text:
Read the original column in The Oregonian here.
Public higher education is under more pressure than ever to perform. State funding has declined sharply in recent years, triggering tuition increases and increasing demands from students and families for a quantifiable return on their investment.
As dean of the School of Business Administration at Portland State University, I understand the ROI perspective. I also see an increasing number of international students from Asia, the Middle East and other places flocking to U.S. universities at greater expense and seeking the same return on investment.
At PSU, for instance, we educate more than 470 Saudi Arabian students, who pay about three times more tuition than Oregon students. The Saudi government is paying for 40,000 students to attend U.S. universities with the goal that they will return with skills to help diversify their economy, which is now roughly 80 percent dependent on oil. China, Korea, Japan, India and other nations also know that the best investment in economic development is a college education for their young people.
That's true here as well. Research shows that lifetime earnings for a U.S. college graduate are 2.3 times higher on average than for those without a degree. Yet in Oregon, we have been steadily disinvesting in higher education. Five years ago, the state allocated $847 million to the Oregon University System, or 7.7 percent of the 2007-09 general fund. That amount has been cut to $669 million during the current biennium, only 4.9 percent of the general fund.
While state support has dwindled, the costs to educate students have remained about the same when adjusted for inflation, but those costs have shifted dramatically from the state to the student. As The Oregonian pointed out in a recent series, many students graduate with debt at a time when the economy is not creating enough well-paying jobs. In the long run, those graduates will get jobs, repay their debt and move up the economic ladder. But the state shoulders some of the responsibility for their debt burden. We do too. At PSU, access to higher education is crucial to our urban mission, and making college affordable means making our best effort to hold down tuition increases. So we and other universities are looking at other funding sources to make up the difference in lost state funding, such as private philanthropy and aggressively recruiting out-of-state and international students, who pay higher tuition.
The benefits include a more diverse campus that helps make the world smaller for the next generation of leaders. But there is also some perverse logic at work here -- we pursue our urban mission of providing access to Oregonians in part by attracting more international students who are not likely to stay and contribute to the Oregon economy.
We and other universities are developing efficiencies and cost-cutting measures, but the state cuts have been too deep, and our growth demands have increased each year. Enrollment at Oregon's seven public universities, for instance, has soared by nearly 20,000 students in the past five years, surpassing 100,000 students.
Other strategies being developed by PSU and other universities include designing high-quality interactive courses and programs for online delivery, program design maps, extensive advising and creating guarantees to students to ensure they can graduate in four years, which saves them significant money and time.
The Legislature convenes next month and will take up K-12 and higher education funding during a period when Oregon's economy is slowly recovering. The governor has recommended moderate budget increases in education, including boosting the Oregon Opportunity Grants that help low-income Oregonians pay for college. Restoring some of the cuts to universities is a critical step toward ensuring a better return on investment for Oregon's economic future.
Scott Dawson is dean of the School of Business Administration at Portland State University.


text:
It had been one of the most embarrassing things that had ever
happened to me. Now, standing on the fringe of a group of my
brother's pretentious friends and hearing my sister-in-law
repeat the story for their amusement, it was even more so.
Cheryl loved to do those little things that put me down in
front of others. It was as if she had to point out for them
that she had made the right choice in dumping me and taking
up with my brother. He's the big shot entrepreneur. I'm just
the klutz … the fuck up. She, of course, is the one who
almost picked the wrong brother, but didn't. The next thing
she'd be telling their friends that my cock is shorter too, I
Five minutes later, when I'd returned from getting myself a
beer, her little circle of groupies laughed out loud and
looked my way just as I heard her say, ..'it's true. I swear.
What can I say? Their mother called the wrong one Dick.' A
real stand-up comic.
I was getting tired of being the brunt of her sarcasm. We'd
had words about it before but she got really nasty. She as
much as told me if I didn't like it I could take a hike. That
my brother had just given me a job because he felt sorry for
me, and that that could end real fast if she gave him the
The sting of being embarrassed still lingered in my gut when
I saw Cheryl a few days later. I was twenty miles from home
in a neighboring town picking up a tendering package from
their municipal offices. There she was scooting along the
main street like she was going to a fire. I knew I didn't
want to face her so I just hung back to see where she was
going. I followed her into an out-of the-way bar and watched
from a distance while she slipped into a booth next to a guy
I'd never seen before. It sure as hell wasn't my brother!
They were obviously more than just friends. His tongue was
half way down her throat on the first kiss and his hand ran
up her leg and squeezed her ass cheeks like he'd been there
before. Cheryl nestled back in his arms rubbing herself
against him like a horny cat.
They ordered a drink but didn't even stay to finish it.
Fifteen minutes later they were tucked in at a local motel
making noises that I could hear right through the door.
It was almost four o'clock when she returned to her car. She
didn't see me at first and it startled her when my old
Mustang slid into the spot beside her deep blue Mercedes.
'What are you doing here?' she snapped. 'Aren't you supposed
to be working?'
'Just picking up the tapes from your motel room,' I smiled,
indicating the generic brown envelope on the seat beside me.
It was the tendering documents, but she didn't know that. Her
face had gone blank and she leaned back against the car like
the world was about to end. Several times she opened her
mouth to speak but no words came out. There was anguish in
her eyes as they searched my face for some escape, some shred
of hope that would release her from her predicament.
'I wasn't…' she began and then stopped.
'Yes you were Cheryl,' I smiled confidently and patted the
package beside me.
'And it's all on tape.'
Tears formed in the corners of her eyes and her face
contorted in wretchedness.
'I was just … breaking it off…' she bleated, her voice
trailing as she realized the pointlessness of her excuse.
A long silence ensued while she pressed her forehead to her
clenched fist and wept. They were real tears and it was true
remorse that she felt. She turned her pleading eyes on me
looking for some sympathy, but I just arched my eyebrows,
smiled and patted the brown paper envelope. I really wanted
to tell her my compassion was as short as my dick but I
didn't want humor to diminish her suffering.
Arrangements were made for her to follow me on the short trip
back. She wanted to talk, negotiate right there in the
parking lot, but I didn't. Desperate and frustrated at having
no indication of what I was going to do, she begged me not to
tell my brother. In her desolation she blurted out 'I'll do
anything. To which I replied, 'Yes you will.' To further
underscore her situation, I made her take off her panties
beside the car and give them to me.
The next day I didn't phone her at all. Several times she
tried to call through to me but I wouldn't answer. When I got
home from work she was parked outside my apartment, waiting.
She looked as if she hadn't slept and the puffiness around
her was definitely from crying.
Her first approach was the old Cheryl. Confidant, arrogant,
and demanding, she told me that she'd brought two thousand
dollars cash and that I was to turn over the tape to her and
never speak of it again. She strode into my apartment like
she owned it, and me, and laid it on the line. 'Give me the
tape, keep your mouth shut and you won't have a problem. If
you ever again raise the subject again, no one will believe
you and your brother will side with me.' She stood there
then, hands on her hips, looking down her nose at me like I
was some vile child who had offended her.
'Take off your clothes,' I replied matter-of-factly.
'There's no way in hell,' she blustered, but her self-
assurance didn't ring true. She looked uncomfortable for a
moment, her eyes darting here and there to avoid contact with
mine. Finally, she sighed deeply, looking down at her hands
and playing with her fingers.
'Look, …er, if two thousand isn't enough, I'll get more…
It, ah, …just takes time.'
'Take off your clothes,' I repeated.
'All right!' she snapped. 'But you'll only fuck me once and
then the deal is over. You'll give me the tape,' she declared
emphatically. Angrily, her hands began to unfasten her
'Do it slowly,' I instructed putting a CD into the machine.
'I want you to strip for me like an expensive whore.
Not at all happy with the scene, she nonetheless began a
slow, self-conscious dance. Her blouse went first and her
hands trembled as they contended with the small buttons. I
couldn't believe that she actually blushed when she faced me
in her brassiere. Still moving too quickly, she reached
behind to unfasten her skirt and I stopped her. 'Take your
time. Show off your tits a bit. Shake them for me and let me
see you feel them up. Then lift your skirt and give me a
little preview of what's under there. Remember, you're not
just a piece of meat. You're a piece of cunt.'
A few minutes later her bra and skirt had joined her blouse
on the floor. She wore no stockings and her tanned legs
looked great sticking out of the openings in her white
panties. Her tits swayed tantalizingly as she moved to the
music and the nipples stood out like acorns. There were no
more pauses where I had to tell her what to do next. She
rolled her panties down to the fringe of her pubic hair and
rocked her hips provocatively like any slut would do. The
black pelt of tangled curls that I had loved so much peaked
above the elastic waistband capturing my eyes and mesmerizing
my dick.
From the look on her face, Cheryl thought she was back in
control now. Her hand disappeared into her pants and she
humped against it, smiling knowingly at the bulge in the
front of my trousers. Not eighteen inches >from my face she
slipped her panties down onto her thighs and writhed her
naked pussy at me. The scent that I'd all but forgotten
filled the air and I grinned to myself to know that she was
wet. Using both hands she smoothed back the hair and framed
her cunt lips. She edged forward with her undulating hips
lifted toward my face. 'Is this what little Dickie wants?'
she hissed smugly. I reached out to her flaunted treasure and
gripped a large patch of her pubic hair between my thumb and
forefinger. She winced as I twisted and tugged hard on it
forcing her up onto her toes. 'You're not in any position to
give me attitude,' I reminded her. A word from me and my
brother won't want you around anymore. One look at the tapes
and he'll throw you out on your ass.'
The smugness had gone out of her when I relinquished my grip.
My hands pressing down on her shoulders signaled her to her
Tentatively her fingers ran up my thigh until they circled my
cock. Her hand unfastened my belt and tugged my hardon into
view. She'd sucked it before, when we were going together,
but she'd never let me come. I slid my own pants down and
stepped out of them. With her head against my thigh, I rubbed
my prick all over her face taking extra time around her nose
and lips. She didn't balk when I told her to lick my balls
and I watched with amusement as her pointed, pink tongue
bathed each testicle.
Cheryl choked as I pushed to the back of her throat. It
seemed ironic to me to think that she'd ridiculed me for
having a small cock and now she was choking on it. With every
stroke I wanted to hear her gag. As I got close I wound my
fingers tightly into her hair. I hoped she still disliked
come in her mouth because I was about to fill her up.
The first spurt hit the back of her throat and she panicked.
My grip on her hair held her head in place while the next jet
all but filled her mouth forcing her to swallow. The knob of
my cock was just inside her lips and my come flooded over her
tongue once again. It was all I could do to stand the
intensity. I pushed back in deep and held on tight until my
orgasm subsided. I could feel her throat contract each time
she swallowed. As I relaxed she started to move away until I
told her to stay and clean it all up. Her head dutifully
bobbed over my softening cock as she licked and sucked the
remnants of my spend. For several minutes I watched the top
of her head moving against me and felt the softness of her
tongue on my sated prick. Then she sat back on her heels and
looked forlornly at my face.
'You aren't going to give me the tapes are you?' she asked.
'Not until I'm ready,' I confessed.
'When will that be?'
'When you're no longer of any sexual interest to me.'
'Will you at least keep my secret?' she implored.
'From my brother? Yes. From my friends? No.'
The idea clearly distressed her. For a moment she sat
twisting her hands in
her lap.
'You wouldn't let them…' she began and then stopped.
'Of course,' I snickered. That's what friends are for…
Every camgirl and couple you see across our site are available to play with HERE at RutTV. You do not even have to register to take part in the hot sweaty action, and it won't cost a cent. Go see who is LIVE right now!! You are going to have the time of your life!

subset: commoncrawl


text: HBO HD is the first high-definition (HD), commercial-free regional English movie channel in Asia. With HBO HD, subscribers can enjoy the complete cinematic experience of Hollywood blockbusters and award-winning HBO Original Productions in better clarity, with sharper pictures in wide-screen format and Dolby® Digital 5.1 surround sound from the comfort of their homes 24 hours a day. HBO HD mirrors the programming on HBO.


text:
Custom filters are defined in shared libraries that are loaded and called by the server. The general steps for creating a custom filter are as follows:
Write the source code using the NSAPI functions.
Compile and link the source code to create a shared library ( .so, .sl, or .dll) file.
Load and initialize the filter by editing the magnus.conf file.
Instruct the server to insert the filter by editing the obj.conf file to insert your custom filter(s) at the appropriate time.
Restart the server.
Test the filter by accessing your server from a browser with a URL that triggers your filter.
These steps are described in greater detail in the following sections.
Write your custom filter methods using NSAPI functions. For a summary of the NSAPI functions specific to filter development, seeOverview of NSAPI Functions for Filter Development and Filter Methods for the filter method prototypes.
The filter must be created by a call to filter_create. Typically, each plug-in defines an nsapi_module_init function that is used to call filter_create and perform any other initialization tasks. For more information, see nsapi_module_init() Function and filter_create() Function.
Filter methods are invoked whenever the server or an SAF calls certain NSAPI functions such as net_write or filter_insert. As a result, filter methods can be invoked from any thread and should only block using NSAPI functions. For example, crit_enter and net_read. If a filter method blocks using other functions, for example, the Windows WaitForMultipleObjects and ReadFile functions, the server could hang. Also, shared objects that define filters should be loaded with the NativeThread="no" flag, as described in Loading and Initializing the Filter.
If a filter method must block using a non-NSAPI function, KernelThreads 1 should be set in magnus.conf. For more information about KernelThreads, see the description in the chapter Syntax and Use of magnus.conf in the Sun Java System Web Server 7.0 Update 3 Administrator's Configuration File Reference.
Keep the following in mind when writing your filter:
Write thread-safe code.
IO should only be performed using the NSAPI functions documented in File I/O.
Thread synchronization should only be performed using NSAPI functions documented in Threads.
Blocking might affect performance.
Carefully check and handle all errors.
For examples of custom filters, see Chapter 4, Examples of Custom SAFs and Filters.
Filters are compiled and linked in the same way as SAFs. For more information, see Compiling and Linking.
For each shared library (plug-in) containing custom filters to be loaded into the server, add an Init directive that invokes the load-modules SAF to magnus.conf. The syntax for a directive that loads a filter plug-in is:
Init fn=load-modules shlib=path NativeThread="no"
shlib is the local file system path to the shared library (plug-in).
NativeThread indicates whether the plug-in requires native threads. Filters should be written to run on any type of thread, as described in Writing the Source Code.
When the server encounters such a directive, it calls the plug-in's nsapi_module_init function to initialize the filter.
Add an Input or Output directive to obj.conf to instruct the server to insert your filter into the filter stack. The format of the directive is as follows:
Directive fn=insert-filter filter="filter-name" [name1="value1"]...[nameN="valueN"]
Directive is Input or Output.
filter-name is the name of the filter, as passed to filter_create, to insert.
nameN="valueN" are the names and values of parameters that are passed to the filter's insert filter method.
Filters that process incoming data should be inserted using an Input directive. Filters that process outgoing data should be inserted using an Output directive.
To ensure that your filter is inserted whenever a client sends a request, add the Input or Output directive to the default object. For example, the following portion of obj.conf instructs the server to insert a filter named example-replace and pass it two parameters, from and to:
<Object name="default"> Output fn=insert-filter filter="example-replace" from="Old String" to="New String" ... </Object>
For the server to load your plug-in, you must restart the server. A restart is required for all plug-ins that implement SAFs and/or filters.
Test your filter by accessing your server from a web browser. You should disable caching in your web browser so that the server is sure to be accessed. In Mozilla Firefox, you may hold the shift key while clicking the Reload button to ensure that the cache is not used. Examine the access and error logs to help with debugging.


text:
Primidone/Hydantoins Interactions
This information is generalized and not intended as specific medical advice. Consult your healthcare professional before taking or discontinuing any drug or commencing any course of treatment.
Medical warning:
Moderate. These medicines may cause some risk when taken together. Contact your healthcare professional (e.g. doctor or pharmacist) for more information.
How the interaction occurs:
The cause of the interaction is not known. When these two medicines are taken together, your body may not process primidone properly.
What might happen:
Primidone is converted by your body to phenobarbital. Your blood levels of phenobarbital may increase and cause toxic effects.
What you should do about this interaction:
Contact your doctor as soon as possible if you experience confusion, difficulty sleeping, difficulty breathing, very slow breathing, fainting, or rash. Contact your healthcare professionals (e.g. doctor or pharmacist) if you experience continued or bothersome dizziness, drowsiness, lightheadedness, clumsiness, or excessive daytime drowsiness.Your healthcare professionals may already be aware of this drug interaction and may be monitoring you for it. If your doctor prescribes these medicines together, it may be necessary to check the phenobarbital levels in your blood more often. Do not start, stop, or change the dosage of any medicine before checking with them first.
- 1.Gallagher BB, Baumel IP, Mattson RH, Woodbury SG. Primidone, diphenylhydantoin and phenobarbital. Aspects of acute and chronic toxicity. Neurology 1973 Feb;23(2):145-9.
- 2.Wilson JT, Wilkinson GR. Chronic and severe phenobarbital intoxication in a child treated with primidone and diphenylhydantoin. J Pediatr 1973 Sep; 83(3):484-9.
- 3.Fincham RW, Schottelius DD, Sahs AL. The influence of diphenylhydantoin on primidone metabolism. Arch Neurol 1974 Mar;30(3):259-62.
- 4.Schmidt D. The effect of phenytoin and ethosuximide on primidone metabolism in patients with epilepsy. J Neurol 1975 Jun 9;209(2):115-23.
- 5.Reynolds EH, Fenton G, Fenwick P, Johnson AL, Laundy M. Interaction of phenytoin and primidone. Br Med J 1975 Jun 14;2(5971):594-5.
- 6.Callaghan N, Feely M, Duggan F, O'Callaghan M, Seldrup J. The effect of anticonvulsant drugs which induce liver microsomal enzymes on derived and ingested phenobarbitone levels. Acta Neurol Scand 1977 Jul;56(1):1-6.
- 7.Garrettson LK, Gomez M. Phenytoin-primidone interaction. Br J Clin Pharmacol 1977;4:693-5.
- 8.Lambie DG, Johnson RH. The effects of phenytoin on phenobarbitone and primidone metabolism. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 1981 Feb;44(2):148-51.
- 9.Porro MG, Kupferberg HJ, Porter RJ, Theodore WH, Newmark ME. Phenytoin: an inhibitor and inducer of primidone metabolism in an epileptic patient. Br J Clin Pharmacol 1982 Aug;14(2):294-7.
Selected from data included with permission and copyrighted by First Databank, Inc. This copyrighted material has been downloaded from a licensed data provider and is not for distribution, except as may be authorized by the applicable terms of use.
CONDITIONS OF USE: The information in this database is intended to supplement, not substitute for, the expertise and judgment of healthcare professionals. The information is not intended to cover all possible uses, directions, precautions, drug interactions or adverse effects, nor should it be construed to indicate that use of a particular drug is safe, appropriate or effective for you or anyone else. A healthcare professional should be consulted before taking any drug, changing any diet or commencing or discontinuing any course of treatment.


text:
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Spring parties & Fall fun. We have year around events for our valued customers.
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Let us help you create a beautiful environment for your family! We offer design and consultation services for only $85/hr!


text:
Lil Wayne's Mountain Dew Endorsement Severed by PepsiCo
Lil Wayne's own words have hurt him today. PepsiCo, the parent company of Mountain Dew, has severed ties with the popular rapper after he made a vulgar reference to civil rights icon Emmett Till in a remix to Future's song, 'Karate Chop.'
The Associated Press reports that PepsiCo released a statement Friday explaining that the Young Money leader's "offensive reference to a revered civil rights icon does not reflect the values of our brand."
His lyrics, "Beat that p---- up like Emmett Till," angered the Till estate, who set out to get the song banned. Epic Records, the label home of Future, pulled the track featuring Wayne's verse from radio. Earlier this week, Emmett Till's family refused to accept an open letter of apology the 'I Am Not a Human Being II' rhymer wrote, in which he acknowledged their hurt regarding his lyrics.
"It has come to my attention that lyrics from my contribution to a fellow artist's song has deeply offended your family. As a father myself, I cannot imagine the pain that your family has had to endure. I would like to take a moment to acknowledge your hurt, as well as the letter you sent to me via your attorneys.
Moving forward, I will not use or reference Emmett Till or the Till family in my music, especially in an inappropriate manner," were just some of the words written.
In 1955, Emmett Till, a black teen, was visiting family in Mississippi when he was killed for allegedly whistling at a white woman.
Last year, Wayne teamed with the company's Mountain Dew soda for the DEWeezy ad campaign. Mountain Dew and the 30-year-old emcee also broke ground on the DEWeezy skate park in New Orleans' Lower 9th Ward Village in 2012. The park serves as a recreational destination for the community to skate.
Watch Lil Wayne's 'Rich as F---' Feat. 2 Chainz


text:
Primary tabs
Art lecture and reception, David Hamlow and Liz Miller
Thursday, October 3, 2013 - 7:00pm to 8:00pm
"Tempest Fugit - small works by David Hamlow and Liz Miller" will be shown in the gallery of the Ylvisaker Fine Arts Center October 3 - 31. A lecture will be given at 7 p.m. on Thursday, October 3, followed by a reception. The lecture and reception are free and open to the public.
Public gallery hours for the Ylvisaker Fine Arts Center are Sunday through Thursday from 1-9 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 1-8 p.m.


text:
74. DAZED AND CONFUSED (1993, Richard Linklater)
73. PHENOMENA (1985, Dario Argento)
There's not too much to say that I haven't said already, so I'll say it again:
"Jennifer Connelly plays a girl named Jennifer who can telepathically communicate with insects in this Dario Argento masterpiece. The atmosphere is exquisite- dreamlike, comforting, dangerous. Something about his use of the Swiss Alps, the rustling pine trees, the ominous mountain winds, and the over-the-top gore... it's a throwback to the original R-rated storybooks: brutal folklore like the Brothers Grimm. I love this movie. I love the fact that there is one line of narration in the entire film, spoken about twenty minutes in. I love that in that one line of narration, they mispronounce the name 'Richard Wagner.' I love that there is a chimp with a straight razor (in homage to Poe's "The Murders in the Rue Morgue"). Between this and SUSPIRIA, it is clear that Dario Argento loves maggots, retching, girls' boarding schools, brutal murders, and the volatile combination of all four. I love that he loves that. I love that there's not only ladybug POV, sleepwalking POV, murderer POV, and Great Sarcophagus POV, but there's also MAGGOT POV. I love that the supernatural is represented by fan-blown hair. I love that the ending somehow manages to be as abrupt AND more ridiculous than the screamfest at the end of TENEBRE. I love the inappropriate use of heavy metal, the baroque visuals, the viscerality, the Bee Gees & Richard Gere references, the charming and sympathetic Donald Pleasence (in spite of Argento dialogue), the evocative soundtrack, the bitchy teachers straight out of SUSPIRIA...in fact, there's nothin' NOT to love here. The only way it could be more ridiculously perfect would be if she made out with the chimp." Amen, Dario. Amen.
72. FLESH + BLOOD (1985, Paul Verhoeven)
Another sort of rehash here:
"I'll begin with two quotes by Paul Verhoeven which seem apropos to this film: "People love seeing violence and horrible things. The human being is bad and he can't stand more than five minutes of happiness. Put him in a dark theater and ask him to look at two hours of happiness and he'd walk out or fall asleep." and "Remember that Christianity is a religion grounded in one of the most violent acts of murder, the crucifixion. Otherwise, religion wouldn't have had any kind of impact."
A lot of people like to pin down Paul Verhoeven as 'the guy who did SHOWGIRLS,' and while he cannot erase the fact that he is indeed guilty of being the guy who did SHOWGIRLS, he's one of the most audacious filmmakers to emerge from post-WWII Europe. FLESH + BLOOD is Machiavellian power games, feculent whores, stillborn children, nun snipers, yellowed teeth, and dogs lapping up pools of diseased gore. This movie is absolutely BRUTAL. Every single character looks out for number one, and here, 'looking out for number one' means ripping an earring (and a chunk of flesh) from a woman as she's being raped or using 'God's word' when it's to your liking (Verhoeven has called organized religion a symptom of societal schizophrenia). Any time there's a moment for levity or genuine romance, it's immediately undercut by something like the rotting genitals or random carrion. It's not exactly a historically accurate depiction of medieval warfare and the Black Death, and it doesn't quite take place in the 14th Century... sixty years ago it took place on the battlefields of Europe. Verhoeven was just a kid then, but he was there. As we speak, it's being waged by talking heads on TV, by hypocrites behind closed doors, and by vicious opportunists from here to the far corners of the world. Where an exploitation flick would insert a rape scene so the viewer could feel 'morally superior' as they enjoyed some T&A, Verhoeven stages sexual assault as a grotesque vortex of ever-shifting power dynamics between man, woman, and the collective. The performances are outstanding: Susan Tyrrell was born to do the Dark Ages- she enters the scene as a bawdy, pregnant, perpetually wasted whore whose life is a series of the highest, barbaric highs and the lowest, 'WHY ME?' lows; Brion James is pure animal, ruthless but bewildered; Ronald Lacey is the sinister Cardinal- malicious, but sincere (not that it matters when he's got his sword in your guts); Jack Thompson is the beleaguered hunter, embodying an almost Peckinpah-style morality (think Robert Ryan in THE WILD BUNCH); and Tom Burlinson is the man of science, but his singlemindedness gives way to a sanctimonious depravity. Rutger Hauer simmers and scowls- a calculating, towheaded, serpentine fiend, rapist, and murderer who might be the closest thing we've got to a 'hero.' Jennifer Jason Leigh- in possibly her finest performance- is a privileged, maid-beating blueblood who attends the condottiere's 'school of hard knocks' and emerges as perhaps the most complex and guileful of the bunch." It's nihilistic entertainment at its best, and my favorite Vehoeven (today, anyway).
71. MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON (1939, Frank Capra)
Coming up next... silent film, Gary Busey, and what some have called "the most-hated film in the Criterion Collection besides ARMAGEDDON!"
Previously on the countdown:
Runners-up Part 1
Runners-up Part 2


text:
words // Luis Sanchez
With 2013 marking the 25th anniversary of the iconic Air Jordan III, the Jordan Brand will be going all out with the return of the classic silhouette in original form with Nike Air branding.
Said to be releasing February 2013 in celebration of MJ's 50th birthday and the historic '88 Slam Dunk Contest, the Air Jordan 3 '88 is nearly identical to the OG AJ III with the White/Cement Grey color combo and Nike Air branding we've all been hoping to see for quite sometime now.
Could this be a sign of the Jordan Brand's future 25th anniversary celebration plans for the Air Jordan IV, V and VI in the coming years?
images via tee_leo


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MyGame.co.uk can find a huge collection of free games. Through various categories is easy to find what you need. So you can search for example between adventure games or racing games. There is also a different category specifically for girls. Here you will find example games where you learn to make the most delicious dishes. How about Sara's Cooking Class or making a delicious pizza? The main meal is not forgotten, you have a delicious lasagna on the table in no time. Fun to play. Of course you can also find cool action games website on this game where you go on a secret mission or go shoot with your sniper. You can entertain you so long time with this large amount of online games. Think about playing multiplayer for example. Here you can play a game with your opponent. For example Farmerama or Pictionary. In the latter game, the aim is to drawn platelets to guess as quickly as possible. If you like the picture you guessed first you can draw yourself a picture, this game is a bit like Draw Something. Obviously to play these games yourself, but can you beat the computer?
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Take your Bible, would you please, and turn with me to the 5th Chapter of Ephesians. If you didn't bring one along there's one near you in the back of the pew and you can follow along, Ephesians 5. It's brought home to me more and more all the time that many people never finish what they begin. There are unfinished symphonies, there are unfinished paintings, there are sculptures that have never had the finishing touch because in each case the master died, there are relationships that never become all that they could be, there are ministries that never really come to fruition, there are dreams that always remain dreams, hopes that always remain hopes never become realities, and I guess, for a lot of people life can be an unfinished symphony. It can be a dream without a reality. It can be an ideal without a truth, but I don't think it has to be that way. I think there's one great reality that we need to focus on in the text that we want you to look at this morning.
Look at the 15th verse of Ephesians 5 and I'll read through verse 17. "See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Wherefore, be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is." And we'll stop there. Now you'll notice that there's a major statement made in three simple words in the middle of this text. It is redeeming the time.
If we are ever to turn our dreams into reality, if we are ever to turn our hopes into fact, if we are ever to finish our symphonies and paint our paintings and sculpt our sculpture it's going to be when we have redeemed time. I believe that God has bounded our lives with eternity and I believe that God has prescribed before we were ever born the time that we were to live, and only as we maximize that time can we maintain its potential for its fulfillment.
You'll notice that it says in verse 16, "Redeeming the time." It is interesting to me how many times the Holy Spirit, when he talks about this concept of time uses a definite article. The time, as if it is not some indefinite a time, or some time, or any time, or times, but the time. God has almost prescribed times in very accurate and sovereignty determined doses. So God has given us definite time. In I Peter 1:17, there is a very important statement. "If you call on the Father without respect of persons judges according every man's work," listen to the next line, "Pass the time of your sojourning in fear," the time of your sojourning. In other words, Peter is saying you have a definite set time bounded by God's sovereign choice. In Job 14:14 it says, "All the days of my appointed time will I wait until my change comes." Job had a sense of an appointed time for living. In Acts 20:24, Paul says, "Neither count I my life dear unto myself." In other words I'm not out for self-preservation. I have one thing in mind and that is to finish my course. It's most interesting in the Greek, the original language. It says, "I am to finish tan dramon emu, the course of me. In other word, it is the course that God has prescribed and so we find that God has given us a time boundary and within that time he has defined a course. And Paul says, "I want to finish the course and the ministry given to me," a specific time, a specific course, with a specific ministry.
In Hebrews 12:1 it says, "Let us lay aside every weight and run the race that is set before us." And the Greek says, "the set before us race." In other words it's a race set before us. It is a beginning and an ending that we can see. There is a boundary to it. At the end of his life the apostle Paul said in II Timothy 4:7 that he desired to fulfill God's will and he could say he had. He said, "I have kept the faith, I have finished my course." Only the word there is THE course, THE course. It's a bounded course. It's a bounded time. People, I really believe God has given us the time of our lives in sovereignty. He knows the beginning and He knows the end. More, He has determined both.
David had this tremendous sense of time and the urgency that time places on us when he cried out to God in Psalm 89:46-47 with these words, "How long Lord, how long will Thou hide Thyself? Wilt Thou hide Thyself forever?" Then he said, "Remember how short my time is." In other words, in the midst of his distress, and in the midst of his anxiety, and in the midst of his pain he had felt diverted from what he ought to be doing. He had felt distracted from what he should be doing and he said, "God, how long do I have to be off center? I only have so much time."
The apostle Paul said in I Corinthians 7:29, this short phrase, "The time is short." David said in Psalm 39:4-5, "Lord make me to know mine end and the measure of my days, what it is, that I may know how frail I am." Lord, please tell me how much time I have so I'll know how weak I am and I can really use the time I have. And then he further said in the next verse, "Behold, thou has made my days as a hand breadth and my age is as nothing before Thee." James put it this way in Chapter 4 he said, "Don't say tomorrow we'll do this and tomorrow we'll do this and tomorrow we'll do this, for you know not what tomorrow brings for your life is a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away."
Reading the story about Kiefa Sampangy, he and his wife for years ran for their lives just under the providence of God that they weren't killed. Finally after this miraculous escape they found their way to Philadelphia to some people who were willing to care for them and his wife said to him one day, "Tomorrow I'm going to go buy some clothes for the children." And immediately they both burst into tears and they said it was the first time they had said the word tomorrow in four years. Tomorrow! And James said, "Tomorrow you don't know if you have tomorrow." Time! You see the whole aspect of life is built around time in Paul's thinking here. Wisdom in verse 15 leads you to think of time in verse 16. Why? Because I believe the greatest squandering of wisdom occurs in the use of time or the lack of it.
Now remember what we're talking about in Ephesians 5, will you? We're talking about the worthy walk, aren't we? We learned what it is to be a Christian in the first three chapters. And now in the last three chapters of Ephesians we learn how to live as a Christian. How do you walk? Walk means lifestyle, manner of living. First of all we learned in Chapter 4 we walk in humility.
Secondly we learned we walk in unity. Thirdly we learned we walk uniquely, different than the rest of the world. Fourthly we learned we walk in love, Chapter 5. Then we learned to walk in light, Chapter 5 and now we're learning to walk in what, wisdom. And what does it mean to walk in wisdom but to redeem time because that is the greatest squandering of potential. For Christ's sake, he says, for the sake of who you are, use your time wisely.
Now let's back up and see how we're supposed to look at these three verses. A wise walking Christian knows three realities, all right? First he has a sense of his life principles, secondly he has limited privileges, and third his Lord's purposes. Very simple but very profound.
First, a wise walking person knows his life principles. Walking in wisdom means you conform to a certain standard of living. Now remember this: wisdom is used here in the sense of the Jewish concept, not the Greek. To the Greeks wisdom was something you spun off of your brain. Wisdom was an intellectual exercise. Wisdom was nothing more than unrelated sophistry. But to a Hebrew wisdom was a living principle. That's what we're talking about. We're not talking about thinking; we're talking about living and walking in wisdom. It's simply living according to divine principle. That's what verse 15 says. Look at it.
"See then," in other words since you have been made alive in Christ, since you are awake from your sleep, since you have come into light from darkness, according to verse 14, since this amazing thing has happened in your life, see then that you walk circumspectly not as fools, but as wise." In other words there's a certain life principles commiserate with wise walking. See that you do that. You're not asofas, a fool; you are sofas, wise, so live it. So act like it. So walk in a manner in accord with your wisdom.
And, beloved, I would remind you of this: as we saw last week that when you become a Christian immediately you become wise and you become accountable for that wisdom. As you know that we saw last week that Christ is made unto us wisdom. Do you remember Colossians 2:3 said, "In Him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." And verse 10 said, "And you are complete in Him." Listen, if Christ is all wisdom and all knowledge and I am in Christ then that wisdom and knowledge is mine in Him, right? So from the moment of my salvation wisdom is a part of my life. And Paul is saying, "Since you have become the wise, walk in wisdom." That's his point.
Now do you note the word circumspectly in verse 15? Circumspectly is the old English word that's used here. Walk circumspectly. Now what it literally means is walk accurately, walk carefully, and walk with exactness. In other words, what Paul is saying is this: when you become a Christian you don't just flip flop and lollygag and stroll and mope your way through the Christian life doing whatever you want. When you become a believer there is an exactness on how you are to walk. There are life principles laid out on this narrow path. You enter by the narrow gate; you walk a narrow path and the word there means a compressed path. And if you're going to walk it you've got to walk it carefully.
John Bunyan captured the reality of that in Pilgrim's Progress. By the time you finish reading Pilgrim's Progress, and I've been reading it to my children now for about six months, by the time you finish reading Pilgrim's Progress, if you learned on thing, you learned you'd better stay on the way of the king. You'd better walk with exactness and you'd better walk with accuracy, and care. You can't just flip flop in the Christian life. A wise man walks looking at every step.
You know if you read the second chapter of Proverbs it's almost a commentary on this verse. If the Old Testament had been written after the New Testament we'd say that Proverbs 2 is a commentary on Ephesians 5:15. All the way through Proverbs Chapter 2 he talks about walking the wise path, walking the wise way, not going the way of the wicked, not straying in the path of the evil people, but walking in the wise way, walking according to knowledge and understanding and precepts of God.
And so we are to walk in wisdom. That's very simple. And remember wisdom is a synonym for living by divine life principles. Wisdom is a synonym for living by divine life principles. And you know we live in a fool's paradise in our world so it's not easy to walk in wisdom. The world is telling us all the time do this, do this, trying to suck us off the way of the king, trying to pull us off the compressed and narrow path.
And you know the amazing thing about the world is the world thinks it's wise. The world thinks it has the wisdom and the world looks at us and says, "You're the fools." But it's just the reverse. Now believe it, we were all fools before we knew Christ. When we came to Christ we became wise. We're not the brightest people in the world, and we're not the noblest people in the world, and we're not the mightiest people in the world, but we are the wisest people in the world because God has given us His wisdom in Christ. And on the other hand the world is foolish. You know in Romans Chapter 1 it describes the world in these terms. "Because that which may be known of God is in them." They have the knowledge of God innately in them, "But when they knew God they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful but became vain in their imagination and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise they became, what, fools."
You say, "What do you mean John?" I told you that last week. The greatest fool in the world is the fool who says there is no God. And that doesn't necessarily mean an atheist. That simply means somebody who doesn't think God has any claim on his life. That simply means somebody who doesn't think he has to live by God's standards. That's the biggest fool of all. And we come along and preach Jesus Christ in I Corinthians Chapter 1, we preach Christ and what does it say? "The preaching of the cross is to them that perish, what, foolishness." They think they're wise and we're the fools. They think they have the truth and our truth is foolishness. But the fact of the matter is we are the wise and they are the fools. And so Paul is saying here, "Since you are the wise, walk in wisdom." What kind of reality would it be to have wisdom and walk as a fool? It makes no sense. You know the principles you walk them.
Now we covered all that last week. That was just review. Now let's look at the second point. Not only are we to be aware of the life principles, but the limited privileges. You say, "You mean as a Christian my privileges are limited?" Yes. Your privileges are limited in this time. It says in 16, "Redeeming the time because the days are evil." There are limitations on our privileges, people. If we don't walk wisely now we don't have any other time. All we have is now, that's it. If I lose this moment it'll never be back again.
Redeeming the time, he's talking about opportunity here, by the way, because the word he uses is not kronis. Kronis is a Greek word that means time like a clock, time like a calendar, time like a sequence of minutes and hours. Kronis is the word from which we get chronology, the flow of events in history or chronograph, something that keeps time. But the word here is kairos and it means eras or epics or opportunities. We are to redeem the opportunities, the moments that can be grasped for God and for good and for glory for Him. The Greeks has a statue and the name of the statue of opportunity. In one of the ancient Greek cities the statue stood in the very center of the city. It was carved and chiseled by a man named Lysipus. It had wings on its feet and it had a great lock of hair in the front and it was bald in the back, from the middle back completely bald. And underneath the statue was a great base and carved in Greek on the base was this dialogue: "Who made thee? Lysipus made me. What is thy name? My name is Opportunity. Why hast thou wings on thy feet? That I may fly away swiftly. Why hast thou a forelock? That men may seize me when I come. Why art thou bald in back? When I am gone by none can lay hold of me." Opportunity. The believer who walks in wisdom knows to make the most of opportunity.
Now listen to me. I want to show you something interesting and I've already hinted at it. Do you notice how Paul says, "Walk wisely," in verse 15 and immediately talks about redeeming opportunity in verse 16? Why does he connect those two? Because I am convinced that man plays the fool with time and opportunity more than he plays the fool in any other thing. That is the greatest category of foolishness, the misuse of time and opportunity. I feel this is talking to Christians here. Remember what the Psalmist said in Psalm 90:12? He said, "So teach us to number our days," why, "That we may apply our hearts to wisdom." It is wisdom that numbers the days. It is wisdom that accounts the limited time. It is wisdom that buys the opportunity. Wisdom walking down that narrow path sees an opportunity for evil and shuns it because that's the fool's act. Wisdom sees an opportunity for good and grasps it because that's the opportunity for God.
And even more important is it as he says at the end of verse 16, "Because the days are evil." These are evil days and if we're going to make anything out of an evil day we're going to have to buy the opportunity. It's kind of like this, folks, what he's really saying could be seen in two or three ways, but first of all look at it from this angle. You know the days we live in, in general, are full of evil. And what he's really saying is the opportunities for righteousness are few. The opportunities for goodness are few. In the midst of an evil world, when they do come grab them.
When God is giving you an opportunity for glorifying Him and in return bringing blessing on you doing something for His namesake, grab that in the midst of an evil day. Can you imagine what a heartbreak it is for God to create a world like our world and fill it up with every good thing and when it's all made and done He says, "It's all good." And then to see the thing corrupted and debauched and made vile as it is today, as it has been since the fall of man, as it continues to increase in its corruption.
Can you imagine how it must be for God to see the days of the world that He made so filled with evil and then to see a Christian whose given a golden jewel of opportunity after opportunity and after opportunity who by passes it with never so much as a notice? The days are evil. This is an evil day. And God gives us those times and those opportunities to make things happen that matter, to fill up at least a moment of a day, and hour of a day with something good, something righteous, something for Him.
And so there's a general sense in which I see this. I see God and I see His heart broken over the evil of the world He has made for His own glory, and I say to myself, "If God gives me one little opportunity in the midst of an evil day to do something good and something to honor Him and something to glorify Him I'm going to grab that opportunity, see? The days are evil enough and it seems as though goodness is so few and far between that we need to take every opportunity. It's bad enough that my life is bombarded and inundated with evil influences that when one good one comes along I want to grab that.
But there's another way to look at it. It may be a more direct statement to the Christians who are reading this, who are living in an evil time. It may be a reference to the Ephesians who were living in an evil day. Their society was a debauched society. If you go back in Chapter 4, you find, for example in verse 14, that there were people going around teaching false doctrine. There were those who using the sleight of men and cunning craftiness were trying to deceive God's people. Satan had his false teachers. Satan had his harbingers of evil. Satan had the ones coming around masquerading as religionists that were propagating their lies that would damn them. Further there was evil all about. It tells us in verse 19 in Chapter 4, that the people of that time were characterized by lasciviousness, which is a perverted sexual desire, that there was uncleanness and there was greediness. This is the play on xexia; this is the fulfillment of sexual desire to the point that it's to the point that it's beyond any kind of rational thinking.
Further, he says it's a day of lying, verse 25, it's a day of anger, it's a day in verse 27, when the devil has a place, it's a day of stealing, it's a day of corrupt communication. Chapter 5:3, talks about sex sin, uncleanness, covetousness, filthiness, foolish talking, jesting, and so forth. I mean it was a day of evil. And he may be making that major thrust and saying, look redeem the time because the days are evil. He may have been alluding to the very hour in which those people were living. Persecution and distress was on the horizon. You know it was only a hundred years or so from this time that Christians were burned at the stake and Christians were thrown to the lions. It was coming and it was coming fast and whatever they were going to do they were going to do then.
I'll tell you another thing, it was a few years after this, just a few years before the end of that first century that dear beloved John, the apostle, wrote to the Ephesian church and said, "You have lost your first love." And you know something, if something doesn't change the candlestick is going to be removed, the light's going to go out and there'll never be a church in Ephesus. And you know what happened? They didn't change, the candle was removed, there never was another church in that city. Their time was shorter than they thought because of the evil of those days. And when the church at Ephesus fell onto the spell of the evil they went out of existence. And today if you were to go to Ephesus you know what you'd see? You'd see nothing contemporary in existence there. It's gone.
The time was short, the days were evil; they fell prey to the time they lived in. You know they realized persecution was coming. They must have. They knew what Jesus had said about the fact that they would be persecuted for His sake. I think a sense of urgency is necessary, people. I can't say for America what's going to happen to Christians, but I've asked God that if it's going to take something persecution oriented to bring us to the place where we get a grip on what we ought to be, then let it happen.
As I was reading about Kiefa Sampangy and his church I just couldn't help but think of what they went through. You know he started out as the church began to grow and it was a nice group of people and they filled this area where they would meet every Sunday and he would preach and they would have a wonderful time and then all of a sudden when Amin came to power and they thought everything was going to be great, the church seemed to me didn't grow very much. And then all of a sudden something strange began to happen. People began to disappear and people began to die and Kiefa went one day to call upon a family that was very dear friend, and he walked to the front door and standing inside the front door was a little boy twelve years of age with his hands sticking straight up in the air, frozen, transfixed in a state like that of traumatic shock in which he had already been for two days without moving. He went further into the living room and found the eyeballs and tongues of every member of the family lying on the floor. He went from room to room and found that every one of them was dismembered and killed. And the little boy had seen it all.
And all of a sudden there was a new sense of urgency. All of a sudden there was a sense that these are the evil days and how much time do we have? And the people began to meet for prayer and they met not just at prayer meeting, but they met and prayed all night long and so many people came for the all night prayer meetings they couldn't get them into the place they met and they would be sitting and lying on the ground outside all night long praying. And they would go from there to evangelize to win people to Christ because they didn't know how long it would be and it was a few short years and the church was gone. And Kiefa was gone. A sense of urgency, and now as he gets letters, even to this point, from people who were back in that place, he hears of those who are still being killed because of Christ.
The urgency, people, we don't know what's going to happen. We don't know what the evil day brings. Maybe the most evil day of all is the day in which everything is so easy that we lose our priorities. Maybe that's the most evil of all. The church would thrive better under Edie Amin than it does under affluence, in many cases.
It's been true all through history, you know, the blood of the martyrs becomes the seed of the church. I'm not asking for that. I'm just saying that we sometimes don't understand urgency. We don't see the evil day because we are sucked into the system and the line is not clearly drawn. Beloved, it's an evil day we live in and I'll tell you the time is short because we don't have long to live. I'm 39 years old. Nobody believes you when you say 39, but I'm 39 and I have a sense of urgency. I don't know how long God's going to give me, but I'll tell you one thing, I'm going to give Him all the time I've got. I have a sense of urgency. I don't know when Jesus is going to come. One of these days He's going to split the heavens with His coming and He's going to end it all and He's going to set up His kingdom and I want that day to come, but I know that there's a sense of urgency until He comes. And I know the world isn't getting better, it's getting worse. II Timothy 3:13, "Evil men grow worse and worse." Romans Chapter 1 says they invent new sins all throughout human history. The world is blacker; it's more expressive of its vices than it's ever been. We must redeem the time.
The word redeem is in the middle voice in the Greek. It means buy up for yourself and that's a beautiful thought. It isn't saying hoard your time for your benefit. It's saying buy up for yourself the time in this sense; when you redeem the time you benefit because God blesses you. You walk on the narrow way and you walk circumspectly and you walk accurately and you make the most of your time and the most of your opportunity and God will pour out blessing to you so that it's actually true that you're redeeming the time for yourself. Use it up in the way that can give God glory.
Every day, think of it on a daily basis, every day God gives you opportunity. Every day there's an opportunity to do a righteous thing and to shun a sin. Every day there's an opportunity, there's a golden jewel that God places in front of you that can be grabbed for His glory. Some people are always going to pray and they're going to get down to business to study the Bible and they're going to serve the Lord and they're going to tell their neighbor about Christ and they're going to read the Bible. They just never get to it. The greatest fool in the world is the fool who wastes time, who spends opportunity without a return.
You know in Galatians 6:10 it says, "As we have opportunity let us do good to all men, especially those of the household of faith." As we have opportunity we ought to grab it. What about your personal time? You've been telling the Lord for years that you're going to spend some time with Him. Do you do it? Or do you just let opportunity after opportunity go by and never redeem the time? What about time with your spouse? Do you take those precious times when you could contribute to him or to her what he needs or she needs? What about the children God's given you? Not many years and they're gone. What have you contributed? What have you done? What have you given? What does the time have to say? What about that ministry, those spiritual gifts, that thing you're always going to do for the Lord, but you can never really get to doing it because everything isn't just perfect the way you wanted it or because you've got other things to do?
We are lulled to sleep by our fat society. Now let me give you a little philosophical to think about. Opportunity is in respect to time what time is in respect to eternity. Say it again. Opportunity is in respect to time what time is in respect to eternity. And what I mean by that is this: the only piece of eternity you'll ever hold in your hand is the opportunity of this moment, that's it. You can't live in the past; you can't live in the future. It's now and that's the end of it. We hold an opportunity in our hands. That is the only piece of eternity we'll ever hold. That piece of opportunity is to time what time is to eternity. I can hold eternity in my hand when I maximize this moment. Shakespeare said, "There is a tide in the affairs of men, which taken at its ebb leads on to fortune. Omitted all the voyage of their life is drown in the shallows and miseries of life." Napoleon said, "There is in the midst of every great battle a ten to fifteen minute time people that is the crucial point. Take that period and you win the battle; loose it and you will be defeated."
There are many biblical texts, which stand as beacons to warn people of limited privileges and application to divine principles. You read in the Bible such a statement as, "The door was shut." Too late! When Noah and his family were in the Ark God shut the door. It was too late. Opportunity was gone. When the virgins came with an unprepared lamp, the door was shut, too late. The marriage would go on without them. The words of the Lord Jesus Christ ring down through history, "The night comes when no man can work." I hear the Lord say to the people of His day, "You shall die in your sins and where I go you cannot come." I hear the Lord say to the churches of the New Testament, "I will remove the candlestick." I hear God call to Israel year after year, time after time, century after century, until that nation finally turned its back on God and God called out to them through the prophet Moses and through those all the way down to Isaiah and beyond Isaiah and yet they were a stiff-necked and hard people who wouldn't hear and wouldn't listen. And God's heart was broken and Jesus finally uttered it when He said, "How oft I would have gathered thee as a hen gathereth her brood, but you would not." Lost opportunity!
I think of Judas, the greatest case of lost opportunity in the history of the world. Judas who spent three years with the Son of God, three years with the righteous one, three years with the God of glory, three years with the King of Eternity, three years with the judge of all the earth, three years with the only Savior and walked away from it and hanged himself and was dashed to pieces on the rocks below. What a waste of opportunity.
The Old Testament I Kings Chapter 20 tells the story of a servant who by a king was given a commission. He said to him, "Here's a prisoner. Watch that prisoner. If you lose him you'll pay with your life. The king went about his business in the midst of the war and this man was to care for that important prisoner. The king came back and the man said, "While thy servant was busy here and there the man was gone." Here and there, what is that? I mean if it was something significant it might be somewhat understandable, but to lose a man because you were busy here and there is stupid and he paid with his life.
When are you going to finally study the Bible? When are you going to finally teach? When are you going to finally pray? When are you going to finally share Christ? When are you going to finally minister your gift? When I was a little guy I played in the Glendale Little League and my buddy on the team was named Eddie. Eddie was a pitcher and I was a short shop. We were good friends. We went to elementary school together and we were both twelve. Eddie was a Presbyterian and I was a Baptist, but we were friends anyway. And Eddie was a good pitcher and a good friend. And Eddie used to say to me, "I'm going to be a pastor." And I'd say, "I'm going to be one too." And we talked about both growing up to be pastors. Eddie told me that when he got out of high school he was going to go to college and he was going to study so he could be a pastor. When he was in the twelfth grade in high school Eddie was driving a little Model A that he had, had a canvas top, going about 40 miles an hour, the wheels locked, catapulted him through the roof and he hit his head on the curb and he was dead.
Eddie never knew the limited time that he had, never knew, never conceived. And all through the years of my life I've looked back and I've thought there's two young men, both had the same desire, God took Eddie and left me. Eddie never had the opportunity, but I do. I wonder if I'm doing any more with it than he would have done. In a sense Eddie being dead yet speaks. I want to take everything that God's given me and use it for Him. I want to make it most of every moment see because it's only His grace that I'm even here, 'cause I got thrown out of a car too, remember? Only I lived and God called me to preach and teach and I just want to make sure that I grab every time and opportunity that He gives me and redeem it to His glory in the midst of an evil day.
Listen to what Paul said in the 13th Chapter of Romans. "Knowing the time that it is high time to awake out of sleep, for now is our deliverance nearer than when we believed." Folks, we're getting nearer to the coming of the Lord, aren't we? "The night is far spent. The day is at hand. Let us, therefore, cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us walk honestly as in the day, not in wild parties, drunkenness, immorality, shamelessness, strife, and envy." In other words, people, do you realize we only have a limited time and we've got to live according to God's life principles with our limited privilege of time?
I would call a man a fool who threw away jewels. I would call a man a fool who threw away money. I would call a man a bigger fool who threw away an hour. There's a world to be won. There's a church to be built. There's a God to be glorified and there's no time for triteness and there's not time for meaningless activity.
Melangthen, the great reformer, kept a daily record of every wasted moment, then took it to God in a prayer of confession at the end of the day. No wonder God used him to touch the whole world. So the believer who walks in wisdom knows his life principles, his limited privileges, now finally and briefly, his Lord's purposes.
You know I don't want to get you so urgent that you panic, 'cause then you're useless. It would be like the man who jumped on his horse and rode off madly in all directions. That really doesn't make a lot of sense. There's no sense in saying, "Oh man it's urgent." I could panic. I could say, "I got to get it all done," and you can just go whoa all over everywhere all the time. But that's why the beauty of verse 17 just comes like rock to plant your feet on. "Wherefore, since you have to redeem the time, since you have to walk wisely, since the days are evil, don't be stupid."
Now a stupid person would just panic. A wise person will understand what the will of the Lord. In other words, it's one thing to have a sense of urgency, but you need to channel that in the channel of God's will for your life. You don't just run off half-cocked doing anything. It's critical that the use of these life principles within the limited privileges be prescribed by the Lord's purposes.
We don't need more activity. Lord help us, we don't need more activity. We don't need to proliferate more stuff, more meaningless stuff, more good stuff that isn't the best stuff. We need to be out there teaching the word of God, and winning people to Jesus Christ and a lot of the other stuff we can just chuck. People in a big mad hurry don't get anything done, but people with a resolute confidence that determines to follow God's will, will get a lot done. Don't be unwise. That's a fool. Don't be a fool. A fool functions apart from God's will. A fool just runs off. Find out what God's will is. You say, "Well John, how do I know what God's will is?" I'm going to tell you that.
And if you want in detail I have a little book called, Found God's Will, it will help you to understand it. Some of you have read it. Let me just remind you what God's people say. "Oh I can't find God's will, oh what is God's will for my …?" You know like God is sort of the universal Easter bunny who stashed His will somewhere and sits in heaven saying, "You're getting warmer." Or the old deal God's will is like God speaks to you out of heaven or you're running down the street and you fall, your nose lands on a map of Chile, you know that's God's will, you're called to be a missionary to Chile. There's a lot of things that are said about how you know God's will.
I'll tell you it's very simple. If God has a will for your life I believe He'll tell you and if He tells you I think He'll tell you in the most obvious place, right here. One time a few years ago I just started trying to figure out God's will and I said, "Why don't I look and see what He says," and this is what I found: God, our Savior, who will have all men to be saved. Number one he wants me to be saved. That's his will.
Secondly, right here, be not unwise but understanding what the will of the Lord is and what is it? Be not drunk with wine, which is in excess, but be filled with, what, the Spirit. Number one He wants you to be saved; number two He wants you to be Spirit filled. That's His will.
Number three, I Thessalonians 4:3, "This is the will of God concerning you, even your sanctification." Saved, Spirit filled, sanctified! Convenient, they all start with S. Peter says, "This is the will of God that you be submissive to the powers that be." Submissive, that's that you live the kind of a life as a citizen that is an honor and a respect to Jesus Christ. That you abide by those people in government and in leadership and that you honor the King and you give due recognition to those in authority. Live a submissive life.
Then fifth Peter says, "Suffer." You suffer according to the will of God. That's what it says in I Peter. What is the will of God for you? Are you ready for this? Number one, saved, Spirit filled, sanctified, submissive, suffering and I'll add one more. In everything say thanks for this is the will of God for you. Now if you're living a life that's saved, Spirit filled, sanctified, submissive, suffering and saving thanks you say oh. But that doesn't help me if I ought to go here to school, or marry this person, or that isn't it. I've got great news for you. Are you ready for this? If you're all those things you know what the next thing is? Whatever you want. Whatever you want. What do you mean whatever I want? The Bible says it. "Delight in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart." And by the way, if you're fulfilling those six things you're delighting the Lord and He'll just give you the desire in your heart. People say, "Well does that mean He'll fulfill your desire?" Yes, but before He fulfills it He'll put it there.
People say to me, "Why did you go to Grace Church?" I always say the same thing, "I wanted to." Oh? You wanted to? What about putting out a fleece, and laying out a fleece, and opening a door and closing a door, and the Lord and all this. No, I didn't have a fleece and I never bother with doors. I wanted to. You say, "Where did you get the desire?" I believed in my heart that if I was saved, Spirit filled, sanctified, submissive, suffering, and saying thanks God was putting the desire in my heart 'cause He was in control, you see.
And then when you know God's will you function in God's will with a sense of time and opportunity and obedience to His life principles, you'll find your life is going to make a difference. You know who the perfect illustration of this is? Jesus. Jesus always functioned according to divine life principles. In John 5 he says, "I do only the things the Father tells Me to do." He always functioned according to limited privilege. He constantly said, "My time has not come, My time is not come, or My time is come."
And thirdly, He always functioned according to the Lord's purposes because He said, "My meet is to do the will of My Father." He's the perfect illustration. Oh, oh what a sense of principle He had and He walked that righteous path and what a sense of timing He had. He knew His course and He grabbed every opportunity and yet you never see Him in a hurry. There was a determination and yet there was an availability to the most sensitive and sensible situations. And then there was a sense of being on a divine steppingstone, just moving from one step to the next on God's premises. He's our pattern. If you're going to walk wise this is how you do it. Let's pray together.
Father we would echo to you the promise of David when he vowed a vow and said, "I will sing of mercy and of justice unto Thee O Lord will I sing. I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way." Oh Father, that's our prayer. May it be our vow this day.
While your heads are bowed for just a moment, we'd like to give you an opportunity to respond to the Lord in some way in your own heart. In just the silence of this moment why don't you say, "Lord, help me to walk wisely. What am I doing with my opportunity? What am I doing with my opportunity to know Jesus Christ?" If you don't know Jesus Christ, right where you sit you can open your heart to God and say I want to know if this is true. I want to know Christ. If you're a Christian you can just ask God to help you with your opportunity, help you to walk wisely. Just talk to the Lord and ask Him to teach you to walk in wisdom.
Father thank you for our time this morning and so commit to our hearts all these things, good things from you. Strike out what is human and may what is divine be indelibly impressed upon us and we'll give you praise for being the all-wise God, who makes it possible for us to walk in wisdom. Amen.
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text:
One of the Most Disempowering Moments of My Life
Although I have worked in the field of HIV/AIDS with same-gender-loving people for over 15 years, the 2012 International AIDS Conference was the first time I had attended a conference of that magnitude. This was an important year for the conference, because President Obama had lifted the travel ban which restricted free movement of HIV-positive people into the U.S. Hence, this was the first time in 20 years that the conference was being held in this country.
I was struck, however, by the formality of it. The researchers' side of the conference cost almost $900 to attend. As you walked from one portion of the conference to the other, you were assaulted by conference inspectors/volunteers who scanned your conference badge constantly. However, for those who could not afford to attend the conference's major sessions, never fear! The event coordinators had also set up an HIV/AIDS non-research ghetto for those who were not lucky enough to be able to pay for the more academic conference proceedings. I presented in the ghetto portion of the conference, which I loved. The crowd was a mix of researchers and community organizations, some of whom I had actually worked with over the years.
My research focus is on Black men who have sex with men (MSM) and HIV/AIDS. Black MSM are among the most deeply affected communities in the U.S. when it comes to HIV. However, it seemed that the issues of Black people were secondary, even tertiary, during the majority of the conference.
As I ran from presentation to presentation, looking for answers to questions about my research topic and possible funding initiatives and opportunities, I realized that HIV/AIDS had become a product. Many presentations focused on Africa, especially sub-Saharan Africa, where billions and billions of dollars are currently being spent. The people giving these presentations had their business cards at the ready; as introductions were exchanged, I realized that the corporatization of HIV was well underway. I have an M.B.A. and a Ph.D., and I currently work as a university professor, but in all of my years of working in this field, I knew that this was different. I realized that the research being discussed in the halls of the 2012 International AIDS Conference would never reach the people "downstairs," because that is not what it was meant to do. This research was designed to build research careers for academics. The community of people who this research was ideally intended to assist was relegated to a basement in the convention center; a "global village" far, far, far away from the knowledge. (As if anyone besides another researcher could understand what the hell they were talking about anyway!)
I earned my Ph.D. so that I could become a researcher who made a difference in the communities I worked with. I worked with community organizations throughout my academic training because I didn't want to lose touch with those communities. I struggled, working nights and weekends for years, so that I could be a Black body at the table where decisions were being made about funding dollars, research and educational interventions for Black MSM.
All of that, only to realize at the International AIDS Conference that this was never going to occur as long as a handful of researchers and government agencies are able to fund their own professional and academic careers from the growing HIV/AIDS pandemic.
As long as the global HIV/AIDS community is left metaphorically and literally in the basement, far away from all of the people making the decisions about how policy and research will be directed, nothing will change.


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Salesforce.com has introduced Salesforce1, a product that it positions as a developer platform built to transform sales, service, and marketing apps.
Designed for use inside the new world of the social, mobile, and connected cloud, CEO and chairman Marc Benioff says that Salesforce1 is not a new version of Salesforce, it is a new vision for the industry.
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