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Let's open our Bibles this morning to 1 Timothy chapter 1. We're looking again at verses 3 through 11. The opening charge that is given from the Apostle Paul to Timothy to carry out a work in the church and the region around the church in Ephesus.
Now as I mentioned last time, the primary objective that Paul has in mind with Timothy in the writing of this epistle is to encourage Timothy to bring the church to a place of sound doctrine and godly living. He is concerned about the impact of false teachers, not only what they say but what they model by way of a life style. And he is greatly concerned that Timothy reverse the impact of these false teachers. In so writing to Timothy he has left us a letter which all of us in the church of Jesus Christ today, or in any era, can benefit from because we all face the same potential encroachment of false teaching and unholy living.
To give you just an idea of the theme that surrounds not only 1 Timothy but 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy and Titus, I want to note the two key words in all three of these epistles are the words didaskalia and eusebeia. Didaskalia is the word most frequently translated "doctrine." It is used 21 times in the New Testament, 15 of those times in these three small epistles. That gives us a key to understanding what the theme of the epistles is. It is all about doctrine, the need for sound doctrine. The other word, eusebeia, is the word translated most often "godliness." That word appears 15 times in the New Testament and is used 10 of those 15 times in these three epistles. Both of those words are used eight times in 1 Timothy alone. And when you find in a brief epistle a word repeated eight times, you can understand that it is woven through that brief epistle in a thematic way. Just that alone tells us that Paul's concern in writing to Timothy is for true doctrine and godly living in the church. And that makes it essential for us even today.
Now to let you know how important these two features are of true doctrine and holy living, look at Titus. Titus being the second one of these three epistles Paul wrote, though it's third in order in the New Testament, and in the letter to Titus, Paul is dealing with much of the same kind of thing that he dealt with in writing 1 Timothy. And Titus, not unlike Timothy himself, is called upon to do a very similar task.
But you'll notice in Titus chapter 1 that as Paul outlines to Titus the kind of leaders, they're called elders in verse 5, they're called bishops in verse 7, just two different terms for the same pastor, the same leader in the church, but as he discusses them, he is concerned about their holy character and about their ability to deal with sound doctrine...those same two things. Their character is the issue in verses 6 through 8. "A man who is to be a leader or pastor in the church is to be blameless, he is to be a onewoman man, to have children who believe, who are not accused of ungodly conduct, or being unruly, undisciplined." Again in verse 7, "He must be blameless as the steward of God, that is realizing that his life and ministry is a management responsibility for God who is the real owner and possessor. He's not to be selfwilled, not soon angry, that is not hot tempered. Not given to wine, not violent...literally means not to use his fists...he is not to be given to filthy lucre." In other words, he's not in it for the money. "He is to love hospitality, that is he is a lover of those things which benefit strangers. He is a lover of good, sober mindedthat is he has his priorities in right order. He is fair. He is holy and he is selfcontrolled." Now that's the character of a godly man. That's godliness. And when Paul wrote to Titus, he had the same concern that he had when he wrote to Timothy. That in the church there would be leadership who were marked out by godliness.
The second thing and the second key word in these epistles was this matter of sound doctrine, of correct teaching. And so the second aspect of church leadership, beginning in verse 9, is the ability to communicate truth. This one who was an elder, or overseer, or pastor in the church is to be able to hold fast the faithful word as he has been taught. In other words, he never deviates from the truth so that he may be able by sound doctrine to exhort and to confute the opposers. For there are many unruly and empty talkers and deceivers, especially they of the circumcision, that is Jews who wanted to impose salvation by Mosaic law on people. Whose mouths must be stopped because they subvert whole houses, they teach things which they ought not and they do it for filthy lucre sake, for money. "One of their own, even a prophet of their own people said, The Cretians are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons and this testimony is true. Wherefore rebuke them sharply that they may be sound in the faith, not giving heed to Jewish myths and commandments of men that turn from the truth. Unto the pure all things are pure, unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled. They profess that they know God; but in works they deny Him, being abominable and disobedient and to every good work reprobate. But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine."
Now here again in the description of the qualifications for a pastor, it is essential to recognize that there are two broad categories. One has to do with godly living, and the other has to do with sound doctrine. Those are the two things that are to mark out the leadership of the church. And the encroachment of Satan into the church is always the encroachment of unsound doctrine and ungodly living. And against that must come the strength of godliness and truth.
Now go back with me to Matthew chapter 7 for a moment and to the words of our Lord who anticipated this particular problem that the church would face. Jesus has brought to a climax the Sermon on the Mount with an invitation in verse 13 and 14. The invitation is to enter into the narrow gate on to the narrow way which is the way of life everlasting, the way of salvation. And after giving the invitation, He also gives with it a warning to watch out for the broad road which leads to destruction. It is a religious road but it does not go to heaven. It says heaven but goes to hell. I'm calling you, Jesus says, to the true road, the true path, the true salvation, the true life of God.
But, He says, there is another road, a road of religion on which many walk who do not really know salvation at all. And in regard to these two paths, no sooner does He offer the invitation to come to the right path, than in verse 15 He says, "Beware of false prophets." Because for every true prophet calling people to the narrow gate and the narrow way there will no doubt be a multiplicity of false prophets calling people to the broad gate and the broad way that leads to destruction. Beware of them. They will come to you, He says, in sheep's clothing. Now what is sheep's clothing? That's easy enough, it's wool. That's what you get from a sheep, it's wool and wool is the garment of a prophet. A prophet wore a woolen robe. And what you have here is not someone dressed up like a sheep but someone dressed up like a prophet who comes claiming to articulate the Word of God but inwardly is nothing but a wolf wanting to tear and shred the sheep. And so we are aware of the fact that our Lord instructs us that no sooner will we offer the invitation to the true gospel and the true salvation than we will see also those calling for a decision that leads only to damnation...misleading false teachers and false preachers who only show the way to hell though they don't announce it as such.
And, frankly, as I said last week, this is not new. If you want to read Deuteronomy 13:1 to 5, write it down, you'll see that even back in the book of Moses in the law of Moses there was the presence of false teaching. You read the thirtieth chapter of Isaiah and you see it there. We are reminded by...in the New Testament...by the Apostle John in that little epistle, 2 John, in verse 7, "Many deceivers are entered into the world who confess not that Jesus Christ comes in the flesh, this is a deceiver and an antichrist."
We are reminded as Paul brings the book of Romans to a conclusion in chapter 16 verses 17 and 18, "I beseech you, brethren, mark them who cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which you have learned and avoid them for they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ but their own body, and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the innocent."
Peter in 2 Peter 2:1 says there are false prophets among the people, just as there were false prophets. There will always be false prophets is his point, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies. And verse 2 says, "Many will follow their pernicious ways." And verse 3 says, "They will make merchandise of those people for their own gain."
In 1 John 4:1, John says, "Tests the spirits to see whether they are of God for there are many deceivers gone out into the world."
Now they are dangerous because they claim to be from God and they claim to speak God's Word. And we've gone over that. Jeremiah reminds us in chapter 5 verses 30 and 31 that the prophets prophesy falsely and the priests rule with their own authority and my people love it that way. In Jeremiah 14:14 he said, "The prophets are prophesying falsehood in my name, I have neither sent them nor commanded them, nor spoken to them. They are prophesying deception."
Now they are dangerous because their deception is a damning deception. And it comes from that most damning deceiver of all, Satan, who disguises himself as an angel of light, says 2 Corinthians 13:11 to 15, and all of his messengers are disguised as angels of light and out they go to deceive. Some are heretics. And I suppose we could sort of generally define a heretic as a person who openly rejects the Word of God and teaches contrary. That's one kind of false teacher.
Others we could call apostates. Apostates who are those who once followed the faith but have now turned away. And then there are just the general deceivers who come alongside and not like heretics do they deny the faith and not like apostates do they say they once believed it but now they've turned from it, but they pretend to still believe it. And they want to look like orthodox fundamental evangelical Christians, and the truth is they lie...they lie. Jesus said in Matthew 7 in the passage to which we have looked, "That you will know them by their...what?...by their fruit." Not necessarily what they say but you look a little closer to their life and you'll see.
Invariably the false teacher cannot produce good fruit because evil cannot produce good. Jesus says you cannot have good coming out of an evil source. A tree cannot produce both good and evil fruit. And so they will produce evil fruit but they will cloak it. They hide their bad fruit inevitably under Ecclesiastical garb, or they had their bad fruit under the isolation of unaccountability. They exist without any accountability to anyone and the people can't get near enough to them to see the reality of what's under that cloak.
Some of them hide their evil fruit under a holy vocabulary. Or association with good fruitful Christians. Some of them cover their evil fruit with belonging to a Christian association or with biblical knowledge. But usually they can't hide it from everyone all the time. And as you look close at a false teacher, you will see the fruit. Their character is faulty. Peter calls them in 2 Peter 2 "filth spots and scabs, disease, polluted, wells without water, clouds without rain, dogs that lick their own vomit." All kinds of horrible titles because their character is vile. They do what they do for money. They make merchandise of people. These are the false teachers.
And as we go back to 1 Timothy, let me just briefly remind you that they had appeared in that place as well, in Ephesus, where Timothy was given this ministry. They had arisen in the church at Ephesus, and no doubt in surrounding areas. And Timothy is there to straighten the situation out. And it is not an easy task. He's there to teach sound doctrine and he's there to deal with unsound teachers. He's there to be an example of godly living. He is to teach sound doctrine and set an example in his own life, and then to put out the false teachers.
Now, we need to learn from this. This opening charge from verses 3 through 11 really sets the scene for the rest of the epistle. And in it the Apostle Paul gives Timothy to understand four things that will convince him of the necessity of moving against false teachers. First, to understand their error. Secondly, to understand their goal. Thirdly, to understand their motive. And finally, to understand their effect. Now when we understand these four things, we will therefore grasp the urgency with which we must deal with such people.
First, let's be reminded about understanding their error. Verse 3, Paul says, "I want you to stay there, Timothy, in order that you might command certain individuals to teach no other doctrine." Not doctrine that gives attention to myths, Judaistic myths, no doubt, as we learn from a general look at what was going on. Endless genealogies which do nothing but produce speculation rather than the plan of God which is by faith, that is the saving plan of God. So what you have here is a substitute for the saving gospel. Their error was they invented a new means of salvation...salvation through fables and endless genealogies and speculations rather than the beautiful marvelous saving plan of God which is by faith. Like all false teachers, there was no narrow gate, there was no repentance, there was no confession, there was no admission in meekness and humiliation that you could not attain under the divine standard but rather they had come up with a system of works righteousness that was a parallel to the apostate Jewish system of their day. Their religion of human achievement, works salvation, the popular gospel that "you're okay like you are, just keep a few laws and everything is going to be fine." But they needed to be stopped because their error was an error that was absolutely the most vital issue of all.
You see, if you...if you believe wrongly about the gospel, everything else is a moot point, right? If you believe wrongly about the saving gospel, you're damned to hell forever. You have to get that right. There are some places for variation, that's not one of them. So we need then, Paul says to Timothy, to understand their error. And their error is that they have diverted from the saving plan of God. So a false teacher then in the technical sense is one who teaches other than the saving gospel.
Someone asked me this week about people who might have a different view on this Bible verse, or they might have a different view on a certain doctrine of Scripture, are they false prophets? Well, they may be teaching error, they may be teaching falsehood, advertently or inadvertently, but a false teacher is primarily one that is teaching a wrong gospel. The others would be teachers of a true gospel who are in error about some other things. But a false teacher or false prophet teaches other than the true gospel and thus damns men.
Their goal...what is their goal? Well it tells us what it isn't in verse 5, the goal of the commandment. The objective not only of God's commandment, but also of Paul's commandment to Timothy to do this work is to produce love. God wants to produce love. That's why the Bible says that the greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and the second is like unto it, to love your neighbor as yourself. What God wants to produce in us through salvation is that we should love Him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength and love everyone else as we love ourselves. The goal of the commandment of God as well as the goal of Paul's command to Timothy within the church is to create a fellowship of people who supremely love God and each other. And he says that that love rises and gives us three tremendous insights out of a pure heart, a good conscience and faith unfeigned. A pure heart is a heart that's been cleansed by God...a heart that's been washed by the blood of Christ. It's the heart that David cried for in Psalm 51:10, "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew within me a right spirit."
In Psalm 24, the psalmist says, "Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who shall stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and pure heart." The only people who come into the presence of God are those whose hearts have been cleansed. And we said last time that the heart is just another word for the center of personhood. It's another word for the core of life. It's where your personality is and your character and your mind and your thinking and your believing. It's equal in the Bible to your mind. And that has to be cleaned and cleansed.
And so, the goal of ministry is pure hearts, isn't it? But that wasn't the goal of these men. These men were defiled. In fact I think when verse...when in verse 9 and 10 he talks about all these sins, he probably has them in mind because it's for sure that if you have the wrong gospel, if you have the wrong means of salvation, you're not doing anything for your defiled heart. A pure heart is the first goal. And that can only come through the pure gospel purifying the heart. And where you have a pure heart then, you will have also a good conscience potential. If the heart has been cleansed, then the conscience which basically is your selfjudging faculty, that's a definition of conscience. It is your selfjudging faculty. It's what either excuses you and affirms you or condemns you and accuses you. It either says you've done wrong or that was good. It's that little part of you when you do something right that gives you satisfaction, pleasure, peace and joy. When you do something wrong, it condemns you. And if your heart is pure, then your conscience can be good because what would be there to condemn you has been covered in the blood of Jesus Christ. A good conscience produces pleasure, satisfaction, a state of well being, freedom of the feelings of guilt, joy, peace.
And the conscience...listen carefully...can only respond to the mind. That's why in Titus 1:15 he says of the unbelievers, "They are defiled, even their mind and conscience is defiled," they go together. If the mind is defiled, the conscience will respond by recognizing the defilement. If the mind is pure, if the heart is pure, the conscience will stop accusing and bring peace and joy. And the result of that will be faith unfeigned. That is faith without hypocrisy. You don't need to pretend to be something if you've got nothing to pretend. People who pretend their faith, people who want to wear a mask of religiosity, people who are phony are phony because the truth is so bad. They're playing a game that isn't genuine. But if you're genuine, you don't need to play the game. You faith can be without hypocrisy if your conscience isn't accusing you because your heart is pure.
I think we've overlooked that verse too much in evangelical teaching. That's an incredible thing. If you want to know what the heart and soul of Christian growth and development and ministry is all about, it is all about bringing people to the place where through Jesus Christ their hearts are purged so that they have a good conscience, the conscience stops accusing them. Their faith being genuine then can be paraded as the genuine faith that it is, not some hypocrisy. And out of that pure heart, good conscience, genuine faith will come the love that is the goal and the end product of all that God desires to do in and through us.
And we could spend much time developing those themes, but you understand what he's saying. The goal of sound teaching is love. Love for God. Love of choice, as I said. Love of will. Love of selfsacrificing giving to God and to others. And that only comes from a pure heart, comes from a good conscience, comes from a genuine faith without hypocrisy. So those are the goals of true and proper ministry.
But, verse 6, "These have swerved and turned aside from that unto empty talk." Their goal is wrong. Their teaching is wrong because it's the wrong gospel. Their goal is wrong because it's the wrong objective. What is their objective? Filthy lucre...they want to get rich, they want money...they want money. They're in it for what they can get, they want to make merchandise out of their subjects. That's the goal of false teachers. And everything they do destroys the possibility of a pure heart. They're defiled. Their message is defiled. The doctrine they teach, chapter 4 says, is the doctrine of demons that comes from seducing spirits. And they have departed from the faith. Well, you're not going to have a pure heart if you depart from the faith, listen to seducing spirits, and teach doctrines of demons. They couldn't possibly have a good conscience because verse 2 of chapter 4 says, "Their consciences are seared with a hot iron, their consciences are scarred, cauterized." Nor do they have unfeigned faith because verse 2 says they speak lies in hypocrisy. So chapter 4 verses 1 and 2 is a direct contrast to the right and proper goals of verse 5.
In chapter 1, "These lying hypocrites, these impure defiled men with a defiled conscience have turned from the right goal of love and they've made their own goal their own pleasure and their own gain." Look at their goal, I wish we had time to go through the whole New Testament and see how he seem always whoever the Bible writer is, the Holy Spirit through him seems always to pinpoint the characteristic bottom line goal of false teachers as to amass to themselves people and money for their own gain. The motives are all wrong. And of course their teaching brings the opposite of love for God and love for fellow man because it's all built on love for self...love for self.
The third thing, and where we would like you to look for a moment in verse 7, is to understand their motives. What's behind this? What's their motive? What are they really after? They have a strong motive, by the way, they have a strong desire. But it isn't the right desire. Verse 7 says, "Desiring to be teachers of the law," and we'll stop at that point.
They have a consuming desire to be law teachers, to be law teachers. That's their desire. You say, "Is something wrong with that?" Yes...they don't know what they're talking about, the rest of the verse says, they don't know what they're being dogmatic about. They don't understand the law of God. They want to be teachers. It isn't that they want to know the law. It isn't that they want to know God. It isn't that they care about the people. It is that they want the prestige of being recognized as a teacher of the law. They were seeking a rabbinic office. They were in the church wanting the prestige and the prominence and all the baggage that went with the rabbi in the Jewish culture. They wanted that. They weren't content with teaching people the truth, they wanted like Diotrephes the preeminence. They wanted, like it says in Matthew chapter 23 when Jesus indicts the Pharisees, they wanted the chief seats. They love, he says in verse 6, the upper most places at feasts and the chief seats in the synagogues and the greetings in the marketplace and they love to be called rabbi, rabbi, teacher, teacher. It was all preeminence. They wanted to wear those fancy robes and that ecclesiastical garb and they sought that prominence and preeminence. They wanted the applause of men. They wanted to collect the offering. They wanted to be teachers.
This is just the opposite of a true motive. James 3:1 says, "Stop being so many teachers for theirs is the greater condemnation." The one who really understands the role of teacher understands that it's not a place for proud people. These were proud people. Chapter 6 verse 3 says that they do not consent the wholesome words, even the words of Jesus. And verse 4 says they're proud. They were proud, that was the issue. The opposite of the character of a true teacher.
For example, when Patricia and I were in Scotland some years ago, I had the privilege of preaching in many of the Scottish Presbyterian churches. Each of them has in the church what is called the "John Knox Pulpit." The John Knox Pulpit is the pulpit from which only the preacher preaches. At the time appointed, you go through curtains and you stand there and then you preach in this pulpit. It's named for that great man of God who brought revival to Scotland, who would no doubt be in grief were he here now to listen to what is preached from most of those pulpits named for him.
But I have been interested in the past to read about John Knox to find out what it was about his life that made him such a marvelous servant of God. And one of the things that has stayed in my mind through the years is a comment by his biographer to this effect, he says this, "When John Knox was called forth to preach the gospel, he burst out in most abundant tears and withdrew himself to his chamber. His countenance and behavior from that day until he was compelled to set himself in the public place of preaching did sufficiently declare the grief and trouble of his soul," end quote.
The whole idea of preaching the gospel was so serious and so overwhelming that he was in a state of despair and tears until the very hour he was compelled the first time to preach.
Martyn LloydJones whose life has been a great inspiration to me and whose books and biography I have read said that teaching the Word is such an awesome task that a godly man, quote: "Shrinks from it, nothing but the overwhelming sense of being called and compulsioned should ever lead anyone to preach," end quote.
The deep sense of unworthiness and fear of such an awesome responsibility is the potential for true usefulness. William Taylor, writing in his book, The Preacher and His Model, tells the story of selfsacrifice that makes the point. It is a legend that there was Chinese potter who was ordered to produce a great work for the emperor and he tried to make it but he wasn't successful. At length and driven to total despair, he threw himself into the furnace with the pot that he was trying to make and the effect of his selfemulation on the pottery which was in the fire was that it came out to be the most beautiful piece of porcelain ever known.
Now what's the point of the legend? Well, William Taylor says in the Christian ministry it is selfsacrifice that gives real excellence and glory to our work. When self in us disappears and only Christ is seen, then will be our highest success alike in our own lives and in the moving of our fellow men. We get near to the secret of Paul's greatness when we hear him say, "According to my earnest expectation and my hope that Christ shall be magnified in my body whether it be by life or by death. And the measure in which we imbibe His Spirit, we shall rise to His efficiency," end quote.
And John Stott put it this way, "I can not help wondering if this may not be why there are so few preachers whom God is using today. There are plenty of popular preachers but not many powerful ones who preach in the power of the Spirit. Is it because the cost of such preaching is too great? It seem that the only preaching God honors through which His wisdom and power are expressed is the preaching of a man who is willing in himself to be both a weakling and a fool. God not only chooses weak and foolish people to save, but weak and foolish preachers through whom to save them, or at least preachers who are content to be weak and seem foolish in the eyes of the world. And we are not always willing to pay that price. We are constantly tempted to covet a reputation as men of learning or men of influence, to seek honor in academic circles and compromise our oldfashioned message in order to do so and to cultivate personal charm or forcefulness as to sway the people committed to our care," end quote.
It takes humility to be a servant of God and the compulsion of the call of God. These men knew neither of those things. These men sought an office for the sake of its own preeminence. And by their subtle novelties and their distorted allegories and by their strict Judaistic legalism and their selfdenying asceticism, they wanted to be exalted as lawteachers, nomos didaskalos, a Jewish term referencing the idea of teaching the Mosaic Law like a rabbi would. It was nothing but an ego trip. They were seeking prominence. They wanted the prestige of a rabbinic role and they were imposing Judaistic apostasy, the heresy of salvation by works. And they were the authorities who would bring it to the people. And so we have to understand their motive was wrong. They weren't men in humility compelled to preach, they were men in pride seeking preeminence.
The fourth and final thing that Paul wanted Timothy and us to understand is their effect...their effect. And this is a very strong point. Verse 7 says, "First of all, these who desire to be teachers don't understand what they say nor that about which they affirm." The word "affirm" could be "speak dogmatically" and you'd get the idea. They not only were saying things that they didn't understand, but they were saying them dogmatically as if they were absolute truth. They were ignorant and they were proud of it. They were parading their ignorance and being dogmatic. The idea of understanding neither what they say in the verb form is a present active participle, they were continually in a state of not understanding of what they were talking about. As a general rule they could be defined as ignoramuses. They had no idea of what they were talking about.
And there are so many many like that even today who pretend to be teachers of the law and if you listen and know the Word of God, you know they have no idea of what they're talking about. But they pass themselves off as those who teach the Word of God.
Furthermore, these people continually and confidently affirm or assert with dogmatism, that's what diabebaioomai means, they're very dogmatic about their ignorance.
Now the point is to remember not what heresy they taught, that isn't even given to us. But to remember that they must be understood for what they do. They're so ignorant. So he says they want to be teachers of the law but they don't understand anything about it.
And then quickly almost as a reaction, Paul wants to defend the law because the tragedy, you see, of a false teacher is that in his mouth is the Word of God perverted. And unless you're careful when you throw away the false teacher, you can wind up losing confidence in the Word that he's spoken. Some of the Word that he spoke may have been true when the Scripture was truly represented. The point is you don't want to throw the baby out with the dirty bath water...obviously.
So Paul hastens immediately to say in verse 8, "We know that the law is good, and by condemning one who wants to be a teacher of the law we're not condemning the law." We can condemn that motive and we can condemn that abysmal ignorance of the law and we can condemn that stupid dogmatism that asserts things it doesn't even realize aren't true...and I tell you, I hear that so often today...people speaking dogmatically about things they are absolutely in ignorance of. But he hurries to say, "We do not say then that the law is no good, the law is good if the law is used rightly or lawfully." The law has a right use. It has a right place but they're not using it right. They're using it as a means of salvation. They're setting the standard up of salvation by the law. And that is always what appeals to men who are proud because they're proud...or their pride is manifest in the illusion that their good enough by themselves to please God, that's the epitome of pride. Pride says I don't need a Savior. Why do I need a Savior? I can attain unto God's standardy by myself.
So, their pride had caused them to create an approach to the law of God, and I believe when he talks about wanting them to be teachers of...they wanted to be teachers of the law, he has in mind the Mosaic Law, the law of God. But he says they don't know anything about it but the law is good if you use it right. They were using it wrong. They were feeling you could be saved by the law. That's always what the false teachers teach, that you don't need saving grace. You don't need the death of Christ. You don't need to come in meekness and humility and fear and brokenness before God. You can get there on your own, you can attain to it. And they misuse the law. They think the law is the standard by which men reach their salvation. That's wrong. He says the law is good if you use it lawfully. Well, how do you use it lawfully? Verse 9, "You have to know this, that the law is not made for a righteous man." And literally it says in the Greek, "That law," it's an artheris(?) without the definite article, "That law in general and certainly encompasses the Mosaic Law, law is not made for righteous men." That's obvious. "Law is made to condemn...what?...sinners."
You see, you can't...the law is good but you can't treat it like gospel. Listen carefully, the law is good but the law alone is not good news. Did you get that? The law is good but the law alone is not good news. The law alone is bad news because Romans 3:19 and 20 says, "Every mouth is stopped when brought before the law of God and the whole world guilty before God and by the deeds of the flesh will no flesh be justified in His sight." So what the law does is condemn everybody. What the law does is pronounce judgment damnation on everybody. What the law does is send everybody to hell because we've broken God's law and there's none righteous, no not one. There's none that understands, no not one. There's none that fulfills God's standard, nobody. The Jews thought they did but in Romans 10 Paul says the reason they thought they did was they were ignorant of God's righteousness. And they went about to establish their own righteousness. The point is, they thought God was less righteous than He was, they thought they were more righteous than they were so they met. That was a lie. They were ignorant of how righteous God really is.
Law is not for people who are righteous but this is what was going on. They were parading around as if they were righteous keepers of the law. The law isn't for the righteous. In fact, as long as you think you're righteous, you're not going to be ever saved. You're never going to see the true use of the law because the law is not for righteous people, the law is for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for fornicators, for homosexuals, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjered persons and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine. That's what the law is for. The law is to crush sinners, the law is to show who we really are. The law is good but the law is not good news. The law is good but it's not gospel...not alone, it wasn't made for righteous men, it was made for sinners so they could see their sin.
And to demonstrate that, Paul lifts all those definitions of sinners that I just read to you. The first group, and he really gets his cues here out of the Decalogue, the Ten Commandments of Exodus 20, because he runs right through the Ten Commandments. And the first three pairs, lawlessdisobedientungodly sinners unholy profane, those are pairs. And they all refer to the first part of the Ten Commandments which has to do with our relationship to God. The idea that we don't have any other gods before us, that we worship the true God, that we make no graven images, that we remember that He is the only one to be adored and worshipped and all of that. Those refer to that.
Starting them with the murderers of fathers and mothers and manslayers and fornicators and homosexuals and kidnappers and liars, he moves through the second half of the Ten Commandments which have to do with our relationship to other men in society.
Well let me show you just briefly what these mean because I don't think his intention is for us to stop and digress on all these. But you need to know this, these first three couplets that deal basically with the first half of the Ten Commandments are put together with a negative and a positive result. The first negative is lawless, the positive result is disobedience. Someone who is lawless, that is someone who has no commitment to any law, someone who has no standard, is going to be insubordinate. If you don't believe in the law, you're not going to pay any attention. So the lawless are disobedient. The negative is they are lawless, the positive effect is they are disobedient.
The next negative is they are ungodly...they are irreverent. They are without regard for anything that is sacred. They don't care at all about God or about what is true of God or what is right. And because they are ungodly, that leads to the positive effect of being sinners. The ungodly then go out and commit sin. They live without any regard for God because they don't have any regard for God. So that's how they live.
The third negative is ungodly...I'm sorry, unholy. And unholy basically means indifferent to what is right. They're indifferent to God, indifferent to the duty that they are to render to God. And because they are indifferent to their duty, they turn out to be profane, bebelos, that is they trample on what is sacred.
So, you have a person who is lawless and you'll have disobedience. You have a person who is ungodly and you'll have sinfulness. You have a person who is unholy and you'll have a life of trampling on everything that is sacred. We could summarize by saying then that the law was made for people who are disobedient, impure and irreverent.
What for? To show them they were. When you put your life against the law of God, you see that you are indeed lawless disobedient ungodly sinful and unholy and profane. And all of that has to do with the defying of God and the duty one has to render to God. It is a sinner attacking God.
Then Paul...then Paul..yes, moves to the second table of the Ten Commandments dealing with men's relationship to men. And he starts out with the fifth commandment, alluding to it when he says, the fifth commandment says, "Honor your father and mother," and so forth. He says here, the law is made for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers and murderers period...homicidal people. Well, first of all, this involves the fifth commandment which says honor your parents. The fifth commandment is broadened in the next chapter, Exodus 21 verse 15, to talk about the fact that even if a person only hits their parent, if you strike your parent you're to receive the death penalty. So that fifth commandment is in view there. The law was made for people who break the fifth commandment by not honoring their parents...all the way from dishonor to murder and everything in between is encompassed in that fifth commandment to which Paul alludes.
And then the word manslayers, which is the word for homicide, literally means murderer, not manslaughter which we use to refer to accidental death, but murderer refers to the sixth commandment which is, "Thou shalt not murder." And then the law, in verse 10, is also made for fornicators, sexual sinners, and homosexuals, arsenokoites, the word koitel(?) comes from the back part of that word and it is two words in the Greek, male and marriage bed...males in the marriage bed. Now there can't be any misunderstanding of what he's talking about. Male, koitel, homosexuality is a violation of the seventh commandment of God which is the commandment of sexual purity which allows no sexual relationship out of the marriage of one man and one woman. And the law was written to expose those people as vile condemned sinners.
And then the eighth commandment has to do with stealing. And in light of stealing he mentions kidnappers because in his day one of the most prominent ways that men showed their depravity in stealing was in stealing children. Stealing children was a common problem because they were in need of slaves and children were easy prey to steal, take away and use as slaves. In Exodus 21:16, Deuteronomy 24:7 gives the ultimate penalty for those who do that under the law of God.
Then he mentions the liars and perjurers that are also referred to in the ninth commandment. You can see then that he's moving right through the commandments. And he's saying the law is made for those people to show them their evil, to show them they were violating the law of God. And you get the idea that behind this is this lingering at...thought that he's probably giving this whole list because these are the things that are characteristic of these false teachers. Believe me, we go right back to Matthew 7, a false teacher talks good but lives bad. And if the truth were exposed about their life, if you could pull back the backward collar and the ecclesiastical garb, or if you could get behind the associations or the biblical lingo or the religious talk and really see the stuff that was there, you'd probably see some of these things right here. I'm always appalled when these kinds of things manifest themselves in people that we have believed for a long time to be the servants of God.
Just recently received a phone call, a church had two pastors of...a senior pastor, an assistant pastor...and the congregation found out that both of them have been having affairs with different women through the church for a long time...fornicators. Well, the fruit was made manifest. I don't know what kind of facade they wore, I know they came to the Shepherds Conference here a couple of times, and were upset that they couldn't get as much personal time from us to bring up some issues that they were concerned about as they...as they wanted and they were unduly demanding. And I remember our impression was that their attitude didn't demonstrate what we thought would be the attitude of a man of God. Nonetheless we accepted what we could see at face value, and now the truth is known. So that's not an uncommon situation...sad to say, sad to say.
And it may well have been that what Paul is saying in this list is more than just a list out of the Ten Commandments, it may be because it does take the Ten Commandments and sort of direct them in a specific area, it may well be that that specific area had something to do with the leaders of that church. It could have been that some of them had killed their parents. It could have been that some of them had stolen children to be slaves. It could have been that some of them are homosexuals. It could have been that some of them were liars who had perjured themselves and so forth and so on. And he says that's what the law is for. And he may be indicting them in a rather sort of subtle way but indicting them. And he says just in case anything is left out, any other thing contrary to sound doctrine the law comes to expose. Nothing wrong with the law.
Paul says in Romans 7, "I'm glad for the law because when the law came I saw my sin." Do you remember that? In Romans chapter 7 he says, "Is the law sin?" Verse 7, "Is the law sin? No, no, no, he says, I had not known sin but by the law." Right? Romans 7 verse 7. "I had not known coveting unless the law said don't covet. Apart from the law," he says in verse 8, "sin is dead. But when the law came, sin became alive and then I died. And so the commandment was death to me. Sin through the commandment slew me."
You say, "That's bad." No, in the next verse, verse 12, "So the law is holy, the commandment is holy and just and good." And later on he says, "And I delight in the law of God after the inward man." No, the law is good because the law is the first part of the gospel. The law comes and says you're a sinner and you need to know that because the second part of the gospel is there is a Savior.
So, Paul says the law comes for sinner and he lists all these and then somebody might say, "Well, I'm going to...I'm not in that list, I'm okay." So he just says, "And any other thing contrary to sound doctrine." It's the word...sound is an interesting word, hugianino, we get our word hygienic from it, it means healthy, wholesome, promoting life and health. And the kind of teaching Paul advocates is the kind that produces spiritual life and spiritual growth and spiritual health. So he says the law is to expose and condemn and crush the sinner. And then he lists a few kinds of sinners and throws everybody in as any other thing contrary to healthy lifepromoting teaching.
This fits, verse 11 says, according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God which is committed to my trust. What does he mean by that? What he's saying is that this definition of the law is part of the gospel. This definition of the law is according to the gospel. What is the gospel? The gospel goes like this...man is a sinner, a sinner of such depth and profundity that he cannot redeem himself but Jesus Christ came into the world, God in human flesh, died on the cross, was raised the third day for our justification and by faith in Him and the grace of God we can be forgiven of our sin...that is the gospel. So, to rightly define the law is part of the gospel. That's why he then says, "This is according to the glorious gospel." The good news, first of all, is bad. That is the gospel. The gospel says that man is a sinner. The first part of the gospel is that you are lost without Christ with unforgiven sin for which you will be damned forever in an eternal hell.
So when somebody comes along and covers up the message of sin, that's not any help. The law...you don't want to hide the law. People say, "Well, we don't want to talk about that." We have to talk about that. That's the gospel. That's according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God. Now if you have a better message than the glorious gospel of the blessed God, then you must have some kind of problem in really understanding who you are. This is God's glorious gospel. And I'm always amazed that the people who want to emasculate the law part of the gospel, they want to strip out the sin part of the gospel, because they think they have a better gospel than the glorious gospel of the blessed God. Glorious? That is to say the gospel demonstrates His glory.
Listen, part...God's glory is His attributes. And part of His attributes are a hatred of sin, right? Part of His attributes are wrath and judgment and condemnation and holiness. And if you strip all that other stuff out and make God into a benign Santa Claus, that's not the glorious God...that's not the glorious gospel. He doesn't reveal Himself...you have to see His holy hatred of sin, you have to see His condemning justice because that's part of His essential being. And then you understand His grace and mercy and love as well.
So, it is called the glorious gospel because it is the gospel through which God's glory is revealed. The wonderful gospel...you start with the law that damns men to sin..to hell, and you end up with the glory of the Christian in forgiveness and everything in there is a revelation of God's attributes. You see His attributes of wrath and judgment and righteousness and holiness, condemnation, hatred against sin and all that, and you see His wisdom and you see His love and you see His mercy and you see His grace and His power. All that God is comes together to be revealed in the gospel, that's why it is the gospel of His glory, the gospel revealing His glory or the essence of who He is. And who is He? He is the blessed God. What does he mean by that? It doesn't mean that He's the God we bless, it means that He's the God who is the source of blessing. He is blessed in His own person.
In chapter 6 verse 15, speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ, Paul says that He is the blessed and only potentate, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He is blessed, not in the sense that we bless God, but in the sense that He inherently is blessed. He has essential blessedness, essential happiness, essential perfection which He then can manifest to us. Paul says this is the glorious gospel of the blessed God which was committed to my trust, which was given to me. And he didn't receive it, Galatians 2:7 says, from men but from Christ Himself. And he wanted to be a faithful steward of it, 1 Corinthians 4:1 and 2, he wanted to be a faithful servant to give out the mysteries that God had given him. Chapter 9 of 1 Corinthians, he says, "Woe is unto me if I don't preach this gospel." He says in Romans 1, "I'm a debtor to preach it, I'm ready to preach it, I'm not ashamed to preach it." See, he was under a divine commission from the Damascus Road on.
So, he says...Look, the effect of these men is to preach a message that is not according to sound doctrine and not according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God which was committed to my trust. So we can't allow this.
Listen carefully, in closing, now how are we going to be able to watch for this because we need to be on the alert? Every one of us has this responsibility in the church. What do you look for?
Let me go back to these four things and note them very carefully in your mind. When you want to listen carefully to find out if someone might be a false teacher, first of all listen for their understanding of the Scripture, to see if there may be error there. Is it sound? Is it biblical? Is it legitimate? Don't look at their personality. Don't look at the religious trappings that are around them. Don't necessarily look at their associations...although that may tell you some things if the associations are negative. But listen to what they say. And do what 1 John 4 says, test them against the revelation of God. What is their approach to Scripture? Are they into all kinds of things beyond the Scripture? Are they saying things that don't...you don't find verses for...though they sound good?
Secondly, what is their objective, or goal? Is it spiritual? Do you see them as people whose primary goal in life is to produce a group of people who consummately love God? Or do they seem to go after self love? Self aggrandizement? Possessiveness? Materialism? Personal happiness? What is their objective? Is it love for God and for everyone else? Or is it an appeal to personal glory, personal gain? Is their objective holiness? A pure heart? Does that come ringing through the message, the purity of the heart, good conscience, faith without hypocrisy? Does it ring with a genuineness?
Thirdly, what about their motives? Do they demonstrate a selfless motive? Can you see in them humility and meekness and selflessness? Or does it appear along the way that while they're helping people they are getting very wealthy? Very prosperous? And are manifesting surpassing attitudes of selfindulgence at the expense of the people supposedly to whom they minister?
And what about their effect? What about their effect? Do their followers understand clearly the gospel of Jesus Christ? Do they understand the right use of law and the right definition of the glorious gospel of the blessed God? Do they really understand that?
I remember speaking at a luncheon of a Christian organization. They call themselves a Christian organization. I think some of the people in it might be. And some might not...some are not, I know this man wasn't. Anyway, a man came to me afterwards and said, "Well, you know, I listened to what you said." And he said, "I've been in this organization nine years and this is how I think it is. I think there's this big door and what you need to do is climb up these steps, and it's a long long climb and you get to the top and you bang on the door and you give them your name and you hope they let you in." He said, "That's what I think."
I said, "How long have you been in this organization?"
"Nine years."
I said, "May I be so bold as to suggest to you that you're not a Christian?" And he was pretty well shaken by that. I said, "You're not a Christian. You don't understand the gospel."
Nobody ever said that to him before. Too bad nobody ever said that, right? Because of the trappings and the surroundings, everybody makes the assumption. What's the...what is the effect of this? There are people, I believe, in Christian churches and organizations across the world who aren't Christians, you know that. But I don't want it to be our responsibility not to tell them or our responsibility not to have told them when we should have.
So you have the test...look for their error in doctrine. Look for the objectives and the goals of their ministry. Check their motives out. Take a look at their followers and see what the effect is. And you'll understand the urgency with which we have to deal with false teachers. Let's bow in prayer.
Thank You, Father, for our time in Your Word this morning. We would...we would rejoice if we could just rest in the joys of the Christian life and not even talk about things like this that distress us and upset us and concern us but this is the way it is, this is war. And we are soldiers. And there is an enemy and he is aggressive and he is supernatural and he is brilliant and powerful. And we are weak and desperately in need of Your strength. Help us, Lord, to hold fast the true Word. Help us to live godly lives. Help us to recognize the false and confront them that their mouths may be stopped for they subvert whole houses. Help us to speak the truth. And, Lord, use us and our church because we are committed to the two things which are so on the heart of Paul, sound doctrine and holy living for Christ's sake. Amen.
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Canada falls to Switzerland in shootout
Helsinki, Finland – Switzerland took down Canada in a shootout Sunday at the 2013 World Hockey Championship.
Reto Suri scored twice in the shootout to give Switzerland a 3-2 victory over Canada.
Matt Read and Andrew Ladd scored in regulation for Canada, which has a win and an overtime loss so far in the tournament. Mike Smith made 26 saves.
The Canadians will next face Norway on Tuesday.
In other Group S play on Sunday, Belarus beat Slovenia by a 4-3 margin to win its first game of the tournament.
In Group H action, France took down Austria, 3-1, and Russia defeated Germany by a 4-1 margin.

subset: commoncrawl


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TCA to feature cable television celebrity at January 21 show
Latest articles
Thu, 07/18/2019 - 9:30am
Members of Tecumseh High School's Class of 1949 met for a reunion at the Evans Street Station on Saturday, July 13. Pictured were classmates: (seated, l-r) Charlotte Miller Vershum, Martha Hayden Woodward, Jane Hanna, and Mary Brown Blocker; and (standing, l-r) Jim Colson, Gordon Comfort, Zoe Pennington, and John Cameron. Photo by Kerry Hamilton Smith.
Thu, 07/18/2019 - 9:27am
Thu, 07/18/2019 - 9:24am


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MCW FRIDAY & SATURDAY; Oct 14 & 15 - Billy Gunn in Boonsboro & Frederick
MCWProWrestling.com – MCW Pro Wrestling's "Autumn Armageddon Tour" continues THIS Friday and Saturday, October 14 and 15 in Boonsboro, MD and Galena, MD, featuring former WWE star and Degeneration-X member, Billy Gunn.
This Friday, October 14, MCW comes to the Boonsboro Event Center, 7704 Old National Pike in Boonsboro, MD for a 7 pm meet and greet and an 8 pm live event, featuring:
- Former WWE star and former MCW Rage TV champion Billy Gunn faces Dante Caballero
- MCW Heavyweight champion Drolix and fellow Black Wall Street Member Chuck Lennox challenge MCW Tag champions The Ecktourage (Eric Chapel and Dirty Money) w/ Kevin Eck
- MCW Rage TV champion Ken Dixon vs. Drake Carter
- Guns 4 Hire (Bill Collier and Bunkhouse Stampede champion Paul Jordane) w/ Kevin Eck vs. The Applachian Outlaws (Bo Nekoda and Cousin Clay) w/ J.P. Callahan
- After interfering in their title shot last weekend, Bruiser looks for revenge on Joe Keys
- Brandon Scott takes on Jeremiah w/ Andy Vineberg
- The Hell Cats (Jimmy Starz and Sexy Steve) vs. The Rock N' Bowl Express ("Mr. 300″ Nick Jeremy, "Big Bowlas" Victor Franco, and Stroker Lane)
(Show support on Facebook at facebook.com/events/1781294862147787/)
Then Saturday, October 15, MCW returns to the Galena Volunteer Fire Department, 90 E Cross ST in Galenda, MD! This event is sponsored by Galena Pizzeria! Meet and greet at 6 pm, live event 7:30 pm featuring Billy Gunn.
Saturday will feature Former WWE star Billy Gunn, MCW Heavyweight champion Drolix vs. Dirty Money, and more!
(Show support on Facebook at facebook.com/events/243303282695681/)
Tickets available at bit.ly/mcwtix; by calling 888-996-4774; and day of, at the door!
Catch up with the action on RageTV.com, featuring on-demand footage of our latest events! Get the first 30 days FREE!
Follow MCW: facebook.com/MCWProWrestling - instagram.com/MCWProWrestling - twitter.com/mcwwrestling
Category: Wrestling.


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New Zealand golf: one of a kind courses
New Zealand's world-class courses and dramatic landscapes make it a golfer's paradise. Here we celebrate a few uniquely Kiwi courses.
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For many cruising Doubtful Sound, a heli-hike on Fox Glacier or accomplishing the Tongariro Alpine Crossing are the highlights of a trip to New Zealand.
Not so Pam and Bob McKeon, who when asked the almost impossible question of "what was the best bit of your holiday" gave the unexpected answer of "playing golf on Stewart Island".
Now it is no surprise that New Zealand has some of the best and most beautiful golf courses in the world. There are more than 400 courses dotted across the country, each diverse and unique in their own right. But Ringa Ringa Heights is tiny, it has just six holes, and is hardly in competition with the likes of the big boys at Kauri Cliffs or at the Kinloch Club…and therein lies its charm.
Despite its lack of ostentation, Ringa Ringa Heights does have a few claims to fame. Firstly, it's New Zealand's most southern golf course, and the second southernmost golf course in the world (the first being Ushuaia Golf Course in Argentina). Secondly, it's New Zealand's smallest golf course and at NZ$5 for 18 holes (play the course three times round), probably the cheapest. Thirdly, it has singularly spectacular views over Ringaringa Bay and Paterson Inlet.
With Ringa Ringa in mind, we've compiled a list of our favourite golf courses that truly are one of a kind:
1. Ringa Ringa Heights, Stewart Island
Hire your golf clubs from the local post office and enjoy the course, for all the aforementioned reasons. Don't be put off by the 25 minute walk by bush or track to the main entrance.
Stay at: Stewart Island Lodge
2. Wairakei Golf Course, Lake Taupo
Find sanctuary playing golf in this world class championship course and actual wildlife sanctuary. A 5km predator proof fence has been installed around the entire course perimeter, designed to keep out stoats, possums and the like. Endangered species like kiwi and brown teal have been released onto the property, and a re-planting programme of around 25,000 native trees has taken place. Course staff keep a check on insect life, tree seedlings and native birds.
Stay at: Huka Lodge
3. Rotorua Golf Club Arikikapakapa
A great course for those wanting to combine geothermal activity with golf. Arikikapakapa means "the gentle sound of plopping mud", which really says all you need to know. Its unique features include bubbling mud pools, steam vents, sulphur mounds, warm water creeks and a huge thermal crater.
Stay at: Treetops Lodge
4. Over The Top Golf, Queenstown
In a town renowned for extreme sports it's perhaps unsurprising golf reaches new heights at Over The Top Golf in Queenstown. This par 3 golf experience is nestled at 4500 feet and can only be reached by helicopter. It's not a course in its own right but it can be included in a package incorporating The Hills, Jacks Point and Millbrook.
Stay at: Queenstown Country Lodge
5. Cape Kidnappers, Hawke's Bay
Designed by world renowned architect Tom Doak and one of the best golf courses in the world. Cape Kidnappers was built on a 5-thousand-acre sheep station along a series of ridges that jut out and plunge over cliff edges. Forget manicured greens and sand dunes, the landscape is harsh and dramatic, with fearsome ravines and contoured fairways.
Stay at: The Farm at Cape Kidnappers
6. Kauri Cliffs, Bay of Islands
A sister course to Cape Kidnappers, but set in New Zealand's sub-tropical Bay of Islands. Kauri Cliffs is a 72 championship golf course, challenging every skill level. It has superb views out to the Pacific Ocean and the offshore Cavalli Islands. What sets it apart for us is its inland holes, which wind through Kauri forest, marsh and farmland.
Stay at: Kauri Cliffs Lodge
If you are thinking of taking a golfing holiday in New Zealand, or adding a round to your trip, you won't be disappointed. Get in touch with New Zealand In Depth to discuss New Zealand's most unique, and unmissable courses.


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Columbia 300 Blog
Thanksgiving Confessions
Last week, we took to Facebook to gather some confessions from bowlers (anonymously of course)!
Here is our favorite and the winner!
- "My deep dark secret isn't really a bad thing. But on certain league nights when nobody is looking, I will pay the envelope for someone or everyone on my lane or another lane. Times are hard economically in my town, and every little bit helps some people. I've been fortunate enough to have plenty in my life, and there will never be a price tag on making life easier for someone else. I guess it's my way of paying it forward."
- "I hate the Brunswick staff league bowler who averages 170 and proclaims he's great and the equipment is top notch."
- "I bowl on a couple's mixed doubles team on Thursday nights. What my league doesn't know is that I told all of them that I am not that great so our team could get handicap to win some games but in all reality I am now averaging 198 on Thursdays and 197 on Tuesdays."
- "My secret is that I'm seeing one of the guys wife for the past three years. The hard part is that we talk at bowling each week and outside the alley also and he has no clue. Sorry."
- "I was one of the people who took the blow-up gorilla off of a car dealership and put it on top of my high school as a senior prank."
- "I really can't stand my league and teammates, but it's the closest thing to college bowling I have left."
- "I'm actually using an illegal ball for league and no one has realized it yet - LOL. I have to drill a really small weight hole but I never remember and it rolls so great that I don't want to change anything about the ball!"
- "Every time someone brags about a high score/high average they shot in any league they bowl in, as they are talking, I always envision their teeth as bowling pins and a ball rolling right into their mouth shutting them up and knocking out all of their teeth. After they are done bragging I tell them good job and walk away with a smile on my face."
- "I am a member of the Mile-High Club and no one on my league would ever believe I would/could do such a thing, lol! ;-) "
- "Every time somebody slaps my hand at league or a tournament I want to run and use hand sanitizer! Who knows where those hands have been. Nobody knows I'm that much of a germaphobe!"
- "I am TERRIFIED of spiders...even the tiniest of ones. That is the one thing that can make this grown man squeal."
- "I think about rolling a 900 series and how it would feel and how I would react, what I would say and/or do! If you don't think about it, you can't do it!"
- "When I was little I used to wipe poop and buggers everywhere, including on other peoples bowling towels...."
- "Ok 6 years ago new job me and my lead engineer are working thanksgiving day running our boiler for our office building. Well I have IBS my gut bubbled up in front of everyone at lunch I get up running down the hall way radio, keys everything hitting the floor as I waddle/run trying to stay tight "by the way this is impossible" I end up messing my underpants just as I hit the rest room. I had to put my underpants in a trash bag and hid them till after work. Going commando in ruff dicky type work pants sucksssss. Anyways I told the group when I got back to the lunch table that I had a phone call from my wife and thought it was an emergence. I have not even told my wife this story. But I bet this is not the only poop your pants story you get cuz let's fave it as guys it's happend at least once in your life. Hey wait how can this be 100% anonymous if there is a winner if I win won't you know I pooped myself at work? :/ "
- "I once hit reset on a guy throwing a 300 to try and break his focus. It worked..."
- "I used to be one of the top female youth bowlers in the state of Montana. After joining the United States Navy I found it very difficult to bowl due to training, deployments, lack of transportation, or no one to watch my daughters so I ended up not bowling for 16 years except for the random bowling for fun which I could count with one hand. This past summer I finally joined a league, pulled my old bowling balls and shoes out only to find my shoes were 3 times too small and both my bowling balls were cracked -one spiraled around the whole ball while the other was just in between the finger tips and of course the finger span was too small for how many years had passed. I bought a new ball and new shoes and haven't looked back since. All my team mates know i haven't bowled in so many years but they don't know how good of a bowler I was. I just got a call from our league secretary inquiring about my bowling because it is hard for him to understand that there is no record of my bowling in recent years and how great of a bowler i am for being a female since I'm putting most of the guys in my league to shame. I am proud of my success in bowling, it is something that you never forget. Might be a little rusty but it comes back in time."
- "I was once arrested after finishing a Bowling tournament and qualifying for the travel squad to go to a national tournament. Being in a unfamiliar city, did not know it was illegal to drink in a public park, myself and two others" top three qualifiers for the team had to be bailed out of jail by our head coach, to travel to our tournament!"
- "I secretly don't like bowling with one of the guys on my team. He is always getting in a terrible mood over his bowling and blaming the lanes and the bowling alley instead of working on his game itself. If it stays bad I don't think we will bowl together next year."
- "I am in love with a woman who I just met, she's my best friend and she has a boyfriend. But we act as a couple."
- "I like to make my own rosin bags. Everyone loves to use them, I never tell them what I have in it people love the aromma. They are wax or small ceramic balls for the feel, and Gold Bond body powder. Yea it helps dry your hands and well...ball too."
- "I absolutely hate my teammates. I think they are all a bunch of retarded old men."
- "I have bowled in the same league with the same team for 20 years and have come to hate it. I wanna quit but can't walk out on family. Hopefully they call it quits real soon....."
- "I am ambidextrous and can bowl with both hands not the 2 hand type you see now days. I Injured my right shoulder many years ago and was not going to be held back due to not being able to bowl.So I learned to Bowl left handed as well I will say this all the talk you hear about lefties having an advantage well its kinda true to a point. If your the only leftie you are going to have the oil all to yourself until the right side dries up and people start playing a swing shot. After that it's pretty much even."
- "I bowl in mostly men's leagues and sometimes to distract other teams I will wear a lower cut shirt. I definitely use my chest to my advantage. How is that for getting something off my chest!"


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Over the past two decades, mental health research has advanced markedly. But most mental health studies haven't included African people
Benyam Worku Dubale, Celia van der Merwe & Nathani 6 Nov 2018
Conflicts do not spare health systems. From Afghanistanto the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the effects that wars and state fragility have on healthcare provision are all too visible...
Jean-Benoit Falisse and Serena Masino 20 Jun 2018
Clinics, hospitals and entire countries are actively trying to attract medical tourists through costly advertisement campaigns and other promotional efforts. But what about the friends and family who accompany them?
Valorie A. Crooks 4 Jun 2018


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Is it looking more like 1979 every day? That's what Steve says. When you think 1979, you're thinking Jimmy Carter; actually, most people have been thinking Jimmy Carter for most of the Obama administration. The resemblances are eerie, and a good cartoonist–a great one, in Michael Ramirez's case–can blend Obama and Carter into one awful president with one awful message:
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If you have questions or concerns about your password, your Authy two-factor authentication token, or Twitch accounts registered using your email address, please contact our customer support team at https://help.twitch.tv/.
We aim to keep Twitch safe for everyone and maintaining the safety and privacy of your data is one of our top goals. If you've discovered a security vulnerability in Twitch, we appreciate your help in disclosing it to us in a responsible manner. If you feel you have found a vulnerability, please fill out the following form.
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False medical claimsHealth care scams cost Americans billions of dollars each year. Taxpayer-funded programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and others are among the biggest victims. This makes health-care fraud one of America's largest taxpayer ripoffs.
Organized crime rings hatch many schemes. Hospital chains, individual employees and even patients can be involved — as victims or perpetrators.
The scams
Phantom treatments. Dishonest medical providers will bill health insurers for expensive treatments, tests or equipment you never received - and for illnesses or injuries you don't even have.
Double billing. Unethical providers may double- or triple-bill health insurers for the same treatments, hoping the insurer won't discover the overruns in the big stack of bills.
Shoddy care. You might receive shoddy or substandard treatment for real and urgent medical problems. One eye doctor shined pen lights into patients' eyes and said he'd performed cataract surgery. Surgeons have used defective pacemakers and catheters during heart surgeries, which have killed patients or required more surgeries to correct the problems.
Unneeded care. You might receive dangerous and even life-threatening treatment you don't need. One surgeon performed heart surgery on patients who didn't need it.
Bogus insurers. Insurance agents or brokers sell you low-cost health coverage from fake insurance companies. Then they take your premiums and disappear. You're left without vital health coverage, and don't even know it until you make a claim.
Identity theft. Cheaters steal your medical ID number, then use it to bill health programs tens of thousands of dollars for phantom treatment. Crooks steal your health info from dumpsters behind medical clinics, break into doctor offices and steal files, and hack into computer databases containing your records.
Rolling labs. Mobile diagnostic labs give needless or fake tests or physical exams to consumers, then bill health insurers for expensive procedures.
Runners. A person hired by a medical provider to drum up business trolls through neighborhoods, often low-income areas, enticing people to come to a clinic for tests. These runners will even round up children for unneeded tests and procedures.
The price you pay
Coverage drained. Your coverage limits might be drained by worthless and unnecessary treatments.
Financial disaster. Inflated or phantom medical bills can increase your co-payment, beyond your ability to pay. This could force you into collections and damage your credit rating. And if you bought health insurance that ends up completely fake, you could face financial disaster if you must pay large medical bills with your life savings because your policy's worthless.
False medical record. Your medical record contains false information about illnesses, diseases, injuries or other problems you never had. Your information is available to insurers, so you could be denied health coverage or pay higher premiums because of a trumped-up medical record.
Premiums rise. Your health premiums rise because insurers pass the cost of fraud onto policyholders. High health premiums discourage employers from offering this needed employee benefit.
Personal distress. You receive bogus or needless treatments that are painful, distressing, can threaten your health — and even kill you.
Taxpayer ripoff. Billions of your tax dollars pay for fraudulent claims against Medicare, Medicaid and other taxpayer-funded health programs every year. These are your tax dollars being stolen.
Fight Back
• Keep detailed records of treatments you receive. Include all dates, locations, who provided the treatments, what services you received, and what medicine, supplies or equipment were provided.
• Carefully review the billing and summary statements you receive after treatment. Are the treatment dates, doctor name(s), facility locations and medical services the same as you remember? Know what medical equipment and supplies your provider ordered, as well.
• Never sign blank insurance claim forms.
• Ask your medical providers what price they charge, and what you'll pay out-of-pocket.
• Avoid door-to-door or telephone salespeople who offer you free medical services or equipment.
• Never give strangers your policy number, insurance ID number, Medicare claim number or other info, especially if they offer you cash or free gifts, treatments or equipment.
• Know what your medical benefits are — what's covered and what isn't.
• Back off if someone says they can bill your health program to pay for an uncovered treatment or equipment. You're being pulled into an illegal scheme. You could lose your health coverage, be arrested, fined, thrown into jail, and live with a conviction record that disrupts your life for years to come.
• Never pay your health premiums in cash, and be wary if the health insurer asks you to pay a full year's premium upfront.
• Be careful if medical providers say they're connected with the federal government, Medicare, Medicaid or other health programs.
• Back off if the insurer offers you health coverage for "just pennies a day," or sells coverage at a price far lower than others.
• Check with your state insurance department to make sure the health insurance company is licensed to do business in your state.
• See if the health insurer has a history of consumer complaints, bankruptcy, fraud convictions or other problems. Your state insurance department and consumer protection agency, and Better Business Bureau are good places to start.
Who to contact
If you think you've discovered a healthcare scam, contact:
• The insurer that paid the claim (the name, address and phone are on the explanation of benefits you receive in the mail).
• If you think the scam victimizes Medicare, Medicaid or another public health program:
Phone/Write: the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services toll-free: 1-800-HHS-TIPS (1-800-447-8477)
Office of Inspector General
Department of Health and Human Services
330 Independence Ave., SW
Washington, DC 20201
Fax: 1-800-223-8164
e-mail: email@example.com
• Contact your state fraud bureau.
Be prepared
Make sure you include this information when you contact the authorities:
• provider's name and identifying number
• item or service you're questioning
• date(s) you supposedly received the item or service
• amount approved and paid
• date of the explanation of benefits
• name and Medicare number of the person who supposedly received the item or service
• why you believe Medicare shouldn't have paid
• other information that might be helpful.


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I would like to play matches or hit with a 4.5 or 5.0 player on weekends. My level is closer to 4.5 at the moment, but that should change after a few weeks. I don't have a court preference as long as it is in or around the Brookline/Newton/JP area.
Views: 177
Replies to This Discussion
Hey man, if you find a court in JP somewhere I can def hit with you. Let me know...I work from 9-5 so any time after work is good for me.
Hi Khai,
Do you have time on the weekend? I usually come home too late during weekdays to get in some decent playing time.
I haven't played in JP yet, but found these courts online:
Jamaica Plain - English HS
570 Amory St., Boston MA
The weekends are more difficult as I have soccer games on Sunday. Saturdays would be doable for me. I play in West Roxbury off of Centre st. Hopefully the lights come on soon so maybe we will be able to hit under the lights. Let me know when you want to hit.
How about this Saturday? Do you have time in the afternoon?
Saturday is up in the air as I may have to go to RI. I'll let you know by tonight.
Hey I can play around 10 am if you are able to do that. I am going to RI in the afternoon so I can play until about 12pm. Let me know if that works for you.
Marvin, you able to play today after work?
© 2019 Created by Mark / The Mayor. Powered by


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Sponsorship Roger Federer
Roger Federer, whose sporting success and personality have made him a household name both in Switzerland and abroad, is an ideal ambassador for his homeland.
Indeed, Federer, who grew up in Basel, near the border with Germany and France, is also a globally minded individual. This is especially true as his mother, Lynette, comes from South Africa, and he therefore grew up in different cultural and linguistic worlds. Roger Federer is also an ideal global ambassador from Credit Suisse's perspective. Shared values such as the pursuit of excellence and strength of purpose make him a sought-after partner for the long term. It is therefore intended that his partnership with Credit Suisse will extend beyond the end of his sporting career.
Latest News & Stories
Shared Values
Roger Federer is respected for being one of the most accomplished athletes ever and he is one of the most admired icons in the world today—not only for his achievements on the court but also in his philanthropic work and his foundation. The attributes Roger represents are 100 percent aligned with who Credit Suisse is as a brand. Credit Suisse shares Roger Federer's standards and his commitment to delivering an exceptional performance at all times. The bank strives to consistently offer its clients flawless service in order to create long-term security and added value. A relentless focus on clients and their needs has long been a cornerstone of Credit Suisse's business model.
Education Initiatives
In the framework of this partnership, Credit Suisse is also supporting the Roger Federer Foundation (RFF) with a contribution of one million US dollars every year until 2019. These additional resources will primarily be invested in an early years education initiative in Malawi, helping more than 100,000 children. "Early on, my family and I decided that if I became successful in sport, I would give part of my income back to society," explains Federer. "In 2003, I therefore set up the Roger Federer Foundation, which supports education and training programs in South Africa and other African nations, as well as promoting the next generation of sportsmen and women in Switzerland." The cultivation of young talent in Switzerland and the pledge to helping worthwhile causes are two more areas in which Federer's views match those of Credit Suisse. The bank's commitment to acting as a good corporate citizen was an important argument for Roger Federer in embarking on this partnership: "Credit Suisse has a strong brand and Swiss roots and is one of the world's leading companies while, at the same time, taking its corporate responsibility seriously."
Accolades and Achievements
The respect that Roger Federer shows his opponents and the public is fully reciprocated: no other sportsman enjoys the same level of goodwill and recognition. For example, in 2008 he was named World Sportsman of the Year for the fourth consecutive year (Laureus World Sports Awards). The consistency of his performance – year in, year out – is impressive. Since Roger Federer first won the Juniors title at Wimbledon in 1998, his career has gone from strength to strength. He won his first tournament (in Milan) in 2001 and has since achieved a string of successes. At last count, he had won over 80 singles titles, including 17 Grand Slams, and 8 doubles titles – and no one doubts that his number of victories will continue to grow.


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About NIJ
What's New
All Topics A-Z
Contact Us
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On this page find:
CrimeStat IV Program
CrimeStat Libraries
Sample Data Sets
CrimeStat Documentation
Many chapters and sections linked below reference and link to other chapters or appendices. For those links to work, you must save all of the files in a folder named "Version 4.0 distribution". If you are interested in the complete documentation, we recommend downloading a
zip file containing all chapters and sections (zip, 35.6 MB).
Table of Contents, Acknowledgments and License Agreement (pdf, 91 KB)
Part I: Program Overview
Part II: Spatial Description
Part III: Hot Spot Analysis
Part IV: Spatial Modeling I
Part V: Spatial Modeling II
Part VI: Crime Travel Demand Modeling
Additional Sections
Contact InformationQuestions relating to the software, sample data or manual should be directed to:Dr. Ned LevineNed Levine and firstname.lastname@example.com
See copyright and citation information for CrimeStat and the manual.
The CrimeStat III User Workbook is a separate product created by Susan C. Smith and Christopher W. Bruce for CrimeStat version 3.3. The CrimeStat program — currently in version 4.02 — and manual were created by Ned Levine. The information in this section pertains
only to the workbook. Download
CrimeStat IV or the CrimeStat IV manual.
NIJ's Mapping and Analysis for Public Safety Program, in conjunction with the former National Law Enforcement, Corrections and Technology Center-Southeast in Charleston, South Carolina, produced a CrimeStat workbook designed specifically for crime analysts in the use of CrimeStat III (version 3.3).
The workbook covers how to prepare data for CrimeStat, produce results and import them into ArcGIS 9.x for further analysis or presentation. It also covers entering data into CrimeStat III, basic descriptive statistics from Spatial Distribution, measures of clustering in Distance Analysis, several 'Hot Spot' techniques, and using both single and dual Kernel Density Interpolation. Upon completion of the workbook and exercises, users are able to immediately make use of CrimeStat at their own agencies in the analysis of crime patterns and trends.
The data used in the workbook is provided below as well as a PowerPoint file covering the workbook and all lessons is provided for download for those wanting to instruct a class.
User workbook files:
Contact Information
Questions related to the workbook and data sets should be directed to:Christopher W. BruceAnalytical SpecialistData-Driven Approaches to Crime and Traffic Safety (DDACTS) email@example.com
National Institute of Justice, 810 Seventh Street, NW, Washington, DC 20531


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Photo courtesy of Rotary Club of Effingham County
Liz Longshore, executive director of MedBank, recently spoke to the Rotary Club of Effingham County. MedBank helps eligible patients access the Patience Assistance Programs of large pharmaceutical companies to obtain free medications. Through their staff and volunteers, MedBank provides assistance with applications and they work with referrals from physicians, hospitals and social service agencies. MedBank operates on site services at several area clinics including one in Effingham County.


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North Korean state photos showing Kim Jong-un and his new wife having fun at an amusement park were released earlier today, apparently showing the young couple at Rungna People's Pleasure Ground.
Most were the standard North Korean press photo ops, but the photo below has got everyone asking: who is the young, western-looking man riding below Kim in this picture?
Given that state news agency KNCA reported that a number of embassy officials went on the ride with Supreme Leader Kim, the identity of the unknown guest seems likely to be mundane.
However, there's a twist. The above picture appears to have been deleted (along with 2 others) from the KNCA website. Why?


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Please note that the items added to your shopping cart are not currently available for shipping to the address you selected.
Picnic Time Metro Basket Northwestern U Wildcats Print
You Pay: $47.95
The Metro Basket is a lightweight fully-collapsible, insulated basket that can be used for many occasions. It's made of durable 600D polyester canvas in red and features a water-resistant interior and expandable drawstring top and sturdy aluminum frame from which the canvas detaches. Easy to clean and versatile, the Metro Basket is a thoughtful gift for those always on the go.See All


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'As a small family business, we have been using the services of Discus Systems for almost 15 years.
We have always found the staff to be professional, friendly and extremely helpful.'
Please call 0800 880 3360 (01675430080) for more information or email firstname.lastname@example.com
Broadband download speeds in the UK dramatically fall at peak times, according to new research by online comparison site uSwitch.
The outfit said that between 7pm and 9pm, download speeds drop off by an average of 35 per cent when most people are accessing the internet from home.
It based the company's findings on more than two million speed tests carried out via its website between March and October this year. It collected data from speeds measured on ADSL and cable connections.
uSwitch said it had only included postcode areas where over 100 morning and nighttime speed tests had been submitted to its site.
It found that certain parts of the country suffered a much bigger download speed lag than other areas in Blighty.
Weston-Super-Mare in Somerset recorded average download speeds that dropped almost two-thirds (64 per cent) from off-peak morning rates of 9.5Mbit/s to 3.4Mbit/s in the evenings, said uSwitch.
It also highlighted the Cornish town of Wadebridge, which isn't getting so-called "superfast" broadband until the end of 2013. That parish saw a 2Mbit/s drop-off during peak time, with speeds falling from 4.1Mbit/s to a pitiful 2.1Mbit/s.
Evesham in Worcestershire also fared badly in the research. Residents there saw download speeds plummet by 69 per cent from 15.5Mbit/s to 4.9Mbit/s between 7pm and 9pm.
"It really is surprising just how much broadband speeds fluctuate at different times of the day, with drop-offs of almost 70 per cent in some areas of the UK," said uSwitch spokesman Ernest Doku.
"Not many internet users enjoy the maximum headline broadband speeds offered by providers, and certainly not during the working week."
The price comparison site has been criticised in the past by ISPs that complain that uSwitch uses its own "flawed" tech to measure such speeds.
"It is not at all surprising that the actual speeds broadband users experience differ and vary throughout the day as demand for the internet decreases and increases," a BT spokesman told The Register.
"This is especially true during the busiest time, 7pm to 9pm, when global internet speeds are at their slowest simply because of the amount of people using the internet.
"BT Retail invests heavily in bandwidth to ensure its customers get a good online experience during the busy periods. BT offers comprehensive advice about optimising broadband speed and a personalised speed-tester at www.bt.com/help/broadbandspeed."
Kelly Fivash
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CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — A pit bull mix in Tennessee has been sentenced to obedience training after his dogged attack on a local police car.
Winston didn't bite anybody, but he mauled a Chattanooga police car in what might have been a confused attempt to take a bite out of crime. The persistent pooch managed to tear off a section of the front bumper cover and damage the tires.
The Chattanooga Times Free Press reported that a judge ruled that Winston had been a very bad dog. He was sentenced to obedience and canine good citizen classes, and he'll have to wear a tag that says he is "potentially dangerous."
Charges against his owner will be dismissed if the classes are completed successfully.
Owner Nancy Emerling said Winston got out of a fenced-in area at a welding shop March 14.
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.