing and internet security.
7. What exactly does the e-commerce Directive say about the liability of service providers?
Online service providers simply "transmitting" content on the Internet (for instance companies that provide consumers with access to the Internet) cannot be held liable for illegal content that is uploaded by third parties. For example, an Internet access provider cannot be held liable for providing access to an illegal website.
Online service providers that "host"' content on the Internet (for instance websites on which you can view content that users themselves put online) cannot be held liable for illegal content uploaded onto their websites by others, as long as they are not aware of it. However, as soon as they become aware of this illegal content (for example via a notification), they are obliged to remove it or to block access to it immediately.
Finally, governments may not impose a general obligation on online service providers to monitor the content that they transmit or host.
8. What are notice-and-action procedures?
"Notice-and-action" procedures refer to rules on removing or blocking of access to illegal content by an online company, after it has received a request to do so. Internet users can submit a notification of illegal content that they have found displayed on the website of an online intermediary (such as a social network, an online vendor or a search engine). To avoid liability, the E-commerce Directive obliges the online intermediary to take action as soon as it becomes aware of the illegal content. Taking action can take the form of takedown (removing content) or blocking (disabling access to content).
9. Why an initiative on notice-and-action?
In the responses to the public consultation on e-commerce, stakeholders complained that it is not clear how these procedures are meant to work. As a result, illegal content stays online for too long, companies face legal uncertainty and the rights of content providers (like individuals who upload content on the Internet) are not always respected.
The Commission will analyse how notice-and-action procedures can work in a way to best address these concerns. For this purpose, it seeks answers to questions such as: how exactly should an intermediary be notified? Should that be done electronically? Should the notice contain a detailed Internet address? Should a content provider have an opportunity to explain why he thinks certain content is not illegal? If content is illegal, how fast should an intermediary act? Should there be more transparency about the N&A procedures of individual companies?
The Commission wants to involve all stakeholders in this initiative to get the right answers to these and other questions. There will for instance be a targeted public consultation on notice-and-action procedures.
10. What are the main problems faced by online shoppers in the Single Market now?
A study into e-commerce in goods shows that one in five (24%) online shoppers has experienced problems. There does not seem to be any significant link between the sales channel used and the number of problems experienced (with problems in offline transactions experienced by 20% of EU consumers). Similarly, cross-border shoppers do not seem to encounter more problems than domestic shoppers: 14% of consumers shopping online on the domestic market experienced a problem, compared with 13% of those shopping online from other EU countries.
Consumer perceptions of problems when shopping online from other EU countries are lower among those who have tried it. 66% of those consumers who have made at least one cross-border purchase say they are equally confident buying from domestic or foreign EU-based online retailers (compared with 33% for the general population). The main problems currently experienced by online shoppers relate to (a) delivery (b) getting help when things go wrong (c) reliable information.
11. Why are postal delivery services important for e-commerce?
Despite the increase in sales of digital content, there are still many goods which need to be physically delivered to the customer.
Accessible, affordable and high quality postal services are an essential dimension in the overall online purchasing experience of the customer. However, recent studies and consultations demonstrate many customers are reluctant to purchase online, especially cross-border, because of uncertainties relating to final delivery.
In the EU, almost one in two consumers (46.7%) said they were not interested in making a cross-border transaction because of worries about delivery.5
Apart from long delivery periods and high prices for cross-border delivery in comparison to similar domestic service (see also question 13), customers have raised uncertainties about available remedies in case the delivery service is not provided or the purchased item is damaged during delivery.
12. How are postal delivery services regulated in the EU?
The main aim of EU postal reform, initiated in 1992, is to ensure the provision of basic postal services for all citizens across the European Union.
Under the Postal Services Directives all citizens of the EU have the right to basic postal services both domestically and cross-border (e.g. basic letters; basic parcels) and this needs to be guaranteed by Member States.
It is important to differentiate between basic postal services where Member States need to ensure these are provided to all citizens under the same conditions, and value-added services such as express postal services that have traditionally been provided under competitive conditions and without state intervention. Value-added services involve services such as "track & trace", which are more elaborate than basic postal services.
As a consequence, express postal service providers have to comply with the essential requirements in the EU's Postal Directive (e.g. availability of consumer complaints procedures; protection of personal data) and, like other economic sectors, they need to comply with relevant competition rules where applicable (e.g. prohibition of abuse of a dominant position).
13. Why is the Commission proposing a Green Paper on parcel delivery?
A recent study on the cross-border delivery of parcels within the EU6 identified three main obstacles to the development of e-commerce directly linked to postal delivery services:
- price of these services, which is often significantly higher for individual senders than for large senders;
- quality of service, where consumers and retailers are worried about the delivery times and possible damage sustained in the course of the delivery;
- availability of relevant information, where individual senders and SMEs in particular lack relevant information on available alternatives for delivery.
In 2012 the Commission will hold a public consultation on cross-border parcel delivery in order to obtain a better understanding of possible problems in the market and the solutions that are currently being or could be applied by different stakeholders (e.g. regulatory authorities; delivery operators; retailers). Following the public consultation the Commission will assess whether and what further steps and measures may be needed to address outstanding issues.
14. What will the Commission do to help consumers who have a problem with an online transaction?
In accordance with the proposed draft Regulation on Online Dispute Resolution ('ODR Regulation'), the Commission will develop a single EU-wide online platform (an Online Dispute Resolution platform) which will allow consumers shopping online from other EU countries to get their disputes with traders revolved entirely online and without going to court.
The platform will be linked electronically to the national ADR ('Alternative Dispute Resolution') entities which have been set up and notified to the Commission in line with the new rules. National ADR entities will remain responsible for handling individual contractual disputes which the platform refers to them.
The ODR system will be effective thanks to a set of common rules. These will include the role of national contact points acting as ODR facilitators in the respective country, and the requirement to deliver a solution within 30 days.
For more info see:
15. How will the Commission ensure better information on online transactions?
The Commission will engage closely with information intermediaries to: a) ensure that they respect EU consumer legislation, and b) encourage them to include cross-border offers on price and quality in a way that unlocks the potential of the Single Market. It will also work closely with organisations providing information on product quality comparisons/price/best value for money, to see how to make results more available and comparable across the EU.
The Commission will use existing networks to better inform online retailers about the opportunities offered by selling in other EU countries and taking advantage of the potential of the Single Market.
16. Why does the Communication on e-commerce include guidelines on broadband infrastructure?
The high-speed internet, and the services based on internet access are essential components of Europe's growth strategy. But investment of between € 180 and 270 billion, which cannot be met by traditional telecom providers alone, is needed to modernise the internet infrastructure in Europe.
The mix of public and private funds, the use of new financial instruments and the adoption of new investment models will provide new opportunities for investment from across the public and private sector including from more recently established alternative telecoms operators. This could attract financing from newer sources like utilities, equipment vendors, content providers, institutional investors, etc.
The Commission has already proposed financial mechanisms to help bridge this investment gap, including support from the EU's rural development and structural funds in less developed regions. As part of the Connecting Europe Facility, the Commission has also proposed to support broadband projects through new models of investment based on a mix of grants and financial instruments. (see MEMO/11/709). The Commission estimates that each euro invested by Connecting Europe Facility in broadband could leverage gross private investment of up to €15.
To assist and ensure the best use of these different financial sources, from EU funds and initiatives taken at national and local/regional level with or without public funds, the Commission is proposing to share best practices. The guidelines proposed in the Communication will illustrate how to best engage the full range of prospective investors including utilities, institutional investors, equipment manufacturers and help public authorities.
17. What happens after the launch of the e-commerce Action Plan?
The Commission will immediately follow up on the actions mentioned herein.
The Commission will publish annual reports on the development of e-commerce in Europe that will include assessments of the functioning of the e-commerce Directive. In 2013, it will invite stakeholders to a conference on the development of e-commerce.
In parallel, the Commission will continue to monitor the follow-up to the Digital Agenda and in 2013 the Commission will present a mid-term evaluation.
Civic Consulting (2011). 'Consumer market study on the functioning of e-commerce'.
Eurobarometer, Consumer attitudes towards cross-border trade and consumer protection, Analytical Report, Flash Eurobarometer 299, March 2011. Chapter 2, Section 2.2, page 30. Q5, 'Thinking generally about purchasing goods or services from sellers/providers located elsewhere in the European Union, which we refer to as "cross-border shopping", please tell me to what extent you agree or disagree with each of the following statements'. Base: all respondents, % EU-27. Please note that what aspect of the delivery they are worried about is not specified in the question.
Side Bar


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Please make the change, if you know it works. In this case KDEPIM indeed moved to Git, so it is save to change it.
In general if the page is about development, I think linking to URL renaming and using kde:foo URL is alright. If it is about building an application by hand, just stating anongit should be enough.
Thanks for your contribution.

subset: commoncrawl


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Tonight's EuroMillions jackpot is the second biggest in history, with an incredible £113 million up for grabs.
If a single British ticket holder wins the massive jackpot, they will automatically become one of the richest people in the UK.
Things you could buy with £113 million EuroMillions jackpot
The top 5 biggest ever UK EuroMillions winners
Ticket sales for tonight's draw close at 7.30pm, with the draw taking place at 8pm.


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Lotus Biscoff Popcorn
If you like caramel popcorn, you will love our Lotus Biscoff version of it! We mixed chunks of Lotus Biscoff Cookies with buttery Popcorn and tossed this delightful mixture in melted Lotus Biscoff Cookie Butter. The sweet, caramel flavor of Lotus Biscoff and its crunchy texture is the perfect match for buttery popcorn.
Yield: 8 cups of popcorn
- Place the popped popcorn in a large bowl and salt to taste. Set aside.
- Mix the honey and sugar in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Let it simmer for about 2 minutes, then remove from the heat and add the Lotus Biscoff Cookie Butter.
- Stir until the Lotus Biscoff Cookie Butter is melted. Stir in the vanilla extract.
- Pour the mixture over the popcorn and gently stir with a spoon or spatula.
- Stir in the chopped Lotus Biscoff cookies. Spread popcorn on a large baking sheet.
- Drizzle popcorn with melted white chocolate and let sit until chocolate hardens.


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A time for mourning, a time for giving thanks
August 14, 2013
The Southwest Florida law enforcement community mourned the loss of one of their own this past weekend. Sgt. Michael Wilson, of the Charlotte County's Sheriff's Office, was shot to death Au....
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2000 Chrysler PT Cruiser Conceptcarz.com
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Jolt Awards 2014: The Best Programmer Libraries, April 22, 2014 Astonishing collections of software bundled with superb design and coding tools
Jolt Productivity Award: Infragistics Ultimate 2013 Vol. 2
Infragistics Ultimate 2013 Vol. 2 provides a remarkably complete multiplatform toolkit for developers. The toolkit includes a huge high-quality icon library, a prototyping tool, and a full set of UI controls for the following targets:
Desktop: Windows Forms, WPF, and WinRT XAML.
Web: ASP.NET, ASP.NET MVC, Silverlight, SharePoint, HTML5, and jQuery.
Mobile: Android, iOS, Windows Phone, HTML5, and WinRT XAML.
The included Indigo Studio is a powerful UI prototyping and interaction design tool that sports most of the things you might need to wireframe interactive UIs to turn Desktop, Web, and Mobile application ideas into fully functional prototypes. The inclusion of Indigo Studio and the icon library in the toolkit make Infragistics Ultimate a good choice when you want to use a single toolkit to cover most of the UI needs for your different applications. In case you don't need UI prototyping, the icon library, or SharePoint controls, you can opt for the less-expensive Infragistics Professional toolkit.
One of the best features of Ignite UI HTML5 and jQuery controls is that they simplify binding data, and therefore, reduce unnecessary boilerplate code to link to data sources. The controls are updated to easily bind to modern clients such as ASP.NET WebAPI, oData, RESTful domain data sources, JSON, and XML. In addition, the support for the latest ASP.NET MVC 5 and the availability of specific Infragistics templates in Visual Studio make it easy to quickly setup an ASP.NET MVC application with the jQuery UI-based widgets. The Hierarchical Grid widget takes full advantage of the data-binding simplification and can really simplify Web and mobile applications requiring the use of grids that have to be filled from different data sources. The toolkit also provides excellent components to easily export data to Microsoft Office.
The NucliOS iOS controls provide a powerful grid, responsive and interactive charting controls, and a few handsome gauges among other widgets. The nice thing about NucliOS is it includes support for Xamarin, so you can use it in your C# projects that target iOS. The Android controls provide powerful, customizable animated charts, but the product needs more widgets for this platform in future versions. Gaston Hillar


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active duty
(1)The term "active duty" means full-time duty in the active military service of the United States. Such term includes full-time training duty, annual training duty, and attendance, while in the active military service, at a school designated as a service school by law or by the Secretary of the military department concerned. Such term does not include full-time National Guard duty.
10 USC § 101(d)(1)
Scoping language
in this title
Is this correct?


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Sweden tops Switzerland for gold medal at WorldsNHL.com @NHLdotcom
The nation of Sweden celebrated a gold-medal winning effort Sunday at Globe Arena in Stockholm, while a tremendous run by Switzerland at the 2013 IIHF World Championship finally came to an end.
Jhonas Enroth stopped 26 shots and Henrik Sedin had two goals and an assist as Sweden recorded a 5-1 win over the surprising Swiss to claim gold for the first time since 2006.
It's Tre Kronor's ninth gold medal all-time at the Worlds. Sweden became the first host nation to win gold since the former Soviet Union accomplished the feat in Moscow in 1986.
"It's an unbelievable feeling. You can't put it into words," defenseman Henrik Tallinder told the IIHF website. "As soon as we got our legs and got that first goal, I thought we controlled the game pretty well."
Switzerland, which won its first nine games of the tournament, had not medaled at the Worlds since 1953, when it took home bronze. Though a silver medal isn't what the Swiss entered Sunday seeking, it was still a historic achievement for the country's ice hockey program.
Switzerland briefly led in the first period when defenseman Roman Josi continued a tournament-long hot streak with his fourth goal at the 4:45 mark.
Enroth wouldn't let a puck past him after that, however, and Sweden recovered to take the lead before the opening 20 minutes had passed.
Switzerland goalie Martin Gerber hadn't faced a shot over the first 8:42 of the game, but he was beaten by defenseman Erik Gustafsson to knot the score. Sedin came through with the go-ahead goal at 11:38 on a power play.
"We had a really good start," said Gerber, who stopped 22 shots. "We were confident, but then out of the blue they tied it up and then had some penalties. We got lost for a while and had a hard time getting back on track."
Enroth, who received the Best Goalie award for the tournament, maintained the one-goal lead through the second period and into the third, when Sweden provided him with some insurance.
Simon Hjalmarsson made it 3-1 off a turnover by converting a Gabriel Landeskog pass at 7:13 and a Sedin point shot deflected in off the skate of Loui Eriksson with 4:23 remaining. Sedin had a shorthanded goal into an empty net with 3:24 remaining and Switzerland desperately trying to get back into the contest.


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QUESTION OF THE WEEK- What do you think of Virginia's no-parole rule?
Now videocast online at readthehook.com
Laura Humbertson: "I think just to understand how that fits in with the rest of the criminal justice system would be more appropriate."
Pablo Zatz: "I disagree with a blanket law that covers all crimes and all people. There are circumstances that are different for all crimes and for all people."
Jason Luci: "I'd much rather see people getting out early who are nonviolent offenders than not having space in there for people who commit more serious crimes getting out."


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For many, Easter Sunday means celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It also signifies the beginning of spring and personal rebirth.
This Easter egg mobile welcomes spring and spreads optimism with plastic Easter eggs, an Easter bonnet and all the colors of the season. To create different shapes for your characters, turn the egg in different directions. You can also take it apart and use two bottoms together or separate the egg and invert the top into the bottom. Glue into place.
Each egg couple represents a whimsical look at daily life in the Hudson Valley.
It wouldn't be spring without a little spring fever. The top egg couple represents new love: a bride and her sailor groom newly married. Underneath are the traditional Easter bunny and baby chick, and since many consider pets part of the family, I added a dog and cat.
The Easter bonnet is decorated with a brother and his ballerina sister, an older distinguished couple and a farmer protecting his prized carrot. Notice how I didn't pair that carrot with the bunny.
2 packages of plastic Easter eggs; small baskets or small boxes (suggestion: If you use a box, wrap it with Easter or spring-colored wrapping paper); straw hat; thin 28- or 30-gauge silver wire or any cord; hot glue gun and sticks; jewelry pliers or sharp knife; a variety of wiggle eyes; Easter grass or raffia (in your choice of color); felt or small pom-poms; decorations such as tiny hats, rhinestones, flowers and butterflies; wide ribbon.
Optional: A needlepoint wooden hoop to insert in the hat to hold the hanging baskets (I used a 5-inch hoop; use the hoop that fits inside the hat you get).
(NOTE: Do not put any decorations on the hat until all your characters are attached with wire. The ribbon on the bonnet is meant to cover the wire and holes you will make when attaching the hoop and the baskets of eggs.)
Take your needlepoint hoop, wire and a pliers (or knife). Weave the wire in and out of the straw hat attaching the hoop inside the hat. This is needed if you are going to attach your characters around the hoop. If you stack them as I did, you do not have to use the hoop. You can poke a hole in the top of the hat and push a piece of strong cord through the top, then knot it above the hat and inside it. To make the hole extra strong glue a piece of felt with a hole in it inside the hat for reinforcement and hang the wire from the loop inside the hat. Put tissue or paper inside each basket to build it up and cover it with Easter grass (add a drop of glue to keep grass inside). Glue decorated eggs inside basket.
Link the baskets to each other with wire by wrapping the wire around where the handle meets the basket and knotting it on the top of the handle on both sides. For boxes, poke a hole in either side and slide a piece of wire in each hole forming a "U" on both sides. It will suspend each basket or box like a swing. When all of your characters are suspended, you can hot-glue the ribbon to the hat to hide the wires and holes. Then decorate to your taste.


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The Apple Harvest Festival is once again hosting a photo contest.
All winning and submitted photos will be displayed during the festival. The contest is open to amateur photographers only. There are no age categories or entry fees.
The theme of the photos should have something to do with apples or the harvesting of apples. The date the photo was taken, along with the entrant's name, phone number and address, should be labeled on the reverse side of the photograph.
All photos submitted should be mounted on a mount board, foamcore or placed in a cardboard mat. No frames area allowed.
Photos should be either 5" x 7" or 8" x 11" in size and may be in color or black & white.
There is a maximum of two entries per person.
All photos become the property of the Southington Apple Harvest Festival.
There are cash prizes for the winners. First prize receives $100, second, $75 and third $50.
Entry deadline is Wednesday, Sept. 25, by 4:30 p.m.
Entries may be mailed to Apple Harvest Festival – Photo Contest, P.O. Box 907, Southington, CT 06489. Entries may also be dropped off at the Parks & Recreation office located within Southington Town Hall, 75 Main Street (second floor).


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I want to output a file's contents while they change, for example if I have the file
foobar and I do:
magic_command foobar
The current terminal should display the file's contents and wait until, I don't know, I press ^C.
Then if from another terminal I do:
echo asdf >> foobar
The first terminal should display the newly added line in addition to the original file contents (of course, given that I didn't press ^C).
I'll mark this as homework since I want to explore and learn linux, but it's not homework, it's just a curiosity of mine.


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the bat signal
THE BAT SIGNAL: Grant Morrison
Grant Morrison stops by THE BAT SIGNAL for a two-part talk on where Batman has been and where he's going, the mythic elements driving the sci-fi ending of "Return of Bruce Wayne"and the revelation of Doctor Hurt's identity.
THE BAT SIGNAL: Dustin Nguyen
Artist Dustin Nguyen continues his stay in Gotham City, leaving his mark along the "Streets of Gotham" and penciling his way onto "Batgirl" while hoping to bring Lil' Gotham to the printed age.
THE BAT SIGNAL: Fabian Nicieza
We spoke with Fabian Nicieza about designing "Bruce Wayne - The Road Home," DC Comics' October event spanning eight self-contained yet inter-connected one-shots covering the closest allies and oldest enemies of Batman.
THE BAT SIGNAL: Tony Daniel
The once and future writer-artist behind DC Comis' "Batman" monthly, creator Tony Daniel swings back into Gotham for new stories, a new style and the completion of his lost chapter with Grant Morrison.
THE BAT SIGNAL: Paul Cornell
This week, THE BAT SIGNAL shines on writer Paul Cornell who discussed his October-launching six-issue "Knight and Squire" miniseries featuring DC Comics' British version of the Gotham-based dynamic duo.
THE BAT SIGNAL: Peter Milligan
Peter Milligan looks back at his work with the Dark Knight, from his original demonic Riddler story to his recent KGB crime epic and talks about Batman stories you will and won't see from him in the future.
THE BAT SIGNAL: J.H. Williams
JH Williams spoke with THE BAT SIGNAL about the new "Batwoman: Elegy" hardcover collection, collaborating with Greg Rucka and what to expect with the upcoming "Batwoman" series he's writing as well as drawing.
THE BAT SIGNAL: Adam Beechen
Adam Beechen, the writer behind DC's in-universe relaunch of "Batman Beyond," explains his history with the Dark Knight, from comics to cartoons and how the two play off each other, from Terry McGinnis to Zur-En-Arrh.
THE BAT SIGNAL: Judd Winick
With back-to-back Red Hood projects hitting in comics and animation, the writer who returned Jason Todd from the grave digs into his Batman writing methods, his opinions on animation and a new "Superman/Batman" story.
THE BAT SIGNAL: Behind "Batman" #700
DC Editor Mike Marts stops by to explain how the all-star anniversary issue came together, how issue #700 plays a role in the culmination of Grant Morrison's mega-epic and what twists and artists will accompany the return of Bruce Wayne.
THE BAT SIGNAL: Frazer Irving
Upcoming "Batman and Robin" artist Frazer Irving discusses his favorite takes on Batman from Brian Bolland to Adam West, the challenges of drawing the Dark Knight, and forming a dynamic duo with superstar writer Grant Morrison.
THE BAT SIGNAL: Paul Dini
The writer behind "Streets of Gotham" and "Gotham City Sirens" swing by CBR's ongoing Bat-Column to explain what it takes to dig into villains like Hush, what hidden past will haunt Batman's future and how Poison Ivy will grow this summer.
THE BAT SIGNAL: Chris Sprouse
The artist behind the all-caveman Batman adventure that kicks off "The Return of Bruce Wayne" opens up about his early Batman gigs, his personal criticisms of his own work and returning at last to "Tom Strong."
THE BAT SIGNAL: Grant Morrison
THE BAT SIGNAL spotlights Grant Morrison as he begins the Dark Knight's history-spanning homecoming back to modern day Gotham City in the highly anticipated six-issue miniseries, "Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne."
THE BAT SIGNAL: David Hine
After his final word with Jeremiah Arkham, incoming "Detective Comics" writer David Hine explores two kinds of madness with the introduction of The Imposter and a regular gig on DC Comics' "Azrael."
THE BAT SIGNAL: Mike Marts
CBR debuts a new regular feature focusing on DC Comics Dark Knight as well as a full-service Batman Hub for his fans. We kick it off with an extensive interview with Editor Mike Marts on the future of the entire Bat line!


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Let's turn to the Word of God, 1 John chapter 2 tonight, and let me share with you what for many, many years has been one of my favorite...one of the formative passages of Scripture in my own life. First John chapter 2 verses 12 through 14.
Let me read this text because I want you to have it in mind as we talk about it. John writes this, "I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for His namesake. I'm writing to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I have written to you, children, because you know the Father. I have written to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong and the Word of God abides in you and you have overcome the evil one." Now the first thing that jumps out of this passage at you is there's a sequence here...children, young men, fathers. That's pretty apparent. It starts in verse 12 with the mention of little children. And then in verses 13 and 14 references are made to fathers and young men. And that adds, and even as additional mention of children at the end of verse 13, and that adds up to the three categories of spiritual development. And just so you know at the very outset, that's where we're going with the passage.
When you think about spiritual life, you have to think about growth. And that shouldn't surprise us because when you think about life in any form, life is equal to growth. Growth is evidence of life. You plant a seed in the ground and it grows to a full-sized plant. That's the nature of life. You have a small puppy in your house and it grows to be a big dog. You have a baby in your house and it grows to be an adult. And that's the way life works. Life essentially can be defined as the dynamic of development or the dynamic of growth. Life is equal to growth. Where there's life, there's growth. Where there's growth, there's life. That is certainly true in the spiritual realm. God who gave us spiritual life in Christ intends for that life to grow, intends for that life to grow into maturity. One of the, I think, difficult things in the human realm is retardation, or some kind of deformity that prevents a child from developing physically or developing mentally. And we see that as a sad reality in life. The failure to grow spiritually is equally tragic, in fact it's more tragic because one cannot enter in to all of the spiritual blessings and benedictions that the Lord has for those who mature in Christ. Spiritual growth then is a privilege, it is also an obligation, it is a responsibility for us. And the goal of spiritual development is to become like Christ. And we know that because that's what the Bible tells us. The Apostle Paul in Philippians chapter 3 talks about that and says it in very clear terms. He says, "This one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind, reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." What is the goal? The goal is the prize of the upward call. What's the prize when you're called up? The prize when you're called up is to be like Christ. You'll be like Him because you'll see Him as He is. When we get to heaven we're going to be like Christ. Romans 8:29 says we're going to be conformed to the very form of Christ, God's Son. So the goal of the upward call is to be like Christ. That's the prize. That's what we're going to be when we get to heaven. Paul says, "That being my prize, some day that's what God's going to give me, that becomes my goal even in life. I want to be like Christ." So when I think about maturity I think about Christ. When I think about being a mature believer, I think about being like Christ. That certainly fits into 1 John, even into chapter 2 because back in verse 6 it says, "The one who says he abides in Him," that is abides in Christ, "ought himself walk in the same manner as He walked." Becoming like Christ is the goal and the objective of the process of spiritual maturity.
Now there's a lot in Scripture about this process of spiritual development and spiritual growth. In Ephesians 4:15 we read how it is important for us to grow up in all things into Him who is the head. And again saying the same thing, to grow up into Christ's likeness. Paul said that that essentially is the objective in the church. The Lord has given to the church apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers for the equipping of the saints, for the work of service to the building up of the body of Christ who we all attain to the unity of the faith, the knowledge of the Son of God to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. And adding in verse 15, we're to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ. God has designed everything within the framework of Christian experience, everything in the church, everything in the life of the church, all of the teaching, all of the ministry, the discipling that goes on to have the effect of growing us into Christ's likeness.
Now the means of that is the Scripture, as we know. First Peter 2:2 says, "Desire the pure milk of the Word that you may grow by it. Just as a baby desires milk in order to grow, you desire the milk of the Word which is your food so that you also can grow." Spiritual growth is another way to describe what we call sanctification...sanctification. There are really differing elements of sanctification. There is a kind of positional sanctification that occurs when you're saved, you're set apart from sin into a new state in which you're covered by the righteousness of Christ. That is in the past, that happened at salvation. There is a future kind of sanctification, ultimate sanctification that will take place when you're finally and forever and totally separated from sin in your glorification. So there is a forensic or declared sanctification by which you were set apart from sin in the eyes of God by being covered with the righteousness of Christ. There is a future kind of sanctification by which you will be actually set apart from all sin and become righteous in the perfection of eternity. In the middle there is this process of sanctification that is a increasing separation from sin as you move more into spiritual maturity, increasingly becoming like Jesus Christ. As we think about progressive sanctification, which is a pretty common term for this, we can think about it as really a synonym for spiritual development, spiritual growth.
Now I want to give you some statements about spiritual growth because I don't want you to have any misunderstandings about it. I think this is very formative and very basic for our understanding, so I want it to be clear in your mind. Let me just give you a few things to understand. First of all, spiritual growth has nothing to do with your standing before God in Christ. Spiritual growth has nothing to do with your standing before God in Christ. That's all settled. When you put your trust in Jesus Christ, the righteousness of Christ covered you. The righteousness of God covered you. And that is essentially what the Apostle Paul acknowledged in that same section, Philippians chapter 3, he said that I was found in Him. Verse 9, "Not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith." So your standing before God is set. You have been covered with the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ. That doesn't change. Wherever you are in your spiritual growth doesn't change your standing before God. That is fixed forever. In fact, in Colossians 2:10 it says, "In Him you have been made complete." As far as God is concerned, that's settled. He sees us in His Son as righteous. He sees us in His Son as perfect. As we remember from 2 Corinthians 5:21, we have said it many times, "On the cross Jesus took our sin so that He could give us His righteousness." He dies on the cross as if He had lived your sinful life and mine and then God imputes His perfect life to our account as if we had lived His sinless life. That's the glory of the great doctrine of substitution, imputed righteousness.
So spiritual growth has nothing to do with your standing before God. If you are a spiritual child, if you are a spiritual young man, or a spiritual father, wherever you are on the process of development, it does not have any impact in your standing before God in Christ. We'll see how that fits into the text of 1 John in a little bit.
Secondly, spiritual growth has nothing to do with God's love for you. It has nothing to do with God's love for you. God doesn't love you more or like you better if you're mature. In fact, in John 13:1 Jesus was meeting with the disciples in the upper room, as you remember we talked about it recently, and it says in that passage that having loved His own which were in the world, He loved them unto perfection. The Lord loves all of His own to perfection. And the disciples in that case were immature. They were doubters. They were proud. They were, remember, arguing about who of them would be the greatest in the Kingdom and they were utterly insensitive to Jesus facing a cross. But He still loved them to perfection. In fact, "While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us because God loved us when we were enemies." He loves us with a perfect love. He cannot love us more because we are more mature. He cannot love us less because we are less mature. He loves us into eternal salvation and He loves us into eternal glory. Where we are in the process of spiritual growth does not affect our standing with Him, nor His love for us. Thirdly, spiritual growth has nothing to do with time...it has nothing to do with time. It is not measured by the calendar. There are people, sadly to say, who have been Christians for a very long time and are still very immature...very immature. Paul wrote to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 3 and said, "I couldn't speak to you as to spiritual men. I couldn't speak to you as to mature people. I could only speak to you as babes in Christ. I only could give you milk to drink, I couldn't give you solid food for you were not yet able to receive it. And indeed even now you are not yet able for you are still fleshly." And this is an indictment to them. By the time that Paul is writing to them, they should have matured beyond their infancy spiritually. But they didn't because they were all caught up in jealousy and strife and so they were immature.
In Hebrews chapter 5, also the writer of the book of Hebrews notes that given the time people should have been a lot further along in their spiritual development, but they weren't. It comes at the end of the fifth chapter of Hebrews and it points up a principle. He says in verse 12, "Though by this time you ought to be teachers, you had need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God." Now here he's talking about people who hadn't even yet become believers but he says you've had plenty of time, you've had enough time and enough exposure to be teachers. And instead of being teachers, you need to be taught the basics. It is frankly common, it is very common for people to be Christians for decades and remain infants, bound in immaturity, characterized by jealousy, strife, conflict, lack of discernment, all those things that characterize children, weakness, doesn't have to do with time.
Fourthly, spiritual growth is not related to knowledge, per se, it is not related to knowledge per se. It is not related to acquiring biblical information or biblical theology, or systematic theology. There are people who have accumulated biblical information and who maintain tragic levels of immaturity. Unless that knowledge is pure and unless it is applied so as to conform your life to Christ, it does nothing but fill your mind with facts. And that's pretty dangerous because the more biblical information you receive and don't apply, the more deceived you are about your true state of immaturity. If it isn't life changing, it becomes spiritual deadening.
Fifthly, spiritual growth has nothing to do with activity, and I'm talking about even church activity or Christian ministry activity. Some of the most tragically immature people that I've ever met are the heads of some of the largest ministries of the world. And I'm not going to name names, but I'm telling you, some of THE most immature Christians that I have ever met are the head of the some of the largest Christian organizations in the world. Busy...busy themselves with all kinds of people surrounding them who are equally busy but there's no evidence of maturity.
Just want to throw this in, number six, spiritual growth has nothing to do with temporal success. Spiritual growth has nothing to do with temporal success, material goods, the size of the church, the size of the class, the level of influence. These things are not signs of maturity. Having material goods, being prosperous, those things do not at all prove maturity. They have no connection to it. The Apostle Paul was content with suffering and persecution and weakness and all the rest of it and the fact that he was content with nothing was the true sign of his maturity. So I think when we talk about spiritual growth, just need to kind of clear the deck of some of the misconceptions and that's what I want you to do in just saying that. It has nothing to do with your standing before God, that's fixed. It has nothing to do with God's love for you, that's established for eternity. It has nothing to do with time, there are people who have been Christians a long time and they're not mature. There are people who have been Christians a short time and they're progressing rapidly toward maturity. It has nothing to do with information, even biblical information because you can have information that's not really applied. It has nothing to do with activity, busyness doesn't equate to spiritual maturity. It has nothing to do with prosperity, temporal success, material benefit, the size of ministry, level of influence is not necessarily a measure of one's maturity.
Now I want to say something else. Spiritual maturity is not absolute, it is relative. When you talk about spirituality or carnality, you're talking about something that's absolute. At any given moment in time you're either in the Spirit or in the flesh. That's an absolute at any point in time. You may be saved for two weeks and you at any given moment if you're walking in the Spirit, obeying the Word of God, you're spiritual. If you're not, you're carnal, you're fleshly. You may be a Christian for 50 years and in the times when you're walking in the Spirit and obeying the Word of God you are spiritual, and the times you're not, you are fleshly. That is an absolute. You could say that at any point in the life of a believer they're either in the Spirit or in the flesh, they're either functioning in obedience to God and walking in the Spirit, or they're functioning in disobedience to God and walking in the flesh. That's an absolute at any given point in time. Maturity is a relative thing. It's not an absolute in that you are or you aren't, it's relative as you grow. But I will tell you this, the only times you grow are the times when you are spiritual. The times when you're carnal, you fall back. So spiritual growth is the relative spiritual development of a person through all the accumulated times of walking in the Spirit. So the more you walk in the Spirit, the more you're going to grow.
Now there are a number of ways in which the Bible defines spiritual growth. It calls it "following after righteousness," 1 Timothy 6:11. It calls it "being transformed by the renewing of your mind," Romans 12:2. It calls it "perfecting holiness in the fear of God," 2 Corinthians 7:1. As we noted earlier, it calls it "pressing toward the mark," Philippians 3:14. Colossians 2:7 says, "It's being built up in the faith." This is spiritual growth. It's not mystical. It's not sentimental. It's not devotional. It's not psychological. It's not due to an experience. It's not due to an event. It's not due to a decision. It's not due to a rededication. It's not due to a secret insight any more than your growth is due to any of those. Your growth as a living human being is not due to anything mystical, sentimental, devotional, psychological, it's not due to any event, it's not due to any commitment or decision, it is a process...it's a process of feeding your body so that it can develop. And that's the same in the spiritual dimension, it is a process of taking in the truth of God and growing on the basis of believing and responding to that truth. To put it simply, you cannot grow spiritually unless you grow in your understanding of God's truth. That's the only way to get there. "Man doesn't live by bread alone, but he lives by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God," Jesus said. Life is growth and growth comes by eating and the food that you have is not bread, but it is every word that comes out of the mouth of God. Spiritual growth is directly related to an increase in your understanding of God's revelation. Now in our text in 1 John, this is wonderfully instructive treatment of the three stages of spiritual growth. Obviously there are a whole continuum in between, but there are sort of three categories that you grow in that are named here. Children, young men and fathers...obviously that's how it is in the human realm, using a man as an illustration, provides a very instructive framework for us to understand spiritual growth.
Now I want to give you the context because you might wonder, "Well how do we...we've just been dealing with tests of true Christianity, you know, the doctrinal tests, the tests about Christ, do you believe in the true Christ? The doctrinal test about sin, do you recognize your sin? And then the moral test about obedience and the moral test about love. We've gone through all of these tests to verify one's spiritual condition to give evidence that one's salvation is real. And this is a very important paragraph put in here by the Holy Spirit through John because he needs to affirm to the readers that by offering these tests, listen carefully, he is not doubting their salvation. He's not doubting their salvation, he's simply helping them to understand how they can discern that the false professors and the false prophets that are in their midst are not in fact the real thing. The epistle was not written to create doubt in the minds of true believers. And for that, I go back again to chapter 5 verse 13 which is the stated purpose of this epistle. "These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God in order that you may know that you have eternal life." He didn't write this epistle to make you doubt, he wrote the epistle to confirm your salvation because you're going to read this epistle and when he says a true believer acknowledges sin, you're going to say, "I acknowledge my sin." And when he says a true believer acknowledges that Christ is Lord, you're going to say, "I acknowledge that." And when he says a true believer has a desire from the heart to obey God and to love others, you're going to say, "I experience that reality." And so this then is going to confirm your salvation. And what it's going to do is expose those people who deny Christ, expose those people who deny their sin and say they don't sin, expose those people who hate others, expose those people who don't obey the Word of God, expose those people who love the world and the things of the world. That's what it's intended to do. It's intended to help believers to be able to discern. That's why he starts in verse 12 with this, "I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for His namesake. And I'm writing to you because you are the forgiven." And back in chapter 1 verse 4, "And these things we write so that our joy may be made complete." I want you to affirm your salvation, I want you to know you are forgiven, and I want you to have complete joy. Then he says, "And I want you also to understand that because you're not a spiritual father, or even a spiritual young man in the process of spiritual growth, doesn't mean you're not a Christian." And that's why he transitions into this. Look, there's room in the Kingdom for spiritual babies. There's room in the Kingdom for spiritual young men. There's of course room in the Kingdom for spiritual fathers. That's his point. There is room for stages of growth. You know, somebody might read John and say, "Boy, there's just no air here, there's no space, as we talked about a few months ago." But there is right here, he's saying...Look, I don't expect all of you to be living this out in its perfection. So he starts with a general statement in verse 12. "I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for His namesake." He knows the people to whom he writes. And he knows they're believers, they're forgiven. And this broadens to include all of those who have sound doctrine about Christ and sound doctrine about their sinful condition and whose lives have been transformed so that they live in obedience to the Word of God from the heart and they love each other. He writes to those true believers and all of them are the little children. Now when he says "little children" in verse 12, he's talking about all believers...he uses the word teknia. Now that word simply means "born ones," without regard for age. Okay? Without regard for age. I am a child and I will be a child till I die in the sense that I will always be the child of my parents. We are all our parents' children. So I'm writing to all of you who are the children of God, all of you teknia...common biblical word for the saved, the children of God. And one thing is true of all of you, he says, "Your sins are forgiven you." You've all been forgiven. And as I said earlier, it's not about your relationship or your standing before God, that is fixed. Spiritual growth is not about God's loving you more or less, you're already fully loved so that your sins are forgiven because Christ has paid in full the penalty for those sins.
So one thing is true of all believers wherever they are in the spiritual growth plain, all believers have all their sins forgiven. So it's not about your standing before God. That's settled. It's not about God's love for you. That's settled. And this is the great reality of salvation, forgiveness, forgiveness, forgiveness. Ephesians 1:7, "In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches of His grace which He lavished upon us." He lavished His grace in a complete forgiveness that covered everything. And in Ephesians 4:32, "Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other just as God in Christ also has forgiven you." This is at the heart of our salvation. Even in 1 John back in chapter 1 verse 7, he says, "If we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, the blood of Jesus, His Son, cleanses us from all sin." Chapter 3 verse 5 of 1 John, "You know that He appeared in order to take away sins." That's why He came, to take away sins. Scripture is filled with these statements that salvation is the forgiveness of sins.
Just a couple come to mind. One is in Acts 10, yes it's verse 43, "Of Him all the prophets bear witness that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins." That's what Peter said. And that is exactly what salvation is, it's the forgiveness of sins. Also in the thirteenth chapter of the book of Acts there is a marvelous statement in verse 38, "Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through Him forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you...through Him forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. And through Him everyone who believes is freed from all things from which you could not be freed through the Law of Moses." All things meaning the just punishment of a holy God. That's why Jesus said at the end of the gospel of Luke, Luke 24, He said that repentance and forgiveness of sin should be preached in His name among all nations, it's about forgiveness. And so, John starts this discussion of spiritual maturity by the recognition that it's not a matter of your salvation, it's a matter of your sanctification. It's not about your justification, it's about your sanctification because all of you as the offspring of God, all of you as God's children have all your sins forgiven. And then he adds, "For His namesake." Not because you're worthy of it, not because you deserve it, not because you somehow merit it, but for His namesake. That simply means for His glory. It is to the glory of God that He forgave your sins. By the way, that's the reason for everything. That is absolutely the reason for everything. Everything God does He does for His glory, including all of His redemptive work. It is all for His glory.
Psalm 25:11, "For Thy namesake, O Lord, pardon my iniquity. Not for my sake, but for the sake of the glory of Your grace so that You can put Your glory on display." That is a prayer offered by a mature man, "For Thy namesake, O Lord," says the psalmist, "pardon my iniquity for it is great." And he is saying when You pardon my iniquity, as great as it is, it will be to the glory of Your grace that You are such a pardoning God.
In Psalm 75:9, a psalm of Asaph, "Do not remember the iniquities of our forefathers against us, let Thy compassions come quickly to meet us for we are brought very low. Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of Thy name and deliver us and forgive our sins for Thy namesake." Put Your glory on display. Put your grace on display as a forgiving God. When you confess your sins before the Lord, that's how your prayer should go. "O Lord God, forgive my sins so that You may be glorified." In Psalm 106 the Lord saved Israel, it says, the reason He saved them, for the sake of His name, that He might make His power known. That's why He rebuked the Red Sea and dried up and He led them through the deep as though it were a wilderness. God saves in order to put Himself on display, to put His glory and His grace on display. Psalm 109 verse 21, "But Thou, O God the Lord, deal kindly with me for Thy namesake, because Thy loving-kindness is good, deliver me for I am afflicted and needy, my heart is wounded within me, I'm passing like a shadow and it lengthens, I'm shaken off like the locust, my needs are weak from fasting, my flesh has grown lean without fatness. Help me, O Lord my God, save me according to Thy loving kindness and let them know that this is Thy hand, Thou, Lord, hast done it." That's the reason for everything. "Do it, Lord, do it in order that Your glory may be manifest." This is exactly what is also in the heart of Jeremiah chapter 14 verse 7, "Although our iniquities testify against us, O Lord, act for Thy namesake. We have sinned against You, You the hope of Israel, save us in our time of distress. Save us for Your namesake." Well you can go on and on with these kinds of passages. There are lots of places. I'll just give you one more, Isaiah 48, because this is such a rich one. Verse 9, "For the sake of My name I delay My wrath and for My praise I restrain it for you. For My own sake, for My own sake I will act," God says. It brings glory to God to forgive sinners. That's why in Romans 1 the Apostle Paul talks about missionaries being sent out, apostles, to bring about the obedience of faith among all Gentiles for His namesake, to bring Gentiles to obey the gospel so that God can be glorified. We are forgiven not because we merit it. We are forgiven not because we earn it. We are forgiven not because there's something in us worth forgiving. We are forgiven because it gives testimony to the grace of God to do that. So, back to our text. John says, "I'm writing to you, all of you Christians, because you've all been forgiven not by anything you deserve or merit. You've been forgiven because it pleases God to put on display the wonder and glory of His grace." When it says "His namesake," name simply means all that He is. My name is, I am that I am, God says. God forgives us because it pleases Him to display the glory of His forgiveness.
So John is saying...Look, I'm not...I'm not questioning whether you're Christians. I know you're all children. I know you've all been forgiven. I know you don't feel worthy but it's been done so that God's glory can be displayed." Now, he says, "You're all in the family but we have to realize there are degrees of maturity. So if you feel like you're way down at the beginning and you're a spiritual baby, don't think for a moment that you aren't a Christian. Just because you aren't where you should be in the spiritual process, don't deny the reality of what the Lord has done in your life for His namesake." And here John is saying, we're not talking about absolute perfection, we're talking about direction, progress.
And that brings us to the three categories of spiritual growth in verses 13 and 14. "I'm writing to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning. I'm writing to you, young men, because you've overcome the evil one. I have written to you, children, because you know the Father. I have written to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong and the Word of God abides in you and you have overcome the evil one." Now in typical Johannine fashion, there's a lot of reputation there. I'm not in any position to tell you what John's motive was in repeating these things except the very obvious thing, to make the emphasis crystal clear. He is simply saying I want you to understand this so I'm going to repeat it, I'm going to say it and then I'm going to remind you of what I just said. This is for the sake of emphasis. He wants to embed this in their minds. And this is very encouraging. We're writing that you might have joy that's complete. We're writing that you might know you're saved. We're writing that you might affirm that you're a child of God with forgiven sin. But we also want to recognize that there are levels of spiritual growth. And he doesn't even tell them they need to progress along. He just acknowledges that that's a reality. It's not his purpose here to exhort them toward spiritual development, although that certainly is built into the fabric of what he says. It's simply to define the reality that though you're not a spiritual father, or even a spiritual young man, you're still a child who has been forgiven. So there is here a great measure of grace. We need to look then at these three categories. We need to understand that there are spiritual babies. Job 32:9 says, "The abundant in years may not be wise." Just because you've been a Christian a long time doesn't mean you're not a baby. All spiritual babies don't become spiritual young men, they don't become spiritual fathers. They should but they don't. They should grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, 2 Peter 3:18. They should grow up into the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. They should feed on the Word and grow by it, as Peter wrote. But not all do. And at any given point in time, even those who will grow are so new in the faith they haven't started to really develop yet. So there's...there's just the categories here with no implications other than that great implication that immaturity isn't equal to being unconverted.
Let's talk about these three levels of spiritual growth. And I think this should encourage us in our own progress. Let's start where you have to start with little children. At the end of verse 13 he says, "I've written to you, children, because you know the Father. I've written to you, children, because you know the Father." Now here he's not referring to the same children that he referred to in verse 12. Everybody's in verse 12. All believers who have been forgiven are in verse 12. We are all the children of God. As I said, I'm a child of my parents, I always will be in that generic general sense. Here he leaves the word teknia behind and he uses the word paidia. Paidia is a word that means a little child, someone still under parental instruction, paidia. The issue with a paidia is ignorance...it's ignorance. The defining element of spiritual immaturity, paidia, simply refers to a child who needs to be trained...he needs to be taught, who needs to be instructed. That's why instructors were called paidagogos, responsible for the instruction of little ones. And so he says, "I know some of you are ignorant children, you know the Father...you know the Father." That takes you back to verse 3, "By this we know that we've come to know Him if we keep His commandments." What is it that a spiritual child knows? The spiritual child knows God, the basic knowledge. In natural life the first thing that happens in a baby's life, relationally, is parental acknowledgment...dada, but first is usually mama. So is the case in the spiritual realm. The distinguishing act of a babe in Christ is to acknowledge God as Father, Christ as Lord. They express their delight in the attachment. They express their delight in the new life, in the joy of dependence. As in Romans 8:15 and Galatians 4:6, the spiritual babe says, "Abba, Father," that's "Daddy." There is a...there is a newness of life, there is a wondrous familiarity, personal relationship with God. Little children are more regulated by their affections than their knowledge, isn't that true? They're more affected by their emotions, their feelings than by information.
I think about it like unconditional love. They don't analyze you. They just love you if you're their parent. They just love you. They delight in you. They find their security in you. They find their protection in you. They find their safety in you. They find their love in you. And that's how it is with spiritual babies. There's a certain thrill with the new life. There's a joy that God is my Father, Christ is my Savior, God is my protector, He cares for me, He meets my needs, He's provided a home for me. He's provided everything I need. There is affection for God. There is a delight in their spiritual life, delight in their spiritual experiences. There is a joy that their sins are forgiven. There is a...there is almost an exhilaration in the...in the expression of the Spirit of God that has awakened them to the realities of salvation blessing. That's where it all starts. It's not about information. It's not about theology. It's about relationship.
Spiritual babies are attached to the relationship more than to doctrine. That's why in 1 Corinthians chapter 3, which I read a little earlier to you, the apostle Paul says, "Look, here's how I know you are babies because one says I'm of Paul, another says I'm of Apollos," spiritual babies tend to attach to their heroes. They're more drawn, as I said, by their affections than by information. They are typical babies. Ephesians 4:13 and 14 says another thing about spiritual babies that's serious. It says this, "Be no longer children...verse 14, Ephesians 4...tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine by the trickery of men, by craftiness and deceitful scheming." Now there's another thing about children. They are affectionate and they are drawn to relationships but they have no discernment. So you tell your kids, "Don't talk to strangers." They are easily deceived. They are easily beguiled. They'll tend to believe anything. When they're tiny they'll crawl around the floor and pick up anything and stick it in their mouth, that's the ultimate point at which everything is tested, the mouth. And you're scrambling around, "Get that out of his mouth." And that's where their sensibilities and sensitivities are so tender that they can begin to discover the world inside their mouths. And you have to protect them.
Even as they get a little older, if you gave them a choice between spinach and ice cream. Hands down, ice cream all day long. They don't have any discernment. They'll do themselves severe harm and damage. And they will be easily led astray. Think about all these sad little children who are led astray by these terrible pedophiles and then brought into this horrible situation where their lives are taken and who knows what atrocities are performed because it is the nature of a child to be easily deceived and easily led astray. We applaud their unconditional love. We applaud the fact that they are attracted to people and relationships. We applaud the fact that they look at the world through rose-colored glasses and they have a certain happiness and joy that goes along with ignorance and lack of experience. But we decry the vulnerability of that, don't we? They lack wisdom. They lack discernment. They live in danger being led seriously astray.
Cults prey on spiritual babes. False teachers make careers out of spiritual babes. You look at these massive crowds that are draw by false teachers and you just know it's a combination of the spiritual immature and the unconverted.
Second category is young men...young men. And he says in the middle of verse 13, "I'm writing to you, young men, because you've overcome the evil one." And then he adds in verse 14, "I have written to you, young men, because you are strong and the Word of God abides in you and you've overcome the evil one." Infants rejoice in the relationship they have with the Father. But this second level of spiritual growth is really important. This goes from the relationship to the knowledge, to the theology, let's say. This goes from the attachment that is emotional, the attachment that is a matter of affection to the doctrinal issue. And it's a beautiful analogy.
He says...I'm writing to you, young men, spiritual young men, because you have overcome the evil one. Very important statement...you've overcome the evil one. How did you do that? Verse 14, "Because you are strong." How did you get strong? "Because the Word of God abides in you and that's how you overcome the evil one." What is the characteristic of a spiritual young man? Somebody who knows the Word of God. The Word of God abides in them. They know what the Bible teaches. They are equipped with spiritual knowledge. Characteristic of children is ignorance. The characteristic of young men is knowledge. They know doctrine. The Word of God abides in them. And as Proverbs 20:29 says, "The glory of a young man is his strength." A baby is self-absorbed with new feelings, needs, problems, everything is personal. A young man has outgrown that and looks to the world outside, looks to the truth. Young men, spiritually speaking, are Christians who have acquired knowledge of the truth. They're well established in the area of doctrine. As the spiritual food has gone in, spiritual strength has resulted. And you have, perfect tense, already in the past with continuing results, already conquered Satan. That's an amazing statement. Already conquered Satan.
Well what in the world does that mean? How could that be? Well, you just have to understand where Satan operates. In 2 Corinthians chapter 11 verses 13 to 15 it says, "Satan is disguised as an angel of...what?...of light." He's an angel of light. Satan isn't the one running around making people sin. People sin because of the flesh. Satan is involved in false religious systems. Ninety-nine point nine percent of Satan's activity is in false religion. He is a liar and a deceiver. He works in the false systems, the false ideologies of the world. Don't blame Satan for your sin. Don't blame Satan for what your flesh is doing. You don't sin because Satan gets after you, you sin because lust conceives in your heart, James 1:14. You sin because of the lust of the flesh, because you walk in the flesh. Read Galatians 5:19 to 21, "The works of the flesh are these..." Leviticus 17:7, Psalm 106:36 and 37 say, "False religion is demonic." First Corinthians 10, "The Gentiles sacrifice to demons." Satan is disguised as an angel of light, that's what he does. Even in chapter 4 of 1 John we find that you can test the spirits whether they're from God by whether the spirit confesses Jesus Christ has come in the flesh. "Every spirit that doesn't confess Jesus is not from God but the spirit of Antichrist." So Satan is that Antichrist. Satan is that one who proclaims lies. First Timothy 4 says that false religion is doctrines of demons...doctrines of demons.
And so, if you understand that you understand what a spiritual young man is and how a spiritual young man can overcome the evil one. How? Because if you know sound doctrine, you have overcome the evil one. And, you know, it's wonderful to see spiritual young men, people whose doctrine is sound. And you know you're a spiritual young man when the cults don't attract you, when false doctrine doesn't allure you, when you're not easily deceived. In fact, generally speaking, when you're a spiritual young man you get angry at it. You want to fight it. It's wonderful to see somebody arrive at that point in their spiritual development. They want to go battle the cults, straighten out the J.W.'s, correct the liberals. I have a little of that in me, passing through that stage. I'm not going to be led astray by false doctrine. I'm not going to be deceived. Why? Because I am strong in the Word, I know what the Word of God teaches. And in that sense Satan cannot deceive me. If Satan comes along and says, "Jesus is not God," I don't care how good his argument is, I don't buy it. If Satan comes along and says, "God is not a trinity," I don't care how good his argument is, I'm not going to buy it. I don't care how clever the hypocritical lie speaker, or the false prophet is, I don't buy it. If somebody comes along and says that Jesus was a sinner on the cross and went to hell for three days to suffer for His sin, I don't believe that. If somebody comes and says the Bible is not the inspired Word of God inerrant, I don't believe it, I don't care what kind of argument that person amasses, I'm not going to buy into that because I know what the Word of God teaches. So babies delight in the experience of the relationship. Young men delight in the truth and the fact that they've reached t he point where they're no longer vulnerable to being led astray in false doctrine. They are still vulnerable to the flesh and to sin all their lifelong. That's why Paul can say, "O wretched man that I am." And at the very end of his life, "I'm the chief sinner." Because as you mature there's a decreasing frequency of sin but there's an increasing hatred of sin that makes less sin seem worse.
But spiritual young men knowing doctrine haven't reached the final stage of spiritual development because he also adds "fathers," that's the third category. Verse 13, "I'm writing to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning." Verse 14, "I have written to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning." You have progressed from strength to strength. You've gone from experiencing the relationship to knowing the doctrine to become a spiritual father.
What is that? "o know Him that is from the beginning." Who's that? The eternal God. Was the Bible written to give you information about God? Yes. What was the purpose of that information? Paul summed it up. Paul said this in Philippians 3, "That I may know Him." The third stage of spiritual development is when you don't just know the doctrine, you know the God who revealed the doctrine. You've begun to plumb the depths of the character of God. This is when your life becomes an experience of worship. This is when it's not just warfare about the doctrine. This is when you understand what the hymn writer meant when he talked about being lost in wonder, love and praise. This is when you get to the point where your soul is exhilarated in the knowledge of God. It's not the parts anymore, it's the sum of the parts. And in some ways you're back to the relationship again only it's fuller and richer and fully informed by sound doctrine to know the author of that doctrine, to know the God who is behind it. It's to deeply, intimately know God.
This is the path you want to be on, folks. If you're just a baby and all you're doing is celebrating the relationship, that's wonderful. You're enjoying the experience of the unconditional love. But you are very vulnerable to false doctrine. You need to learn the Word of God so that you can become a spiritual young man protecting yourself from being led astray and blown about by every wind of doctrine and carried away by Satan's deceptions.
When you get to being a spiritual young man you will reach an exhilarating point in your spiritual experience. But it's nothing like getting to be a spiritual father where you don't just know the doctrine, you know the God who is behind it. It's not just that you understand the letter God gave you, it's that you understand the heart of the God who wrote the letter. There's a depth in that that cannot be explained, it can only be experienced.
And so, John says, "Look, because you're not fully matured doesn't mean you're not forgiven. I'm not writing this epistle to cause you to doubt your salvation, I'm writing this epistle to cause you to affirm it because even a spiritual baby believes in the true Christ, knows he's a sinner, wants to obey, loves other, hates the world. Even though it isn't perfection, it's direction." Finally, the power for this progress, what is the power that moves us along? I've already said it. It's the Word of God. I mean, how can you be a spiritual young man? When you're strong in the Word. So there you go. You're not even going to be a spiritual young man if you're not strong in the Word. How you going to become a spiritual father? You're never going to know the God who wrote the Word until you know what He wrote. And as you go over it and over it and deeper and deeper into it, the character of God begins to develop and to grow and expand. You literally live your life in awe of the wonder of who God is. The Word is life itself. It is the living Word. The Word is life giving. We're begotten again and sanctified by the Word. The Word is life maturing, grow in grace and in the knowledge that the Word provides. The Word is transforming, "Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind." It is the bread of life by which we live and grow. And the pursuit of all of us is to become that spiritual father and the characteristic of that spiritual father is an intimate knowledge of God like the knowledge that Christ has of His own Father.
In John 17 that is just the really many call it the Holy of Holies of the Scripture. Jesus is praying to the Father and in this prayer Jesus prays for those who are His own. And His prayer is just so amazing...so amazing. He says, "I've given them Your Word...verse 14...I've given them Your Word, that's what they need. Sanctify them in the truth, Your Word is truth." And then He says, "My prayer is that they may all be one, even as Thou, Father, art in Me and I in Thee that they also may be in us that the world may believe that Thou didst send Me and the glory which Thou has given Me I have given to them that they may be one just as we are one. I in them, Thou in Me, that they may be perfected in unity that the world may know that Thou didst send Me, didst love Me, even as Thou didst...didst love them even as Thou didst love Me." And then in verse 25, "O righteous Father, the world hasn't known You but I have known You." And then He says in essence, "And I've made Your name known to them." In the end, Jesus is saying I want them to know You the way I know You. I don't want them just to have doctrine, I want them to have the intimate knowledge of You the way I know You. So if you wanted to pray an ultimate prayer, pray in your spiritual growth that God would bring you to the place where you would go from one level of glory to the next as you gaze at the image of Christ that you would literally get to the place where you know God in some measure the way Christ knows Him. As Christ truly knows Him to be who He is, may I as a believer come to the mature knowledge of God and whatever the limitations I have, may I know God as much as possible in the same way that Christ knows Him. That is to say, may I know Him accurately to be who He really is. And in that knowledge comes the essence of worship in my life. Father, we can make that our prayer that we would know You, the One who is from the beginning, the eternal God manifest in Jesus Christ. Thank You for Your grace to us wherever we are on the road to spiritual maturity. Grow us up, make us spiritual young men, make us spiritual fathers who have reached the mature level so that we know You, the eternal One, in some way consistent with who You are. May we know You as Christ knows You. What privilege that is and may we be filled with wonder, love and praise. May we realize that that growth isn't going to happen by an event or a decision or an experience, it is the consistent ongoing work of the Word heard, believed and applied in our lives. To that end we pray that we might enjoy the fullness of spiritual blessing that comes to those who are strong in the Word, who know You, the eternal God. We pray in Your Son's name. Amen.
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Mooney Airplane Co. unveiled special 60th anniversary editions of its Ovation2 and Bravo models, which sport distinctive logos and paint designs, as well as Garmin G1000 glass cockpits. Deliveries will begin in early 2006.
The Kerrville, Texas-based company, which emerged from bankruptcy just a few years ago, is "running at full throttle," according to Gretchen Jahn, CEO. She reported the company is on target to more than double its 2004 sales. Last year, it delivered 36 airplanes. Already this year Mooney has delivered 43 airplanes. "We also have the largest firm order backlog in 18 years," added David Copeland, director of sales and marketing.
To meet those orders, the company has been on a hiring frenzy, increasing staff 93% in the last year to 350 employees. It also added a 50-employee second shift.