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2013: C. Everett Koop, who served as the 13th U.S. surgeon general under Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush from 1982 to 1989, dies at age 96 in Hanover, New Hampshire. Koop was outspoken on controversial public health issues, including abortion and HIV/AIDS, and did much to raise the profile the office of the surgeon general. He was also well-known for his work around tobacco, calling for a "smoke-free" society. His 1986 surgeon general's report on the dangers of secondhand smoke was seminal.
2007: The drama "The Departed," starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Mark Wahlberg and Martin Sheen, and directed by Martin Scorsese, wins Best Picture at the Academy Awards. The crime thriller, a remake of the 2002 Hong Kong film "Infernal Affairs," became the first remake to win the Oscars' top award and also captured Oscars for Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Film Editing. The win for Scorsese was the first Oscar he received after previously losing out on nominations for "Raging Bull," "The Last Temptation of Christ," "Goodfellas," "Gangs of New York" and "The Aviator."
2005: Dennis Rader is arrested for the BTK serial killings in Wichita, Kansas. He killed a total of 10 people in and around Wichita through 1991 and was particularly known for sending taunting letters to police and newspapers describing the details of his murders. "BTK" stands for "Bind, Torture, Kill," which was his infamous signature. He later pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 10 life prison terms.
2002: Tennis player Venus Williams earns the ranking of World No. 1 for the first time in her career, becoming the first black woman to ever hold the ranking.
1996: Cambodian-born actor, physician and author Haing S. Ngor, a survivor of the Khmer Rouge regime and their labor camps who won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for the 1984 movie "The Killing Fields," is shot to death at the age of 55 outside his home in Los Angeles' Chinatown neighborhood. Three gang members would later be convicted of his murder. Ngor, a trained surgeon and gynecologist who was forced to conceal his education and training when Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge seized control of the country in 1975, was imprisoned in a concentration camp along with his wife, My-Huoy, who subsequently died giving birth. After he was freed, he worked as a doctor in a refugee camp in Thailand before coming to America in 1980. Besides his debut acting role in "The Killing Fields," he also appeared in other movies and TV shows, most memorably in Oliver Stone's "Heaven & Earth" and the "Vanishing Son" miniseries.
1994: Former world heavyweight champion boxer Jersey Joe Walcott dies of complications from diabetes at the age of 80 in Camden, New Jersey. Walcott, whose real name was Arnold Raymond Cream, broke the world record for the oldest man to win the world heavyweight title when he earned it in 1951 at the age of 37 years, 168 days. Walcott successfully defended his title once before losing it to an undefeated Rocky Marciano in 1952. His record would last for more than eight months after his death, when George Foreman took the WBA and IBF heavyweight titles from 26-year-old Michael Moorer in November 1994 at the age of 45.
1986: A nonviolent people's revolution sends Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos (center) fleeing from the nation after 20 years of rule. The leaders of the revolution installed Corazon Aquino, the widow of assassinated opposition leader Benigno Aquino Jr., as the Philippines' first woman president. Marcos' administration was marred by massive corruption, political repression, and human rights violations. It was later discovered that he and his wife Imelda Marcos had moved billions of dollars of embezzled public funds to accounts and investments in the United States, Switzerland, and other countries. He would die three years later in exile in Hawaii.
1983: American playwright Tennessee Williams, best known for works such as "A Streetcar Named Desire," "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof," "The Glass Menagerie" and "The Night of the Iguana," is found dead in his suite at the Elysee Hotel in New York City at age 71. The medical examiner's report indicated that he choked to death on the cap from a bottle of eye drops he frequently used.
1977: The comedy "Slap Shot," starring Paul Newman and directed by George Roy Hill, premieres in theaters. The movie, which depicts a minor league hockey team that resorts to violent play to gain popularity in a declining factory town, received mixed reviews upon its release, but earned $28 million at the box office and has become a cult favorite.
1976: Actress Rashida Jones, best known for her TV work on the sitcoms "The Office" and "Parks and Recreation," and for movie roles in "I Love You, Man," "Our Idiot Brother" and "The Social Network," is born in Los Angeles, California. Jones is the daughter of music producer Quincy Jones and actress Peggy Lipton.
1975: Comedian, author and actress Chelsea Handler, best known for her TV talk show "Chelsea Lately" and for movies such as "This Means War" and "Fun Size," is born in Livingston, New Jersey.
1971: Actor Sean Astin, best known for his roles in movies such as "The Goonies," "Rudy" and the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, is born in Santa Monica, California.
1966: Actress Téa Leoni, best known for movies such as "Jurassic Park III," "The Family Man," "Deep Impact" and "Bad Boys," and the TV sitcom "The Naked Truth," is born Elizabeth Téa Pantaleoni in New York City.
1965: Comedian Carrot Top, known for his bright red hair and prop comedy, is born Scott Thompson in Rockledge, Florida.
1964: Muhammad Ali, then still known as Cassius Clay, wins his first world heavyweight title when Sonny Liston fails to answer the bell for the seventh round of their fight in Miami, Florida. During the now-infamous in-ring interview following the match, Clay shouted "I shook up the world!" and "I must be 'The Greatest'!" With the win, Clay became the youngest boxer to take the title from a reigning heavyweight champion at just 22.
1957: Bugs Moran, a Chicago Prohibition-era gangster and a rival of Al Capone's crime syndicate, dies of lung cancer at the age of 65 at Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas. Moran, whose real name was Adelard Cunin, was serving a 10-year sentence for bank robbery when he died. Six members of his gang were infamously gunned down by Capone's men in a Feb. 14, 1929, attack on Chicago's north side that became known as the Saint Valentine's Day Massacre.
1956: In a closed session at the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev delivers the speech "On the Personality Cult and its Consequences," denouncing the cult of personality of the late Soviet leader Joseph Stalin. In the speech, Khrushchev accused Stalin of intolerance, brutality and abuse of power.
1954: Musician and singer-songwriter John Doe, best known as a co-founder and vocalist/bassist of the Los Angeles punk band X, is born John Nommensen Duchac in Decatur, Illinois. Doe has also acted in movies such as "Great Balls of Fire!," "Road House," "Vanishing Point," "Boogie Nights" and "The Good Girl" and the TV show "Roswell."
1951: The first Pan American Games are held in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The event included 2,513 athletes from 21 countries, competing in 18 sports. The competition is held between athletes from nations of the Americas, held every four years in the year before the Summer Olympic Games.
1950: Film director Neil Jordan, who won an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for 1992's "The Crying Game," which he also directed, is born in Sligo, Ireland. Jordan has also directed such movies as "Interview with the Vampire," "Michael Collins" and "The Brave One."
1949: Professional wrestler Ric Flair, considered to be one of the greatest wrestlers of all time with a career spanning 40 years, is born Richard Morgan Fliehr in Memphis, Tennessee.
1942: Author John Saul, the writer of such New York Times bestselling books as "Suffer the Children," the "Blackstone Chronicles" series and "Cry for the Strangers," is born in Pasadena, California.
1940: Baseball Hall of Fame third baseman Ron Santo, who played from 1960 to 1974, all but the last year with the Chicago Cubs, is born in Seattle, Washington. A nine-time National League All-Star, he led the league in walks four times, in on-base percentage twice and in triples once. He was the second player at his position to hit 300 career home runs, joining Eddie Mathews, and also ended his career ranking second to Mathews among third basemen in slugging average (.464) and third in runs batted in (1,331), total bases (3,779) and walks (1,108). From 1990 until his death due to complications from bladder cancer and diabetes in December 2010, he was a member of the Cubs broadcasting team. While Santo initially garnered little support for induction into the Hall of Fame, he was eventually posthumously inducted by the Golden Era Committee in 2012.
1940: The New York Rangers and the Montreal Canadiens play in the first hockey game to be televised in the U.S. The game was aired on W2WBS in New York with one camera in a fixed position. The Rangers beat the Canadiens 6-2.
1934: Baseball Hall of Fame manager John McGraw dies of uremic poisoning at age 60 in New Rochelle, New York. In 31 years as manager of the New York Giants, he led the team to 10 National League pennants and three World Series titles. His total of 2,763 victories as a manager ranks him second overall behind only Connie Mack, but he still holds the National League record with 2,669 wins. As a player, he played 16 seasons in the majors, mostly for the Baltimore Orioles of the National League. He also played for the St. Louis Cardinals, the American League Baltimore Orioles and the New York Giants, and was credited with helping to develop the hit-and-run, the squeeze play and other strategic moves.
1933: The USS Ranger is launched. It is the first U.S. Navy ship to be built solely as an aircraft carrier.
1932: Country music singer Faron Young, whose best-known songs include "If You Ain't Lovin' (You Ain't Livin')," "Live Fast, Love Hard, Die Young," "Hello Walls" and "It's Four in the Morning," is born in Shreveport, Louisiana. He died at the age of 64 in Nashville, Tennessee, on Dec. 10, 1996, a day after he attempting suicide by shooting himself.
1932: Adolf Hitler obtains German citizenship by naturalization, which allows him to run in the 1932 election for Reichspräsident, the president of the Reich. Hitler would end up coming in second to incumbent President Paul von Hindenburg, but his strong showing established him as a force in German politics.
1927: Bluegrass singer and banjo player Ralph Stanley is born in McClure, Virginia. Along with his older brother Carter Stanley, he formed the Stanley Brothers duo in 1946. They toured with their band, the Clinch Mountain Boys, for the next 20 years until Carter's death, becoming known for songs such as "Angel Band," "Rank Strangers," "Little Maggie" and "Man Of Constant Sorrow." Ralph Stanley continued as a solo artist after his brother's death, eventually reforming the Clinch Mountain Boys. He was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor in 1992 and into the Grand Ole Opry in 2000. In 2002, he received his first ever Grammy Award for Best Male Country Vocal Performance for his rendition of "Oh Death" from the movie soundtrack for "O Brother Where Art Thou."
1920: Sun Myung Moon, the religious leader best known as the founder of the Unification Church and for his claim that he was a messiah, is born in what today is North Korea. He died at age 92 on Sept. 3, 2012.
1919: Oregon places a one cent per gallon tax on gasoline, becoming the first U.S. state to levy a gasoline tax. Early projects funded by the tax included the Pacific Highway from the Washington state line to California and the Columbia River Highway. Colorado and New Mexico would follow Oregon's lead within six weeks and North Dakota did the same later in the year. When New York passed its own state gas tax in 1929, it was the last of the then 48 states to do so. The federal government would levy its own one-cent gas tax for the first time in 1932.
1918: Professional tennis player Bobby Riggs, who was the world's top professional player in 1946-47 and gained more fame for his 1973 "Battle of the Sexes" tennis matches against top female players Margaret Court and Billie Jean King, is born in Los Angeles, California. He died of prostate cancer at age 77 on Oct. 25, 1995.
1917: Writer Anthony Burgess, best known as the author of the 1962 novel "A Clockwork Orange," is born in Harpurhey, Manchester, England. He died from lung cancer at age 76 on Nov. 22, 1993.
1913: Actor Jim Backus, best known for playing the millionaire Thurston Howell III on "Gilligan's Island" and for voicing the cartoon character "Mr. Magoo," is born in Cleveland, Ohio. Backus also played James Dean's character's father in "Rebel Without a Cause" and starred in his own short-lived show, "The Jim Backus Show." He died at age 76 on July 3, 1989, from complications of pneumonia, after suffering from Parkinson's disease for many years.
1903: Hockey Hall of Fame defenseman Francis Michael "King" Clancy, who played 16 seasons in the National Hockey League for the Ottawa Senators and Toronto Maple Leafs and won three Stanley Cup championships, is born in Ottawa, Canada. Clancy died at age 83 from septic shock during a gallbladder operation on Nov. 10, 1986.
1901: Actor and comedian Zeppo Marx (far right) is born Herbert Manfred Marx in New York City. The youngest of the five Marx Brothers, he appeared in the first five Marx Brothers feature films from 1929 to 1933 as a straight man and romantic lead, but then left the act to start his second career as an engineer and theatrical agent. The last surviving Marx Brother, he died of lung cancer at age 78 on Nov. 30, 1979.
1901: J. P. Morgan incorporates the United States Steel Corporation.
1888: John Foster Dulles, who served as U.S. secretary of state under President Dwight D. Eisenhower from 1953 to 1959 and was a significant figure in the early Cold War era, is born in Washington, D.C. The Washington Dulles International Airport, located in Dulles, Virginia, is named in his honor. Dulles, seen here with Eisenhower in 1956, died of colon cancer at age 71 on May 24, 1959.
1870: Hiram Rhodes Revels, a Republican from Mississippi, is sworn into the United States Senate, becoming the first black person ever be seated in the U.S. Congress. Earlier in the year Revels had been elected by a vote of 81 to 15 in the Mississippi State Senate to finish the term of one of the state's two seats in the U.S. Senate, which had been left vacant since the Civil War. His seating was delayed by two days of debate after Southern Democrats opposed sitting him in the Senate.
1866: Miners in Calaveras County, California, discover what is now called the Calaveras Skull, human remains that supposedly indicated that man, mastodons and elephants had co-existed. The skull was later proven to be a hoax.
1841: Painter and sculptor Pierre-Auguste Renoir, a leading painter in the development of the Impressionist style, is born in Limoges, Haute-Vienne, France. Among his most famous paintings are "Bal du moulin de la Galette" and "Luncheon of the Boating Party."
1836: Samuel Colt is granted a United States patent for the Colt "revolving gun."
1710: Daniel Greysolon, Sieur du Lhut, the French soldier and explorer who was the first European known to have visited the headwaters of the Mississippi River in what is now northern Minnesota, dies of gout in Montreal, Canada, around the age of 70. Both the cities of Duluth, Minnesota, an area he was also the first European to have visited, and Duluth, Georgia, are named in his honor.
1570: Pope Pius V excommunicates Queen Elizabeth I of England over the Church of England's re-established separation from the Catholic Church. The papal bull entitled "Regnans in Excelsis" labeled Elizabeth a heretic and released all her subjects from any allegiance to her, threatening excommunication for anybody who obeyed her orders.
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IMPORTANT: These forums are now closed but are available in "READ ONLY" mode in order to
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New forums are avaliable here: BobAtkins.com Photo Forums . These forums were closed for security reasons since they were hacked and the code running them is no longer supported. The new forums are database backed, faster, have more features and are much more secure.
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Welcome to The 14 Days of jQuery! We're excited to bring you fourteen consecutive days of new releases to celebrate the release of jQuery 1.4. You'll notice that we're excited about the number fourteen since jQuery 1.4 is being released on the birthday of jQuery (January 14th) . So be sure to come back each day as another announcement is made and new content is released!
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Has anyone used these to feed their preemie? How did it work out?
Has anyone used these to feed their preemie? How did it work out?
heres a good link!
in the middle is a chart that tells some reasons to use breast shields.
i used it for a little while. my son had a hard time latching on and he was so tiny. he was in the hospital for two weeks when he was born and they wouldn't let him go until he was eating by mouth. they gave me the breastshield because i was determined to bf but i felt like i wasn't getting it. when we finally got home, and were sort of getting used to bfing, i kinda got frustrated with having to use the breastshield everytime. it was messy and i felt like i wasn't really, fully, bfing. so i decided, one day, to stop using it. my son had to get used to the real thing. it took a few tries, but he's a pro now. i'm not against breastshields, it actually helped in the beginning, but i didn't want him to get used to it.
My dd was not a preemie, but I have (and still do) use breast shields. They were great in the beggining - I'm sure I would not still be breastfeeding without them! When I first started using them I had my dd weighed by laction consultants and the doctor to make sure she was gaining because I guess one of the problems with the shields is that sometimes they result in a reduced milk transfer. I haven't had a problem with reduced milk transfer and my dd is gaining normally.
Fastforward 7 mos. and I am still using the darn shields! There was a period of time (about 3-5 mos.) when my dd would latch without them, but it hurt me so badly that I kept coming back to the shield. I saw 3 different lactation consultants about trying to get dd off the shield without it hurting me, but they all told me it was too late to fix her latch. Now, other moms on this site have told me that they are wrong, but I still haven't been able to make it happen on my own, so I use the shield still.
I hate having to wash them all the time (I always have 3-4 of them so that I can make it through the night without having to get up and wash them), and also it makes life really complicated if you happen to forget them.
With all that being said, I would definitely seek the help of a lc - they can help make sure the shields are not reducing your milk supply and they can help you wean your dc from the shield later on (if you learn from my situation, the sooner the better or you just might end up with them for good!).
Good luck!
My dd wasn't a preemie, but thank God for the breast shield!! I started using one b/c we made a mistake by giving dd a bottle the first night when I was so engorged and couldn't get her to latch. My sil had just had a preemie (31 weeks) and she was using a breast shield and she suggested trying that to get baby back on the breast. It worked great (I know I wouldn't be bfing if it weren't for the shield). I ended up getting rid of it after about 8 weeks. My sil used her shield for 6 months and that's about the time she weaned from bfing completely. She never could get rid of it--sore nipples mostly.
As for the reduced supply situation--I think (but don't know for sure) that is more common with the older style latex shields and isnot such a problem with the silicon ones.
I would def. say get in touch with a lc--and the shield is better than pumping full time and def. better than formula--and it is still bfing!!!!
Wife to a grizzly
Mama to my little deer (12/05) my loving bear cub (9/07--), and our little tiger (3/22/10)
Born by one c-section and 2 amazing VBACs
Miles in 2012: 350.5/900 (Actual Miles Ran: 189)
Miles in 2011: 708.5 (Actual Miles Ran: 509)
Miles in 2010: 800.5 (Actual Miles Ran: 620)
January Miles: 37.5/75
February Miles: 59/75
March Miles: 42.5/60
April Miles: 64
May Miles: 41/70
June Miles: 59
July Miles: 39.5
227.5 miles on my new shoes
338 miles on my old shoes


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INGREDIENTS: Pasta dough 1 Tbsp. Ancho chile powder 1 ½ oz. tomato paste ½ lb. semolina flour 2 whole eggs Pinch kosher salt Water as neededFilling 2 raw, boneless, skinless chicken thighs ½ tsp. cumin, toasted ¼ tsp. kosher salt 2 Tbsps. fresh cilantro, chopped 1/8 tsp. black pepper, freshly ground ¼ tsp. Ancho chile powder, toasted 1/8 tsp. Mexican oregano ½ cup whole kernel corn 1 tsp. butter, melted ½ onion, kept whole Salt as needed Pepper as needed ½ cup Scamorza smoked cheese 2 eggs, ...
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Finale Tonight! Watch Patricia Michaels on 'Project Runway' One Last Time
Tonight, at 9 PM Eastern/8 Central on Lifetime TV, Patricia Michaels, Taos Pueblo will strive to win the eleventh season of Project Runway. She's down to the final three, and with early favorite Daniel eliminated last week, in part 1 of the finale, she has to like her chances. Throughout the season, she has been a favorite of the judges, and while she's had subpar episodes she has clearly been one of the designers to beat. Michaels' skill with textiles and textures has set her apart from the other designers.
Michaels will watch the episode in a festive environment, surrounded by friends and fans as she has done on previous occasions. This time it's a dinner event held at Legends Gallery in Santa Fe, where she kicked off the season with her very first viewing party.
Santa Fe-based poet and artist Alex Jacobs, who represented ICTMN at that event, attended a viewing party-cum-fashion show held at the Buffalo Thunder Casino Resort for a recent episode. It was all-Michaels, all the time: Her face on the big screen, her aura and charisma filling the room, her designs on models parading to and fro. Here is Jacobs' report about another big night with Native America's ambassador to reality TV-land:
The crowd, A-listers, clients, young fashionistas, curious touristas, purchasing expensive tickets, have almost filled the big ballroom at BTCR. Dinner and wine are part of the package. There's a runway stage on the left and the right, a big screen in the center, where Patricia Michaels holds court with microphone. Like the earlier event at Legends Gallery, Santefesinos have come out to support local hero Patricia Michaels for her "Water Lily" brand and for putting Santa Fe in the national spot light. These are last year's designs that got her the Project Runway audition, since she's been so crazy occupied the last eight weeks and all her new work is now owned by the hit TV show.
Patricia talks like she knows everybody in the room and probably does. She can't wait to dish to the audience about what they are going to see. The Project Runway folks ask if she's excited about meeting famous Santa Fe designer Tom Ford -- of course, Patricia already has her own Tom Ford stories to tell, and she does. Patricia talks about "the set-up", how hard the actual work was, how mad she got, how scenes that showed her side were cut, how drama was elicited, how everything made it so hard to the point where others are essentially stealing or giving away her designs. They did show her cussing at the sewing table, where she needed help the most and wasn't getting it. At home she depends on her own team to construct her designs, at Project Runway she gets frustrated and mad. She knows it's all about the drama but she's wonders aloud about the bad and the good of such competition.
The natural instinct to teach others has to be suppressed on the show. Forget trying to educate everybody, just do your techniques.
There's never enough time, little sleep, one day off when they do laundry, there are set-up obstacles, difficulties and challenges, and they want to break you. You have to share equipment, which is nerve-wracking. Separation from her family for 8 weeks was the worst of it. Her "strange endurance" as a Native woman kept her going, praying all the time, making the isolation her sanctuary. It was all about focus and work, there were no bills, no issues, no others sucking the energy from her.
Patricia knows textiles and even her competitors admit it, as a Native designer she knows everything about leather; she knows how to construct a base with easy flowing fabrics, not the stiff textiles the others chose. The other designers always fall back on their same silhouettes -- even though they're good, they don't change or innovate. She critiques how some set up their work areas, feeling that you need to design and work like real artists, and set up your studio for best use of time and materials.
She's a long way into the competition, and has seen plenty of drama. Her policy is defensive, and shrewd: "I don't want them to figure me out. Don't reveal, don't let them know anything."
She's one on one with the audience, talking about Taos and Santa Fe. She was born into this -- her mom opened the first Native-owned gallery, and as the story goes she was dancing in her buckskins just before Patricia was born. Patricia recalls living on Canyon Road (the gallery area) and seeing all her friend's homes turn into galleries. She recalls meeting patrons who wanted to buy traditional clothing, and telling them, "I can make you something contemporary," and how this started her business. Now, her clothing tags explain each piece culturally. "I know my work is really haute-couture and New York is ready-to-wear," she says, "but if I'm going to go out for the last time, then I'm going all out."
It's easy to see why Patricia is where she is -- she has that artist/entrepreneur spirit, and she preaches what she practices. "There's no room for self-doubt," she advises. "It's a waste of time. Why be mean and mad and frustrated? It's a waste of energy. You have to get out there. Don't doubt yourself."
On this night, she survives the round even though the team loses and her partner is sent home. The crowd erupts in applause; she's surrounded with cameras, hugs, tears, and love. I wait until the morning to ask a few questions.
"I'm working and thinking now about the future," she tells me. "For a designer there's always the next collection. I've had options offered to me. ... So, now this puts me in the conversation. The competitors didn't understand that. That our voices need to go out further. It's kind of disheartening not to be heard or understood in your own country. It's sad we always have to educate and explain."
I ask what she thinks of when she hears the term: performance.
"From the time you wake up, talking to people, giving interviews, on the computer, taking orders, in the studio, it's constant. You've got to be ready, to communicate; your demeanor has to be good to deal with issues and to get the work done. Then there's performance night; being gracious to patrons, nor treating them as cash machines, even though you have to be somewhat aggressive to have them look, order and buy. I want to make them feel passion and compassion as people, not just sales as consumers. I want to challenge them, question why they buy things, make them feel something."
"I remember as a young girl the school uniforms we had to wear," she says. "How girls loved to get a chance to go out and shop and buy clothing downtown. That's when I said I wanted to be a designer. I earned the money to afford to buy. I loved clothing and creating fashion."
Though she's weighing some big-picture options, her immediate path is crystal clear. "I need to go forward," she says. "I'm going to keep my crew. I need an agent, a manager, a publicist. We have a new collection set for September in New York City. We need money, support, the income to go forward. Even with all this attention and being recognized as a Native designer, it's like it's not enough. They call me a pioneer, a leader, but we have to keep re-inventing ourselves. As artists, we have to keep it fresh. Because of all this going on, the creativity suffers. We need help."
"Sometimes it's like the patrons and clients don't have the interest in the new and what's outside the comfortable," she admits. "Sometimes our own people don't either. But why do we have to always justify our being contemporary and Native American. I'm creative because I'm creative -- not just Native. If people want brilliant and innovation, then shouldn't act like we don't know and can't accept that. It puts us back into a box; we keep ourselves in an arena everybody knows. Why can't we be in the Guggenheim, MOMA, and showing overseas?"
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E465 Error handling Duplicate Album Names and Other Issues
First off, I've found this site both informative and entertaining and I greatly appreciate its existence. I've been a longtime lurker who finally was not able to find the answer to his question on ABI so I figured I'd register. I'm filling my girlfriend's father's E465 with MP3s ripped from his CD collection. Basically, I follow this process...
CD>>EAC>>FLAC>>foobar>>MP3>>Picard>>MP3Tag (cleaning up anything)>>Winamp>>E465
(yes I know EAC can be made to output FLAC and MP3 simultaneously)
I've run into the following problems...
I hope someone can shed some light on these issues. Thanks in advance.
Unfortunately, when it comes to the issue with "Greatest Hits" albums, the only solution I've found is the one that you mentioned. I've not only had this problem with "Greatest Hits" albums, but in other cases when two (or more) artists release albums with the same name (examples: The Flirts and the Carpenters both released albums named "Made In America" and Michelle Wright and the Carpenters both released albums named "Now And Then").
When it comes to album names, I prefer each album to have a unique name just to avoid confusion. Putting the album artist after the album's title is a simple way to do this, and much less confusing that others ways I've tried (such as putting a unique number after the album's name when two or more albums have the same name).
As far as I know, Sony players don't read the disc number tag. I've handled this issue two ways: (1) renumbering the tracks (as you mentioned) or (2) including the disc number after the album's name. Both ways have worked for me, but my preference is to just renumber the tracks, I find that much easier to work with.
One way to search for album artists is to search by folders. I use MediaMonkey to load the files on my player, and I have it arrange the tracks on my player into folders as follows:
Album Artist >> Album >> Two-Digit Track Number - Song Title
This makes it easy to access my music by the album artist when searching by folder.
I hope this helps, sorry I couldn't be much help with the first two issues.
Thank you for your quick response. I was hoping there was another way to deal with the first two issues but it seems I may just have to do some selective retagging.
As for using MM to transfer, do you know what plugin/dll is used by MM with the E465? I was thinking that maybe it is compatible with Winamp so I don't have to install one more piece of software. Winamp does the transfers fine but I can't find a way to fine tune the folder structure like you suggested. If anyone has any insight, I'd love to hear it. Thanks again.
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by The Acoustic Centre April 15, 2016
One for the lefties! Here it is folks, the most famous acoustic guitar of all time in left-handed. Better still, it's used so it's $900 cheaper than a new one. We can't remember the last time we had a secondhand Martin D-28 in the shop...it won't be here long! $2,995 inc original case.
by The Acoustic Centre December 03, 2016
This is a serious bargain folks. A lovely preowned 1997 Maton ECJ85 now going for a ridiculous $1,290. Get on board!
by The Acoustic Centre December 03, 2016
Yesterday we put up a photo of the see-through ukulele and two things happened — the internet broke and we sold out. But fear not...we have all these other colours still available!
Play it in the shower, play it in the pool...all your friends and family will finally think you're cool. $49.95.
by The Acoustic Centre December 02, 2016
Our customer of the day is Amalia Foy. You may have just seen Amalia come fourth on X-Factor this year. She's already mastered the piano and violin, now it's time for the guitar. She came in today looking for something that was great value, had a warm tone but still had clarity. We tried plenty of different guitars but it was this lovely African Mahogany Cole Clark Angel that won out. Big congrats Amalia and thank you so much. All the best!
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text: David Weigel is baffled that such a meme persists: Scarborough's quasi-co-host Mika Brzezinski followed this up by saying Palin represented "real Americans," and that some people in "urban America" didn't get it. This is fascinating. In 2004, Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.) lost the presidency with 48.3 percent of the vote, [Read More…]


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Encanto Garden Club
Encanto Garden Club met March 9 at Muffley's Back Door meeting room. During the business meeting plans were finalized for the April out of town road trip. Lori Frazure presented the program, "Spring Planting Suggestions for Curry County." She distributed informational handouts and a lively question/answer/discussion followed, especially in vegetable gardening. Wan Sharrar and Bess Kline provided the door prize and refreshments.
Beta Phi
• Four members of the Beta Phi and seven guests attended the regular meeting Feb. 7 at 11 a.m. at Furr's Cafeteria. The chapter received a thank you letter and a tax receipt from Bread of Life Orphange in Brosteni, Romania.
March will be for Easter seal's. Bring all aluminum tabs, coupons or anything else you have to turn in.
The state convention will be in Las Cruces April 15-17 at Days Inn Suites in Las Cruces. Collene Baldwin will be the incoming state St. Jude chairman and will be attending a seminar in Memphis, Tenn., in March 2011.


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A missing blanket that means everything to a 6-year-old Gladstone, Mo. girl, has her enduring sleepless nights and her family appealing to anyone who might help get it back.
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It's the holiday season, and my chorus last weekend performed a piece closely associated with the season, Handel's Messiah. As I've often said before about choral music, atheists have to judge the artistic merits of a piece of music apart from the message being conveyed through the music. Presumably even the most hardened philistine is familiar with the great "Hallelujah" chorus of the piece, and there's plenty else to love throughout the work. A few more of my favorites bits: "For Unto Us a Child is Born." "And He Shall Purify." And the Amens at the end. Great music.
Of course I could criticize the theology in all of it, but I want to focus specifically on this one piece in part 2. "All We Like Sheep." In fact, it's critical enough to this post that I'm going to embed it so you can watch it first. I think there's a valuable insight into theology to be found.
(That's not my chorus, by the way, it's just some people on YouTube.)
Cute, isn't it? Here are the words.
All we like sheep
Have gone astray
We have turned everyone
To his own way
And the Lord hath laid on him
The iniquities of us all!
Sometimes I imagined changing the lyrics to "We all like sheep," which changes the message considerably.
Our director really emphasized the shift in tone at the final part. Up till then, everything is bouncy, cheerful, and silly. After that, it's dark and scary. I like to envision all the little sheep frolicking around in a Pepe Le Pew style hopping trot. Then at the end, maybe a giant Monty Python foot comes down on them.
Who are the sheep? Us! All we! Maybe you've heard the Christian metaphor already that Christians are sheep and Christ is our loving shepherd. You might interpret it that way, but that's not how Handel apparently thought of it… the consequence of being dumb, frolicking, self-willed sheep is implied in the dark, brooding, angry minor key of the last few bars.
That's the perspective that Christianity seems to offer on humanity. Under all the cheerful, bouncy "I'm so happy I have a personal relationship with Christ!" vibe, I also detect a deep rooted contempt for all humankind. The image of sheep doesn't seem to be used here to convey the idea of comfort at being taken care of, so much as scorn at whatever it is that people like doing that makes them go astray; and also an implied threat.
Maybe I'm exaggerating, but actually I think a lot of preachers would agree with me. "You're just denying God because you want to sin," they'd say. The idea of all non-Christians as stupid, clueless sheep lurching around without the shepherd to watch them is baked into the core message of the Bible.
The disagreement here is not that I want to "sin" for its own sake. It's that I don't agree with the Christian concept of what constitutes bad behavior. It doesn't matter what the bad behavior is — whether it's sex that isn't sanctified by the church (as Darrel Ray and Matt discussed yesterday) or sleeping in on Sundays or scientific inquiry into the nature of the universe. What's important in a religious context is that you feel generally uncomfortable with anything you do that the doesn't involve religious devotion.
I understand that many people raised religious still feel that discomfort. What's interesting is that if there is no God, the only place you're getting information about the "going astray" behavior is from a group of individuals with a direct interest in keeping you coming back to church and donating money.


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Getting to the Bottom of Your Joy
Passion | Atlanta, Georgia
The following is an unedited transcription of the audio.
John Piper: Over the years, the 14 years or so that I've been part of Passion — and it's been an enormous privilege as you can imagine — I have several times asked a question over the years, I don't remember how many, three or four times maybe, as part of what I try to make plain here. And let me give you the question and then I'll tell you what we're going to do with it. The question is do you feel more loved by God when he makes much of you, or do you feel more loved by God when he frees you and enables you at great cost of his son's life to enjoy making much of him forever?
Let me shorten it down so you can hear the essence of it. Do you feel more loved by God because he makes much of you, or because he enables you to make much of him? So I've asked that question numerous times here and around the country and what I have realized is that it has lead to some significant misunderstandings that I want to clear up now.
So, this message is designed to bring clarity and precision to that question and what I mean by it, why I use it and what it doesn't mean, that's where we're going. let me say it again. Do you feel more loved by god because he makes much of you, or because he, through Christ, enables you to enjoy making much of him forever?
I think I've mislead. For example, I think some people respond and say, so, Piper really doesn't believe that God makes much of us. Or, if he does, he doesn't think we should be happy about it, or joyful in it because if we are happy that God makes much of us, then that contaminates our happiness in making much of him. That's what Piper thinks.
That's not what I think. I don't want to mislead you, I don't want you to be left with unbiblical or disproportionate thoughts about these things. I want clarity, I want to be faithful to the Bible. It's a Biblical clarity and precision about what is God saying to us, is what I'm after.
It really doesn't matter in the end what Piper thinks. It matters what god thinks and the only way we know what God thinks is because he has revealed things to us in his word called the Bible, and that's what the Bible is, God's revelation about what he thinks about a lot of things.
So all I care about, and all you should care about it what does God think about that question? What's God's answer to that question, or what should your answer be in God's eyes, so that's what I'm after.
I don't deny, indeed I affirm with all my might that god makes much of those who are in Christ, and we will come back to that shortly and you will find things in the Bible that simply are beyond your imagination concerning how he makes much of you.
So what am I trying to do with that question? If it's risky to ask a question like that, leaving possible misunderstandings, why would I use it? Why would I go around forcing this issue? Do you feel more loved by God because he makes much of you, or because he enables you to make much of him?
I do it because I'm trying to help people, I'm trying to help you now tonight, exchange what's at the bottom of your joy. I want you to exchange self at the bottom of your joy with God. I want God to be the bottom of your joy and self to move out of that position. That's what I'm after in asking that question.
Let me clarify what I mean by the bottom of your joy, why am I using that word, what do I have in mind, what's the picture? I have a picture in my mind and I hope you can keep it in yours once I give it to you.
All of our joys have a foundation, except one. So any happiness that you have in something has a foundation, except one, the one that has no foundation, that's the bottom.
Let me give you an example. You make an A on a test, it makes you very happy. That's understandable, I think that's good. And somebody asks you, I ask you, why are you happy about making an A on a test? Who cares? Why are you happy about making an A on the test?
And you say, well because, it could be a lot of answers, it'll make mom and dad happy, or I love the praise of my teachers, or you might say, it's decisive, it's going to be key in getting into graduate school in psychology, you might say that. That's a step down now. Here was a test, you made an A, got happy, that made you happy.
But if someone asks you why, then underneath it is, it's going to get me into graduate school. So I'm going to ask you, why does getting into graduate school make you happy? And you would say, perhaps, because I've always had the dream of being a clinical psychologist and I can't be one unless I go to graduate school in psychology, so that's why the A leading to the graduate school makes me happy, because then I can be what I've dreamed about being.
And then I would ask you, take it down a level, why do you want to be a clinical psychologist, why does that make you happy? Why does this happiness, why is it such a feeder happiness? It's up through all these things and you might say, because I have had some experience with my mom and dad we got a lot of help and I would love to help people, it makes me happy to think about the possibility of helping people by knowing them that way and giving God's perspective on how their mind works, and their emotions work and their relationships work, that would make me happy.
So now we're down about four levels. And then I would ask, why does making people happy or helped make you happy? Now, we're very close to the bottom, aren't we? And the bottom is where there aren't any more answers, you're just at the bottom. And where you end up as you penetrate down in your life, to the bottom of what makes you happy is who you are. And there are two possibilities down there. Making much of you, or making much of God.
And the goal of this message is to be used by the Holy Spirit to remove making much of self as the bottom and replace it with making much of God, or just simplify self versus God at the bottom.
So only you and God know your hearts and how they work right now, what makes you happy. All those things are happiness's and they all have foundations, and one foundation has no foundation. God or self. That's what we're after. That's what that question is designed to illuminate.
So I'm going to ask it again. Do you feel more loved, or I could say, do you feel happier because God makes much of you, or do you feel more loved, happier, because God enables you to make much of him? To enjoy making much of him?
I am not denying that God makes much of you when I say that, I'm forcing a ranking. I'm forcing the issue of the rank, the order at the bottom. so get down to the bottom of your life, there's a ranking. I'm not denying either of those.
It's a glorious thing to be enabled by the atonement by the blood of Jesus and the Holy Spirit to be freed from self and make much of God as your supreme joy in life. And it's a glorious thing to delight in being made much of by God. Everything hangs on their ordering. Their ranking. Their being the bottom or not. That's what I'm after in that question.
Do you enjoy worshiping God, making much of God, because at the bottom, this God that you're worshiping is committed to making much of you. Let me do my hands, do you enjoy worshiping God, making much of God, because, underneath, at the bottom, he's committed to making much of you?
That's idolatry of the worst kind. Or, do you enjoy God's making much of you, I'm going to tell you about 7 ways he does in just a minute, enjoy God's making much of you because it shows you the kind of God that he is. It enables you and equips you and transforms you so that you can actually see him for who he is and love him for who he is and treasure him for who he is and be satisfied in Him for who he is, that's the bottom. Those are different people. Different worlds. Differently destinies. That's what I'm after in that question.
I want to hit people in the face with the deepest issue of their lives that takes a miracle to change, it's called the new birth. Why does this matter so much to me? Why does getting the bottom of our joys such a big deal to me?
I believe that there are millions of people, some of them, millions maybe, of professing Christians who are not born again, who believe God loves them and are Hell bound, confident that they are loved by god and feeling it. That's why I ask that question, that's why it matters to me.
Hundreds of you in this room, perhaps, feel loved by God, but you're not born again. Because what you mean by being loved by God, is that at the bottom, he's committed to making much of you. he's not at the bottom. You're at the bottom. And you don't want that. You don't want it short term, you don't want it long term.
Millions of nominal Christians have never experienced the fundamental alteration in the foundation of their happiness. To be born again, regenerate, is to experience, at the bottom, an exchange. That is the most fundamental thing that happens in the new birth. Myself as the source of all my joys.
Myself being made much of, ceases to be the bottom and God becomes the bottom. Christ becomes the bottom. Christ as a supreme treasure, whom to know and to make much of is the deepest joy feeding all my other joys.
I wonder, what you mean, a minute ago, and last night or the night before, when you sang, "All My Fountains are in Him"? Do you have any idea what you're saying? That there are texts behind that song, but I wonder. All my fountains are in him. Why? That's weird. This is it.
At least, when I'm singing, this is what I mean. He has become the bottom. All my other desires, if I'm walking in him, are rising up our of that spring, out of that. He is the fountain from which all the other desires are coming, and if they have any holiness in them at all, this happiness about getting an A, if there's any holiness in that at all, it's because of him at the bottom. That's why I asked the question, because millions I think of nominal Christians are not born again. They haven't experienced this.
Here's what they bought into, now test yourself here, I don't know, test yourself as I describe what is so tragically and fearfully true about so many. They have interpreted, perhaps you, I hope not, conversion to Jesus, getting saved. They have interpreted conversion as having all the same deepest desires they had before they were converted, only the desires are met by another person, Jesus.
So to get converted, for example, would mean, I've always wanted to be wealthy and I've always sought it in the wrong places. My hard work, or the lottery, or whatever. But now, I went to church, and I heard there's a way to have what I've always wanted, Jesus, is the way, and I sing, and I sing, he's the way to give me what I always wanted. Money. That's not new birth.
You can sing to him until Doomsday, jumping up and down, and will not be anything pleasing to the Lord. Or, you might have always wanted to be healthy. Now, instead of going to all the doctors, going to Jesus. Did we not do many mighty works in your name? Did we not cast out demons in your name? Did we not prophesize in your name? Did we not heal in your name? And he will say to them, I never knew you. Depart from me, you workers of inequity. That's the most scary verse in the Bible. Miracles, prophesy, exorcism, in Jesus name, hell bound.
You think this is not an important question to ask? What's at the bottom? So much religion, Christian religion, with people on their way to destruction. Or, even more controversial here, on what your God might be, I've said wealth and health, everyone knows that's a problem, what about what you've always wanted is not to go to Hell? And now, you heard one day, there's a way not to suffer like that. His name is Jesus. Yes, I don't want that, so I'll take Jesus. He's the way out of Hell.
So what's at the bottom? Pain free skin. That's not the new birth. The new birth is not loving the same meal and having a different butler. It's not having the same suitcases in your hotel room, full of the same stuff, with a different bellhop. That's not the new birth.
The new birth is something new at the bottom. The suitcases at the bottom are different, the meal at the bottom is different. To become a Christian in this way of seeing things, this bad way that I'm describing, is to have all the same desires you had before you were born again, you just get them from a new place and when you get them, you feel loved by God.
That's very dangerous, so I'm asking, do you feel more loved by God when he makes much of you in all these ways, or have you experienced such a revolution in your heart so that what is the deepest, the bottom joy in your life is making much of God?
That's why I ask the question. The new birth changes the bottom, the root, the foundation of what makes us happy. Self at the bottom is replaced by God or Jesus at the bottom. This is why it matters to me so much.
So, I'm trying to help you put God at the bottom. With his beauty and his value as your one desire, feeding all other desires, the fountain, the spring, that explains everything you're happy about in life.
I'm not trying to deny that God makes much of you, I want to affirm that with all my might. We're going to go there, we're almost there. I want you to feel loved by God tonight, but I'm so jealous that you not feel loved by God when he's not at the bottom.
So the question I have to ask is this. Okay. Why, in the Bible, does God perform all of his acts of love to us, in such a way that the design of those acts of love is manifestly to make much of himself?
I'll say that again. I'm asking this question. As I read my Bible from beginning to end and just try to pick out the places where it's really clear that God loves me, and then, what does this say in that context? What does this say in that context about why he's doing that? Does it terminate on me or him? Does his loving me signify that I'm at the bottom, that I'm at the bottom, he's making my worth the foundation of everything? Or, is he doing it in a way that puts him at the bottom and puts his work at the foundation of everything? That's my question. And my answer is, he does it always in such a way as to make himself the bottom.
So I'm going to give you just a few examples of that because you might not be familiar with the Bible enough to say, well I can think of some texts where that is true. So let me just take 5 minutes or so to illustrate what I mean by that. That God, everywhere in the Bible, loves us in such a way as to make clear his design in loving us is that he would be made much of. His design in making much of us is to make clear that his goal is that he be made much of.
Here's a few texts. Ephesians chapter 1 verse 5, "God predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace." So, to shorten it down, God predestined us, this is before you were born, God predestined us for adoption.
So I'm taking you into my family, I'm destining you for that, I'm taking you into my family, I've decided to do that before you were born, I'm taking you into my family, and then this phrase, "Unto the praise of the glory of God's grace."
So why is God loving you into his family? Answer, so that you would spend your eternity making much of his grace. So there it is. That's the kind of thing I mean. That's all over the Bible. Love towards me, with a view to making much of God. Now, right now, whether you are wired to feel loved by that, is crucially who you are. Because I know there are people all over the world, who when they hear that say, "I don't feel loved when you talk like that." Somebody loves me, God loves me so that he's made much of? I don't feel loved.
Watch out. So I'm asking, why does he talk like that? He knows that some people are going to say I'm not feeling loved when you tell me that you're making much of me so that you get made much of. I'm not feeling loved by that. He knows that's going to happen, so why does he talk like that?
I'll give you another text to illustrate. "God shows his love for us by sending a savior." All right, it's Christmas past. "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you this day in the city of David is born to a savor, the Lord Jesus Christ. And this will be a sign to you, you will find the baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger. And suddenly, there was with the angel, a multitude of heavenly hosts, armies, a multitude of heavenly armies, praising God and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest.'"
Now that's really something. A savior has been born for sinners like John Piper, sinners like me, a savior is born. I'm being loved on Christmas. I'm being pursued no Christmas, my sins are going to be forgiven, my guilt is going to be taken away, my condemnation is going to be renewed, Jesus is after me. So what do the angels say? John Piper is awesomely worthwhile.
That is not what they say. And that's not what you say when you're born again. You say, "Glory to God in the highest. I've been saved." That's the way you talk when you're born again. You don't say, oh what a good boy am I, or I'm a diamond in the rough, or he bought me, he's a good investor.
You don't talk like that, not if you're born again. There are people that talk like that, the cross was in evidence of how valuable I am. Turn it right on it's head. It's a manifestation of the unspeakable grace of God. We will spend eternity making much of God because he saved us. Because I'm loved, I'm loved, I'm loved for his sake. And when you're born again, that's okay.
That's the way you want it to be, you wouldn't have it any other way. you wouldn't want to be at the bottom, you want his glory at the bottom, that's what it means to be born again, and there's so many people who are all into God because they think God has made them the bottom.
Let me give you another verse. God shows his love for us when this savior, Jesus, died for us. And here's the verse, that other one, by the way, was Luke 2. You know that, Luke 2, 10-14. So we've seen Ephesians 1-5 and Luke 2:10. Now here's second Corinthians, chapter 5, verse 14 and 15. "For the love of Christ, controls us. Because we have concluded this. That one has died for all. And therefore, all have died. And he died for all so that those who live might no longer live for themselves, but for him who for their sake, died and was raised."
Was it for their sake? Yes. Was it for his glory? Yes. And everything hangs on how you get it right. Are you glad to be died for? To be loved by the blood of Jesus, by the suffering savior? Yes, we are, aren't we? And why? This is what Paul says, "He died for all so that those who lived might no longer live for themselves." I take that to mean, "Might no longer live with themselves at the bottom, needing to be made much of" as the bottom source of all their joys. But, rather, will live now, for him, who for their sake's, died and was raised. So now the bottom of our joy becomes the glory of Christ and making much of Christ.
In 1997, first passion conference I attended, the title of my message was Did Christ Die for Us, or for God? That was the title. So you can see, I've been saying the same thing for 14 years. And the answer to that question was, he did die for us, but he died for us with a specific design that he manifests clearly in the Bible that we would make much of him. That's his bottom goal. That's his ultimate goal.
Let me give you one other verse on this point. "God shows his love for us in the way Jesus prays for us." Now I assume that when you read John 17, the prayer of Jesus, the longest prayer of Jesus, you feel loved. You should, he's praying for you, because he says in verse 20, "Not only for these, but for these who believe on me through their name." Through their word. He's praying for us, today. And he did then. Makes you feel loved. Jesus is praying for me, he's interceding for me, he's on my side.
But listen to what he says, this is verse 24 of John 17, "Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am to see my glory, that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world."
So what is he praying for me? He's saying Father, I love John Piper, love the students who are in me, whom you have given me, and I'm asking for them, this. My supreme request is cause them to be with me that they may see how glorious I am. That's what he's praying for you.
So is it for you or him? And the born again person is happy to say, "It's for me because it's for me so that he's at the bottom, and I'm here." He's loving me, he's interceding for me. He's drawing me to himself because he is supremely valuable and to see him and know him and enjoy him and show him is my life. To be born again is to experience that.
To hear John 17:24 and to say, yes, yes, it isn't endless golf or endless virgins or endless health, necessarily. It's endless Jesus. Seeing him, loving him, treasuring him, having him at the bottom.
Now, those texts are all designed to simply say, everywhere in the Bible, they're just the tip of the iceberg, I could give you dozens more. Everywhere in the Bible where God is loving us, there are contexts around that statement that show he's loving us with a specific design that he be made much of in and through and because of that act of love.
So, I'm going to ask why does he do it that way? Why does he do it that way when he knows that there's some of you, when you hear that God's loving you so that god gets glory, you feel unloved? Why does he do it that way?
Now, remember, I'm trying to answer and clarify the question, do you feel more loved by God because he makes much of you or because he enables you to make much of him? That's what I'm trying to clarify, so before I give you the answer to why he talks like that, I am going to pause here now and do what I'm never done at Passion, and namely, give you seven ways that God makes much of you.
Because here's where I've been misunderstood and perhaps rightly so, okay. So this is different and I want you to be blown away. This is just Bible, so straight Bible and it's absolutely mind boggling. I pray, I ask, Holy Spirit, would you come in the next 5 minutes or so as I go through these texts and gives supernatural capacities to feel the truth and the wonder of what I'm about to read. I pray this in Jesus name. God makes much of all those who are in Jesus.
God makes much of you. If you believe on him, if you trust him, if he is your treasure, if he's at the bottom, how does he do that?
Number one. God makes much of us by being pleased with us and commending our lives. One of the C.S. Lewis's greatest sermons was called, "The Weight of Glory." It changed my life in 1968. The weight of glory. And in it, C. S. Lewis describes what he believes is the weight of glory that every Christian will gloriously bear. This weight of glory.
What do you think it is? What do you think C. S. Lewis said is the weight of glory that you will have to bear, gloriously, wondrously, joyfully forever. Here's what he says, "It is the words well done, good and faithful servant." I quote him, "To please God, to be a real ingredient in the divine happiness. to be loved by God, not merely pitied, but delighted in, as an artist delights in his work or a father in a son, it seems impossible. A weight or a burden of glory which our thoughts can hardly sustain, but so it is." End quote.
I think he's right. So imagine you, a sinner, you, some of you, labor under the emotional burden of feeling that all you do is displease God. Shortcomings everywhere, don't read the Bible the way you should, don't pray the way you should, don't talk the way you should, don't witness the way you should. Just come to the end of every day and sing, I'm hopeless.
So can you imagine that because of Christ, because of an act of faith in Christ, the Holy Spirit moves into your life, causes you to be born again, and puts himself, Jesus Christ, at the bottom, and God commits himself to one day saying to you, "Well, done, good and faithful servant."
I believe that God is going to say that to the thief on the cross. I don't think there are a select number of Christians that get that, and the rest he looks at them and says, "Lousy life, I just think you blew it all the time, but you can come in anyway." I don't think that anybody will hear that out of the mouth of Jesus on the last day.
The thief on the cross lived 99.9% of his life as a pagan thief, and a half hour of his life as a born again believer witnesses tot eh guy across the street over there and when he got to heaven, when he was in Paradise, today you will be with me in Paradise, Jesus said to him, well done. Well done. We have a very gracious God. We really do.
Number two. So the first one was he makes much of you by being pleased with you through Jesus Christ. Number two. God makes much of us by making us fellow heirs with his son, who owns everything. God makes much of us by making you a fellow heir, an inheritor, with his son, who inherits everything. The universe.
Texts, "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the Earth." Not just, Atlanta, Georgia, or the US, or the planet, the whole Earth and we will see more.
Another text, Romans 4:13, "The promise to Abraham and his offspring is that he would be heir of the world," or consider this one, this is first Corinthians 3:21, "Let no one boast in men for all things are yours. Whether Paul or Apollos or Ephesus or the world or life or death or the present or the future all things are yours and you are Christ's and Christ is God's."
Now if Francis Chen were here, he'd do a lot better with this than I did, or I can. He'd put the scales up here and he would put those statements on one side. You, Christian will inherit everything. Everything. This is why I prayed that you'd have the capacity to believe.
He would say, "You live like that. Just out of sync. The scale is falling off the table. It's just not, my life is not reflecting the kind of freedom from grumbling that you have when you're 2 seconds away from inheriting billions and billions of dollars, namely the universe."
So John Newton, who wrote "Amazing Grace," told this little parable about a man who was on his way to a big city to inherit a million dollars. Now, when John Newton lived that's a billion dollars. so he's on his way, let's just say, he's going to inherit a hundred million dollars today.
You're on your way to a hundred millions, but I'm going to take it back to his time because he used a chariot, not a car, and you arrived in a chariot, happy, on your way to inherit a hundred million dollars, and you're a mile away from the city where you're ready to receive it and the wheel falls off your chariot.
Now, this is a picture of your life, okay. You're just this far from home, right? This life is called a vapor's breath, 2 second. Paul calls all his suffering, this light, momentary affliction. You're that close to your inheritance. You really are. Some of you will die this year. Others of you, 70 years out, they're both the same. They don't make any difference. It's that close and then forever.
And he said the man looked at the broken wheel and then instead of jumping off he said, "I can run. I'd walk to get my money." He stumbles all the way into the city, grumbling the whole way, "My chariot is broken, my chariot is broken." That's our life. That's John Piper in the mirror and I hate it.
That's what Francis Chen meant when he said your lives should be in accord with the gospel, and the gospel has this in it. God makes much of you by granting you to inherit the world and it's that far away so why would you need to have it now?
This is where this go center comes from. This is where do something now and, what, $734,000 comes from. It's you saying, "I don't need this. I got an inheritance. It's coming." I don't need a house, I don't need a car, I don't need these clothes. This is where I want my life to count to make much of Jesus on my way to my inheritance who is Christ. Oh, he makes much of you. Yes, he does.
Here's the third one. God makes much of us by having us sit at table when Jesus returns and he serves us as though he were a slave and we were the masters. Did you know that the Bible says that?
I'll read it to you. It's a parable from Luke 12, verse 37. "Truly I say to you, he will dress himself for service. And have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them."
I thought that was what happened on the night before he died. It was. So surely, when he comes, he's on a white horse, sword coming out his mouth, king of kings, Lord of Lords, faithful written on one thigh, true written on the other, almighty God. yes.
And once he's sat on the throne, divided the nations, he comes down and he binds himself with a towel and he tells us, "No, children, sit" and he serves us. You are made much. You will be made much of breathtakingly in that day.
Number four. God makes much of us by appointing us to carry out the judgment of angels. How many angels are there? At least a hundred million. It says in Daniel 7, verse 10, ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. So if my math is right, that's a hundred million. So, maybe lots more, but at least a hundred million angels.
And Paul, when he's talking to these rag tag, ordinary disciples at Corinth, who can't figure out how to settle their own disputes, his argument for why they should be able to judge right and wrong an settle the dispute is, "Don't you know you're going to judge angels?"
As I walk through this room, you look so ordinary, right? You just look so ordinary. Paul would look into your face and say, "Don't you know, you're going to judge angels?" Now, I don't know what that involves. I will confess, I don't know what that involves, but it's not small. He's not making little of you when he says that.
Number five. God makes much of us by ascribing value to us and rejoicing over us as his treasured possession. Matthew 10:31, "Fear not, therefore, you are of more value than many sparrows."
Zephaniah, chapter 3, verse 17, "The Lord your God will rejoice over you with gladness. He will quiet you by his love. He will exalt over you with loud singing." Now, if I hear that correctly, what it's saying is, in the last day, when God is done with you, you will not simply be pleasing to God, you will be thrilling to God.
I don't feel thrilling to God. Ever. I feel like a failure regularly in my sanctification. So I need all the help I can get from the Holy Spirit to believe that. That one day, the love that God has for me now will come to a consummation in having so worked in me, that one day he will look upon me as thrilling.
Here's another verse, "The righteous will shine like the sun in the Kingdom of their Father." Now I love that one because I've tried every now and then to look at the sun and I can't. It'll blind you if you look at the sun.
So this text says God's children, God's people are going to shine like the sun, which means that nobody will be able to look at you with natural eyes. This is why C.S. Lewis said that people will be tempted to bow down and worship you, but they will all be made perfectly holy, and they'll know better. But you will look like you are worthy of it, because you're going to shine like the sun. You think this is radiant, this room when it's really throbbing and the lights are buzzing? This is like a pin prick to what you will look like.
Finally, Number seven. And perhaps, most amazingly, God makes much of you by granting you to sit with Christ on his throne. I'll read you the verse.
This is Revelation 3:21. The one who conquers, which means to hold faith to the end, the one who conquers, I was grant him to sit with me on my throne. As I conquered and sat down with my father on his throne. That's scary, heretical almost. What, you're going to put me on the throne of God? No. I won't go on the throne of God.
I think it means something like this, and God help me, because I'm sure I don't get it all. It says in Ephesians 1, "The church is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. The church is his body. His body. The fullness of him who fills all." So, the universe is going to be filled with Christ and I think that probably means his manifest rule will extend with no competitors until the end of creation. And then it says, we are that fullness.
I think that means something like, we're sitting on the throne that is his rule will be exercised through us. He will share the rule of the Universe with the likes of us. So, let is be said, now as I close, loud and clear. John Piper does not deny, and never has denied, that God makes much of us.
The question is, ranking. And whether those truths, those amazing truths that ought to fill your soul, yes they should, that God makes much of you that way, should thrill your soul. Why? And if the answer is because I'm at the bottom and I love to be made much of, you're not born again.
And if the answer is, because it reveals more of God and equips me more to know him, measure him, love him, be satisfied in him, then you're born again. That's the difference, what's at the bottom.
So, back to the question I said I was going to try to answer. And then, we're done. Why does God all over the Bible reveal his acts of love toward us in a way that always shows his design is that he get glory? The answer is God's love for you that makes much of his glory is a greater love for you than if he made you your greatest treasure.
Say that again. God's love for you in such a way that makes him your supreme treasure, is a greater love for you than if he made you your supreme treasure. Why? Because self, no matter how glorious, and it will be glorious, self, no matter how glorious, can never satisfy a heart made from God. It feels so good to the fallen heart. It feels so good to have myself at the bottom and be made much of.
And until they're born again, they can't realize, that's not going to satisfy you. You will never ever be beautiful enough, strong enough, wise enough, admirable enough, to be the bottom, bear the weight of all the joy that you want for eternity. It will not bear that weight. It will give way and you will fall into the pit, only one thing can bear the weight of all the joy that you want to have, and that's God.
So, Passion 2011. I'm speaking now to everyone with a closing sentence. God loves you. I want you and God wants you to feel loved. You are precious to him. You are precious to him, and the gift that I bring you tonight from him, the gift that he would want you me to give you is to say this. I love you, and you are so precious to me that I will not let your preciousness become your god. I will not let your preciousness to me become your God. I will be your God. And I love you.
Let's pray. Father in Heaven, I pray, I beg of you, for myself, my family, my 5 children, 4 daughters in law, 12 grandchildren, and for these 22,000 young people, I beg of you, that you would put yourself at the bottom of our joys. That we would be born again if we're not born again and that if we would be renewed. That you would relocate, Oh God, what's at the bottom. Get self and the making much of self out and put god, yourself, and making much of you in.
Granting this room, right now, a taste, a spiritual taste that many, perhaps, have never tasted before. Namely, the awakening in their souls of God centeredness. The awakening in their souls of having a God exalting God at the bottom of their joys. A Christ exalting Christ at the bottom of their joys.
It's so grand that there would be an indomitable force in this room. With you at the bottom, nothing can stop us. Nothing can daunt us. Like Francis says, no circumstances, or Lewis, no circumstance can take it from us. So God come, and perform that miracle I pray, in Jesus name.