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Select a design, then select the device that you would like to style.
In Stock - Worldwide Shipping
Skins are premium quality decals that feature stunning, high-resolution graphics printed on premium grade adhesive-backed cast vinyl.
Skins provide low profile protection with no bulk and protects your LG P999 T-Mobile G2x from scratches. The unique weaved adhesive allows for fast, easy and accurate application, and goo-free removal.
Make your LG P999 T-Mobile G2x uniquely yours.
iStyles LG P999 T-Mobile G2x Skin design of Illustration, Peafowl, Water, Poster, Book cover, Art, Fiction, Graphic design, Calligraphy with green, black, gray, blue, red colors. Model LG2X-MARVL
LG P999 T-Mobile G2x not included.
The Matte finish is a non-glossy, satin-type finish that give Skins an arty look and feel (art pieces, professional photos, canvases are usually matte). It is fingerprint and smudge resistant, and looks gorgeous with most designs.
The Gloss finish is a shiny finish that gives Skins an expensive, classy and sophisticated look (like a really shiny car). Designs look more vibrant with a gloss finish.
View your Shopping Cart or Style Another Device with "Marvelous"
I ordered a skin for my Kobo, and one for my phone. Packaged very well, not bent or folded, shipped quickly to Canada. Very easy to apply. Great colours and finishes. Fits perfectly on my devices. I love the custom look I get for my devices, especially my Kobo! I would probably order again if I need a change in design, or as a gift for someone else.Navneet Singh, Canada


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Comic Wars
"Reinventing comedy one show at a time!" 20 plus year Comedy veteran, Matt Wohlfarth (Wolfie) has successfully turned standup comedy into a high-energy interactive game show called Comic Wars. Wohlfarth felt there were too many rules in standup; sit down, shut up, don't heckle, and laugh when we want you to laugh. Comic Wars takes that paradigm and slams it on its head. It's time to tap out of the old warn out standup comedy format. The audience wants to root for someone and they want to participate in the shows. Comic Wars introduces competition to standup and solves two problems for club owners; repeat customers and gaining media attention. Here is what the Pittsburgh City Paper said about Comic Wars, "It's the Kronk Gym of comedy." Comic Wars makes the audience a part of the show by asking them join in the fun by heckling the comedians, talk to the comedians, text the show, and even vote for the winning comedy team. Comic Wars is 9 rounds of heavyweight comedy action in a competitive environment that makes the 90 minute show fly by seamlessly.
Comic Wars's Upcoming Shows
Comic Wars is Known For

subset: commoncrawl


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NWA Fashion Week kicks off second year
Organizers say most proceeds will go to local non-profits
Northwest Arkansas Fashion Week kicks off its second year Monday night with launch parties in downtown Fayetteville.
Organizer and co-founder Jade Terminella said most of the proceeds will benefit local non-profit organizations and charities. NWA Fashion Week partnered with ten non-profit groups and is on track to raise about $35,000.
Local shops also get a kick back from name recognition and the Shop Local campaign organizers promote this week.
"Fashion week has been beneficial for a lot of small businesses in a lot of ways. But obviously from a boutique standpoint - it carries a marketing standpoint that you can carry throughout the entire year," Terminella said.
Tickets for the runway shows beginning Thursday are sold out. But launch parties at Ruth's Chris in Rogers at 5 p.m. tonight and at Arsaga's in downtown Fayetteville at 6 p.m. are still open to the public.
Click here for a full list of events and to donate to one of NWA Fashion Week's non-profit organizations.


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Pilgrim nuclear plant protesters to have their day in court
By CHRISTINE LEGERE
March 17, 2014
PLYMOUTH — After years of trying to raise public awareness of what they believe to be the dangers of Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station, the Cape Downwinders appear to be on a roll.
On March 10 they stormed the Statehouse, with plenty of media coverage, and secured a commitment from Gov. Deval Patrick to write to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to express his concern over safety issues related to Pilgrim.
On Tuesday, a dozen Downwinders will go on trial in Plymouth District Court for trespassing at the Pilgrim plant following rallies last spring. While members have trespassed a number of times in the past, the charges have always been dismissed, denying them their day in court.
The group plans to use the "necessity" defense at the trial, according to Downwinder co-founder Diane Turco, which will require that they demonstrate that breaking the law was the only way to get their intended result: more widespread public awareness of Pilgrim's dangers.
"It won't be a cut-and-dried trespassing trial," Turco said. "That defense will allow us to talk about intent and use expert witnesses."
Experts on health, safety and social change are in the lineup to testify once the trial gets underway.
Gordon Thompson, executive director of the Institute for Resource and Security Studies in Cambridge, is a technical and policy analyst in the fields of energy, environment and security, according to attorney Bruce Taub, a lawyer from Orleans who will represent the accused.
"He'll be our safety guy," Taub said.
Richard Clapp is a senior environmental health scientist and professor emeritus at Boston University's School of Public Health. Taub said the scientist has studied cancer risks related to the Pilgrim plant in Plymouth.
Final expert Stephen Nathanson is a professor of philosophy at Northeastern University who will focus on social change.
"One of the things we have to demonstrate was what was being done was efficacious," Taub said. "Dr. Nathanson will talk about how social change happens."
There will also be other witnesses. Taub has invited the governor, Attorney General Martha Coakley and some state legislators from the Cape to take the stand.
Duxbury Fire Chief Kevin Nord is on the list to discuss the shortcomings of the state's emergency evacuation plans, should an accident occur.
Turco said she will testify for her group.
"Entergy is trespassing on us," the Downwinder said Friday. "People should have a say about their safety."
Joyce McMahon, spokeswoman for Entergy, the Louisiana company that owns and operates Pilgrim, issued the following statement last week:
"This is (a) criminal proceeding against a small group of demonstrators and not a trial about the plant, plant safety or nuclear power. We remain focused on our mission to safely provide clean and reliable electricity to Massachusetts."
Other defendants are Margaret Rice-Moir of Brewster; Douglas Long of Orleans; Janet Azarovitz, William Maurer and Joyce Johnson, all of Falmouth; Femke Rosenbaum of Wellfleet; Sarah Thacher and Susan Carpenter of Dennis; Mike Risch of Falmouth; Paul Rifkin of Cotuit; and Elaine Dickinson of Harwich.
via Pilgrim nuclear plant protesters to have their day in court | CapeCodOnline.com.


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Elijah Wood said he's known for a while that director Peter Jackson was hoping to have him reprise his "Lord of the Rings" role of Frodo Baggins in the first installment of "The Hobbit," due out in 2012.
"I actually spoke to Peter a while ago and I had an idea that there was something that they were thinking about. And this was quite some time ago now," Elijah told a small group of reporters on Saturday following his Television Critics Association Winter 2011 panel for his upcoming dark comedy on FX, "Wilfred." "It was in my mind as a possibility, but not as a fully formed concept that they were sure about until recently where I was given an offer."
VIEW THE PHOTOS: Television Critics Association Winter Tour 2011
U.S. & World
Reports recently surfaced that Elijah was heading back to join Cate Blanchett (Galadriel), Sir Ian McKellen (Gandalf) and Andy Serkis (Gollum) in Peter's newest project – which stars British "The Office" vet Martin Freeman (Bilbo Baggins) and BBC America "Robin Hood" star Richard Armitage (Thorin Oakenshield).
While many expect Frodo to return at the end of "The Hobbit" for that cameo, Elijah said he actually didn't know where his character was going to fit in the upcoming film.
VIEW THE PHOTOS: The Sexy Ladies Of Sci-Fi
"I actually don't know. I probably know just about as much as everybody else does," he said. "I haven't read a script, I haven't read any of the scenes that the character's going to be in.
"It's going to be very small," he continued of his return role. "It'll really just be a nod, which I think is great. I'm just excited to go back… You [don't] often — 11 years down the line — get a chance to go back and revisit a character and a place and a time in your life."
While playing Frodo is a character for which Elijah has a built-in fan base, his new show, "Wilfred," a remake of an Australian comedy for FX, is a change of pace.
VIEW THE PHOTOS: The Sexy Men Of Sci-Fi
The show sees Elijah playing Ryan, a young man who, following a suicide attempt, begins an unlikely friendship with his neighbor's dog, who he sees not as a canine, but an Australian man, dressed in a cheap dog suit.
"It's exciting for me to be part of a comedy," Elijah said of joining the TV show, which also stars original Australian "Wilfred" portrayer Jason Gann, as the canine chaaracter.
VIEW THE PHOTOS: From Elf To Pirate To Hollywood Heartthrob: Hot Pics Of Orlando Bloom!
"That's something I've never really been given an opportunity to do and I'm so proud of this ensemble and this creative process. It's been a lot of fun so far. I'm really excited for where it's going to go," he added.
Adapted for FX by David Zuckerman, who helped develop "Family Guy," Elijah said he was drawn to "Wilfred" because of its off-kilter nature.
"To be working on something that is not easy to define and is quite unique and has a darkness — we can explore that," he said. "We're just starting [work on the project]. We did our pilot and we're gonna start our production in March and we'll just have to see where it goes. I'm just excited about the prospect of where it's going."
Copyright 2011 by NBC Universal, Inc. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Related Content from AccessHollywood.com:
PLAY IT NOW: Comic-Con 2009: Peter Jackson Talks 'District 9'
PLAY IT NOW: Comic-Con 2009: Elijah Wood Talks '9'
More from Access: [ 'The Hobbit' Elijah Wood Movies ]


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High atop Christmas Tree Hill above Corte Madera, California, I reach out from my fisheye lens to my sister-in-law. Sort of like Michelangelo meets Coca-Cola commercial. In the near distance, southern Marin County's Richardson Bay, Sausalito and the Tiburon peninsula, with San Francisco Bay and the City beyond. The antennas a bit down the crest of the hill are for the Marin cable TV system. The "Christmas Tree Hill" moniker came about because decorated houses on the slope formed something of a Christmas tree pattern when viewed from a distance. Kodachrome slide. Update/correction: my brother took this shot, and it's his arm; I'm actually partly visible back there with my tripod and movie camera.
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The Crisper Whisperer: What's a Cucuzza? Recipe
Cook through your crisper surplus with ease.
You may know Carolyn Cope as Umami Girl. She stops by on Tuesdays with ideas on preparing the abundance of fruits and vegetables you might get from your CSA or the market. —The Mgmt.
[Photograph: Carolyn Cope]
Of all the ways I've worried over the years about falling short, being a decent Italian-American was never one of them. I can my own tomatoes. I live in New Jersey. I know from red wine. I worry a lot about whether I fall short. See? Seems like I had the bases covered.
More Whispers
Use Up Your Misfit Vegetables »
Declare Food Independence »
All Crisper Whisperer posts »
But until our latest trip to the farmers' market, I can't remember ever having seen or heard of a cucuzza. And if anyone ever called me "googootz" as a term of endearment, it went right over my head. Ah, Madonna! Where did I go wrong?
Anxious to reclaim my rightful roots, I spent the better part of the weekend making up for lost time. I photographed my googootzes holding cucuzzas. I researched. I sang. I breaded. (Work warning: Louis Prima starts singing when you click that link.)
Let me tell you what I learned. The cucuzza (say ko-KOO-tza or, for slang, goo-GOOTZ) is technically a gourd but generally gets treated in the kitchen like a summer squash. A member of the calabash family that also includes bottle gourds, cucuzza is also known as zuzza, New Guinea bean, and Tasmania bean, among other names. (Complicating matters, "cucuzza" is used as a general term for squash in certain regions of Italy.) The cucuzza originated in Italy, and seeds are often still passed down through families. It also grows in other temperate climates, including several parts of East Asia, and it's used in numerous East Asian cuisines.
Cucuzza looks like a smooth, pale zucchini with an elegant curvature and can be up to three feet in length. Its pale green skin needs to be peeled, and the white flesh is generally cooked rather than eaten raw. The flesh has an extremely mild taste and, even when peeled, holds its shape well when cooked. If the seeds are tender, you can eat them, but they start to get harder as the squash matures. If the seeds are hard, discard them. Cucuzza can be steamed, grilled, fried, baked, sauteed, stuffed, or used almost any other way you would use summer squash, as long as you peel it first.
At the market, look for smooth, firm gourds with some stem still attached. The stem continues to feed the gourd after picking and buys you more storage time.
The recipe below is a variation on zucchini fries, breaded and baked rather than fried. You can shallow fry them in a bit of olive oil if you prefer (or deep fry them if you really want to bring out the big guns), and you can substitute unpeeled zucchini if that's what you've got.
Baked Cucuzza "Fries"
Read more: The Crisper Whisperer: How Not to Cook
- Rated:
- One 1 1/2-pound cucuzza
- 3/4 cup Italian-seasoned dry bread crumbs
- 1/4 cup grated parmesan or pecorino cheese
- 1/4 teaspoon salt, plus more for sprinkling
- 1/8 teaspoon cayenne powder
- 1 egg
- Olive oil, for drizzling
Preheat the oven to 425°F. Trim the ends off the cucuzza and peel it with a vegetable peeler. If it is long, cut it crosswise into several pieces so it is easier to work with. Then halve each piece lengthwise. Using a spoon, scrape out the seeds. Cut into sticks. Sprinkle with salt.
In a shallow dish, combine the bread crumbs, cheese, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and cayenne.
Bake for about 7 minutes, until golden on the underside. Flip and bake for about 5 minutes more. Sprinkle with additional salt and serve.
This Recipe Appears InThe Crisper Whisperer: How Not to Cook
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Detailed Features
- Damier embossed and plain calf leather
- Black
- Blake construction
- Rubber outsole
- Made in Italy
Product Care
To preserve the beauty of your product, we recommend following these guidelines for its care:
- Clean smooth or grained leather with a soft, damp cloth. When the leather is dry, apply a quality colorless cream and polish in circular motions with a soft cloth.
- Keep your shoes in the two felt pouches provided and store them in a cool, dry, well-ventilated place.
- Avoid contact with water, any substance containing alcohol (perfumes, solvents etc.) or oil (makeup), and abrasive products in general. If shoes have been in contact with water, it is important to allow them to dry thoroughly on shoe trees cleaning them.
In order to maintain the beauty of you City Business shoes long into the future we advise you to:
- Break in your new shoes gradually, allowing the leather to soften and adapt to the shape of your foot.
- Avoid wearing your shoes on consecutive days.
- Use a shoe horn to protect the back of your shoes.
- Use shoe trees to maintain the shape of your shoes and minimize creasing.


text: I read all over web with the problems related to the orignal equipment run flat tires on late model BMW's. I have a 2006 330i, sports package, that is in need of replacement tires. What kind of experience or recommendations does anyone have on new tire, run flats versus normal. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks


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As we all know all hockey fanatics tend to give more importance to their hockey jerseys. It can also be said that the jerseys are very much important as they take fans to the places they want. Initially there were no great designs in jerseys and most hockey jerseys were made out of replica. But this is not the case in current trend. Today custom hockey jerseys are made with many exclusive designs, materials and features. And obviously the fans were also quite interested in making use of the jerseys which provides them an everlasting experience. One of the trending jerseys in current fans business market is authentic style.
These authentic are also denoted as American hockey jerseys in the fans business market. Hockey fans can find this authentic jersey is any of these different names. As all the name of this jersey indicates they are made with authentic style which provides real love for their team. Thus, fans who tend to wear this jersey will remain very attractive in the public places. And this is the main reason for why many fanatics prefer wearing this jersey for their parties and other m. And obviously the design has also impressed them to a greater extent.
The authentic jerseys are made with many everlasting features which can provide a different experience for baseball fans. Their features advanced fly wire strength to resist stretching, water repelling fabric, zoned stretched fit, and strategically placed ventilation areas. Since the authentic are also waterproof, the fans can use them without any constraint. Thus, they need not show any extra care or attention while using these authentic jerseys. However it is to be noted that the quality of the authentic will get varied from one brand to the other. Hence the fans can consider the quality and the features of various authentic uniforms and can choose the one which sounds to be effective.
The authentic will last for a long time. Hence the fanatics can choose the one which can last for longer time. The reviews on the jerseys can be taken into consideration to point out the jerseys with high quality material. Last but not least, these authentic jerseys are well designed to provide more comfort for fans. Thus, they will not feel any irritations even after wearing custom authentic hockey jerseys for a long time.
Fanatics who are in need of these hockey jerseys with high quality can order them online. This is because these exclusive designs are quite hard to find in the local sports stores. The only thing which is to be taken into consideration is the branded hockey jerseys must be ordered from online stores. They must be capable of delivering the right product at right time. If needed, hockey fans can analyze the authentic in various hockey websites and can order for the one which is highly affordable when compared to the other brands in the fans business market.


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Jeremy is a tech strategist/project manager and application developer in the corporate world, and a coffee geek. He has spent over 15 years in the professional IT field, and has been a tech hack for a majority of his life and is a lover of all things Android and Google. He has 3 kids and a beautiful wife.
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Brain, Body and Sensory Motor Integration Tools
Posted by AutismOne On September 7, 2017, 12:31 am
In this podcast interview with sensory motor integration specialist, Sonia Story, we explore the many tools a parent can learn and provide for their own child at home to balance sensory issues.
Welcome to part 2 of the 3-part podcast series on help with school. As a fourth bonus, Karen is offering a FREE live webinar, How To Create Better Focus and Calmer Moods For Children with Autism. Please join Karen for this extremely valuable final piece. Sign up here for the webinar.


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Uncompromised Faith
- S. Michael Craven Author
- 2009 1 Mar
EDITOR'S NOTE: The following is an excerpt from Uncompromised Faith: Overcoming Our Culturalized Christianity by S. Michael Craven (NavPress).
Chapter 1: The Crisis Confronting the American Church: Rethinking Cultural Engagement
Looking back over the last two millennia of Western history, one cannot help but be impressed with the role Christianity has played in shaping and forming, for better or worse, this great civilization. Throughout the centuries, Christianity has faced enormous struggles. From virtual obscurity, Christianity rose to challenge and conquer one of the greatest empires the world has ever seen: the Roman Empire. Christianity served to civilize and educate an entire continent; it gave birth to the modern ideals of freedom, human dignity, equality, free market economics, and social justice. Christianity forever established as universal human virtues the concepts of compassion, love, sacrifice, and forgiveness. The monuments of Christianity can still be seen everywhere: from the cathedrals of Europe to the music of Bach; from the intellectual heritage of Augustine, Aquinas, and Calvin to the literature of Dante, Milton, and Shakespeare. From the colonization of America to the abolition of slavery, Christianity has been the most powerful and, one might add, most positive, formative influence on culture in the history of the world.
It has been the unique influence of Christianity that has produced the greatness of so-called Western civilization. However, I must stress that we are not to confuse Christianity and Western civilization, or being Christian with being American, as these are by no means synonymous.
Christianity stands on its own, and where Christianity flourishes it naturally brings with it personal, social, and cultural transformation. Conversely, where Christianity fails to flourish or, more specifically, where the followers of Christ fail to think and act faithfully, cultures will likewise decline or fall short of their potential. This point was recently reinforced when a leading scholar from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, speaking to a group of Westerners in 2002, said,
One of the things we were asked to look into was what accounted for the success, in fact, the pre-eminence of the West all over the world. We studied everything we could from the historical, political, economic, and cultural perspective. At first, we thought it was because you had more powerful guns than we had. Then we thought it was because you had the best political system. Next we focused on your economic system. But in the past twenty years, we have realized that the heart of your culture is your religion: Christianity. That is why the West has been so powerful. The Christian moral foundation of social and cultural life was what made possible the emergence of capitalism and then the successful transition to democratic politics. We don't have any doubt about this.1
This Chinese scholar acknowledges the obvious historical facts only when he recognizes that Christianity has been the central forming influence of the world's most successful civilization. Frankly, this success is an inevitable result for any civilization that, first, builds and maintains its social and cultural foundations upon truth that is consistent with reality and, second, rightfully acknowledges the source of this truth.
Christianity in Twenty-First-Century America
So here at the dawn of the twenty-first century, what has become of Christianity in the West? What new struggles does it face? What can be said for Christianity in Western civilization and specifically in America as we look to the future?
In comparison with its past achievements, it is safe to say that evangelical Christianity today is in a pathetic state of decadence and decline in the West. It is, to a large degree, fragmented, watered-down, and retreating from relevancy. For the past two centuries, too many evangelical Christians have lived on the periphery of responsible intellectual and cultural existence. We have traded in Milton's Paradise Lost for Left Behind, the arias of Bach for contemporary Christian music, and Rembrandt for Thomas Kinkade. It is not my intention to denigrate Tim LaHaye or Jerry Jenkins, the contemporary Christian music industry, or Mr. Kinkade. However, the fact of the matter is that much of what passes for Christian art and literature today fails to rise to the same level of quality and achievement as that of historical Christian artists and writers. It is this substandard quality that necessitates the subcultural category now necessary to identify Christian art and literature as its own category.
So-called Christian art and literature no longer serves as the creative benchmark for mainstream art and culture. The fields of creative and intellectual expression once dominated by Christians have been largely abandoned, taking with them any objective standards by which we can judge the true, the good, and the beautiful. Modern evangelical Christianity has to a large extent become pietistic and legalistic; it has forgotten beauty, relativized truth, and, in many respects, reduced Jesus into nothing more than a marketing tool to sell music, T-shirts, and jewelry to an increasingly irrelevant subculture. Even the most casual observer of society and culture surely must recognize that consciously Christian ideas and values no longer direct any of our cultural institutions. The trend of every institution of American culture over the last fifty years has been a decidedly liberal drift, including some mainline Christian denominations. Welcome to post-Christian America!
Instead of engaging the intellectual and cultural challenges that we must in order to be salt and light in a world desperate for hope and meaning, the vast majority of evangelical Christians have abandoned the hard work of apprehending and pressing the truth into every sphere of life and culture. As a result, we have surrendered, by default, our influence in society to secular humanists and others who reject the truth and centrality of Christ to all of life.
From the public school system to the universities, the sciences to the humanities, films to the fine arts, politics to philosophy, Christians have, for the most part, abandoned mainstream culture and withdrawn to the confines of their churches, creating an elaborate Christian subculture with its own language, symbols, entertainment, and literature. To think, then, that we can venture out into the "real" world from this irrelevant subculture and reach people with the truth of Christ is naïve. The fact that the most important truth ever revealed to humanity has been successfully consigned to the margins of society has only strengthened the implausibility of the gospel story!
In the meantime, the truth claims of Christianity have come under vicious attack from all sides. The possibility of miracles, divine revelation, and the Incarnation is both questioned and categorized as a primitive, out-of-date interpretation of reality. The deity of Christ and the existence of God are either rejected altogether or reduced to a practical deism in which God set things in motion but has little to do with everyday life and social existence. The historical and scientific accuracy of the Bible is repeatedly attacked. One only has to recall the recent wave of critics and so-called theologians who weighed in on Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ or recent prime-time specials on Jesus and Paul —all dismissing the historical and supernatural truth of the biblical revelation and Jesus as God. The success of The Da Vinci Code, by Dan Brown, with its outrageous and false claims of conspiracy and cover-up as the impetus for the early founding of Christianity, promises to further weaken the plausibility of the Christian faith and message.
The way of salvation —through Christ alone —is regarded as divisive, offensive, or simply unnecessary. Competing religious systems are set over and against Christianity as being more tolerant and more humane. Today, Christians are often labeled fundamentalist right-wing extremists. Unfortunately, due to the general intellectual weakness and pervasive theological ignorance of the church, this is a label that is all too often accurate. And more and more, all remnants of our nation's Christian heritage are being systematically removed from the public square.
An Anti-Intellectual Spirit
Rather than engage these kinds of arguments and actions intelligently as 1 Peter 3:15 commands, many evangelicals continue to hide away under the mask of anti-intellectualism. Too many Christians think, Apologetics is too rationalistic, cerebral, intellectual, and abstract. I don't need to try to rationally prove the existence of God or argue with others about whether or not He exists. I just need to show love and compassion. After all, what really matters is faith, hope, and love—not reason. Reason, they say, just gets in the way of faith, hope, and love. They follow God with their heart, not their head! Others will retreat into the abyss of fideism, saying, Religion is a matter of faith and cannot be argued by reason —one must simply believe. Faith, they think, is a blind leap in the dark, devoid of any rational reasons. They argue that faith and reason stand opposed to one another. This might account for the lack of biblical literacy evident among so many professing Christians today. Recently George Barna reported that "75 percent of Americans believe that the Bible teaches that 'God helps those who help themselves'"!2
This same attitude is to blame for the overwhelming absence of a consciously Christian life and worldview within the church, without which the Christian lacks the necessary theological framework for analyzing, understanding, and addressing every aspect of life, society, and culture from a coherent biblical philosophy. I will address this in greater detail later.
Nonetheless, this anti-intellectual attitude simply flies in the face of what the Bible teaches. We are commanded to "always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you" (1 Peter 3:15, NKJV) or to "demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God . . . [taking] captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:5). This passage in 2 Corinthians is critical and is one we often either misunderstand or misapply. The apostle Paul is urging Christians to engage in intellectual discourse and persuasive debate whenever they find themselves confronted by false ideas that contradict the biblical understanding of life and reality. This passage is not to be understood in purely individualistic or private terms related to taking our own thoughts captive; we need to understand the ideas and thoughts of others that keep them from the knowledge of the truth. Practically speaking, this means we are to be actively engaged in pressing God's truth into every aspect of life and the world. N. T. Wright was helpful in further explaining the Christian's proper relationship to the world in which he or she lives:
The new life of the Spirit, to which Christians are called in the present age, is not a matter of sitting back and enjoying the spiritual comforts in a private, relaxed, easygoing spirituality, but consists rather of the unending struggle in the mystery of prayer, the struggle to bring God's wise, healing order into the world now, in implementation of the victory of the cross and anticipation of the final redemption.3 (emphasis added)
Rather than living and thinking consistent with the way God intends the world to be, modern Christians seem to be more comfortable with the way the world presently is. Thus, they remain uninterested in engaging in the hard task of reasoning, thinking, and earnestly contending for the faith that has been delivered once and for all to the saints!
Overcoming Empty-Headed Evangelicalism
So what is to be done? Is there a way out of this destructive malaise of "empty-headed" evangelicalism? I believe the proper remedy is the repudiation of all types of anti-intellectualism that dumb down Christian theology, impoverish the witness of Christianity, and give Christians excuses not to ask and answer the hard questions.
The study of historic Christian apologetics is essential for any person who professes to be a follower of Christ. However, I want to make a distinction between historic Christian apologetics and cultural apologetics. Without venturing into the debate over classical, presuppositional, and evidential apologetics, let me just say that I believe that elements of each are helpful and not necessarily mutually exclusive. So when I use the term historic Christian apologetics, I am referring to those three schools of thought collectively. For the sake of understanding, classical apologetics "stresses rational arguments for the existence of God and historical evidences supporting the truth of Christianity."4 Presuppositional apologetics differs in that it "defends Christianity from the departure point of certain basic presuppositions"5 — namely, that all persons presuppose or assume certain explanations about reality that arise from their worldview. In presuppositionalism, the Christian apologist presents the truth of Christianity by exposing the fallacy of alternative worldviews, which the skeptic ultimately knows serve only to suppress the truth that in his heart he knows to be true. Finally, evidential apologetics stresses the need to first logically establish the existence of God before arguing for the truth of Christianity. Suffice it to say, these, to one degree or another, are all vital for the Christian to apprehend and be able to communicate.
But I want to emphasize the need for what can be called a "cultural" or "missional" apologetic. These work on two intellectual fronts. The first front addresses the ideas or ideological influences common to a given culture. These ideas surreptitiously shape our thinking in an osmotic fashion, like the water in which a fish swims: The fish doesn't give the water the slightest thought; it simply takes the water for granted. Such is the case with the ideas common to our culture. They are the air we breathe, and thus we scarcely give them a thought, but their influence on our thoughts, if unchecked, is formidable.
The second front pertains to social issues and their underlying ideas or worldview. These are most often expressed in the cultural debates over moral and ethical questions such as abortion, same-sex marriage, feminism, and homosexuality, to name just a few. The respective positions often represent opposing views of reality and the nature of man, yet whichever moral perspective—and its underlying worldview—gains social acceptance tends to form the consensus view of reality.
Sent Into the World on a Mission
It is not enough to simply understand these two ideological fronts; a cultural apologetic ultimately relies on a missional approach to culture in order to effectively confront and subvert these ideas. Currently, we toss "Christian hand grenades," occasionally entering the culture to present our one-sided arguments for the truth of Christianity and then retreating to our churches as soon as we are done. Being missional means we act more like a rescue force that is determined to stay until all are rescued than like a commando unit that occasionally enters hostile territory to harass the enemy! Being missional means we endeavor to develop real and meaningful relationships with those who God, in His providence, has brought into our lives —to first demonstrate the love of Christ and then be ready with an answer to explain the hope that is within us. It means we listen more than we speak; we ask and answer questions and expand our conversations to include more than just religion; and when we speak—for goodness' sake! —we speak in normal language and not "Christianese."
The missional Christian presses into the world wherever he or she is and pushes back the darkness with the love of Christ. The missional Christian works at really getting to know and love his neighbor, not because he has to but because he loves people as Christ commanded. This includes those neighbors who are different, difficult, or just downright unlikeable. And, yes, this includes those neighbors who share very different political views and lifestyles. In other words, we really seek to interact and develop real relationships with the lost. It means we invite sinners into our life. It means we put up with their profanity and coarse talk. It means we love them as Christ loves them, without reservation. This is what it means to be missional. If you claim to be Christian, it is what you already are: a follower of Christ left on mission in hostile territory.
If you are armed with an understanding of the cultural and social barriers that inhibit the reception of the gospel and employ this missional approach, you will go a long way toward demonstrating the relevance of Christ and His message to the unbelieving world. It is the true mark of the Christian: love. It will also align your life with Christ's commandments.
A Missional Example
I want to share an experience I had several years ago when speaking at the University of California-Berkeley that illustrates this missional approach. I had been invited by the student chapter of the ACLU to participate in a debate on same-sex marriage. Lucky me!
Now, let me be honest: UC-Berkeley was the last place on earth I wanted to go to defend the biblical perspective on marriage. However, God is providential, and I believed this was precisely where He wanted me to go, so I agreed. I would be joined in the debate by another Christian from a large pro-family organization, and we would be facing two gay activists from two organizations working to advance same-sex marriage. As I was flying from Dallas to Berkeley, I was praying for courage and wisdom. I confess there was an element of fear and I was not particularly enthusiastic about what awaited me later that evening.
As I was praying, the safety information card in the seat-back pocket in front of me caught my eye. Specifically, it was what I saw at the top of the card: REV. 11/3, referring to the date of its last revision. However, my first thought was that the Lord was directing me to Revelation 11:3. Of course, my rational side pushed this thought aside, but the Lord persisted, and I felt I must read this passage. I opened my Bible to find these words: "I will give power to my two witnesses." Wow! Needless to say, I was now a little more enthusiastic. As I continued to pray, the Lord brought to mind the differences in our respective goals for this event, His and mine. I wanted to win! I wanted to systematically, methodically, and intellectually destroy the opposition, demonstrating the superiority of the biblical perspective and, frankly, my own, as well. However, the Lord helped me see that this was not His purpose. I was reminded of God incarnate, Christ who humbled Himself unto death. This, I felt, was what the Lord was asking me to do—to surrender my ambitions and my goals of winning and instead present myself as a living sacrifice for His glory. In essence, the Lord was asking me if I was willing to be obedient to the point of public humiliation in order to demonstrate His love for His name's sake. This changed my whole approach from that of polemic argumentation to seeking humbly to persuade in an attitude of love, not opposition.
There were more than eight hundred students and faculty on hand. There was not an empty seat in the auditorium; every inch of floor space was occupied, as well as the perimeter walls. The place was packed! I can safely say that of the hundreds in the audience, only four were there in support of our position. How do I know this? I invited two and my partner invited the other two. This was the most hostile audience I had ever encountered in my life, and the debate hadn't even officially begun!
The debate began and I led off. I tried to limit my statements to the positive affirmations of traditional marriage and the natural family as supported by historical, sociological, and anthropological evidence. (These same arguments have been incorporated here into the subsequent chapter on marriage.) I most definitely did not employ any religious language. Once the crowd saw that I wasn't going to beat them over the head with Scripture and biblical moral arguments, they began to settle down, although I am speaking relatively. Then it was the opposition's turn, and their approach was not surprising. By slinging ad hominem insults and sarcasm, they incited the audience into a frenzy. Suffice it to say, this was not what I wanted to be a part of.
Then it was my partner's turn. To my dismay, he led off by quoting Romans chapter 1, and the reaction was unlike anything I had ever seen. The audience was screaming, laughing, booing, hissing —it was almost demonic. The debate continued for another hour, but honestly I was ready to leave after the first outburst. This had turned into a spectacle intended for the amusement of the audience, who in this case wanted to be entertained by the public humiliation of these Christians. I was thinking, Lord, where are they seeing Your love in this? I was grieved by the whole experience and wanted it to end.
Of course, it did end. As I was gathering up my things and preparing to leave the stage, I noticed a large crowd of students pressing toward me. Somewhat unsure of their motives at this point, I was greeted by the first student, a female. This young woman had virtually everything on her face pierced, and her T-shirt clearly proclaimed her sexual orientation, which was not heterosexual. However, much to my surprise, she thrust out her hand and said, "Mr. Craven, I want to thank you for coming. I didn't agree with everything you said, but you made some good points, and I really appreciated the way you spoke, unlike this @#*&! here," referring rather uncharitably to my partner. Not surprisingly, he quickly left the auditorium. This same pattern was repeated as student after student came forward to express thanks. Then a young woman came forward saying she was a Christian who had been living in a same-sex relationship for more than three years. She said, "I don't understand how something that feels so right to me could be wrong in the sight of God," and she began to weep. My heart broke for this young woman who was so obviously conflicted. Without going into great detail, I began to gently explain the biblical admonitions against her lifestyle while sympathizing with the reality of her attractions; I likened these to the sexual attraction felt by heterosexuals outside the context of a biblically prescribed relationship. I explained that acting upon these attractions outside the biblical prescription is an act of disobedience against God. At this point, I realized that I had reached across the podium and taken this young woman's hand as she wept. This moment was, for me, frozen as I looked up to observe the entire group of fifty to sixty students captivated by this exchange. It was as if the Lord said to me, This is what I want them to see —that I love them and I died for them.
I spent the next hour and a half with this entire group of young people, none of whom was Christian as far as I could tell, in the most productive and respectful dialogue I have ever experienced. These students had serious questions that I sensed they had been holding in reserve for years. It was as if they wanted to ask questions about Christianity but had never met a Christian, or a least one they were inclined to speak with. As the evening grew late, these students walked me across campus to my car, and as I drove away I couldn't help but think how rarely I had engaged the lost in such a manner. This was where I first recognized what it truly means to be missional, and by God's grace I determined then never to act in any other way again.
There was a profound benefit to both having understanding (cultural apologetics) and speaking to my audience as human beings made in the image of God and not as opponents (namely, the missional approach). If all we do is gain knowledge without understanding that this knowledge is to be used as an instrument of liberation, not condemnation, we are, as Scripture says, only resounding gongs and clanging cymbals (see 1 Corinthians 13:1)! If our motivation is anything other than love, we are nothing.
The Influential "Isms" of Our Day
I will address some of the more influential ideas common to contemporary American culture in much greater detail in the subsequent chapters, but a brief summary will help the current discussion. There are the influences of modernity, those pressures and influences unique to living in a technologically advanced, industrialized modern society. In addition, there are the persistent influences of modernism—the post-Enlightenment emphasis on human reason and ingenuity as savior. In both cases, these serve to undermine our sense of the supernatural and our willingness to truly live dependent on the supernatural God. There is postmodernism, which, in one sense, exposes the futility of reliance upon human reason but goes too far by destroying the historical categories of true and false, right and wrong. Postmodernism can also go too far in undermining the traditional means of both discovering and understanding truth. In doing so, the context into which we now present the gospel story has changed radically. These changes inhibit the gospel's reception and thus we must understand this new context. Lastly, there is the all-pervading influence of consumerism, which shifts the object and aim of human life to an artificial and idealized lifestyle that can be achieved "without effort, on purchase of the appropriate commodity."6 Consumerism is, in effect, an alternative gospel competing (rather effectively, I might add) with the true gospel.
Confronting Our Moral Issues
Concerning those social influences and their underlying ideas expressed in the debates over moral and ethical questions, Christians must be equipped to recognize the logical fallacies behind false moral perspectives. Furthermore, they must subsequently affirm—in the marketplace of ideas—biblical, moral, and ethical truths in a manner that is rational, relevant, and responsible without first employing religious rhetoric and moralistic arguments. The debate over moral issues and the church's inability to preserve the biblical basis as the standard by which we make moral distinctions has contributed, more so than anything else, to the redefinition of truth in our culture. The devastating result has been the elimination of the Creator God as the absolute and exclusive source of truth in the West.
Whether it be the ideas common to a given culture or those ideas that arise out of the social debate over moral and ethical questions, both create barriers to either the reception of the gospel by nonbelievers or the integration of the gospel into the life of a believer. In other words, the gospel story may remain implausible in the minds of many nonbelievers, and thus they are encouraged in their unbelief. And many believers may not realize that their thinking remains largely captive to the world, and thus they fail to sanctify their theology and cultivate a comprehensive Christian life and worldview that actually changes the way they live and respond to life's challenges and opportunities. They may speak "Christianly," but they think and often act "worldly" and thus remain in captivity to the culture rather than being an influence on the culture.
To demonstrate the inextricable connection between the preservation of true ethics and morality and belief in the authority of God, consider what atheist and Yale Law School professor Arthur Leff wrote in 1979:
If [God] does not exist, there is no metaphoric equivalent. No person, no combination of people, no document however hallowed by time, no process, no premise, nothing as equivalent to an actual God in this central function as the unexaminable examiner of good and evil. The so-called death of God . . . seems to have effected the total elimination of any coherent, or convincing, ethical or legal system.7
The social acceptance of false moral perspectives has created an unprecedented culture of unbelief in America. In other words, because we (Christians) have been unable to articulate meaningful, rational, and compelling reasons for preserving biblical authority as the basis for morality, Christianity has become irrelevant in shaping the moral consensus. It naturally follows that when Christianity, Scripture, and Jesus Christ Himself are perceived as irrelevant in defining moral values, Christianity, Scripture, and Jesus would ultimately be perceived as irrelevant in the way of offering any valid explanation of anything, including reality, meaning, and purpose. If God's revelation no longer plays a central role in defining right from wrong —something that affects us on a daily basis —then why would anyone seek answers to life's larger questions from Jesus or the Bible?
The Loss of the Christian Worldview
Our apparent inability to discern, articulate, and effectively defend biblical moral perspectives is the direct result of our lacking a comprehensive philosophy of life that is grounded in Scripture and reflected in a Christian life and worldview. According to a recent national survey by the Barna Research Group, only 4 percent of American adults have a biblical worldview as the basis of their decision making.8 The research firm said this in describing the survey results:
If Jesus Christ came to this planet as a model of how we ought to live, then our goal should be to act like Jesus. Sadly, few people consistently demonstrate the love, obedience and priorities of Jesus. The primary reason that people do not act like Jesus is because they do not think like Jesus. Behavior stems from what we think — our attitudes, beliefs, values and opinions. Although most people own a Bible and know some of its content, our research found that most Americans have little idea how to integrate core biblical principles to form a unified and meaningful response to the challenges and opportunities of life. We're often more concerned with survival amidst chaos than with experiencing truth and significance.9
Barna also reported that only 51 percent of the country's Protestant pastors have a biblical worldview.10 However, the criteria Barna's survey used to define a Christian worldview were as follows:
- Believing that absolute moral truths exist and that such truth is defined by the Bible.
- Jesus Christ lived a sinless life.
- God is the all-powerful and all-knowing Creator of the universe and He still rules it today.
- Salvation is a gift from God and cannot be earned.
- Satan is real.
- A Christian has a responsibility to share his faith in Christ with other people.
- The Bible is accurate in all of its teachings.11
This is hardly a comprehensive biblical framework for analyzing, evaluating, and guiding one's responses to the challenges and opportunities of life. These are merely the fundamental tenets of the Christian faith, the very basics of what it means to believe as a Christian! Again, according to this survey, only 4 percent of American adults agree with these seven statements, and yet 85 percent of Americans claim to be Christian.12 This is basic Christian orthodoxy or essential doctrine, not a worldview in the proper sense of the term. A worldview is better understood as an all-embracing life system that emanates from our fundamental conceptions of ultimate reality. What is the essential nature of the external world? Is it ordered or chaotic? In other words, does the world owe its existence to a Creator, or is it merely the product of undirected material causes resulting from time and chance? What are our conceptions regarding the essential nature of mankind? Is man inherently prone to do good, evil, or some combination thereof? What are our ideas about knowledge and what we are able to know or how we know? Is only knowledge that is empirically provable legitimate, while experience and supernatural revelation are not? What is our understanding of good and evil (or ethics), and, finally, what is the meaning of humanity's story on the earth, or the meaning of history? A Christian worldview could be better defined as a Christian philosophy of life in which men understand all of reality and nature in connection to the revealed Word of God. A Christian worldview properly understood is when men interpret the universe and everything in it under the direction of and authority of God. Our ideas of truth, beauty, and goodness all originate in God.
What Is a Christian Worldview?
When man rebelled against God, he chose to do without God in every respect. Sinful man sought then — and continues to seek — his own ideas about truth, beauty, and goodness somewhere beyond God, either directly within himself or indirectly within the universe around him. This is the condition of every mind prior to its regeneration. Every one of us is brought to the cross by His grace, with every aspect of our being in desperate need of transformation and renewal, including our minds. This is why Romans 12:2 commands us to "not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of [our minds]."
Instead of continuing to interpret the universe and everything in it from within yourself or with yourself as the ultimate point of reference (and by this I am speaking about every aspect of life: politics, economics, education, vocation, science, philosophy, as well as ethics and morality), you now seek to reinterpret everything you have previously understood under the direction and authority of God, from His perspective exclusively. In other words, you begin to develop a comprehensive biblical philosophy of life or Christian worldview. This is key to fulfilling the instruction given in Romans 12:1: "to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, [the entirety of your being] holy and pleasing to God" and accomplishing the goal described in the latter part of verse 2: "Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will" (emphasis added).
It can be argued that one of the principal reasons for the loss of influence of Christianity in Western civilization has been, and continues to be, a lack of commitment to a renewed intellect (or mind) operating under the direction of God. This would explain why, in large part, our salt has become tasteless and our light is hidden under a bushel. Christianity, as it is largely expressed in the American church, is no longer a transforming force in culture, and the result has been an ideological shift away from the Bible as the source of truth to one in which man has become the "measure of all things."13
J. Gresham Machen, the early-twentieth-century theologian and defender of the Christian faith, wrote,
False ideas are the greatest obstacles to the reception of the gospel. We may preach with all the fervor of a reformer yet succeed only in winning a straggler here and there, if we permit the whole collective thought of the nation or of the world to be controlled by ideas which . . . prevent Christianity from being regarded as anything more than a harmless delusion. . . . So as Christians we should try to mold the thought of the world in such a way as to make the acceptance of Christianity something more than a logical absurdity. . . . What more pressing duty than for those who have received the mighty experience of regeneration, who, therefore, do not, like the world, neglect that whole series of vitally relevant facts which is embraced in Christian experience — what more pressing duty than for these men to make themselves masters of the thought of the world in order to make it an instrument of truth instead of error?14
American Eschatology: Prophetic Fulfillment Or Spiritual Sloth?
Some Christians today dismiss this cultural duty under a popular and pessimistic view of the end times. They see attempts to reform society and culture as both futile and pointless or, worse, unrelated to the Christian life. While there are indeed various eschatological perspectives on which good Christians can disagree, none relieves Christians of their responsibility to be a preserving force in the world (salt) or active advocates of truth (light). This misguided understanding is just one more example of the anti-intellectualism so prevalent in the church. In my experience, it seems that many Christians have an eschatology formed more by popular fiction than serious biblical study. Additionally, in the United States we seem to suffer from a culturally myopic view of Christianity and history that is overly American-centric; thus, we tend to interpret Scripture and historical events through uniquely American eyes. The United States of America is not the central point in human history; Jesus Christ is!
To illustrate that our current cultural calamity is a uniquely Western problem and in no way indicative of global prophetic fulfillment, Mark Hutchinson, chairman of the church history department at Southern Cross College in Australia, said, "What many pundits thought was the death of the church in the 1960s through secularization of the West was really its relocation and rebirth into the rest of the world."15 In The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity, Philip Jenkins, professor of history and religious studies at Penn State, wrote, "For over a century, the coming decline or disappearance of religion has been a commonplace assumption of Western thought, and church leaders have sometimes shared this pessimistic view."16 However, Jenkins pointed out, "We are currently living through one of the transforming moments in the history of religion worldwide. . . . The era of Western Christianity has passed within our lifetimes, and the day of Southern [referring to the southern hemisphere] Christianity is dawning."17 Professor Jenkins added that "Christians should enjoy a worldwide boom in the new century, but the vast majority of believers will be neither white nor European, nor Euro-American."18
A Worldwide Rebirth
The fact is, the so-called passage of Christianity in the West is overshadowed by the extraordinary expansion of the church currently under way throughout the rest of the world. Indeed, the numbers are astonishing. Ed Vitagliano, writing for the American Family Association Journal, pointed out that
in Africa in the year 1900, for example, there were approximately 10 million Christians on the entire continent. By 2000, that number had grown to 360 million. The Anglican Communion is a perfect example of this worldwide trend. Whereas in its U.S. branch — the Episcopal Church — membership has declined over the last 40 years to 2.3 million, in Uganda alone there are more than 8 million Anglican Christians.19
Researcher David Barrett, author of the well-respected World Christian Encyclopedia, told us that "Africa is gaining 8.4 million new Christians a year."20 Vitagliano added,
South Korea is another example of a nation in which the growth of Christianity has been stunning. In 1920 there were only about 300,000 believers in all of Korea. But today, in South Korea alone, there are 10 to 12 million Christians — about 25% of the population. Worldwide, evangelical Christians are a thriving part of the Christian community. Yet today, 70% of evangelical Christians live outside the West.21
According to David Aikman, Time magazine's former chief in Beijing, "China is in the process of becoming Christianized. . . . It is possible that Christians will constitute 20 to 30 percent of China's population within three decades!"22
Gene Edward Veith, culture critic for World Magazine, pointed out that "it is not modernist, liberal Christianity that is sweeping through the Southern Hemisphere but a Christianity in which the gospel is proclaimed, that believes God's Word, that refuses to conform to the world."23 The fact is, according to the "American Religious Identity Survey" conducted by the City University of New York, "The number of adherents to Christianity [in the United States] is in significant decline while every other false religious system is experiencing unprecedented growth."24 These facts should challenge those who abandon their responsibilities to the culture on the assumption that the apparent decline of Christian influence in America is attributable to prophetic fulfillment. In fact, it could be argued that this very same attitude has only contributed to the church's decline and lack of relevance.
The church in America is in crisis, and this crisis cannot be dismissed or simply explained away under some end-times rationale. This crisis is quite clearly the natural consequence of biblical illiteracy, theological ignorance, doctrinal apathy, and our subsequent conformity to the spirit of this age. As a result of our intellectual neglect, our minds do not experience genuine renewal, and therefore our ability to discern or prove God's good, acceptable, and perfect will in all things is greatly limited. American Christianity has simply descended into a shallow version of its former self—a mere shadow of historic orthodox Christianity. The words of Romans 1:28 offer a much more plausible explanation of our current condition: "Since [the people] did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, [God] gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done."
Not only are we doing "what ought not to be done," as evidenced by the dramatic moral degeneration of American culture in the past fifty years, we (the church) are obviously not doing what we ought to do, as evidenced by the widespread secularization of American culture during this same period.
Overcoming Our Culturalized Christianity
My intention here is to help Christians identify, examine, and understand the varied and often unseen ideological and social forces prevalent in today's culture, forces that inhibit their ability to think biblically about life and the world in which they live. It is my sincere belief that many Christians do, in fact, desire a relationship with Jesus Christ that utterly transforms their lives and empowers them in His service. Unfortunately, more often than not they find themselves simply propelled along by life, never experiencing the joy of the Lord, any real sense of meaning or purpose, or even knowing what the transformed life is supposed to look like. These brothers and sisters are captive to the culture by various degrees and don't know it. In the following chapters, I will explore those largely unexamined philosophical forces in contemporary life and culture, demonstrating how these forces adversely affect our perceptions of almost everything, including Christ and what it means to live as a Christian. By better understanding the culture in
which we live, and thus becoming missional in the sense that we are immersed and engaged, I believe that the Christian church can recover its relevance and bring honor and glory to the King of kings!
Uncompromised Faith
Copyright © 2009 by S. Michael Craven
Published by NavPress Publishing
NavPress, P.O. Box 35001, Colorado Springs, CO 80935
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher, except as provided for by USA copyright law.
To order copies of this resource, come back to www.navpress.com.


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The worry stems from the Assad regime's attempt to build a nuclear reactor in the eastern city of at Al-Kibar in the mid-2000s. With assistance from North Korea, Damascus is believed to have nearly completed the facility prior to its destruction in an alleged Israeli airstrike in 2007.
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|Last 1 | 3 | 7 Days
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Seeking informations on Big CNC
Hi all,
I'm Axel, from France.
I was searching informations for a DIY Huge CNC, for 2,5D milling on various types of raw materials.
Just landed here, and see a lot of interesting informations.
Thanks for all. And please excuse my bad english.
Hi all, thanks for the welcoming.
I've read a lot and list all my needs about my final CNC project.
The Mechmate conception match my needs.
I have still serveral questions remaining before to start.
Appreciate I'm graduated engineer in accoustic, not in mecanics.
1/ Is light right ?
The Mechmate is based on steel bars.
From chassis to trolley, this is pretty heavy.
Is there any technical benefit of an heavy structure ?
Otherhand, stepper motors may use less torque if mobile parts are lighter.
Last, aluminium profiles may be less expensive in France.
According an aluminium structure offers comparable strenght and rigidity,
is it possible to swap steel for aluminium ?
Heavy is good as far as cutting goes.
You see many homemade CNC rigs filled with sand to add mass and dampen vibrations.
Generally, you need aluminum that is 3 times thicker to have the same bending strength as steel; so you not only would pay more for an aluminum structure (I don't think you will find aluminum cheaper than steel), it might end up weighing the same.
Welding steel with a MIG welder is easy and cheap (anyone can do it), Welding aluminum is much more difficult.
Last edited by WTI; Thu 16 February 2012 at 11:57..
Thanks James.
I don't want to weld aluminium (and nothing else than electronics if possible...).
I thought rivets and corners braces was a fast and nice way.
Throught, the MM main longitudinal beams are able to support 10 tons each (22.000lbs).
Isn't it a bit oversided to carry the Gantry and Car ?
Why a lighter profile can't do the job, especialy a tube profile ?
Last edited by Axel1966; Thu 16 February 2012 at 14:44..
You are only looking it in terms of static load. When the gantry starts to roll there are a whole lot of new forces around, and it needs a heavy table to absorb it.
My gantry tube is 3mm thick, my friends is 4mm, his gantry moves a bit smoother as the vibration from motors is dampened a bit and added mass keeps it firmly on the rails.
Thanx Danilo. I understand what you mean.
I thought the gravity system of the V-rails was perfectible, especialy with a light gantry.
Otherhand, the cut of the V-rails seems to me leading to unpredictable results,
event with building the special guiding tool. Small variations may produce a wrong result.
So I was about to invest into a stainless steel trolley-rail system witch is not so expensive compared to the needed v-rollers :
With the Gantry and Car fixed horizontaly and verticaly, the movement should be as smooth as possible. Appreciate the rails are straight to 0.05mm.
So, the next factor may be, will the structure be stiff enough to absorb vibrations and kinetic energy ?
If you don't like V-rollers or the weight of a Mechmate the whole design will not work for you and you will be forced to make too many design changes, look into cncrouterparts linear carriage and see how they use aluminium for structure.
This feels like Déja vu.
IMHO, the MM design has been worked to the point where no more changes are necessary. You're trying to re-invent the wheel. Anyway, if you do a bit of reading you'll see that you are asking the same questions that have been asked many times before. Sorry but i didn't mean to come down on you like that. ...just had to say something. I hope to build one in the near future and I will not change one single thing.
Axel, WOW! Stainless steel trolley-rail system that is straight to 0.05mm!!! Do they come in 3m length & still straight to 0.05mm? Can they take 300kg load?
I surely could use many of those for my store room & retractable canopy
I respect your point of view Don. Thanx Danilo, i've checked all the possible drive solutions.
An engineering is an instant vision to solve a problem.
A car is a car. Appreciate the way cars a builded now is not exactly the same than 20 years ago.
One day, the 2006 MM will be out of date. Should we definitely reject evolution ?
An exemple, Some MM are chain drived. IMO it's not a bad idea for many reasons.
First, it works pretty well.
Second, it's unexpensive to find, to build and to maintain.
Third, it's more simple than axis-pignon-belt-gear-rail. Just a chain a gear and two tensors.
I ask questions to the comunity to check principles.
As far i'm not an expert, my questions may be stupid, or not.
Compared to 2006, steel is much more expensive in 2012 (200% here).
I need a good CNC router. I don't have an extensible 10.000€ budget.
Two solutions :
1/ no CNC router = no budget problem
2/ try to find solutions around the MM, to make the build possible
I need to check the relevant possible evolution and minimize the desing changes.
I submit my thinks to the comunity to check where i'm wrong.
Weight means money. Definitely.
Is the weight an indispensable factor or can light but stiff structure can be an alternative ?
Thanks for your reply Ken. Sorry, I was writing, I did not read your post before.
300kg load ? Uh ! It's huge for the gantry and car, I'll use a mill not a V8 !
Do you mean 300 kgf ?
According to the manufacturer informations, a four trolley guidage system can hold 320 daN (witch is comparable to kgf within 2%).
I was wrong. The profile is built with a tolerance under 1/10e mm to be exact
the roller trolley is built with a 0.05mm precision (cf. manufacturer).
I hope both can come in reasonable shape.
don't know whats the problem with rack and pinion, here it costed 22eur /m
you can just stick it up with tape and its finished?
chain on the other side needs tension, adjustment and further adjustment over time and maybe even be more expensive.
Steel tube is still the cheapest building material I know, a 6 meter U-profile 180x70mm costs 110 eur, you can cut it, tap it, weld it. Aluminium extrusion in that size and length cost surely more than 2 times that, and with extrusion you need all sorts of joints etc which you can't make yourself easily.
Please don't be discouraged by no means, find the material and parts and compare the prices, my 2 year experience with machine and the people coming over to see it says... you cant build it easier and cheaper.
I'm thinking about having shelves to stow my plywood on a multiple drawers, I now stack all my sheets on the same pile, & pulling selected size sheet from the pile is too much strains on my back... 320kgF is ~32 kg... Can even take my weight... useless for my purpose. But I reckon you can build toy desk top CNC with it. Should be cheap & fast to complete.
If you money is short, time is your friend...
Ever consider hand filing your own rack gear from square bars?
I believe no one here resist evolution... as long as it is an improvement & worth the effort... Ever seen a hammer with 2 handles in your local stores?
BTW, ever cost in the time you spent on looking for a "better" "more Economical" solution? Most likely, one will waste more in opportunity cost than that few thousand bucks you saved on material...
Think "Standing on the shoulder of the giant"....
**PS, Even consider using scrap timber for the table & main beams?
Last edited by KenC; Fri 17 February 2012 at 06:23..
If you want to build a MM, there is going to be welding - there is no way around it. MIG welding is much faster than you can drill and tap holes for bolts and rivets, and a MIG welded joint is stronger than the steel itself.
You can learn to MIG weld steel in a day with a used $500 Miller welder (do they have Miller and Lincoln in France?). Although aluminum can be MIG welded (it requires an expensive spool gun add on and gas), it is usually TIG welded. TIG welding is 3 weeks of classes and a $2500 rig just to get started.
The reason the MM main longitudinal beams are so strong is that with the stresses of the moving gantry and the load of the router being plunged into the material are much greater than you think. You want to hold tolerances to .001" right? The roof on your house is fine until you pile 2m of snow on it...
Today, I want you to call a metal supplier in your town and ask for the same piece of material (lets say 50mm x 50mm square tubing with a 6mm wall, 4m long) in both steel and 6061 aluminum. Report back to us the price difference.
Hi all, thanx for your awnsers.
I only studdy a CNC router for one year, every advice is crucial to me.
I seached a lot for best suppliers here. I don't have the same prices.
UK or Germany are less expensive than France. Serbia looks like even better !
The best price I get for U-Profile 180x70mm is 26€/m while you have 18,5€/m.
Same for the rack you get 22€/m while I get 32€/m.
For the transmission, pignon, 2 pulleys, belt and axis = +-45€ without fasterners...
That's why I turned (at this point) into :
100x18mm renforced aluminium structure at 4,5€/m (can be doubled or tripled if necessary)
Chain 5€/m, chain holders 2€ each, 1 pignon 9€, 2 tensors 6€ each, 2 springs 0,40€ each.
Definitely, it's less expensive.
Otherhand, Aluminium is fast and easy to be cut, just drill holes and fix a rivet, it's all done.
No need of grind, degrease, paint... A rivet cost 0,02€ each, plate or corner braces only 0,60€ each...
With steel, I will need an angle grinder (200€) preferabily a metal chop saw (450€), an arc welding machine (80€)...
And just for the CNC construction because I won't use it in the future...
Aluminium must be faster and easyer and not that expensive. The question is : is it a good idea ?
"nani gigantum humeris insidentes" I was born near Chartres and Studied there, I well know this aphorism.
That's exaclty what I'm trying to do... I guess it's at last missunderstood.
I apreciate my request seems ridiculous for your eyes. Ok, duly noted.
Among your inacurate comments, this must be corrected :
Kilogram-force (kgf) is equal to the gravitational force on a mass of 1 kilogram.
1 kgf = 9.80665 N = 0.980665 daN
That means you can hold >313 kg (not 32kg) on 4 trolleys, until 9.8 meters per seconds, whitch is fast enough.
Up to 10 plywood plates (2440x1220x18mm), not that bad.
So it can match your needs. My pleasure to help.
Thanks, it's one of the best awnsers I ever had. I understand what you mean.
I know Welding is strong. Parts have to be cuted and drilled too, and maintained in place while welding.
I dunno if I'm able to do it in a single day. Throught, there's finition to do after that.
We have MIG engines in france, starting @ 180€, I guess a good one may cost at last 500€ (660 US$).
Maybe the solution is to rent a professional one.
It's too late here to have the exact prices you requested. (Week End). I'll get the information on monday.
I'm Sure the kinetic forces of the moving gantry and the car can be calculated.
It should be depending of the speed and the weight of the moving parts.
I'm more comfortable with sound reflexions or isolation calculation,
but I'll study that to know exaclty what amount we're talking about !
Thanx all for your interest and your comments.
I'm still at the begining of the road and your help is greatly apreciated
There are lots of people on the net who have designed their own cnc routers. Some have used MDF, some Aluminum and some steel. If you want all the benefits of the Mechmate proven design, follow the plans. If you want to do your own design to make use of materials more available to you locally you can do that as well. Your end result will depend on how good of a mechanical designer you are.
I can not find any information about the gantry and the Y-Car's mass.
Of course, it depends of many factors, especialy lenght, accessories and tube sections in use...
No need to have a precise number, just an aproaching value can be enough to have an idea.
Let's plan on 1500mm lenght for the gantry. (as Y-Car's should be closely the same weight for all MM)
Any idea mates ?
Gantry weight including the Ycar and all options, could easily move past the 100kg mark.
Thanks you so much Kim, I make a table with this value
Note that I said it could easily move past 100kg... So it's not exactly 100kg, it could easily be more...
Yes, I got it kim.
So, a 100kg Gentry+Ycar at 0,170 m/s (400 IPM) makes a kinetic energy of 1,43 Nm.
A 120kg Full Gentry at the same speed makes a kinetic energy of 1,70 Nm.
I wonder if the calculation is right. The kinetic force seems very low...
Maybe the MM is able to go faster than 400 IPM...
What should be the good speed to deal with ? (aproximatively, throught...)
Your rapids probably can be a lot faster than 400 IPM, but for cutting, it depends on the bit, the size of your spindle, and the spindle rotation speed.
Thank you James.
Into this post, J.R.Hatcher says his MM max. speed is 1350 IPM :
So fast! Even with a good spindle and low deepness, maybe too much for safety IMO.
So, let's calculate again with several values !
Ec for 120kg @ 500 IMP = 2.68 Nm
Ec for 120kg @ 750 IMP = 6.04 Nm
Ec for 120kg @ 1000 IMP = 10,74 Nm
Ec for 120kg @ 1350 IMP = 19.57 Nm
In the formula, it's speed². So speed is an important factor.
Maybe more important than weight.
Throught, these values seems to me low...
(If a Mechanic Engineer may verify...)
Let's see with half weight gantry
(aluminium made, according rigidity must be similar... -45 to -65% weight less usualy)
Ec for 60kg @ 500 IMP = 1.34 Nm
Ec for 60kg @ 750 IMP = 3.02 Nm
Ec for 60kg @ 1000 IMP = 5,37 Nm
Ec for 60kg @ 1350 IMP = 9.78 Nm
Even if the calculation is not totaly exact, with half weight,
aluminium will deal with half less kinetic energy.
Interesting, even if it's not the single factor.
What do you think ?
I think you are at the wrong forum - you should go to CNCzone.com instead.
Thank you for your interest Gerald, and for all your work and investment here.
A lot of people think about kicking me out, while I just want to understand principes before to start.
Just a question.
Today, the MechMate is 1.x
Did you ever think about a MM 2.0 ?
What could be the future of this marvelous machine called MechMate ?
Last edited by Axel1966; Sat 18 February 2012 at 05:21..
That question have been up many times. The MM community is pretty set on their ways, and by such they are not keen on taking changes and new design ideas into effect.
I have also been one of the few which has been excluded a bit on this site, when I went my own way.
No offense Gerald, I have gotten alot of information on CNC's through this site, and I have put it to good use over the years. So for that I thank you.
- if you want to start to build a MechMate, then follow the plans
- if you want to start analysis of CNC machines to design your own, then find some people with better experience, that is at CNCzone.
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Consumers Warned on Deferred-Interest Cards
The deferred-interest credit cards that many Americans swiped to bring Christmas cheer this year could deliver a lump of coal in 2013.
Personal-finance experts are warning consumers that a failure to pay off just a few dollars of their purchases on some credit cards from Apple Inc., Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and other big-name retailers can leave them with major finance charges later on.
The deferred-interest credit cards offered by those stores allow customers to pay for purchases interest-free for a set period. But borrowers who fail to pay off their initial purchases in full by the end of the promotional period must pay interest on the original amount that they charged—even the parts they have already paid off.
The backdated interest is often at rates as high as 25%.
"Deferred-interest credit cards are one of the worst abuses" by credit-card lenders, said Chi Chi Wu, a staff attorney for the National Consumer Law Center, which in the past has pushed for a ban on deferred-interest cards.
Under the programs, a borrower who bought a $1,000 computer with one of these cards who has even just a few dollars remaining at the end of their deferred-interest period could conceivably wind up having to pay hundreds of dollars in interest charges.
Such cards, which have been around for years, are pitched by retailers including Amazon.com Inc., Office Depot Inc. and Home Depot Inc. The programs give merchants a way to entice consumers to spend, and give consumers the ability to make a big-ticket purchase without having to pay anything up front.
The National Consumer Law Center, which has long called for a ban on deferred-interest cards, plans to urge the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the agency launched in 2011 to monitor credit cards, mortgages and other financial products for abusive practices, to propose rules that would restrict lenders from offering the programs. The group argues that legislation passed in 2009 known as the CARD Act intended to curb deferred-interest programs but regulators failed to do so when issuing the specific rules for carrying out the law's provisions.
A spokeswoman for CFPB declined to comment on whether such cards are on its agenda but said the agency has received consumer complaints about deferred-interest programs. She declined to say how many complaints it has received.
Lenders who offer the programs on behalf of retailers say they can benefit consumers by giving them a window of time to pay off purchases without finance charges.
General Electric Co. , whose finance arm is one of the biggest issuers of store credit cards, says it takes steps to ensure transparency on the terms and conditions of its programs, which include cards marketed to customers of Amazon, Wal-Mart and others.
All billing statements for deferred-interest programs include details about the promotion, including the minimum principal payments borrowers are required to make each month, the expiration date and amount of interest that has accrued, a GE spokeswoman said. She added that two months prior to the expiration of the promotional period, consumers are alerted that the clock is ticking.
GE said the "vast majority" of borrowers pay off their balances before the promotional periods end.
The Amazon card, which offers six, 12 or 24 months of deferred-interest financing depending on the dollar amount spent or items a customer purchases when opening the card. Customers who don't pay off their balances in full incur a 25.99% standard APR on the full amount charged from the purchase date, according to the fine print included on the Web page advertising the card.
CardHub.com, a credit-card comparison website, cited the Amazon card along with several others for lacking transparent policies on how interest is charged in a study released earlier this year.
Amazon didn't respond to requests for comment.
"Deferred interest in my opinion should be outlawed," said Odysseas Papadimitriou, chief executive officer of Evolution Finance, which owns CardHub.com. He says deferred-interest cards "hide the true cost of" financing.
CardHub.com's study found that more than 80% of major retailers offer customers financing options, and of those more than 60% offer a deferred-interest plan.
Apple, another retailer on CardHub.com.'s list of worst offenders, offers a deferred-financing card through Barclaycard, the credit-card division of Barclays PLC. The bank currently offers no-interest financing for six, 12 or 18 months depending on the size of a customer's purchase. The standard rate that applies after the promotional period ends is 22.99% on the amount they charged when they first opened the account as well as new purchases made going forward, according to online terms and conditions for the card.
Spokeswomen for Apple and Barclaycard declined to discuss the programs.
Stuart Reeves, a research scientist in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, said he has a deferred-interest credit card through Apple, Best Buy Co. and Lowe's Cos. "I've never had any issues," Mr. Reeves said. "I only get these if I can pay it off."
He uses his Lowe's card to buy supplies for home-improvement projects and the Best Buy card, which he is currently paying off, to buy a new TV.
"Overall, I think it's a great deal for an astute consumer who knows what they're doing and can pay them off," Mr. Reeves said. However, he said the contracts aren't "well written" and can be confusing.
Consumer-credit expert Beverly Harzog agrees deferred-interest plans can benefit consumers who know they have the money to pay off their balances before the promotional period ends. However, she recommends consumers consider opening a general-purpose credit card direct through a bank.
Many credit-card issuers today offer promotional 0% financing for as long as 18 months when first opening an account. The difference is such cards don't retroactively charge interest to past balances a consumer has paid off. Rather, the interest rate is applied only to any balance left at that time and new purchases made going forward.
"It's a little more of a safety net just in case you can't pay the entire thing off," Ms. Harzog said. "It still requires planning and forethought. But if there's a purchase you need to make and it's going to take a year to pay it off that could be a good strategy."
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| 7.9°C Belfast
Prince Harry flew back to Britain after a 20-week tour of Afghanistan in which he revealed he killed Taliban fighters, and declared: "You get asked to do things that you would expect to do wearing this uniform, and it's as simple as that really."
The 28-year-old Apache co-pilot gunner made headlines this week after he confirmed he shot dead insurgents from the cockpit, but he said opening fire was to protect allied troops and the Afghan people.
Harry has been criticised by some for his frank comments that he took the enemy "out of the game", and soldiers "take a life to save a life".
Speaking to the press at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, he said: "I think for the thousands of guys that are on operations at the moment, we are continuing, essentially, to try and do a job.
"A job for ourselves, a job for the guys left and right of us, and from my point of view, especially for the guys on the ground. We are supporting the Afghan people, supporting the Afghan army. The way that things are going are fantastic - I suppose that sounds a typical MoD army answer, but it's true.
"The difference between 2006 and now is absolutely fantastic. You get asked to do things that you would expect to do wearing this uniform, and it's as simple as that really."
The prince left the war-torn country on Monday evening, and had been on post-deployment "decompression" at a British military base in Cyprus. He flew from Akrotiri on board a regular personnel aircraft - an Airbus A330 Voyager - and landed at the Oxfordshire base at around 4.45pm on Wednesday.
Harry did not go with the rest of his 662 Squadron, 3 Regiment Army Air Corps, to their headquarters in Wattisham in Suffolk. St James's Palace said he left Brize Norton privately, but did not comment on where he was headed.
Asked what his overall reflections were on his deployment to Helmand Province, Harry said: "It has been great, it's a hell of an experience. I'm really proud of the guys - the whole squadron and obviously everyone else out there. Everything seems to be going in the right direction. It's very different to when I was last out there."
The prince, known as Captain Wales in the army, is likely to have sunk his first beer in 20 weeks while in Cyprus, and he said he enjoyed the 24-hour stopover. He said: "I'm just thrilled to be back, and a bit of blue sky in Cyprus, a bit of decompression, some comedy, and back to the snow. So the four-and-a-half months has gone really quickly, but I'm very very happy to be back."


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Tops & Sweaters
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Newtown budget with extra school security rejected
NEWTOWN (AP) -- Newtown residents have rejected a budget that included money for extra school security in the wake of the December school shootings.
Voters turned down the $72 million school budget by 482 votes and rejected the $39 million town government budget by 62 votes Tuesday. Nearly 4,500 residents voted on the plans, which would have increased spending by more than 5 percent next fiscal year.
Officials budgeted $620,000 in school spending to hire unarmed security guards and provide the town with contingency security money. The plan was spurred by the shootings that killed 20 first-graders and six educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
Jeffrey Capeci, chairman of Newtown's Legislative Council, said the budget was too steep an increase for voters to accept. Another budget must be prepared for a second vote.


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Right Pouch features all the classic goodness of our Right Pack, shrunken down to tote your accessories. With a premium leather base, one main compartment and two zip pockets.
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Police Blotter for Jan. 23
New York State Police
Tuesday, Jan. 22
o Stephanie M. Lavecchio, 19, of Amityville, was charged in Cazenovia, with failure to keep right, a speed violation, operating a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol content .08 of one percent and driving while intoxicated.
Monday, Jan. 21
o Meegen Hunt, 32, of Rome, was charged with criminal possession of precursors of Methamphetamine.
Madison County Sheriff's Department
Sunday, Jan. 20
o Richard B. Bomgardner, 40, of Madison, was charged with second-degree harassment and second-degree unlawful imprisonment.
Saturday, Jan. 19
o Cameron M. Pearson, 20, of Minoa, was charged in Morrisville with possession of marijuana.
o Kody W. Busse, 20, of Canastota, was charged in Morrisville with possession of marijuana.
Friday, Jan. 18
o Ronald A Williams, 41, of Canastota, was charged with disobeying a mandate and second-degree harassment.
o James B. Fry, 23, of Syracuse, was charged in Lenox with an equipment violation, operating a motor vehicle with .08 of one percent or more and driving while intoxicated.
Thursday, Jan. 17
o Randal L. Woodworth, 47, of Fenner, was charged with two equipment violations, unsafe turning, failure to keep right, two counts failure to stop at a stop sign, a speed violation, failure to yield right of way to an emergency vehicle, operation of a motor vehicle by an unlicensed driver, second-degree aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, possession of marijuana and unlawful fleeing a police officer.
Wednesday, Jan. 16
oLaura A. Mack, 38, of Oneida, was charged with third-degree possession of a forged instrument and third-degree forgery.
Monday, Jan. 14
o Wallace J. Edick, 43, of Blossvale, was charged with an unspecified violation of family court.
o Zachary Snyder, 21, of Oneida, was charged with a probation violation.


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Celine Dion and Rene Angelil expecting twins!
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Celine Dion at 42 years old, is pregnant with twins after undergoing her sixth in-vitro fertilization attempt and turning to acupuncture to improve her chances of a pregnancy, People magazine reports. Dion, mom to 9-year-old son René-Charles, is 14 weeks pregnant. "We're ecstatic," her husband/manager René Angelil gushes. "Céline is just hoping for a healthy pregnancy. She was hoping for one baby and the news that we are having two is a double blessing." Congrats to them!
Posted by Alisa / Labels: Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt / Comments: (0)
Actor Brad Pitt and his partner Actress Angelina Jolie enjoyed some down time at the beach Malibu, CA with their oldest sons Maddox, 8, and Pax, 6, yesterday (May 29). Brad and Angelina also have 4 more children Zahara 5, Shiloh 4 and twins Knox and Vivienne 1 1/2.
Posted by Alisa / Labels: Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale / Comments: (0)