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Let's look together at the Word of God, Matthew chapter 16 for our study this morning. Fascinating, important insightful passage of the Word that we're going to be examining.
We're looking at Matthew chapter 16 verses 21 through 23, just three verses and yet they are profound and soul-searching words. Beginning in verse 21, let me read the text for you.
From that time forth began Jesus to show unto His disciples how He must go unto Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and be raised again the third day. Then Peter took Him and began to rebuke Him saying, Be it far from Thee, Lord. This shall not be unto Thee. But He turned and said unto Peter, Get thee behind Me, Satan, thou art an offense unto Me for thou savorest not the things that are of God but those that are of men
Now that last statement becomes for us an important spiritual principle, "Thou savorest not the things that are of God but those that are of men." And in that word our sets the things of God over against the things of men. The things of men are one thing, the things of God are another. The glorious purposes and plans and acts of God are set against the blind erring sinful purposes of men.
The Bible emphasizes this all throughout its pages, how that men see things one way and God sees things totally another way. For example, in Proverbs 14:12 it says there is a way which seemeth right unto a man but the ends thereof are the ways of death. Psalm 77:19 says of God, "Thy footsteps are not known." In other words, men can't see where you're going. In Psalm 92 it says, "O Lord, how great are Thy works and Thy thoughts are deep, a stupid man knoweth not."
We don't know God's thoughts. We don't know God's ways in and of ourselves and we tend therefore to miss the point of what He's doing. And we can become an offense to God today as much as Peter was an offense to Jesus that day. For Peter thought in his own human wisdom that He needed to correct Jesus Christ. And we very often go to God as if to correct Him when we see things happening that we don't think fit the way things ought to be. But that's because we don't savor the things of God but we savor the things of men.
And one thing you want to learn in the spiritual maturing process is to learn to see that God does things ways that we really can't quite understand in human wisdom. I think about David who was refused in 2 Samuel 7 the privilege of building the temple because he was a man with bloody hands. And when God took away from him that purpose and that plan that he had in his heart and said, "That's not My plan" God gave him back something even more wonderful and said, "You'll have a son and that son will have an eternal throne," and He promised him the eternal Davidic kingdom on which Jesus Christ would sit to rule and reign forever. And David, who couldn't understand why God wouldn't do his plan finally understood how much greater God's plan was and in 2 Samuel 7, he says to God, "You don't do things the way men do, do You, God?" That's a profound lesson.
And perhaps the most powerful of all passages in regard to this comes from the lips of Isaiah as he speaks on the behalf of God and says these profound words in chapter 55 and verse 8, "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, saith the Lord, for as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts." Men don't think like God. That's why when we pray, Jesus said, pray this way, "Thy will be done...Thy kingdom come..." because we don't know God's purposes in our humanness. That's why we are told that the Holy Spirit makes utterance for us because we don't know what to pray for as we ought. God's ways are not man's ways. And we see illustrated here that Peter thought to correct the Lord of glory because He wasn't working according to Peter's plans and introduces to us a profound principle of learning to live our lives according to the plan of God rather than the plans of men.
Now may I remind you that Peter here is a believer and so this is a lesson for believers? Let me give you the background. The disciples now have affirmed that Jesus is their Messiah. Back in verse 13, Jesus confronted them in the remote place called Caesarea/Philippi to ask them the ultimate question, really: who am I? And they replied through Peter their spokesman in verse 16, "You're the Christ, the Son of the living God." That's the affirmation that He is the Messiah. They understand that. There is no other explanation for His words. There is no other explanation for His works. There is no other explanation for the fact that He said He was the Lord of the sabbath, the fulfillment of all sabbath ceremony. There's no other answer than that He indeed is the Messiah. And so that they have affirmed.
In response to that, Jesus says this is not something you got from your own human wisdom, verse 17 says, but this was revealed to you by God the Father. And following that, He says to them, in spite of the rejection, in spite of the hostility, in spite of the misunderstanding of the multitudes of people, in spite of the fact that I am not setting up My Kingdom instantaneously and overthrowing the Romans and taking the Herodians off their petty thrones, and in spite of the fact that I am not establishing immediately a glorious majestic Kingdom, I am continuing to build My assembly of redeemed people. And it's important that He tell them that.
So, now they know He is the Messiah. And they know He is continuing to build that which God has sent Him to build, the great and glorious church. And He says to them at the end of verse 18, "Even the gates of Hades shall not stop this." And you'll remember last time I told you that the gates of Hades is a Jewish colloquialism for death. At least five times in the Old Testament, twice in Job, twice in Psalms and once in Isaiah 38:10 you have the same statement, the gates of Hades, the gates of Sheol, the bars of death...and it all refers to death. And so the Lord says, "Look, I am the Messiah, I am building My Kingdom, and death will not stop it." And having said that, He then moves in verse 21 to tell them He will die. But they must know by now that His death is not permanent because He says the gates of Hades can't stop Him. And so He says in verse 21, "I will be killed and I will be raised again the third day."
So, He's moving them through the truth they need to understand. He's laying down a foundation. But now listen very carefully. They understood that He was the Messiah. They now understand that He's going to build His church. They have heard Him say the gates of death cannot stop that. But the one thing they still cannot handle is that the Messiah should suffer and die, that the Messiah, the King, the Anointed One should suffer humiliation, rejection, hostility and death is really not within the framework of their Messianic viewpoint. They're like all the rest of the Jews of whom Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1:18 that the cross is to the Jews a...what?...a stumbling block. And to the Gentiles foolishness that you should have a King and a Messiah who is murdered is not in their thoughts. And because their understanding is so incomplete, Jesus reminds them in verse 20 not to preach it until they get it straight. And that doesn't happen, to be honest with you, till after the resurrection.
So, He's moving them along with this information. Now granted, they don't understand all that He's teaching. In fact, it's kind of interesting to note that it says there that He began to show these things. And they're lesson after lesson after lesson, He's talking about it in chapter 17, He's talking about it in chapter 20, He's talking about it further on in Matthew's gospel, He talks to them about it in John 12, He talks to them about it many times and it isn't recorded. He's continuing to show these things to them about His death and resurrection which they never are able to grasp. As indicated, for example, in John 13 where when Jesus stoops to wash the dirty feet of the disciples, Peter says, "You will never wash my feet, get up." And what he is saying is, "I have no room for a humiliated Messiah, it can't be." And even when Jesus does go to the cross, they scatter. And even after the death of Christ as they walk the road to Emmaus, they are in utter confusion about what's happened. So the Lord is teaching them unfolding lessons which they never will fully understand until the Holy Spirit comes and when the Holy Spirit comes, Jesus said to them, He will bring all things to your...what?...remembrance. And all of a sudden when the Spirit of God came, the lights went on and all these lessons and all their meaning became real to them.
And so, here He begins to speak to them, to prepare them for the meaning of His death which will fully dawn under the ministry of the Spirit of God and then they'll proclaim with all their being and write it to give it as the legacy of God to the generations to follow.
Now as we look at the text, four truths unfold for us to show us how we must be careful not to substitute the things of men for the things of God. First, the plan of God. Jesus introduces the divine plan in verse 21. "From that time forth," it says and we can stop there for a moment because that's a key phrase. It looks on the surface to be a rather inconsequential statement but it isn't. "From that time forth" is a phrase apparently used by Matthew to mark a transition. Because it appears one other time in Matthew's gospel and that's in chapter 4 verse 17. And in 4:17 it says, "From that time Jesus began..." it's the same concept again, "to preach and say repent for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand."
Now in 4:17, Matthew uses the phrase to mark the beginning of His public ministry to Israel. And now He uses the same phrase to mark the beginning of His private teaching to the disciples. So we have moved into a new epoch in the life of Christ, a new era, His ministry primarily now is private. The first ministry, primarily public with some private instruction. The second part of it primarily private...or rather the first was primarily public with some private instruction, the second primarily private with some public instruction. And His purpose from here on is just as it says in verse 21, to begin to show or to declare or to tell to His disciples, to get them ready for the ministry they have ahead of them. And as I said, He wants to teach them truths they won't fully grasp until after the resurrection, after the coming of the Spirit of God.
And you'll note the word "began." Now what that does to this passage is remove it from being one particular event to just make it a discussion of a series of events. In other words, Jesus began the process of showing His disciples that He must die and be raised from the dead. So we assume then that Peter's reaction in verse 22 is not necessarily a reaction to the first lesson, but more likely than that, it is a calculated reasoned thought through response to something he kept hearing and thinking about and felt he needed to respond to. So it's not a single incident in verse 21, but a flow of information to which Peter finally reacts. And we don't know how many lessons the Lord gave up to this point on the subject, but He began to teach and it's an open-ended concept and so Peter is not offering some shocked response of horror the first time he opens his mouth or else I don't think Jesus would have rebuked him quite so dramatically and severely. I think Peter's been thinking about it, he may even be offering the consensus of the disciples again so that it comes to Jesus as a calculated Satanic temptation, premeditated, at least, on the Satanic level, planned and offered to divert Him from the divine plan.
Peter has yielded his thinking patterns to Satan and Satan has brought him to this place where he is offering the plan of men as a substitute for the plan of God. Which is the ultimate blasphemy.
Now would you notice the word "must" in verse 21? "From that time forth began Jesus to tell His disciples how He must..." Now that is the must of a divine imperative. That is the necessity. There is no plan B, folks. This is not whimsical. This is a...this is a must. And I would just suggest to you a thought, it is a must that is bigger than the moment in which we see it. It is a must that is older than the circumstances in which we hear it. It is a must that comes thundering out of eternity. It is not the must of human devotion to an ideal, it is the must of a divine imperative. It is an ageless must. It comes with the force of eternity. This is the plan of God set in motion before the foundation of the world.
Four things made it necessary. First, human sin. He had to die because men are sinners and they must have their sin paid for. Secondly, because of the divine requirement, without the shedding of blood there could be no remission. And so men needed a death and God required a death. And then you can add to that the divine decree, God by His determinant council and foreknowledge brought it to pass. And then you could even add the prophetic promise, the prophets had said the Messiah would die. It's Matthew who records His death so beautifully, as the other gospel writers, but it's the Psalmist who describes centuries before. And so all these things, human sin, the demand for a sacrifice, the divine decree, and the prophetic promise all come together to say He must...there is no other alternative. This is God's plan and men don't have the option to say, "God, I'd like to let you in on my plan, I want you to know my plan so you can adjust accordingly." That sounds to us ridiculous and yet we do it all the time, when we say to God, "Say, God, I don't understand what You're doing, I've got a better plan. I don't like the suffering I'm going through, I don't like the circumstances that exist," and we begin to talk God into what we think is a better approach. That's the same thing.
Now as we look at the divine plan, it has four stages. Follow them, will you, in verse 21. First, He must go to Jerusalem, that's a must. All roads leading from Jerusalem were open to Him. All that He had to do is take any one of them and just spend the rest of His life healing people, teaching them, but He would not have fulfilled the plan of God. The one road He had to take was the road to Jerusalem, it was a must. He had to go to the city of sacrifices. He had to be the Passover lamb. He had to die the death for sin. At the moment at which He said this, He was as far from Jerusalem as you could be and still be in Palestine, He was in Caesarea/Philippi, that little town in the northeast corner of Palestine where He had gone with retreat in mind for His disciples and He'd have had some time together unmolested by the hostilities of Galilee. But now He must begin to set His face to Jerusalem and move in that direction. And going from Galilee to Judea, going from the lakeside to the city of Jerusalem was going from the proverbial frying pan to the fire, in fact, Thomas in John 11 as they approached the city of Jerusalem to assist the family of Lazarus simply said, "We will go with You and die also." In other words, they knew what awaited them there.
It was the center of hostility. In fact, in Matthew 15 verse 1 we learn that even the Jewish leaders in Galilee who gave Him the most trouble were from Jerusalem. The religion of Jerusalem couldn't stand Jesus Christ. Its hypocritical self- righteous, self-centered definitions were overthrown and inundated by His truth and they hated Him for it. But the Jews would never have to chase Him to get Him. They'd never have to hunt Him like a fugitive. He would go and offer Himself for He it was who said in John 10:18, "No man takes My life from Me, I lay it down of Myself." He it was who said to Pilate, "If it weren't for God you couldn't do one thing to Me." He it was who said, "If I wanted I could call for legions of angels." But He gave Himself. He had to go to Jerusalem.
By the way, Jerusalem means "foundation of peace." And there's no city in the world that's known less than that city. But someday it will know it when the Prince of Peace reigns. Thirty-three miles east of the Mediterranean, 14 miles west of the sea known as the Dead Sea, elevated on a plateau 2500 feet above sea level with its highest point being the Mount of Olives, 2650 feet looking at it from the east, sparkling like a jewel in the sun, it became known as the "Golden City." First mentioned in Genesis 14:19 as the dwelling place of a priest of el elyon, the God most high, a servant of yahwehby the name of Melchizedek, a picture of Christ, and as Melchizedek was associated with that city, so would be his anti-type Jesus Christ. Appearing again in the twenty-second chapter of Genesis, that very location becomes the place where Abraham goes to sacrifice Isaac and finds a sacrificial animal who also is a picture of Jesus Christ who would be a sacrifice in that same vicinity of Mount Moriah. In 1003 B.C. it was in the hands of the Jebusites and David came and took that city and made it the capital of Israel. And it was the city of David in 2 Samuel 5:9. Three months later he brought the Ark of the Covenant there and it became the city of God for God dwelt in the Ark...symbolically. Solomon called it the standard of perfection in Song of Solomon 6:4 and he built the temple to the Most High God in that city. It is become the sacred center of worship for the Jews, alternately flourishing and being devastated but never losing its definition in their hearts and minds as the city of God. In fact, when they were taken into captivity, they cried out in Psalm 137:5, "If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its cunning." They loved the city, they do yet.
But the city of Jerusalem by the time Jesus got there was hostile to God. It wasn't the city of God. We can't even call it the city of God. We can't even call it Jerusalem, foundation of peace because when Jesus was born it tried to kill Him as an infant. And when He began His ministry, the first Passover He went to the city, He took a whip in John 2 it says, and He had to clean out the defilement in the temple there. And hatred of Him was born at that moment. The second Passover of His life, He went there violated their sabbath tradition and they tried to kill Him, says John 5. The third Passover of His ministry, He deliberately stayed away because of their hated. Later in the year, He went to attend the Feast of Tabernacles and the leaders in John 7 tried to arrest Him to execute Him. In John 8 He went to the temple to teach and they tried to stone Him to death. He taught on the porch of Solomon and had to escape for His life. And when He returns for that last Passover and raises Lazarus from the dead, it is at the expense of His own life and they kill Him.
Jerusalem was not the city of David. It was not the city of God. It was not the foundation of peace. Jerusalem has a new name today, it got that name in the time of Christ and that name is given for us in Revelation 11:8. Listen to what it says, "And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt where also our Lord was crucified." Jerusalem has a new name, folks, Sodom...a new name, Egypt, cursed, not the people of God, outside the covenant. That's its name. And in 70 A.D. God used the Romans to wipe it out. It will get its rightful name back, Zechariah 14 says, when it flourishes again when Jesus returns to set Him His glorious Kingdom and then again it will be Jerusalem the golden city of David, city of God, foundation of everlasting peace. Jesus said He must go to Jerusalem.
In Luke 13 and verse 33, He tells us this, "Nevertheless, I must walk today and tomorrow and the day following, I have to keep moving to Jerusalem for it cannot be that a prophet perishes out of Jerusalem...O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets and stonest them that are sent unto thee." He went there to die because that was the divine plan.
Second phase of God's plan was to suffer many things from the elders, chief priests and scribes. Now those three groups of people constituted the Sanhedrin which was the ruling tribunal in Israel. It was made up of the elders and they are the basically respected tribal heads that became leaders and judges all around the land. Then you have the chief priests who were primarily Sadducees and the scribes who were primarily Pharisees. And together they constituted the legal court, the tribunal of that land. And Jesus is saying I'm going there and I'm going to be tried there by the orthodox religious leaders of Israel, even though the trial is a mockery, from their viewpoint it is a formal trial and condemnation.
Ironic, isn't it? The holy city is not holy. And the leaders of it are not holy either.
There's another must in verse 21. He says He must be killed. The word here used is not a word of judicial execution. It's a word that means to be murdered. It means to be robbed of life, to be put away. We would say "to be snuffed." There's nothing of the executioner's thought here, nothing of a just punishment for crime. And Jesus says I'm going to be killed. And He breaks terrible news. It isn't as if He hasn't told them before, but never in such clear terms. Oh, He did say the first time He went there and cleansed the temple, He did say He'd destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up again. He did say that. I mean, He had in a veiled way articulated the fact that He would die and rise. They should have known about it. They should have understood the words of John the Baptist who said, "Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world," and draw on a conclusion there that lambs had to die to atone for sin. In guarded ways He had spoken of His death but they just couldn't see it. It just didn't compute according to their Messianic mission viewpoint.
But here He breaks the word very specifically. And for the first time, beyond all the other times when He sort of hinted at it, they really understood it. And you know something? They turned off their minds after the third element and they never heard the fourth one, verse 21, "And be raised again the third day." Oh, if they'd just listen to that one, there would be glory and there would be triumph. In that one Greek word, "shall be raised up," no details are given, no explanation of how. He had said to them earlier in 12:40 of Matthew as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the earth...He hinted at the things that might be a part of that but now He just says He will be raised again the third day. And He adds that lest they think like the sister of Lazarus, "Oh yes, we know he'll be raised at the last day." This was unique. He would be raised in three days.
He was not giving them some indefinite word, but they just couldn't handle it. As soon as they heard He was going to be killed, they just bailed out mentally. And they didn't understand the plan. I mean, they had seen Him raise the daughter of Jairus and they had seen Him raise the son of the widow of Nain, but if He was dead who would raise Him? And so they just cancelled that out and they were left with a dead Messiah.
And he couldn't, Peter couldn't, reason it, couldn't fathom it. And I guess it didn't mean much to him that he had just heard Jesus say the gates of Hades couldn't prevent the extension of the Kingdom, the building of the church. He doesn't seem to have fit that into the computing process. All he can think about, and apparently he is again speaking somewhat collectively or for the consensus of them, is that Jesus can't die, that can't happen.
So then we see the things of God, don't we, in verse 21. But let's look at verse 22 and see the things of men. Now when men come to the plan and they don't like the plan, they offer their plan instead. And here we see the presumption of Peter. We saw the plan of God, here's the presumption of Peter, and this is very presumptuous. "Then Peter took Him," and may I remind you that the Greek word here means to catch hold of. And it literally means that he put his arm around Him and forcefully dragged Him off. Now, you know, that's...two things hit me when I began to think about that. The first one is the brashness of Peter and the second one was the humanity of Jesus Christ. There must have been something so really totally consummately human about Jesus that Peter actually thought he could talk to Him as a man talks to his friend. And that's marvelous, isn't it? For those who would want to deny the utter humanness of Jesus, He must have been utterly human. Peter would never have thought to do so to God if God were being revealed in some supernatural inhuman way. And so they're walking along, he just puts his arm around the Lord, caught hold of Him, the Greek says, and hauled Him off to straighten Him out.
Now before you jump on Peter's neck with both feet, you've probably done the same thing and so have I when you've said, "Lord, I just want to tell You that the way things are going aren't according to my plan and I'd sure which You'd change it. I don't understand, God, why I have to go through these trials and this suffering and this problem and that problem and why did so-and-so die and why did I lose my job and, Lord, I don't know what plan You're operating on but it isn't mine and it doesn't seem to square with what I perceive to be the best way to do things." And we want to offer to God the plan as we perceive it, "Lord, now this is the way the plan should work. Ahem, point one, no pain, Lord. Two, no suffering, Lord. No trials, no difficulty, just unmitigated joy and glory." That's our plan, always our plan because as soon as the pain comes, that's what gets us to pray. When we're in the times of joy, we don't pray because that's the way we think it ought to be anyway and there's nothing to ask for.
Well, Peter hauls Him off and he began to rebuke Him. By the way, the word for rebuke is full of vehemence...I mean, he really spoke very strongly. He came on strong, to put it in vernacular. Now how did he get to the point to...? Well, I think it's the officiousness that comes with age. You know, he's older. It's the brashness that comes with personal confidence, and he had a lot of that in his personality. It's the strength of pride. It's the sense of privilege that he had because he had spent a long time with Jesus. And then to add to all of that, the Lord had just told him, "O blessed art thou, Peter, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto you but My Father was in heaven..." and he was beginning to feel like a spokesman for God. And all that stuff came together and he just presumed on all of that and he said, "Lord, I just want to get You in the right track and sort of...I just want to straighten out Your wrong Messianic mission view."
You see, Peter had the power, glory, pomp majesty Messianic view. Jesus had the suffering, pain, be killed and rise from the dead view. And that was God's view, by the way. But Peter hauls Him off. And look what he says to Him. "Be it far from Thee, Lord," that's idiomatic, that's a colloquialism, that's an idiomatic expression. It's kind of interesting, it means "pity thyself...have a little pity on Yourself, Lord....I mean, don't do that to Yourself...don't go die...I mean, it's obvious You don't need to go to Jerusalem, right?...You're here, everything's fine, there are roads leading every other place in the world, don't go there...pity Yourself, Lord." Or to put it in its real colloquialism, "God, be gracious to You, Lord...or heaven grant You something better than that...or heaven forbid." And notice in the middle he calls Him Lord but doesn't mean...doesn't mind commanding Him in the process, you see. He's Lord in name but not Lord in terms of His right to overrule Peter, at this point, at least in Peter's mind. So he says, "Heaven forbid, heaven grant You something better than that...don't do that...pity Yourself, Lord...give Yourself a break...take it easy on Yourself...don't do that."
And then he adds, "This shall not be unto Thee." We're just not going to have it...that's it. That's pretty bold stuff. That's a flat out rebuke. You see, he could not see a suffering Messiah. He couldn't see a humiliated Messiah. He couldn't see a crucified Messiah. It just didn't fit the plan and he would make a great modern-day liberal who wants a kingdom without a cross, you see.
So, the things of men are set against the things of God. The plan of God, the presumption of Peter leads, thirdly, to the protest of Christ, verse 23. I...I couldn't imagine anything more shocking to Peter than this response because Peter's intentions seem honorable on the surface...he's saying this out of love, he's saying it out of ignorance, he...he doesn't want the Lord to die...he doesn't want the Lord to have the pain...he doesn't want personally to have the pain that comes in the loss of the Lord, after all, the Lord had provided everything they had, everything...food, tax money, you name it, everything. And they didn't want to lose Him and they didn't want Him to suffer and all of that and it was sort of a...sort of loving and ignorant and the Lord hit him with this response in verse 23, "He turned and said to Peter," the idea of being that Peter had pulled Him off and apparently was talking to Him, you know, maybe with his arm around Him and the Lord just turned around and looked him in the eyeball and said, "Get thee behind Me, Satan, you are an offense to Me."
Now that's a fairly strong rebuke. Two of the terms in that phrase "Get thee behind Me, Satan," hupage, Satana, get, Satan, be gone, leave. Why does He say that? That's a stinging crushing devastating response? I mean...and it says that Peter began to rebuke Him but he didn't get finished, he got shot down in mid-flight and he landed with a devastating crash. And you ask yourself, "Does such a small sin deserve such a destructive blast of fury from the Lord?" Well, as soon as Peter said this to Him, the Lord immediately knew the source and He said hupage, Satana, get away, Satan. He had said that once before, you know. Basically the same terms. In chapter 4 verse 10 when Satan took Him up and tempted Him and all of that, and after the temptation was over, you remember what He said? "Be gone, Satan." And Luke tells us that Satan just waited for a more opportune time. And I believe that all the way through the life of Jesus Christ, Satan kept coming back trying to divert Him from the cross. You see, Satan in that Matthew 4 passage and Luke 4 passage, parallels, took Him in a mountain, he said, "Look, there it is, all You want, just go down and take it, it's Yours...feed Yourself, take care of Yourself, don't suffer, don't be the humiliated Messiah, don't be the suffering Messiah, turn the stones into bread and eat, take care of Yourself. And You want to be a hero to everybody, dive off the promontory of the temple and land safely and they'll all go...Oh, He must be the Messiah of God...and then I'll give You all the kingdoms of the world and You won't have to die and You won't have to suffer, You could be a hero, You can eat what You want and when You want, You don't have to depend on God...no humiliation, I'll give You the whole deal."
You say, "Was that a temptation?" The Bible says it was a temptation. Why was it a temptation? Because the Lord knew He was going to have to bear all the sins of all the people that ever lived on the face of the earth in His own body on the cross and that He would be separated from God the Father and the horror of that to one who knew no mark of sin in His life was to cause this to be a temptation. Don't you think for a minute that the Lord wasn't tempted, He was. He was tempted in all points like as we are, yet...what?...without sin. And as soon as that temptation came to Him, just that fast did He say, "Get thee behind Me, Satan." He knew who it was coming back. And would you mark somewhere in your mind that the same believer who can be used to speak the Word of God in one verse can be used in the next one to speak the word of Satan? The same believer who on the one hand extols the plan of God can on the other hand extol the plan of Satan. The same one who takes a side with God can turn around and take a side against God.
Jesus recognized the approach, He knew who it was. And Satan was using Peter. Now you can discuss and debate whether Peter was demon possessed, demon obsessed, devil oppressed, or whatever, but whatever it was, somehow Satan had allowed or prompted Peter to think his thoughts so that Peter was reasoning along Satan's lines. Whether Satan was actually in his mind, in his body dwelling or whether Satan had actually infiltrated his thinking is not the issue and the text doesn't tell us. But what we do know is that he was articulating the thing that Satan was continually articulating and it was a heavy weight, a heavy temptation, so much so that it came to Him in the garden He sweat, as it were, great drops of blood in the agony over that same thing. Satan knows the cross is the place that crushes his head. Satan knows the cross is the place that destroys the power of death which he held. Satan knows the cross is the place where men's sins are paid for and they are liberated from his dominion into the kingdom of light to dwell with God forever. Satan despised and hated the cross. But when Jesus was crucified, he tried to keep Him dead and he couldn't do that either because the gates of Hades can't hold Him. Satan always came to Jesus to get Him to avoid the cross, avoid the cross, avoid the cross, take the glory, take the power, take the earth without the cross. And here was the same old stuff again. And so He says, "Get thee behind Me, Satan."
Then He turns and says, "You're an offense to Me." And I think that's directed to Peter. Peter had become a trap. Peter had become a stumbling block. The word skandalonmeans to entice somebody to destroy them. Peter was baiting a trap. Peter, you're setting a trap for Me...a Satanic trap. He recognized it. It's an old story. Again and again the tempter launched this attack. And people still look at the cross and say, "Foolishness, stumbling block."
Well, you can imagine Peter's shock. He could hardly have understood that by his attempt to dissuade Jesus from the cross he was putting arrows in Satan's bow to shoot at the Savior. But he was. How profound an insight...oh, to think that in our times of desiring, desiring to honor the Lord, or desiring to express our love or whatever, we can actually be loading Satan's bow, taking Satan's side. How subtle.
So, we see the plan of God, presumption of Peter, protest of Christ, lastly, the principle for us. What does this say to us? Now listen very carefully. This is the point of all of this. The end of verse 23, here's the principle and He generalizes now out of the specific incident and He puts Peter's action in a category that all of us are in from time to time. "For you savor..." that means to think, the French word is savourwhich means to think or to reason, "For you are thinking along not the lines of God but the lines of men." You are reasoning from the standpoint of humanness, not deity. You're thinking the things of men, you're not thinking the things of God.
You see, from God's viewpoint Jesus had to die. From God's viewpoint Jesus had to suffer. From God's viewpoint Jesus had to go to Jerusalem to be that lamb. From God's viewpoint that had to happen, that was a divine must. But from man's viewpoint it was incomprehensible with their Messianic view. They just couldn't see that. And men still see the cross as folly...stumbling block because our thoughts are not His thoughts and our ways are not His ways. Peter was acting like a fleshly man, like Romans 8 where it says that the flesh is enmity against God, it's pitted against God. Peter was reasoning from the selfish look. He was self-centered and he was self- circumferenced. And all he could see was the process not the end. All he could want to do was eliminate the present pain, he couldn't give any thought to the ultimate value of that pain. You see, he didn't hear the echoes of the prophets and he didn't understand the product of the future so he muffed the present.
And we're like that. We forget that the Bible says that through trial you're perfected. And we forget that God is moving us to the image of Jesus Christ and all we can see is the present pain and we cry to God to get us out of it when it is that which perfects us. We don't think like God thinks. All we can see is present darkness, present pain, present suffering. God sees future glory. They wanted God to do things their way. They wanted the pomp and the majesty and the kingdom and the whole shot...right now.
What is the lesson for us? Two lessons, just two and I want you to remember...lesson number one, the Savior, the Messiah, the Son of God may not fit men's definitions but He is no less the fulfillment of God's plan. If you're looking for a Savior, if you're looking for a Jesus, a Christ, a religious leader, if you're looking for a deliverer, if you're looking for a Messiah other than Jesus Christ, one that better fits what you think He ought to be like, you've set yourself against the true Messiah. Peter was saying, no, that's not our kind of Messiah. And men are still saying that today. We can't be interested in Jesus, Jesus talked about judgment and Jesus talked about sin, and Jesus was rejected and Jesus was murdered and so forth and so on, that's not our kind of deliverer, that's not our kind of monarch, that's not our kind of king. But God's ways are not our ways. And God made His King the way He had to be. And because we don't see it doesn't change it.
His birth was common. Men wouldn't have had a common birth for such a King. But it was celebrated with hallelujahs by the heavenly host in the heavens above. His lodging was poor and men wouldn't have put Him in a stable but it was attended to by celestial visitants. It was marked by a conflux of stellar bodies. He had not the magnificent equipage of other kings but He was attended by multitudes of patients seeking and obtaining healing of soul and body. He made the dumb that attended Him sing His praises and the lame leap for joy and the deaf to hear His wonders and the blind to see His glory. He had no guard of soldiers, no magnificent retinue of military men, but centurions took orders from Him...and so have millions across the earth. He didn't control a vast empire of those who did all of His bidding, but the waves and the winds and the storms which no early power can control obeyed Him. And death and the grave durst not refuse to deliver up their prey when He demanded it. He didn't walk on velvet tapestry but when He walked on the sea the water held Him up. All parts of the creation except sinful men honored Him as their creator. He had no vast incomprehensible treasure of wealth but when He needed His money to pay His taxes, a fish yielded it up out of its mouth. He had no barns and He had no corn fields, but when He wanted to fill the hearts and the stomachs of a multitude, He created the food right out of His own hands. And no monarch in history ever entertained that way.
He didn't have the fantastic group of people sorrowing like other people have on occasions that demanded sorrow on His behalf, but the frame of nature itself solemnized the death of its author, heaven and earth were mourners, the sun was clad in black and if the inhabitants of the earth were unmoved, the earth itself trembled under the awful load. And there were few to pay the Jewish custom of rending their garments at His death, so the rocks took their place and rent their own bowels. He didn't have a grave of His own, but other men's graves open to Him. He came not as the subject of death, but as the conqueror and invader of its territory and He rose victorious.
No, He doesn't necessarily fit the human definition, but God's ways are not man's ways. And He was all that the world needed as a Savior. Peter needed to see that. And he did. For he preached how that Christ had to suffer. He preached that message again and again. Hear it in the book of Acts. Hear it in 1 Peter. Hear it in 2 Peter. It's there outwardly and behind the scenes.
There's a second lesson. And that considers itself with not Christ but us. And it is that we must learn that for us there is pain in the refining process. And He goes on to talk about that in verse 24, if you're going to follow Him you're going to take up a cross. If you're going to follow Him, you're going to lose your life in the process. And that's the road to glory, that there's no glory to be had without pain...there's no crown to be won without a thorn in the process. And God is refining us to make us gold and He's burning off the dross. And every time a trial comes, or a painful thing comes, we don't scream to God and say, "Hey, God, get Your plans in line with mine..." we say to God, "Help me to get mine in line with Yours." Our way is the glory way. Our way is the joy way. Our way is the blessing way. Our way is the painless way. His way is suffering...then glory, then joy, then blessing. Peter learned that, too. First Peter 5, he says, "After you've suffered a while, the Lord make you perfect." He learned it.
I close with this. Someone has written these provocative words. "Man judgeth man in ignorance. He seeth but in part. Our trust is in our maker, God who searcheth every heart. And every wrong and every woe when put beneath our feet, as stepping stones may help us on to His high mercy seat. Then teach us still to smile, O Lord, though sharp those stones may be, remembering that they bring us near to Thee, dear Lord, to Thee. God's ways are not our ways. His thoughts are not as ours. He wounds us sore with cruel thorns where we have stooped for flowers. But, O, tis from the oft pierced heart those precious drops distill, that many a life else all unblessed with healing balm shall fill. Then give, o give the flower to those who pray it so may be, but I would choose to have the thorns with Thee, dear Lord, with Thee."
Father, again we come we this morning thankful that You've taught us from Your Word and we would choose the thorns, dear Lord, that draw us close to Thee. We thank You for the trials, thank You for the struggles, thank You that we are poured from vessel to vessel till all the dregs be drained away and we are as sweet taste in Thy mouth. May we not think men's thoughts but God's thoughts about the Messiah and about our own life and its struggles...even as Jesus was not what men expected, may we know that to be like Him is not necessarily to be what we expect either. Make us to the image of Christ, whatever that takes. We pray for His glory...amen.
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When can we play?
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Replies to This Discussion
Hey, 3.0/3.5 here and up for hitting some rallies. Thanks!
Hey Ricky,
Sure this weekend would be good. Call me at ..... Thanks
Hi Ricky,
Are you still available for hitting?
I would be available on weekends as long as I can get to the courts by subway. You can reach me on (510) 773-0479.
hi, are you available on weekday mornings around 7am to hit at the USTA?
I can meet with you tomorrow morning at 7 to hit, let me know if you are available. We can play at St.Johns the courts there are very good.
Hi Mary
Are you still available to hit?
you free on weekdays morning or evening? i live 5 mins away from St. johns
Sorry for the late response. I'm on vacation this week. Call me 3477625858. Thank you.
Could play week days or mornings
I live near Alley Pond
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The fullness of summer is upon us and our gardens are in full bloom. Pockets of green with punches of color are sprinkled around our property creating mini oases that invite rest and relaxation. Some of our favorite blooms include the showy Lacecap hydrangeas, which love the soil in Maine, and the intensely yellow Asiatic lilies. We've created a pallet that mixes cool purples and blues with riotous reds, sunny yellows, and punchy fuschias. We invite guests to stretch out in these tranquil spots and experience the full beauty of late summer in Maine: warm, languid days punctuated with cool, star-filled nights.
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Table of contents | How to obtain this publication
The spectacular success of several well-known new ventures in technological fields, which in little more than a decade have jumped from the state of start-ups to that of top international businesses, has pointed to innovation as a key factor in the high growth of firms. These high-growth enterprises often drive job creation and innovation, so policy makers are increasingly making such companies a key focus. Specifically, how can government policy foster the creation of more high-growth enterprises; what are the growth factors, and how can they be leveraged; what are the appropriate ways to provide such support?
To help answer these questions, this report presents findings from two new research studies: (1) reports from 15 countries (Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland and Tunisia) that provide interesting insights into the operations of and challenges faced by high-growth enterprises; (2) a policy survey by the OECD Working Party on SMEs and Entrepreneurship, which reviewed more than 340 programmes that policy makers in 24 countries have put in place to support the growth of enterprises.
|Some of this report's findings may surprise: any firm can be a high growth company; growth is almost always a temporary phase; high-growth small firms are funded mostly by debt, not equity. These and many more insights are summarised and analysed, providing policy makers with ideas on how to power growth at the firm level.
Part I. Addressing the needs of high-growth enterprises
Chapter 1. What powers high-growth enterprises?
Chapter 2. Factors that drive high enterprise growth: Evidence from the country
Chapter 3. Government policies to support high-growth enterprises
Part II. Country studies on high-growth enterprises
Chapter 4. High-growth SMEs in Latin America's service sector: Six case studies
Chapter 5. High-growth firms in Switzerland: Analysis of 11 firms
Chapter 6. Process innovation: Driver of enterprise growth in the Czech Republic
Chapter 7. Strong customer/supplier relationships: A key to enterprise growth in Japan
Chapter 8. Finland: Intellectual asset management among high-growth SMEs
Chapter 9. Financing growth and innovation in France
Chapter 10. The financing of innovative firms in Canada
Chapter 11. Are innovation firms at a credit disadvantage? The evidence from Italy
How to obtain this publication
Readers can access the full version of High-Growth Enterprises: What governments can do to make a difference choosing from the following options:
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|man pages section 3: Curses Library Functions Oracle Solaris 11 Information Library
- clear all or part of a curses window
cc [ flag... ] file ... -lcurses [ library ... ] #include <curses.h> int erase(void);
int werase(WINDOW *win);
int clear(void);
int wclear(WINDOW *win);
int clrtobot(void);
int wclrtobot(WINDOW *win);
int clrtoeol(void);
int wclrtoeol(WINDOW *win);
The erase() and werase() routines copy blanks to every position in the window.
The clear() and wclear() routines are like erase() and werase(), but they also call clearok() , so that the screen is cleared completely on the next call to wrefresh() for that window and repainted from scratch.
The clrtobot() and wclrtobot() routines erase all lines below the cursor in the window. Also, the current line to the right of the cursor, inclusive, is erased.
The clrtoeol() and wclrtoeol() routines erase the current line to the right of the cursor, inclusive.
All routines return the integer OK, or a non-negative integer if immedok() is set. See curs_outopts(3CURSES).
See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attributes:
curs_outopts(3CURSES), curs_refresh(3CURSES), curses(3CURSES), attributes(5)
The header <curses.h> automatically includes the headers <stdio.h> and <unctrl.h>.
Note that erase(), werase(), clear(), wclear(), clrtobot(), and clrtoeol() may be macros.


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Shai LaBeouf launches odd art installation in Los Angeles
SHIA LABEOUF's odd behaviour continued on Tuesday (11Feb14) as he launched a bizarre art installation in Los Angeles.
Just days after the 27 year old wore a paper bag over his head with the words 'I am not famous anymore' scrawled across the front at the Berlin International Film Festival premiere of his new film Nymphomaniac, the actor was back in Hollywood for the opening of a public performance art piece, titled #IAmSorry.
Fans and the curious visiting the exhibition at 7354 Beverly Boulevard were treated to a press conference-type encounter with a person, believed to be LaBeouf himself, who sat in front of them with the bag he wore in Berlin on his head.
LaBeouf's questionable antics began late last year (13) after he hired a skywriter to scrawl an apology to writer/animator Daniel Clowes following claims his short film Howard Cantour plagiarised a graphic novel.
He then announced his retirement, hired a second skywriter to spell out a message to his critics in the skies about Hollywood and engaged in a war of words with Jim Carrey after the funnyman poked fun at LaBeouf at the Golden Globe Awards.
The actor was also involved in a pub brawl in London last month (Jan14) and he stunned reporters at the Berlin International Film Festival in Germany on Sunday (09Feb14) by walking out of a press conference after answering only one question.


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Good Healing Soup
For centuries the Chinese people have cooked and enjoyed nutritious soups with healing herbs. The people in the provinces of southern China drank these soups when I was a child, and they still do. I did not pay much attention to the soup then, but I have found them helpful to digestion as well as to [Read more...]


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Those of you who have followed my blog for a while already know that this year I have set myself some fitness goals that I am very determined to achieve. Of course a wedding dress is an unparalleled motivator, but I wanted to overhaul my body not for merely one day, but for the foreseeable future. Even though I have never been overweight I have found myself creeping upwards slowly over the last few years and sitting at my desk for 10 hours a day my fitness levels were truly despicable. After one speedy climb up the escalators at Piccadilly Circus left me feeling like my heart was going to fly out of my chest I knew the time had come to start investing in my health.
Having joined David Lloyd and tried all (yes all) of their classes and weekly sessions with one of their trainers I can definitely say that I have toned up and gained muscle, though not necessarily in the right places. My body fat has dropped by about 8% and I have lost 7kg, but have remained the same dress size. Being tall I can fluctuate a lot without really changing shape. I am undecided if this is a good thing (when I pile on the padding in the winter), or a bad thing (when I spend months burning it off and see little visible result). Even though clothes do feel better I have found inches have come off the areas where I didn't mind them so much (I'm sure you can guess!). Going to the gym 3/4 times a week and keeping to a healthy eating plan has become somewhat a routine, but even though I am still trying out lots of different types of exercise my weight/ fitness has stalled for the last few months.
I was therefore very excited when Glossybox informed me that I had won their recent Twitter competition for 3 personal training sessions at the exclusive eqvvs studios in Knightsbridge. Having been a regular gym bunny since February I am still very much at the beginning of my fitness journey and am looking to learn as much as I can about different exercises and what I can push my body to do.
Eqvvs is situated in a little cul de sac near Harrods that gives it privacy and ambiguity, so it is no wonder it is such a favourite among celebs. The studio is equipped with all the latest equipment and despite being fairly small there are never more than 2 trainers/ clients working at the same time so there is plenty of space to work up a sweat. They have a number of private changing rooms with your own shower and sink, complete with fresh towels and Aromatherapy Associates toiletries (yes I am still a beauty blogger at heart so I notice these things). The sessions themselves are an hour long and completely dedicated to helping you achieve your goals at a pace and intensity that challenges, but does not make you dread your next visit. The trainers are so friendly, patient and knowledgeable that they spend every moment encouraging you, while checking your form and making sure you are doing the exercises correctly to get the full benefits. While my fitness level has improved there are still some areas that I really struggle with (core!) and the trainers were great at modifying exercises so that I could complete them and still feel a sense of achievement. I'm sure you guys know the feeling of when you try something new and completely bomb, the last thing you want is to be told to forget it and move on, because that will never help you learn. At eqvvs the treatment is so bespoke that you never feel like you have failed at anything. Even though some of the exercises we tried (eg. hanging knee hugs on the TRX) were far too advanced for my little muscles I felt like I was really progressing even being able to do a few in a slightly different position. A modified stance or hand grip could make all the difference so it is always worth finding out from a pro!
Both of the trainers I worked with (George and Miad) really made the sessions fun, but I knew that I was getting a really good workout all the way through, and even if I wasn't sure my heart monitor reassured me I was 'in the zone'. They mixed up cardio with weights (machines, free weights and my own hefty body weight) to make sure each session gave a whole body workout and targeted major muscle groups to get those calories burning too. My favourite part of each hour was the last five minutes of stretching. I felt like it really helped both my recovery time and prevent soreness the next day as after they had stretched me out I was bouncing out of the studio full of energy. Sometimes you just need that little extra bit of help, especially when it came to realigning my back and shoulders!
Whether you are looking to shape up for a special occasion, have decided to overhaul your fitness or just fancy a change to your regular routine I would highly recommend looking into personal training at eqvvs. Their amazing service doesn't come cheap, but you definitely get what you pay for and I have no doubt that you will notice the difference. Eqvvs also have a number of special packages available, such as a pre-wedding package (eqvvsONE), or a total body overhaul (eqvvsthree60) that will transform you in 6 weeks, as well as a nutritionist, physio and partnerships with many amazing suppliers.
Even after 3 sessions I can feel a difference and have started incorporating some of the exercises I have learned to target new muscles into my routines. I will definitely be going back to eqvvs in the final stretch before my wedding to make sure all those wobbly bits are banished, but I also hope that I will be able to use what I have learned to maintain a healthier way of life in the future!


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The University of North Florida Police Department was recently awarded reaccreditation after passing a lengthy and extremely stringent review process by the Commission for Florida Law Enforcement Accreditation.Receiving reaccreditation is no easy feat. It involves meeting more than 260 separate law-enforcement standards, including some that are time sensitive. The end result is that UPD will remain an accredited law enforcement agency for the next three years. The last review process, which involved a detailed look at the department's management, operations and administration, occurred in 2008. This year's review involved three assessors from other law enforcement agencies who conducted a thorough assessment of the department over a three-day period. The assessors reviewed standard files, observed UNF's facility and equipment and interviewed personnel. The assessors then presented a final report to the Commission of Florida Law Enforcement Accreditation approving the school for reaccreditation. Agencies that don't meet CFA reaccreditation standards within the mandated three-year window could face non-compliance issues. Kathleen Halstead, a UPD officer and the department's accreditation manger, said the reaccreditation recommendation is an acknowledgement of continued professionalism. "It ensures the agency has clearly defined lines of authority, consistency in operational procedures, provides a quality work environment and increases employee morale through statewide recognition," she said.Another major factor of the reaccreditation designation is that it gives students, faculty and staff continued peace of mind while on campus. "Would you rather attend an accredited university or a non-accredited university?" Halstead asked. "Would you trust an accredited hospital more than a non-accredited one? Our community can trust the fact that we are accredited, and that their police department is dedicated to providing quality law enforcement services."Even though the department was successfully accredited for three more years, Halstead said accreditation is a never-ending process. From updating law-enforcement tactics in the event of an active shooter or keeping students safe and secure while walking to and from class, the agency remains in a perpetual state of self-review and improvement.
"The Syrtaki pretty much sums up our experience here. It starts out slow, stately and orderly. Everyone does his or her own thing, but somehow the group comes together. Then the tempo picks up, faster and faster, until you are dancing in an ecstatic frenzy, lost in the moment, trying to suck every last drop of exhilaration out of the experience. Then all of a sudden it is over, and you are ready to collapse. We are in those last frenzied steps now."
- Philip Kaplan, July 19, 2011The movement of the Syrtaki, a popular Greek dance, is a fitting way to sum up the recent experiences of Drs. Leslie and Philip Kaplan, a married couple who teach at the University of North Florida. They took 11 students on a whirlwind, study-abroad program in Greece this summer. It was such a success with the students that the academically driven couple is planning their next jaunt back to one of the most historically and culturally significant countries in the world.The reason for the trip's success is tied to the University's focus on transformational learning opportunities and promoting hands-on, academic experiences. In the Kaplans' opinions, the best way for UNF students to learn about the larger, global community is to immerse themselves in the culture they're studying.Leslie, coordinator of the University's Honors and Scholars program, and Philip, a history professor, hope to make the study-abroad trip a permanent fixture in the Honors and history departments. Based on the blog they kept while in Greece, their first successful trip is a permanent fixture in their memories."This is not my first adjustment back to the US, but it is one that is surprisingly with a lot more sadness than relief."- Leslie Kaplan, Aug 1, 2011Philip said the study-abroad program was established last year when his wife made an arrangement with the American College of Greece, an American-style private college in a picturesque suburb of Athens. American College jumped at the chance to establish an ongoing relationship with UNF, and the program got started last summer with 11 UNF Honors students heading to Athens for a five-week summer semester.The course fulfilled the College of Arts and Sciences Foreign Culture requirement and builds on what students have learned in their cultural diversity classes by requiring them to recognize other cultural logics than the one they find familiar and "natural," Philip said.The course is focused in Athens, but their day-trips into the nearby countryside and a couple of islands gave the students a sense of Greek culture outside the metropolis."The entire course is one big hands-on learning opportunity," Leslie said.The students lived in an American College dormitory and took courses that were offered in English but had Greek teachers and classmates. At the same time, Leslie taught a course called "It's All Greek to Me", which introduced students to the culture and history of Greece. That involved walking tours of Athens — sightseeing at the Acropolis, jaunts through the flea market, strolls through museums and walks up the city's ancient hills. On weekends, the Kaplans led excursions to prominent places in Greek history — Corinth, Mycenae, Nafplion, Delphi, Mykonos and Delos, Sounion and Aegina. The students also had time during the week to explore their new neighborhood on their own, buying food from local vendors and cooking for themselves. They even got to know their Greek colleagues better through a host of social activities, including basic language practice, Greek dancing, and potluck dinners. The Kaplans said they had a strong urge to get back on their plane and fly back to Greece shortly after touching back down on American soil. Philip said the memorable time they spent with their Honors students has also made them better instructors by boosting their first-hand knowledge of the Greek culture.While the Kaplan's wanderlust has been simmering since coming home, they've been working on the logistics for next summer's trip, which will include two separate classes. Leslie will lead her Honors class, which will continue to focus on aspects of modern Greece, and Philip will bring a group of students enrolled in a history class on Ancient Greece. They expect to have even more students this time, but the groups will live in the same dormitory and go on excursions together.The trip can't come soon enough — for the Kaplans and for the students."Typically when I am home from a trip, I am ready to move on in my reading. But not this time. Which is a good thing, because it is almost time to think about recruiting for next year..."- Leslie Kaplan, Aug 1, 2011
faculty member Chris Brown believes reaching the Millennial Generation requires
a different approach to teaching. The UNF Foundation Board and The Power of Transformation campaign are
helping him with a project designed to attract more millennials to math and
has some experience with millennials since he and his wife Laura Hansen-Brown have
done research to find better ways of reaching these students. Millennials are
also sometimes referred to as echo boomers because they are children of baby
"What we basically found is that millennials
are more technologically advanced, have a deep sense of community and are
interested in social issues," Brown said.
perhaps the biggest key to reaching this generation, he said, was the discovery
that they liked to work in teams.
prefer active and engaging activities such as simulations and group work, not
learning by lecture or the teacher-centered approaches."
that research, Brown developed Osprey Engineering Consulting, a project
designed to benefit UNF students, high school students and the community. By
establishing an engineering consulting simulator, Brown is asking senior civil
engineering students to work on real community projects and become ambassadors
by "adopting" an area high school and working with students to build model
concrete canoes that will be tested on campus as part of a regional
competition. For UNF students, participation is a transformational learning
opportunity, which Brown hopes will also pay dividends in the community.
professionals in the community, both engineers and non-engineers, are being
recruited to work with the teams. They will provide design review and project
suggestions to all teams during certain periods, thus building bridges to the
concrete canoes is nothing new for UNF engineering students. For the past 10 years,
the annual American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) concrete canoe
competition has been a capstone experience. Now UNF students are sharing it on
the high-school level.
also isn't new ground for Brown, who earlier this year engineered a pilot
project through the Society of American Military Engineers (SAME). The pilot
project involved five area high schools. The canoes built were tested at UNF in
April. Creekside High School in St. Johns County was named the winner.
from the pilot project, Brown obtained a $12,000 grant from the UNF Foundation
to expand the program to 10 or 12 high schools this fall. The grant will pay
for materials, engineering instrumentation and design software. By targeting
high schools in minority areas, Brown is also expecting to increase minority recruitment.
Special emphasis will also be placed on recruiting female students onto the
the results of the Foundation project are similar to the pilot project, Brown
anticipates an influx of students into UNF's engineering program. With the Foundation
project expected to reach at least 250 students this year alone, Brown is
convinced more students will be deciding to enter math and science fields in
are already seeing top-notch students coming into our program," he said. "Some
of them have told me they were not really considering UNF until the canoe
challenge for high school students can be daunting.
is a hard competition for college students and high school students will
struggle," Brown said. "Not everyone
will be successful, but it's the teamwork that's important. Millennials like to
touch and build things. That's what gets them excited."
key will be to recruit the necessary high school teachers to participate in the
does involve some extra hours for high school teachers and a commitment on
their part," Brown said.
the UNF and high school students, the project also has benefits in the
community by engaging more partners in UNF's School of Engineering.
project benefits the entire North Florida community by working on civic-minded
projects in a collaborative way," Brown said.
the success of the Foundation project, Brown said he is hoping to apply for
grant funding from the National Science Foundation to specifically target millennials.
we can show success with the Foundation funds," he said. "It greatly improves
our chances of doing some fantastic things in the future."
Name: Peter Bryce LoweDepartment: Office of Institutional
Research and AssessmentJob title: Coordinator of
Institutional Research
What do you do?
complete the external student related surveys such as U.S. News and World
Report, Princeton Review, Business Week, NCAA GSR Report as well as many
others. I also submit many of the student-related Board of Governors data
files, develop the annual UNF Pocket Fact book, and update Institutional
Research-related information on the Office of Institutional Research and Assessment website.
Years at UNF:
years as A&P, but I first worked in the Financial Aid Office as a
work-study student in 1996.
Tell us something that would surprise
people to know about you:
once worked at Chuck E. Cheese and regularly performed in the costume.
Who is the most famous person you
ever met?
it's not a person, but it is still well known. A good friend worked for
Industrial Light & Magic and took me on a tour through the ILM warehouse in
California. He showed me many models and props from Steven Spielberg's' movies
— "Pearl Harbor," "Indiana Jones," "Star Wars," etc. During the tour, he told
me to touch the R2-D2 next to me. So I'd have to say it was R2-D2 from the
original "Star Wars."
Tell us something about you that even
your friends don't know: I have zero interest in Facebook or owning an
Apple product.
Tell us about your family.
parents are from the United Kingdom, and my father is a retired ship's captain.
I have two older brothers — Simon served 23 years in the Air Force and Nigel is
a sergeant with the Alachua County Sheriff's K-9 division.
What person had the greatest impact
on your life?
a doubt, it was my mother. My father was often at sea for months at a time, so
Mum had to run the house and raise three boys on her own. She was a person of
character and always had high expectations for us and whatever we did. The
older I get, the more I realize how important the values she instilled in us
are and how fortunate we really were. There's nothing I'd change about my
If you could choose any other career,
what would it be and why?
nothing else I'd rather do. I'm very fortunate to enjoy what I do and the
people I work with.
What is your favorite thing about
working at UNF?
people and campus environment. It's very rewarding to work with people who are
passionate about their work.
If you were not working at UNF, what
would you be doing?
be working in an information technology-related field at another university.
If you won the lottery, what would do
with the money?
the amount was large enough, I'd pay off my brothers' mortgages and take my
family and friends on a private cruise. I'd invest the rest and live off the
interest. I'd also use some of it to do random acts of kindness to help people
I encounter throughout my life.
What would you like to do when you
love to travel. I'm very fortunate to have traveled outside the United States
many times while growing up, but I failed to fully appreciate many of the
experiences. I hope to have the opportunity to revisit those countries and many
What is your favorite way to blow an
recently completed a motorcycle endorsement course, so a group ride on a country
road is a great way to spend an hour.
What was the best money you ever
best money I've ever spent was on my college education. A week in Paris for the
2005 New Year was also pretty cool.
What was the first concert you ever
attended, and what was the most recent concert you attended?
believe it was The Romantics in 1983. The most recent was the Oct. 8 Gator
Country concert.
What are you most passionate about?
and doing my best in whatever I do.
What do you hope to accomplish that
you have not done yet? Finish restoring
my 1928 Bungalow.
Last book read:
Brooks College of Health
Nursing: Dr. Cynthia
Cummings, made a presentation on compassion fatigue and moral distress in
nurses at a stress management seminar given by St. Vincent's Hospital.
Dr. Cummings also has an article coming out on Journal of Research in Nursing
for December, "The Effects of Workplace Stress on Nursing Retention."
Public Health: Drs. Tes Tuason and Lynne Carroll presented, "The disaster
continues: A qualitative study on the experiences of Hurricane Katrina
survivors" at the 119th Annual Convention of the American
Psychological Association in Washington, D.C., in August.
Dr. Tes Tuason also presented "Is it truly
just about the money? The impact of overseas on family members" at the Second
Annual Public Health Symposium at UNF in August.
Dr. Julie Merten received the Eta Sigma
Gamma National Health Education Honorary 2011 Outstanding Faculty Sponsor of the Year Award. Mertenwas
recognizedfor her extensive and professional contributions of service,
exceptional leadership and commitment. She has been invited to receive this
prestigious award at the ESG Annual Business Meeting and Awards ceremony which
will take place in conjunction with the American School Health Association
Conference in Louisville, Ky. in October.
Coggin College of Business
Marketing and
Logistics: Dr. Greg Gundlach had an
article published in AMS Review titled "Resale price maintenance and free
riding: Insights from multi-channel research."
Accounting and Finance: In
September, the Consultative Advisory Board of the International Accounting
Standards Board of the International Federation of Accountants met at the
Sawgrass Marriott. The meeting was the last chaired by Dr. Charles Calhoun, completing
his second three-year term as chairman. Calhoun represents the National
Association of State Boards of Accountancy and they sponsored a celebration in
his honor at the Sawgrass Country Club Beach Club. Calhoun has represented
NASBA on IFAC education committees and boards since 1998. Calhoun recently
stepped down as the Chairman of the Accounting and Finance Department for the
last six years.
College of Arts and Sciences
Languages, Literature and Cultures: Dr. Shane
Agin has edited "Sex Education in Eighteenth-Century France," published
"Diderot, Rousseau, and the Historiography of Virtue" in the Sept. 2011 volume
of Diderot Studies and translated myriad French texts in the past few months.
Dr. Nuria Ibáñez published "Feliz Nuevo Siglo
Doctor Freud: Reivindicación escénica del padre del psicoanálisis" in Vol.
48 of the Revista de Literatura Mexicana.
Music: Dr. Nick Curry recently performed as a soloist live on WJCT public
radio. In early May, he traveled as a faculty leader with the UNF Chorale on its
trip to Italy. He also performed with members of the Jacksonville Symphony as a
part of Music Paradigm with Roger Nierenberg.
Falkner participated in Boston Baroque's production of Rameau's
rarely-heard opera "Les Indes Galantes," at NEC's Jordan Hall, followed by a
performance of Mahler's epic Symphony No. 2 "The Resurrection" with the New
Haven Symphony Orchestra. She also served as a member of the Bellingham
Festival of Music (Wash.) and principal viola of the Quartz Mountain Music
Festival in July and August.
Dr. Randy Tinnin, Dr. Erin
Bennett and Rhonda Nus Tinnin
performed with Serafini at the University of Kansas and Kansas State University
in September. The program included the American premiere of South African
composer Hendrik Hofmeyr's Of Innocence and Experience.
College of Computing, Engineering and
Computing: Drs. Sanjay P. Ahuja and A.
Patel published their paper,"Enterprise
Service Bus: A Performance Evaluation," in the Communications and Network
Journal, Vol. 3, No. 3, August, 2011. Ahuja also attended the Enterprise Mobile
Computing Workshop 2011 at the UNF Student Union Saturday, Sept. 17. The event
was organized by the Indo-US Chamber of Commerce.
Dr. Bob Roggio nowserves as the International President
of Upsilon Pi Epsilon (UPE), the international computing sciences honor
society. In this role, Roggio recently traveled to South Dakota State
University to install a new local student chapter of Upsilon Pi Epsilon.
Fourteen students and faculty were inducted.
Management: The Department of Construction Management has partnered with the
Association of Builders and Contractors (ABC) to found the UNF ABC Student Club
with construction management student Jeff
McFarland serving as club president. The construction management ABC
student club kicked off the club formation with a "Meet and Greet" with
construction industry professionals. There were 15 professionals and 40
construction management students participating. Dr. Jerry Merckel serves as the club's adviser.
Engineering: Dr. Chris Brown received a research grant, "Water Quality Improvement
in the Cedar River Basin," from the City of Jacksonville and Camp, Dresser
& McKee for $18,972.
Dr. Pat Welsh gave an invited
presentation, "Hurricanes and You," to personnel at the Keystone Heights City
Hall Sept. 13.
College of Education and Human
Childhood Education: Dr. Katie Monnin has been invited by Scholastic to attend New York
City's Comic Con from Oct. 13 to 15 and moderate the panel for Jeff Smith's
20th anniversary of "Bone," a graphic novel series. She also made an appearance
in September on her Action News Jacksonville segment "Katie's Korner," which
focused on parents and kids reading the Star Wars saga together.
Dr. Gigi Morales David
presented ABC Literacy: Art, Books, Community-building basic concept knowledge
and literacy skills by empowering families to engage in interactive read-alouds
and arts-infused activities with their kindergarten children at the Florida
Reading Association conference in Orlando.
Drs. Elizabeth Fullerton, Gigi Morales David, Katrina Hall and Ms. Pam
Bell will be presenting "Intentional Partnerships: Preparing the early
childhood teacher to be a community leader" at the National Association for
Education of Young Children conference in November.
Leadership, School Counseling and Sport Management: Dr.
Luke Cornelius wrote Chapter 6 on Legal Rights of Non-Academic
Personnel in "Contemporary Issues in Higher Education Law" (2nd Ed.) by Richard
Fossey, Kerry Brian Melear and Joseph C. Beckham, eds. 2011.
Milestone Anniversaries
to the following employees who will celebrate a milestone anniversary at UNF in
Five Years:
Gary Prim, Senior Custodial Worker, Physical Facilities
Mary Mory,
CADD Operator/Assistant Project Manager, Facilities Planning
Nancy Youngberg, Registered Nurse, Student Health Services
The following
employees were either hired by UNF or were promoted from OPS positions from
mid-September to mid-October:
Andrea Adams-Manning, Coordinator of Student Conduct, Student Conduct
Eden Cox, Executive
Secretary, Enrollment Services
Ray de Lugo, Jr.,
Associate Director, Purchasing
Frederick Dunaway, Officer,
University Police Department
Susan Eisenberg,
Coordinator of Admissions Processing, Enrollment Services
Jason Graham,
Coordinator of Academic Support Services, Academic Affairs
Omar Grant,
Laboratory Technician, Biology
Robert Hughes,
Maintenance Mechanic, Physical Facilities
Linda Hubbart-Williams, Senior Buyer, Purchasing
Dervisa Hurem,
Custodial Worker, Physical Facilities
Cynthia Lewis, Coordinator
of Student Affairs, Center for International Education
Stephanie McLarty, Administrative
Secretary, Coggin College of Business
Chere' Morella,
Accounting Associate, Student Affairs
Colleen O'Connell, Coordinator
of Sports Information, Intercollegiate Athletics
William Taylor,
Custodial Worker, Physical Facilities
Kenneth Tucker,
Administrative Secretary, Psychology
Heartfelt well wishes
in their new endeavors for the following employees, who left UNF from mid-September
to mid-October:
Chiquita Bryant, Senior Financial Systems Analyst, Financial
Earl Hewey, Senior Applications Programmer, Enterprise
Jenay Sermon, Coordinator of Research Program Services, Florida
Institute of Education
Rodney Jean-Bart, Senior Construction Project Specialist, Physical Facilities
Tofu is a soy-based product originally common in Asian
cuisine. It's become popular in the United States among culinary adventurers
and health-conscious consumers. Dr. Judith Rodriguez, chair and faculty in the University
of North Florida's Department of Nutrition and Dietetics Flagship Program,
discusses myths and facts about this versatile, protein-rich food. For those interested in trying tofu, a recipe is also provided.
Myth: Tofu is only for vegetarians.
Fact: Tofu has high-quality protein and can be used by
vegetarians as a substitute for meat, poultry or fish. But tofu isn't just for
vegetarians. It can be a regular high-protein food on your plate.
Myth: Tofu is a cheese.
Fact: Tofu is sometimes called soy cheese because, like dairy
cheeses, it's made with the use of a coagulant, or curdling agent, soybeans and
water, but it's not a dairy-based cheese. The soybeans are soaked, ground,
boiled, strained, pressed and dried. Tofu is also known as the cheese of Asia, and like cheeses,
it's available in various consistencies or levels of firmness, ranging from silken or soft
tofu, to firm.
Myth: Tofu is naturally high in
Fact: Tofu is naturally high in protein but not naturally high
in calcium. However, because calcium-containing coagulants (calcium sulfate or calcium chloride) are generally used in making tofu, this
increases the level of calcium in the product. Make sure you read the label to determine
that you are getting a high-calcium tofu product.
Myth: Tofu doesn't contain fat.
Fact: Tofu is a staple "vegetarian's meat" because of its
high-protein quality and versatility. It's not fat-free, but it does contain the
healthier fat. A grilled 3-ounce extra firm tofu burger will have about 9 grams
of protein, 4 grams of fat (mostly polyunsaturated) and 86 calories. A regular
broiled 3-ounce burger will have about 20 grams of protein, 18 grams of fat
(mostly saturated) and 246 calories. So, for about 246 calories of tofu, you
would be getting about 25 grams of protein and 11 grams of fat (mostly
polyunsaturated). This is a lower amount and healthier fat but not a fat-free
Myth: Tofu should not be cooked.
Fact: Tofu can be used in recipes that don't require cooking.
Some people use soft tofu as a base for dressings. Others prefer firm tofu as a
meat substitute in cooked recipes. Tofu has excellent ability to absorb
flavors, so it's a great meat substitute for recipes that have spices and
Myth: Tofu is harmful to men.
Fact: Tofu contains genistein and daidzein, two plant
phytoestrogens that act similarly to estrogen. But some people erroneously
think that tofu is harmful, especially to men. Although there was a case of
some minor temporary issues by an individual drinking soy milk daily in
extremely large amounts, tofu is safe and hasn't been associated with harm.
ginger dressing
½ cup low-fat firm
silken tofu
1/3 cup water
¼ cup shredded
fresh ginger
¼ cup tablespoons
rice vinegar
3 tablespoons
white miso
1 tablespoon oil
(preferably canola or safflower)
1 garlic clove,
Blend all ingredients until smooth. Cover and
refrigerate. Use on mixed tossed salad. Include a variety of Asian greens, such
as bok choy, Chinese cabbage, snow peas, oriental cucumber, shredded carrots,
bean sprouts, soy beans and chives. Or use your favorite veggies. (Start with
this recipe and modify the amounts of ingredients based on your flavor
The Goods is a monthly column about food myths and facts by
faculty members in the Department of Nutrition and Dietetics Flagship Program
and runs in The Florida Times-Union's "Taste" section. Have a question about
tofu? Contact
Rodriguez at
one really has enough time left over in a day to exercise, but if you don't
get regular physical activity to stay fit, you'll run out of time entirely too
soon. Busy people do it every day by fitting it into their daily routine and
keeping the mindset that exercise is a priority.
some of these tips from busy people who stay fit.
Make it a group affair. Healthy families and friends make exercise a routine,
whether it's biking or walking together, or spending more time on games than in
front of TV screens.
Get up 20 minutes earlier. Stretch, do some crunches, jumping jacks, or go
walking before you shower.
Clip on a pedometer. If you're aiming for 10,000 steps a day, your move-more
mindset will keep you moving.
Take the stairs. In between meetings or classes, utilize the
stairwells in the buildings.
Make use of your lunch break. Take a quick trip to the gym, walk or do some light
hand weights.
Stretch at your desk. Reduce muscle tension and get your blood
Rake leaves. It's October and it needs to be done. Combine that
with other chores so you can burn more calories.
Break it up. You don't have to do it all at once. Try several
10-minute activity boosts through the day.
Healthy Osprey is a new feature in Inside, designed to provide
solid advice on how to become more healthy at work and at home. Shelly Purser,
director of Health Promotions, and Mike Kennedy, assistant director of Health
Promotions, will write a different article each month that will focus on some
aspect of health and wellness.
Healthy Osprey is a collaboration of students, faculty and staff
working together to foster a University community
that embraces the development of a healthy body, mind and spirit. The purpose of the Healthy Osprey
initiative is to assess and respond to the needs of the UNF community to create
and maintain a healthy environment, which will enhance the holistic student
experience. For more information, or for any
questions you might have, contact Shelly Purser at firstname.lastname@example.com. To read
the entire newsletter, click here.


text:
Hands-On Book of Hubble Images Allows the Visually Impaired to "Touch the Universe"
A new book of majestic images taken by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope brings the wonders of our universe to the fingertips of the blind. Called "Touch the Universe: A NASA Braille Book of Astronomy," the 64-page book presents color images of planets, nebulae, stars, and galaxies. Each image is embossed with lines, bumps, and other textures. The raised patterns translate colors, shapes, and other intricate details of the cosmic objects, allowing visually impaired people to feel what they cannot see. Braille and large-print descriptions accompany each of the book's 14 photographs, making the design of this book accessible to readers of all visual abilities.
A new book of majestic images taken by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope brings the wonders of our universe to the fingertips of the blind.
Called "Touch the Universe: A NASA Braille Book of Astronomy," the 64-page book presents color images of planets, nebulae, stars, and galaxies. Each image is embossed with lines, bumps, and other textures. The raised patterns translate colors, shapes, and other intricate details of the cosmic objects, allowing visually impaired people to feel what they cannot see. Braille and large-print descriptions accompany each of the book's 14 photographs, making the design of this book accessible to readers of all visual abilities.
"I think this book will help the blind community to better understand the variety of objects in space," explains the book's author, Noreen Grice, operations coordinator for the Charles Hayden Planetarium at the Boston Museum of Science. "This book brings amazing celestial objects, seen with the Hubble Space Telescope, to the fingertips of the visually impaired, where they can better understand the universe and their place within it."
NASA, which helped fund the book, and the book's publisher, the Joseph Henry Press, trade imprint of the National Academies Press (publisher for the National Academy of Sciences), will publicly release "Touch the Universe" at 1 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 21, at press events at both the National Federation of the Blind in Baltimore, and at DePaul University in Chicago.
"Touch the Universe" takes the reader on a cosmic journey, beginning with an image of the Hubble Space Telescope orbiting Earth and then traveling outward into the universe, showing objects such as Jupiter and the Ring Nebula. The journey ends with the Hubble Deep Field North, an image revealing thousands of galaxies billions of light-years away. The book costs $35. Orders can be placed online at http://www.nap.edu/catalog/10307.html or by calling 1-888-624-8373.
Grice collaborated with Bernhard Beck-Winchatz, an astronomer at DePaul University in Chicago, to develop the book with a $10,000 Hubble Space Telescope grant for educational outreach. Beck-Winchatz had received the grant from a program administered by the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore.
The DePaul astronomer got the idea for the book while browsing through a museum gift shop where he saw Grice's original book, "Touch the Stars," a 1990 astronomy book containing tactile line drawings of objects such as constellations, planets, and galaxies.
"I thought that Noreen's book 'Touch the Stars' was a wonderful idea, especially because astronomy is thought of as a visual science," Beck-Winchatz explains. "At the same time, when I saw the book and her sketches, I thought there was so much more we could do. I thought it would be intriguing to create similar tactile pictures based on real Hubble Space Telescope images."
He contacted Grice about making the Hubble Space Telescope photographs accessible to the blind. She was eager to take up the challenge. For 18 years, Grice had been making astronomical pictures accessible to the blind. Her involvement with the blind community began when visitors from the Perkins School for the Blind arrived for a show at the Charles Hayden Planetarium in Boston.
"I didn't know what to do," Grice recalls. "I hadn't thought that blind people would be interested in astronomy. After the show I asked them how they enjoyed the astronomy program and they said, 'It stunk.' After that I thought, 'What went wrong? Why did they have such a negative experience? I realized that the planetarium's celestial images were not accessible to people who could not see them and decided to do something about it."
Working in the kitchen of her home, Grice made prototypes of the Hubble images for "Touch the Universe" by tracing them on plastic sheets, using tools to create raised details. Grice not only tried to represent the outlines of stars, planets, and galaxies, she also used consistent patterns to denote color and matter. Raised lines, for example, represent blue. Rings are illustrated with dotted lines, and wavy ones signify gas currents.
She sent the prototypes to students at the Colorado School for the Deaf and Blind in Colorado Springs, who evaluated each image for clarity and provided suggestions for improvement. Grice then traced the final illustrations onto metal plates and placed them in a heat vacuum machine to create multiple copies of molded plastic pages. The pages became the first prototypes of her book.
Benning Wentworth III, a science teacher at the Colorado school who arranged for the book's evaluation, says the biggest challenge was making the complex Hubble images simple enough to understand by touch. "The fingers of a blind person must move in order to transmit information to the brain," Wentworth explains. "Where a sighted person takes a look at an image as a whole and then breaks it down into its parts, the blind person must take the parts and make it into a whole."
The key ingredient in creating this unique book was the partnership between a teacher, a scientist, and a planetarium educator.
"I hope that the project's success will inspire others to become creative, because it is very gratifying for scientists to use part of their research grant for an education project, whether it is for the blind community or for middle schools," Beck-Winchatz says. "There are 10 million visually impaired people in the United States. I am thrilled that these amazing resources for studying the universe are now available to them."
The finished product has certainly delighted Wentworth's students. "What is unique about this book is that it is taking actual photographs and bringing them to life for blind students," he says.
Don Savage
NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC
(Phone: 202/358-1547; E-mail: email@example.com)
Mark Hess
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD
(Phone: 301/286-8982; E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com)
Donna Weaver
Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD
(Phone: 410/338-4493; E-mail: email@example.com)
Robin Pinnel
Joseph Henry Press/National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC
(Phone: 202/334-1902; E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com)
Roxanne L. Brown
DePaul University, Chicago, IL
(Phone: 312/362-8623; E-mail: email@example.com)


text:
Reader's Rides
Isn't It Gran(d)?
Who: Curt Wright
Where: Moparville, U.S.A.
What: '70 Plymouth Barracuda Gran Coupe
Curt's E-Body is a one-owner car that he ordered (with every option he wanted) from a dealer in Danville, Illinois, and took delivery of in November of 1969. He didn't drive it much back then, and it eventually sat more than it was driven—which kept its mileage well below 30,000. In fact, the odometer shows only 26,400 miles! Eventually, after replacing brakes, exhausts, and other items that needed attention, Curt decided to restore it. He got help from Indy Cylinder Head who rebuilt the original 383, Allison Transmissions (restoring the 727), and Ken Mosier at The Finer Details. Curt says that over the years, he washed and waxed it endless times with his daughter while she was growing up—and he met his wife while driving it. As Curt puts it, "It's more than a car, it's a scrapbook of my life. The present selling price for this one owner car is "priceless."
Family-Project Fish
Who: Destiny Spyker
Where: Hyndman, Pennsylvania
What: '67 Plymouth Barracuda Formula S fastback
Destiny's '67 is a family project, built by her dad Michael Spyker and her pap Ron Spyker, with special help from Ty and her Uncle Ron. Under the hood is a 500-inch big-block built by Ryan Johnson at Shady Dell Speed Shop in Port Matilda, Pennsylvania, (before their move to state college). Thanks to the 4.30 gears in back, it runs in the low 10s on the quarter-mile, yet is street drivable. The paint and graphics were done at Western Maryland Signs in Frostburg, Maryland.
Plum Crazy With A Twist
Who: Roger Buys
Where: Grand Rapids, Michigan
What: '70 Dodge Challenger R/T hardtop
A long-time West Michigan Mopar fan, Roger bought his E-Body in 2004. An original FC7 Plum Crazy 340-powered R/T, its original engine was gone when he bought it (replaced by a 318 from an '85 Diplomat cop car), but the body was in good shape. He replaced the 318 with a 360 that he got from one of his fellow Forever Mopar club members, then had C-Tech in Wyoming, Michigan, deck the block and bore it.030-inch over, adding a Stage II camshaft, a pair of Indy cylinder heads, and a 650-cfm Edelbrock four-barrel. It all added up to 341 rwhp on the dyno. Inside, Roger called on Legendary for new seat covers and Just Dashes for dash restoration. The power windows needed new switches, including the master control, and the 727's stock shifter was replaced with a B&M Mega shifter, which goes nicely with the split-bench front seat. Outside, Cragar GT wheels on BFG's fill the fenderwells, and the original Plum Crazy paint was accented by a repro V9Y yellow bumblebee stripe—a rare color combo, but the one that Roger's R/T was built with.
Bronx Bird
Who: Alan Lindenberg
Where: Bronx, New York
What: '69 Plymouth Road Runner hardtop
When Alan found this '69 Bird, the former race car had been sitting in a garage for 35 years. A quick look convinced Alan to buy it, and he's since restored, upgraded, or rebuilt everything on it. It's one of 188 original 426 Hemi/Torqueflite '69 Road Runner hardtops, and its Hemi now sports a more streetable hydraulic camshaft, a pair of 600-cfm four-barrels, plus an original block with its original 4.25-inch bore, and the stock forged-steel 3.75-inch crankshaft. Its 727 and Dana 60 were both treated to rebuilds (the TF also getting a 10-inch torque converter), the brakes were upgraded to four-wheel discs, and a 140-amp alternator replaced the stock one. mm
How To Be A Penta Star
|Send images of your ride, along with all the information about your ride, and we'll make you a STAR. Remember to include ALL your information, even where you're from. Send your digital images (at least 300 dpi) and information to firstname.lastname@example.com; or snail mail your print images and info. to Mopar Muscle Magazine C/O PentaSTARS, 9036 Brittany Way, Tampa, FL 33619. Send us a good quality front ¾ shot (think feature shot), and an interior and engine bay shot.


text:
Tonight's Concert Picks: Geoff Rickly at The Barbary, Broken Anchor at MilkBoy
Not long after his mysterious new project United Nations came to town, Geoff Rickly performs a set at The Barbary tonight. Dubbed "The Acoustic Basement Tour," the lead singer of Thursday invited his friends Vinnie Caruana (The Movielife / I Am The Avalanche), A Loss For Words, Koji and Brian Marquis (Therefore I Am) to hit the road following last summer's Warped Tour. Rickly's solo work and expansion into other projects follows the 2011 announcement by Thursday that the New Jersey rock band would go on hiatus. Tickets and information for tonight's 21+ show can be found here. Watch Rickly perform Thursday's "Understanding in a Car Crash" live at Gunners Run in Philadelphia below.