text:
Assuming Dec. 21, 2012, isn't the end of the road for us and we don't fall off the "fiscal cliff," I wanted to take a moment to reflect on some of the stories we've covered for our 90th anniversary before 2012 comes to an end. It has been a stellar year.
In January, Sam Greengard got the ball rolling with a story about worker safety in the 1920s and today. While we've come a long way, there's still work to be done. In fact, I'm writing this a day after a medical helicopter crashed near Rochelle, Illinois, killing three people. While safety is certainly more of a priority today, medical helicopter crashes and other workplace accidents still happen far too frequently here and especially abroad as we saw in the recent factory fire in Bangladesh.
With more baby boomers closing in on 65, the issue of how to pay for retirement is huge. In February, Lisa Beyer took a look back at retirement plans in the 1930s and today. For decades, workers didn't have to worry much about retirement because defined benefit plans (e.g., pensions) kicked in. That's changed. Today, most companies don't offer pensions and the one's that do, like American Airlines, are having trouble funding them or switching to defined contribution plans (e.g., 401(k)s).
After a decade of war in Iraq and Afghanistan, U.S. troops are on their way back. But will jobs be waiting for them? In March, Greengard explored the difference between the job front post-World War II and now. In November, the unemployment rate for Gulf War-era II veterans, for instance, was 10 percent compared with 7.7 percent for other workers. That's a big difference, but some companies are trying to change that.
The unemployment rate is even worse for black people, where 12.3 percent of men and 11.2 percent of women over 20 are unemployed, according to the most recent U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data, compared with 6 percent of white men and 5.8 percent of white women. It's a problem that the U.S. has been dealing with for decades as Susan Hauser writes in her May story about the civil rights movement. In that issue, Matthew Heller interviewed Nicholas Katzenbach, the attorney general during the Johnson administration. He was instrumental in helping push through the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Sadly, Katzenbach died May 8 at the age of 90, a couple of days after the issue came out.
So where is the workforce heading leading up to our 100th anniversary and beyond? As my colleague, Ed Frauenheim, tells us in his cool look at the future story: "Externships," where employees spend time at other companies, and maybe even brain scans to help employers better plan daily tasks for their workers may be in the cards. I better learn how to clear my head in the morning. And done.
These are just a few of the highlights, but I encourage you to check out all of the great stories and interviews we've run.
This experience has been personally rewarding: Besides swapping emails with Katzenbach and many other workforce-related notables and receiving a surprise voice mail from Lilly Ledbetter along the way, I had the pleasure of connecting with Jennifer Smith, one of "Ned" and D.D. Hay's grandchildren. Smith turned me on to lots of great information about "Ned," the founder of the Hay Group who in 1947 became editor and publisher of Personnel Journal, and D.D. who served as editor for a short time after Ned's death in 1958. I also got the chance to work with some past Workforce personnel: Allan Halcrow and Margaret Magnus, which made the experience even more enjoyable.
While this blog is ending, stay tuned in 2013 for a new Workforce staff blog. We're still mulling over what to call it, but we will continue to offer perspective and hopefully engage you as well.
We've come a long way, but there's more work to do. We'll get together in 2022 and see where we're at.
Until then ...
James Tehrani is Workforce's copy desk chief. Comment below or email firstname.lastname@example.com.


text:
KLEM News Update July 3, 2010
Fairgrounds is Kennel Club show stage
(LE MARS)--The most perfect fairgrounds for the dog show is in Le Mars for the Sioux Valley Kennel Club.
The group with members in a 50-mile radius of Sioux City was looking for other options when the Plymouth County Fairgrounds rose to the top for the event that's today's and tomorrow (Saturday, July 3 and Sunday, July 4).
The wire kennels serving as sign posts at Le Mars intersections help guide dog owners, those showing dogs and guests to the fairgrounds location.
Regina Maxwell says the Dog Show will bring about 300 people and 377 dogs to Le Mars for a number of events.
Listen here
Maxwell expects 100 different dog breeds. They'll include seven different kinds of terriers.
Listen here
Maxwell encourages everyone to attend the shows, have fun and learn about the different breeds of dogs.
Listen here
The shows today and Sunday are from 9 a-m to 3 p-m.Some of those showing dogs are camping at the fairgrounds while others are staying at Le Mars or Sioux City hospitality businesses.
'Art in the Sky' July 4th in Le Mars.
(LE MARS)--A business started by two brothers provides the fireworks display in Le Mars this Independence Day weekend.
The city of Le Mars hired J and M Displays of Yarmouth for the Fourth of July show at the Plymouth County Fairgrounds Sunday night.
J and M Vice President Mark Johnson says the brothers that founded the company started providing fire works shows in the area. Their success led other communities to ask the brothers to do their shows. Johnson describes the business as art in the sky.
Listen here
J and M designs fireworks displays using products made in the United States and abroad. Johnson explains the show in Le Mars will feature new colors and traditional fireworks.
Listen here
With 2,910 shots in the SKYSHOW, Johnson says it should be a pretty busy display and will be shot electronically so there is no dead space or dead sky.
SKYSHOW begins at 10 Sunday night with music at the fairgrounds broadcast by KLEM Radio 1410 AM 96.9 FM.
Traffic stop leads to identity theft arrest
(ORANGE CITY)--A Rock Valley man is in the Sioux County jail accused of felony identity theft.
The Sioux County Sheriff's Office charged 20-year-old Omar Hernandez-Gonzales Friday morning after a traffic stop. Authorities say their investigation indicated Hernandez-Gonzales was using another person's identity to work at Golden Crisp in Sioux Center.
Hernandez-Gonzales is charged with felony identity theft and forgery; excessive speed and failing to have a driver's license.
Fawn Avenue road closing ends
(LE MARS)--Bridge repairs are complete to allow a rural Akron Road to be reopened to traffic.
The Plymouth County Engineer's office closed Fawn Avenue at the intersection with 180th Street last week.
A bridge abutment was repaired and the roadway was reopened Friday (July 2, 2010).
Acquisition puts Frontier in 27 states
(LE MARS)--A communications business with offices in Le Mars and other northwest Iowa communities is growing.
Frontier Communications Thursday completed the acquisition of Verizon Communications' local landline operations in 14 states.
Frontier local manager in Le Mars Angie Erdmann says Frontier is now the largest communication service serving rural America with four million customers.
There were no Verizon access lines in Iowa.
Le Mars Recycling is August 7th
(LE MARS)--The Le Mars Elementary Schools paper recycling project takes a summer break today.
The next paper collection for recycling in Le Mars is Saturday, August 7th.
In Remsen, the collection of recyclable paper is delayed for one week due to the Independence Day holiday weekend to Saturday, July 10th.
Man trapped in grain bin dies
(SPENCER)--A grain bin accident has claimed the life of a rural Dickens farmer.
The Clay County Sheriff's Office reports 65-year-old Doug Sorenson of rural Dickens was trapped in a grain bin filled with corn.
The accident occurred about 8:30 Friday morning while corn was being augered out of the bin.
Rescue crews were unable to reach Sorenson and several holes were cut in the side of the bin to remove corn to locate Sorenson's body.
The sheriff's office had assistance from the Palo Alto County Sheriff's Office, Dickens Fire and Rescue, Ruthven Fire and Rescue, Ruthven Ambulance, Spencer Ambulance, Clay County Emergency Management as well as family and friends of Sorenson.
SD police confirm 'Barefoot Bandit' was in state
YANKTON, S.D. (AP) South Dakota authorities have confirmed that fingerprints found at the scene of a Yankton burglary match those of the ``Barefoot Bandit.''
Yankton assistant police chief Jerry Hisek says he was notified Friday that state Division of Criminal Investigation found three of 19-year-old Colton Harris-Moore's fingerprints at the scene of a June 18 break-in. The teen had already been named a suspect.
Harris-Moore, of Camano Island, Wash., has evaded authorities since April 2008, when he escaped from a halfway house south of Seattle. He is accused of breaking into dozens of homes since and committing burglaries across Washington, as well as in British Columbia, Idaho and Nebraska.
Harris-Moore was dubbed ``The Barefoot Bandit'' after allegedly committing crimes sans footwear.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved
Mom of missing child charged with neglect
DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) Dubuque police say they've found what are believed to be human remains on the property where the mother of a missing 20-month-old child lived.
Tamelia Harris was charged with negligence after allegedly giving investigators false information about the whereabouts of the girl, Cecilia Denise Harris.
Further details about the remains weren't released.
Authorities say Tamelia Harris told investigators she sent Cecilia to live with her grandmother in North Carolina who later told police she hadn't seen the child.
The 32-year-old Harris later said she sent the girl to live with a friend in Davenport.
At a bond hearing Thursday, Harris was ordered held in lieu of $250,000 bond.
She's in custody at Dubuque County Jail.
She couldn't be reached for comment.
2 bodies found at Cedar Rapids apartment
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) Police say foul play isn't suspected in the deaths of two people whose bodies were found inside a Cedar Rapids apartment building.
Police Sgt. Cristy Hamblin says there were no signs of physical violence or harm.
She says autopsies will be conducted, but results of toxicology tests won't be available for weeks.
Authorities responded to the building just before 9 a.m. Friday.
Police have not released the names or genders of the victims. But neighbors and family members say the deceased were a 43-year-old woman and her boyfriend.
Lawyers for Rubashkin file appeal
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) Attorneys for a former vice president of an Iowa kosher meatpacking plant have appealed his conviction and sentence on financial fraud charges.
Attorneys for Sholom Rubashkin filed their appeal Friday with the U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis.
Rubashkin was found guilty last fall on 86 federal financial fraud charges. He was sentenced last month to 27 years in prison and ordered to pay $27 million in restitution.
His attorney, Guy Cook, says evidence not related to the charges was allowed at trial and that the sentence is unjust and amounts to a life sentence for the 51-year-old Rubashkin.
Rubashkin was indicted following a 2008 raid at the Agriprocessors Inc. plant in Postville where 389 illegal immigrants were detained.
Audit: Iowa's alcohol agency spent misspent
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) State auditors allege the Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division improperly spent tens of thousands of dollars on art, leather chairs, televisions and other items from 2006 to 2008.
Officials say the agency also allegedly spent more than $1 million on contracts to renovate offices without going through a proper bidding process.
The head of the division at the time was Lynn Walding, who could not be reached for comment.
A message left Friday for Stephen Larson, the current head of the division, wasn't immediately returned.
The division is the state's wholesaler of alcohol. It generated $105 million in revenue last year.
Iowa teen dies when caught between car and fence
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) Police say a 17-year-old is dead after he was pinned between a car and a fence in an accident in Des Moines.
The deceased has been identified as Logan Bryan Oglesbee of Des Moines. He was a recent graduate of Roosevelt High School.
Police say around 4:40 p.m. on Friday Oglesbee and a friend pulled into the steep driveway at a friend's home. After they exited, the car rolled backward.
Oglesbee tried to stop the car, by jumping onto the back bumper. The car eventually hit a fence and Oglesbee was pinned between the vehicle and the fence.
Police say he was pronounced dead on the scene.
Sgt. Lori Lavorato says police have classified it as an accident and don't plan to open a criminal investigation.
No charges in Iowa fatal boating accident
CORALVILLE, Iowa (AP) Authorities say no charges will be filed in a boating accident that left a 12-year-old Fairfield girl dead.
Sarah Nicole Perkins died May 30 after she was struck on the Coralville Reservoir by a boat operated by a Cedar Rapids man.
Authorities say Perkins had been riding on a tube being pulled by another boat. She fell from the tube and was struck.
Police say the Cedar Rapid man's blood alcohol level was within the legal limit.
The investigation was conducted by the Johnson County Attorney's office and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.
Ship named for Iowan
AMES, Iowa (AP) Officials say a U.S. Navy Ship has been named after a late scientist who was an Iowa State University alumnus.
The USNS Howard O. Lorenzen was christened last week in Mississippi.
It's named after Howard Otto Lorenzen. He was a 1935 graduate of ISU and an electrical engineering graduate. He died in 2000.
He worked for more than three decades with Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C. He helped lay the groundwork for modern electronic warfare. He retired in 1973.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Submit your news release, confidential news tip or news idea by email email@example.com, by calling 712.546.4121 or 712.546.9672 fax.
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subset: commoncrawl


text:
Love the idea.
Map something small as if it were really big. A patch of moss becomes a forest. Pebbles become mountains. A sidewalk crack becomes a ravine. A city carved into the side of a penny.
Love the idea.
When its over and you look in the mirror, did you do the best that you were capable of? If so, the score does not matter. But if you find that you did your best you were capable of, you will find it to your liking. -John Wooden
* Rivengard * My Finished Maps * My Challenge Maps * My deviantArt
Sounds like fun! Say a village surrounded by mountains made from a tree bark photo !!
"Aye The skies be clear , the seas be calm and the winds be with us .....
ARGH!! but the damn compass be broken!! "
Capt. Noah Swalter Last voyage of the " Silver Crest"
I agree. I'm really intrigued by the idea of something like that city carved into the side of a penny; something that would be at once both very large and very tiny.
Sounds cool, it's actually an idea I've been toying with for a couple of weeks already.


text:
- 2250Promote
Art Print
Kiwi Anatomyby William McDonald
Collect your choice of gallery quality Giclée, or fine art prints custom trimmed by hand in a variety of sizes with a white border for framing.
A simple anatomy diagram of the kiwi
All labels are proper scientific terms (both bird and fruit)
4 colours on tan. The dark ink is actually dark purple/blue, not black
all time fav :]
clever... nice....
haha i like this very witty
very clever .. i love it..
Adorable and witty
Sorry I can no longer sell this one as a print, but you can purchase it as a print or shirt at threadless.com soon.
this is great!
Love it! Sciency and silly.
ahah cool
very nice !!
jajaja... kiwi...:)
very, very cool piece.
absolutely love this! great stuff!
Great idea!
Love the idea! haha
Love it!
Amusing and beautiful!
: )
wonderful work
so cool!
Wish I had thought of this!
Beautiful work!
This is really creative. I like it!
haha cool (^0^)
Nice humor:)
Seen this everywhere! Congrats great work!
cool !
So clever!
This is genius! Love it!
so cute
Comedy and simplicity, I love it! :D Followed and promoted. good job
New Zealand :D
Well done! I dig it!
love it!
Love this! Cheers!
:D awesome!
great !!! fantastic
ah, this... is great concept! :)
Interesting idea
see the above link.
man steals jobs like mine and others also!
see the above link.
man steals jobs like mine and others also!
This just cracks me up.
Love it!! Great idea !!
Nice !! Very clever. Really like your work.
This is absolutely clever. A fantastic piece of art. I would really like to buy it as a mug for a gift. I was really disappointed when I saw I could not. Is there any possibility to buy this design as a mug? Thanks!
Unreal. This is so great.
kiwi+kiwi, brilliant.
genius :)
Fu**ing good !
Nice! I have this t-sirt :)
ahaahaha great idea!
Loving this! :-)
great work
Nice work!
I really enjoy this interpretation! nice work!
Brilliant! :D
Promoted and followed with pleasure!
Amazing stuff! following you, coul you follow me, please?
i make handmade collages: http://society6.com/congrains
i make handmade collages: http://society6.com/congrains
hahaha this is awesome!
awesome work:)
Very Clever!
This was unexpected :D
ahaha funny
like it!
This is so great I can't even
Great work!! i'm promoting it
Could you please check and (if you dig it) promote mine? http://society6.com/product/jordan-5-...
Could you please check and (if you dig it) promote mine? http://society6.com/product/jordan-5-...
Nice work, I promoting it. :)
Could you please check and promote my 'Dream Believe Achieve' design? http://society6.com/product/dream-bel...
Could you please check and promote my 'Dream Believe Achieve' design? http://society6.com/product/dream-bel...
this is funny, great idea!
love it
very cool
surprising idea, love it!
nice one!
Hehe made me laugh
great idea!
amazing work
haha! great work!
Funny :)
very nice.
Lovely work, happy to promote!
Ahahah really love this funny metaphor :) Btw this style is very nice !
See More Comments


text:
Pentax Whitetails Unlimited 10x50 Binocular
|Eligible for Free Shipping on Orders $39 or More! (see promotion details)
|Members of The League get 5% back when you spend $100! (see promotion details)
Product Details
Look closer with the Pentax® Whitetails Unlimited 10 x 50 binocular. A rubber-covered exterior provides a sure grip and protects internal mechanisms. The wide field of view with long eye relief allows you to see further, while the durable, polycarbonate construction withstands rough handling.
- Rubber-covered exterior provides a sure grip and protects internal mechanisms
- Wide field of view with long eye relief
- Durable polycarbonate construction withstands rough handling
- Center focus offers fast and easy handling
- Multi-coating eliminates harmful UV rays and improves light
- BaK-4 prisms allow more light to be transmitted for easier viewing in any condition
- Comfortable rubber eyecups adjust for use with or without glasses
- PENTAX® worry-free manufacturer's warranty
- Weight: 2.6 lbs
- Dimensions: L 13" x W 9.25" x H 4"
Product Recommendations
Product Reviews
Reviewed by 1 customer
- Poor Construction
Best Uses
Comments about Pentax Whitetails Unlimited 10x50 Binocular:
Any vibrations to glasses cause major focus and misalignment problems. Seeing double is no fun. This is twice I've had this problem with same make and model. Don't buy !!!
- Was this a gift?:
- No


text:
Photo galleries
Gallery search
Displaying Results for:
American Regional, St. Helena, CA, American Contemporary, American Regional, St. Helena, CA, American Contemporary
- Chef Christopher Kostow and Sommelier Rom Toulon of The Restaurant at MeadowoodSt. Helena, CASeasonal/Market Fresh,American Regional, American ContemporaryFebruary 2009
- Chef Erasto Jacinto of Mustard's GrillSt. Helena, CAAmerican Regional, Burgers, American ContemporaryFebruary 2009
Latest Photos


text:
Has anyone tried Zimbra OSS high avalability on DRBD ?
Will it work ?
Printable View
Has anyone tried Zimbra OSS high avalability on DRBD ?
Will it work ?
I'm also very interested on this !!Quote:
Originally Posted by prash
DRBD seems a good choice in general, just not sure if it also works proper for mail servers with lot of traffic.
Or any other failover/ha solution running there. Have two good servers but no external storage.
Hi folks,
on my Debian-Servers i got ZIMBRA successfull working with heartbeat on a DRBD netraid !
Short description (how i did it): FOR TESTING ONLY !!!!
I ASSUME, that you have a proper running installation of heartbeat & DRBD !! :cool:
1. Make 2 (!) installations of Zimbra with exactly the same parameters, on 2 different server, of course.
2. Define one server as Master (for yourself and later for heartbeat), and configure this one to your ZIMBRA-requirements.
3. Test your Master-Zimbra-Server if everything is fine, up & running ;)
4. Remove on BOTH NODES ALL Zimbra auto-start-scripts, like5. STOP ALL Zimbra services:Code:
rm /etc/rc2.d/S99zimbra
rm /etc/rc3.d/S99zimbra
rm /etc/rc4.d/S99zimbra
rm /etc/rc5.d/S99zimbra
6. MOVE /opt to somewhere else, e.g /opt_save, and create /opt again:Code:
/etc/init.d/zimbra stop
7. Get the DRBD working on /opt as a netraid. I don't know if it will work with symlinks, so i decided to mount /opt directly with DRBD. Don't forget /etc/fstab ;)Code:
# mv /opt /opt_save
# mkdir /opt
8. Now you have to reboot BOTH nodes, to be sure that you have a proper DRBD netraid running on /opt !!!
Check also if heartbeat is running as well and mounts /opt properly if your Master is dead !!
9. If everythings is working fine, then it's time to copy Zimbra back to production state:10. Edit /etc/ha.d/haresources on BOTH NODES and ADD 'zimbra' at the end of the line where you a controlling, what heartbeat should start & stop.Code:
mv /opt_save/zimbra /opt/
11. REBOOT both Nodes, and Zimbra should now start on the master. If the master dies, the 2nd node will takeover completly ;)Code:
# nano /etc/ha.d/haresources
zimbra-01 drbddisk::netraid1 Filesystem::/dev/drbd0::/opt::ext3 YOUR_MASTER_IP zimbra
==> EXACTLY ANALYSIS of Zimbra's behaviour is PENDING !!!
I hope it'll work in a production enviroment, i will test it this week with nearly 60GB email, so we will see....
Originally Posted by papaya74
Hi harry,
how's going?
Already in production?
Still happy with it?
New cognitions and tips through of your technical expertise?
Whats your server specs and user enviroment?
Thx & cheers
-- I sooo prefer Debian over fat RedHat ;-) --
Hi everyone,
i just want to give a short feedback, that DRBD & Zimbra are now working together since 3 months in a high production enviroment with thousands mails per day !
I haven't noticed any problems so far !
Takeover via Heartbeat & DRBD is working to 100% ;-)
I did a test setup on two servers with different hostname and ip address (but they both serve the same domain like example.com), the drbd and heartbeat work fine, but when I test the zimbra and shutdown the primary, the secondary becomes the primary also the partition mounted successfully, but zimbra can't start on secondary server.
papaya mentioned do a same installation in two servers, but drbd and heartbeat both require to have different hostname and IPs, how to do the same installation in zimbra?
Any helps will be appreciated!
DRBD and heartbeat are properly configured and working. The problem is Zimbra does not start during a failover on the remaining host.
It reports that LDAP cannot be started and then stops starting the whole thing. Papaya74, can you give some more information on your setup and the installation/configuration process, please? Especially how you configured network settings (host names) would be of high interest.
Many thanks for your work!
Hi folks,
okay, i try to give some more information about my setup.
1. Zimbra is being used inhouse ONLY, which means, people are connecting by IP-adresses for IMAP and Web-GUI in our internal LAN.
2. We have 6 static IPs from our Internet-Provider
3. I setup a MX-Record from our Hosting-Provider --> Public IP of our Internet-Line --> Portforwarding --> Zimbra-Server
4. LAN-IP Setup
Zimbra Virtual (Heartbeat) = 192.168.100.100
Zimbra-01 = 192.168.100.101
Zimbra-02 = 192.168.100.102
5. Zimbra-01:
# nano /etc/hosts
127.0.0.1 our-domain.com localhost.localdomain localhost
192.168.100.101 zimbra-01 our-domain.com
192.168.100.102 zimbra-02
6. Zimbra-02:
# nano /etc/hosts
127.0.0.1 our-domain.com localhost.localdomain localhost
192.168.100.102 zimbra-02 our-domain.com
192.168.100.101 zimbra-01
That's all, i can mention here...Code:
Service host name: our-domain.com
LMTP bind address: localhost
Web mail MTA Hostname: localhost
Relay MTA for external delivery: smtp.our-provider.com
Enable DNS lookups: DISABLED
BTW: I also had problems updating from 3.2x to 4.0 with LDAP & LMTP bindings, and it was a try & error game to get it work, but with the information above it's running right now ;)
Best Regards,
Thanks for your post, it really helped me setup our Zimbra with DRBD.
I have a question regarding these settings, also did you do any special configs to bind Zimbra services to a particular ip? We are having some problems with Zimbra serving services on both the real and virtual (HA) ip.
LMTP bind address: localhost
Web mail MTA Hostname: localhost
Enable DNS lookups: DISABLED
I also got the success in clustering of two zimbra server. If any one require any help do let me know.


text:
Venus Williams, who is a leading member of the Players Council and a leader on the issue of equal prize money in tennis, continued her role as the elder stateswoman of the game and was asked to speak about the Dubai controversy and the Council's next steps to deal with the fallout.
On the importance of the meeting scheduled to take place next month at Indian Wells (where, ironically, the Williams sisters have boycotted for years):
We have been successful in the past with many things. This is a large tournament, with unprecedented prize money this year, and equal prize money (with the men) and all kinds of wonderful things. But of course we know how to work on it. Of course we don't jump to any conclusions. We feel like communication is the important thing and we know how to do that. That's what we need - good communication so we stay involved.On the why there wasn't a baller boycott to support Shahar:
There are so many other people involved. Sponsors are important to us. We wouldn't be here without sponsors. We can't let sponsors down. Whatever we do, we need to do as a team - players, sponsors, tour and whoever - and not all break off in one direction. We are team players.On her personal reaction to the events:
I know she's previously played in the Middle East, in Doha, so it was my understanding she would have the opportunity to play here also, despite legislative issues. Obviously I am disappointed she hasn't had a chance to do this because she's a good person and works just as hard as anyone else om the tour, and should have the opportunity to play.On Andy Ram, who the UAE confirmed today will receive a visa:
She shouldn't be denied, it's not right, she's just a person. We are all people, no matter where we are from.I have to look at the bigger picture. The big picture is that Shahar Peer didn't get a chance to play. But making an immediate decision, we also have to look at sponsors, fans and everyone who has invested a lot in the tournament.
We are all going to consider what are options are for next year - but (this year) we didn't even know till Saturday (that Peer had been denied a visa). I think there are rules and protocols as to how you can proceed.
I can't comment on what might happen, but hopefully it will be something different. I hope the message would be that second time around that they have an opportunity to be all inclusive.Well, it's always good to hear a baller speak up instead of the tennis officials who always seem, and many time are, out of touch with what is happening on the ground.
But V confirmed what we all knew: you can't just walk because money does talk. Let's hope they do right by Shahar, though, and sanction the tourney in a big way for breaking WTA policy. Wishful thinking, I know.
(image via Getty)


text:
New 10 week ACCT 600 added for the Spring 2013 Semester
A 10 week section of ACCT 600 has been added to the spring schedule. The class, which meets on Thursdays from 6 p.m. - 9:45 p.m., will run from Feb. 13th and ends on May 2nd. The class is being taught by Prof. Todd Mason.
This is a great class for students who needed a class that started later in the term and for those who were thinking about adding another class to their spring schedule but needed a 600 level class .


text:
Le rapport de cette année sur l'État de l'insécurité alimentaire dans le monde (SOFI) publié par la FAO, le PAM et l'IFAP a été élaboré à l'aide d'une méthodologie nouvelle et améliorée pour évaluer le nombre de personnes touchées par l'insécurité alimentaire chronique et la sous-alimentation dans la planète.
Les nouveaux chiffres obtenus sont nettement inférieurs aux estimations antérieures ; toutefois, le chiffre de presque 870 millions de personnes touchées par l'insécurité alimentaire reste extrêmement élevé et intolérable. La population vivant dans l'insécurité alimentaire continue de s'accroître en termes absolus dans certaines régions et nous sommes encore très loin d'atteindre les objectifs du Sommet mondial de l'alimentation de réduire de moitié, entre 1990 et 2015, le nombre de personnes souffrant de la faim.
Le rapport indique qu'au cours de la dernière décennie, toutes les régions ont connu une croissance économique et démontre que cette croissance peut être un moteur puissant pour accroître la sécurité alimentaire lorsqu'elle donne lieu à une croissance agricole et, en particulier, lorsqu'elle est inclusive et concerne les petits exploitants agricoles et les femmes.
Toutefois, l'effet de la croissance économique sur la réduction de l'insécurité alimentaire n'a pas été homogène dans toutes les parties du monde. Alors que certaines régions ont considérablement progressé, d'autres semblent rester à la traîne et n'ont pas réussi à tirer pleinement parti du potentiel résultant de la croissance de leurs économies, croissance qui ne semble pas être parvenue aux plus pauvres.
Pour pouvoir réduire la pauvreté et la faim, il est indispensable que la croissance atteigne les populations pauvres et puisse satisfaire les besoins accrus de revenus pour créer une demande des actifs contrôlés par ces populations. Les ménages pauvres doivent pouvoir utiliser les actifs économiques additionnels pour améliorer leur régime alimentaire tant sur le plan de la quantité que de la qualité.
Les analyses ont permis de détecter certains éléments qui sont considérés essentiels pour faciliter une croissance économique inclusive et orientée vers les pauvres, à savoir l'éducation, la protection sociale, la bonne gouvernance et une action résolue de la part des pouvoirs publics; il est donc indispensable que les gouvernements utilisent les ressources additionnelles résultant de la croissance économique pour mettre ces mesures en place.
Néanmoins, les conditions variant selon les pays, il est important de mieux appréhender la façon dont la bonne gouvernance et la protection sociale doivent fonctionner pour que cette croissance économique se traduise en une amélioration de la sécurité alimentaire et de la nutrition.
Étant donné l'expertise bigarrée des membres du Forum FSN, il nous semble intéressant d'apprendre de vos expériences et de vous demander de partager votre point de vue sur les questions suivantes :
• Pouvez-vous nous faire connaître des expériences spécifiques dans lesquelles la protection sociale et une meilleure gouvernance de la sécurité alimentaire se sont traduites par une amélioration de la sécurité alimentaire et de la nutrition sur le plan local ?
• Pouvez-vous nous mentionner des politiques qui ont entraîné une amélioration de l'état nutritionnel comme résultat d'investissements réalisés dans l'agriculture ?
• Comment pouvons-nous mobiliser la volonté politique nécessaire pour qu'une plus grande priorité soit accordée aux politiques de réduction de la faim et d'amélioration de la nutrition dans la liste des objectifs politiques ?
Nous espérons recevoir bientôt vos contributions.
Merci beaucoup
Juan Carlos García y Cebolla
Mauricio Rosales
Peter Steele well said. We particularly like the section that focuses on "Getting the priorities right".
On that note here are suggestions on how can we mobilize the political will necessary to put policies for hunger reduction and improved nutrition higher on the list of political priorities.
We believe personally, that we must first carry out investigations among persons of the various economic statii in society beginning from the rich downwards. Then we make a vast comparison between the different classes hence assessing the nutritional situation and views currently in our society. From this we can then involved in the sensitization process and targeting the different media forums. Creating advertisements, welcoming publicity and making the public aware of the importance of proper nutrition for the biological systemic functions would be our next step. While doing this we can then highlight the results of your recent finding on the nutritional views and show the adverse effects of not legitimatizing nutritional importance through legal declaration. In doing this, we will need the support of the business community and nutritionist to petition for this stand point. In doing so you create a substantial strain on the government to pay emphasis on the issue at hand and draft policies for hunger reduction and improved nutrition moving it up the list of countries and political priorities.
FSN Friends –
As the opening statement by Juan Carlos García y Cebolla and Mauricio Rosales reminded us, The State of Food Insecurity in the World for 2012 shows that economic growth "can be a powerful driver for increased food security when translated into agricultural growth and in particular when it is inclusive and reaches smallholder farmers and women."
This language acknowledges that the linkage between economic growth and increased food security is not tight. It depends on whether those in power are genuinely motivated to increase food security, especially among the poorest sections in the population. And it depends on the successful implementation of programs favoring the poor. Thus, as Juan Carlos and Mauricio have emphasized, their third question is particularly important:
"How can we mobilize the political will necessary to put policies for hunger reduction and improved nutrition higher on the list of political priorities?"
This challenge is especially difficult when the political will of the central government to end hunger is completely absent. However, where the will is present but weak, there are options. It might be possible to find means for addressing hunger that are not difficult or costly for the central government.
This approach could mesh nicely with ideas that emphasize local food sovereignty and self-reliance. Instead of thinking in terms of central governments providing food directly to needy people or organizing large-scale projects, the emphasis could shift to having the central government facilitate local initiatives.
To illustrate, central governments could encourage the creation of local food policy councils that would take initiatives to improve local food systems. This practice is already widespread in several high income countries. Central governments could also encourage local exchanges of information on farming practices, marketing, household food production, nutrition education, etc. The policies of central governments could shift to place greater emphasis on local rather than national food systems.
Many things could be done, at little cost, to encourage community-based nutrition security, so that people come to depend more on each other than on the central government. Many different kinds of food and nutrition projects could be implemented locally, and also managed locally, through programs that would build local capacities.
Food insecurity at the local level could be diagnosed, and ways might be found to strengthen communities so that serious nutrition problems do not arise. Rather than designing projects to fix problems, it might be possible to make changes in communities so that basic nutrition is no longer a problem. Achieving this would mean that the hunger problem has been attacked at its roots.
Aloha, George Kent
To continue or contribution to the discussion, here is our take on the third question posed:
How can we mobilize the political will necessary to put policies for hunger reduction and improved nutrition higher on the list of political priorities?
To mobilize political will, there must be an adoption into national strategy, the intended goals of improving key areas such as hunger and poverty reduction. If national strategies, in terms of the development goals of a nation, are geared towards the alleviation of hunger and poverty - symptoms of the underprivileged in society - at a broad level, then there can be significant assurance of policy implementation to favor the goal of hunger reduction.
Governments have at their disposal, the shared knowledge of the various policies (and their shortcomings) that can be implemented in tandem with agricultural policies based on the objectives of food security and food entitlement. Economic growth in less developed countries can be achieved, for example, using the basic agricultural policies (price policy, marketing policy, credit policy, mechanization policy, land reform policy, research policy and irrigation policy), that intend to improve welfare at a broad level. However, these policies must also be married to the goals of improving nutrition, especially for the underpriveleged. The 'traditional' measures of nutrition indicate very ephemerally, the standard of nutrition that is prevalent in populations under study. Simple caloric intake measures do not suggest overall improvement in nutrition. It therefore follows that the deliverables of the broader agricultural programs, should include improvements in wider measures of nutritional intake. 'Agricultural policy' and 'nutrition policy' need to be interchangeable terms in the strategic outlook and rhetoric of policy makers.
Hello everyone.
The goal of food security related policies should seek to assist smallholder farmers be more productive, with the larger goal of reducing poverty and to ensure that all have the nutrition they require for a healthy life. It should be recognized that combating under nutrition requires assistance from many sectors, as well as agriculture. The agricultural sector can make certain that rural families have access to more food as well as a wider variety of nutritious foods.
Improved food security stems directly from a set of government policies that integrates the food economy into a development strategy that seeks rapid economic growth with improved income distribution (Timmer, Falcon and Pearson 1983). With such policies, economic growth and food security are mutually reinforcing.
One of the main goals of China's agricultural policy is ensuring national food security. By producing most of the food it needs for its large population, China contributes significantly to world food security and accounts for much of the decline in the number and percentage of the world's population who are undernourished. China's success in increasing the supply of food and fibre in the last 50 years to meet the needs of its growing population is well recognized. Per capita daily energy supply reached 2,990 kcal, well above the recommended level of 2,100 kcal in the MDGs and 14 percent higher than the average daily energy supply in developing countries and 8 percent higher than the world average (FAOSTAT database, 2008).
At the national level, grain security has received the attention of national leaders: in the late 1990s, a target of 95 percent grain self-sufficiency was set. To achieve this, China invested heavily in irrigation and other agricultural infrastructure (Wang, 2000), research and extension (Huang et al., 2000) and domestic production and marketing of chemical fertilizer and pesticides (Nyberg and Rozelle, 1999).
Agricultural reforms in China had huge consequences for food security and the improvement of the nutritional status of Chinese citizens. According to FAO estimates, the number of undernourished people decreased from 304 million in 1979–1981, 30 percent of the population, to 123 million in 2003–2005, 9 percent of the population. One policy that brought China to this level was centered on DEVELOPMENT AND DISSEMINATION OF AGRICULTURAL TECHNOLOGY. Since a country such as China, where agriculture is dominated by small farms, this is even more important.
Reference: Agricultural Development and Nutrition: the Policies behind China's Success
This is a very important topic to discuss especially the debate about the growth elasticity of poverty. Developing countries are lagging behind from distributing the fruits of impressive growth which fostering the inequality and poverty. Nutrition is also a very important analysis in this regard. The definition of poverty is multidimensional; feeding the 2100 kilocalorie per day is also a misleading idea. However, I think improvement is possible by making awareness among the societies and how to live better with limited resources.
I can share some field experiences that I have got from North-western Part of Bangladesh. In this region of Bangladesh, poverty was severe in the last decades because of the seasonal unemployment which generated seasonal food deprivation for months. To mitigate this crisis, some microfinance institutions (MFIs) were supported by the DFID funded project to reduce this seasonal crisis of the households. After the intervention of this program like flexible microcredit, supporting Income generating activities (IGA), agricultural loans, training for IGA, primary health service etc. the impact is huge. These vulnerable people become self-dependent later on and also most of them graduated from this chronic poverty. The success of this program came by the proper scrutinizing of the member households. They were informed about the health and nutrition value of their food also. This group of people performed better than the other people who were not offered this program. So I think the challenges of nutrition can be faced by improving the mass communication media and involving the community leaders. Besides government infrastructure like community health clinic and community awareness week is necessary.
I can also share another awareness movement of the residents of Dhaka city. It is very common now days that most of the vegetables, fruits, fishes are contaminated because of formalin which is very bad for health. But there is nothing to do from the consumers' side to stop this contamination. Social media and electronic media reported it several times in the national media like TV, newspapers but nothing happened. But recently there is a change making progress. Some Community of the Dhaka city declared their market Formalin free, i.e. no food will be contaminated by formalin and other additives. They spread this news to the media and the response from the buyers is enormous. Following this success some other markets are also declaring formalin free. So the change is coming from the micro-level. Government tries several times but failed to handle this crisis. Last week government declared that importing formalin would be strictly handles by the government authorities. But there is also a question here also, how efficiently government can handle this with its inefficient administration. So I believe movement should start from micro-level to make the market work. Other-wise success will not come up.
Economic growth can only reduce poverty by increasing inequality if no redistribution takes place. Special action should be taken into consideration to reduce the poverty and malnutrition.
Thank you.
Mohammad Monirul Hasan
Institute of Microfinance (InM)
Feedback by Juan Carlos Garcia y Cebolla and Mauricio Rosales, facilitators
Dear FSN Forum members,
we wish to thank all of you that took time to follow and engage in this challenging discussion on how to make economic growth work for improved food security and nutrition, inspired by the latest report on the State of Food Insecurity in the world (SOFI).
In our first question we asked you to tell us about experiences in which social protection and better food security governance have led to advances in food security and improved nutrition. We are happy to see that many projects have successfully managed to improve food security and nutrition of local communities: examples include the "Development of the Peanut sector for Guyana and Selected Caribbean countries" and the reformed Public Distribution System in Chhattisgararh (India). Further, among countries that progressed in improving food and nutrition security over the past decade Brazil and many in Asia were mentioned.
Successful experiences have been able to leverage and take full advantage of social protection and government determination; it's worth noting that Guyana, from where many examples were shared, has met the target of halving the proportion of people who suffer from hunger set by the Millennium Development Goal n.1.
We encourage you to keep sending examples and further references on experiences to enrich this exchange across countries and different professional perspectives.
While in some cases governments are engaged and determined, in others commitment and interest seem to be lagging behind and leaving the goal of eradicating food insecurity still far from reach. Some of you argue that where improvements are not being achieved, this is due to the fact that food security and nutrition are not high enough on the decision makers agendas.
Others blame wrong or uninformed policies for not being able to tackle the problem correctly or even for exacerbating the situation. In this regard alternative policies and approaches were also mentioned and advocated by participants such as: promoting market access versus food self subsistence; traditional - high input agriculture versus sustainable methods; or giving attention to the whole supply chain rather than only the production end.
We would now like to draw your attention and reflections to our third question: how can political will be mobilized to truly take action for hunger reduction and improved nutrition?
Does the gap that we still see in many countries need to be filled by knowledge of the problems and right solutions, good and sound legislation frameworks or do the responses need to be found elsewhere, such as in civil society empowerment and mobilization (as suggested in some posts)?
Let's dig in deeper into this difficult and complex question which probably has more than one answer, by looking at what made countries more or less successful in improving food security of their people. Is there any lesson to be learned about links between social protection policies and civil society empowerment? Thanks for your contributions to figure out how can we avoid SOFI to keep counting and adding countries to the high numbers of those who are food insecure in the world, no matter what methodology is used.
We really enjoy reading your comments, it helps in refining our thinking and widening our perspectives.
Juan Carlos and Mauricio
Food/Nutrition Security comes from Investing in Agriculture
The contribution from George Akalemwa of Zambia got me thinking – which is good; for that's what these debates are all about – so, the questions are these: how can national decision-makers say one thing and do another; how come some of them no longer relate to the ordinary man/woman in the street/bush when the majority people whom they may represent are sometimes really poor? Why don't they spend more on agriculture?
Kenyans taking a stand
Some of you may have read, seen or heard about the riots that took place in the streets of Nairobi in October this year following the news that national lawmakers – 222 of them – were awarding themselves bonuses valued at US$105,000 for when parliament breaks up next March. Parliamentarians in that country earn of the order US$10,000/month and there are additional earnings from attendance and perks that come with the job. Who would not want to be a politician in Kenya? Fortunately, that man/woman in the street was able to follow events on the basis of local reporting, and the government quickly stepped back from this particular confrontation.
It's not just the audacity of this kind of decision-making, but the sadness that it represents wherein national leaders may be so detached from the reality of the ordinary people who will never share their kind of wealth. In Kenya today it takes, according to the news reports, more than 60 years for an ordinary man/woman to earn the kind of money that the parliamentarians awarded themselves as a 'bonus' – they still had their annual incomes to fall back on. Sure these are taxed, but only at around 25%. How can you be surrounded by so much poverty – ever visited Kibera in Nairobi Africa's most notorious slum and home to more than 600,000 people – and not see the contradictions of wealth to which George Akalemwa refers.
Check out the Kenyan story - if you don't already know it – it's available at a number of websites such as: http://www.thelondoneveningpost.com/africa/kenyans-demonstrate-against-mps-new-bonus-of-105000-each/
Getting the priorities right
As George Alalma says; 'A hungry country is a dangerous country' and you don't have to look to far to see countries in which equality becomes a catch phrase for 'me first'. And, that link between nutrition security and economic wealth – sure, we're getting there - but the Kenya/Nairobi example is a pertinent one representing as it does the most successful commercial hub in the Great Lakes Region – 4M people servicing a hinterland of more than 100M with the services, industry, finances and techno-commercial skills that make this a gem of a city going places that can only continue to rise on the natural wealth of the region – including the vitality of the people.
But what if those national decision-makers and their counterparts in the private sector – equally as rich if not richer - do not invest in agriculture; and this is any low-income country anywhere, not simply Kenya/Nairobi. If you don't invest in agriculture you commit your community to the poverty of out-dated production systems that simply cannot keep pace with demands for more foods, novel foods and foods that entertain. That's been covered at other times in the FSN debates but the nexus of this particular contribution is the priority required of the national decision-makers and the size of the national budget. If you – as a government - don't invest in agriculture sufficient to keep pace with changing demands, increased populations, rising wealth and more, then who will?
This is small agro-country anywhere
Take a small country, well, you name one. Designated a 'middle-income' country you would reason that the majority people would not be poor – in the sense of abject poverty. But this is not always what it may seem from first impressions, and you need to explore beneath the surface; and there you find the dichotomy of people living in largely subsistence poverty but surrounded by the natural wealth of the soil, land, forests and oceans. Estimated 40% of the population of our example country of 1.1M live below the poverty line as exemplified by the food/nutrition vulnerability of rural children under five: 60% stunted, 45% underweight, etc. Locally grown foods are vulnerable to the low-productivity of traditional agro-production systems, but also to the vagaries of tropical storms that erode crops, soils and land alike. In 2007 30% of the people faced crop losses and starvation that necessitated international aid/food supplies; people died from hunger.
What is agro-investment worth?
Investment in agriculture is a requirements of all government strategic planning, but herein is the paradox of a national budget of US$1.67B in 2012 that continues to allocate <1% (US$16M) to the Ministry of Agriculture for providing agricultural public services, etc., and yet retains almost 50% (US$800M) for use by a centrally-controlled 'fund'. An additional US$9.4M from this fund will be invested in 'agriculture'. So, this boosts investments to around US$25M. National planning for the next four years had earmarked investments of around US$46M, but these figures don't stack up given the bulk of public funding required to service that public agricultural sector; only a small proportion of that MAF allocation will find its way into development funds.
People matter
So, how do you handle those nutritional wish-lists? Fortunately for our national managers in our small middle income country, off-shore oil&gas revenues help to boost the national coffers and, at time of reporting, special oil&gas derived accounts contained >US$9B of assets. More than enough to meet national strategic development planning for the current period and Vision 2030; and more than enough to provide the half million food/nutrition vulnerable people with some sense of security. But, like those slums in west-central Nairobi, you can't develop without carrying the people – all of the people – with you; and, for national managers, this means investing in those socio-economic assets that will help break that cycle of low-input/low-output land productivity.
The challenge facing national managers will be one of setting priorities, maintaining discipline and seeking to achieve stated objectives without becoming side-tracked and, importantly, remaining within the tenants of state legislation for fair governance, transparency, law&order and similar; that wealth can be shared equitably.
Then you get to sharpen those development models with focus upon nutrition (and health, school kids, women, WATSAN, mosquito nets and more).
Peter Steele
The report states: "To reduce poverty and hunger, growth needs to reach the poor and the increased income needs to generate demand for the assets controlled by them. Poor households need to be able to use the additional economic assets to improve their diets both in quantity and quality". Not clear what this means and what assets are we talking about?
The quality of food and diet has been underestimated as a basic requirement for food security. Education is an important part of the solution to solving this problem. In regard to "policies that led to better nutritional status as a result of investment into agriculture" a key issue here is that attention has to be given to the whole food supply chain, not just the production end. Production is important but it's just part of the food supply chain, not the whole food chain.
In our study of food security and risk management we found very little investigation of the food supply chain beyond the farm gate. Sure, there are all sorts of value chain examinations etc. but not much into the food security aspects of the value chain. More about this at www.food-security.com.au and at LinkedIn group food security 2050.
But food security, being about access, has to deal better and more thoroughly with the whole food supply chain. The private sector dominates food supply chain activity in every country, irrespective of their development status and inclination towards command styled economies. So the real question is how to improve private sector performance in food supply chains that deliver food security. Investment and capital accummulation drive private sector capacity to deliver best practices along the whole supply chain. From my examination of the FAO database there is a very close correlation between capital investment in agriculture and the agricultural output index of production. It's a great pity investment and capital accummulation data is not available beyond the farm gate. Policy settings, including social protection, have to work closely with the privately driven food supply chains if they are to have any lasting impact.
With reference to question 1, we would like to make an addition to our previous post:
In an effort to address the malnutrition problem among school children in Guyana, the Ministry of Education has implemented a National School Feeding Programme. The focus of this programme is to provide hot meals such as peanut butter, cassava bread and a drink to students of primary and nursery schools in the Hinterland regions. In addition to this, the Ministry of Education also operates a snack program which aids in the provision of milk and biscuits to all children attending public primary and nursery schools.
This programme seeks to reduce the predominant iron deficiency as well as other mineral and vitamin deficiencies. Also it would lead to an improvement in the school attendance and school achievements at both levels as well as to alleviate short-term hunger which results from the long distance of commute in this area.
Thank you!


text:
Turn in your Bibles to John chapter 2 this morning as we examine the passage that is before us. John chapter 2 verses 12 to 25 includes some very, very important passages in the thoughts of John and in the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. And they are not all easy to be understood. We shall endeavor to open them to you as best we are able as God has revealed to us what is located in this text, and there are some just exciting and thrilling things here.
Now remember that John has one point through His whole gospel, it's the same point in every chapter and it is, he wants to present Jesus Christ as God, and that's our message, too. Jesus is God. Jesus is not just a good teacher, good teachers don't claim to be God. Jesus is not just a good example, good examples don't run around with sinners, drunks and tax collectors. Jesus is not a religious paranoid, a fanatic. Man men don't speak those words, mad men don't have those clear thoughts and mad men don't show that kind of love. Jesus is not a religious phony, phonies don't rise from the dead. Jesus is not a phantom, you don't nail a phantom to a cross and it has to blood to shed. Jesus is not a myth, myths don't set the calendars for history. Jesus is God in a body come to this world to show us what God was like and then to redeem us. He's God. That's John's message. And John has been trying to show us the proof that He is God.
You remember he told us He was God in chapter 1 at the beginning and then he said John the Baptist said He was God, Philip said He was God, Nathanael said He was God, Simon said He was God...or Andrew said He was God, right on down the line.
Then he not only used the words of these men to show that He was God but in chapter 2 verses 1 to 11 as we saw last week, He showed by the miracle of creating wine that He was God. Only God can create. Jesus created from nothing. Only God can do that.
And so, from the words of testimony of witnesses, He is God. From the works that He Himself did, He is God. And now as we come to verses 12 to 25 of chapter 2 we're going to see three other reasons to indicate that He is God. And each of them is an attribute of Christ. By three attributes of Christ, not mentioned as attributes but illustrated, three illustrations of three attributes of Christ John shows us beyond doubt that He is indeed God. Those three things are this, three things that show us He's God, His passion for reverence, His power of resurrection, His perception of reality. Each of these three is illustrated by one of these three incidents.
First of all, let's look at the narrative and notice His passion for reverence. In verse 12 it says, "After this He went down to Capernaum...that is, after they left Cana...He and His mother and brethren and His disciples and they continued there not many days." That verse is put there as a transition to get them from Cana back to Jerusalem. Verse 13 tells us that they arrived in Jerusalem for the Passover.
What happens in Jerusalem when He arrives is a tremendous insight into the very person of Jesus Christ because it's not the gentle Jesus, it's the very opposite. Jesus is absolutely totally intolerant of one particular thing and that is, Jesus never tolerates irreverence toward God. He has a passion for reverence. And here in the temple His righteous anger rages when God is not being reverenced. When He finds people who lightly approach God, when He finds people who have made merchandise out of the name of God, He literally becomes fierce in His anger. You see, God doesn't look lightly on people who approach Him in irreverence. Christ demanded reverence for God.
You see, all things were created for God's glory. Now a few Sunday nights ago we had a message on glory, one of the most important messages in all the Bible. God demands glory from everything He created. And there are only two rebels in the universe that don't give it to Him. Butterflies give Him glory. Birds give Him glory. Trees give Him glory. Only two things don't...fallen angels and fallen men. And you know what God does to those that don't give Him glory? He casts them from His presence forever. The whole story of the Bible is God's attempt to get man to see His glory. He revealed in the Shekinah. He revealed it in the His miracles. He finally revealed it in Christ. And men constantly refused His glory. Some day when He comes back in glory there's not going to be any option. There's going to be judgment.
God demands men's praise and reverence and that men give Him glory. And Jesus had this same passion for the reverence of God. God tolerates nothing less than reverence. And Paul even brings this to bear in a Christ's life when he says in 1 Corinthians 10, "Whatever you do, whether you eat or drink, do all to...what?...the glory of God." God demands that.
Now just to show you how important it is that God get His glory, Christ was basically a messenger of love because the Bible says God in love sent Christ, it says that in 1 John, it says that in the gospel of John. Paul says it. God loved and sent Christ. Christ is the gift of love. But listen, when Christ got here the first thing He did didn't even involve love. Jesus didn't come in to Jerusalem at the Passover and say, "Now I want to tell you all about love." There was no message of love until He had shattered the complacency of sin, that's where He had to start. And He came in there and He ripped apart their irreverence before He ever got around to love.
Nobody comes to God on the basis of love first until they see a sense of overwhelming sense of their own sin. Jesus didn't want to win a popularity contest, He wanted to tell it like it was. And He couldn't talk about love until He dealt with sin.
So, Jesus the gift of love, the messenger of love came giving no message of love until after He had shattered their sinful complacency and irreverence. And He hit them right in the pit of the stomach, right at the point of their religious hypocrisy, the most gross kind of sin. Man cannot accept love until he knows why he needs to be loved.
And so, Christ comes, first of all, in a temple and He doesn't even talk about love, He just grabs a whip and He beats people and sends them out of there. You say, "That's the messenger of love?" The message of love was meaningless until they awoke to their sin.
I want you to notice the circumstances of this first message of judgment. Verse 13 says, "And the Jews' Passover was at hand and Jesus went up to Jerusalem." Now this was a standard procedure for every Jewish male over twelve years old. Every year at Passover time he went to the temple. Commentators, Barclay in particular, says there were perhaps two and a quarter million of them there. And they all went there to carry out the Passover. On the tenth day a male lamb was taken. On the fourteenth day between three and six o'clock the male lamb was slaughtered and that night they had a feast. The feast was called the Passover Feast and it was to commemorate the passing over of the angel of death in Egypt in the ancient history of Israel. God's test of His power in the Old Testament was always how God brought Israel out of Egypt. That was always God's test of power. He'd say to anybody who didn't recognize His power, "Don't you remember when I brought you out of Egypt?" That was always the touchstone of His power, just as in the New Testament the resurrection is the touchstone of His power.
So Jesus went as usual to the Passover. So during this time with all these people there and everybody wanting to get a lamb and everybody wanting to go through their sacrifice, there was a need for somebody to provide animals. And that led to the situation of verse 14. "Jesus went to Jerusalem and found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves and the changers of money sitting." That's a pretty sick situation.
Religion had become a business. It was crass. That is it was dull, it was hypocritical, meaningless. The priests were insincere. Annas, the high priest, has to go down in history as the all-time evil character. Caiaphas was just another Annas. They were materialistic, they wanted prestige, money, power. And they had turned the worship of Israel into a merchandise. They were irreverent. They were making money off the name of God. And when Jesus found that in the temple, He took fast and furious action.
Now they didn't know it, they didn't know anything for that matter, they never did, but basically they were seeing right in front of their faces the fulfillment of Messianic prophecy. And I'll show you that prophecy. Look at Malachi 3:1, one of the most important prophecies in relation to who Christ is. Malachi 3:1, now this has a future fulfillment in the Second Coming of Christ, but it has an indicated initial fulfillment in this action of Christ. "Behold, I will send My messenger and he shall prepare the way before Me," that's John the Baptist. Watch this. "And the Lord whom you seek, that is Messiah, shall suddenly come to His temple," and it says later on in a few verses that He shall refine and purify that place. Now you can go back to John chapter 2.
They didn't know it but what they were seeing was the prophecy of the Messiah coming suddenly to His temple fulfilled by Jesus Christ. The first place Jesus Christ went, He walked right into that temple as Malachi said He would and He took a whip in His hand and He began to beat people and animals and chase them out. He was purifying His Father's house. So you see, John by putting the incident of the cleansing of the temple here is saying from another angle Jesus is Messiah, isn't he? From the prophetic angle. Jesus came to the temple in direct fulfillment of Malachi's prophecy. The cleansing of the temple, the refining of the temple was a fulfillment of God's promise.
The temple, needless to say, was a mess. With over two million people there, large crowds were everywhere. And, of course, they would all be pushing at the temple because that's where the worship would go on. Now when they use the word "temple," it came to mean the whole complex of building and courts and everything. The real temple, the temple itself was just one little area divided into two parts, one third and two thirds, which was the Holy of Holies and the Holy Place, and only the priests could go there and only the high priests once a year could enter the Holy of Holies.
But around that was the inner courtyard, the outer courtyard, the court of the Gentiles, the buildings of the palace and all the other kinds of things. It was one complex. And all the population was pushing at the temple. In order to commodate everybody who wanted to make a sacrifice, they had set all kinds of shops in the Court of the Gentiles and they were selling things there. One writer, interestingly enough, says it is very likely that because business, you know, was competitive that they began to push closer and closer to the temple until perhaps the temple itself, the Holy of Holies and the Holy Place was surrounded with people with their little wares set up with just behind them would be the temple and the Holy Place. And they were all bickering for the sale of these animals to people who wanted to purchase them and it was kind of a monopoly. It's like when you go to the resort for your vacation, if you don't want to pay the prices you don't eat. And, of course, they were charging exorbitant prices.
One of the ancient commentators says, transliterating it today that nickel doves were going for $4.00 apiece. So you can see, there's something of the usuary that was going on. And you know how God feels about usuary...making money for things of God. And moneychangers were there. And they were sitting...it says they were sitting at the end of verse 14, because they sat cross-legged behind these little short stubby tables and they would have all their change sitting up on the tables, stacked up because, you see, they had to pay the temple tax in Jewish money and anyone coming from another part of the Mediterranean world would have to have an exchange. And, of course, there was a small fee for the exchange which fee went into the pocket of the moneychangers. The holy temple had been intended as a place of worship and a place of prayer but they had turned it into a house of merchandise. Later on in the second time Christ cleanses it, He says you turned it into a den of robbers.
There was no spirit of worship and there was no reverence and Christ was angry. He demands reverence for God. This irreverent blasphemy brought out a righteous indignation in Christ like we see nowhere else in the New Testament, unless it be in the wrath that He brings when He comes in His Second Coming and treads out the winepress of the wrath of God. He demanded reverence for the majesty and the wonder of God. He would not tolerate this blasphemy and so in verse 15 look what happened. "When He had made a scourge of small cords," evidently with all the animals there there would be ropes lying around, "He took them and wove them together into a whip. He drove them all out of the temple." Who is them all? Pantos used many places in the Bible to refer to "all men." Listen, He did not save that lash for the sheep and the oxen, He put it to the back of the men. He drove them out AND the sheep AND the oxen. Jesus Christ went into that temple with a whip in His hand and went right and left and drove those people out of there. He cleared the temple.
Now He was some kind of a man...a monstrous mob in that temple, on man with one scourge cleared that place. And then you see these pictures of Christ and representations of Christ, He's some anemic little pusillanimous shrivelled-up little...not Jesus Christ of the Bible. He was a man's man. You don't take the scourge like He took it, then pick up a cross that probably weighed 250 pounds and march up a hill with it unless you're some kind of a man. And you don't walk into a temple and scatter a mob by saying, "Everybody out." There was a dynamic. The Son was cleansing the Father's house with a lash. There weren't any half-way measures. There weren't any delays in His action. This was Messiah at work. And listen, when Messiah goes to work, people move and they moved. With fire indignation He applied that whip right and left to those men and those animals, and then He walked over to those tables and undoubtedly kicked them over. And then in verse 16 He told the people with the doves to pick up their crates and take them out of there..."Take these things from here." They kept the doves in crates and He said, "Pick them up and get them out." Christ does not tolerate irreverence toward God. God demands glory.
And then He said to them in verse 16, "Take these things from here...now watch this, here's another indication of His deity...make not...what?...My Father's house." Who was He then? He was the Son of whom? Son of God. Don't make My Father's house a house of merchandise. He stated who He was. You see John jabbing us again with another fact of His proof of Messiahship. Moses never made a statement like that, nobody ever did, only Christ. He affirmed His divine Sonship and single handedly drove a whole mob out. Jerome, ancient Latin writer wrote this, "There must have been a certain fiery and starry light shining from His eyes and the majesty of the Godhead must have been gleaming in His face." This isn't the gentle Jesus.
Listen...listen, when the holiness of God is at stake, it's not the gentle Jesus. "My Father's house." Do you know that later on in Matthew, I think it's 23:38, you know what Jesus says? Now watch this, very important, He had cleansed the temple once here. He cleansed it again at the end of His ministry. Then He said, watch this, "Your house is left unto you desolate." It wasn't His house anymore. It wasn't even the Father's house anymore. Two times He tried to cleanse it. Two times they would not turn to God. He said, "Okay, it's over. It's not God's house, it's yours and it's desolate." And when He died on the cross the veil of the temple was split and God had never a thing to do with the temple again. It didn't take long for God to send along Titus Vespasian to flatten it and it's never been rebuilt. But there's no need for it. It's not God's house.
And so, He says, "It's My Father's house," but soon it wasn't. Remember what we said in our message about the glory of God? When men sin the glory leaves. It did. So we see Christ unmistakingly revealed as the Son of God in the words "My Father's house." We see Him unmistakingly revealed as the Son of God in the fact that He cleansed the temple which is exactly what Malachi said Messiah would do. We see Him as the Son of God in His passion for reverence. He demands it for God for He is God.
Another very interesting point in this attitude toward the temple. Do you know what He was indicating? He was indicating that for all intents and purposes the whole paraphernalia of animal sacrifice was out for when He died on the cross that was the end, wasn't it? And this was the beginning of the end...the beginning of the end. In fact, even from the Old Testament God absolutely hated the phony offerings of men, didn't He? Isaiah 1, I think, God says, "I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, I've had it with this. I delight not in the blood of bullocks and lambs and hegoats, stop bringing Me your vain sacrifices, God said." And you remember Psalm 51 where the psalmist says, "Thou desirest not sacrifice, else would I give it. Thou delightest not in burnt offerings." What did God want? He wanted a broken and a contrite heart, that's what He wanted. And the hypocritical gestures of these sacrifices were meaningless and Christ was saying the whole system has gotten out of whack, you don't see the point, it's going to be destroyed. This was the beginning of the end of the sacrificial system. And if you really, if you have a Jewish friend that you're trying to win to Jesus Christ, ask him why the sacrifices aren't done anymore and what happened to them and when they stopped. And they stopped at the time of Christ and just after.
So Christ disrupts the sinful system. And at death He finally ended it when He split the veil of the temple and ruined their worship. A few years later He flattened the temple using a Roman to do it.
All right, then we see verse 17, look at the reaction of His disciples, they were really afraid. And you don't get this out of this verse unless you understand the interpretation. "His disciples remembered that it was written...where? Psalm 69:9, and they're quoting from David..."The zeal of Thine house hath eaten me up." Oh this is an interesting statement. Interesting. Now David was always defending God's honor, God's majesty. You know what David was saying? "God, I've been so zealous for Your house that everybody's after me. I have been so zealous that everybody is hating me and persecuting me." And the disciples are saying...oh, if that's what happened to David when he was zealous, what in the world is going to happen to Jesus pulling something like this? They were afraid for Christ. They remembered how David had fear because of his zeal for the house of God.
You see, when you're zealous for the truth amidst error, you're really up for being shot at. Here is David in the midst of the sin of Israel standing for the truth of God and naturally he's going to get persecuted. Here is Christ in the midst of absolute hypocrisy, standing for truth and calling it what it was and the disciples said, "Oh brother, the world's coming after Him." And did they? You better believe they did. And they kept bringing up the same thing. You know, how many times after this, I think at least three or four times they say to Him, "You're the one that said You're going to destroy the temple." They keep bringing that same thing up. This thing at the beginning of His ministry, those Jews never forgot, it was the prime thing that brought about His crucifixion. "You're going to destroy the temple and the way we worship God and substitute Yourself." That's essentially what they said. "This man claims to be God," see. "He's going to bring us a new system."
So, the disciples remembered this and they became afraid. John might have said it this way, "We disciples were frightened because we remembered what happened to David when he tried to uphold God's holiness and we're afraid for Christ." They didn't really need to fear for Him, though.
So, Christ cleansed the temple. He cleansed it. And later on He cleansed it again. And then He destroyed its worship at His death because He ripped the veil from top to bottom. And then He destroyed it all together in 70 A.D. when it was flattened and wiped out and never been rebuilt.
You say, "Well, is there a temple of God today?" Yeah. You say, "Where is it?" Right here. You're the temple of God. Isn't that what Paul says? Don't you know you're the temple of the Holy Spirit? You're the sanctuary not made with hands. God's built a new temple. That's the believer.
So, we see, first of all, in that first little incident Christ's passion for reverence, don't we? And that tells us who He is, doesn't it? He demanded the glory that God was due.
Second thing we see here is His power of resurrection, and this is really fascinating. The answer that He gives these Jews in verse 18, now verses 18 to 22 are the power, His power of resurrection. And this is the second way that John shows Christ's deity by showing He had power over death. That only God has. All right, verse 18, notice these Jews now, now this is undoubtedly the Sanhedrin and the temple police, perhaps the Sadducees. And they come to Him after all this stuff has been going on, and undoubtedly it stirred some kind of problems. "Then answered the Jews and said unto Him, `What sign showest Thou unto us seeing that Thou doest these things?'" Now watch that statement. You know what they said to Him? "Now what gave You the right to do this?" Now it's interesting to me that they didn't say, "Go get that guy and let's kill him. What is he doing?" Not at all. Listen, Jesus did that with such unbelievable majestic authority that they were dumbfounded. They knew He had authority to do it. That's why they said, "Show us a sign that proves to us that You had the right to do that." Boy, they were really stuck against the wall.
It was obvious from the power and authority that He carried when He did it that it was something more than human. And so they said show us a sign that You had the right to do this. They might have suspected maybe this is some prophet of God. Undoubtedly they thought that. This man did that with such boldness and authority...and wow. I mean, show us a sign, maybe this is a prophet of God. You've done this now show us what right You had to do it.
Now that question is interesting because it's both stupid and wicked. And I'll show you why. First of all, it's a stupid question. Here they are asking for a sign when they've just had a monumental sign, right? I mean, what kind of sign do you want? Read Malachi, there it is. What are other majesty do you want than to have one man clean out a whole mob? What kind of tricks do you expect? Typical unbelief.
You know who it is who asks for miracles? It's not belief, what is it? It's unbelief. Unbelief wants miracles all the time...do a trick, do a trick, do a trick. And they saw them all. Jesus did them for three years, He did miracles, right? At the end of three years in Matthew 12 they came to Him and said, "We've seen all Your miracles and we have a conclusion to make, You did it by Satan." See.
So, it was a stupid question in the first place. They had just seen a sign. Secondly, it was a wicked question. Do you know why? Because they knew good and well that that temple needed to be cleansed, didn't they? But they weren't willing to face their sin. They knew they were rotten. They knew that they were hypocrites. They knew that the whole operation was a merchandising on the name of God, they knew that. But they weren't willing to face their sin. Men who would degenerate to the desecration of the temple of God were utterly devoid of any sense of God and were blinded. And so Christ treats them in a blindness. They've been veiled by Satan. Christ keeps them veiled by talking to them in veiled language.
Do you know that He said so many things to them He must have left them spinning around for all the three years of His ministry. They never understood anything He was talking about. That's why He says in Matthew 13, "I spoke to them seeing who see not, hearing who hear not and don't understand." That's why He said, "I revealed these things to the babes and hidden from the wise and the prudent." He confounded them almost every time He confronted them. He answers them in a veiled statement.
Now look at the veiled statement and it's very interesting in verse 19, and, of course, they took it wrong, as usual, "Jesus answered and said unto them, `Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.'" And they said, misinterpreting obviously, "Forty-six years was this temple in the building, are you going to raise it in three days? But He spoke of the temple of His body...John adds."
Now what's going on here, what is this all about? This is not an easy passage to interpret because there's depth of meaning in the statement of Christ in verse 19. Now notice it. "Jesus answered and said unto them, `Destroy this temple and in three days I'll raise it up.'" What temple? Here is what we have, what we call in hermeneutics or interpretation a paradox. Christ is undoubtedly gesturing to the temple existing but yet in a greater way referring to His body so that this statement, this temple here in verse 19 refers both to the temple and to His body. In terms of His body He was saying this, "You may destroy Me, this temple, you may destroy it. Three days later it will come right out of that grave." And is that what happened? Exactly what happened, exactly.
You know what? If they wanted a sign in verse 18, brother, they got one, didn't they? The greatest sign Christ ever gave was His resurrection. Did they believe? No. Did Israel believe? No. It's unbelief that wants a sign.
And so, Christ says, "I'll give you a sign, kill me and I'll come alive in three days." Only He puts it in language that confused them. When Christ...but there's a deeper meaning to this, now watch this one. He was also, He must have also been referring to the temple cause that's the context. You know what He was saying to them? You destroy that temple there and in three days I'll raise a new temple. What do you mean by that? Listen to this, when Christ was killed on the cross, did you know that the temple worship was destroyed at His death? Why? Because the veil was ripped right from the top to the bottom. For all intents and purposes the temple worship was destroyed right then, wasn't it? And it was only a time later till the whole temple was destroyed.
So when they destroyed the temple of Christ's body, at the same instant they were destroying temple worship, weren't they? Because they were sacrificing the final lamb and there never would be another one of consequence. So He says to them you kill this temple and you're destroying that one.
But He adds to that this fantastic thought, "I'll raise it up." You say, "Wait a minute, three days later He didn't rebuild the temple." No, but you know what He did? By His resurrection power He built new temples didn't He? And who are those new temples? His church...His church. You see that deep, deep meaning in that statement. Jesus Christ doesn't make surface statements. And I know myself, I study these things and I think to myself, "If that's what I got out of it, what is really there? What kind of profound content must be in a statement like that?" God doesn't just say off-the-cuff things, Christ doesn't. He was saying you destroy Me you'll destroy your temple, but that's okay I'll not only raise Me, I'll raise another temple, believers, the church. And our life is the resurrection life of Christ, isn't it?
So, when they heard this, of course they didn't even know what was happening, and they replied in verse 20, "Well it took us 46 years to build it, we don't see how You can possibly do that." And they didn't get the message. But it's fascinating that they never understood. Just let me illustrate how man never understands the words of Christ. John 3, look at this, now watch this, John 3 verse 3, Jesus says to Nicodemus, "Except a man be born again he can't see the Kingdom of God." And Jesus is talking about spiritual truth. And Nicodemus says, "Oh, how can a man enter his mother's womb and be born?" See, he's talking about physical truth. You have the same thing, you go over to chapter 4, it's always this way, I'm just giving you a few examples, it's everywhere in this gospel. Verse 14, Jesus talking to the woman at the well in Samaria and He says, "Whosoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing into everlasting life." And the woman says in verse 15, "Sir, give me this water that I thirst not neither come here to draw." She thought it was going to quench her physical thirst, she wouldn't have to go to the well anymore when she got this water. See, He's talking spiritual, she's thinking physical.
And then you have it in chapter 6 and this is really a beautiful illustration of it. Verse 51, "I am the living bread that came down from heaven, if any man eat of this bread he shall live forever and the bread which I will give is My flesh." And the Jews said in the next verse, "His flesh, how can this man give His flesh?" They never get the message.
Then you go over to chapter 7 and they're all over the place. Verse 34 I think, "You shall seek Me and shall not find Me and where I am, there you cannot come." And they said, "Where's He going? Over to the Greeks?" They never get the message.
Chapter 8 verse 51, "Verily, verily I say unto you, if a man keep My saying he shall never see death." He's talking about spiritual death and they say, "Well, wait a minute, Abraham was a good guy and he died." See, they're talking about physical death. They never got the message. He always talked to them in veiled terms. In a sense they were blind and God judicially maintained that blindness. And so they never got it.
Well, a little side line. Verse 21, John clarifies the whole thing by saying He was speaking about the temple of His body. Then in verse 22, "When therefore He..." and this is interesting because the disciples, you know, you think, "Boy, the disciples were on the inside." Oh yeah? They didn't get the message either. Verse 22, "When therefore He was risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this," you know. "And they believed the Scripture," what Scripture? The Psalm where it says, "Thou shalt not suffer Thy holy one to see corruption." Whenever you see "the Scripture" in the New Testament it's always reference to the Old Testament, they didn't have the New Testament, it refers back. They remembered the prophecies of the Old Testament that foretold that He would die. Hosea's prophecy, the indication of Psalm 22, the indication of the Psalm where it says, "Thou shalt not...Psalm 16 where it says...Thou shalt not suffer Thy holy one to see corruption." They remembered those Scriptures. And they remembered the word which Jesus had said right there that day in Jerusalem.
The disciples didn't really know anymore than anybody else did. Their mind was all fogged up. And the reason wasn't that they couldn't believe it, the reason was they didn't want to believe that Jesus would go away. You remember that. And they didn't believe in the resurrection. What happened when Jesus got crucified? Did they all wait around the tomb? They were gone, man, they had got out of there, they didn't believe it. They didn't believe it. In fact, when He was finally raised they didn't believe it, walking along the road He's walking, talking to them, they didn't even know Him.
But finally after His resurrection they woke up to what He was talking about three years before right here in Jerusalem. So John says, "By the resurrection of Jesus Christ God vindicates Him as Messiah." So we see two things. First of all, the passion for reverence that Jesus had shows us He's God. Secondly, the power of resurrection, only God goes into death and comes out the other side by His own power. By conquering death He proved His deity and established the new temple...the believer, the believer. That's why when often we refer to the church we call it the house of the Lord. This is not the house of the Lord. You are the house of the Lord. This is not God's house. God doesn't live here. God forbid. He lives in us. In the Old Testament He lived in a building. No, no more, He lives in a sanctuary not made with hands, believers.
All right, then thirdly, the third little vignette here in the insight that John gives us indicates Jesus' deity from a third angle and this is very interesting, His perception of reality. His passion for reverence, His power of resurrection, here's His perception of reality. Listen, you couldn't fool Jesus, He could read your heart like a billboard. And watch what He says right here, verse 23, "Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover," same time, same station, "in the feast day," this would be the day finally of the feast and the Passover lasted seven days, so this would be the last day, "many believed in His name when they saw the miracles which He did." You say, "Oh revival." No, no. Verse 24 tells us it wasn't. "Jesus didn't commit Himself unto them because He knew all men and needed not that any should testify of man for He knew what was in man."
Listen, He knew true faith and He knew false faith. You say, "But they believed." Yeah, what did they believe? What did they believe? What was it they were believing in? Evidently He had been doing many, many miracles, sufficient signs for those people who were looking for them in verse 18 but they didn't believe Him anyway. As I said, faith doesn't...disbelief looks for miracles, not faith.
What kind of faith is indicated there in verse 23, what kind of believing was it? Well believing isn't enough in that sense. It's one thing to believe, it's another thing to know Christ. For example, you have in John 1:12 where it says, "But as many as...what?...received." You see, it's more to it than just believing. More to it than just believing. There may have been people who actually believed that He was Messiah. But whether or not they commit themselves to Him is another story.
The Lord has given us a rich week this week. Now in the last four days I have had the privilege of sharing Christ with three people, all three of whom received Christ as Savior, three or four, I can't remember now. And in every single case, in every single case they all believed that Jesus Christ was the Son of God and never had any of them ever received Him as such and yielded and surrendered their lives to Him. That's the key. You know, Jesus didn't have any faith in their faith. It wasn't saving faith. He looked into their hearts and He could discern whether it was divinely granted saving faith. Listen, Jesus isn't dazzled by apparent successes. He knows what's genuine. And many people were willing to follow Jesus for His miracles. All those people got fed on the hillside. When Jesus went to the other side of the sea, they went too. You say, "Oh, isn't that wonderful, following Jesus." Right, they were going over there because it was dinner time. They had gotten a free lunch, they figured they could also get a free dinner.
You know what kind of faith that is? That's stony-ground faith, that's what it is. The first time a little trouble comes along, it's gone. It dies. Listen, if Jesus had stopped with all those that had believed on His name, as it says here, quote, and started to talk about self-sacrifice, surrender, repentance, a cross, death, bearing a cross...they would have been gone, fair-weather followers. So Jesus didn't even commit Himself to them.
You see, Jesus refuses to cash in on a moment's popularity. He knew human nature. He knew the fickleness and the instability and the selfishness of men's hearts. You know how to test a true disciple? Put him through a fire, see how he responds. You've got a lot of people following Jesus today, a lot of people jumping on the Jesus bandwagon. They like the identification. I'm not too sure they love the Savior but they like the identification. I don't know what's going to happen when trial comes in each case but I know that will be the proof of the pudding. For Peter says, "For hereunto were you called," to do what? "To suffer." Test of discipleship. He could read their hearts. This was God...this was God. Nobody came to Him with artificial faith and got away with it, nor do they come to Him today that way.
So, John says, "See, He's God. Look at the perception of reality, He could read a man's heart." You say, "Well, what is this saying to me?" All right, these three points are a beautiful salvation outline. Now watch, the first little story about the temple tells us that God hates sin, doesn't it? God hates sin and what's He going to do to sin? Punish it. God hates it and He will punish anything that doesn't give Him glory. But then the second illustration tells us that there's a way to escape that punishment because while God may destroy the system that doesn't give Him glory, He's provided a resurrection for those that want Him, hasn't He? See, the second one is power of resurrection, shows us that while He hates sin and will destroy it, there's still a way because He said, "Because I live, ye shall live also." So Christ is going to judge sin, but secondly, by His resurrection He's provided new life and forgiveness of sin.
You say, "So what do I do about it?" That's the third account, verses 23 to 25 tells you, what do you do about it? You come to Christ with what kind of faith? Genuine honest faith. You see salvation in those three stories? Number one, God hates sin, that's the basis of salvation. You're a sinner, God hates it. Number two, God provides new life in the resurrection of Christ and forgiveness for sin. But the issue comes down to number three, verses 23 to 25, are you genuinely desirous of knowing Christ and surrendering your life to Him? Not just believing, devils believe, it doesn't do them any good.
Listen, Jesus Christ can see every heart, He can detect every indifference. He can see every hostility. He knows every superficial confession. And when you meet Jesus Christ, you meet Him honestly or you don't meet Him at all. Jesus isn't looking for a crowd of people cheering His miracles. He's looking for a little group of people who will die for Him...if that's the price He demands.
You can be a part of that little group. And incidently, if you're worried about dying for Him, that's promotion day. To die is to...what?...gain. To die is the easy part, it's the living that's tough. But you can be a part of that group by faith. God hates sin. God's provided a way of escape and forgiveness in His resurrection. If you come to Him with genuine faith and receive Christ, His salvation is for you. Christ is God. Do you see it?
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See the top 20 most helpful scuba gear reviews
Average Customer Review: based on 20 reviews.Rating: Serious mask
I weigh more than 120 lbs, but have tried several adult masks and all seem too big. I do have a small face, do you know of slightly heavier adults wearing this mask?
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