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This is what Justin Williams does.
He does it when it matters most, at impossible, improbable times and incredible moments. He does it when all can seem lost, when nobody is talking about him, when he seems like another guy named Williams trapped behind a playoff beard: Another anonymous woodsman near the end of this Stanley Cup journey.
Normally, he is Mr. Game 7 but there's probably not going to be a Game 7 in this Stanley Cup final. "I'd like to call him Mr. Game 1, 2, 3, and 4," said Willie Mitchell, the veteran Los Angeles defenceman, after Williams scored in overtime for a 3-2 win over the New York Rangers in the Cup final opener. "That's all. You need four wins, don't you. We're just happy he's with us."
The Kings are just happy to have a win at all after a sloppy, giveaway-filled, unlikely, somewhat emotion free, more sloppy start to the final. They weren't at their best. They weren't at all dominant. They trailed 2-0, just not in games like the first round or 2-0 like the remarkable Game 7 in Chicago and then it wasn't Mr. Game 7 who finished off the win for Los Angeles.
It was Mr. Automatic.
That's what Justin Williams has become. He doesn't make all-star teams. He doesn't get mentioned for awards. He isn't considered by anybody to the best of this or the best of that. All he does is matter when it matters most.
"He's done this time and time again. I'm not sure I know why," said Mitchell. "It goes deeper for us than this game or this year. We've come back before. We made a run to get in the playoffs (two years ago). And when you've done this before, you believe you can do it again."
Williams believes and has always believed, even though not everybody has. He was a late first-round pick of the Philadelphia Flyers and most thought he would be taken later than that. He made the team as a teenager and was later traded to Carolina for Danny Markov. In Carolina, he won a Stanley Cup and was traded to Los Angeles for Patrick O'Sullivan and a second round draft picks.
Markov is long gone from the NHL and O'Sullivan really never made it. And here is Williams, back in the final for the second time in three years, three wins away from his third Stanley Cup, the leading scorer in Game 7s, just about the least likely great player who becomes great in the defining moments.
"We don't make a habit out of doing this," said Williams, through a smile that looked part happy, mostly exhausted. He thought his team was slow. He thought they struggled. He wasn't sure about his own game.
The Kings didn't look all that ready for Game 1 of the final, ready for the Rangers' speed. They hung on for two periods, strangely dominated the third period while allowing the two best scoring chances of the period on breakaways that Jonathan Quick thwarted. But before and after, Williams did the Williams thing.
He waited, delayed and made a crisp, lovely pass to the hugely inconsistent Drew Doughty on the tying goal in the second period. Instead of a 2-0 first period, it was a 2-2 second period.
A Williams assist to tie the game. An overtime goal at 4:36 to win it. It was the kind of play that makes hockey statistics meaningless. A puck bounced in one direction. Bounced over another player. Defenceman Joe Girardi fell. And Williams managed what goal scorers did, he slid to the open ice with no knowledge the puck was coming in his direction. He got there, the puck didn't leave the zone as it should have, and he shot the puck in a place where there seemed no room on Henrik Lundqvist. But that's when goal scorer often score, when there's no room, nothing to see, just fire and score.
Pretty much the only thing Darryl Sutter liked about the Kings was the fact they won.
The coach called Quick his best player and despite the one-sided shots on goal in the game and the third period, he was probably correct. The two Quick saves in the third period were monumental. But sometimes they get lost in the blur that can be overtime, when a guy known for hitting these notes, hits another one.
"We didn't have our legs out there at all, so it's pretty good to get a win," said Mitchell. The Kings felt fortunate. The Rangers must feel like they let one get away. They were up 2-0 in the first period, were watching the supposedly invincible Kings tripping all over themselves, unable to contain the Rangers at even strength or when New York was shorthanded.
Then it happened. Overtime. Williams the hero yet again.
"Justin is the most underrated player on our team by a mile," said Doughty, almost embarrassing Williams with his words. "He doesn't get enough credit for what he does."
He does now.
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Where She's From: Elvada Seleithia hails from that great Southern City, Atlanta, in Georgia. She is grateful for having been raised by both parents, together with one brother and a sister.
Her father was a pastor and her mother, she says, was "the first lady.� It was tough growing up as a "preacher's kid" mainly because of the strict upbringing and the high expectations of the public. "The greatest lessons learned are the hardest to forget,� she tells The Black Star News. "One lesson was 'A closed hand will never get fed.' Pastor Woods said this all the time. Though I didn't quite know what it meant as a child I know now."
Elvada is a graduate of Avondale High School, the Dekalb Center for the Performing Arts. She's been educated at many colleges starting with Georgia State University with a degree in Medical Sciences and a minor in Public Relations and Dramatic Arts. She began singing at the young age of three and modeling at the age of six—she discovered her passion for dramatic arts at the tender age of twelve. Â
Where She's At: "I feel as though I am still in the learning stage of my craft,� she explains. "I am learning new things and trying to portray a myriad of characters, be it on stage or in film. According to my five year plan, I am right on schedule,� she adds with a laugh.
This up and coming actress has her eyes on an eventual Oscar, a Grammy and two Tony Awards. She sees herself in the director's chair as well as a producer of many stage plays and television sitcoms. A school for young girls with an emphasis on the arts and community services is also in the plans.
"It is important to combine beauty with brainpower simply because let's face it, in this day and age beauty gets you to a lot of places but only brainpower and determination keeps you there,� Elvada says, to others with dreams. "Beauty, unfortunately, doesn't last forever but nothing and no one can strip education from you."
Where She's Heading: How does this beautiful Diva prepare to step out? She uses a daily scrub by Neutrogena, followed by an astringent of the same brand and finishes it off with a light moisturizer both day and night. Elvada tops it off by wearing any makeup by M.A.C. cosmetics but swears the best eyeliner is the Caviar cream liner by Smashbox. "I wear anything elegant from Donna Karen, to Anne Taylor; from Marciano to Bebe,� she adds. "Why? Because their clothes are classy and very elegant. But the best jeans will always be BabyPhat.�
When Elvada wants to get a little bold, she may throw a little something by Buddhist Punk or something from her favorite boutique called Runway, located on LaBrea and 8th in Los Angeles. Elvada considers herself a shoes specialist. "What's my favorite brand name shoe? The question would be what is not? I own over 400 pairs of shoes and still counting. No matter what you have on or what it costs the shoes you wear with it can make you look like a million bucks. Shoes can make you or break you," she explains.
A Buddhist, Elvada is an advocate for The Foundation for Second Chances, GLAAD, The Trevor Project and KidSave and a proud member of NCNW and NOW. "Giving back to the world can make a huge difference in our souls, minds and hearts,� she insists.
Elvada's impressive and extensive resume includes plays such as A Raisin in the Sun and White on Rice. Her film credits include Vale and One in a Million, along with a plethora of fashion shows and hosting gigs. She can be seen in an upcoming Sigeesees Production stage play called Forever is All I Need on Mother's Day. It will be playing at the Carson Civic Center.
Elvada's Words Of Wisdom: "Whatever you do and wherever you go, always give them something to remember you by.�
Elvada's Secrets To Success: "Living one day at a time to its fullest in capacity. Believing that 'no' is a foreign language I will never understand. Determination and education go hand in hand. My father always said 'If you see a person you wish to portray, take them to dinner. If they pick their teeth with one toothpick you pick yours with two.' I always feel that we miss out on our lives because we fail to dream. In the words of the late Dr. Benjamin E. Mays 'It isn't a calamity to die with dreams unfulfilled, but it is a calamity not to dream. It is not a disgrace not to reach the stars, but it is a disgrace to have no stars to reach for. Not failure, but low aim is sin.'�
Elvada's Favorite Three Books: "Letting Go of the Person You Used to Be, Josephine: The Josephine Baker Story, and The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran.�
Elvada's Favorite Three Movies: "The Other Sister, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, and Great Expectations."Â
The First Three Things Elvada Would Do As President: "Pull the troops out of the good- for-nothing war; invite Bin Laden over for some Southern, home-cooked food because food always brings the enemies together and the fighting to a complete halt, at least for a little while; and, third, push for a law so that all people complete 100 hours of community service.�
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Tag Archives: rainbow swiss chard
Meatless Monday – Starts in the Garden! And Quinoa Beyond Chicken Wraps
For Meatless Monday, there's no better place to start than your own garden! First off, your food is fresher, you can control that your veggies will be 100% organic and you can't beat the price. Take herbs for example, at … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged Beyond Chicken, herbs, kale, lettuce, lettuce wraps, oregano, parsley, rainbow swiss chard, swiss chard, tomato, veggies Leave a comment


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Supreme Court Declines to Revive Delaware Arbitration Program
Lower Courts Held That Allowing Sitting Judges to Rule in Private Proceedings Was Unconstitutional
WASHINGTON—The U.S. Supreme Court refused to revive a Delaware arbitration program in which sitting judges would handle corporate disputes confidentially.
Lower-court decisions held that the state-sponsored program was unconstitutional on First Amendment grounds because its arbitration proceedings weren't open to the public. In a brief order Monday, the high court without comment declined to review those decisions.
To Read the Full Story


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Consumer spending atStadium
1 week
1 month
3 months
This year
1 year
The above graph shows shopping patterns and shopping trends at Stadium, based on anonymized transactions from consumers using Meniga. It lets you see things like which day of the year is the best for Stadium, or which day of the week is the worst.Learn more about how Meniga Consumer Trends is calculated
Meniga Consumer Trends is based on real-time transaction data. While we hope it will be of interest to you, Meniga is not responsible for any decisions you make based on the data.
467 kr
Receipt (average)
108.2 days
Time between visits (average)
60% women
41 years
Age (average)


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Experiencing the Truth
- Anthony J. Carter Author
- 2008 16 Aug
EDITOR'S NOTE: The following is an excerpt from Experiencing the Truth by Anthony J. Carter (Crossway).
Are you attending the wrong church? This question was the topic of an article in Gospel Today Magazine.1 According to the article, much has been written addressing the absence of men in most churches today. Yet, little attention has been paid to the men who are in church and the reasons why they attend the church they do. There is a nonchalant, almost disinterested quality to the men who are in church. The reason, according to the journalist, is that many of these men are in churches not of their own choosing. Consequently, they may be in the wrong place for the wrong reason. What are these reasons? Topping the journalist's list:
1. It was the church of your childhood or the church where you first received Christ.
2. It's where you found the love of your life.
3. It's conveniently located.
4. The music is good.
5. The pastor is cool.
6. It was recommended by a friend.2
Contrary to what many might think, these are not sufficient grounds for attending a church. The selection of a church home is an important and life-impacting decision. Therefore it should be done soberly, intentionally, and with prayer and counsel. Apparently, the author of the aforementioned article agrees. He offers six answers to the question, what should a man look for when selecting a church?
1. Look for a church where other men are actively involved in the ministry, and not just the men's ministry.
2. Look for a church where you can find purpose and significance for your life.
3. Look for a church where manhood is celebrated and not desecrated.
4. Look for a church where there is a connection between the pulpit and the pew.
5. Look for a church where opportunities for leadership exist.
6. Look for a church where the needs of the rest of your family are met.3
Honestly, a man could just as well find the above listing fulfilled in a national fraternity or a local golf club. In reading the journalist's suggestions, one is struck by the accuracy with which he unknowingly demonstrates the malady and even calamity that is the church in general and the predominantly African-American church in particular. In setting forth his suggestions for determining one's church home, the author prioritizes issues of felt needs and a self-serving agenda. He fails to demonstrate the biblical knowledge and discernment that is needed to inform such an important decision, yet rarely does.
Sadly, there is no mention of the single most important aspect of any decision to attend a church. The first and fundamental question should be: Is the Word of God faithfully and clearly expounded? Closely related to the first question are subsequent important questions: Are the sacraments faithfully administered? Is God the focus of the worship in word and song? Are faithfulness and holiness in life promoted? Ultimately: Are the theology of the pulpit and the practice of pew consistent with biblical, historic, experiential Christianity? These are the questions every Christian should be asking. These are the questions rarely raised in the predominantly African-American church today. These are the questions that precipitate the writing of this book.
The dearth of biblical truth among Christians today is caused by their search for places that serve them and meet their perceived needs rather than places where God is exalted and Christ is trusted because the Word of God is faithfully proclaimed. Yet, it is not only because people are looking for churches that will focus on their perceived felt needs; churches who are advertising themselves as places where people can get whatever they want, when they want it, and how they want it are equally responsible. This has created a chasm between Christianity in predominantly African-American churches and true, biblical Christian experience. Into this chasm we seek to posit historic, Reformed theology.
In On Being Black and Reformed, I argued for the legitimate correlation of the African-American Christian experience and historic, Reformed theology.4 While some have thought that these two perspectives are antithetical, I suggested that they are inherently complementary, and when brought together they reveal a beautiful symphony of truth and experience that God desires for his people to know. In fact, Reformed, biblical theology should serve as the foundation of all experiential truth, particularly the experience of African-Americans.
To see the African-American Christian experience apart from an intentional application of Reformed theological principles is like reading a book by the moonlight. We can see the page well enough to make out the story, but it is so much easier and indeed enlightening to read by the direct light of the noonday sun. Reformed theology shines the noonday sun upon Christian experience so that we see more and further than we could by moonlight. By understanding Reformed theology, the history of African-Americans (and any other people for that matter) is enriched because the biblical God as understood in Reformed theology is big and gracious. He is sovereign and sophisticated. He is to be celebrated and feared.
In this present work, I have enlisted the help of some friends in bringing the truth of Reformed theology not simply to African-American history and experience, but also in bringing it to the church today—the whole of Christianity in general and the predominantly African-American church in particular. It is our hope that you will see that biblical, Reformed theology is not only essential in accurately discerning what God has done, but it is imperative if we are to understand what God is doing and what he is calling his people to be in our time. Though the times may seem bleak, we are convinced of the illuminating power of the gospel of truth.
It was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. who reminded us that only when it is dark enough can one see the stars. the state of the church in general and the African-American church in particular is dark. the darkness is not due to a lack of attendance on Sunday mornings at places that call themselves churches. It is not due to a lack of interest in spiritual things. No. Black men and women go to church. Black men and women want to know about God. George Barna, in his research for High Impact African-American Churches, posed the following questions after analyzing his data:
Do you know that we tested 22 common goals that people pursue, the top rated goal among black adults is to have a close relationship with God, while the same goal is ranked fifth by whites? Or that being actively involved in a church is a goal pursued by three-quarters of all black adults but by less than half of all white adults?5
The growth of the mega-church among African-Americans in recent years is staggering. There is no lack of buildings opened in the name of God. Our neighborhoods are littered with places of worship, with more being built and bought every day. Again, Barna makes the point when his research reveals that:
There is a higher percentage of large black congregations than there is among white or Hispanic congregations. In fact, while Willow Creek and Saddleback are regularly touted by the media as the biggest churches in North America, there are at least a dozen black churches whose attendance exceeds either of those well known congregations by at least a couple thousand people per week!6
No, the problem and the darkness in predominantly African-American churches are not from a lack of construction or the absence of congregants, but rather a lack of content. the problem lies in the character and quality of the Christianity that these places promote and export.
Open-Bible Reformation
In a much talked about article in the Washington Post, journalist John Fountain lamented the present state of the predominantly African-American church. In Fountain's own testimony, he has lost confidence in the church. He has become disillusioned with the direction the predominantly African-American church has taken. He has found the drive for wealth and success that is popularized by the mega-church movement to be distasteful and offensive. According to Fountain:
I am angered by the preacher I know, and his wife and co-pastor, who exacted a per diem and drove luxury vehicles, their modest salaries boosted by tithes and offerings from poor folks in a struggling congregation of families, a number of them headed by single women. This at a time when the church didn't own a single chair and was renting a building to hold worship services.7
Yet every Sunday large churches and small ones are filled with men and women seeking to drive luxury vehicles and boost their financial worth because the preacher told them that Jesus was rich and they should be rich too. Too many of these places are filled with men and women who know too little of the truth contained in Scripture and too little of the truth about the God of Scripture, because they spend too much of their time ingesting the error dispensed by preachers and teachers who fancy themselves apostles, prophets, bishops, and pastors.
In the growing black mega-church movement, there is an overwhelming emphasis upon the sensational, excitable, and experiential. there is an unbiblical infatuation with the miraculous and the fanciful. This produces a vacuum where objective biblical truth is sucked up and finds little place in the life of the church or the Christian. Again, Fountain's disillusionment is due in large part to this experience-driven type of Christianity, which he experienced. According to Fountain:
I am the grandson of a pastor and am myself a licensed minister. I love God and I love the church. I know church-speak and feel as comfortable shouting hallelujahs and amens and lifting my hands in the sanctuary as I do putting on my socks. I have danced in the spirit, spoken in tongues, and proclaimed Jesus Christ as my Lord and savior. I once arrived faithfully at the door of every prayer meeting and went to nearly every Bible study and month-long revival. I attended umpteen services, even the midnight musicals and my church's annual national meetings, like the one held two weeks ago in Kansas City. Yet I now feel disconnected. I am disconnected. Not necessarily from God, but from the church.8
Unfortunately for Fountain and many with similar testimonies, church has become nothing but a heavy dose of emotional stimulation. And when the emotional high has worn off, he begins looking for meetings to attend to find that energy. He begins looking for work to do to make him once again feel significant. Here is a glaring and sad illustration of a man who thinks he experienced God, when perhaps all he experienced was religious experience itself.
So, what is needed in this malaise of Christianity that is commonly experienced on Sunday mornings? What should our answer be to this celebrity-driven, glitter and glory brand of Christianity? What is the answer to John Fountain and many more who find popular Christianity in the predominantly black church shallow and uninspired? Fountain could use a Christianity that does not simply accentuate the novel and promote the excitable, but seeks to articulate and demonstrate a faith grounded in historical theology and proclaimed with contemporary relevance. Such Christianity is not popular in our day, yet it is most needed. Such has been the Christianity articulated in the historic Reformed tradition.
In speaking at a pastor conference in Miami in 2005, Ken Jones said that a reformation is needed, but not like those reformations in the past.9 In Josiah's day (2 Kings 23) the people needed a reformation because the Word of God was lost. Josiah led the people of God in finding and restoring the Word in their midst. the Second Reformation was under Martin Luther (1483–1546). this Reformation was not needed because the Word of God was lost, but because the Word of God was closed. Luther led the people of God in the rediscovery of the truth by opening the Bible to all people. In our day, the Word of God is not lost nor is it closed. We have open Bibles every Sunday all over the country. We need a reformation today because the Word of God is misinterpreted and misappropriated. In other words, we need an open-Bible Reformation!
Why Reformed Theology?
Why is it necessary that Reformed theology be posited as the answer to much of what plagues the church, particularly the predominantly African-American expression of the church? Two reasons come to mind.
A Biblically-Grounded Faith
Christianity in America, and particularly the predominantly African-American expression of Christianity, has sought to be a biblical faith, and Reformed theology has presented the most biblically consistent expression of Christianity and Christian thought known to the world.
I know, some will find that statement a bit exaggerated and may want to charge it to unfettered enthusiasm. Yet I don't state it out of sheer enthusiasm (though I am enthusiastic). Rather I say it with the settled conviction that it is a matter of substantiated fact. You see, no other expression of Protestant Christianity has been as careful to make sure its understanding and expression of theology has been consistently biblical than has the Reformed tradition.
No one would argue that rigorous theological study and proclamation has been a distinctive of Reformed Christianity. And thus the Reformed tradition has served the church best in this regard. The Reformed tradition has produced the great confessions and catechisms of the Faith. From Luther's Catechisms to the Heidelberg Catechism; from the Canons of Dordt to the Belgic Confession; from the Westminster Confession and Catechisms to the thirty-nine Articles to the 1689 Baptist Confession and Philadelphia Confession; even to the more contemporary documents of the Cambridge Declaration and the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy and the recent affirmations and denials of the Together for the Gospel Statement—Reformed theology has led the way in making sure that the theology articulated by the church is biblical theology. It has sought to guard the parameters of said theology with biblical confessions and to pass along to the next generation those theological commitments through the catechisms. Each of these confessions and catechisms is filled with references to Scripture and seeks to articulate the faith with the Bible—and the Bible alone—serving as the authority and foundation.
The great theological works in the history of the Protestant church and the men who produced them further demonstrate the influence of the Reformed tradition. Make a short list of the most influential and substantial theological works in the history of the church and you will find it dominated by Reformed preachers and theologians. Consider the works of Martin Luther (Bondage of the Will) and John Calvin (Institutes of the Christian Religion). It could be said of Calvin's seminal work that all theology subsequent to Calvin has in one way or another been a response to or a furthering of Calvin. How about John Owen, Jonathan Edwards, Thomas Watson, and John Bunyan? Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress is arguably the most recognizable and read piece of literature in the world next to the Bible. Read Bunyan's masterful work and you will see nothing but the richest, most experiential and pastoral Reformed theology you'll find anywhere. the list would also include preachers like Charles Spurgeon and D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones and theologians like B. B. Warfield, Louis Berkhof, J. I. Packer, and R. C. Sproul. The list could go on and on; the impact that the writings of Reformed preachers and theologians have made upon the world is incalculable.
No one could honestly argue against this. What other Protestant tradition can set forth confessions and statements of faith even remotely comparable to those of the Reformed tradition? And why is this the case? Why has the Reformed tradition been so rigorous in its theological commitments? It begins with the Reformed commitment to the inspiration and authority of Scripture.
Reformed theology has led the way since the time of the Reformation in defending and promoting the veracity of the Scriptures. It is committed to the Reformation's slogan, sola Scriptura (or "Scripture alone"), which means that the Bible alone is the final and only infallible authority for faith, life, and conduct in the church and the Christian life.
In the often recurring battle for the Bible, Reformation-minded Christians have always been on the front lines. Even those who are not particularly sympathetic to Reformed theology would have to admit that the Protestant church owes a debt of gratitude to Calvinists and the Reformed thinkers for their ready and consistent defense of the Bible's inspiration and authority. From the Reformation's call to put a Bible in the hands of the people, to B. B. Warfield's Inspiration and Authority of the Bible, to the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy, the history of Reformed theology has been one of defending the inspiration and inerrancy of the Scriptures.
Consequently, for the Reformed Christian the Bible serves as the foundation of truth and submission to the Scriptures; as the Word of God, it guides all of life, particularly preaching and worship. In Reformed thought God is sovereign; he is in control of and the
Lord over all creation. Nothing in all of creation moves or breathes or acts outside of his providential hand. Why? Not because some theologians got together in a dark, smoke-filled room and decided to think of ways to express God so he would seem to be all-powerful and all-knowing even though he's not. It is because the Bible says it's true:
[The Lord's] dominion is an everlasting dominion,
and his kingdom endures from generation to generation;
all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing,
and he does according to his will among the host of heaven
and among the inhabitants of the earth;
and none can stay his hand
or say to him, "What have you done?" (Dan. 4:34–35).
The second reason why Reformed theology is the answer is like the first.
An Experiential Faith
Christianity is an experiential faith. That is to say that the God the Bible proclaims is a God who can not only be known, but can and should be experienced. Reformed theology, when rightly understood and proclaimed, is the most truly experiential form of Christianity.
This might sound strange and even laughable to opponents of Reformed Christianity, because one of the most common and frequently expressed charges against Reformed theology is that it is an emotionless, life-killing, and passionless expression of Christianity. This characterization has led to the commonly used expression "the frozen chosen."
Admittedly, the reason why this characterization is so prevalent is because at times those who have advocated Reformed theology have been men and women who have emphasized its theological rigor and intellectualism, but not its life and passion.
D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, the late Reformed theologian and pastor of Westminster Chapel in London, once said that the Calvinist always lives with the threat of being too theoretical. This was due, according to Lloyd-Jones, to the fact that the more intelligent a man or woman was, the more likely he or she was to be a Calvinist, because Calvinism demands thought and study. You've got to read books and consider doctrine. And so there is always the danger, according to Lloyd-Jones, of becoming an intellectualist.10
Unfortunately, honesty compels us to admit that this charge too often has proven true. Too often Reformed theology produces adherents who are dry and cold in their affections. Too often it has been preached from pulpits that were dry and cold. In fact, one of the reasons why Presbyterians and the Reformed do not have a long and fruitful history among African-Americans is because of this dry intellectualism. According to the testimony of Richard Allen, founder of the African Methodist Episcopal Church:
The Methodist were the first people that brought glad tidings to colored people . . . for all the other denominations preached so high flown that we were not able to comprehend their doctrine.11
What do we say to such charges? First we admit that from time to time we have been cold. And among some Reformed churches and Christians this is still true. Yet we also assert that this is not necessary to a true expression of Reformed theology. Historically Reformed theology has been highly experiential, emotionally stimulating, and passionately preached. True Reformed preaching is not simply a scholastic pursuit. the Reformed preacher, according to Wilhelmus à Brakel, will make "his astute theological acumen subservient to the glory of God and the spiritual welfare of His church." He makes this point when he instructs ministers:
He [the minister] ought to use all his scholarship to formulate the matters to be presented, in order that he might express them in the clearest and most powerful manner. While using his scholarship, however, he must conceal his scholarship in the pulpit.12
Wilhelmus à Brakel is one of my favorite theologians. Most people today are not familiar with him, but during the Second Reformation of the seventeenth century, à Brakel was among the most respected and most read Dutch Reformed pastors and theologians. He wrote my favorite treatise on systematic theology titled The Christian's Reasonable Service. I believe it sets forth Reformed theology in its most biblical, historical, and most importantly, experiential form. One à Brakel biographer writes:
The uniqueness of à Brakel's work lies in the fact that it is more than a systematic theology . . . à Brakel's intent in writing is inescapable: He intensely wishes that the truth expounded may become an experiential reality in the hearts of those who read. In a masterful way he establishes the crucial relationship between objective truth and the subjective experience of that truth.13
Experiencing the truth—that is what Reformed theology is all about! True Christian experience is not experience for experience's sake. That type of Christianity is the error too often found in Pentecostalism and neo-Pentecostalism, where the experience with the truth (namely the Spirit of Truth) supposedly only occurs when some excitable, emotional, and even spasmodic outburst has been seen or heard. And yet, often this is nothing more than an experience with experience, which is satisfactory for a moment but ultimately produces no lasting fruit and leaves its adherent in a worse spiritual and intellectual state. Indeed, this was the case with John Fountain.
Unfortunately for Fountain and many with similar testimonies, church has become nothing but a heavy dose of emotional stimulation. What is the answer for Fountain and others like him? What is the hope for a Christianity today that is nothing more than men and women chasing one emotional high after the other?
The answer to this subjective, irrational approach to the Christian faith, interestingly, is not the dry, rational intellectualism that is popularly portrayed in Reformed American thought. Rather, it is the experiential Christianity that is objectively based but subjectively experienced. Biblical Christianity is always establishing the relationship between objective truth and subjective experience. And as a projection of biblical Christianity, true Reformed theology is always seeking to do the same. According to à Brakel, the end of true Reformed theology is an experience with the Spirit of Truth to the end of:
The conversion of the unconverted, the instruction of the ignorant, the restoration of the backsliders, the encouragement of the discouraged, as well as to the growth of faith, hope, and love in all who have become partakers of a measure of grace.14
The best Reformed biblical theology is not found in ivory towers or monastic huddles, but in the everyday experiences of life in a fallen world being redeemed by God. Understanding this, we say, without apology, that Reformed theology is the hope of Christianity. It has been the hope of Christianity since the Reformation, and it continues to be the hope today.
Calling the African-American Church Back
By positing Reformed theology as the truth worth experiencing in the predominantly black church, we are not attempting to re-invent the theological wheel. Instead we want to call the church back to the faith that has been articulated in the Scriptures and has long been advanced by the church (much of this truth has been ascribed in the church's historic creeds and confessions). The Reformation was successful not because it was new or promoted new revelatory knowledge. On the contrary, it was successful because in bringing back the glorious gospel of grace it sought God's glory through the recovery of his Word.
Michael Leach and Kenneth Jones have joined me in an effort to re-present Reformed theology to the predominantly African-American church.
Biblical theology (by Michael Leach). Mike begins the body of this book by laying the theological foundations for our proposal. He defines what biblical, experiential theology is. He then systematically and biblically sets forth the case for Reformed biblical theology and demonstrates how this theology is inherently experiential and best articulates the biblical view of what the church is and what it should be.
Biblical Preaching (by Anthony Carter). I define what biblical preaching is and how important it is to the church. I make the case for preaching that is Reformed, historical, and experiential. I also express the correlation between historic black preaching and Reformed theology and how the two naturally complement each other. In addition, appendixes 1 and 2 include some practical steps in sermon preparation, as well as a sample sermon.
Biblical Worship (by Anthony Carter). I address the subject of worship—its form and content in the church today. I define what biblical worship is and what it is not. I provide the case for Reformed, experiential, biblical worship within the predominantly African-American church and issue a plea to see the Word of God as central to all we do in worship. I also offer samples of orders of worship from predominantly black churches that hold to Reformed theology in appendix 2.
Biblical Spirituality (by Kenneth Jones). Ken Jones answers, How now should we live? In other words, Ken speaks of biblical sanctification. He looks at the development of African-American spirituality, its downturn, and the need for a biblical recovery. For this recovery, Jones sets forth true, biblical, Reformed, experiential spirituality that is based in a trust in the sufficiency of the inerrant Word of God.
A Reformation for this Generation
Our goal in this book is to add fuel to the fire that is this generation's glorious reformation. And this one must be summed up in the two Latin phrases that found prominence during the sixteenth-century Reformation: Post tenebras lux and non nobis Domine.
Post tenebras lux is translated "after darkness, light." This slogan identified the essence of the Reformation. Luther and the other reformers were not attempting to reinvent the church, only to shed light upon the darkness of its doctrine and worship. It was their belief that truth would win out over error, if truth would be known. Today we have the same conviction. The church does not need to be reinvented, God forbid. It once again needs the light of the truth that is the glorious and biblical doctrines recovered during the Reformation. The darkness that has enveloped the church will by God's grace and in his providence give way to a light—brilliant and wonderful. It is a light that is beginning to shine through this present darkness. What a great light it will be! As the prophet said,
"The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined" (Isa. 9:2).
Non nobis Domine, translated "not to us, Lord," is taken from the first line of Psalm 115. The Reformers understood that if God were going to restore his glory and majesty to the church once again, it was going to be for his name and for his glory alone. And if God would visit his people, he would do so for his name and his glory alone. they knew that the glory of God was in the Gospel of Christ. Subsequently, they all with a singular voice wrote and preached, "Not to us, O L..., not to us, but to your name give glory" (Ps. 115:1). Today will be no different. the reformation that we pray and labor for in the church in general (and the African-American church in particular) is a reformation that will only come because God determines to glorify himself through us and to us, not for our glory, but for his alone. So we, like the magisterial reformers, proclaim and pray non nobis Domine. It is my prayer that it will be the undercurrent and foundation of all we write, preach, and pray.
Today, we find ourselves in a dark place, yet the light of the truth of the Scriptures continues to shine brightly. All over this country, and indeed around the world, men and women, particularly those of African descent, are falling out of love with the world and the worldliness of popular television-driven Christianity, and falling in love with the biblical, historic faith that was and is found in Reformed theology. As we write this book, we are full of optimism and hope. We are witnessing the rise of a new generation of African-American Christians who see through the fading glory of the empty way of life advocated by the false prosperity gospel, and are seeing more clearly the faith that has once and for all been delivered to the saints—the faith rediscovered during the Reformation and being reenergized in our time. This book is part of our ongoing dedication to this move of God. We believe that God is always reforming his people according to his Spirit by his Word.
It is our sincerest desire to see God move by his Spirit to revive the church in our day according to the old paths of heart-felt and head-intoxicated experiential Christianity. To this end we have written this book, and to this end we do pray that all those who read the thoughts contained here will be moved to preach, promote, and practice a historic, biblical, and experiential Christianity to the glory of God in Christ Jesus and the good of his people called by his name.
Soli Deo Gloria!
Copyright © 2008 by Anthony J. Carter
Published by Crossway Books, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers
1300 Crescent Street Wheaton, Illinois 60187
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.


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Police Chief Jim Johnson is one of nine "Gun Violence Champions of Change" – chosen from across the nation – who will be honored by the White House Thursday, April 3, in ceremonies at The White House. The Champions of Change award presentation is scheduled from 10 a.m. to noon.
The event will be live streamed at 10 a.m. on April 3 at www.whitehouse.gov/live.
Additional information about the Champions of Change program is available at www.whitehouse.gov/champions.
"Chief Jim Johnson is truly one of the finest and most effective law enforcement professionals ever to wear the badge," said Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz. "I congratulate him on this most prestigious honor and am very glad that he calls Baltimore County home."
White House Announcement
Here is the text of the White House's announcement:
WASHINGTON – On Thursday, April 3, the White House will honor 9 grassroots leaders taking critical steps in their communities to reduce gun violence. Although a minority of the Senate voted down common-sense legislation, the Administration is continuing to take key steps to reduce gun violence by implementing more than 23 executive actions and elevating successful local efforts. This week, the Administration will highlight the critical work some of these local leaders have spearheaded to make their neighborhoods safer and to keep firearms out of the wrong hands.
In his State of the Union Address, President Obama declared, "Citizenship means standing up for the lives that gun violence steals from us each day. I have seen the courage of parents, students, pastors, and police officers all over this country who say 'we are not afraid,' and I intend to keep trying, with or without Congress, to help stop more tragedies from visiting innocent Americans in our movie theaters, shopping malls, or schools like Sandy Hook."
The White House created the Champions of Change program to feature individuals doing extraordinary things to empower, inspire and support members of their communities …
- James Johnson, Chief of Police, Baltimore County; Chair, National Law Enforcement Partnership to Prevent Gun Violence
Baltimore, MD
Baltimore County, MD, Police Chief Jim Johnson began his career with the Baltimore County Police Department in 1979 as a Cadet in the 911 Center and served in every sworn rank in the Department before being named Chief of Police in June 2007. Chief Johnson holds memberships in several professional organizations, including the Major Cities Chiefs Association (MCCA). He is MCCA's representative to and Chairs the National Law Enforcement Partnership to Prevent Gun Violence (the Partnership), a coalition of nine national law enforcement leadership organizations.
Chief Johnson works daily in his own jurisdiction to reduce incidents of gun violence and make his community safer. A highly respected leader in his state and at the national level, Chief Johnson is an active voice for law enforcement on the policies and practices that will help reduce gun violence. A gun owner and hunter, Chief Johnson has been an effective advocate for sensible policies that protect the rights of law abiding gun owners while keeping guns out of dangerous hands and excessive firepower off our streets. In 2013 Chief Johnson testified before Congress in support of expanding background checks to all purchasers, and was instrumental in changing Maryland's law prohibiting assault weapons and limiting high-capacity ammunition magazines. He holds a Masters Degree in Applied Behavioral Science from Johns Hopkins University and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Criminal Justice from the University of Baltimore. ...


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CHRIS POWELL: Fixing 'Lincoln' and illegal immigration
Congratulations to U.S. Rep. Joseph D. Courtney, D-2nd District, for catching the defamatory error in Steven Spielberg's otherwise wonderful new movie "Lincoln." The movie has two of three members of Connecticut's delegation in the House of Representatives voting in January 1865 against the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, the amendment that abolished slavery.
Courtney liked the movie but the disgrace to Connecticut stunned him. "How," he wrote to Spielberg the other day, "could congressmen from Connecticut -- a state that supported President Lincoln and lost thousands of her sons fighting against slavery on the Union side of the Civil War -- have been on the wrong side of history?"
Checking the Congressional Record for January 1865, Courtney found and told Spielberg that Connecticut was not on the wrong side -- found that all four members of the House from Connecticut actually voted for the amendment. So Courtney has asked Spielberg to correct the error when the movie is distributed on videodisc.
But Spielberg can't be faulted too much; the movie's mistakes and embellishments are small compared to the interest "Lincoln" is likely to generate in American history and government, which long have been neglected by public education.
Besides, Connecticut's constitutional history isn't all heroism. Footnotes in the Connecticut State Register and Manual record that while the state needed only a few months to ratify the 13th Amendment, Connecticut neglected to ratify the Bill of Rights for 148 years, from 1791 to until April 1939, when fascist dictators in Europe were threatening the world.
As the country considers addressing illegal immigration again, it might look to Lincoln as well.
The outlines of the solution lately suggested by some Republican and Democratic members of Congress long have been on the table. Indeed, they are only the outlines of what was supposed to be the solution with the Simpson-Mazzoli Act in 1986 -- rigorous enforcement in exchange for amnesty. About 3 million illegals were amnestied then but there was no enforcement and now illegals are estimated to total 11 million, including innocent young people who know no other country and desperately want to be Americans. Who has the heart to deport them?
But to achieve consensus on the issue, this time enforcement must precede amnesty and show results.
Fortunately enforcement wouldn't be difficult. It would be directed mainly against unscrupulous employers -- a national system of quickly checking the eligibility of potential employees and rigorous prosecution of those who hire illegals.
The country can always use immigrants who can show that they would make good citizens -- that they have learned English and want to assimilate and commit themselves to democratic and secular society, not just send their earnings out of the country or claim that religious law exempts them from civil law. When control of immigration is lost, as it has been lost in Europe, control of the culture is lost. Europe is now Eurabia.
But immigrants ready to commit to a democratic and secular society would be better citizens than many of the native-born.
This is the universality of the United States that Lincoln perceived in the Declaration of Independence. Many Americans in his time were new ones, Lincoln noted, and could not trace their ancestry to the men who fought the Revolution. "But," he added, "when they look through that old Declaration of Independence they find that those old men say, 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal,' and then they feel that that moral sentiment taught in that day evidences their relation to those men, that it is the father of all moral principle in them, and that they have a right to claim it as though they were blood of the blood and flesh of the flesh of the men who wrote that Declaration -- and so they are."
Chris Powell is managing editor of the Journal Inquirer in Manchester, Conn.


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HATFIELD - We can keep our youth fit. We can teach them ways to do so. We can start this with proper education.
Entering into its third year, BAPS Charities of Lansdale - a nonprofit international charity organization committed to sincerely serving the world by caring for individuals, families and communities - hosted its annual Children's Health and Safety Day on Saturday.
Aimed at improving the quality of life of children by hosting educational seminars and training workshops, BAPS Charities is focused on the wholesome development of each and every child according to the fair's coordinator Mayank Amin.
'I'm a pharmacist and I see elders come in all the time filling up 20, sometimes 30, different pills. If only these people had the opportunity to learn a healthy lifestyle at a young age like these kids, they could have much greater health than what they are in right now,' said Amin.
This year's BAPS Charities initiative at the children's health fair is 'We Can!' - an acronym meaning Ways to Enhance Children's Activity and Nutrition. This is a national movement designed by the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute to give parents, caregivers and entire communities a way to help children 8 to 13 years old stay at a healthy weight.
According to the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute website, research shows that parents and caregivers are the primary influence on this age group. The 'We Can!' national education program provides parents and caregivers with tools, fun activities and helps them encourage healthy eating, increased physical activity and reduced time sitting in front of the screen, including the TV or computer, in their entire families.
In February 2010, first lady Michelle Obama launched the 'Let's Move' initiative to help curb obesity and promote healthy eating habits from the early years of childhood. In support of this initiative, last year BAPS Charities hosted Children's Health Fairs across North America and spread the same message to community children.
With 62 BAPS Charities located across the country, Lansdale and Nashville, Tenn., were two pilot locations for the Children's Health and Safety Day. According to Amin, through research he discovered there is no other organization in America that holds a health and safety event for children across the nation with the same curriculum and message.
This was the season for starting the event.
After great success at both trial locations, a national children's fair committee was formed; it now assists all of the charities on starting up their own events.
'We created a national packet which has been sent all across the nation on how to set up, what organizations should help, and we have even made PowerPoint slideshows (that) BAPS can use,' said Amin who is part of the committee. 'We've had great success with eight BAPS Charities holding a fair last year and 25 hosting the fair this year. We ultimately hope all 62 locations will host this, as well as our international charities.'
From 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., the Children's Health and Safety Day offered both hands-on and hands-off education to parents and children from the local community. Throughout the day lectures and activities were held by several local health administrators, including a dentist, doctor, social worker and pharmacist. Lessons were broken up by age: ages younger than 9, older than 10, and adults.
Hands-on activities took place as local karate and yoga instructors came in, as well as a local sports facility.
BAPS member Viraj Patel was present at the event with her two daughters, Navya, 3, and Anyea, 6, and feels as though this event has become better throughout the years.
'The time and effort of all of the volunteers to make this happen is amazing,' said Patel. 'While it's geared toward children, there is plenty for adults to learn as I walk away with ways to better my life and to also become healthier with my kids.'
The true excitement of the day came after lunch as the Hatfield Volunteer Fire Company, Hatfield Police Department and the Volunteer Medical Service Corps of Lansdale each answered questions, shared information and allowed the attendees to try on equipment and sit inside vehicles.
Kids' minds were blown away as the JeffSTAT helicopter from Jefferson University Hospital landed right outside the BAPS Charities building, located along East Township Line Road in Hatfield. Both grown ups and children were allowed to sit in the back of the air craft and meet the pilots.
'It's great that the emergency vehicles come because it helps kids understand that if mommy gets hurt and goes in an ambulance it is OK; she is going in there to get help,' said Patel. 'They learn about calling 911 in an emergency and these people are here to help.'
Also during the Children's Health and Safety Day they were able to bring in a stuffed animal and pretend that they were a doctor who had to take care of it.
Each child received a picture of him or herself wearing a doctor's white coat, a stethoscope around their neck and a stuffed patient in his or her hand. The picture was taken to allow the kids to see the 'possible future doctors' they can become.
Follow Amanda Piccirilli on Twitter @MandaPiccirilli.


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BlackBerry. What Now?
Are a new operating system, a pair of handsets on which to run it, and a name change enough to restore Research In Motion, now "BlackBerry," to its former glory? That's an open question after the Wednesday event at which the company attempted to recast itself as a player in the market it helped pioneer.
Certainly Wall Street wasn't impressed. BlackBerry's shares, which had more than doubled over the past three months after a precipitous decline, tanked following the event. Shares closed down 12 percent at $13.78. Profit-taking? Surely there was some of that. But investor anxiety over the daunting task ahead of the company was obviously at work here as well. As BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins himself said, "Today is not the finish line. It's the starting line."
And the race ahead is one in which BlackBerry has already been lapped by Google and Apple, the two smartphone upstarts that unseated it. Which is not to say it's a race in which the company is ill-equipped to compete. BlackBerry's new Z10 handset appears to be garnering generally positive reviews. BlackBerry 10 seems to have finally closed the gap with more mobile operating systems. And while BlackBerry currently holds just 4.6 percent of the smartphone market — a tenth of what it once claimed — it has a user base of about 79 million people with a predisposition for its handsets. And there is almost certainly pent-up demand for its new hardware among diehard BlackBerry users.
But is there untapped demand beyond that?
Well, that's the big question, isn't it? With its new BlackBerry 10 OS and handsets, does BlackBerry have what it needs to convert iPhone and Android users who no longer consider its offerings an option? Because once the BlackBerry faithful upgrade their devices, there's a real risk that sales could slow. BB10's task is really threefold: It needs to satisfy hardcore BlackBerry users, stem defections to rival platforms and encourage defections to its own platform, and convince developers to build apps for it. That's not going to be easy when it's not at all clear that the world wants or needs another mobile operating system.
"BlackBerry 10 is competent," Wedge Partners analyst Brian Blair told AllThingsD. "But it's three years too late to catch anyone's attention."
Sterne Agee analyst Shaw Wu took a similar view, noting some recent carnage in the smartphone market. "So far, customers and developers have been lukewarm to adopt new platforms, including Windows 8 and webOS, despite strong reviews and carrier interest," Wu said. "To us, it's not just the number of apps, but the quality of apps and whether developers are making money and customers are using them."
Debuting BB10 with 70,000 apps is impressive, and BlackBerry deserves a lot of credit for pulling that off. But a critical mass of apps is hardly a self-sustaining app ecosystem. A healthy app ecosystem is a transactional one. That's why you often hear Apple boast about the billions of dollars it has paid out to developers. Sure, the iTunes App Store is approaching 800,000 apps. But that's an empty number. The important thing is that people are buying so many of them that, as of last October, Apple had paid developers $6.5 billion.
BlackBerry is a long way from reaching either of those heady numbers. But 70,000 apps is a start. And BB10 and the Z10 handset would seem to have at least given the company table stakes in the smartphone high-rollers room. Now, can BlackBerry parlay those stakes into a true comeback? (And if not, can it parlay them into an acquisition? BB10 potentially makes it a more attractive target.)
Who knows? Perhaps the consumer smartphone market is ready for something new.
We'll see.
- BlackBerry CEO: PlayBook Update Coming, Vague on Future Tablet Plans
- Most — But Maybe Not All — U.S. Carriers Will Have BlackBerry 10 Device by March
- BlackBerry 10 Boasts Some Key Apps, but Many Big Names Missing
- BlackBerry to Launch in U.S. in Mid-March
- RIM Changes Name to BlackBerry
- RIM Aims for Reinvention With BlackBerry 10 Launch
- Walt Mossberg: BlackBerry Reinvents Itself to Compete With All-Touch Smartphones


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Scoutmob was able to attract $3.25 million in new funding and a major new payments partner by pitching itself as a mobile company and not as a fledgling competitor in the daily deals space.
The Atlanta-based company's mobile app tries to be a resource to consumers who are looking for local merchants and events, sort of like the Web's original CitySearch service from years ago — except that it's on mobile. The app also distributes coupons to restaurants, but instead of charging consumers for the deals, like Groupon does, they are free, and merchants pay a flat rate to Scoutmob each time one is redeemed.
Investors in the company's second round include AOL Ventures, New Atlantic Ventures, Capital Broadcasting, Cox Enterprises and Thrillist CEO Ben Lerer. To date, Scoutmob has raised $5 million, which means that even if it wanted to, it doesn't have the resources to go up against Groupon and LivingSocial.
In an interview, Scoutmob co-founder Michael Tavani said the company gets lumped into the daily deals category, but said that from day one, "we tried to differentiate ourselves and to be more of a mobile company."
So far, the strategy has worked.
The app, which is available free on iOS, BlackBerry and Android, has 1.2 million users who have redeemed one million offers. To date, the company has launched in 10 cities, with varying success rates. Some markets, like Seattle, don't have many deals yet, while other cities, like Atlanta or Washington, D.C., are used more.
Because of its emphasis on mobile, the company was also able to to score a partnership with payment processing company First Data Corporation.
"It's crazy, we are a two-and-a-half year-old company, and every week we have the largest payment companies in the world contacting us," Tavani said. "They are worried that if they don't have mobile engagement, then what do they have?"
First Data processes about 55 percent of all transactions in the U.S., and will help Scoutmob close the loop of offering a discount, making a purchase and earning loyalty points.
The new funding will be used to support the company's next wave of product development, which will include building out a mobile rewards program with the help of First Data and other payment companies it signs up.
Tavani said it will work like this: When users make a purchase at a Scoutmob location using a credit card, they'll accrue points automatically. Once enough points have been accumulated, they can be redeemed at any Scoutmob retail location.
Unlike traditional loyalty programs, which require consumers to go to the same coffee shop 10 times in order to earn a free coffee, Scoutmob will let consumers earn and redeem points by visiting any merchant in its network. It's similar to frequent flyer programs, where miles can be earned at a variety of merchants and then redeemed at a handful of airlines.
"We want to be the equivalent of an airline reward program, but for local," Tavani said. "That's exactly what we want to be."
Scoutmob has landed in a sector spanning local businesses and mobile payments, which is ripe from innovation and extremely crowded by well-funded start-ups and massively large incumbents. But Tavani argues that it's a level playing field.
"There's going to be multiple players and lots of winners," he said. "Groupon and LivingSocial are two with a gigantic lead. But we can go out and visit merchants today — there's no one preventing us from having those conversations."


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You will Purchase Downloadable Test Bank for Modern Systems Analysis and Design, 7/E, Jeffrey A. Hoffer, Joey George, Joe Valacich, ISBN-10: 0132991306, ISBN-13: 9780132991308, [Comprehensive Test Bank – Instant Download]
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Test bank is what most of the professors use as a reference when making exams for their students, which means there is a very high chance that you will see a very similar, (if not exactly the same), question in the test! These materials are not just simple student's manuals or regular study guides. We provide you with rich Instructor Resources.
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April 12, 2016
This message preached April 10, 2016 at Foothills Community Church is part 2 in a series through the book of James entitled, "More Than A Belief...Following Jesus In Real Life"
In this message taken from James 1:19-27, we discover that the mark of a true follower of Jesus is actions of obedience. God is more interested in us doing His Word than He is in us simply knowing His Word.
Hear the message here.
Download the accompanying outline here.


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Tiffeny R. Jimenez, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Psychology
Chair, Community Psychology Ph.D. Program
College of Professional Studies and Advancement
Programs/Classes Taught:
B.A. in Psychology
M.A. in Psychology
Ph.D. in Community Psychology
LAP 302 Psychology of Negotiation
LAP 352 Children & Families Under Stress
LAP 425 Mental Health
LAP 499 Research Symposium
Graduate Master of Arts in Psychology (MAP)
LAP 526 Psychology of Organizational Leadership
Graduate Ph.D.
LAP 600 Introductory Seminar
LAP 605 Principles of Community Psychology
LAP 630 Advanced Qualitative Methodology in Community Psychology
LAP 635 Advanced Statistics for Community Psychology
LAP 660 Professional Writing for Community Psychology
LAP 670 Cross-Cultural Communication
LAP 689 Fieldwork in Community Psychology
LAS 698 Leadership & Organizational Change
LAP 698 Dissertation Proposal Seminar
LAP 699 Dissertation Advising
Areas of Expertise:
Community Psychology
Qualitative Research Methods
Inter-organizational Collaboratives
Social-Cultural System Analysis
Tiffeny Jimenez is an Assistant Professor at National Louis University (NLU) and Co-Director of the Ph.D. program in Community Psychology. She has worked and written most on various community-based research projects spanning social justice issues, including: coordinating a collaborative statewide cross-disability leadership training initiative, consulting on initiatives to change the culture of a university to be more supportive of women faculty in the STEM fields, conducting a collaborative network system analysis with a community-wide systems change initiative across a tri-county area assisting in the development of a data-driven capacity-building process to increase the knowledge of community members for restructuring a local human services system. She is most passionate about creating more inclusive communities and socially just practices through organizational and community-level systems change, coalition development, addressing cross-cultural dynamics, and focusing on resource exchange sustainability. She is currently working with a national non-profit organization that engages businesses in a process of becoming more socially responsible. She also currently serves on the Executive Committee of the Society for Community Research and Action (SCRA) and Co-Chairs a joint initiative of the SCRA Council of Education Programs (CEP) and the Practice Council (CPPC) to strengthen graduate programs in community psychology research and action to better educate for Community Psychology Practice careers. Tiffeny strives to excel in creating educational experiences for her students that overlays teaching, research, and community service that challenges the status quo and addresses the needs of diverse populations.
2012 Ph.D. Michigan State University, Ecological-Community Psychology
2007 M.A. Michigan State University, Ecological-Community Psychology
2003 B.A. San Francisco State University, Psychology
Research and Interests:
Research Interests: My research can best be described broadly as Community-Based Research (CBR) and engaged scholarship. My research interests address a breadth of social issues at multiple levels of analysis using a variety of theoretical frameworks and research methods that span disciplinary lines. All of my research is grounded in the desire to work with community stakeholders to create more socially just practices. The training I have received during my graduate studies has prepared me for studying a diversity of social issues using a CBR and an engaged scholarship approach. Throughout my research-practice career I have worked with a variety of community entities, and while my research began with the disabilities community, my professional experiences have broadened my interests to conduct research spanning several social and environmental issues. I seek to understand and address a breadth of community issues asking two overarching questions across all of my work: 1) how can theory, research, and methods from the literature be applied to guide community change processes? and 2) how can applying theories and methods of social change within community contexts make contributions to the relevant body of literature?
All my research is driven by CBR principles, informed by relevant interdisciplinary scholarship, and results in various types of output for dissemination. I am very interested in intercultural relations at multiple levels and am able to stay current in this area of knowledge through reviewing for the International Journal of Intercultural Relations and membership in the SCRA International Committee. Additionally, to exercise my knowledge of network analysis and desire to create community-level system change, I am currently conducting a network system analysis with a community-wide systems change initiative in Lansing Michigan involving over 300 organizations in a tri-county area. We are currently in process of developing a capacity-building process designed to increase the knowledge of community members around restructuring the local human services system. Prior to moving to Chicago I was intensely involved with the disabilities community in San Francisco, California and statewide in Michigan, where I remain able to maintain some connection to that work from afar but more locally now through the work of my doctoral students. I look forward to getting connected to several current pressing issues in the Chicagoland area through work of my own and the work of my students (e.g., disabilities community, education reform, broad interorganizational collaboration for systems change, etc.).
Teaching & Mentoring Philosophy: I teach because I believe knowledge is power which should be shared for the benefit of the common good. I view students as developing community citizens who are being empowered to become our future leaders. It is for these reasons that in my teaching I place a strong emphasis on providing students with experiences that challenge and expand their worldviews, provide them with tools, and help them gain skills necessary within our diverse society and increasingly global community. In addition, I view learning and teaching as an iterative and developmental process for both the teacher and the student. The co-learning I aspire to incite ultimately involves facilitating an atmosphere of mutual responsibility for learning, which enhances the acquisition of knowledge and promotes critical thinking. Whether it occurs within the classroom or community settings, in my teaching and mentoring I emphasize the interactive nature of the learning process using three main practices: 1) developing a flexible course structure, 2) utilizing an active approach to teaching, and 3) designing collaborative opportunities for student engagement with course material.
Contact Information:
Tiffeny R. Jimenez, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Psychology
National Louis University
122 S. Michigan Ave., 3031
Chicago, IL 60603
Phone/Fax: 312.261.3582


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text: A UT Arlington research team says their study of genetic information from more than 4,000 beetle species has yielded a new theory. The theory is about why some species lose their Y chromosome and others, such as humans, hang on to it. They call it the "fragile Y hypothesis." The biologists' idea is that the fate of the Y chromosome is heavily influenced by how meiosis, or the production of sperm, works in an organism. They believe the size of an area where X and Y genetic information mingle or recombine can serve as a strong clue that a species is at risk of losing the Y chromosome during sperm production. Previous work has attributed Y chromosome loss to the lesser importance of genes it carries. Heath Blackmon, a Ph.D. student at The University of Texas at Arlington, said most previous research into sex chromosomes has occurred either in mammals or the fruit fly. But, beetles are the most diverse group on the planet - scientists have already described and given names to over 350,000 species."One of the big reasons that we wanted to do this study was to see if beetles would reveal anything new about the way that sex chromosomes evolve," said Blackmon, who also worked on the research at the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center in Durham, North Carolina. Blackmon and Jeffery Demuth, UT Arlington associate professor of biology, co-authored a paper published in the June issue of Genetics on the work, which is supported by a grant from the National Institutes of Health. The paper is a part of a special "Genetics of Sex" collection from the Genetics Society of America. The X and Y genes control human sex determination, with an XY combination resulting in a male and an XX combination resulting in a female. Researchers study the evolution of these chromosomes, in part, to learn more about human evolution and disease. Some diseases, such as hemophilia, are associated only with genes on the sex chromosomes. Like humans, sex determination in beetles is controlled by an XY pair and, in most, the Y is smaller than the X. Many of the same evolutionary forces should be acting in both groups."One of the things my lab is interested in is the evolution of genome architecture and the constraints under which that architecture evolves," Demuth said. "The sex chromosomes are particularly interesting because they are obviously a key developmental switch, and errors resulting in too many or too few copies result in several important human diseases."Besides the XY combination associated with mammals, there is a ZW combination for birds and some other animals. There are cases in nature where both the Y and the W get lost through evolution creating XO and ZO pairs. Traditionally, scientists have explained the loss by saying that the Y chromosome must not contain enough important genetic information and so it is dispensable. In that process, any important genes move from the Y to another chromosome and sex determination takes a different route. Some scientists have even theorized that the human Y chromosome only has about another 10 million years before all genes on the Y chromosome will be lost.To find out if there was more at work in Y chromosome loss, Blackmon and Demuth assembled a database of karyotypes, a kind of chromosome map, for 4,724 beetle species, also known as the order Coleoptera. In that large field, they found what they called "substantial variation in sex chromosome systems." Then, they zeroed in on the two largest suborders of the beetle family - Polyphaga, which has a relatively stable Y chromosome, and Adephaga, which has a less stable Y. The resulting fragile Y hypothesis focuses on differences in how X and Y chromosomes are divided when sperm is produced. Many species, including humans, have spaces on the X and Y chromosomes where the two chromosomes recombine or mingle. This is called the "pseudoautosomal region," or PAR. In the species that have a PAR, it is central to ensuring that sperm receive either an X or Y chromosome. Previous genetics research has shown that natural selection narrows the area of recombination between the X and Y, allowing different versions of a gene to be passed on to the sex that they benefit the most. The PAR shrinkage makes the production of offspring without an X or Y from the father more likely, the new paper said.In addition, there are some species where there is no pseudoautosomal region and special proteins shepherd the X and Y chromosome on their way to the sperm cells. The UT Arlington's team's theory says this lack of dependence on a PAR makes those species less likely to suffer the loss of a Y. The UT Arlington team's beetle results stand up to comparison in the mammal world. Placental mammals normally require a PAR to faithfully segregate the X and Y into sperm while marsupials like kangaroos do not. As predicted by the hypothesis the placental mammals have lost the Y chromosome a number of times while marsupials have not. Additionally within placental mammals, it is those with smaller PARs such as rodents that have lost the Y most often."The confirmation in the patterns that we then found in mammals is important because it means that even in groups separated by hundreds of millions of years the pattern predicted by this hypothesis are found," Blackmon said, adding that mammals and birds appear to have "unusually stable sex chromosomes and sex determination." Many other animals groups, including fish, show that sex chromosomes are more easily altered by evolution, he said.Source: Eurekalert << The Story Behind Immunity Genetics of Sex - Beyond Birds and Bees >> Recommended Reading Researchers Shed Light on Early Stages of Y-Chromosome Degeneration By investigating in plants, researchers have found a way to shed light on the early stages of degeneration of Y-chromosome. READ MORE Fetal Chromosome Detection Now Without Any Risk! Given the current prenatal screening techniques that are invasive and pose risk, the chromosomal abnormalities that cause birth defects and genetic disorders still remain a global health burden READ MORE Risk of Cancer in Males Increased by Y Chromosome Loss The loss of Y chromosome, previously considered as a normal part of aging in men, can actually increase the risk of developing cancer. READ MORE Genes on the Y Chromosome Prove Essential for Survival of Men The human Y chromosome has over the course of millions of years of evolution managed to preserve a small set of genes that has ensured not only its own survival but also the survival of men, despite a well-documented history of dramatic genetic ... READ MORE Birth Defect - Genetic Achondroplasia is a genetic disorder which is one of the leading causes of dwarfism READ MORE Fahr´s Syndrome Fahr's syndrome is a rare, neurological disorder first described by Karl Theodor Fahr, a German neurologist in 1930. READ MORE Metabolic Defects Metabolism is the sum total of all chemical and physical changes that take place in any organism that enables it to function and grow. READ MORE Most Popular on Medindia Blood - Sugar Chart Post-Nasal Drip Calculate Ideal Weight for Infants More News on: Birth Defect - GeneticMetabolic DefectsFahr´s Syndrome


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What could possibly be better than Texts From Last Night? The same thing, but with voicemails! Weird, random, creepy, hilarious voicemails. I honestly don't think there's a better time-waster on the internet right now. Here's just a taste:
They're all collected at Audioo, a site that lets you browse their aural menagerie by category or by area code, and encourages you to send in your own voicemails. Does that leave me suspicious that some of these are prank calls? Sure. But that suspension is fully outweighed by my love of ferret freak-outs. [Audioo]


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Closed - for reference only
To view the online exhibition, Forging Faith, Building Freedom, click here.
Forging Faith, Building Freedom: African American Faith Experiences in Delaware, 1800-1980, opened at the Delaware History Museum on September 27, 2013 and closed June 14, 2014, celebrated two important anniversaries. Two hundred years ago, in 1813, Peter Spencer founded the African Union Church, the first independent black denomination in the United States. The next year, he started the August Quarterly, the nation's oldest African American festival.
In addition to Peter Spencer, Forging Faith, Building Freedom will honor Absalom Jones, the first black Episcopal priest in the US; Richard Allen, founder of the AME denomination; and Samuel Cornish, founder of the first black Presbyterian church in New York City and an editor of Freedom's Journal, the nation's first black newspaper. As developers of independent African American religious institutions, these four remarkable Delawareans asserted their people's right to liberty, autonomy, and equality. Their actions challenged the United States to live up to the ideals of the Declaration of Independence.
Through objects, documents, and images, the exhibition explores the diverse faith experiences and institutions that developed from these beginnings. Historically, black faith communities have addressed many needs beyond the spiritual. They have been a key factor in education, community development, and the continuing struggle for equality for people who lacked other institutions. In the absence of other avenues for leadership, the black minister assumed many roles in addition to the spiritual. Faith communities also offered opportunities for leadership and participation to laypeople whose talents were not recognized in the mainstream community. The exhibition will introduce Michael Sterling of Wilmington—a modest man in the eyes of the world who lived a rich and useful life through service to Bethel AME Church.
This exhibition has been developed in full collaboration with the faith community in Delaware and Delaware churches, private lenders, other public collections and Delaware Historical Society collections, provide the first public presentation of a rich array of heritage materials for the exhibition. Dr. Lewis V. Baldwin of Vanderbilt University, a specialist in Peter Spencer and his churches, serves as consultant historian.
To view the online exhibition, Forging Faith, Building Freedom, click here.
"Forging Faith, Building Freedom: Black Churches and the Circle of Culture of Delaware" by Dr. Lewis V. Baldwin, Department of Religious Studies, Vanderbilt University was given on September 26, 2013 at the opening of "Forging Faith, Building Freedom: African American Faith Experiences in Delaware" (can be viewed below).
History Matters!
Click here to read about Forging Faith, Building Freedom and
the importance of African American churches in Delaware
through WDDE 9.11 FM's online Report
Exhibition design and fabrication is by the exhibits staff of the Delaware Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs.
This program is partially funded by a grant from the Delaware Humanities Forum,
a state program of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Forging Faith, Building Freedom
Now CLOSED
Open to the Public: September 27, 2013 - Summer 2014
Please click here for a printable PDF
version of the Forging Faith brochure.
Delaware History Museum
504 N. Market Street, Wilmington, Delaware 19801
Wednesday - Friday, 11 a.m.-4 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
(302) 656-0637(302) 656-0637
Cost: Members, Free; Adults: $6; Senior (over 65), Students, and Military Personnel, $5;
Youth (3-18 years), $4; Children (under 3), FREE
Group Tours available (reservations required): (302) 655-7161(302) 655-7161


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I took my three-year old on a toy hunt to ToysRUs yesterday afternoon. His fourth birthday is coming up at the end of this month and he's the worst kid to shop for. Tell him he can buy anything he wants in the store and he'll walk out empty handed simply because he can't make up his mind. He does like a lot of toys he sees but not enough to want to buy them and keep them long-term. In a way, I can't complain since he probably won't turn out a big spender.
Unfortunately we walked out of the store after a half hour with no new toy ideas. But while we were browsing the aisles (only the blue ones, "the pink ones are for girls"…) I managed to see plenty of cows during our visit. ToysRUs is actually a good place to spot cows, according to one of my previous visits there.
Here are a few samples of what I saw during our aisle-by-aisle browsing yesterday. First it was a cow puzzle (hey, we have a cow puzzle at home):
Then I spotted a cow flashlight. I found out the cow's name is Moonica. How cute is that?
And then I saw something I've never seen before but it may be the ultimate proof that cows really are popular with kids. It's a milk truck, and by that I mean a large dairy tank truck.
And here's the other happy cow milk logo on the tank part.
Welcome to CowsRUs, the land of happy cows.


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Back in April, we told you about a Kickstarter project designed to send Starship Captains Kirk and Picard on their first real-life trip to space. Conceived by space enthusiast Logan Kugler, the project aimed to lift action figures of the two captains (and a few lucky crew members) to an altitude of over 100,000 feet, in one of the most ambitious high-altitude balloon launches in history. Last month, that project was realized.
Featured here is some of the first raw footage of the launch, provided courtesy of Kugler, along with a seven-minute segment from the Discovery Channel documenting the launch and recovery of the balloon in Champaign, Illinois. According to Kugler, a final video of the entire flight is currently being edited by Max Schlickenmeyer, who is also responsible for this awesome video, titled The Most Astounding Fact, featuring voiceover by Neil deGrasse Tyson.
Kugler tells io9 that it was a fantastic launch, and that he's already working hard on a big follow-up to this project. We can't wait to see what he has in store for us.
Learn more about the project at StarTrek.com and SendPicardToSpace.com