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Beat the Streak Report: Monday, June 7 — Draft Day!
With the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft set for Monday night, it's time for an all-Draft edition of the Beat the Streak Report.
Why not, right?
I mean, I know as aspiring multi-millionaires you've been doing your due diligence on Bryce Harper for years, just to see how viable of a BTS option he'll be in 2013, right?
And I double-know you're all jonesin' to see if there's any correlation between being a top Draft pick and being a top BTS pick, right?
Time for Monday's picks
Oh, hello there …
? 2005 No. 1 Pick Justin Upton: .625 AVG (5-for-8) lifetime vs. Braves starter Derek Lowe (1991 No. 214 Pick)
? 2000 No. 1 Pick Adrian Gonzalez: .294 AVG (5-for-17) lifetime vs. Phillies starter Cole Hamels (2002 No. 17 Pick)
? 1999 No. 1 Pick Josh Hamilton: .308 AVG (4-for-13) lifetime vs. Mariners starter Cliff Lee (2000 No. 105 Pick)
(other picks)
? 1999 No. 57 Pick Brandon Phillips: .400 AVG (4-for-13) lifetime vs. Giants starter Barry Zito (1999 No. 9 Pick)
? 2004 No. 15 Pick Stephen Drew: .484 AVG (15-for-31) lifetime vs. Braves starter Lowe.
? 1995 No. 8 Pick Todd Helton: .500 AVG (11-for-22) lifetime vs. Astros starter Wandy Rodriguez*
Feeling kinda spicy?
? 1990 No. 1 Pick Chipper Jones: .300 AVG (3-for-10) lifetime vs. D-backs starter Dan Haren (2001 No. 72 pick). That's a 71-pick difference! Come on!
? 1992 No. 1 Pick Pat Burrell: Zero at-bats lifetime vs. Reds starter Johnny Cueto*. Cueto wasn't even drafted! How good could this guy possibly be …?
* = International free agent
Ohhhhh …
You'll thank me later …
? 2004 No. 64 Pick Dustin Pedroia: .167 AVG (1-for-6) lifetime vs. Indians starter Fausto Carmona*
? Vladimir Guerrero*: .167 AVG (4-for-24) since '05 vs. Mariners starter Lee
? Orlando Cabrera*: .103 AVG (3-for-29) lifetime vs. Giants starter Zito
Leaderboard time!
Sunday's top six options each laced hits to help extend the streaks of about 35 percent of the BTS universe combined.
Robinson Cano, who saw his 17-game streak snap on Friday, was back in his just-ate-a-star, now-I'm-sparkling Invincible Mario mode, going 3-for-4 to advance 10 percent of our aspiring entrepreneurs to the next level; perhaps Bowser's castle.
Anyway, we headed into the weekend with a six-way battle atop the leaderboard. We said auf wiedersehen to "lisaacco17" on Friday, but the rest survived, leaving the following fivesome atop our leaderboard with stellar 30-game streaks:
? bathetruth
? jshoreyinsurance
? khouryboysan
? scan15
? steveellis24
Each of these villagers of Streakville are officially 52.6 percent on their way to the big bucks! Big bucks! No whammies!
Top MLB streakers
? Vernon Wells: 14 games
? Elvis Andrus: 12 games
? Martin Prado: 11 games
Five players tied with 10-game streaks.
78 Comments
Deciding between Ichiro or Scutaro. Right now I have Scutaro but decisions, decisions.
I'm thinkin marlon byrd, ethier, polanco, franklin gutierrez, or berkman, i've got berkman locked, i'm already sweating.
looks like the whole world picked ichiro today
WOW! A 29-game no selection!
I went with Martin Prado today.
The sum value of Prado seemed higher than Ichiro and I did suspect that everyone would go for Ichiro, so I did not figure to gain any ground that way.
For one thing, the Braves as a team right now are hot, whereas the Mariners offense has been cold all year.
The Diamondbacks bullpen is one of the worst in the majors, whereas the Rangers have a pretty solid bullpen.
Someone also posted a quote which indicated that Ichiro may be rested in this series and with the early game today, I cannot check the lineups to ensure that he is starting, and even then, he may get subbed out later, if the game gets lopsided.
Does that make sense to anyone?
I'm done already. The Riot rips a double for me. I will be doing my BTS mantra and hope for BTS Blogger's friend (or a cousin) to be the pitcher he was last year. IF that pitcher returns tonight, there is a possibility that the Everything Bagel with Lox & cream cheese can prevail over a Spicy Tuna Roll. I hope it happens!
Champion – your opponent is the number 57, not the other players. Assuming that you have a 75% chance of being correct every day, the odds are greater than 50-50 that you will lose your streak in the next three days (they're about 52%). To me, the focus is totally on making a correct pick, and let the leaderboard work itself out. If you can get up to 30 or so, you will find your name prominently on the leaderboard on its own.
Having said this, I really toyed with taking Ryan the Riot today after his day off. It seems that days off can refresh good hitters, especially if they have hit a small rough patch. But then I thought "Is this guy really a better pick than Ichiro today". Sometimes, I wish I didn't think too much.
The streaker @ 29 must not like the Cubs and Pirates when he logs into his account after his lunch break. He must have thought he can use the company time to research his pick while digesting lunch. Oh boy, he is in for a shock. I forget, is Mondays always night games only? It feels that way. That is why he must have not picked. He should had a safety pick in their just in case. Ichi is always a good safe pick.
Hey, did anyone have the guy that broke up Galarraga's perfect game last week? If you did, congrats, karma's on your side.
It does seem like one of those days where the best pick would go hitless so i went another way too. I went with the super sleeper Jeff Keppinger. He's basically a fastball hitter who makes contact seemingly every plate appearance, against a guy who does challenge with the fastball a lot in one of the best hitter parks. Don't think this is the best possible pick but i think it'll manage
I like prado a little but he's one of those guys who seems to do better at home, so playing on the west coast against a pitcher who can throw a shutout on any day didn't appeal to me as much.
But when ichiro is being selected by 20%, I'll try just about anyone and hope ichiro goes hitless. Didn't expect the front page to be full of ichiro though lol.
Well I have a sleeper for today. It's Yunel Escobar. He's hitting .500 over the last 7 days but the only problem I see along with Prado is the fact that they are facing Haren. Haren can pitch a great game any day and usually does. ERA is high but he is still an elite pitcher.
29 game streak and no selection? A brain fart of the highest order. 🙂 Went with Escobar today. Back to 1, hopefully to 2 and then I'll be 3% on my way to drinking a frozen margarita in Yankee Stadium. Just because I can. 🙂
Regarding up & coming and/or sleepers. Keep an eye out for Pirates' 3B Neil Walker. He hits to all fields, makes good contact, and bats in top 3 of lineup. During a televised game, even looks like a real hitter.
I watched the ChiSox v. Tribe over the weekend. Tribe bullpen is questionable – going with Scutaro. BoSox could do some damage tonight to Tribe Staff.
ohwow – I liked you comment. Our goal is 57 not other players.
wow so many people picked Ichiro as did I. don't remember why I picked him but I can tell it's the same thought that everyone has had. This is a win-win situation if Ichiro gets a hit my streak goes to 5 if he doesn't that wipes out pretty much the whole leaderboard. I can deal with losing a 4 game losing streak to keep the money available
Today's Top Picks of the Top2500. ** CHC-PIT resets and "No Selections" not included as BTS updated before I pulled the data.
Player, Times Picked, Percentage
Ichiro Suzuki, 1124, 44.96%
Martin Prado, 171, 6.84
Adrian Beltre, 135, 5.4
Andre Ethier, 94, 3.76
Albert Pujols, 79, 3.16
Matt Holliday, 78, 3.12
Brandon Phillips, 73, 2.92
Michael Bourn, 66, 2.64
Stephen Drew, 46, 1.84
Franklin Gutierrez, 37, 1.48
Marlon Byrd, 36, 1.44
Kevin Youkilis, 36, 1.44
Highest "No Selection" we know from previous posts: Page 1 with a streak of 29! now reset to zero.
"Regarding up & coming and/or sleepers. Keep an eye out for Pirates' 3B Neil Walker. He hits to all fields, makes good contact, and bats in top 3 of lineup. During a televised game, even looks like a real hitter."
I noticed him, but figured it was not a good idea to pick a rookie with 40 AB's against Carlos Silva.
Looks like he did get a hit though.
It appears the main Pirates' pieces did come through.
"Our goal is 57 not other players."
Yeah, but 37 can be a nice little secondary goal in the meantime, but that will disappear if someone from the current streak throws a 48 up there.
A few days ago (yesterday maybe?) someone asked what was the highest "No Selection" ever seen. I don't recall seeing someone with a streak of 30+ making a No Selection, so maybe "jamesh3014" now owns that dubious record?
How many BTS players will be listening to or watching the TEX-SEA game? Nearly 45% Top2500 going with Ichiro while only 20% of the entire field, interesting. I'm guessing 45% hoping for a hit and 55% hoping for an 0-fer. Is he even in the lineup today? We'll know in about an hour or so.
^^ maybe that split is more like 20-80!
NOW I remembered one of the core reasons I avoided Ichiro today!
From my experience, I have noticed that, on the whole, Ichiro works backwards.
He gets hits against the tough pitchers, but then when the weak pitchers come in, he goes 0 for 4 with 1 walk.
Not sure why it works out that way, but that is a general rule.
@champ88. Like you I avoided him today too for other reasons and we also picked the same player today. Only cause I didn't pick him and a high % of ppl did, you know where I fall within that split.
well 2 of my 4 picks got a hit (byrd, and polanco) too bad i didnt pick them, lets see how gutierrez and berkman do, berkman being the most important of them all.
I'm already done for today. Scutaro doubled in first AB so I'm good until tomorrow.
I forgot to also say good luck to everybody else for tonight. I have a bad feeling about Ichiro.
Ichiro IS in the starting lineup today.
I actually just noticed the box switch from blue to yellow.
Never saw that transition happen before!
The Top 15 is a popularity contest. There are great players that do not make the top 15 each day. Take today for example – Scutaro of RSox owns the Cleveland pitcher and does not make the top 15 at all. Vinny called it and took Scutaro who doubled in the top of the first and he lives to streak another day – congrats.
I had Scutaro too – time to focus on Tuesday.
Guy posting under the radar picks keep them coming.
Ichirio will get at least on hit tonight.
Not sure how everyone else feels, but I think it would be prudent to hold analysis for the next day, until the current day's slate of games have finished.
The reason I say this statement is that most of the action is still to come and it might be confusing to have some people who had an early success talking about Tuesday, when most people are still looking at Monday's games.
Plus, you might see things in today's games that effect how you view tomorrow's players.
Also, part of getting good at picks is learning why other players were successful and why others failed.
That is how you develop lessons and rules to use when evaluating players.
So my plan would be to more or less review the day's games while in action (particularly in the west coast shift when lots of the east coast games have already gone final,) and then focus on the next day the following morning.
I would especially encourage this strategy in days where there are no day games for the next day (picks tomorrow do not lock until 7 o'clock.)
Does anyone else agree?
Champion, I do agree. Right now I'm suffering from the fear that I have a streak of 11 and won't ever make it to 57 because the people ahead of me get there first. 😦 Oh well, I guess I just keep picking and hope someone screws up. It's never been done in 10 years and the closest anyone has come is 49. I guess I just keep on trucking and hope for the best.
well 2 of my 4 picks got a hit (byrd, and polanco) too bad i didnt pick them, lets see how gutierrez and berkman do, berkman being the most important of them all.
champion – The key is to state the day you are picking with the players name. I'm guessing that everyone posts when they have the chance, are home from work, not cutting the lawn etc. The times that we post are also messed up. My posts are actually 2 hours and 10 minutes ahead of the actual real world time. I agree not posting for the next day on a day when the current games begin at 7pm. That is solid advice.
**** Luck to all.
How do you get consored for saying
Good Luck to all?
Check the time of this post.
I'm posting at 7:04pm Central time.
0 for 1 for Ichiro
It shows as 9:06 PM. It's 8:12 PM EST here.
I don't know if they have it set for DST or not. They might not which is why it keeps having different times. It's 8:25 PM and it will say 9:25. Also I don't mind not saying who I like for tomorrow since I am already done just to see what happens tonight. I do work tomorrow but my pick is already in and I will post later tonight after all games are over.
As for the time issue, I know MLBAM is based in NYC and MLB Network in Seacaucus, New Jersey, so it may be that they just set everything to eastern time.
Although that still does not explain why there are random 45 minute variations that insert later picks on top of each other.
Ichiro: 0 for 1, 1 walk.
Why does it feel like everyone on Seattle will get a hit tonight except for Ichiro? I knew I should have picked Posey, Phillips, Sanchez, Scutaro, Byrd, etc., etc., etc.
lol, maybe it will be an analog to the game where every Twin except Mauer, got a hit?
yes, even Tolbert and Punto.
Anyone know why Elvis Andrus is out of the lineup by the way?
I am one hit away from my career high streak of 12 from a few years ago. And I'll be damned if I am going to allow Ichiro to end it for me here. Don't you do it Ichiro! Slap that ball! LOL!
Dammit ���
I spent about three hours before the morning game (on the boat fishing, so I guess I can't bitch too much) deciding between Byrd and Soriano. Ended up going with fonso b/c of 397 average v lefties. Oops.
Gurpsing- GL with Berk tonight and here's hoping Ichi goes for naught. Would love to see one if us win.
Ill take and o-fer night in fantasy to have ichi knock as crapload of ppl back down.
Ichi ground out in 6th
Here's why Andrus is out of the lineup tonight, from Rotoworld:
Elvis Andrus and Justin Smoak are out of Monday's starting lineup against the Mariners.
They are simply getting the day off. Andres Blanco will start in Andrus' place and bat ninth against Cliff Lee. Joaquin Arias, another right-handed hitter, will play first first base.
Can Ichiro go 0-6 or 0-7? The way the game's headed, he may get that many at bats. Or if it gets out of hand, manager may rest Ichiro early.
Let's see. Scutaro was hitting .389 against Carmona before this game and after his 3 for 3 so far he is now hitting .476 against Carmona. Why wasn't he a pick of the day is beyond me but I'm happy I picked him.
I see Ichiro having an 0 fer game. It always happens when everybody picks him and he has an 0 fer game.
Everyone in a panic over Ichiro's 1st two ABs? How many times has he gotten a hit in one of his last two ABs? Quite often. He's on 10 game hitting streak and got a few more ABs left. I wouldn't mind him going 0-fer but would be surprised to see it.
They just have to get Feldman out of there and he should get his hit.
I just can't believe I finally pick Ichiro after not picking him the whole season so far and so far no hit. I had Ethier picked before him and then a whole ton of other players and all of them got hits so far. Figures!
do those types of reports get posted before, say noon, everyday?
or are those only added within an hour of gametime?
the rotoworld reports is what I am referring to by the way.
it would not take my post for a while for some reason.
They get posted throughout the day. Just go to the main page or to the MLB main page and they are there. You can then click on More Player News at the bottom of the list and get more further back. I just kept looking till I found Andrus.
Feldman has 111 pitches through 5 innings – he can't last much longer. Ichirio gets second at bat if one more M's gets a hit and no DPlay. This is a wild one.
*bleh*…Prado struck out in his first AB.
uh-oh, Ichiro is still gonna hit against Feldman.
oh nevermind, another test against a lefty instead.
Lefty-Lefty matchup at SEA. Here we go….
Barring being pulled, one more AB guaranteed for the BTS workhorse.
Well going to bed now. Can't stand to watch Suzuki's last AB. I'll just hope to wake up tomorrow morning to good news. Otherwise a good portion of the field got decimated and we all start anew.
Oh boy!!! The plot thickens for Ichiro. 0-2 with 2 walks and he may get one more AB.
he definitely will get 1 more PA, as long as he did not get subbed for.
if you have Ichiro now, you better hope that Lee does not give up any runs in the bottom of the 7th and bottom of the 8th, because, if so, then Ichiro will definitely face Feliz in the 9th.
if not, or if the lead gets bigger, he may either just face Harrison again or one of the lower-leverage middle relievers.
With a potential 11-game hit streak on the line and he comes up in 9th with no one on, who wants to bet it tries a bunt for a hit? Manager won't take him out 'cause of the hit streak.
I would not feel great about Suzuki's chances right now.
Harrison has given up 0 hits and recorded 8 outs and it will be another lefty/lefty matchup for Ichiro.
This situation seems very analogous to the day that the winner last year, lost his 45-game hit streak.
His 5th AB came at the exact same time and most of the Twins offense that day was clustered in the front 5 innings played.
Well, here we go… Final lefty-lefty matchup and the winner is… ????
There goes the bunt opportunity.
And Ichiro grounds into a forceout. Unless the Rangers are able to make a comeback in the bottom of the 9th, he's going to end up 0-3 with 2 walks.
The board is cleared. Ichiro got on with a fielder's choice so he is 0-3 and his hitting streak is over.
Congrats to the 4 new leaders at 26.
oooh, Prado gets a hit too. No more big surprises left for tonight.
Yep, we'ere already at 55% and growing with 11% still unaccounted for tonight . That does not include any "no selections" or CHC-PIT resets. Those were removed from the Top2500 when I pulled that data and replaced by those that moved up. So the stats are for the current Top2500 as of the data pull.
damn berkman, there goes my streak oh well
F^%k! I was never thinking of Ichiro but why'd I pick a bum like Hunter Pence? As I watched Ichiro go along w/o a hit I thought I'd get by but I guess not. At least majority of the people went down w/ me.
Wow, so 49.92% of top 2500 active streaks already eliminated, with 6.28% left up for grabs with Pujols and Holliday.
And then, the fringe picks and no selections, should push the fail rate over 50%.
Crazy blog clock. Posted my pick behind yours….
So @champ88: Yep, we'ere already at 55% and growing with 11% still unaccounted for tonight . That does not include any "no selections" or CHC-PIT resets. Those were removed from the Top2500 when I pulled that data and replaced by those that moved up. So the stats are for the current Top2500 as of the data pull.
@champ88: Update — Don't usually tally results until after games are played. But with the final 3 games as of right now, 8.3% remaining to be determined (2% fringe after Pujols/Holliday's night is over).
@champ88: Tally up that 6.28% for STL. Holliday pulled and Pujols 0-fer after 8, down by 8 runs. Add in part of the fringe since last update and looking at 62% +/- 1% of Top2500 reset. Wow!
Oh well, it was interesting and fun posting while I had a streak. Less interesting with a reset. Time to let autopick do its work and worry about other things for a while.


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Learning to Own It
- Michael DiMarco and Hayley DiMarco
- 2013 25 Sep
What Is "Owning" Your Faith?
Weak faith in a strong object is infinitely better than strong faith in a weak object. —Tim Keller
Ownership is a powerful thing. It makes people feel things—things like love, pride, responsibility, and even jealousy. Ownership colors a person's view of the object of their possession and its value. What you feel for something you own is completely different than how you feel about something that isn't yours. That's why people tend to care about their own stuff. Ownership feeds devotion and it often dictates action.
For example, people tend to take better care of stuff that they own than stuff that they rent. And they love the stuff they own more than the stuff they borrow. How many times have you lent something to someone who didn't take care of it the way you do? When you borrow something, your attention to it is temporary. Ownership conveys permanence. The stuff you own matters to you.
But ownership doesn't just apply to things, it also applies to lives. Have you ever met an animal person who loved their pet so much that they treated it like a child? There are some powerful emotions that come from having a living thing that belongs to you. When people fight for their country, when they fight for their loved ones, it's because they are their loved ones. Aren't the other countries and families just as valuable?
Yes, but they are not theirs and so they fight for what is theirs. Children, even those who are abused by their parents, are born with an innate ability to love their parents, simply because they are theirs, regardless of how horribly they treat them. Though that can dissipate with time (and abuse,) it's there to begin with. And the same is true for parents, they feel a deep sense of ownership for their kids, not the kind of ownership of slave and master, as some kids might believe, but a kind of ownership that instills an enormous degree of love and pride that only your own kids can illicit, no matter how much they may or may not deserve it.
Yes, when something is yours it becomes immediately more important to you than something that is not yours. But not all ownership has to do with the legal right to control or do whatever you want with what you own. No, ownership can also apply to a state of heart, a way of living whereby you make what you say and what you do agree. As in when you own your actions, rather than faking your way through life, living a double life, pretending to be something that you aren't in order to please those you love. This double mindedness becomes evident in matters of faith where it can be easy to hide your true feelings and thoughts, and to put on a good face when all the while you are a confused mess on the inside.
And in your uncertainty, an inability to own your faith can result in choices that hurt not only yourself but also your relationships. In this condition, you own neither your beliefs nor your actions, but instead you end up in a no-man's-land that breeds animosity for the very things in your life that you say you love. In the life of faith, then, there are conditions of the heart that mimic faith, but are far from a true faith that not only saves, but encourages, repairs, heals, and changes you from the inside out. These conditions that do not involve owning your faith are founded in the attempt to fake it, borrow it, rent it, or pick and choose it, and ultimately their end is the ultimate act of disowning it.
Fake It
When you are faking it you can fool just about everyone. And that's really the goal in faking it; it's to fool those who love you, especially those who want only what's best for you and is certain that being a good Christian is what's best for you. When you fake it you do all, or at least most, of the right things; you probably even say almost all of the right things. And everyone looks at you and smiles at the person you are pretending to be, and deep inside you feel rejected. You feel rejected because they love who they want you to be, not who you really are.
When you are faking something for the approval of others, even the approval you get is painful because it's based on a lie, and the real you never truly finds acceptance. For centuries people the world over have faked their faith, many without even being aware of the fact. They have faked it so well that they even deceived themselves, believing that their actions of faith somehow made up for their disbelief, doubt, and fear. They have walked through life unchanged, numb to the things of the Spirit, and trying desperately to make up for it through determination to be good and obedient. They try to do all the right things, say all the right things, and be just who they believe they should be.
Yet all the while they are unable to trust their lives and the lives of those they love to the God who saves.
Hayley Faked It: For all of my life I called myself a Christian, even long before I truly was one. I believed in God, I trusted that Jesus was who He said He was. But I lived with fear and doubt. Believing that God was powerful and holy came easy to me, but believing that I was good enough for Him to love, didn't. So while I said I was a Christian, I believed I was a Christian going to hell, and so I figured since I was going to hell I might as well have fun on the way. And so I gave into my desires, I did stupid stuff—I went too far and I confirmed to myself that my faith was indeed fake. When I saw how badly I was faking it, the guilt consumed me. In turn, guilt just fed my fear and doubt, and the cycle started all over again. Fake faith is tortured and pointless faith.
When you fake it, you pretend to be, feel, or think something that isn't true, and this dissonance hurts. In the end, faking it results in either fatigue and rejection, or a lifelong faking that gives you a faith grounded in deception. How ironic, since faith is belief in the truth, while deception is pretend belief in something considered a lie. Deception never breeds truth. So if you, like Hayley, have felt that you've been faking it, in any part of your life—but especially in your relationship to God—then read on as we talk about what it means to own your faith or to be honest about disowning it, rather than just faking it.
Borrow It
When your faith isn't your own, but one that you inherited or borrowed from another, the emotional and spiritual strain that it can put on you and the ones you got your faith from can be enormous. Borrowed faith is a cheap imitation of ownership. And that's why it brings so much emotional strain on your life. When your faith truly belongs to someone else, when you took it out of obligation or even devotion to your loved one, it makes the person you got it from the god of your life. In them you look for the law that you must follow to be accepted by them; in them you look for your salvation.
If you haven't discovered it yet, your faith in man will ultimately disappoint because the creation cannot handle the worship due the Creator. You see this in the resentment that develops as you fail to be all that your loved one wanted you to be, or do all they believe you should do. When you get your power to be "good" from your desire to please man, you will ultimately fail, because you do not have the power to be perfect, and they do not have the power to give you perfection. That is why your faith lacks passion and power, because that power and passion comes from the Creator and not the creation. When your faith is borrowed, it does not truly belong to you and, because of that, your love and devotion will never ring true.
Your words and even actions will never align with your feelings because you have taken what was never yours to begin with and tried to build your life on it. This is a shaky foundation and not the same as owning your faith. Even if you've borrowed your faith, claiming your salvation comes from the roots of your family tree and believing being "born Christian" is your get-out-of-jail-free card, you are deceiving yourself. The Bible, which defines the Christian faith, says that faith isn't about heredity, but relationship. We know this because of words like these found in the book of Romans: "If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved" (Rom. 10:9–10 esv).
It's all about you and not your family, or the fact that you were baptized as a baby. When you own your faith, it starts with your confession and not the confession of those who love you.
My Boring Christian Life: A lot of kids raised in Christian homes complain about the fact that they don't have an amazing testimony like the people who were raised without faith and through some incredibly horrible situations found Jesus and now have amazing testimonies. Some bemoan their peaceful and uneventful lives and wish they could share an Oprah-worthy testimony about what God has done in their life. But alas, life has been pretty picture-perfect and God hasn't really had to show Himself much, so no big stories exist. When that's the case, it can be easy to feel like your faith isn't so compelling and that you don't have much to offer in the way of a story that would draw others into faith. And so you live a spiritually quiet life, not stepping out and proclaiming the amazing power of faith—not risking to question others' beliefs or to offer them a lifeline in yours because after all, you reason, you don't have an amazing story to share.
If that sounds like you, then you may have less to worry about than you may think. You see, you don't have to give up the hope of a compelling testimony because what compels the nonbeliever isn't your testimony about yourself, but about Him. If you say you still have no testimony about Him, then your faith may be weakened by the fact that you haven't made it your own yet. But making it your own isn't as hard as going back in time and having a different life story, so there is hope. '
Now, if you say that you are content with a borrowed faith, don't shut the book and walk away just yet—there is something here for you, just give it a chance. You've opened these pages for a reason. Allow God to show you what it is, just this once; allow Him to take you somewhere you never thought you wanted to go and see if He doesn't come through for you. Borrowed faith is simply faith in the wrong thing. And that's why it isn't the kind of faith that changes your life.
It isn't the kind of faith that overcomes adversity or changes the world, but when you own it, when you stop mooching and start possessing, the world inside you and around you changes dramatically.
Rent It
When you rent something you make monthly payments, whereby you keep something and use it for yourself up until the time when you stop making payments. And at that time your use of the thing ends with your payments. You might make monthly or even yearly or weekly payments on your faith, going to church in order to feel Christian. You might talk about God, pray to God, read about God, and serve God, but if all of that is part of your "payment" for faith then you're a renter, not an owner. An owner doesn't have to make payments—their faith is theirs by virtue of who He is, not who they are or what they do or don't do.
It can be easy to confuse the life of faith with the act of doing, but they aren't the same thing. Certainly, when you experience God's love and His saving grace, you want to do things for Him and with Him, but it is out of love and not out of necessity as payment for your faith. That price was already paid, and not by you or any other human being, but by God Himself. As it says in Ephesians, "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast" (2:8–9 esv).
The trouble with renting your faith is that it puts all of the reliance for salvation on self-effort rather than on God. When that happens you wear out quickly, you feel burnt out and tire easily of the hard work of obedience, which you believe leads to your salvation. This is what happens when you see a hard-working religious person who has walked away from their professed faith. They put all of their hope in their ability to be good, rather than in God Himself. When they run out of strength they run out of their payment for the faith, and end up losing their rental.
But when you own it—really own it—you have no need to make payments in order to keep it because it already belongs to you. This is called justification. You don't have to justify yourself by working hard to gain God's approval. Just look at the life of Abraham the father of the faith: "For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? 'Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness'" (Rom. 4:2–3 esv).
Abraham was righteous because of his undying faith and trust in God. He believed God more than he even believed his own feelings. When God asked him to sacrifice his most prized possession, his son, he believed God was good and so were His commands. Abraham acted, and this undying devotion to God displayed his faithfulness. He was justified by his faith in God, by the Father's ability to be good far beyond Abraham's understanding.
As long as your idea of faith requires you to make payments in order to receive the love of God, you are not an owner but a renter. God doesn't want your payments, He doesn't need them. All He wants is for you to accept His payment, the one and only payment ever needed. The payment for your life was His Son's life. And to say that additional monthly checks must be cut to save you is to say that His Son's death was a waste of a perfectly good life.
Rather than endear you to God, this way of thinking cuts you off from Him, as you take His most valuable gift and hand it back to Him in rejection of its value and necessity in your life. Such arrogance then, makes you the only salvation acceptable, makes you your own Messiah, your own perfect lamb worthy of the name Savior.
Pick and Choose It
But maybe you aren't renting, maybe you're just accepting—freely accepting the gifts of God. Maybe you accept His sacrifice with arms wide open. You appreciate all He's done for you and in return you claim Him as your savior, but you aren't sure about all this Bible stuff. "I mean, how can it all possibly be true, let alone applicable in today's day and age?" So you pick and choose.
You are a smart person with intuition, education, and common sense. And you like the way Jesus lived. What He said made sense, for the most part, but some of it had to be hyperbole, some of it was just stories and not meant to be law or anything. Like when He said, "If someone slaps you on the right cheek, give them the other one"—now that's nonsense. Common sense says you've got to protect yourself. Stand up for your rights. So not everything in the Bible is meant for today, you reason.
So being as smart as you are, you've decided to pick and choose. You've read some of it and you've taken the parts that make sense and made them your own, and the rest? Well . . . out of sight, out of mind. Dealing with it, understanding it, is all too much work and not really necessary. Plenty of people live with only a portion of the Bible as their rulebook.
The stuff they like and seems beneficial to them they take and the rest they claim to be out of date or creative license. This happens a lot in classes that study the Bible as literature, and in coffeehouses where the validity of Christ's words and ideas are analyzed and lined up in a cost/benefit chart meant to be used to developed your own kind of theology. When you practice this kind of picking and choosing, it's like making your own Frankenstein faith. Like the mad doctor who created the monster in Mary Shelley's famous book, you create your own pieced together religion specially designed to meet your specific needs. As if your editing prowess far outweighs that of the early church fathers of our faith.
In this picking and choosing of your faith, what you end up with is as volatile as Dr. Frankenstein's monster and just as ugly, because in your human nature you pick those things that ultimately serve you. Sure, you might subscribe to the need to help orphans and widows, you might see God's call to feed the hungry and care for the weak to be a selfish law to adopt, but when you picked it for yourself you picked it because of the ultimate benefit it gives you. In other words, it makes you feel like a good person—like you are making a difference, like you aren't a hypocrite, like you are spiritually informed and making decisions that will benefit you in the area of self-esteem as well as salvation. That's because of the reasons you base your picking and choosing on. When you design your own faith you must have a criteria for your choices, a line you draw that builds the perimeters of your faith, and in this kind of selfdesigned faith your human nature designs your beliefs around you rather than God, and in so doing you subconsciously make yourself your own God.
Now, anyone with a rudimentary understanding of the concept of God must agree that by definition God is not a being that needs to be saved. If He needed to be saved, then there would need to be someone more powerful than Him to save Him, and then He would not be God but His savior would be. If God by definition is all-powerful, all-knowing and perfect—i.e., GOD—then when you make yourself the designer of your own salvation, you ultimately make yourself the all-knowing and all-powerful one in your life. That means that you are making yourself the god in your life so that you can save yourself, but if you are God then you don't need saving. When you pick and you choose your faith, what you are owning is your own inerrancy, or inability to be wrong.
You are claiming your perfection and wisdom and rejecting anything that speaks of your failure to be perfect. Unfortunately, when circumstances show you that maybe your chosen path of salvation is too restrictive or getting in the way of your ultimate enjoyment, you are faced with some heavy editorial work. And in those changes to the Scriptures of your faith you only prove that you didn't know what you were doing in the first place. Picking and choosing your faith promises the ultimate freedom to be who you want and do what you want, but eventually it will only prove to you that to live for yourself and to make your law based on your own happiness is to become the slave of your imperfect self, and to be tortured and tormented by your own pride and failure.
Michael's Picky and Choosy Faith: All of my life I wanted to be married. It was my number one goal in life. I was a Christian and so I knew I would only ever have sex with my wife, but who I defined as my wife was my own choosing. See, when I dated someone I really liked, I told myself I was going to marry her and so I could of course sleep with her. I chose to believe as long as I was going to get married to her, I could have her.
And so I thought . . . until I would break up with her. Then the next one would come along and I would tell myself the same thing. In picking and choosing which parts of Scripture I liked and how they applied to my life, I made one mess after another, leaving broken hearts in my wake. And my heart didn't fare so well either. When I did ultimately marry one of the girls, it ended in divorce two years later because I failed to establish my life on the complete counsel of God.
Instead, I counseled myself, made up what I thought Scripture should say, all the while calling myself a Christian. I lived as a non-Christian for years. But God will let you wreck yourself in order to save you, and that's what He did for me when I surrendered my whole life and will in a tiny jail cell. My life (and peace) have never been the same all because I've stopped picking and choosing and embraced owning my faith.
Disown It
Who are you? Are you the owner of your faith, are you just faking it, or picking and choosing it, or have you just thrown your hands up and walked away? When someone disowns an idea or even a person they give up faith in or love for something or someone they used to call their own. They look at that idea or person as a royal mistake, and they most often replace it with something or someone else, even if it's just self. Either way, they reject their former belief and so disown, or give up the right to, what they used to have full access to.
When you disown your faith, you turn your back on it and that can leave you feeling all kinds of junk. Resentment for the lies you used to believe; distrust or disgust of those that still believe them; fear that you may be wrong; anger for being wrong for so long before. It can be a mix of any of these emotions or one compelling one, but either way walking away from your faith isn't easy. And in a lot of instances, the pain can come from those you left behind. Because that's just how they feel—rejected along with God Himself—their resentment and anger can build.
Their fear over your eternal destination can also cloud their emotions and leave them thinking all kinds of thoughts that only affirm your rejection of their faith in their so-called God of amazing grace. How can they preach His grace and offer you none? How can they speak of His love and forgiveness without sharing in it? And who do they think they are in their wrath and judgment . . . the savior? Their inability to know how to handle dissension can only make matters worse, but that's why this book has found its way to your hands, to remove the human ability to make other's decisions personal and to remove demands that not even God Himself makes.
When Jesus was face-to-face with people who disowned Him, argument was not His response. He didn't pursue them, explain the errors of their ways to them; He allowed them to be whoever they were made to be and to make the decisions they would make. There is a story often told of His encounter with a very rich young man who wanted to follow Him. He believed in God. He lived an obedient life, trying hard to do all that God and the Scriptures asked, but when he asked Jesus what more he could do, the answer he got froze him in his tracks: "And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, 'You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.' Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions" (Mark 10:21–22 esv).
But the story doesn't end there. The most intriguing part of this exchange isn't that the man left when he realized God wanted him to give up his obsession for stuff, but that Jesus didn't run after him. He didn't grab his arm and try to explain Himself better. He wasn't worried, or upset that the young man wasn't getting it. Jesus allowed the man to do what he would, free from the pressure of His presence.
God does the same today. He doesn't force faith. Even though His followers wish He would, He isn't in the habit of high-pressured sales. Though He is sovereign and nothing happens except that He allows it, He also doesn't force ownership. His hand isn't on the back of your neck forcing you to your knees.
As you well know, you can reject Him, disown Him, and walk away from Him and you won't be struck by lightning. He never said you would. He never said that rejecting Him was an impossibility, or instantly punishable by plague or death. If that were the case then the men who hung Jesus on the cross would have been zapped. But God allows and even uses the rejection of Himself by men to His glory.
After all, the cross—the focus of all of God's Word, from beginning to end—was made possible by the very men who believed they were thwarting the work of Jesus. But even their rejection of Him was not only allowed but meant to be. You might think that you have hardened your heart, but the truth is that God is the one who chooses whom He will save and who will reject Him. So even the freedom that you feel, the doubt you have, would not be yours if He had not allowed it. As it says in Romans 9:18, "He has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills" (esv).
Own It
So, why a book on owning your faith if it is God who ultimately decides the fate of your heart? Why would we even bring up the subject of salvation, of faith, of belief and doubt if we were only pawns in God's game of life? Those questions are valid and are ones that have sparked centuries of debate, argument, and even wars. Should we spend time talking to you about your doubts, cajoling you, disowning you, fighting for you, or should we just let God do with you what He would do? You've probably already guessed our answer because you're holding a book we wrote on the subject.
But to make it clear—"yes," we should spend time helping you with the doubts that plague so many when it comes to faith in the unseen, and "no," we should not and will not cajole, disown, or fight you to faith. As the story of the prodigal made clear, God is a not a God who strikes the doubter dead. He is not a God who forever rejects those who reject Him, but He is a God whose love and power, goodness and kindness is enough to outlove even the most terrible of cynics who wants to believe. Romans 5:8 tells us that Christ died for sinners, so your doubt does not exclude you from ownership. You may doubt God's love or even His existence, and you might think that excludes you from faith, but doubt isn't as foreign a concept to faith as some would have you believe.
Each one of us doubts, we doubt that God can heal our wounds; we doubt that He would really ever let us move a mountain; we doubt that we can overcome our addictions and obsessions even though His Word promises it all. Doubt is a part of the human condition, natural to the state of man who, like an ant trying to figure out the inner workings of a nuclear power plant, is incapable of understanding even the most rudimentary of descriptions of such a powerful entity. Your doubt doesn't exclude you from faith, no matter what you may have heard—it simply proves your humanness and His unfathomable Godness. But doubt doesn't have to define you or rule you but rather it can be the fuel for discussion, study, and prayer. In order to own your faith, you have to continue the conversation.
You have to allow yourself to be wrong, to question and to be taught. As long as you remain unteachable, rigid in your disbelief and doubt, you will remain in limbo, unable to firmly stand on your either conviction or suspicion. But in either case, to own one or the other you must ultimately be owned by your belief. You are owned by your faith or doubt when you turn yourself over to it fully. When you are fully owned by your disbelief, then there is no further discussion that needs to be had between you and the God you once trusted.
In fact, your very senses are numb to His presence, your eyes shut, your ears closed and your body turned away. In this instance you have come to grips with the fact that if need be, you would stand up in front of the world and say, "I deny Jesus is Lord," and you would be content with that denial. But before you jump to your feet, first consider that this verbal rejection of Jesus comes with an effect and that is that as you deny Him so He denies you. As He said in the book of Matthew, "Whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven" (Matt. 10:33 esv). So is it any wonder that in your denial of the one who was sent to save you, that you have found more and more animosity toward God and His people?
That your heart has hardened more with each passing day? This is the result of Jesus denying you more than it is of you denying Him. The truth is that you own your faith when and only when Christ owns you. William Barley, in The Letters of James and Peter, spoke this better than we ever could when he said, It frequently happens that the value of a thing lies in the fact that someone has possessed it. A very ordinary thing acquires a new value if it has been possessed by some famous person.
In any museum we will find quite ordinary things—clothes, a walking-stick, a pen, pieces of furniture—which are only of value because they were possessed and used by some great person. It is the ownership which gives them worth. It is so with the Christian. The Christian may be a very ordinary person, but he acquires a new value and dignity and greatness because he belongs to God. The greatness of the Christian lies in the fact that he is God's.
To be owned by God is ultimately to be consumed by Him. When God owns you, your mind returns continually to His presence. You can't quit Him. You can't reject Him because He has a hold of you. Many Christian parents claim this to be the case in the lives of their prodigal children.
They claim the faith that they were raised in is the seed that will one day sprout and bring them back. And that is often the case. In these situations, the prodigal cannot stop thinking "what if"; they can't get Jesus' face out of their minds and the stain of guilt off of their lives. This is because they are owned and that ownership has its cost. The idea of the seeds of faith first got their start in a story told by Jesus in the parable of the sower.
He explained faith this way:
"Consider the sower who went out to sow. As he was sowing, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and ate them up. Others fell on rocky ground, where there wasn't much soil, and they sprang up quickly since the soil wasn't deep. But when the sun came up they were scorched, and since they had no root, they withered. Others fell among thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them. Still others fell on good ground and produced a crop: some 100, some 60, and some 30 times what was sown. Anyone who has ears should listen!" - (Matt. 13:3–9)
This parable was used to help the agrarian listeners of Jesus' time better understand the reasons why faith takes hold in some people's lives but not in others. And to explain what all this meant, He followed up His parable with these words:
"When anyone hears the word about the kingdom and doesn't understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the one sown along the path. And the one sown on rocky ground—this is one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy. Yet he has no root in himself, but is shortlived. When pressure or persecution comes because of the word, immediately he stumbles.
Now the one sown among the thorns—this is one who hears the word, but the worries of this age and the seduction of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. But the one sown on the good ground—this is one who hears and understands the word, who does bear fruit and yields: some 100, some 60, some 30 times what was sown." - (Matt. 13:19–23)
So let's take a closer look. The one sown on the path clearly describes someone who didn't get it, who never believed. The seed never took root in their lives. That one's easy. Then comes the one sown on rocky ground.
In this one you can see the "borrower" or the "renter" we talked about earlier, who has no root in himself—all of the root was in others around him. So in this case of borrowed faith, when pressure comes, faith flies out the window. When the rubber hits the road and things get tough, your faith—not being yours to begin with—serves no purpose, gives no hope, and offers no help. Next, the seeds sown among the thorns could be used to describe the one who picks and chooses. The seed finds earth, it digs in, but since its roots are entangled with the roots of thorns, the entanglement or the mixture of multiple beliefs that are inconsistent with each other chokes out faith.
When you pick and choose the parts of God that you want for yourself, you create another God— one that cannot survive the worries of everyday life. And finally, Jesus talks about a fourth landing place for the seeds, and that is the good ground. In this case, the seed finds nice deep soil to bury itself in and take root, and since there are no weeds competing for the attention of the water and the sun, the seed can grow fat and happy and eventually spring up through the earth and climb toward the sun. In this case we see a seed that grows into a tree that then grows more seeds that fall to the ground and plants more trees. This kind of faith multiplies its fruit.
It grows nourishment for those that come to it, it feeds them and makes them want more, and it speaks to the kindness and goodness of the one who sowed the seeds in the first place. If you feel like your faith is on rocky ground and the thorns are fighting to rule your life, then your faith in God may be faltering or all together gone. You may feel Him to be ineffective, distant, unavailable—and because of that, you've given up on Him, or at least kept Him at arm's length. That's because the truth is that the seed of faith has yet to take root. If your faith doesn't feel like your own, the truth might be that the seed never truly took root in your life.
That's good news—it means that the faith that you find ineffective, a failure, was never true faith at all. This just proves that faith in anything or anyone other than God is not faith at all. When your faith isn't your own, but another's, when you do not own it, it does not change you, it does not cost you, and it will not save you. And so knowing that, you can be done with the cheap imitation because it has proven to be of no value. Believing what you have had until today was true faith and it just wasn't enough is the biggest lie you've ever believed.
True faith is powerful and life changing. Fake faith is ineffective and life sucking. But when the seed of faith falls onto good ground, when God clears away the weeds and you receive the seed, true faith can grow. So let's take a look at what true faith looks like. Let's all start with the assumption that up until now you were living a lie, a pretend faith—one that looked and sounded real, but you know deep down was anything but genuine.
Let's start from there and consider what it means to find your faith anew. To see it for what it really is for the first time as you start to consider giving up the charade and instead truly own your faith.
*This Excerpt Published 9/25/2013

subset: commoncrawl


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Friday Veterans Legal Advice Clinic – Houston, TX
September 11 @ 1:00 PM - 5:00 PMFree
The Houston Volunteer Lawyers Program host a legal clinic every Friday (except on holidays and other office closures) at the Michael DeBakey VA Medical Center, located at 2002 Holcombe Blvd, Houston, TX 77030 every Friday from 13:00 to 17:00.
At a legal advice clinic, applicants meet with a licensed Texas attorney one-on-one and receive free legal advice on their legal issue. The clinics are open to any veteran or their spouse needing legal advice. Individuals needing continued representation beyond the legal advice clinic generally must have a legal issue in one of the following counties: Austin, Bell, Brazoria, Brazos, Chambers, Galveston, Grimes, Fort Bend, Hardin, Harris, Liberty, Matagorda, Montgomery, San Jacinto, Walker, Waller, or Washington counties and have a household income no greater than 300% of Federal Poverty Guidelines. Our legal clinics function as a legal consultation and intake mechanism for legal services through the Houston Volunteer Lawyers Program. For more information, please visit www.MakeJusticeHappen.org.


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Sheriff credits TV station with arrest
A woman wanted for failing to appear in court showed up on the Newsplex February 3 talking about the safety of the Westhaven neighborhood following a homicide.
An Albemarle sheriff's deputy recognized Ernestine Rawlings from her TV appearance, and went to Westhaven, where he learned that she was regularly in that neighborhood dropping off a relative in her white van, but she lived on Webland Park, according to a release from Sheriff Chip Harding.
Deputies arrested Rawlings there February 4, and Harding issued this advice to fugitives: Don't be interviewed by TV reporters because you'll be on the 6 o'clock news.
In the past 60 days, the Sheriff's Office has arrested 26 other fugitives.Read more on: albemarle sheriff chip hardingfugitive
11 comments
Must be getting close to election time! :)
Great Job! Regardless of what time of the year or term it is, good job Sheriff.
What was she supposed to be appearing in court for originally? If it's something petty then this is stupid.
And who were these 26 other "fugitives"? (bit of a dramatic word. To me a "fugitive" has the connotation of somebody in prison for something big like murder, who breaks out and is on the run, hiding out by day sleeping in brush piles, traveling by night by the light of the moon, eating random weeds and roots, hijacking cars on the highway and being all Hollywood-like. :D) Is it petty nonsense, or something big and legit?
OhNoFiveOh, it's just a political observation. Whenever an elected official is nearing re-election, more and more press releases are made. In other words, get your name out there in in as much print and TV coverage as possible.
Or as in the case of the upcoming Greene County sheriff's election, a sheriff generally turns all press releases over to whomever they have endorsed. This is why you will see Randy Snead making all press releases coming out of Greene from now until November.... name recognition.
This type of press release (as above) should make the average voter ask what they have done for the preceeding three years. And why a press release was necessary right now. Well, obviously, I have explained why above. :)
Some people are so concerned about having their face in public that they don't realize the consequences.
" Harding issued this advice to fugitives: Don't be interviewed by TV reporters because you'll be on the 6 o'clock news."
Why would he issue this advice?
Ahh, The price of fame...
Why would he issue this advice? Ahh, because it's funny and makes a lot of people chuckle.
Or perhaps he simply want to give fugitives a fighting chance since they don't seem to be real bright in the first place.
If I had to guess what she is a fugitive from boooo, I'd start with same thing most in Westhaven are fugitives from...work
It would appear The Hook, in the person of Lisa Provence, has deliberately obfuscated things in this case, the better to titillate the readership through implying the woman is a "desperado", rather than the most likely explanation that she's a petty offender whose apprehension wasn't worth police effort until she gave herself up by appearing on TV. Next time you want to put up a crummy little article like this, why not do your job and tell us what charges she was facing?
Ummm, where does the article suggest that the woman was a "desperado"? And are you suggesting that people with outstanding warrants shouldn't be located when it requires minimal investigation by the sheriff's office?


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You've probably never heard of the Alabama Hills region, just west of Lone Pine, CA, but I'd bet everything I have that you've seen it at least once. You see, this area, in the shadow of Mount Whitney, California's tallest peak, has played host to over 200 film shoots thanks to its epic "Wild West Frontier" setting and huge variety of possible angles. Like a Hollywood film director scouting a film location, we rolled to the Alabama Hills in the most gangster of styles: the back seat of a Long Wheelbase Range Rover Autobiography (price yet unannounced, but expect it to be stratospheric).
But we were not shooting a film at all -we were making a hip-hop video.


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shelter in place: most classes/services online through fall semester
the following guidelines should be considered when assisting a person with disabilities during an emergency.
for persons with visual impairments, describe the nature the emergency and offer to guide him/her to the nearest emergency exit and evacuation assembly area. have the person take your elbow and escort him/her advising of any obstacles such as stairs, narrow passageways or overhanging objects. when you have reached safety, orient the person to where he/she is and ask if further assistance is needed.
澳门申博网站communicate with the person by writing a note or through simple hand gestures about the nature of the emergency and what they should do.
ask the person what methods of assistance he/she prefers. some people have minimal ability to move and lifting them may be dangerous to their well being. some persons using wheelchairs have respiratory complications. remove them from smoke or fumes immediately. if the person wants to be moved in his/her chair, keep the following considerations in mind:
If the person needs to be removed from his/her wheelchair for an evacuation ask the following:
wheelchairs should be retrieved as soon as possible and given high priority.
澳门申博网站ask the person what method of assistance he/she prefers.


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Discover the best places to stay on Koh Rong Samloem with our 'Ultimate Koh Rong Samloem Hotel Guide' – Whether you want to lie back, unwind, and admire the magnificent views, swim in the warm crystal-clear ocean waters, explore the exotic wildlife, or learn the historic Khmer culture, this mesmerising island is your perfect destination.
(See also: Koh Rong Hotel Guide)
To help you plan and book your trip, we've split the accommodation into simple categories – Just choose a type of category below, and explore the hotels we recommend (to learn more about how to get to these hotels, read: Sihanoukville to Koh Rong Samloem).
Koh Rong Samloem Hotels in Quiet Beach Areas
If you're looking for a quiet relaxing atmosphere, where you can lie back, unwind, and admire the magnificent views, then the main tourist beach on Koh Rong Samloem (Saracen Bay) is your ideal location.
Aerial View of Saracen Bay
There are several resorts on this beautiful beach, each with villas / bungalows, a bar, and a restaurant. There is a variety of options to cater for different needs and budgets.
On Saracen Bay, we recommend Sweet Dreams Resort, Moonlight Resort, Secret Paradise Resort, Paradise Villas, Saracen Bay Resort, GreenBlue Beach Bungalows, and Cita Resort.
The ocean views at Sweet Dreams Resort are fantastic, and the modern western-style villas provide comfortable accommodation.
Ocean View at Sweet Dreams Resort
Secret Paradise Resort is located near the centre of Saracen Bay, and has superb views of the ocean expanse.
Being so close to the end of the island, Paradise Villas offers fantastic views of the jungle wilderness surrounding the ocean waters.
Saracen Bay Resort is conveniently located near a main pier of Saracen Bay. The beach area around this resort is particularly impressive.
The iconic dome-shaped Moonlight Resort stands out along the beach front. The eco-friendly villas are cleverly designed to keep cool at night times, and the rooms are of a good standard.
A Dome-Shaped Villa at Moonlight Resort
The recently refurbished rooms of GreenBlue are of a good standard, and the restaurant has a great selection of Khmer food.
Cita Resort takes a more humble approach, but the accommodation is clean, comfortable, and in a beautiful location on the beach.
Finally, there are several outstanding resort on Koh Rong Island. Koh Rong is the sister island of Koh Rong Samloem, and is famous for its serene beauty. Take a look through our guide here: Koh Rong Hotels.15% OFF Samloem Hotels
Koh Rong Samloem Luxury Resorts
If you want to enjoy the wonderful turquoise ocean waters, soft white sandy beaches, and exotic tropical surroundings, but you prefer a more comfortable accommodation during your stay, there are a couple of excellent luxury resorts on Koh Rong Samloem. These are Sol Beach Resort and The One Resort, which are both situated on Saracen Bay.
Sol Beach Resort is located in the centre of Saracen Bay. The modern western-style villas come with Air-Conditioning, Free Wi-Fi, comfortable beds, and en-suite bathrooms with a hot shower, a bath, and a western toilet. The beautiful white sandy beaches are in pristine condition, and the ocean waters are truly mesmerising, changing from green to blue to turquoise on an hourly basis.
Inside a Villa at Sol Beach
The One Resort provides a similar standard of accommodation to Sol Beach, with modern western-style villas, Air-Conditioning, Free Wi-Fi, comfortable beds, and en-suite bathrooms with a hot shower, a bath, and a western toilet. In addition, The One Resort has a wonderful infinity edge swimming pool overlooking the beautiful ocean expanse, and a great range of cocktails to complement the scene.
Swimming Pool at The One Resort
If you're looking for luxury resorts, there are several outstanding hotels on Koh Rong you should definitely try. On this scenic island, we recommend Sok San Beach Resort, Koh Rong Resort, Royal Sands Koh Rong, Longset Resort, and the world-renowned Song Saa Private Island Resort.
Learn more: Koh Rong Luxury Resorts15% OFF Samloem Hotels
Kong Samloem Hotels in Secluded Areas
If you would prefer to 'isolate' yourself on a tropical island paradise, Koh Rong Samloem has some stunning destinations for a 'Robinson Crusoe' experience.
(To learn how to get to all areas of Koh Rong Samloem, see: How to Get to Koh Rong)
Firstly, there's Lazy Beach Resort. Located on the west side of Koh Rong Samloem, Lazy Beach is a 40 minute walk through the jungle from the main piers of Saracen Bay. This part of Koh Rong Samloem offers beautiful pristine white beaches, sparkling blue ocean waters, and a fantastic jungle mountainside. It is an ideal location for people who want to enjoy the spectacular views in a very laid-back relaxed environment, and who don't mind the 40 minute jungle walk.
Lazy Beach on Koh Rong Samloem
Secondly, there's Sunset Beach. The beach area on this isolated part of Koh Rong Samloem is outstanding – Clear glistening ocean waters, soft white sands, and a truly spectacular sunset. Here we recommend Huba-Huba Bungalows and Robinson Bungalows.
A Sunset on Sunset Beach, Koh Rong Samloem
Thirdly, there's Sandy Beach Bungalows. Sandy Beach Bungalows are located on the beautiful south-east beach of Koh Rong Samloem. Being the only resort in this area, it provides a fantastic 'deserted' experience that we would definitely recommend you try.
Finally, there are some superb locations on the beautiful Koh Rong Island. In particular, we recommend Lonely Beach Resort. The beach on this isolated part of Koh Rong is superb – Clear glistening ocean waters, soft white sands, and tall enveloping palm trees. The small resort offers quite basic accommodation, but the views are fantastic, and the atmosphere is quiet and relaxing.
15% OFF Samloem Hotels
Koh Rong Samloem Hotels in Local Villages
If you want to enjoy the spectacular views on Koh Rong Samloem while learning about the local Cambodian culture, there are a couple of excellent options available.
Firstly, for a real taste of how Khmer live on a day-to-day basis, we recommend you visit the local fishing village of M'Pai Bay. Here you will experience Cambodian life first hand – You will meet the local fishing families, and be an active part of their very friendly community. What's more, you are a short walk away from a fantastic white beach where you can lie back and enjoy the stunning views. On M'Pai Bay, we recommend Harmony Bungalow, Easy Tiger, and Sunset Bungalows.
Aerial View of M'Pai Bay
Secondly, we recommend you stay at Inn The Village in Daem Thkov Village on Koh Rong. Just like some of the hotels on M'Pai Bay, Inn The Village is actively involved in the local community, allowing you to get a real grasp of Cambodia. The Inn is 10 minutes away from a beautiful pristine beach where you can enjoy the magnificent scenery in a quiet relaxed environment.
Finally, we recommend you try Sok San Beach Bungalows (not to be confused with the nearby Sok San New Beach Bungalows and the Sok San Long Beach Bungalows). Sok San is a small fishing village on the west side of Koh Rong – A boat trip away from Koh Touch. The beach area around here is quiet, peaceful, and relaxing, and being next to the local Khmer allows you to learn about the Cambodian culture during your stay.15% OFF Samloem Hotels
Koh Rong or Koh Rong Samloem?
To conclude, when it comes to choosing your perfect destination, the stunning Koh Rong and Koh Rong Samloem islands offer very similar experiences – Breath-taking scenery, crystal clear ocean waters, white sandy beaches, and a tropical climate environment.
The main difference is that, if you are looking for a livelier party atmosphere, then the main tourist beach on Koh Rong (Koh Touch) is right for you (though there are a couple of party places on Koh Rong Samloem now also). However, even on Koh Touch itself there are several peaceful, relaxing locations.
Most people try to visit both Koh Rong and Koh Rong Samloem during their stay, as the two are a short ferry trip away from each other (see map). To help you decide which island is right for you, we've summarised the key differences below.
|Koh Rong
|Main Tourist Area
|Koh Touch: Busier & Easy to Get to
|Saracen Bay: Quieter & Easy to Get to
|Party Atmosphere
|Yes – Koh Touch
|Yes – In Select Areas
|Quiet Beach Location
|Yes – Quieter Areas on Koh Touch / Other Areas
|Yes – Saracen Bay
|Luxury Hotels
|Yes – Bigger Luxury Hotels
|Yes – Smaller Luxury Hotels (Saracen Bay Only)
|Desert Island Experience
|Yes – Easier to Get to
|Yes – Harder to Get to
|Local Culture
|Yes – Daem Thkov Village
|Yes – M'Pay Bay
|Budget Pricing
|Yes – Koh Touch / Daem Thkov Village
|Yes – M'Pay Bay
|Yes – Snorkelling, Scuba Diving, Kayaking, Fishing, Windsurfing, High Point Zip Line,
Rope Park, Water Park, Bicycle Rental, Paddle Boarding, Jet Ski Rental, Blob Jump
|Yes – Snorkelling, Scuba Diving, Kayaking, Fishing, Paddle Boarding
|Western Shops
|Yes – Koh Touch
|Yes – Saracen Bay
|Yes – Koh Touch / Luxury Resorts (Good Quality)
|Rare – Saracen Bay / M'Pay Bay (Poorer Quality)
|24-Hour Electricity
|Yes – Koh Touch / Luxury Resorts
|Rare – Saracen Bay Only
|Rare – Mainly Luxury Resorts
|Rare – Mainly Luxury Resorts
|Yes – Koh Touch (10% Fee)
|No – Only Transfers by WING
- Q: When is the best time to visit Koh Rong Samloem?
- Q: How do I get to Koh Rong Samloem?
- Q: What activities are there?
- Q: What should I bring with me?
- Q: Is it easy to get a Cambodian Visa?
- Q: Is there an ATM on Koh Rong Samloem?
- Q: Is there a medical facility?
- Q: Is it a family-friendly place?
- Q: When is the rainy season?
Middle of November / December / January / February: Warm and dry. 25°C daytime.
March / April / May: Hot and dry. 35°C daytime.
June / July / August: Hot and wet. 35°C daytime.
September / October / Early November: Warm and wet. 25°C daytime.
Please see our Weather Guide for more information.
It will take about 40 minutes to get to the island if it's the first stop. If the boat first stops elsewhere, it may take 1 hour or so.
All 5 services will charge roughly $25 return, though prices can vary depending on time of year, special offers, etc. All services leave from the Ochheuteal (AKA 'Serendipity') pier in Sihanoukville and go to the main tourist beach (Saracen Bay) on the island. If your hotel is not on Saracen Bay, please read Sihanoukville to Koh Rong Samloem.
The 5 services offer modern speed boats with comfortable chairs, life jackets, and the option to buy food and drink on board. Not all of the ferries have air-conditioning, but once the boats set off there is a strong cool breeze throughout the sitting areas which more than makes up for it.
All ferry services tend to be very busy – we strongly recommend you buy your tickets in advance. You can buy your tickets online now here: Book Ferry Tickets Online Now
The Koh Rong islands are known for their stunning underwater panorama. Whether it's snorkeling or scuba diving that you're after, there are plenty of superb locations on Koh Rong Samloem.
Kayaking & Paddle Boarding
Enjoy the crystal clear ocean waters by Kayaking or paddle boarding your way around – An ideal activity for couples and families alike.
Jungle Trekking
Explore the exotic jungle habitat by foot. If you're staying on Saracen Bay (the main tourist area of Koh Rong Samloem) we would definitely recommend for you to see Lazy Beach – A 40 minute walk through the jungle trail.
Bioluminescent Plankton
Sparkling like a starry sky all around you, the bioluminescent plankton are a wonderful sight to behold at night times. Please speak to your hotel about booking a plankton tour.
You can however get cash out at any of the three Eftpos terminals on Koh Touch (the main tourist area on Koh Rong Island). There is an Eftpos terminal at Green Ocean Guesthouse, White Rose Guesthouse, and Koh Lanta.
For example, those that visit during the rainy season get to enjoy half-priced accommodation and beautiful rainy scenes, and because it never gets too cold in Cambodia, swimming in the ocean is still a very pleasurable experience (the water rarely drops beneath 25°C). Take a look at this article for more information: 5 Reasons to Visit Koh Rong Samloem in Rainy Season


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Welcome to the trueCall Community Forum - The official discussion forum for trueCall users.
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Discussion in 'Forum Issues' started by Top Cat, Nov 24, 2012.


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Here you can find answers to questions about how the board works. Use the links or search box below to find your way around.
Select this option if you would like your search to look in the text of FAQ items as well as their titles.
Select an option here to specify how you would like your search query to be treated. 'Any words' will return the most numerous but possibly least relevant results, while 'Complete phrase' will return only results that contain exactly what you are searching for.
Welcome to S15 Owners Club!
This owners club has been made in the benefit of owners of the Nissan Silvia S15 chassis, allowing them to socially integrate and share their knowledge and advise.We also intend to create events and social activities for members to take part in to help members meet and get to know each other.


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Christmas Poems for Kids
Today I will post some Christmas poems for kids. The first one is an acrostic Christmas poem or it is more a winter poem. But I am on my way back to Sweden for "real" Christmas and winter time; so perhaps I am a bit inspired of the coming winter season and Christmas holidays in Europe. 🙂
Warm inside only
Icy weather outside
Nose running
Terrible cold
Ears red
Rampaging in the snow
How to write Acrostic Poems?
Acrostic poems are very easy to write. Just pick a name or word like WINTER and write a word or phrase for each letter – and you have your first acrostic poem.
Here is another example by one of our great poets and master Lewis Carroll.
A Boat Beneath a Sunny Sky
Lewis Carroll (from Through the Looking Glass, 1871) is an acrostic poem of the real Alice's name: Alice Pleasance Lidell inspired the children's classic Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
A boat, beneath a sunny sky
Lingering onward dreamily
In an evening of July –
Children three that nestle near,
Eager eye and willing ear,
Pleased a simple tale to hear –
Long has paled that sunny sky:
Echoes fade and memories die:
Autumn frosts have slain July.
Still she haunts me, phantomwise,
Alice moving under skies
Never seen by waking eyes.
Children yet, the tale to hear,
Eager eye and willing ear,
Lovingly shall nestle near.
In a Wonderland they lie,
Dreaming as the days go by,
Dreaming as the summers die:
Ever drifting down the stream –
Lingering in the golden gleam –
Life, what is it but a dream?
Acrostic Poems for Kids
Here is some examples for kids how to write acrostic poems : How to Write Acrostic Poems. Other examples acrostic poems by kids. Acrostic poems for kids examples


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Also I got a neat film camera that I am trying to learn the quirks of, so maybe I will be able to post real film photos of food. Who knows! Anyway, see you soon!
Saturday, August 14, 2010
links page, let me know.
4 comments:
hello hello... just stumbled upon your blog and i had to comment! love your recipes! grilled cheese egg in a basket... sauerkraut latkes! stop it! yum yum cant wait to try these out and read more from you :)ReplyDelete
the site looks great! i hardly recognized it :) i can't wait to see the photos you post from this camera!ReplyDelete
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Boards out of stock can still be ordered. - Currently 8-12 weeks manufacturing time on stock orders. Once an order is placed we will allocate the next board in production to you. It may just be a few days away.
Shred Sled King FutureFlex - FCS-5 Fin
Boards out of stock can still be ordered. - Currently 8-12 weeks manufacturing time on stock orders. Once an order is placed we will allocate the next board in production to you. It may just be a few days away.
Surfboard Shipping Australia Wide - $39
Notify Me
Enjoy free shipping on hardware/accessories over $100 within Australia. Surfboards $39 Express Shipping Australia Wide
Purchased a board but it's just not quite right? Don't stress you have 14 days to swap over to your correct sizing.Learn More
Unfortunately it happens to the best of us. We'll give you 20% discount towards your replacement Haydenshapes.Learn More
Enjoy 30% off 3 pieces of hardware when you purchase a full priced surfboard. Includes all fins, leashes, traction, board bags and wetsuits. To qualify you must have 3 items of hardware in your cart and one full priced surfboard.
1 Surfboard and 3 pieces of hardware must be purchased in a single transation to qualify. Prices will be reflected at checkout.
Surf Now. Pay Later. Interest Free
We now offer Zip and Afterpay as payment methods in store and online. They're both interest free and allow you to get in the water straight away and pay your purchase off over a period of time. As soon as your order is processed we'll ship it or arrange collection in store.
Shop today, enjoy your purchase & pay the amount off over 3 months to suit your lifestyle! Best of all it's interest free!Learn More
Afterpay allows you to split the full amount into 4 simple automated payments, every 2 weeks.Learn More
Designed and patented by Haydenshapes founder Hayden Cox, FutureFlex is an affluent mix of modern custom designed materials and modern design innovation for high-performance surfing. The construction combines a stringer-less, high-density custom shaped EPS core laminated with biaxial fiberglass, epoxy resin and a parabolic carbon fiber frame. The carbon fiber frame within the laminate is the key to the performance vitality of the overall product. Designed to maximize speed and drive while minimizing twist, FutureFlex essentially stores and releases energy as the surfer transitions through a turn.Learn more about FF
In what brand founder Hayden Cox views as a more premium alternative to the traditional PU (Polyurethane Polyester) construction, PE combines a polyurethane foam core with high-grade timber stringer, which is laminated by hand using fiberglass cloth and a high quality epoxy resin. Haydenshapes opts to use Epoxy resin, PE construction for two key reasons. One, the optically superior brightening ingredient significantly enhances the whiteness of the board. Two, our exclusive epoxy is more flexible than polyester and maintains the lively flex pattern typically associated with a new board.Learn more about PE


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At least six customers in Apple's Bejing stores are suing the company for allegedly selling them refurbished iPhones at new iPhone prices.
Two customers suspected being sold secondhand iPhones when the usual Apple one-year warranty was whittled down as much as six months. They contacted Wang Hai, a well-known consumer advocate who filed the lawsuits, according to AppleInsider.
The plaintiffs are seeking twice the amount they paid for the phones, legal fees and an apology.
U.S. & World
Apple employees in China denied the allegation, but reports from Southern China say that retailers frequently sell secondhand electronic goods, People's Daily Online reported.
A recent report in Guangzhou Daily revealed that secondhand iPhones are refurbished and sold in Guangzhou's chain stores, insiders suggesting that sometimes the store employees sell the display phones or used ones to customers after polishing them up.
(First of all -- who knew there were consumer advocates in China? Where were they after all those stories about lead in Chinese toys and toxic toothpaste?)
It's true that China is changing and responding to an increasingly capitalist and global market, so it's not surprising that consumer advocates are growing in popularity and stature. As for Apple, we're not sure if this is Apple's policy or one made more domestically. Whatever the case, the more the issue is publicized, the less any retailer can pass off secondhand goods as new.
Seriously, Apple, get a handle on this situation or you will lose your edge in the largest potential market in the world.


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We like us some Jena Fischer and have been hoping there's a enough room for her between Amy Adams and Isla Fisher (no relation) in film land for her to have a real career. And so, here comes the trailer for "A Little Help," starring...
Jenna Fischer plays a woman trying to get her life back on track after the death of her husband. Complicating things is her son telling people that dad died in 9/11, when the truth is he died in the driveway.
The film was written and directed by Michale Weithron, who most recently worked as writer producer on "The King of Queens," and co-stars Chris O'Donnell. Check it out...
U.S. & World
The day's top national and international news.
Here's the hilariously long synopsis from the film's website:
It's a movie for everyone whose life has been thrown off-course, out of whack, or simply not turned out the way they planned it. In other words, it's a movie for everyone, period.
Set in suburban Long Island in the summer of 2002, with the psychic wounds of 9/11 still fresh, A LITTLE HELP is a story that takes a comic, searching and profoundly empathetic look at a few pivotal months in the life of dental hygienist Laura Pehlke (Jenna Fischer)—an ordinary woman whose life suddenly flies off the rails—and her heroic efforts to re-establish a sense of security and normalcy for herself and her son.
Thirtysomething Laura has always enjoyed the wind at her back, by virtue of her good looks and exuberant, winning personality. But lately, things have taken some dark and difficult turns. Her marriage to real estate agent Bob Pehlke (Chris O'Donnell) has become tense and loveless – Laura even suspects that he's been cheating – and her previously close relationship with her 12 year-old son Dennis (Daniel Yelsky) has become strained as he enters adolescence. With little to sustain her outside of these two problematic relationships, Laura finds herself slipping into the habits of her happier, party-girl days… having just one more beer than she should (and then another one after that); lying about whose cigarette is sitting in the ashtray of her car. Belittled by her husband and her intrusive mother Joan (Lesley Ann Warren) and sister Kathy (Brooke Smith), she's only just beginning to realize how truly lost she is.
In this disconnected state, she's woefully unprepared for her husband's sudden death, the result of a heart problem that went undetected by an ER physician. Still in shock from the trauma, she allows her family to dictate two major life decisions, as they pay to send Dennis to an exclusive private school (on the dubious principle that the school's "structure" will in some way provide for the loss of his father) and coerce Laura into filing a malpractice suit against the doctor who misdiagnosed Bob. Though she has deep reservations about the suit, shark-like attorney Mel Kaminsky (Kim Coates) critically notes that Bob's mismanagement of their finances threatens to undermine Laura's ability to provide for her shattered family, and suggests the lawsuit as the best means of ensuring her security.
Within days, Laura finds herself an unwilling party to two massive, bizarre lies. At his new school, feeling like an outsider, Dennis wins his peers' respect after impulsively telling them that his deceased father was a heroic fireman who died in the twin towers. While horrified, Laura grudgingly agrees not to reveal the lie in order to save her son the humiliation of exposure. Simultaneously, she finds herself increasingly uncomfortable with the progress of the lawsuit; the ER doctor might have diagnosed Bob correctly but for her husband's evasive and uncertain account of his condition—a truth she suspects he failed to reveal to the doctor in order to cover his infidelity. As her troubles deepen and her desperation mounts, the strain of maintaining these two facades threatens to snap the fraying threads holding her life together.
But Laura finds strength from an unexpected source, her brother-in-law Paul (Rob Benedict). Another devoted parent who has a similarly difficult time holding his own against the overbearing Joan and Kathy, Paul grew up with Laura, admiring her from afar, but considered her way out of his league back in high school. It is only now, during these difficult days,that Laura begins to appreciate the unconditional devotion and support that Paul provides, but is her realization too late to help her chart her course through the dire straits her life has entered?