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Live by a New Love
Now tonight we continue in our study of the wonderful epistle of John, 1 John chapter 2. And we find ourselves looking at verses 7 to 11. Many people consider the epistle of 1 John to be very basic. I remember as a young Christian growing up, everybody said when you first become a Christian, read 1 John because it's so basic, it's so foundational, fundamental. And there's a sense in which that's true, it is fundamental to our understanding of the gospel and who is really a Christian. But there are certainly many subtleties, many profound elements to this epistle that escaped me for many, many years when I read it. And as a young guy in my early days in seminary, even a little bit before that, I was looking for a way to understand the New Testament better and I found a way to do that by repetitiously reading it. I read an old book, How To Master The English Bible by James M. Gray(?), an early president of Moody Bible Institute who suggested that if you wanted to retain the Bible, you had to read it repetitiously and not just read it once and keep moving.
And so, I decided that what I'd do is read every book of the Bible every day, break it down into sections that were manageable and I would do that for 30 days. Then I figured at the end of 30 days I would pretty well have in mind what was in that portion of Scripture. And I started with 1 John and it was brief, only five chapters, so I decided I'd read it every day for 30 days. At the end of 30 days I felt like I still didn't quite have it all so I said I'll go 60 days. At the end of 60 days I said I don't think I've got it yet and I went 90 days. And so every day for 90 days I read 1 John until it became very familiar to me. And as I look back even then in my early twenties of my life, even though I knew what was in the book, the real depth and the real profound elements of this book even then escaped me. There is in this book an almost unending supply of spiritual truth that keeps revealing itself the more diligently one studies so that in a sense there is clear truth on the surface, but much more down below as you go over it and over it. Here we are many, many years after that exercise of mind. By the way, I did eventually did finish the New Testament, it's about a two and a half, three-year process to do that but you have to stick with the 30 days and not do 90 or it will elongate the whole process.
But looking back to what I thought was somewhat of a grasp of 1 John, I now realize I didn't know even a small portion of what has since come to my understanding through further study of God's Word. And here we are again going back to 1 John and I preached this book early in the ministry here, I don't even remember which year, I didn't bother to check, but as I knew we were going to do it again, I went back to look at my old notes and I said to myself, "You didn't really preach those, did you? You couldn't have gotten away with that." Well anyway, I'm glad we're doing it again.
Now 1 John chapter 2, and I suppose if I live long enough to do it again I'll think that what I'm doing now didn't quite get where we could have gotten had we known more. But as we come to 1 John, you need to be reminded, it's been a few weeks since we've been in here, that in chapter 5 and verse 13 there is a given a purpose. And this is pretty typical of John. Somewhere along the line he sort of drops in the purpose for the writing of his books so that there's never any mistake, he certainly did that in the gospel of John chapter 20 verse 31. Here in chapter 5 verse 13 he says,"T"These things I've written to you," he gives his reason, "who believe in the name of the Son of God in order that you may know that you have eternal life." So here is a book written for the purpose of giving us confidence that we're saved. That's simply what the purpose of the epistle is, to give us confidence and assurance that we are saved. And that then leads to another purpose, or another fulfillment back in the first chapter, verse 4,"These things we write so that our joy may be made complete." You certainly can't have complete joy if you're not sure of your spiritual condition. And so in order to provide confidence and the consequent joy, John has written this epistle.
And in the epistle in which he attempts to give us the joy, the complete joy of knowing you're really a Christian, he lays out the proofs, the evidences, the tests by which one can measure one's true condition. Now simple to divide them, they're either doctrinal tests, or they are moral tests, or spiritual tests. The doctrinal tests have primarily to do with two things...the doctrine of Christ, we've considered a little bit of that in the first four verses of chapter 1. We're going to get a lot more of it as we get along a little further in the second chapter, the end of this chapter, the section at the end focuses on the deity of Jesus Christ. So the first doctrinal test is really one's view of Christ ad the second one is one's view of himself. And that has to do with sin. So we could say that it's true of Christians that they understand the deity of Jesus Christ and they also understand their own depravity.
There are also those tests that are moral tests, or spiritual tests, the verification of our salvation not by what we believe but how we behave, how we conduct ourselves. And there are two primary tests in that category, one is obedience which we already noted in verses 3 through 5, having to do with keeping His commandments, and here we come in verse 7 to the second one of those which is love...love. But love while it is only one of two tests is really the supreme one because love is the greatest commandment. We're clear on that. Love is elevated above everything else in the Scripture. Loving God is elevated above everything else in terms of a person's relationship to God and loving one another is elevated above everything else so that loving God is fulfilling all the commandments and loving each other is fulfilling all those commandments that relate to our relationships. So love is the supreme commandment. Love then becomes the supreme duty and therefore love becomes from the behavioral side, from the side of the moral test, the supreme test of our salvation.
Let me read these verses to you starting in verse 7. "Beloved, I'm not writing a new commandment to you but an old commandment which you've had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you have heard. On the other hand, I am writing a new commandment to you which is true in Him and in you because the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining. The one who says he's in the light yet hates his brother is in the darkness until now. The one who loves his brother abides in the light, there's no cause for stumbling in him. But the one who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, doesn't know where he's going because the darkness has blinded his eyes."
Here we are again introduced to the familiar theme of light and darkness which we already saw in chapter 1. Light and darkness represents eternal life, that's light or eternal death, that's darkness. Whether one is in the light, possessing eternal life, or in the darkness sentenced to eternal death is made manifest in this matter of loving. Verse 10 is the one verse that mentions the word love, it's only mentioned one time, but it's very clear it's the theme of this section. "The one who loves his brother abides in the light." That's the key here. That is the key moral test. Earlier, the one who keeps the commandments is the one who knows God and in him the love of God has truly been brought to perfection through salvation.
So here we're looking at love. And the passage that flows from verse 7 to 11 could basically be understood if we just follow a simple little outline. Love as an old commandment, love as a new commandment, and then a final warning dealing with love as a way of life. Let's start by looking at love as an old commandment.
In verse 7 he says, "Beloved," and that's a very familiar address by John. You find it, if you'll notice, over in chapter 3, for example, verse 2, "Beloved, now are we the children of God." A little later in the chapter, down in verse 21, "Beloved, if our heart condemn us," and so forth. Chapter 4 verse 1, "Beloved." Chapter 4 verse 7, "Beloved." John likes to use that. In fact, it's not just in this epistle that he uses it, but he uses it in other places. For example, verse 2 of the third epistle, "Beloved..." and so forth. So John is the apostle of love. He has been called that by many through the years. He has a tenderness about him that causes him to express his affections for others. And certainly that's a fitting thing to do, particularly in an epistle where you're making love the benchmark of true salvation. John has that kind of love. It's very evident because he identifies the people to whom he writes as the ones whom he loves. He loves those who are in Christ. He loves those to whom he writes. He wasn't always, I suppose, known as a man of love, being once called Boanerges, even by Jesus Himself, a son of thunder, Mark 3:17. On one occasion in his early training wanted to call down fire from heaven to incinerate a whole village of people because they didn't comply with what they thought he should. John was not then, we could say, by nature a tender-hearted man, but he had been seriously tenderized by the mighty work of God in His life. And so he becomes known to us as the apostle of love by the fact that he write so much about it, both in his epistles and in the gospel of John and because of the fact that he expresses affection and love so readily and so easily both toward the Lord and toward others.
And so, as he introduces him...this subject to his people, he says, "Beloved," and then he says, " I'm not writing a new commandment to you but an old commandment which you've had from the beginning. The old commandment is the Word which you have heard. I'm not writing to you a new commandment, new, kainos, not so much the idea of new in time chronologically, but the idea of something new in quality. I'm not writing for you something which you have never heard before. I'm not inventing something.
And as I mentioned to you last time, I'll just reiterate this, in the philosophies that pervaded in the ancient world and do even today, there is a serious missing connection. Philosophy has basically no attachment to morality, never has. In fact, in my study of philosophy which began when I was an upper-division college student and determined for my own interest that I would take upper division or western philosophy, all the advance courses I could get in the final two years of my college, I had the privilege of being the only student who signed up with the exception of one other student who had a learning disability. And so between the two of us we exhausted the same professor two years in a row to tell us everything there was to know about European philosophy. And it was a marvelously enlightening experience, particularly beneficial when there are only two people in the class. You're forced to perform and the professor is forced to answer all your questions. It was a rich experience.
But what I learned even in those days long ago was that all of these mental gymnastics, all of these machinations of the human brain, all of these meanderings through processes of thought and explanations for life and meaning had virtually no connection to how people lived. And I found, to my amazement, that philosophers while trying to be the most adept at explaining the realities of life were virtually living in the gutter morally. That has been verified time and time and time again. I've mentioned on some occasion the book by Paul Johnson called The Intellectuals, probably the most riveting book on history I've ever met. It's the story of the pinnacle philosophers of western thought, those who are the architects of our modern world. And it reads like...well it reads like a novel and it reads like a sorted novel as it plunges into the depth of immorality and incest and homosexuality that pervaded in the lives of these familiar names. People like Rousseau and Kant and Hegel and all of those kinds of philosophers.
So, there never has been a connection between philosophy and life and there wasn't in John's day. There were varying kinds of philosophies around but none of them was really connected to life. And so they could literally believe what they wanted and live the way they wanted. And John approaches things very differently. He says, "Look, if you're a Christian, it's not like a philosophy, you can't believe this and live any way you want to live. That's not how Christians are. If you've really been changed and regenerated, two things are going to be true about your life. One is you're going to obey God, and two is you're going to love other Christians, you're going to love your brothers.
That is not just a theme in chapter 2, that's...that's essentially a theme all the way through the letter. Over in chapter 3, for example, verse 10, "By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious. Anyone who doesn't practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who doesn't love his brother." There he combines those two moral tests of obedience to the Word of God and loving the brother.
In chapter 5 verse 1, "Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. Whoever loves the Father loves the child born of Him. By this we know that we love the children of God when we love God and obey His commandments." And again he links up loving God and keeping His commandments and loving each other. Similarly again, as I noted in other epistles, chapter 1, only one chapter, 2 John verse 6, "This is love that we walk according to His commandments." So again he links this idea of loving with obeying God.
So keeping commandments and loving sum up the character qualities of a person who has been transformed. We love the brethren. We have a great affection for those who are in Christ. We long for that fellowship and to render service to those who are Christ's. And John says here in chapter 2 verse 7, "This is not a new commandment. I'm not writing a new commandment. I'm not imposing upon you a new trend, as you're so often exposed to in philosophy. This isn't just a new twist. This isn't just taking philosophy to the next logical step, as has happened throughout all the history of philosophy, everybody sort of building on everybody else. I'm not writing something new, I'm telling you something old, something...he says...that's old enough so that you have had it from the beginning. It is that old commandment which was the Word which you have heard."
What he's talking about here is the word about love, about loving one another. And this is old, this isn't anything new. This isn't something John concocted or invented. This goes way, way back. It goes all the back to their experience as Jews because in the Old Testament the law of love was established by God in unmistakable terms. Leviticus, the Levitical law, all the way back into Moses, chapter 19 verse 18, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself and I am the Lord." In other words, I'm telling you this and I'm God and that makes it very, very binding and very important.
The Old Testament, of course, in the Shema in Deuteronomy 6:5 demanded that God be loved with all our heart, soul, mind and strength but Leviticus 19:18 added to that, "Love your neighbor as yourself." And that's part of the law that's been around since the very, very beginning.
So they knew that even in their Jewishness. That wasn't anything new that God wanted them to love their neighbors, that God wanted them to love those that are around them. And then, of course, the apostle Paul builds on that. Turn for a moment to Romans chapter 13 which is a familiar portion of Scripture because of its link with the Old Testament law. Paul in Romans 13 verse 8 says, "Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another, or he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law." Not only is loving your neighbor part of the Law, but loving your neighbor fulfills the Law. That is to say all of the Law that pertains to human relationships is fulfilled if you just love your neighbor. And then he explains that in verse 9,"F"For this you shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not covet." And if there's any other commandment that has to do with human relationships it is summed up in this saying, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself because love does not wrong to a neighbor, love therefore is the fulfillment of the Law."
You can say, "Don't commit adultery," but if you love your wife, you're not going to do that. If you love your neighbor you're not going to do that. You're not going to commit adultery against your wife and with his wife, it's a question of love. Now the Scripture says, "You shall not murder," but you're not going to murder somebody you love, just like you're not going to commit adultery against those you love. And Scripture says, "You shall not steal," but it's a moot point if you love someone because if you love them you're not going to steal from them. And the same is true of coveting. If you love someone, you're not going to covet. And we could go on. And if you love someone you're not going to lie to them. So Paul says love is the fulfilling of the whole Law. There's an inseparable link between loving your neighbor and obeying God. But love sums it up. When I love, I don't do those things. Those things are done in the vacuum, in the absence of love. So the message of love is embedded in the Old Testament. It's embedded in the Decalogue, the first half of the Decalogue relates to loving God, not making idols, not taking His name in vain, not having other gods. The second half has to do with human relationships, loving your neighbor and if you love your neighbor you'll not violate those elements. Jesus said in Matthew 22:37 to 40 when He was asked what's the greatest commandment, He said, "The greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart," and then He said, "and the second is like unto it, you shall love your neighbor as yourself." And then He said, "On these hang all the law and the prophets."
So when John comes along and he's teaching that you're to love one another and somebody accuses him of inventing some thing because philosophers don't like to draw moral implications out of their philosophies. That's why they choose philosophy and not religion because they can...they can be worldly wise in their own eyes and not have to give up their sin. They were used to that but that wasn't how Christianity was. John wasn't inventing something new, something novel like a philosopher. John wasn't artificially inventing some link to behavior from a belief system. It was so from the very beginning. They knew it even before they were Christians if they had a Jewish background.
But I think even going beyond that, I think what John is actually saying here when he uses the term "beginning," is the beginning of their salvation, the beginning of their Christian life is what he's talking about. He's not talking about the beginning in Genesis. He's not talking about the beginning when God gave the Law to Moses. No, he's talking about their beginning so he says, "Look, I'm not telling you anything that you weren't told when you became a Christian." And that's important to remember. When somebody becomes a Christian there needs to be a counting of the cost and people need to be told that if you're going to be a Christian, that is a commitment to obedience, to the Law of God and love toward the people of God as well as, of course, God Himself. As New Testament believers they knew that from the very outset. John is affirming here that that was part of apostolic doctrine. That was definitely part of apostolic doctrine. It wasn't anything new at all. You literally heard it, he says at the end of verse 7, you heard it with your own ears, you heard that when you become a Christian you should be marked by obedience and love. That's part of the original gospel teaching the new believers and again I only emphasize this because it doesn't get emphasized today. Now we're being told today, you know, you don't want to put anything legalistic in the gospel, just make it pure grace and nothing else. Don't be telling people they need to live a righteous life and obey the Word of God. Don't be telling people that they need to love their brothers or you'll be cluttering up grace with some kind of effort.
Well apparently the apostles didn't feel that way. Apparently John didn't feel that way. Whoever it was that gave the gospel to these people was faithful to the intention of God that people understand what the cost is, that the gate is narrow and so is the way that you walk. So the command to love was very clear from the beginning. It's part of the covenant of obedience that you take when you become a Christian, that you will obey the lordship of Jesus Christ and you will love the brethren. We need to tell people that that's what's required of them. We also need to tell them that that's the work that God will wonderfully do in their hearts so that their obedience will not be burdensome, as we pointed out last time, and their love will not be forced or superficial.
So John starts with love as an old commandment. But then he moves quickly in verse 8 to what appears on the surface to be contradictory, love as a new commandment. And surprisingly as we come to verse 8, we're a little bit stunned because he says, "On the other hand, having just said what I said, that I'm not giving you a new commandment, I am writing a new commandment to you, I am." Well we understand that what he is saying is it's old but it's also new, and that's exactly right. I am giving you akainos commandment. I'm giving you something fresh, something that is new not in time but in quality and in essence and in character. It has the idea of a new freshness to it. There's a newness to it.
Well, I mean, if it's an old thing and we heard it when we were first converted and the Jewish people have known it ever since they've known the Old Testament Law of God, if it's been around for such a long time and it's part of the Ten Commandments, what's new about it? Well John explains that and it's just wonderful. He says,"I'm writing a new commandment, its newness is this, which is true in Him and in you because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining." That's one of those deep statements that John makes.
"Which is true in Him," is the first thing I want you to understand. The newness of it is, the newness of it is it is true in Him. The newness of it is it is manifest truly in Jesus Christ. Never before, even though God said I want you to love your neighbor as yourself, even though it was clear that that was the essence of the second half of the Decalogue, the Ten Commandments, even though it was very, very well known by the Jews that love was a requirement and that if you loved you weren't going to violate those commandments which were acts of hatred, virtual hatred toward others, even though that was clear in Scripture, never has that love been so clearly manifest so as to be seen in its perfection as in Jesus Christ. So that's the point of the statement which is true in Him. In other words, there is a level of understanding of the perfection of that love which was never able to be understood by anybody until it was personified in Jesus Christ. Never has the world seen this perfect love until Jesus showed it. I mean, it's esoteric in some ways, it's just not fleshed out because no matter who we look at, everybody falls short of the standard. We never can find that perfect love toward others until we see it in Jesus. The newness isn't in the essential command, the newness is in the manifestation of its perfect glory in the person of Jesus Christ.
Turn with me to John 13 and we'll learn a little more from John's account of the upper room which is, has been through the years, one of my favorite moments in the life of Christ. In John chapter 13 and verse 1, the feast of the Passover was coming, and, of course, Jesus is in the upper room and Judas is going to betray Him and He's going to be arrested and executed at this very Passover time. It says in verse 1 of John 13 that He knew His hour had come, the hour of His death had come. He was going to depart out of this world to the Father. But then this wonderful statement,"H"Having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them...and here the translators go all over the map...He loved them perfectly, He loved them eternally, He loved them to the uttermost, He loved them to the end." And what does it really mean? All of the above...all of the above. He had loved His disciples to perfection, that's the way to translate it, I think. He had loved them to divine perfection. And it had been seen in so many ways.
It unfolds even in this upper room event because He begins to make promises to them that demonstrate His love, that He's going to send the Holy Spirit and if they ever need anything they can pray and ask and He'll provide it. And that the Spirit is going to come and lead them into all truth. And that His peace is going to be with them and that He's going to prepare a place for them and come and get them and take them back. And in the meantime He's going to do things through them the likes of which they've never dreamed. All these are reflections of His great love for these, frankly, unlovable men. He loved them absolutely to perfection. He loved them a level that is not possible for us. And so that is the newness of this old command, that it is seen as manifest in Jesus Christ for the first time. And, you know, you can extend that and say we all prior to Jesus Christ, that is all of those who knew the revelation of God, all of those who knew about the true and living God had the only information available to them in the written Old Testament and while it was wonderful to have that, it was but a shadow of the reality to come. And Christ is not the shadow but the substance. And so when Christ comes, who God is becomes manifest to us in an absolutely new and marvelous way.
And that's what John means here. He says this is new in the sense that it's seen in the wonder of its perfection in Jesus Christ. And this moment gives us a good illustration of that because they're in the upper room. If you compare the other gospel writers, you find out they're sitting around the table, Jesus is going to be betrayed and He's going to be going to the cross. He's going to receive all of the vitriol and the hatred and the animosity of the Jewish false trials and all of the things that went on in that horrifying experience. He's going to be crowned with thorns and beaten and all of those terrible things and crucified. He's been telling them about that all along, but frankly their minds aren't on Jesus, their minds are on themselves. And at the very moment that this is going on, they're having an argument about which of them is going to be the greatest in the Kingdom. Such a disappointing group. After three years He's nearing the cross. In fact, even when He takes them in to the garden to pray a little while, they fall asleep. But here they're arguing about which of them is the greatest. In the middle of the argument, none of them is going to do what needed to be done because if you're going to have a dinner, you recline. People had a lounging kind of dinner, long time like all those Italian dinners we had these last couple of weeks, that went on for like three hours and six courses. And we loved every minute of it, I can tell you that. Not only the food...not only the food but the fellowship was really marvelous.
And they recline and actually lounged. And so there was one very necessary thing and that was because people were barefoot and sandaled, they had to wash feet. Nobody had done that. No servant had been provided to do that. And when they're all arguing about which of them is the greatest, none of them is going to volunteer because he might therefore manifest a certain disqualification for greatness, having taken a posture of humility. And so nobody would do that. And in the midst of all this debating, Satan comes in and he puts it in the heart of Judas to betray Jesus. And all this is going on. Then in verse 4 Jesus Himself in the middle of this rose from supper, laid aside His garment, took off His outer coat, took a towel and wrapped it around His waist. Poured water into the basin, began to wash the disciples' feet and wipe them with a towel with which He was girded. I mean, it's just an amazing act of love. These disciples were so hard-headed, so indifferent to His suffering, so selfish and proud. Here they are debating about all of this, here one of them, Judas, who also got his feet washed is about to go sell Jesus for 30 filthy pieces of silver. And yet in the midst of that, there is this perfect love even manifested when Jesus gave the dipped...the sop in which they dipped in the paste to eat. It was always given first to the honored guest, and He gave it to Judas.
You know, He humbled Himself, Philippians 2 says, and took on Himself the form of a man and in the doing of that He made a demonstration of the love of God, the likes of which the world would never know. We saw a little bit of it this morning, didn't we, in His compassion on the disciples, His compassion on the suffering, multitudes who were sick. His compassion on them when they got hungry. I mean, this is the heart of God, perfect love, selfless sacrifice, perfect humility. It's fresh because it's in Him manifest as never before. But that doesn't stop there.
Go back again to 1 John and I'll show you something else that John tucks in there in verse 8. This is amazing. It's new in the sense that it's in Him and in you. O my, what a great statement that is. Not only is there a newness to it because of its manifestation in Christ, but there's a newness to this love, there's a freshness to this love because it's now manifest in you and for the first time it has been seen in Christ in all its perfection. And it has been seen in you in a dimension the likes of which has never been seen before. That's just a glorious realization of what it means to be a new creation. The manifestation of our love is something new, something incredibly wonderful. Jesus said in that same night in the upper room, and He said, "I'm going to send the Holy Spirit and He's going to come. He's been with you but He'll be in you." And that's the dimension...there's some kind of qualitative difference. I'm not sure that I can explain what it is, I don't know that the Bible attempts to do that, but whatever the relationship of the Holy Spirit to believers in the past was, it was a "with," and whatever it is to us, it's an "in." And John uses the same word, "in you...in you." And when the Holy Spirit comes in you, you'll be all wrapped up in loving one another and loving Me and loving the Father as we love each other and we love you, it goes on to say in John 14.
And that's part of what happens when you become a Christian. You become a Christian, the Holy Spirit takes up residence in your life and the fruit of the Spirit, according to Galatians 5:22, the fruit of the Spirit is...what's the first? Love...love. Romans 5:5 says,"The love of God has been shed abroad in our hearts." It's not so much the love that we give toward God but the love gives us that we give toward each other. That love has been dispensed by God and deposited in believers. In Ephesians chapter 3 and verse 16, "He would grant you according to the riches of His glory," this is Paul's prayer, "be strengthened through the Spirit so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith that you being rooted and grounded in love may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge." Paul says...I just hope that you can grasp the length and breadth and height and depth of this love of Christ that's been granted to you and deposited in you. And Paul in 1 Thessalonians 4:9 says, "As for love of the brethren, you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another," 1 Thessalonians 4:9. What a great truth.
So John says, "Look, I'm not telling you something new, it's something very old but there's a newness to it. And the newness to it is that you've seen it in its perfection in the incarnate Christ. And another element of the newness is it's in you...it's in you." And back to that verse, "And all of this is happening...he says...because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining." What does this mean? The darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining? Well it's pretty obvious what the true light is, who's that? Jesus, "I am the light of the world," John 8:12. And the Greek says the true light has already been shining. This new capacity for love, this fresh dimension of love, experience of love, deposit of love in your life is possible and real because the light has already been shining, because Christ has come and inaugurated a new day. H e's inaugurated the kingdom of light. And the kingdom of light is dispelling the darkness. With the arrival of the Messiah was the inaugurated of the kingdom and the light began to shine. And as time goes on, for now the light overlaps the darkness, but the light will increasingly extinguish the darkness until the darkness disappears in the glory of the millennial age at the end of time. The darkness isparagetti(????), the darkness, present tense, is fading and the light is coming.
A similar statement is made in verse 17, "The world is passing away." The long-awaited age to come has arrived, it arrived with Messiah, favorable year of the Lord, the end of the age, the latter days, the last days has come. The time of salvation has arrived. The New Covenant was ratified and the light is shining. And as I said, the present age and the coming age overlap. The world is the present age, the Kingdom of Christ is the coming age. We in whom the light shines are the overlapping kingdom, citizens of the age to come. And because Messiah came and inaugurated that age, because according to Galatians 1:4 He is delivering us out of this present evil age, we are given this new capacity to love.
So it's an old commandment but it's also new because it belongs to this true, new age, the age of the dawning of the light. It's a wonderful thing to think about history that way. Centuries and centuries, millennia and millennia of darkness and then the light dawns two thousand years ago, the light and the darkness overlap. The darkness is fading, the light is moving toward the great glorious shining return of Jesus Christ when He establishes His Kingdom of light on the earth and the whole earth is filled with the shining of His glory. So an old commandment and a new commandment.
Thirdly, we see love not only as an old commandment and love as a new commandment, but love as a way of life...love as a way of life. This isn't just philosophy. This isn't just ideology. In verses 9 to 11 John just gives some plain flat-out black and white clear illustrations. Here the principle is applied. The test is given to the one who claims to be a Christian. It's unmistakable. Verse 9, "The one who says he's in the light, yet hates his brother is still in the darkness until this moment."
I don't know how you can miss that. If you hate, you're not in this kingdom. If you hate your brother, if you hate others, if you hate those in the Kingdom, if you hate anyone essentially, if you don't see people the way God sees them then He's not in control of your heart. Love proves everything when connected to sound doctrine. The Gnostics, you know, they claimed to be enlightened, they disdained any unenlightened hoi-polloi. Christians aren't like that. We are the truly enlightened. We are honestly the elite of the world, though not many noble or mighty. We know what the world desperately needs to know and is completely ignorant of. We know more than all the wise men of the world. Where is the scribe, where is the wise man, Paul says in 1 Corinthians, line them all up. The world by wisdom did not know God.
But we do. But we don't look down on them as the Gnostics did, as the enlightened looked upon the unenlightened with scorn. Rather our hearts go out in love to them, love to even those who don't know the Lord enough to break our hearts over their lostness and certainly our love goes out to those within the family of God whom we love in Christ. And no matter what else we do, we may be, in Matthew 7, you know, we did this in Your name and did that, many mighty works, cast out demons. But in 1 Corinthians 15, if you don't have love it's all noise, it's all noise. So the practicality of it is, if you're a true Christian it's going to show up in your love, not perfect love, love is not going to be the perfection of your life but it will be the direction of it. You're going to have a heart of love for those around you, not a heart of hatred. You're going to want to serve those around you, not demand from them. You're going to want to help those around you, not harm them. You're going to want to come to the aid of those around you, to lift them up not to step on them. And particularly is that true among believers. If you don't have a love to be with God's people, it's a clear evidence that you're in the darkness no matter what you claim. And that's John, absolutely black and white. The one who says he's in the light yet hates his brother, is in the darkness until now. It means no change has happened. No work of God in the heart.
Then the contrast comes in verse 10. "The one who loves his brother, on the other hand, abides in the light." And he adds,"There's no cause for stumbling in him." Now that's pretty reasonable. If you're walking in the light, you're not going to trip over something. He sees where he's going. He's not like somebody groping in the darkness. "Great peace have they that love Thy Law and they shall not stumble." When you love and obey the Law of God, when you express the love of God, the love of Christ to others, you're walking in the light, you're not going to stumble, you're not going to fall. And what does that mean? Well a stumble would be literally a way of expressing sinning against others. Stumbling in the Scriptures is sinning. And in this environment what he's saying is very similar to what Paul said in Romans 13, he's saying if you love people, you're not going to stumble into sins against them. You're not going to violate people. You're not going to commit adultery against them. You're not going to commit murder. You're not going to steal. You're not going to lie. You're not going to covet. If you love people you don't sin against them. And even though we don't perfectly do that, we...we feel terrible remorse when we fail to love as we ought to love.
So the contrast is pretty clear. John says if you're a true Christian, you're going to love people and you're not going to sin against them as a pattern of life. So there is a new commandment to love, added to an old commandment to love. And then he talks about the life of love. And he closes with a comment on the absence of love in verse 11. "But the one who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness...doesn't know where he's going...because the darkness has blinded his eyes."
That's really a...it's a difficult thing if you can remember back to this kind of an incident, to be in absolute pitch darkness, isn't it? And to grope your way around trying to find where you are. Well that's exactly the way it is with people outside the Kingdom. They are known because they hate their brothers. They have disdain...anything from disdain to indifference could qualify as a form of hate. Sometimes disdain and indifference seem to us polar opposites, but in fact they're not. My indifference to someone comes out in the end equal to my disdain. Whatever might be that attitude, whether it's just absolute indifference or whether it's utter hostility, it's virtually to have no regard for their condition. And if there is any regard, it's to worsen it. Such people are in the darkness no matter what they claim. They are outside the Kingdom. They don't walk in the light. They don't have any spiritual life. They're like the ones back in chapter 1 verses 5 and 6. "God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all, if you say you have fellowship with Him and walk in darkness, then what you say doesn't mean anything, you're just lying." And that kind of person doesn't know where he's going and so he just stumbles all over the place. Sins against himself and against people and mostly, of course, against God, the religious, the wise, the philosophers claim to be in the light, but their whole life is full of crashes, blindly stumbling into damning sin. Proof of their condition is they don't love. And they move, as Jude puts it, to the blackness of darkness which is eternal judgment.
John can give us our conclusion to this brief look at this passage. If you turn to John 13 again, in this account in John 13, after the washing of the feet there's a little dialogue with Peter and then there's some teaching from the Lord. And a couple of verses that stand out, in verses 34 and 35. You remember now, John said it's an old commandment but it has a newness to it. It has a freshness. Jesus says the same thing, that's probably where John got the license to make that interesting and surprising contrast. In verse 34 Jesus said, "A new commandment I give you..." Well, it's not new, loving one another is not new, that's a part of Levitical law, that's part of Exodus, the Ten Commandments repeated in the second law, Deuteronomy, that's not new. Well here's the new part, "A new commandment I give you that you love one another as I have loved you."
They never could have known that before. And there we're back to what I told you, the remarkable part of the newness of this is that it is manifest in Jesus Christ for the first time so that the visibility of what it means to love your neighbor is clear. So He says I want you to love in a way you've never known before, I want you to love the way I've loved you. That's how I want you to love others. And so that asks the question...how had He loved them? And the answer to that is the whole story of three years of meeting every need they had, of providing for them food, providing for them teaching, providing for them forgiveness and grace and mercy and patience and everything that He provided for them. It even means washing their dirty feet while they were arguing about which of them was the greatest.
So how did He love them? Well how did He just love them? By washing their filthy feet. And I think that's sort of a metaphor summing up how Jesus had loved them all through His ministry. They always needed their feet washed spiritually, didn't they? As much as they certainly believed in the Lord and as true as their salvation was, they managed to collect a lot of dirt on their feet...doubts, failures, weak faith, manifested itself again and again, pride, self-centeredness, competitiveness, ambition, greed. Through it all He kept loving and loving and loving and loving, patiently and patiently, patiently. And here in what really is symbolic of the whole relationship, this is like a metaphor for their whole time together, He gets down on the ground and He washes their filthy feet. And you can't get lower than that. The slave that did that was considered the lowest slave in the household because feet got dirty in those days. And so this is the newness of it. It's never been seen like this. So when you think about loving each other, we understand the idea of loving, but never before have we seen the reality of loving in flesh until we see it in Jesus Christ.
How important is it? Verse 35, "By this all men will know that you're My disciples." How they going to know? "If you have love for one another." You'll know because that's a test. Everybody else will know because of your love for one another. And what kind of love is that? It's a humble love. It's a self-sacrificing love. It's a bowing and serving love. That kind of love, sacrificial love, "Greater love hath no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friends."
So if you love like that, you will pass the test and you will know...look at your heart. Do you pass the doctrinal test? Do you believe in the deity of Christ? And do you understand your own depravity? How you doing on the moral test or the spiritual test? Are you desiring and longing to obey the Word of God? And do you love others? That's how you know if you're a Christian. And by that love not only do you know, but by that love the people who see you know. What a great statement. "By this all men will know that you're My disciples if you have love for one another." That's the heart and soul of our Christian testimony. That's the foundation on which the gospel becomes believable...believable. Let's pray.
Father, thank You again as we always do at the close of a message. We thank You because this word comes down from above, words from heaven about love. We thank You that You've given them to us so that we can have confidence, so that we might know that we are saved. These things are written that you might know that you have eternal life and that knowing that might bring us complete joy. Sometimes we look at our lives and we see our failures and yet there is that longing to obey Your Word. We look at our lives and we see how badly and poorly and selfishly and proudly we treat others and yet we feel the longing in our heart of love. We feel a love, a deep love for those that are outside the Kingdom, almost a heartbreaking love and we also feel a love of strong affection for those that are inside the Kingdom as we embrace the richness of that sweet Christian fellowship. And those are evidences that You've changed us, that You've shed Your love abroad in our hearts, that we don't have to be taught by man to love because we're taught by You to love, that that newness which was for the first time manifest in Christ is also new because it is for the first time manifest through us by the Holy Spirit. May we be known by our love. May the whole world know that we're Yours because of our love. Make us people who love that we might enjoy the confidence of our own salvation and have a testimony to others of the unmistakable and mighty work that Christ has done in us. These things we ask in His name. Amen.
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text:
Monday, March 1, 2010
Learning to learn
In any discipline or activity, there are always those who train hard for years only to acquire mediocre results, and those who seem to fly over every difficulties in their way, is it human nature, or just a different kind of perception that one could unlock ?
This is an attempt to explore these questions...
Being in the moment: the right here right now equilibrium.
The philosopher Blaise Pascal once wrote : "May one examine their own thoughts, and they will find them all focused on the past or the future. We almost never think in the present, and when we do, it is only to shed light on what to do with the future".
We live in the present, it is our only field of action, and it is only then that we can interconnect entirely body, mind, and environment to create a sense of pure awareness; but how often do we actually do this? What Pascal wrote has never been so true: most of us have grown up and are still immersed in a world of distractions: television, cell phones, advertising, work, social activities, internet, games... the list is endless.
From birth we become accustomed to the habit of being constantly distracted, it is for most of us a normal thing that we accept and agree with entirely, our rare moments of boredom are those that we find awkward and that we will strive to fill with more mind-absorbing activities.
How is this related to learning? I had a student who was a very slow learner and had grown to accept it as part of his nature: he would make the same mistakes many times before understanding the lesson, and he would sometimes learn only to drop back into those old mistakes again. I didn't really know how to help him until I realised something essential: that even when training his mind was constantly drifting away in thought, absorbed in the past or future, inconspicuously slipping out of the "right here right now equilibrium".
I understood that one's learning is clearly improved by being in constant connection with one's present sensations.
Sensations are feedback, they tell us if what we do is right or not, they show us what we should improve on and how to do it at the condition that we pay attention to them. Repetition alone is pointless if there isn't constant attention to what is being done, just as it is being done. Learn in real-time, be awake and aware, feel and analyse what you are doing. Trying again doesn't mean doing again; every attempt is a new opportunity to do better, based on the knowledge and experience of past tries.
So avoid any type of distraction when you are training, let your entire self be directed towards what you are doing and all your energy, all your qualities, all that you are made of will cease to be dispersed and wasted but, instead, will work for you towards one clear goal that you have chosen, like a whole army marching in unison towards one unique target.
I took the time to explain these things to the student, letting them slowly soak in over time, and he has since then made tremendous progress and is now one of the quickest learners I have ever taught to!
Constructive criticism: the positive vision
Collecting feedback and endlessly integrating it in what you do is a major element of learning to learn, but doing so with absolute positiveness is the key principle that will create the alchemy. When we try and fail, we try harder, but if we fail again, most of us will tend to get upset or irritated, and our emotions conquer us and corrupt the positive learning mindset we were in. It is then very easy to slip into negative criticism and to start asking ouselves the wrong questions, such as "why am I so bad at this?", or even "why can't I ever get things right?"
The mind, in these cases, is bluntly stupid in the way it works, as it searches for a direct answer to these questions; for instance: "you're bad at this because it's not your thing", or "you can never get things right because you're not meant to be talented at this". The answers it gives us are often conveyed on a subconscious level, and thus we unknowingly hypnotise ourselves into failure.
Therefore, one must ask themselves the right questions if one wishes to find the right answers: "How can I improve on this?", "How can I avoid doing these mistakes?", "What is holding me back from complete mastery?"
Condition your mind for positivity and you will get positive results. A positive vision is one that can picture a clear objective and a list of ways to reach it, regardless of what stands in the way. And any resistance in your progress, instead of being a source of frustration, will become a call for a new accomplishment, a treat of self-exploration. You won't need to ignore your frustration, it won't be there anymore, transformed into a new exciting feeling of challenge!
Training, as intense as it may get, is never but a game so don't take it too seriously, even if you're at it every day for hours, be relaxed about it, inner tension will cause outer stiffness, let it flow inside and it will flow outside. Lightness is key.
Discovering rather than manufacturing: the blossoming flower concept
"When I and my students think of strokes as being discovered rather than manufactured, they seem to learn the game much faster and without frustration." Timothy Gallwey, The Inner Game of Tennis
I will humbly paraphrase this great book here.
As explained earlier, a major part of the process of learning is directly linked to how we visualise things. Manufacturing skills would imply that there is you + all that you've learned. Like costumes worn over each other, your skills are not connected to who you are, they are merely added to you in a very impersonal way. Progress, in this mindset, appears as having no end and worse, as being perishable...
Now, let's talk about flowers... flowers don't grow, they blossom: from the instant they exist as a tiny seed, they are already the future flower that they will turn into, just like a new-born baby is already in essence the future adult it will become.
They constantly express themselves as flowers and day by day, instant by instant, they become a little bit more their blossomed selves, what they were right from the start is now fully expressed and they are purely themselves.
If you visualise all your skills as being within you right from the start, on standby, waiting to be discovered and released, you will get rid of a lot of the pressure that athletes face with intense training because it means that you are simply learning to express yourself, zeroing in ever more on your true self. One could almost call it a process of enlightenment. In this case, nothing is really learnt, everything is simply revealed and therefore it is an undisociable part of you.
Progress is not an addition of bits of knowledge and skill like Lego pieces stacked on top of each other, it is only the elimination of what is keeping you from expressing your true self.
Conclusion: expanding the horizon
Throughout this article, I've never once mentioned parkour: the reason is that "learning to learn", once acquired, is a skill that transcends any activity it may be applied to. One who understands it may use it in any field equally.
As a matter of fact, in order to explore a single discipline one is required to branch off continuously into other fields, as no knowledge is ever completely isolated.
A samurai once wrote about his art: "The practice cannot be confined to swordsmanship, if one limits it to that, they will not even know swordsmanship". The same warrior added: "I have applied the lessons of my art to every other discipline I have encountered, therefore in any discipline I am my own master". The road that leads to the mastery of one discipline will lead to the mastery of others; following one is close to following them all because, more than just the discipline, it is ourselves that we learn to explore and know through our practice. The discipline itself is never the end, but the means to a more noble, meaningful and everlasting end: our blossomed self.
13 comments:
- émon said...
thanks so much for this post..it couldnt come in a much better time than now....again thanks lots. We'll see how these changes will affect lifes..many thanks
- March 6, 2010 at 3:00 PM
- sean.albo.nicolle said...
Great post, one that inspires, yes. Wish I wasn't on a rest day just so I could go out and train, but like you said, this phenomenon applies to so much more than training a single discipline.
Some thoughts/research regarding learning:
M.D. and author Jeffrey Schwartz ("Mind and the Brain") describes the neurocorrelates of attention/focus while engaged in a task. Although I do not recall the details of the study to perfection, it goes something like this:
Monkeys were challenged to accomplish a task (use a new tool to bring food pellets towards them that were otherwise unattainable). One group was exposed to distracting noises, the other was not. The group that was not exposed to these noises showed a significant neurological developments (e.g., neuroplasticity) within a day. The monkeys exposed to distraction did not, or did so to a lesser degree. Two significant discoveries: 1) the brain undergoes neuroplasticity within a matter of hours of learning, showing visible changes overnight. 2) these changes, that is to say, the neurological correlates of learning, occur only when subject is focused on the task.
Schwartz conducted other studies that support these findings and refine them.
- March 6, 2010 at 3:23 PM
- Thomas said...
Thanks for the comments guys, much appreciated. I just want to appologise to Bruno and Ghost who posted comments as well, i've deleted them by mistake and i can't get them back, so you may post them again if you like but anyway i had time to read them so it's not too important :)
Take care everyone !
- March 12, 2010 at 2:49 PM
thanks thomas, I really like this post, I got new inspiration, and in your words, I found the answer to a question that I couldn't find, I now know that it is possible to empty his glass!
"Progress is not an addition of bits of knowledge and skill like Lego pieces stacked on top of each other, it is only the elimination of what is keeping you from expressing your true self."
Fantastic!!! thanks :)
By Magik - Gennaro ^^
- March 15, 2010 at 9:42 PM
- ghost said...
grazie thomas,le tue parole sono,come sempre,fonte di ispirazione e ci danno uno spunto per meditare su noi stessi.in quello che scrivi vedo anche un po di zen,giusto?anche io ho un blog,dai un occhiata ogni tanto ok?grazie master.
- March 21, 2010 at 9:38 AM
- Aquaman said...
A wonderful text for beginners! The 3rd paragraph brighten my mind, I sort of feel it but haven't thought about it yet.
The citation that Magik mentioned reminds me Bruce Lee, he used to say about expressing your true self and how hard it is.
- March 23, 2010 at 8:23 PM
- @N3 said...
great Post my friend , ill translate it to spanish so i can share it to some close friends who would like to read it here in mexico ;)
Best energy 4 ya dude!!
a N 3
- March 29, 2010 at 2:40 AM
Wonderful articles! I'll reblog it.
- December 13, 2010 at 5:38 AM
- Pouley said...
Hey Thomas :), my old friend.
I have passed to your blog, as i do maybe one or two times a year. However, the last time i came here is out of my memory... so that's a too long time.
I'm happy to read what i've read in this article. I see that you are on the conscious way, the human being way of life. And it makes me happy to see that. Parkour and people i've met in the beginning helped me to focus on the most important thing : "what's going on right now", "To be and to last", "to Be... :)".
But i've let my body floating in the river, without doing real choices and forgot how good Parkour was for my mind.
I took an other way to exprim myself and understand this kind of "things", i directly tried to understand these kinds of concepts with books, spiritual speaking, instead of doing what my heart called me to do and discover what Is with experience... My way was to be lost in regrets, and pain awakenned my mind, a little :).
However, i feel that you live in this concept, when me i just "understand" the concept and i still feel hard to DO things sometimes.
I always felt this light in your heart, this freedom in your mind, and maybe the fact that i wanted to be as free as you made me feel some pain... I just wasn't ready, i had (have) to follow my own path, to do wrong and learn from that.
In fact, I just want to thank you to be what you are :), you undirectly teached me some very important things and i'm not sure i could be gracefull enough.
And finally i would like to add that humans like you makes me love life and what is.
Thank you to Be :).
- February 1, 2011 at 6:55 PM
- Thomas said...
Hey Pouley,
My friend, thanks for these very kind words, it's been a very long time since we saw each other, i am away in India/Nepal for now, but i really hope we can meet up when i get back !
Your path is every day of your life, so realising that you're not on it is just realising that you need to change some things, your path simply needs a turn of direction :)
Good luck my friend and see you soon i hope !
- February 5, 2011 at 5:45 AM
- tubby said...
Having heard some of your views on life and Parkour, and having trained with you once, I'm beginning to see just how important Mindfulness (as outlined in this post) is for you.
And your wisdom has been a catalyst for a transformation in my approach to Parkour, which has subsequently begun to change my life.
It began with training more organically ... letting sessions 'evolve' rather than working with regimented schedules ... and now I see myself start to live my life according to that philosophy too.
This has resulted in less goal setting and more natural evolution; less frenzy and more patience; less frustration and more contentment.
You're a gifted teacher; I just wanted to acknowledge that. :)
- July 1, 2011 at 3:13 AM
- Thomas said...
Thanks a lot man, i appreciate it very much !
I've actually never been happy with my teaching skills.
I'm glad though that you feel that my views have helped you on your path !
Best of luck to you, and take care !
- July 1, 2011 at 11:30 PM
Thomas Hi!
Kung Fu Pandas teacher said: the present is a present. Thank you so mich for remindimg me:)
Namaste :)
- May 8, 2012 at 3:54 AM

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Judge Susan Webber Wright
September 2012: Median Prison Sentence
District Court - Arkansas East
Referring Agency: Department of Homeland Security Immigration and Customs Enforcement
Lead Charge: 08 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien
Program Area: Immigration
For all cases disposed of in the current fiscal year (2012) that were credited to Judge Susan Webber Wright in the Eastern District of Arkansas, the median prison sentence was 0.0 months, when looking only at cases referred by the Department of Homeland Security Immigration and Customs Enforcement with a lead charge of "08 USC 1326 - Reentry of deported alien" falling under the broad category of "Immigration". During the current fiscal year, Judge Susan Webber Wright has sentenced 3 defendants compared with 10 defendants during the twelve months of the previous fiscal year. Judge Susan Webber Wright's service terminated on December 1, 1990, due to statutory reassignment of judg.
Over the last five years, the median prison sentence imposed on defendants that were credited to Judge Wright was 10.0 months. This was 99900.0% higher than the 0.0 months typical in Arkansas East and 33.3% lower than the 15.0 months median prison sentence for the nation. Judge Susan Webber Wright sentenced 33 defendants during the past five years.
(CAUTION: The kinds of cases handled by individual judges influences statistical information about their sentences. It therefore is important to consider the breakdown of cases that each has handled, available below, when making judge-by-judge comparisons.)
Figure 1 compares Judge Wright's numbers to those for judges in this district and in the United States as a whole for cases of this type over the last five years.
During the last five years there were 6 other judges in the Eastern District of Arkansas with information on convictions during that period. Median prison sentence numbers passed down for those judges ranged from 0.0 months to 12.0 months, putting Judge Wright's median prison sentence of 10.0 months at the higher end of the range. The median prison sentence for the whole Eastern District of Arkansas during that time was 0.0 months.
Professional Biography
Born 1948 in Texarkana, AR
Federal Judicial Service
Judge, U. S. District Court, Western District of Arkansas
Nominated by George H.W. Bush on September 21, 1989, to a seat vacated by Elsijane Trimble Roy; Confirmed by the Senate on January 23, 1990, and received commission on January 24, 1990. Service terminated on December 1, 1990, due to statutory reassignment of judges.
Judge, U. S. District Court, Eastern District of Arkansas
Nominated by George H.W. Bush on September 21, 1989, to a seat vacated by Elsijane Trimble Roy; Confirmed by the Senate on January 23, 1990, and received commission on January 24, 1990. Served as chief judge, 1998-2005.
Randolph-Macon Woman's College, B.A., 1970
University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, M.P.A., 1973
University of Arkansas at Fayetteville School of Law, J.D., 1975
Professional Career:
Law clerk, Hon. J. Smith Henley, U.S. Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit, 1975-1976
Faculty, University of Arkansas at Little Rock School of Law, 1976-1990
Assistant professor and assistant dean, 1976-1978
Associate professor, 1980-1983
Professor, 1983-1990
Research assistant, Arkansas Constitutional Convention, 1979
Visiting assistant professor, University of Arkansas at Fayetteville School of Law, 1980
Visiting associate professor, Ohio State University College of Law, 1981
Visiting associate professor, Louisiana State University Law Center, 1982-1983
Number of Defendants in Judge Susan Webber Wright's Cases


text:
Ebola wants Twilight
As I reported a few weeks ago, Ebola Paris Hilton is guest starring on Supernatural. Not sure why the show felt the need to expose its cast and crew to that disease but here it is, arriving in Vancouver yesterday to begin work. Ebola is apparently playing a shapeshifter who shapeshifts into "Paris Hilton" and tries to kill everyone.
It came in on the same flight as Jackson Rathbone. Kellan Lutz flew in around the same time but they were not on the same plane. While Ebola distracted most of the paps, Jackson was able to leave the airport relatively undisturbed. Am hoping he was able to avoid it in the air. It may not have known who he is. And this is good. Because it is targeting Twilight, and Ebola will stop at nothing.
Not even a boyfriend.
Doug Reinhardt was actually booked to accompany it. They reconciled around the same time its role on Supernatural was confirmed and there was indeed a flight arranged for him…
But Ebola has other plans.
My sources tell me exclusively that it has made phone calls, it has instructed its people to put out the feelers – it wants to hook up with the Twilight cast, specifically Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner. It's only in Vancouver for a few days. Originally the plan was to set up a night out and it would call in some of its fake BFF bitches and of course its reality show cameras would capture everything.
The assumption however is that no one from Twilight bothered to get back to it. So it's here alone, but has not abandoned the plan (which is why Doug was told not to come) and still hopes to make things happen, with bffs and cameras on standby, should Twilight give it an opening.
Nothing would make it happier than to hitch itself onto that train.
Some more insight into the contamination?
Last week there was a photo shoot at its house in Mulholland Estates. Of course it has pictures and posters of itself everywhere. Every inch of every wall is plastered with its own face. Not family portraits but straight up head shots, vanity pics – Ebola Ebola Ebola wherever you turn.
The photo shoot was in support of its line of sunglasses. Who the f-ck is buying this sh-t???
Anyway, during the shoot, as you would expect, Ebola would not lower itself to speak to the crew. Treated them like "the help". No hello, no thank you, no appreciation, nothing.
That sh-t is incapable of change.
Exclusive photos from PUNKD Images


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Jessica Biel won't have to worry about living in poorly decorated digs for the rest of her life, now that fiance Justin Timberlake is the latest Hollywood home decor designer!
The 31-year-old star is expanding his resume, which already includes singer, actor and fashion designer, with his new line for HomeMint, BeachMint's latest celebrity collaboration.
"If we wouldn't put it in our homes, we're not going to ask people to put it in theirs," he tells ELLE DECOR of curating the collection with his own interior designer Estee Stanley.
The site, which launches in early May, will offer exclusive home decor items for its subscribers who pay a $10/month fee.
"You don't have to spend your whole bank account to make your home look amazing but also be comfortable and reliable," Timberlake, who is no stranger to going all out with adorning his own homes.
"I'll sit and I'll look at hardware for hours. Literally, for hours, I'll sit and compare hardware," he admits to the magazine, adding that his attention to detail probably drives Stanley crazy. "The devil's in the details. I mean, it's your home, it has to be your own. I like a lot of different things and the challenge is taking all the pieces you love and finding the common thread between them so it doesn't look like it's all just thrown into the same room."
HomeMint is the fifth launch for BeachMint, which also houses Kate Bosworth's JewelMint, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen's StyleMint, Jessica Simpson's BeautyMint and Rachel Bilson's ShoeMint.
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SkychiTravels| Black | African American Traveler - This is a regional airline flight attendant Janice Temple's first travel blog. It shares travel stories, photos, videos about flight crew members. It is shares hotels, restaurants and attractions flight attendant travel tips. This blog http://skychitravels.blogspot.com has moved to http://theskychitravelguide.blogspot.com.
Friday, January 28, 2011
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Since original movies are no longer a thing, there is a robo-reboot of Robocop currently filming to hit theaters and pillage teenagers of their money. In the original movie, Robocop drove a Ford Taurus.
While times and Robosuits may change, Roborides do not. Meet the new Robo Taurus.
It looks like Ford has signed on to provide a new Taurus Police Interceptor to the Robocop film. Our tipster saw the Robocop car in Toronto earlier today:
We've seen the terrible robo suit, but I've captured the new car. Theyre filming across the street from my dealership and saw this getting towed to the set.
In a departure from the old Robocop car, which was an all black Taurus, the new one has some white accents and big block lettering.
Now hopefully the movie doesn't suck.
(Hat Tip to Scooter!)


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New Canaan and Darien football squads prepare for Turkey Bowl
Certainties in life: Death, taxes and a packed house for the New Canaan vs. Darien Turkey Bowl game every Thanksgiving morning.
The wildly-anticipated showdown between the Rams and Blue Wave - which kicks off at Darien High School at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday -- will conclude the regular season for a pair of teams which took decidedly different routes to the Turkey Bowl.
As New Canaan quarterback Teddy Bossidy put it, both teams would desperately want this game "even if we were both 0-10."
"I think they're definitely coming full bore. That's how much it means for both schools, so we're not expecting anything less from them," Bossidy said. "We're just counting down the hours. We've been waiting for this one for a while, and we're definitely really excited."
Darien captain and linebacker Andrew Maley concurred.
"Pretty much this is our Super Bowl right now," Maley said. "I know we're going to be giving it our all on every single play. It's the last game and we've got to be throwing our bodies into every single play."
More InformationFact box
Both teams entered the 2012 campaign with their typical lofty expectations, up to and including postseason play, championships and perfect records. And while neither team will compete for the FCIAC title and only New Canaan will participate in the Class L state tournament, Rams-Wave is arguably the golden standard of FCIAC football rivalries.
With a win, New Canaan will boast its second consecutive one-loss regular season campaign. Its only defeat came on the road against Trinity Catholic in a 31-28 overtime tilt in Week 2. The Rams have reeled off seven straight wins since the overtime setback, and sound intent on boosting the win streak to eight before entering state tournament play.
"Losing is not an option in our minds," New Canaan center and captain Dylan Karnedy said. "There's no talk of losing because we know that we're not going to lose. We have to keep the tradition going because this is the most important game."
For the Blue Wave, there is no tomorrow. The final game of the season will indeed be when they host the Rams on Thanksgiving morning unless they receive an extraordinary amount of help from other teams currently in state tournament position.
New Canaan has dominated the rivalry in recent years, having won nine consecutive meetings between the squads, including a 42-21 victory last season.
The last time the Rams failed to defeat the Blue Wave was in 2003, a 14-14 tie. Darien's last victory was two years earlier in 2001 by a final score of 24-21.
And even though recent history has been soundly in New Canaan's favor (including the state championship and FCIAC championship in 2008), the current Blue Wave crew sounds intent on bucking the trend.
"(Winning) would mean everything for us. This is what we work for. It's the thing we wait for all season," Maley said. "We take each game one at a time, but it's still in the back of your mind that you're playing New Canaan in the last game of the season. "
Darien will have to prepare for New Canaan's two-quarterback system of Nick Cascione and Bossidy, something which the Rams hope will prove problematic for the Wave.
"One right, one lefty (quarterback), so I think it makes it harder for them to pick a strong side," Bossidy said. "They've got a really big, athletic d-line. They're backers are a bit undersized, but they fly around. They're d-backs are as good as we'll see all year, so it will be a tough test for us."
"You have to prepare for two different styles instead of one," Darien coach Rob Trifone said. "The thing that makes it difficult is that as much as they're different, they're similar. They're both excellent runners and they both can throw the ball short and long."
For the Rams, stopping the Blue Wave attack won't be a walk in the park either. Darien has shown a tendency to get a wealth of skill position players involved early and often. If Darien continues to spread the ball around, New Canaan may not be able to key on only one or two Darien "go to" players.
Quarterback Henry Baldwin seems to have a new favorite target each week, as players such as Nick Lombardo, Ian Vanderhorn and Peter Gesualdi have all hauled in several long touchdown passes this season. Darien will also get hard-running fullback Christian Bognar back into the starting lineup.
"We always try to feature whatever you're going to give us," Trifone said. "We have enough weapons, as do they, that if you try to take away two or three of them, then we go to the fourth one. I'm sure there will be some unsung hero on both sides of the ball."
"It gets a lot more serious the week that we play Darien because we have to beat them no matter what," Karnedy said. "This is the most important week of the season for us."
email@example.com Twitter: @jchik17


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Bin & Bag Details
What are the sizes of the kitchen containers and bins?
The green kitchen containers are 2.5 gallons, called the MaxAir bin, made by BioBag USA. The kitchen container is ventilated and the Biobags breathe. This design lets heat escape and moisture evaporate. This lets food scraps dry out, which slows the rotting process and avoids odor. The green curbside bins will be available in two sizes: 12 (for single family homes) and 21 gallons (for multi-family buildings up to 12 units). These bins are much smaller than the recycling toters (which are 65 gallons). Multi-family buildings can request a second curbside bin if one is not enough.
Does the green curbside bin lock?
Yes. The bin is a durable plastic on wheels with a secure locking lid that is resistant to pests.
Tell me about the compostable bags I will receive. Why are plastic bags not accepted?
Each participating household will receive a year supply of BioBags to line the kitchen container, enough to empty the bin 2-3 times per week. Unlike regular plastic bags, BioBags are made from plant and vegetable oils/ resins that can be consumed by micro organisms that live in our soils. This means that the bag can easily be composted with the food scraps and soiled paper. Please DO NOT use plastic bags to collect your food scraps. Plastic bags are not compostable and considered a contaminant in the program.
If you need more, you may purchase certified compostable bags from the following retailers:
Cambridge Naturals, 23 White Street, Cambridge
Pemberton Farms, 2225 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge
Harvest Co-op, 580 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge
Whole Foods, 545 Concord Ave, Cambridge
Star Market, 275 Beacon St, Somerville
How many compostable BioBags will I receive? What happens if I run out? to replace 2-3 times per week
You will receive 150 compostable bags, allowing you enough bags to fill your bags with compostable material 2-3 times per week. Place the BioBags in the green curbside bin. This amount should be sufficient. If you need more, local retailers including Whole Foods, Tags, and Pemberton Farms do sell compostable bags (typically about $5 for a box of 25). Acceptable bags must have the US Composting Council logo. Please not that if you plan on leaving your residents for a long period of time (2+ days), please tie and place your BioBag in your curbside bin.
How can I clean my kitchen container and bin?
You can clean your kitchen container in the dishwasher. If needed, you can clean the curbside bin with soap and water. Please drain the water onto a grassy area. Wash water should never enter a catch basin because it goes straight to the Charles River.
Cambridge citizen requests, now online & on the go! Report issues here.
Have a question?Find the answer in our extensiveFrequently Asked Questions
147 Hampshire StCambridge
02139Phone:617.349.4800TDD:617.499.9924Email Us
Monday: 8:30am-8:00pm
Tuesday-Thursday: 8:30am-5:00pm
Friday: 8:30am-12 noon
24 Hour emergency 617.349.4860
Tuesday & Thursday: 4:00pm-7:30pm Saturday: 9:00am-4:00pm
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Regional and international experts on corporate governance will gather on 9-10 November in Dubai to review the progress in reforming corporate governance frameworks in MENA countries and ways to enhance their implementation. This regional annual gathering, organised by the Hawkamah Institute of Corporate Governance in cooperation with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) will be held at the Dubai International Financial Center.
As the causes and consequences of the global financial crisis are becoming clearer, this will be the first regional gathering to consider the role of corporate governance for the economic stability and prosperity of the region.
Dr. Omar bin Sulaiman, Governor of the DIFC and Founder of Hawkamah, pointed out that "the world - and especially the Middle East – is emerging from the global financial crisis and will seek to implement policies to ensure a period of sustained and more stable growth. Now is the time for companies to prepare and position themselves for the future opportunities and challenges. Good corporate governance offers them a competitive edge."
Dr. Nasser Al Saidi, the Executive Director of Hawkamah, further explained: "We have specifically chosen the theme of the this meeting as 'Emerging Middle East Markets and the Corporate Governance Imperative' so as to impart a sense of urgency regarding adoption and implementation of corporate governance in the region."
The engagement and investment of both regulators and private sector companies in corporate governance priorities is essential. "Hawkamah and its supporting partners and founding members, the DIFC, OECD, IFC, UAB and others have been at the forefront to promote and spread awareness about good corporate governance practices in our region and encourage reform. The upcoming gathering is yet another step in that direction," added Dr. Saidi.
The panels of the conference have been specifically targeted to reflect the issues seen as priority in improving governance practices in the region. "This important regional gathering will be addressing a number of priority corporate governance challenges in the MENA region in relation to the banking sector and state-owned enterprises", noted Dr. Grant Kirkpatrick, Senior Economist at the OECD. "A Policy Brief on Corporate Governance of Banks will be released on this occasion. Apart from reflecting a considerable amount of fact finding, it constitutes a first step to applying policy lessons from the financial crisis to the region", noted Mr. Kirkpatrick.
Among other topics addressed by the conference will be corporate governance of Islamic financial institutions, insurance firms and the role of private equity firms in corporate governance. These issues will be discussed on the second day of the annual gathering. In addition, the regional regulators will debate the region's changing regulatory landscape and how that places new demands on them. An Investors Panel will address the role of investors, both retail and institutional, as key drivers of corporate governance reform in the region. Finally, the annual gathering will also feature a closed session for regulators, which will focus on region-specific insolvency and creditor rights issues. A regional study on insolvency will be also released on this occasion.
The MENA-OECD Working Group on Corporate Governance will be discussing how to advance the corporate governance agenda in MENA region through ongoing as well as new regional and country-specific initiatives. Mechanisms for implementing the regional Policy Brief on banks will be discussed, and the way forward for advancing the corporate governance agenda for state-owned enterprises will be decided.
Speakers representing international and regional organisations, as well as the private sector, joining the annual gathering include: Mr. Mahesh Uttamchandani, Head of the World Bank Insolvency and Creditor's Rights Initiative; Dr. Grant Kirkpatrick, Senior Economist at the OECD, Mr. Carl Rosen, Executive Director of International Corporate Governance Network, Mr. Simon Copplestone, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank's Board Secretary, and Ms. Sohail Zubairi, CEO of Islamic legal consultancy, Dar Al Sharia. A number of other experts from across the region will comprise the 200 participants anticipated to attend this important annual meeting.
© 2000 - 2019 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)


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Midstream Services Leader
The Midstream Group was formed in 2005 to more effectively manage Anadarko's expanding midstream business segment. Anadarko Midstream is positioned as a premier midstream provider to our customers, which include both our production affiliate and other third-party producers.
Anadarko's Midstream Group is committed to providing its customers with the highest-quality service at a competitive price. Anadarko provides gathering, compression, treating, dehydration and processing services with the producer in mind.
Anadarko Midstream provides the following services to meet customer needs:
- Gathering
- Compression
- Treating and Dehydration
- Processing
- Gas Purchasing
Western Gas Partners, LP
In 2008, Anadarko formed Western Gas Partners, LP (NYSE: WES), a limited partnership, to own, operate, acquire and develop midstream energy assets.


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Hei! in the morning. Wednesday, April 17th 2019.22:36:13 PM Tо be precise. This document posted by Annefa Simpson and having 90 highest resolution pici am believe This document is a great for yous design and style foreseeable future, to view at the main document Domino Math Worksheet Photo . We trust This motivate yous to be used in yous house
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She's BAAAAAAAAACK! YAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYY! :D :D :D
You know it would take something of monumental importance for me to come out of my cocoon, not to mention my money-making commitments and watching the Olympics, but monumental this is.
"South Park," the adult animated show, is holding elections for class president of the fourth grade. We're talking serious, people. Right now it's neck and neck between Butters and Cartman. I'm campaigning big time for Butters. I want to see what happens when genuinely sweet litte Butters gets absolute power and is absolutely corrupte. Plus things are URGENT! The last day of voting is tomorrow, Tuesday 8-24-04, until midnight in your time zone, if I have that last part correct. Check the www.comedycentral.com site about the end time for voting. That is, if you give a boogar.
Go to the following URL
Scroll down to the picture of BUTTERS! --seventh picture down--and click VOTE under his picture.
If you have problems with the above URL, go to
click on the show "South Park" and follow the directions for voiting. Remember, 12:00am midnight 8-24-04 is when voting closes down and your last chance to affect who will be class president of South Park Elemntary's Fourth Grade. Bush and Kerry, pfft! The outcome of Butters vs. Cartman will affect all aspects of the universe!
Warning to Those Unfamiliar with "South Park": If you don't like the way the majority of third- and fourth-grade boys really and truly talk and what they realy and truly do when they're just around each other, that is gross and potty mouthed, don't watch "South Park." But if you're into Isaac Hayes of "Shaft" fame doing the voice of Chef, the school cafeteria cook and South Park's love machine, and love gross, potty-mouth humor of the hightest quality, then check your local listings for "South Park" on Comedy Central. EST it's on at 9:30pm weeknights except Thursdays; two shows Wednsedays; and I think 11pm on Sat and Sundays--but don't trust me.:D


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Red lights may flash on your Xbox 360 console, and you may see the following error code and message:
E94. System error. Contact Xbox Customer Support.
Status code: E94.
This may mean that the Xbox 360 console you're using has a hardware failure and may have to be repaired.
To resolve the problem, try the following solutions.
If your console is an Xbox 360 E:
If your console is an Xbox 360 S:
If your console is an original Xbox 360:
Lift the hard drive away from the console.
If you still experience the problem, try the next solution.
Remove any USB flash drives that are connected to your console.
If you still experience the problem, try the next solution.
If these solutions don't resolve the problem, go to the Online Service Center and click Start Request to request a repair.
Repair or warranty questions? See Xbox 360 warranty, registration and repair: Frequently asked questions.
Obrigado pelos teus comentários!
Fornecer comentários sobre este tópico
Queres contactar o Suporte sobre o problema "Error code E94 occurs when you use an Xbox 360 console" de que estavas a ler ou sobre outro problema?


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So I log on to DGUSA's website and the first thing I see is "New DVD now shipping!".
The DVD is Untouchable 2012... yea, this show took place July of LAST YEAR and it's just now on DVD. I don't know what happens behind the scenes or anything, but I'm pretty sure it shouldn't take 14 months to release a DVD. This makes me feel so much better about PWG DVD's.


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SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Notre Dame says a story about Manti Te'o's girlfriend dying, which he said inspired him to play better as he helped the Fighting Irish get to the BCS title game, turned out to be a hoax apparently perpetrated against the linebacker.
The university issued a news release Wednesday after Deadspin.com reported it could find no record of Lennay Kekua existing.
The university says that Notre Dame coaches were informed by Te'o and his parents on Dec. 26 that Te'o had been the victim of what appeared to be a hoax. Someone using a fictitious name "apparently ingratiated herself" with Te'o, the school said, then conspired with others to lead him to believe she had died of leukemia.
This is the full text of the Notre Dame statement:
On Dec. 26, Notre Dame coaches were informed by Manti Teo and his parents that Manti had been the victim of what appears to be a hoax in which someone using the fictitious name Lennay Kekua apparently ingratiated herself with Manti and then conspired with others to lead him to believe she had tragically died of leukemia. The University immediately initiated an investigation to assist Manti and his family in discovering the motive for and nature of this hoax. While the proper authorities will continue to investigate this troubling matter, this appears to be, at a minimum, a sad and very cruel deception to entertain its perpetrators.
The week before Notre Dame played Michigan State on Sept. 15, coach Brian Kelly told reporters that Te'o's grandmother and a friend had died. Te'o didn't miss the game. He said Kekua had told him not to miss a game if she died. Te'o turned in one of his best performances of the season in the 20-3 victory in East Lansing, and his playing through heartache became a prominent theme during the Irish's undefeated regular season.
Te'o went on the become a Heisman Trophy finalist, finishing second in the voting, and leading Notre Dame to its first appearance in the BCS championship.
Te'o and the Irish lost the title game to Alabama, 42-14 on Jan. 7. He has graduated and was set to begin preparing for the NFL combine and draft at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., this week.
Four days ago Te'o posted on his Twitter account: "Can't wait to start training with the guys! Workin to be the best! The grind continues! #Future"
Te'o's mother did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
Manti Te'o himself released a statement Tuesday afternoon to ESPN regarding this apparent deception.
"This is incredibly embarrassing to talk about, but over an extended period of time, I developed an emotional relationship with a woman I met online. We maintained what I thought to be an authentic relationship by communicating frequently online and on the phone, and I grew to care deeply about her.
"To realize that I was the victim of what was apparently someone's sick joke and constant lies was, and is, painful and humiliating.
"It further pains me that the grief I felt and the sympathies expressed to me at the time of my grandmother's death in September were in any way deepened by what I believed to be another significant loss in my life.
"I am enormously grateful for the support of my family, friends and Notre Dame fans throughout this year. To think that I shared with them my happiness about my relationship and details that I thought to be true about her just makes me sick. I hope that people can understand how trying and confusing this whole experience has been.
"In retrospect, I obviously should have been much more cautious. If anything good comes of this, I hope it is that others will be far more guarded when they engage with people online than I was.
"Fortunately, I have many wonderful things in my life, and I'm looking forward to putting this painful experience behind me as I focus on preparing for the NFL Draft."
Manti Te'o was, at one point, a BYU recruit. He eliminated BYU from his short list after visiting the BYU campus in 2009.
Te'o's visit was not absent of controversy. During Te'o's visit, several players on a recruiting trip were involved in an incident involving alcohol, which is against the BYU honor code. Both Manti Te'o and his father, Brian, adamantly denied involvement.
The news that Lennay Kekua is not and never was a real person was met with a heavy response on social media, particularly on Twitter. Here are a few of the thousands and thousands of tweets regarding Te'o's false relationship.
Tom Coyne of the Associated Press contributed to this report.
Landon Hemsley is sports content manager of DeseretNews.com. Email: firstname.lastname@example.com; Twitter: @EarlOfHemsley


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Audi has made the second big luxury small car reveal at the 2012 Geneva Motor Show with its all-new A3.
As a direct competitor the BMW 1-Series and new Mercedes A-Class, Audi has given the new A3 an 80kg reduction in curb weight and three new turbocharged engine choices including one diesel and two petrols.
The 2.0 litre diesel will produce 105kW/320Nm with a 0-100km/h time of 8.6 seconds while using 4.0 l/100km. The 132kW/250Nm 1.8 litre petrol engine reaches 100km/h in 7.2 seconds and uses 5.6 l/100km.
The new A3 will go on sale here in early 2013.


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The remembrance of the 150th anniversary of the first shots of the Civil War at Ft. Sumter, S.C., underway until April 17 will give rise to a host of reenactments throughout the nation until 2015, although you're unlikely to see one on a National Park Service battlefield. That's because policy usually prohibits battle reenactments on NPS land, so the redux will more than likely be on a nearby field.
Still, there are plenty of engagements to watch. Many battles have two names because the North named skirmishes after the nearest body of water (Bull Run), and the South named conflicts after the nearest town ( Manassas). Most sesquicentennial events will be scheduled for the weekend closest to the battle's anniversary date.
Here are five reenactments set for this year and next, chosen for their significance to the war.
Gettysburg, Pa.
July 1-3
Gettysburg was a crucial defeat in 1863 that forced Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee to retreat to Virginia after losing more than a third of his troops. Gettysburg will host special sesquicentennial events the next four years, with the largest turnout expected in 2013. This summer, 3,000 to 4,000 reenactors and 20,000 spectators are expected.
Recommended airport: Baltimore Washington International ( BWI), 61 miles from Gettysburg
Info: Gettysburg National Military Park, (717) 334-1124, Ext. 8023, http://www.nps.gov/gett
Gettysburg Foundation, http://www.gettysburgfoundation.org
Gettysburg Convention & Visitors Bureau-150, http://www.gettysburg.travel/150
Battle of First Manassas/Bull Run, Va.
July 21-24
Manassas/Bull Run in Virginia, the first major battle of the Civil War, on July 21, 1861. Northern civilians from Washington, D.C., brought picnic lunches to watch the battle, expecting the South to be quickly defeated. Instead, the Confederates prevailed.
Next year, the Battle of Second Manassas (Aug. 28-30, 1862), which the South also won, will be reenacted.
Recommended airport: Dulles International Airport (IAD), 18 miles from Manassas
Info: Manassas National Battlefield Park, (703) 361-1339, http://www.nps.gov/mana
Prince William County/Manassas Visitor's Bureau-150th Civil War Manassas/Bull Run, http://www.manassasbullrun.com
Battle of Cedar Creek/Belle Grove, Va.
Oct. 15 and 16
The Union prevailed at the Battle of Cedar Creek on Oct. 19, 1864. (This reenactment occurs on the actual battlefield because the Cedar Creek Battlefield Foundation, not the U.S. government, owns the land.) The 150th in 2014 is expected to be a big event.
In May, the foundation and the town of Strasburg are re-creating Stonewall Jackson's Great Train Raid (where Confederates stole a Union train) in 1861 on May 27-29.
Recommended airport: Washington Dulles, about 60 miles from Cedar Creek
Info: Cedar Creek and Belle Grove National Historical Park, http://www.nps.gov/cebe
Cedar Creek Battlefield Foundation, http://www.cedarcreekbattlefield.org
Strasburg's Great Train Raid, http://www.greattrainraid.com.
Battle of Shiloh, Tenn.
March 31 and April 1, 2012
Reenactments: April 6 and 7, 2012
Shiloh National Military Park includes the battlefields of Shiloh and Corinth (where a noted Civil War interpretive center is located). "Bloody Shiloh" was fought April 6 and 7, 1862. There were more than 23,700 casualties (13,047 Union, 10,699 Confederates); despite heavy losses, Gen. Ulysses S. Grant prevailed after receiving reinforcements.
Woody Harrell of the military park says that two groups are planning competing reenactments, but that the NPS doesn't take sides.
Tom Doss and the Armies of Tennessee staged the 140th and 145th anniversary reenactments; they plan to march 22 miles from Corinth, Miss., to Shiloh. Mark Way of the Blue-Gray Alliance says his group plans to display a replica of the Hunley submarine in honor of Confederate crewmember Lt. George Dixon, who was wounded at Shiloh (www.angelfire.com/ms2/grantshilohvicksburg/shiloh.html).
Harrell says the park service will begin its Shiloh commemoration at 5 a.m. April 6, 2012, when the battle actually started.
Closest airport: Memphis International Airport (MEM), about 89 miles from Corinth and 110 miles from Shiloh
Info: Shiloh National Military Park (which includes Corinth Battlefield) (731) 689-5696, http://www.nps.gov/shil
Corinth Civil War Interpretive Center, (662) 287-9273
Hardin County Tourism, (731) 925-8181, http://www.tourhardincounty.org
Corinth Area Convention & Visitors Bureau, (800) 748-9048, http://www.corinth.net
The Armies of Tennessee, http://www.armiesoftennessee.com
Cleburne's Division, http://www.cleburnes-division.com, and the Blue-Gray Alliance, http://www.shiloh150.org
Battle of Raymond, Miss.
Oct. 19-21, 2012
Grant defeated Confederate Gen. John Gregg in Raymond on May 12, 1863, during his Vicksburg campaign to control access to the Mississippi River.
Closest airport: Jackson-Evers International Airport (JAN), 21 miles from Raymond
Info: Friends of Raymond, (601) 201-1632, http://www.friendsofraymond.org
For NPS events, see http://www.nps.gov/civilwar/civwar150.html