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New research aims to uncover the accuracy and value of tile plows.
Dan Hughes knows that all tile plows are not created equal. Facing a two-year wait for commercial tile installation, in 1997 the Danvers, MN, farmer purchased a frame-mounted tile plow with laser grade control. "The plow dolphined [moved up and down] and didn't meet grade tolerance levels," Hughes says. A year later, he returned that plow and purchased a different brand that performed well for him.
Like Hughes, many farmers are opting to install tile themselves by purchasing pull-behind drainage plows that they can run with their existing tractors. However, until this year, no independent research had been conducted in the U.S. to evaluate how well these machines can do the job.
"We were getting questions from contractors, farmers and landowners about the installation performance quality of pull-behind plows, but we were in no position to offer a proper assessment," says Larry Brown, associate professor of Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering, Ohio State University.
Independent test. This summer Ohio State University initiated field evaluations of several pull-behind drainage plows at sites throughout the state. Researchers use a video camera and a GeoStar Mast system to collect data on drainage tubing installation depth and grade accuracy independent of the laser grade control system on the tile machines. The tests, conducted with experienced operators, will continue over the next 15 months. As many as seven different drainage plows will be evaluated.
According to the American Society of Agricultural Engineers' standards, the maximum allowable variation in grade is 1/10 ft. for the installation of corrugated plastic tubing. "Of course we would like to see installation variations much less than the maximum allowable," Brown says.
At a site in Wooster, OH, the researchers tested two tile plows: the Liebrecht and the Soil Max Gold Digger. The Wooster site represented near ideal installation conditions. Results of this test will be available later this fall.
Denny Bell, president of Soil Max, says, "This is a new market segment, and people want some independent research on these machines. We're participating in the studies because we think it will give us credibility."
Liebrecht Manufacturing's reasons are the same. "We think there is quite a difference in the ability of these plows to hold grade and we think our machine design will prove itself," owner Junior Liebrecht says.
Brown adds, "We're developing a type of challenge course with extreme soil and topographic variations to help determine the possible limitations of each type of plow. Our overall goal is to provide a research-based assessment of the performance capabilities of some of these plows and help operators do a better job." The university also is developing a computer simulation model.
In addition to the Ohio State University research, the National Land Improvement Contractors Association (LICA) is trying to define and establish testing standards for all drainage machines, according to Leonard Binstock, executive director of Minnesota's LICA. The organization also is debating certification of contractors.
Will a purchase pay off? The university research should help a farmer assess his operation and decide if purchasing a tile plow is his best option.
After purchasing his second plow, grower Hughes found he didn't have the time to design, manage and install tile. "We have a large and diverse farming operation," he explains. "In reality we didn't have enough time to install the 50,000 to 75,000 ft. of tile we wanted done each year. And we needed to install at least 50,000 ft. in order to realize any significant cost savings. When I started analyzing the management time for tile layout and design and the overhead equipment costs, I found I wasn't saving money. Plus I still needed contractors for the larger pipe on water mains."
He ultimately sold the machine and struck on a creative solution to attract an experienced commercial contractor to his area. He got 10 neighboring farmers and landlords to pool their tiling requests and developed a pre-design package for contractors to bid on. As a result, a commercial contractor installed 137,000 ft. of tile in 1999 and 30,000 ft. this year and will install 100,000 ft. next year for the pool.
Ohio no-till farmer Alan Thompson says he likes to plow in tile instead of chisel plowing in the fall. "We have a large farm with several employees and this allows us to use our labor and equipment over more days," he says. He estimates that his fuel, labor and repair costs are half what a commercial contractor would charge him for installation. He is installing about 75,000 ft. of tile each year with his Liebrecht tile plow.
Satisfied owners. Soil Max surveyed 90 of its tile plow owners and claims that all 60 of the respondents said they would purchase another Gold Digger. "Our survey showed Gold Digger owners are installing 126,000 ft. of drainage tile/year on average and saving $45,000/year in installation costs," says Soil Max's Bell. "Many farmers have the machinery and the intelligence to tile their own ground for about one-third the cost of commercial installation with the same or better quality than some contractors."
Thompson welcomes any research that evaluates the tile plows and installation methods. He says, "Doing a good job requires time and mathematical ability to develop a plan, figure the grade and correctly use the laser. You want to do it right, because you want it to last 50 years or more."


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The official Spalding RFC app
Memorial Field St. Thomas's Road Spalding Lincolnshire PE11 2TT View with Google Maps
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subset: commoncrawl


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Vinnie Thomas Skater Profile
Sponsors: CCS, Krooked (flow), Kr3w, Adidas, Thunder Trucks (flow), Spitfire (flow), HUF
Hometown: Houston TX, Stance: Regular, Age: 28, Status: Am
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I think I remember your post about hunting elk on the Co/NM border in units 80,81 or 82. I am looking at a possible M/L hunt in 82 with a NM outfitter..Fishtail Outfitters from Chama. Also looking in 54 for the same type of hunt.
Do you know anything about Fishtail and/or 82.
Junior Member
Senior Member


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Sound - Assault rifle | AudioJungle
Download Sound - Assault rifle | AudioJungle
Download High Quality Audio File Here: http://tinyurl.com/ku24xpl
Category : Sound
This is a pack of two sounds.
The first sound is inserting the magazine in the rifle and loading the rifle in two separate moves. Pull and release.
The second sound is inserting again the magazine but the pull and release is done in one motion.
Assault rifle 1 – 0:03
Assault rifle 2 – 0:03
Great foley effects for video games and TV
For an easier exploration of my profile items use the collection links below.
Follow me!


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Estuvo increíble lo que me pasó en Antara, sorprendio una Barbie caminando pero lo mejor fue cuando las 6 Barbies Fashionistas cobraron vida y empezaron a bailar. Todo se volvió muy fashion y muy rosa. Hasta las niñas se metieron a bailar con ellas la canción de Barbie Girl, de hecho creo que el baile que hicieron se llama Do the Barbie. Esto nunca había pasado en México estuvo padrísimo!!
Do The Barbie to celebrate the launch of her new Barbie® Fashionistas™ dolls. The new dolls feature 12 points of movement and more than 100 plastic-fantastic poses so Barbie can bend her elbows, twist her wrists, move at the waist and roll her head. To show off these new movements, Barbie has teamed up with one of the music industrys hottest names to choreograph and produce a music video featuring a new dance appropriately called The Barbie set to a new, re-recorded version of the 90s hit song Barbie Girl. Barbie looked to famed choreographer JaQuel Knight, the talent behind Beyonces Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It) dance craze, to choreograph the The Barbie, a series of doll-like moves and dance grooves.
It was really fun to work with Barbie and create a dance for her. Barbie is the biggest icon in life and I am so excited to have worked with her on her first music video, said choreographer, JaQuel Knight. I have had the privilege of working with celebs like Beyonce and Britney Spears, and I am thrilled to add another B to the roster!
The music video, shot in New York in July, stars three Barbie Fashionistas dolls Sassy, Cutie and Artsy and features a cameo from Hottie Ken®. In the video, the dolls break out of their toy boxes to come alive and dance The Barbie alongside real, life-size Barbie dancers. The Barbie dance is comprised of doll-like moves that can be performed to any song and ends with a signature Point, Twist, Snap.
Filed under: baile, Barbie, fashionista, muñecas, niñas | Tagged: 2009.2010, artsy, awesome, baile, Barbie, beyonce, cancion, commercial, dance, dancers, dancing, doll, famous, fancy, fashion, fashionista, fashionistas, girly, glam, JaQuel, Knight, ladies, Mattel, model, movie, music, pop, pose, poseable, pretty, single, song, star, teen, twitter, wild, world |


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These artworks are clustered either because they are a part of a series, a part of the same integrated art project, or because they have been or are being lend out together.
Some works are thought of as a series by the artist, while others are clustered together by the Danish Arts Foundation because of an important connection between the works. That might be that works contributed to a better understanding or insigt into the artist practice or a special theme explored by the artist.


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U.S. Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission
Security Companies Liable For Pregnancy, Disability Discrimination and Retaliation as Successors to Defendant-Employer DTM Corporation, Federal Agency Said
BALTIMORE - CSI Corporation of DC will pay $12,000 to resolve an EEOC lawsuit alleging pregnancy discrimination, unlawful medical inquiries and retaliation, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced today. This is in addition to the $30,000 already paid by Trinity Protection Services, Inc. to resolve its part of the lawsuit. Trinity and CSI will also provide equitable relief as part of the settlements.
The EEOC initially brought suit against DTM Corporation, a Maryland-based security services provider. After DTM filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy dissolution, the EEOC added Trinity and CSI as defendants, alleging that they were liable for the discrimination and retaliation as legal successor companies. Although Trinity and CSI never employed the victim in this case, the EEOC argued they were liable as successor companies because they had purchased DTM's assets, had common officers and employees with DTM (including the supervisor who had engaged in the alleged discrimination), had notice of the allegations against DTM before they purchased DTM's assets and had substantial continuity of DTM's business operations.
DTM's "Corporation Maternity Policy" required the suspension of pregnant employees without pay pending the receipt of a medical release. The EEOC alleged that DTM discriminated against Naima Ashigur, a contract security officer, by repeatedly suspending her and forcing her to obtain fitness for duty medical releases pursuant to its policy, even though she had provided medical clearances from her doctor. DTM also forced her to undergo medical examinations that were not job related and consistent with business necessity, violating the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) the EEOC alleged.
According to the lawsuit, Ashigur's supervisor made several comments showing a bias against pregnant workers, including speculating with coworkers whether Ashigur was pregnant, threatening that he wanted her off the contract because of her child bearing status and threatening that she "better not get pregnant again." The EEOC also alleged that a supervisor required Ashigur to hide in a restroom so that contracting officials would not see that she was pregnant.
The EEOC claimed that DTM retaliated against Ashigur because she had complained about her unlawful treatment during her pregnancy--first by denying her maternity leave and then refusing to allow her to return to work for several months, even though she was medically released to do so. The EEOC further alleged that when it eventually allowed her to return, DTM subjected her to heightened scrutiny, unwarranted discipline, and other harassment in continuing retaliation for her protected activity.
Such alleged conduct violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII), as amended by the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 (PDA) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Title VII, as amended by the PDA, requires that employers treat pregnant employees the same as other employees similar in their ability or inability to work, and prohibits employers from singling out pregnant employees for special procedures to determine their fitness for work. The ADA prohibits employers from requiring employees, even employees who do not have a disability, to undergo medical inquiries or examinations, unless the company can prove the medical inquiry or examination is job related and consistent with business necessity. Both laws prohibit employers from retaliating against an individual for filing a charge or opposing employment discrimination.
The EEOC filed suit in U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, (EEOC v. DTM Corporation, Trinity Protection Services, Inc., and CSI Corporation of DC, Civil Action No. 1:11-cv-02433) after first attempting to reach a voluntary pre-litigation settlement with DTM through its conciliation process.
The Consent Decree entered by the District Court on June 6, 2013, provides that CSI will pay $12,000 in monetary relief to Ashigur. Trinity already paid Ashigur $30,000 to resolve the EEOC's claims against it in a separate consent decree entered last year. Both decrees enjoin the companies from engaging in pregnancy discrimination, from subjecting pregnant employees to medical examinations and inquiries that are not job related and consistent with business necessity, and from engaging in unlawful retaliation. CSI will disseminate a memorandum to all employees that it will comply with Title VII and that DTM's prior maternity and pregnancy policies do not apply to CSI employees. CSI will provide four hours of training on Title VII and the ADA to all managerial and supervisory employees. Both companies will post a notice about the settlement.
"Pregnant employees who are able to do the job must be permitted to continue working and cannot be treated less favorably than non-pregnant employees," said Philadelphia District Director Spencer H. Lewis, Jr.
Regional Attorney Debra M. Lawrence added, "The law under the ADA is clear - absent an ability to prove job-relatedness and business necessity, companies cannot force pregnant workers to undergo increased scrutiny or onerous medical inquiries and examinations in order to keep working while pregnant. Moreover, under the PDA, employers must treat pregnant women the same as other employees 'similar in their ability or inability to work.'"
The Philadelphia District Office of the EEOC oversees Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, West Virginia and parts of New Jersey and Ohio.
One of the six national priorities identified by the Commission's Strategic Enforcement Plan (SEP) is for the Commission to address emerging and developing issues in equal employment law, including issues involving the ADA and pregnancy-related limitations, among other possible issues.
The EEOC enforces federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. Further information about the Commission is available at its website, www.eeoc.gov.


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Mucosal Melanoma and Stereotactic Radiosurgery
Dear OncoLink "Ask The Experts,"
My question is in regards to a periurethral melanoma. Do you know of any surgeries done for this problem using CyberKnife®?
Suzanne M. McGettigan, MSN, CRNP, AOCN, Board Certified Adult Nurse Practitioner and a Certified Oncology Advanced Practice Nurse, responds:
Periurethral melanoma sounds like it would be classified as a mucosal melanoma. These melanomas are separate from traditional cutaneous (skin) melanomas. Mucosal melanomas are sometimes called "hidden melanomas" because they occur in places that are not exposed to sun, which is the typical cause of cutaneous melanomas. They can occur in the nail bed, scalp, eye, or mucosal tissue (lining of the nose, mouth, female genitals, anus urinary tract, and esophagus). Mucosal melanomas are quite rare, but are treatable when found early.
Cyberknife is a method of performing what is called "stereotactic radiosurgery", or SRS, which is the careful administration of high-dose radiation therapy to a relatively small area of tumor. It is actually not surgery at all, but is contains this word because it is very precise and localized, like traditional surgery. This radiation can be administered by a conventional radiation therapy machine (called a linear accelerator) or a specialized machine (called Gamma Knife®, XKnife™, or CyberKnife® ). SRS delivers several hundred beams of radiation from many directions, forming a concentration of radiation at the one point where all the beams meet. This allows for a large dose of radiation to be delivered to the tumor, while sparing the surrounding tissue from the damage of the high dose. It is used to treat tumors that are not amenable to traditional surgical intervention, commonly those of the spine and central nervous system. These devices are located at centers across the country under physicians specially trained in their use.
In general, melanoma cells are not usually very sensitive to radiation, so this may not be the best treatment option. Surgical removal of the lesion is considered the gold standard, when possible.
Kuo, John S.; Yu, Cheng; Petrovich, Zbigniew ; Apuzzo, Michael L.J. The CyberKnife Stereotactic Radiosurgery System: Description, Installation, and an Initial Evaluation of Use and Functionality. Neurosurgery, Volume 53(5), November 2003, pp 1235-1239.


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Moving buses is best memorial
Published February 12, 2004, in issue #0306 of The Hook
I was a bit taken aback when I heard that CTS suspended its services due to the death of its founder, Helen Poore [News, "Bereaved: Funeral strands bus riders," February 5, 2004].
As a former bus driver for the University Transit Service, I understand how truly important public transportation is to the citizens of Charlottesville, and I can't believe Helen Poore would have wanted to inconvenience the passengers she spent so many years striving to continually serve better.
When a fellow UTS driver was killed in a car accident a few years ago, many newer drivers and those who didn't know her very well came through and covered shifts to keep services running smoothly so that those who were normally scheduled could attend her funeral.
We all felt that we were doing what was right by her as well as the community by not suspending service, and some felt that this was the best way to honor the memory of someone who loved driving a bus as much as the rest of us.
Leaving people stranded in cold weather is a misguided idea of a tribute to a woman who understood only too well the responsibility her organization has to the riding public.
Amy Karasz


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TONY EASTLEY: The big Goulburn Valley cannery SPC Ardmona has joined a queue of farmers and producers who want help from the Federal Government after it announced at the weekend it was trying to get a state-federal farm finance package off the ground.
The loan scheme, still very much in its infancy, is designed to ease the pressures on escalating farm debt and reduced profitability, but it requires the co-operation of all states and that so far is not forthcoming.
SPC Ardmona says this season it's cut its stone fruit intake by half.
Out of 114 suppliers to SPC, 60 have had their contracts abandoned.
The Federal Agriculture Minister Joe Ludwig says an SPC Ardmona request for special tariff protection is being considered. I spoke to him a short time ago.
Minister, the concessional loans under your scheme would be made available to farmers that are viable. How do you deem that something is "viable" when they're in so much strife?
JOE LUDWIG: Well of course what they do is - and this is a guide line, so there's not concrete term - but on the basis that the loans will be generally delivered under two categories: productivity loans or debt restructuring loans. So a business might be currently today suffering some debt stress; the concessional loan will give them that breathing space to be able to diversify, change their operation. And of course these loans are up to $650,000 for up to 20 years, so that they can then start that process of changing what they're doing today to give them the viability into the future - both a present and future tense.
TONY EASTLEY: It seems the farmers in worse strife are the ones how aren't going to get any help though, are they? Because they're not currently viable.
JOE LUDWIG: What we... what we have to do first is get the states on board, so that... they're not missing out on anything until I can get the states on board. When I get the states on board we can sit down and work through the guidelines so that we can tailor particular loans, concessional loans to their circumstance. That's the important step. So get the states on board. If the states say to me - particularly Victoria says - we've got an issue around fruit growers in Shepparton, this is how we want to manage it. So we'll manage it by saying effectively by saying we can provide a concessional loan up to $650,000 for up to 20 years for them to diversify, change their operations, increase their opportunities.
TONY EASTLEY: But who tells them to change their operations, is it you or the states?
JOE LUDWIG: What they do is, with the particular delivery agency, they can sit down with them and work through those outcomes. They can sit down and decided how they are going to do it so...
TONY EASTLEY: But Minister they're digging up their trees now in Victoria - or they're threatening to dig up thousands and thousands of fruit trees - you haven't got the states on board yet. This may be too late for many farmers. Wouldn't it?
JOE LUDWIG: What I expect is that the states do recognise that there is urgency here and that they do come on board. I've already written to the states and detailed a proposal to them and they do need to respond. Because I do recognise there is urgency here.
TONY EASTLEY: When do you think the states will come on board?
JOE LUDWIG: Well hopefully, very shortly.
TONY EASTLEY: State-federal co-operation has not been in the best of late. Are you hopeful?
JOE LUDWIG: More than hopeful. This is about growers, producers in their regions who do need assistance. This is one avenue that they can access. And the states: I would be surprised if they stood in the way of that.
TONY EASTLEY: The SPC Ardmona situation: would it be simpler for the Federal Government just to provide short-term protection for the farmers and impose a tariff on cheap imported tinned fruit?
JOE LUDWIG: Well of course we've received the information from SPC. What we do really have to do is work through that letter, work through the industry portfolio and the trade portfolio to provide that response. So it's too early for me to be able to say what the response should or shouldn't be.
TONY EASTLEY: Joe Ludwig, are you going to get this up and running before the election?
JOE LUDWIG: Absolutely, because farmers are in need.
TONY EASTLEY: Joe Ludwig, thanks for joining us this morning on AM.
JOE LUDWIG: Thank you very much Tony.
The full story...
SPC's request for tariff protection being considered
Tony Eastley reported this story on Tuesday, April 30, 2013 08:12:00
TONY EASTLEY: The big Goulburn Valley cannery SPC Ardmona has joined a queue of farmers and producers who want help from the Federal Government after it announced at the weekend it was trying to get a state-federal farm finance package off the ground.


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Remy Lecluse
It is with deep sadness today that we post a final farewell to our friend and Arc'teryx team member Rémy Lécluse.
Rémy was a master of extreme skiing, with a unique philosophy and enthusiasm that involved pioneering descents down the world's steepest and highest peaks. "His approach to his sport and the alpine world felt so different, that when we met I knew I wanted him on the Arc'teryx Team", said Tanja Kulkies, Arc'teryx European Marketing Manager.
"In the short time Rémy was on our team, he achieved many of his goals on descents and first descents, including his latest on la Grivola. Descending the SE face together with Boris Dufour 570 m, 45-50°, 5.3 E4. He told me it was 'Just fabulous!'"
Rémy also worked closely with our marketing team to help establish the first Arc'teryx Alpine Arc'ademy in Chamonix this year. "We will greatly miss Rémy's infectious zest for the outdoors, the way he would seek out new personal challenges in the mountains, and his upbeat positive candor. He will be with us as we make our own descents this season and seasons to come". Rest in peace.
Born/Age: 05/06/1964
Current Residence: Servoz, Chamonix valley, France
Rémy is a professional mountain guide, based in Chamonix, France.
He has a 24 years' guiding experience world-wide.
He did his first extreme skiing descent on the Aiguille Verte 4121 m (Mt Blanc range) in 1982.
Since then he achieves more than 500 extreme descents, including 63 first descents in the Alps, High-Atlas, Lyngen Alps (Norway), Himalayas & Andes.
He is among the very few guides who take clients on extreme slopes (including 12 first descents).
His aim is to continue exploring & skiing in the Himalayas & Andes.
Where usually mountaineers climb with two ice axes, crampons & ropes: he is skiing slopes between 50° & 55°.
Extreme skiing is one of the purest ways of climbing mountains.
Ethical, innovation, engagement, precision, risk assessment, risk management linked to a meticulous preparation are compulsory to be successful.
Fabulous way of travel in the mountains, this way of climbing & skiing is strongly ethical: no helicopter for the climb, light alpine technique in the Andes & Himalayas. Fast & light is the guarantee of safety.
It's also a fantastic path to discover new routes to ski in wild & insulated places in the world, even in the Alps.
Website: www.remylecluse.com
Recent Media Coverage: FR3(french TV) last winter, article in Trek & Mountains Feb 2011 issue + different articles about 4 first descents in winter 2011
Career accomplishments: 5 first descents on 6000m peaks in Himalayas (India & Nepal), 4 first descents in Cordillera de Vilcanota (Peru) & in total 63 first descents world wide.yas


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John was born in La Jolla, grew up in Pacific Beach, attended Kate Sessions Elementary School and Pacific Beach Junior High. He graduated from Mission Bay High School in 1979.
He owned his own hardwood-floor business with his wife of 22 years, Heidi, and raised two children, Emily and Charles John (CJ), in Clairemont.
He is also survived by his parents, Mary and Charlie; grandmother Virginia Chisholm; brother Tom (Kristina); nephews Sean and Kory; niece Addison; and many extended family members. He will be in our hearts always and deeply missed.
John will especially be missed at local surf spots, where he would surf the pier or at Black's Beach, where many could hear his boisterous laugh as he caught waves. He would stop in at Cass Street Bar & Grill to get his workers lunch on many occasions. He is gone but not forgotten. John loved the ocean, surfing and fishing, and shared his love of baseball with son CJ and coached CJ's Little League baseball teams over the years.
John loved his dogs and especially loved his family.
A memorial service and celebration of life was held May 29 at The Mission Bay Yacht Club, where Pastor Brian Daly of the Pacific Beach Christian Church led the remembrance and celebration to honor the great and kind person that was John Watson.
A sunset paddle out followed that same evening at Law Street, where an outpouring of friends and family came together to show their love for John and pay tribute to him.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be directed to The Pacific Beach Christian Church at 1074 Loring St., San Diego, 92109, designated to the "John Watson Memorial." All gifts will be directed to the family in support of John's children, Emily and CJ.


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Confucius Institute at PSU offers a Free TaiChi Class!
Taijiquan (TaiChi) is a soft martial art for individuals of all ages and fitness levels. It promotes relaxation, flexibility, concentration; reduces tension, and increases strength and energy. The class is excellent for beginning learners, those who want an alternative to jogging or aerobics and those with limited time for exercise.
When: Every Wednesday Jan9th-March 13th from 12:30pm-1:30pm
Location: 3rd floor Sky-Bridge between Smith & Cramer Hall
Cost: Free!!! (Open to PSU and the general public)


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If you haven't realized it yet, we are in the beginning stages of a worldwide credit meltdown. Over the coming weeks, months and even years we will all feel the pain that collectively we're all responsible for in living such overtly spoiled lives.
Using our homes as ATM machines. Buying cars we can't afford. Buying homes we have no business owning (and nobody should have lent the money for in the first place) . These poor choices are coming back with a vengeance.
Fortunately for me, I live in a region of the country that has low population, the housing market is relatively stable and the growth therein has been relatively moderate. So the crash won't be as hard for us locally. However, in all of this it's easy to lose sight of the fact that with no credit, there will be no buyers in the mortgage arena. With no buyers, the inventories that already exist will start to get desperate. Add to that the people who are starting to get a little uneasy about that 5/25 ARM they refinanced under 2 years ago. 3 years doesn't seem such a long time now, and with the highest home inventories seen since 1988 coupled with fewer and fewer buyers, it's easy to see how lots of people are going to get screwed royally.
Be that as it may, in reading story after story about mortgage and banking institutions that are "in trouble" (to say the least), it's interesting to note how often the figures being thrown around are in the B-as-in-BILLIONs. It's easy to forget how much a billion dollars is for the average Joe, considering I will never in my life come anywhere near to a billion of anything, much less dollars.
So here's a few mind warping statistics on exactly how much a billion is:
- Starting the day you turn 30, walk around for 8 hours a day (every single day, no holidays!) handing out $600 bucks every single minute to strangers. Don't stop until your 40th birthday. You just spent a billion.
- Get a nice "six figure" job somewhere earning $100,000 a year. Now do that job for 10,000 years. You've just earned a billion bucks.
- Put a quarter every 30 seconds in that mechanical horse outside the grocery store and ride it for 3,800 years. You just spent a billion.
I think you get the point.


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Division of Pathology InformaticsSince its inception sixteen years ago, the Division of Pathology Informatics has grown to a nationally recognized informatics organization. The Division has core faculty from the Department of Pathology who direct staff and technical personnel from the UPMC Information Services Division (ISD), as well as the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI). Dr. Liron Pantanowitz is the Director of Pathology Informatics who has worked closely with ISD as well as the Department of Pathology to continue the activities which support clinical services, translational research, and basic research. Last year, the subdivision of Advanced Pathology Imaging was created under the leadership of Dr. Jeffrey Fine. Drs. Jonhan Ho, Doug Hartman, and Zoltan Oltvai serve as additional faculty.
Division Clinical ActivitiesThe Division maintains and develops cutting-edge clinical information systems to support anatomic pathology, clinical pathology, hematopathology, and molecular diagnostics. Over seventy percent of all the information generated in an academic or community hospital is derived from the activities of clinical and anatomic pathology. The Pathology Informatics Division manages this enormous flow of information and turns it into accessible knowledge for use by clinicians. The Division provides support to all clinical areas of the Department and many other hospital functions as well. In relation to Anatomic Pathology, this Division managed the installation and maintenance of CoPathPlus, highly integrated Lab System software that provides electronics sign-out, imaging and organization of reports from all areas of Anatomic Pathology and feeds them into all of the UPMC Electronic Health Records, including MARS and Power Chart. Gross images of tissue samples entering into the Anatomic Pathology laboratory information system (APLIS) generate recorded images that become available as needed during the final sign-out under the microscope. Microscopic images are also recorded and become available as part of the patient record. These images are retrievable and are routinely used as background information on the signing-out of cases from patients who have had previous hospitalizations.
For Clinical Pathology, the Division supervises the maintenance of Misys Sunquest, a highly sophisticated piece of software that coordinates the electronic data generated by a large number of machines and feeds them into the MARS, Cerner EHR, Emtek and EPIC databases. This data, in turn, is available for clinicians and researchers throughout UPMC. The Division serves as a beta-testing site for both CoPathPlus and Misys.
Anatomic Pathology Laboratory Information System (APLIS) Clinical ActivitiesThe APLIS staff supports, maintains, integrates and develops tools for use within the Division of Anatomic Pathology at all of the UPMC Health System Hospitals. In the past year, many tools were enhanced or added to CoPathPlus. These include, but are not limited to, voice recognition in the gross room, synoptic templates as data points, pathologist sign-out tool enhancements and integration of laboratory devices such as slide printers and external image conversion. CoPathPlus has been successfully installed at all of the major UPMC network hospitals with support from a central help desk.
Examples of some of the initiatives that were successfully completed included the complete integration of synoptic templates as data points within the CoPathPlus Database, an upgrade of CoPathPlus to version 3.2, HPV reporting at MWH, and related pending case alert tools. Many new enhancements were done to the APLIS website (restricted access), including creation of all Anatomic Pathology IT project updates, CoPath reports library, ongoing request for reports, online requisitions for APLIS issues, a Centers of Excellence Website, and over 60 online videos created by the APLIS team for ongoing CoPathPlus training and APLIS activities updates.
Research ActivitiesThe Pathology Informatics Division is actively involved in informatics, workflow and imaging research projects. Several modules used by CoPathPlus throughout the entire country have been generated by the activities of this Division. Current projects include developing Internet-based telepathology consultations, automation in the labs including bar coding in the anatomic pathology labs, supporting UPMC's multimedia Electronic Medical Record effort, extended epidemiology applications, patient isolation facilities for infection control, and developing state-of-the-art thin client systems for use in patient reporting over the Web.
The research programs of the Division are focused on next generation pathology reporting methods, imaging, and bioinformatics. The division continues to foster research and collaboration in informatics and has a prominent presence in the premier pathology and informatics organizations including APIII, CAP and USCAP. The APLIS team in the Department has provided multiple presentations on a national and local venue.
Telepathology offers multisite web conferencing systems for UPMC in Pennsylvania, five live and archived weekly web cast conferences, two live and archived monthly conferences, robotic microscopy systems (both dynamic and static), and many different imaging research options. These options include research in wireless WAN/LAN, IP telephony, whole slide imaging and automated image analysis.
The Imaging Program consists of the Whole Slide Imaging Lab and the Telepathology Lab. All systems utilize image enhancement, image analysis and telepathology software which were custom-developed at UPMC. Some of the major initiatives in the clinical imaging arena have been the use of whole slide imaging for clinical activities such as quality assurance and primary diagnosis. Major clinical trials were conducted in the last five years to evaluate the use of whole slide imaging and these trials are ongoing. We have successfully created large collection of whole slide images with annotations for resident and medical student teaching and training. Significant strides have also been made to deliver pathology gross images via Stentor. A department wide initiative for the last five years included the addition of remote robotic pathology and whole slide imaging stations at the major UPMC academic hospitals including Presbytarian, Shadyside, MWH, Children's and VA hospitals. This is an exciting era in digital imaging and we at UPMC have the resources and direction to continue to be the national leaders in this technology. Last year, telepathology was extended to UPMC East, Passavant and Horizon Hospitals.
Some of the current tools under deployment include Bar Coding, Telepathology, Whole Slide Imaging and Automated Image Analysis. Current research efforts include collaboration with Omnyx, a joint General Electric and UPMC venture, to incorporate digital imaging with whole slide imaging into the workflow of pathologist with the overall goal to digitize pathology. Enhancements in the lab information system (CoPathPlus) are underway to interface with digital pathology solutions that the new venture will produce. Several UPMC pathologists serve on the clinical teams of Omnyx. Other new informatics initiatives underway include development of customized digital pathology consultation portals. Last year, these portals were launched successfully to get consults from China from within the USA.
The Division is working with the Health Sciences Tissue Bank for the development and deployment of a customizable inventory system for tracking specimens, being developed at UPMC. This tool allows the HSTB to be able to track what tissues are banked at an institutional level rather than tracking them locally at each site. Work with continue with HSTB to install this application at all of their sites and integrating the inventory data with the organ-specific databases to further annotate the banked tissues. The division is also working with the ISD teams to deploy tissue banking informatics tools in the local environment included the newly developed Biospecimen Inventory and Operating System (BIOS).
Training ActivitiesDr. Liron Pantanowitz directed the Pathology Informatics course with participation from seven trainees and many faculty and staff from the Informatics Division. We will continue to work with the Department to further implement the many requests for enhancements and additions to the UPMC model of CoPathPlus so that it continues to meet all departmental user needs and to enhance productivity. The fellowship in Pathology Informatics continues to be successful with many high quality candidates applying for this fellowship. The faculty has presented workshops in informatics at major national and international pathology meetings. Dr. Pantanowitz is involved in teaching and administrative activities of the Association for Pathology Informatics (API), whose mission is to promote the field of pathology informatics as an academic and a clinical subspecialty of pathology. Both of them also serve as the Chief Editors of the Journal of Pathology Informatics.
National Organization SupportThe Division coordinates and hosts the Pathology Informatics annual conference. This conference is designed for academic and practicing pathologists and oncologists, researchers in biomedical informatics, residents, fellows, graduate students, computer support personnel and lab managers who are interested in learning how informatics is impacting and transforming pathology and oncology. Prior knowledge of informatics is not required.
The Division for Pathology Informatics maintains formal, active associations with the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center, the UPMC Information Services Division, the University of Pittsburgh's Department for Biomedical Informatics, the University of Pittsburgh School of Information Sciences, the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute and leading companies in medical informatics. The Division's faculty members have produced a significant body of work in pathology informatics and medical bioinformatics, including journal articles, invited presentations, and abstracts.
Selected Publications by Division Faculty in InformaticsDrogowski LM, Martina J, Parwani AV. Clinical examination and validation of primary diagnosis in anatomic pathology using whole slide digital images. Arch Pathol Lab Med. 2011 Mar;135(3):372-8.
Wiley CA, Murdoch G, Parwani AV, Cudahy T, Wilson D, Payner T, Springer K, Lewis T. Interinstitutional and interstate teleneuropathology J Pathol Inform. 2011;2:21 Singh R, Chubb L, Pantanowitz L, Parwani AV Standardization in digital pathology: Supplement 145 of the DICOM standards. J Pathol Inform. 2011;2:23. Epub 2011 May 11.
Pantanowitz L, Parwani AV, Khalbuss W. Digital imaging for cytopathology: are we there yet? Cytopathology. 2011; 22:71-72.
Smith MA, Roy S, Nestler R, Augustine B, Miller D, Parwani AV, Nichols L. University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Remains Tracker: A novel application for tracking decedents and improving the autopsy workflow. J Pathol Inform. 2011;2:30. Epub 2011 Jun 14.
Khalbuss WE, Pantanowitz L, Parwani AV. Digital imaging in cytopathology. Patholog Res Int. 2011;2011:264683. Epub 2011 Jul 19.
Kamat S, Parwani AV, Khalbuss WE, Monaco SE, Kelly SM, Wiehagen LT, Piccoli AL, Lassige KM, Pantanowitz L. Use of a laboratory information system driven tool for pre-signout quality assurance of random cytopathology reports. J Pathol Inform. 2011;2:42. Epub 2011 Aug 27. PMID: 21969923.
Park SL, Pantanowitz L, Sharma G, Parwani AV. Anatomic pathology laboratory information systems: a review. Adv Anat Pathol. 2012 Mar;19(2):81-96. PMID: 22313836.
Amin M, Sharma G, Parwani AV, Anderson R, Kolowitz BJ, Piccoli A, Shrestha RB, Lauro GR, Pantanowitz L. Integration of digital gross pathology images for enterprise-wide access. J Pathol Inform. 2012;3:10. Epub 2012 Mar 16.
Park S, Parwani AV, Satyanarayanan M, Pantanowitz L. Handheld Computing in Pathology. J Pathol Inform. 2012;3:15. Epub 2012 Apr 18.
Chen Y, Liang CP, Liu Y, Fischer AH, Parwani AV, Pantanowitz L. Review of Advanced Imaging Techniques. J Pathol Inform. 2012;3:22. Epub 2012 May 28. PMID: 22754737.


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We come back this morning to our study of Ephesians. Wonderful letter of the apostle Paul describing the doctrine of the church. And we're looking at the third chapter of Ephesians, the section from Verses 1 through 13. We're going to finish our look at that section so that we can move on in our next study next time. We've entitled this portion the revealing of the mystery. For those of you who have not been with us, we have been seeing the unfolding mystery of the church.
And the term mystery doesn't mean something that isn't understood it means something that is. Something that is now revealed that has been hidden from ages past. And one of the great mysteries that God reveals in the New Testament is the mystery of the church. That this is the body of Christ. A new thing, the church. Jew and Gentile, one in Jesus Christ. And in the church there are either Jew or Greek, a Greek nor Barbarian, bond nor free, male or female. All are one in Christ. And this is one of the wonderful realities of the New Testament.
It teaches the oneness of all believers in Jesus Christ. A great new truth, a mystery through all the ages past and now revealed. Now the church today suffers a lot of abuse. The church is criticized, it is maligned, it is attacked, people are always bringing to bear upon the church their own opinions and ideas of what the church should be or shouldn't be. The church really takes a lot of abuse.
But I think we have to realize that in the heart of the Lord Jesus Christ, the church has an especially wonderful place. Whatever we may think about it, the true church, the church of Jesus Christ possesses a place in his heart that is absolutely unique. For example in Ephesians Chapter 5 if you look for a moment in Verse 25 you read this. "Husbands, love your wives. Even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it. That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish."
Then Verse 29, "for no man ever yet hated his own flesh, but nourishes it and cherishes it even as the Lord the church." Now here we find that the Lord loves the church that he gave himself for the church, that he wishes to wash the church by his word to present the church to himself, glorious, that he nourishes, that he cherishes the church. Now all of these things remind us that the Lord has a special deep affection for the church. And by that I'm not talking about the structure or the organization or denomination or anything like that. I'm talking about the real church of Jesus Christ the body of blood bought, born again believers.
Christ loves his church. The church is very, very special. And that's why the New Testament goes to such great length to present to us the identity and the uniqueness and the whole theology of the church and then calls us to behave ourselves in a manner consistent with such a definition. Now backing up for a minute, look with me at the 16th Chapter of Matthew. The first time the Lord mentions the church we get a good idea of his feeling toward it.
Matthew 16 and Verse 16. And here we find Jesus mentioning the church for the first time and really opening up to us his heart for the church. And of course he's asking the disciples who they think he is and Simon Peter says in Verse 16, "thou art the Christ, the son of the living God." And Jesus answered, "said unto him" Verse 17, "blessed art thou Simon, son of Jonas, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my father who is in heaven and I say also unto thee that thou art Peter and upon this rock I will build my church. And the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it."
Now just pulling out several things that remained as a thought that we want to give. First of all we notice the statement, I will build my church. The church is his church. And he himself is the builder of it. The church is not built by men, it is not built by committees, it is not built by great individuals, it is not built by denominations. It is not built by money. It is not built by programs or methods; it is built by the Lord Jesus Christ. I will build my church.
And we find there what really we see also in Acts 20:28, "the church which he has purchased with his own blood." It is his church. He bought it. He built it for himself. And so we will say then that the church is built by him. It is built by him. Second thing, you'll notice that it says in Verse 18 "upon this rock I will build my church." And I believe the reference there is back to Verse 16. "Thou art the Christ, the son of the living God." The great statement of the deity of Christ is the rock on which the church is built.
Paul put it this way. Other foundation can no man lay than that is laid which is Jesus Christ. Secondly then the church is not only built by him, but it is built on him. It is built on him. He will build it by himself, on himself. Thirdly. He says, "The gates of Hades shall not prevail against it." He will build it by himself on himself mark this and for himself. In otherwords at no point will anyone take the church out of his control. It is for him that the church is built.
Not even the wise and crafty Satan shall be able to prevail against the church. It is invincible because he is invincible. It is unconquerable because he is unconquerable. So he will build it by himself on himself, for himself and no usurper will ever touch the church. And then I want you to look at Matthew 18, because I want to add something else. This is the second time the church is mentioned by our Lord. And he's talking here about discipline in the fellowship. He says in Verse 15, "if someone sins you go to them and two or three go to them and then take it to the church." And you know that whole area.
Then he comes to Verse 18 and this is what I want to emphasize. Matthew 18:18. "Truly I say to you whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall have been bound already in heaven. Whatsoever you shall loose on earth shall have been loosed already in heaven. Again I say unto you that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them by my father who is in heaven. Here's the key for where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them."
He built his church by himself on himself, for himself watch this of himself. In otherwords, Christ is here saying. That when the church comes together in an act of discipline, whatever the church does on earth he is doing in heaven. He is in agreement with his church. Where two or three are gathered there am I in the midst. Whatever you bind I bind, whatever you loose I loose. Whatever you ask, it is done. In otherwords, Christ is inseparable from his church.
It is therefore that Christ introduces the concept of the church by showing us how it is tied to him. He builds it by himself, on himself, for himself of himself. It is his church. And thus it is sacred, thus it is unique. Thus it is special. And that is one of the reasons that the spirit of God takes up so much time and space in the New Testament to define for us the theology of the church. Because it is such a unique and marvelous object of the love of the Lord Jesus Christ. And then you come to Ephesians.
And Paul writes a letter that gives us the theology of the church. The Book of Acts tells us the history of the church. The book of Ephesians, the theology of the church. And all of the rest of the books of the New Testament deal with the church as well. In Ephesians 1:22 and 23, the apostle Paul gives a statement which sums up Christ's relationship to his church. "Far above all principality and power and might and dominion and every name that is named, not only in this age but in that which is to come." That's Christ. "And to put all things under his feet and gave him to be the head overall things to the church." Listen to this.
"Which is his body, the fullness of him that fillith all in all." Christ is the head of the church. And he is expressing himself in the body since the body is the fullness of him. He is the head of the church and he expresses his very life through the church. The church is so unique. It is his church through which he expresses his life. It is to be Christ in the world. He is its head and through the body expresses himself.
And so beloved I simply say all of that to remind you that the church is so sacred. The church is the only institution Jesus ever left. That's it. The only one he built. And it's dear to his heart. And thus is incumbent on us to grasp what the Bible teaches about the church because it's him. It's the fullness of him that fillith all and all. We are that fullness, we are that church. We are joined to him inseparably and invincibly and eternally. We must understand and so for the first three chapters of Ephesians, Paul is giving the theology of the church as the fullness of Christ.
That every believer is in Christ. That every believer because he's in Christ is filled with all the fullness of God. That every believer because he's in Christ should be the expression of Christ in the world. That every believer because he's in Christ has all that Christ is. Literally pulsing in his body. The incredible reality that we are one in him. And Paul goes on to talk about in these three Chapters, Jew and Gentile, the barrier that was there, it's broken, the middle wall is torn down, the veil is pulled apart and Jew and Gentile are one in Jesus Christ. This is the church. Everybody one. No bond or free, no male or female, no rich or poor, no Jew, no Gentile, we're all one in Christ.
That's the great mystery of the church. You see in the Old Testament God kept the distinction among the nation. Israel was a special people. Very distinct, distinct rules, distinct regulations, distinct commandments identifying marks, all that's not there anymore. The church is the new humanity. That's Paul's message. And we need to understand it. Because in the last three chapters, he's going to tell us how to act. And in order to know how to act, we got to know who we are, right?
If I know who I am, I know what's expected of me then I know how to behave. And so three chapters of identity, three chapters follow behavior. This is who you are, this is how you live. Now. Paul closes this opening chapter with a prayer. Or rather this opening section with a prayer, Chapter three. He wants to pray that God will give to the readers understanding of the church. But before he starts his prayer really in Verse 1 of Chapter 3, "For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentile." And then he stops.
And the continuation of that thought is in Verse 14. "For this cause I bow my knees." You see he's about to pray. And he's going to pray oh God, I want him to understand. Oh God, I want him to know what it is to be a part of the mystery. I want him to know what it is to be in this church that you purchased with your own blood. Your church built by you on you for you. I want them all to understand but then he stops before he begins his prayer even in Verse 1. He says, but wait a minute, they'll never understand it unless I really give them all the information. So he stops in a parenthesis in Verse 2 to 13 and reiterates the great truth that the church is one.
Jew and Gentile, one body in Christ. This is the mystery he wants us to understand. And so we're looking at Verses 2 to 13. The mystery revealed. That everyone in Christ is one with everyone else in Christ. Beautiful wonderful and comprehensible mystery of unity. Something the Old Testament people never understood. Now let's go back very quickly to our text and mention the first two points which we've already covered.
First of all he begins by presenting the prisoner of the mystery. And in talking about the mystery he introduces himself in Verse 1 as the prisoner of Jesus Christ. He says, Verse 2, "I'm the one with the dispensation of the grace of God. I'm the one" Verse 3 "receiving the revelation, I'm the one who's writing it down so you can read it" Verse 4 "I'm the prisoner of the mystery God has called me to dispense this truth to you."
Now in the Book of Matthew, the whole church age is described as a mystery because it was hidden in the past. The Old Testament Saints never saw the church age, they saw Christ coming and setting up his kingdom. They didn't see this age in the middle. And so it's called a mystery. And in that mystery age of the church there are many other mysteries. The New Testament talks about the mystery of Inikili. The mystery of Christ in you, the hope of glory. They mystery of the incarnation. And the mystery of Jew and Gentile, one in the church.
They mystery Babylon, the terrible evil system of the end time. There are many mysteries in the mystery age. They whole age was hidden so everything in it was hidden from the past. But it's all revealed and the guy who got really used beyond anybody else to unfold all this mystery was Paul. He is God's man, God's special agent, the prisoner of the mystery. And the one great element that he was preaching here is the mystery the Jew and Gentile who were so separated with such animosity and such hatred and such bitterness are now to be one in Jesus Christ. That was the mystery he's dealing with here.
He was the preacher of that mystery. And because he preached it, he became a prisoner. Remember we talked about that? When he was in Jerusalem, they captured him and put him in prison because he was preaching the Jew and Gentile were to be one in Christ. By the time he writes Ephesians he's been a prisoner for over five years for preaching that mystery. When the Jews were so angry with him.
They didn't want to accept the Gentiles anymore than the Gentiles wanted to accept them. So we saw the prisoner of the mystery. Secondly and we're just reviewing what we already studied, we saw the plan of the mystery. Verses 5 and 6. In Verse 6, specifically articulated the mystery. Look at it. That the Gentiles should be fellow heirs of the same body partakers of his promise in Christ by the Gospel. This incredible thing, Jew and Gentile, the same, equally saved. Equally partaking. Equal members of the body of Christ.
Fellow heirs, that was his message. That was the plan. And it was all possible by the Gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ. God was making one new humanity. So the prisoner and the planning. Now thirdly let's come to the preaching of the mystery. The preaching of the mystery. We can't say everything that could be said here. In fact you're a better preacher if you don't say everything that could be said.
Now we're going to highlight some things. Let's look at the preaching of the mystery. Verses 7 to 9. "This thing which God planned needed a preacher and Paul says, 'I was the one.'" Verse 7. "Of which I was made a minister. This Gospel, this Gospel of the mystery of which I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given to me by the effectual working of his power. Unto me he said."
"When less than the least of all Saints is this grace given that I should preach among the Gentiles, the unsearchable riches of Christ." Now I'll stop there for a second. Paul says look, I'm the preacher. Got to have a preacher. You know in Romans Chapter 10 Paul is presenting the fact that Israel is responsible. That they had a zeal for God but not according to knowledge. That they were going about to establish their own righteousness and he always through Romans, Paul has sort of an imaginary Jew who argues with him.
In otherwords, he anticipates what the argument of the reader will be and so then he puts that argument in the text as if some imaginary Jew is arguing. So he is reasoning about the fact that Israel is really responsible and the imaginary Jew says, well how shall we hear? How shall we believe when we haven't heard? And how shall we hear unless somebody preaches and how shall there be a preacher unless somebody is sent.
In otherwords they're saying, you can't hold us responsible, we never heard. And we never heard because nobody ever preached and nobody ever preached because nobody was ever sent. Don't you know that the Old Testament says how beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good tidings, the Gospel of peace, etc. And the imaginary Jew is saying, you can't hold us responsible, we didn't have any preachers.
And Paul comes back in the next Verse by saying this. "It isn't the fact that you never heard, it's the fact that not all have obeyed." Not all have obeyed. "For you did hear. Faith comes by hearing a message about Christ," he says. You've heard those messages. It's not a lack of preaching; it's a lack of faith and obedience. Now Paul is saying the same here in effect. He's saying God knows that responsibility is based on hearing. And so God made me a minister to preach the mystery.
I was made a minister for the purpose of preaching the mystery. So nobody could say it wasn't given to them. Now I want to talk about this for a minute. First of all look at this. The word minister is the word deaconus which means servant. It means servant. It means waiter, busboy, that's it. Not even a very classy servant. Common run of the mill servant. And I think when you see yourself you say, well the Apostle Paul my word he should have been thinking of himself higher than that, no?
No that was just about as high as he was allowed to go. As you see, a servant by definition, now watch this is one who acts on the commands of another. Okay? By definition, a servant is one who obeys the commands of his master. And a servant is somebody who always recognizes a higher authority. And Paul knew that he acted only on the command of God that he was to obey his master's will and that he was subject to a higher authority.
He was only a servant. In fact in 1 Corinthians, he said, "Paul and Apaulus, Esephus, all the rest of us, what are we but servants through whom God has brought you the truth." 1 Corinthians Chapter 4, he said, let a man so account of us as of servants who ___ third level galley slaves in the bottom of a boat rowing. Nothing higher than that at best stewards of the mysteries of Gods. Stewards, somebody who doesn't own anything but manages it for somebody else.
He was always a servant, always a servant. Always a servant. He was literally shocked by the fact that God even allowed him to minister. In 1 Timothy he said, "I was before a persecutor, blasphemous injurious but he counted me worthy, counted me faithful rather, putting me into the ministry. I am who am chief of" what? "sinners."
It was always a conscious man that he was sinful. Never lost that objectivity. And look what he says. I was made a minister. I was made a minister. I receive the action; this is passive. It was done to me. I didn't ask for this. I was divinely called, divinely appointed. In Colossians 1:23, he says, "I was made a minister." Colossians 1:25, he says it again, "I was made a minister." Here he says it again, "I was made a minister."
He had this tremendous sense of call by God. In the 26th Chapter of Acts, he's talking to a gripa, the king and he's giving his testimony. He says at midday, "oh King I stood in the way of course and saw a light from heaven above the brightness of the sun shining about me and those who journeyed with me on the Damascus Road. When we were fallen into the earth I heard a voice speaking to me saying in the Hebrew tongue, 'Saul, Saul, why persecute us thou me, it is hard for thee to kick against the godes and I said, 'who art thou Lord?' And he said, 'I am Jesus who though persecutest, but rise and stand upon my feet for I've appeared to thee for this purpose.'"
Listen. "To make thee a minister, to make thee a servant." A servant, nothing more than a servant. I was made a servant and again and again and again as he writes his letters, he says, "Paul a servant of Jesus Christ." What made Paul a minister? Not his training, not his personal dignity, not his areadition, not his vocabulary, not his ability to talk, not his education, his abilities, his grades, his degrees, his desire, his power, his denomination, his affiliation, what made him a minister was God.
And I'll tell you one thing it's tough enough being one when God made you one that you sure don't want to do it if you didn't. That's part of the problem in the church today around the world. We got people in the ministry who aren't there because God put them there. They're usurpers, they're Coradathan and Abihues who have stepped into the ministry apart from the call of God and they're trying to function as a priest without a priestly office and they're affect is nill.
Worse than that it's negative because they wear the mask of the call of God. Don't ever enter the ministry apart from the call of God. Paul had a dramatic experience on the Damascus Road in which he was made a ministry. I've had a similar situation. I was as you know thrown out of a car and skidding along the highway and after all of that, the Lord said to me, I have chosen to make you a minister. Now not everybody gets the luxury of having a ride like that.
You may not get that clear kind of leading, but believe me, you don't want to enter the ministry unless it's clear enough so that you have absolutely not a shadow of doubt. And at best we're servants. Whenever you lose the objectivity of the fact that you are nothing but a servant, you're in trouble. And it's easy to get a sense of self-power, self-glory, you're the big shot, you're up there doing your thing and everybody's sitting at your feet. And boy Satan uses all that stuff to tell you how really super you are. And if somebody doesn't really appreciate you like he should, you know you start thinking my, don't they realize who I am?
All that I've given. See that's how Satan tempts. And then some other dear brother comes along and says, you're not so hot, there's a bunch of us who feel that way. And it just sort of settles you back down. We were servants from the very beginning. Paul and all those who minister for Christ. And we're in this because he called us. We have one task, obey orders, that's all. God doesn't want creativity; he just wants obedience.
Paul was made a servant. And when you lose that perspective in the ministry, you forfeit your power immediately. Look what he says there. He says, "According to the gift." It was a gift. A gift not only a gift, but a gift of the grace of God. It wasn't even earned; it was gracious. Graces unmerited favor. It was given to me. Then look at Verse 8. He says, "Is this grace given that I should preach?" Again he says a gift and then he says it was given twice, he says he's a servant.
You see there was nothing that he did, nothing that he could have done, nothing that he earned in any way, shape or form. He was a minister because God made him a minister. God had to have somebody to preach. And God chooses who his preachers are going to be. Now as long as he kept that mentality, look at the end of Verse 7. "There was the effectual working of divine power." Divine power works in the servant's heart. But as soon as the person who is the servant of God begins to think of himself as more than that, he forfeits the power.
You see God will release his power to flow through his servant as soon as I begin to exalt myself, glorify myself, lift up myself, do my own thing, I'm not serving God anymore. I'm competing with God. And I forfeit his power. And it's over. And that's the end of my ministry. Now with the crowds may still come and the people may still show up, but there's no power.
And as I told you last week, that's the thing I fear in my own heart. You see that I would know what I do so well that I would just do it without God. And forfeit his power. And so I've asked God to make me a servant, give me a servant's heart. So that I know that I am what I am by the grace of God. I can't ever lose the perspective that I'm a sinner. That I am a sinner who is unworthy of such a calling. If I ever lose that perspective, the power is gone. Because then I lose my dependence you see.
And so Paul says I'm a servant by grace, a gift of God. He made me a minister and as long as I see myself Verse 8 "less than the least of all saints, then I will know the effectual working of his power." You see what keeps the power flowing is the humility that is expressed in Verse 8. When you get to think you've arrived, you're in real trouble. You just lost your power. But Corinthians you know, that's what happened to them. Boy they had it all and lost it. They were impotent.
Humility is what maintains the servant's heart and that's what lets Christ rule my life and flow his power through me. And sometimes I'm not willing to pay that price. And sometimes you're not either. All we want to covet a reputation, we want to covet honor, personal charm. We want to use our forcefulness to sway people to our opinions. And we get ourselves in the way of the power of God. And as soon as the heart is filled with self ambition, as soon as its filled with self-glory, then I've lost a servant's heart, humility is gone and the power is cut off.
It's all over. Paul says, look, God has called me to preach. And as I see myself less than the least of all Saints, boy that's real humility. I know I'm a sinner; I haven't arrived. Always bothers me when somebody comes along and says, well I've had the second work of grace and I don't sin anymore. Boy you're going to have a tough time convincing Paul of that. He was less than the least. He was the chief of sinners. The mystery that God would ever let him preach. He never understood. And what did he preach? What was his message? What's my message? What's any message of any preacher? Let's look at it. The end of Verse 8. "That I should preach among the Gentiles the" what? "Unsearchable riches of Christ." Now listen beloved this is going to give you some insight into the ministry.
What are the unsearchable riches of Christ? They are all the truths about him. And all that he means to us. And a long time ago I committed myself that this is the priority of the ministry. To preach the unsearchable riches of Christ. And what does it mean? It means to tell people how rich they are in Christ. And that's why I always talk about preaching the believers position. I'm not here just to browbeat you and make you feel bad and exhort you and club you and tell you to shape up and all that. I'm here to tell you how rich you are.
I believe I've been sent by God like Paul and every other man of God to preach the unsearchable riches of Jesus Christ. Unsearchable means unfathomable, untraceable, can't be measured, there's no bottom. And so I can have the joy of just telling you how rich you are. If you're a Christian, you are rich. Believe me you are incredibly rich. That's my task as a minister a servant of Jesus Christ to tell you. In fact Paul says in 1 Colossians "that God had called him to preach and God wanted him to make known the riches of the glory of the mystery among the Gentiles." He wants me to make known the riches of the glory of the mystery. The mystery is the church. You're in the church; there are riches. And you need to know how rich you are. And so great part of the preaching of the word of God must be declaring to people the riches of Christ.
And don't try to follow me; I'm just going to suggest some things just to make one point. You don't need to get all the verses down. But Ephesians 1:7 says, "His grace is rich." Romans 2:4 says, "His goodness and patience are rich." Romans 11:33 says, "God's wisdom and knowledge are rich." Ephesians 2:4 says, "His mercy is rich." Ephesians 3:16 "his person is rich." 1 Timothy 6:17, "his blessings are rich." Colossians 2:2 "his assurance is rich." Colossians 3:16 "his word is rich." Hebrews 11:26, "our suffering for him is rich." Ephesians 3:18, 19, "his love is rich."
And that's just a few. We got to preach the riches. Ephesians 1, Verse 7, "we've got to talk about the riches of his grace." And they're all ours. They're all ours. And Paul prayed in Ephesians 1:18 "that the eyes of our understanding would be enlightened, that we would know the hope of his calling and the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the Saints." And so Paul says, "I've been called to preach the riches."
I'm not just here to tell you what God wants you to do, I'm here to tell you what he's already done for you. I'm here to tell you that you've been blessed with all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus. I'm here to tell you that you're complete in him. I'm here to tell you that you have all things that pertain to life and Godliness.
You're rich. And I'm here also to tell you something else. You say, well how come you get negative sometimes? How come sometimes you talk about sin and all that stuff? Well because I'm also here to tell you how you can lose your riches. You can forfeit them you know. The Corinthians did. And Paul said to them in 1 Corinthians 4:8, sarcastically he said, "Now you are full, now you are rich." And they were just the opposite. Pride ambition, self-will, self-glory, sin made them paupers.
That's like, they didn't lose their bank account; they just lost their checkbook. The resource was all there. They just couldn't draw it. I can tell you you're rich on the one hand, but on the other hand, I got to tell you also you can forfeit access to those riches, can't you? Remember the church in the Book of Revelation? "You forgotten with all that you possessed that you're really poor and naked and blind."
And so the ministry then is to preach the riches unsearchable and to warn that men not forfeit those riches. Why are there so many defeated and inept unhappy doubting, anemic, fearful non-productive Christians? One they don't know how rich they are or two they can't use their riches because of their sin. Now that is the minister's task in the vertical area. The riches we have from God. Let's go to the horizontal in Verse 9. Paul says, "The second part of my ministry is to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery. Which from the beginning of the ages, hath been hidden in God who created all things by Jesus Christ."
God the creator has hidden this mystery. He says that so many times just so you don't miss it. The whole mystery has been hidden and what is the mystery? It's the mystery of the church. It was hidden from the beginning of the ages, it's now revealed. And what does Paul want us to understand about the church? He wants everybody to see the fellowship it says here of the mystery. But the word is not cononea, it's not the Greek word fellowship, it is oykinambia, which means dispensation.
It is the word for stewardship or dispensation. And here's what Paul is saying. I am not only preaching to you the vertical, the unsearchable riches of Christ, but I want to teach you all about the dispensation of the mystery. Or the church age, so that you'll understand the ministry on a horizontal level that the church is required to bear. And so the ministry has those two things. We teach about the relationship to God and we teach about the ministry to each other and in the world.
Those are the two things that make up the preaching. You could take every sermon I ever preached and fit them into those categories. Everything I ever say is either talking about our relationship to God the unsearchable riches, what he's done for us and maintaining the flow of access to those riches or its about how we minister or how we are to live or what we are to be in the world in terms of the dispensation of the mystery of the church.
We are to preach the church. And we are to preach the unsearchable riches of Jesus Christ. And I'll tell you that's those are two things that I committed myself to do when we first went through this book eight or nine years ago, that I would teach you your position in Christ who he is and all that he has to give and all that he is to us and how you can forfeit that through sin. And on the other hand, that we would teach you the function of the church, the churches history. We went through the Book of Acts, the churches future. We went through the Book of Revelation, how we are to live in the church.
We've gone through all the spiritual gifts and ministries. Because that's the preaching of the mystery. The mystery hidden in the past and so Paul says, the preaching of the ministry two things, the unsearchable riches of Christ and the dispensation of the church so that you understand what the church is. So we see the prisoner of the plan, the preaching of the mystery forth and this is really unbelievable. We see the purpose of the mystery. The purpose. What is it all for?
Well look at this in Verse 10. "To the intent or for the purpose that now" present tense "right now under the principalities and powers and heavenly places." Who are they? Who are the principalities of power? Angels. Those are terms used of angels. They are used in Chapter 1, Verse 21 to describe angels. They are used in Colossians to describe angels. They are used in the sixth chapter of Ephesians to describe fallen angels. Principalities in powers the rulers of darkness, spiritual wickedness in high places. All of those are terms for the ranks of angels.
Angels are ranked and categorized and catalogued. If you want to study that you can get our little tape series we did on angels. It will tell you all about it. And he is simply saying this. That the purpose of all of this preaching, the purpose for which God made the church was so that the angels might know the manifold wisdom of God. You see it there? Verse 11. "According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord. What was God's eternal purpose? Why did he make the church? Why does he want Paul to preach this mystery? Why did he call out the prisoner of the mystery? Why did he give the plan of the mystery in order that the purpose might be fulfilled which was that the angels might see the wisdom of God by looking at the church.
Now listen to me. This is it folks. All things were made by him and what? For him. Everything that God has ever done has as its ultimate end to give him glory. Okay? The reason for the church is not just to save people. That's a means to an end. That's a nice benefit. But the reason is so that the angels will see this incredible miracle of the church and they will glorify the wisdom of God and God is worthy of glory, right?
We began our worship this morning when I read you 1 Chronicles 16, "Give glory unto the Lord your God." That is the theme of the entire universe. The church is not a purpose in itself. The church is not an end in itself; it is a means to an end. And the end is that God will be glorified and God will be glorified in the unlimited praise of the angelic hosts. You say well how can a fallen angel praise him, they can't.
But God gets glory by the wisdom that is manifested in the church because the demons see how stupid they ever were to disbelieve God and turn their backs on him. And he's glorified in reverse. That God is glorified by the wisdom manifest in the church. Listen, the angels can see the power of God in creation. The angels can see the wrath of God at Mt. Sinai. The angels can see the love of God at Calvary, but God says they're going to see my wisdom in the church. That God could take diverse male, female, bond, free, Jew, Greek and he could melt down all the walls and blend them together in an indivisible oneness all one with himself. One with the father, one with the Son, one with the Spirit, one with every other believer that God could do that kind of miracle of salvation is a wonder beyond wonders of wisdom and causes the angelic host to give him glory.
And even the demons who would want to destroy the church can't destroy it. And their very frustration is a glory to God. Now people the angels are checking out the church. Did you know that? They're watching us. Because God told them to watch us. To see how wise he is. The more we fulfill God's plan, the more they praise God. Now if you think you're some puny little pusilitimus insignificant little dot down here, you're wrong. You by your life you by your ministry within the church, you by your relationship to other believers, can present a testimony to the very angels that will cause them to give God glory.
The angels are watching me and you. They have a very great influence. In fact 1 Peter 1:12 says, "This whole deal of salvation, the angles search into." You remember reading that. They're searching into it. In Luke 15:10 it says when one person is saved, the angels what? Rejoice. They're checking it out. Do you know that they even watch this local church? In fact they're very concerned about the women in this church. They are very concerned. In 1 Corinthians 11, Verse 10, Paul says that "the woman ought to have authority on her head because of the angels." What are you saying there? Well you see in those days, a woman showed her submissiveness by her hair, remember that? He showed her submissiveness by her hair.
And he's saying the woman should have the kind of hair in that culture, our culture's a little different today but we have other ways of showing submissiveness, but "a woman should show her submissiveness in the church because of the angels." The angels are checking out the church to see if the women are submissive. Isn't just for the husband's benefit gals. The angels are checking it out. And when the angels see the beautiful harmony of leadership and submission, love in the church, unity in the church, men and women rightly related at a beautiful equality in Christ and yet distinct as God has designed them, they praise God for such wisdom.
When the angels look down and see a church where women are fighting for the same rights that men have, they have nothing for which to be thankful. There's no source of praise. So they are checking the church out. In 1 Timothy Chapter 5, Verse 21 he says, "when you discipline, discipline elderp before everybody, and rebuke them and I charge you to do this before the elect angels." The angels are watching the church discipline, the angels are watching the relationships in the church, the angels are watching to see who gets saved. The angels are looking at the whole operation. And they're even concerned for every individual. Hebrew 1:14 says that "Angels are ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who shall be the airs of salvation." For every believer, the angels are ministering and concerned and caring.
You say, well what are they going to find out looking at us? They're going to see the multi-colored, ______ the multi-colored wisdom of God. So God is the teacher, the universe is the classroom, the angels are the students, the church is the illustration and the lesson is wisdom. And when it's taught well by a church that is what it ought to be, the angels glorify God.
Beloved if you can't get your act together for your own sake, and you can't get your act together for somebody's else's sake in the church, could you at least get your act together for the angels sake so that they can glorify God? So we see the purpose, finally. The prisoner, the planning, the preaching, the purpose of the mystery and then at last the privileges of the mystery and we'll stop with this. The privileges of the mystery listen Paul came along preaching as the prisoner of the mystery. He told us about the plan of the mystery. Throughout the history of the church, men have been preaching this mystery. We know now the purpose of it.
And now Paul has a final word about the privilege. Do you know what it really means to be a part of this? Verse 12. "In whom Jesus Christ our Lord in whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him." When we put our faith in Jesus Christ, the privilege of being in the mystery is this. We can go walking right into the presence of the eternal God with boldness. Is that great? Can you imagine what this was to a Jew to hear this?
A Jew who believed that only once a year did anybody ever enter God's presence? The high priest would go in there, he'd hurry in and he'd hurry out. Nobody but nobody ever did that. And all of a sudden, Paul says, I want you to know it's a new day folks in the mystery it isn't like Israel of old; it isn't like the veil and the holy of holies, and the holy place and all of that stuff. It's now different. In the new mystery, the church, we all have instant access; we go with boldness and access with confidence into God's presence.
I don't know about you but it's great to know that God and I are on those terms, right? That's the privilege of the mystery. Full access, full confidence you won't be rejected. We have every right to go to him as a sympathetic high priest in a time of trouble and know that we shall find grace. Hebrews 4 says, "what privileges." And finally Paul closes this little last doctoral part in 13, he says, "wherefore." So listen, if the mystery is so wonderful and the privileges are so incredible, I desire that you faint not at my tribulations for you which is your glory. You see Paul was around preaching the mystery and being a prisoner of the mystery and unfolding the plan and trying to help fulfill the purpose and he was telling everybody the privileges and some of the Christians were sitting back saying, oh, poor Paul, he's always in jail.
And he says, look, when you understand this incredible truth, of what it is to be in the church and what privilege it is don't faint at my tribulation. It's worth it to get the message out. See? It's your glory I mean it's bringing glory to you, it's bringing you the very glory of God. Don't worry about me being a prisoner, don't faint because I'm going through all kinds of difficulty, it's worth it. It's worth it. And there we are right back at the servant's heart again, aren't we?
He always felt that way whatever it cost me to get you the message is a cheap price. Don't worry about me if I'm a prisoner, if I'm beaten, if I'm stoned, don't worry about me. Don't faint at my tribulation; just get the message. It's worth it. Do you feel that way? Are you willing to spend everything you have? Like he said to the Corinthians; are you willing to be spent to get somebody the message of the riches? Of the unsearchable riches? Are you willing at any price make sure everybody understands the fellowship, the dispensation, the stewardship of the church? Are you willing at any price to get him the word?
Are you willing to give, to pray, to go, to talk, to preach, to teach. Paul was. This mystery is good news people, good news. God calls on us to declare, now let's pray. What we really went over today, I don't know how we got full in so long. Father we thank you, for giving us the time to do that. For talking to us by your Spirit. We pray Lord that you would in a special way minister to our hears personally in the application of the things we've studied and we'll praise you in Jesus' name. Amen.
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Don't panic, we'll get through this together. Let's explore our options here.
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Moderator: Cartographers
cairnswk wrote:Good start pamoa... i was looking at this battle some months ago but decided to leave it go for a while....glad to see someone (U) have taken it up. Also glad to see it keeps some line with Waterloo -> cavalry attack range is two.
Emperor_Metalman wrote:Good start, but I'd recommend adding more territories
Lone.prophet wrote:looking good, but to get ineterest maybe make clear where in the world this is.
mibi wrote:I am not really feeling it.It's too complex to be able to dive into, and too small for the complexity lovers to enjoy.
pamoa wrote:Lone.prophet wrote:looking good, but to get ineterest maybe make clear where in the world this is.
I can work on that !mibi wrote:I am not really feeling it.It's too complex to be able to dive into, and too small for the complexity lovers to enjoy.
Does that mean you think it would be better to be like Waterloo with 123 territories as Emperor_Metalman suggested ?
Emperor_Metalman wrote:adding villages to the map is a good idea, but there should be an autodeploy bonus for each village. Also, there should be artillery that can bombard like in the waterloo map.
MrBenn wrote:I'm not sure if 120 is too many... I'd prefer something around the 60-80 mark...
pamoa wrote:Well it seems that everybody who voted, except me, think it should be a VLM (very large map). If so, it would be a completely different map and I may need time to make a decent proposal for such a monster!
pamoa wrote:Thanks for your point of view ZeakCytho, but as I told before I'm trying to stick to some "real" order of battle so my choice is between around 30 territories or 120. But 120 is a bit over the top, so I'll stay around 30.
I will follow MrBenn suggestion by adding the 3 villages where they were heavy fighting: Pratzen (centre) Skolnitz and Telnitz (south). So their will be 32 starting position + 2 neutrals.
TheShiningSun wrote:At Austerlitz the order of battle wasn't constant as you had numerous divisions moving especially on the coalition side as they tried to overwhelm the right flank, and then of course you had Napoleon's charge down the centre of the coalition which broke all the ranks, so perhaps if you chose a point in the middle of the battle for example as Napoleon is beginning to make his famous charge you could increase the number of territories. Just a thought
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I am flattered to have been asked by Kristine Haglund, editor of Dialogue (an independent quarterly established to express Mormon culture and to examine the relevance of religion to secular life) to review Edwin Firmage Jr.'s article "Light in the Darkness: Embracing the Opportunity of Climate Change" published in a recent issue of Dialogue. Here goes...
As a blogger who writes about the environment from an LDS perspective, it will not come as a shock that I enjoyed reading Mr. Firmage's article. The article rises above the rhetorical banter that is ever present in discussions of climate change. The author skips debating about the reality of climate change, and jumps straight to discussing the implications of climate change. This will, no doubt, infuriate the climate change skeptics and deniers. The article is not for them. Rather than trying to convince the unbelievers, Mr. Firmage's essay is a challenge to religious communities to step up and seize the opportunity that climate change presents:
"Indeed, it is in addressing [climate change]...that churches will find a moral purpose and a relevance that they have lacked now for many years."
The quote above gives some clue that Mr. Firmage is writing from the perspective of a lapsed Mormon, though one who appears sympathetic to the LDS Church. He is also quite the Biblical scholar. In the first third of the article the author gives a lengthy discussion on the theme of "Zion," found throughout the Old Testament. For the remainder of the article, he contends that because religious communities have a tradition of seeking Zion and rigorousness, that they are the best hope for starting the collective action required to address climate change.
Some quotes that give a flavor of the author's thinking:
"The biblical paradigm of Zion is a way of life that knows contentment. It's a way of life that is at peace with the world..."
"Our way today seems to me to embody precisely that worship of the self and of the selfish that is the great sin in biblical thinking..."
"If there is any hope for our civilization, it is the hope that inspired the biblical tradition of Zion."
As I see it, the heart of the conflict surrounding climate change can be understood by examining (stereotyping?) the first principals of those entrenched in the issue. For some people, collective action is the panacea that will cure all of the world's ills. For others, collective action is ripe for abuse and necessarily limits personal freedom. Thus, depending on one's perspective, climate change is just another problem that needs collective action, or it is a excuse to remove personal freedom. By proposing Zion as the model for addressing climate change, Mr. Firmage suggests a solution that may appease both camps:
"Standing against [selfishness and idolatry] is the biblical concept of Zion, the good society that embodies our deepest aspirations for individual and social transcendence."
"And the scope of the intended redemption is universal: government, religious life, and civil life as well as individual behavior must all be transformed."
I too see that the Zion longed for in religious communities is the key to addressing climate change. Zion requires that we collectively solve the problem of climate change, and that we solve it without abusing individual freedom. Zion also tempers the individual shortcomings of greed and selfishness that are the cause of climate change.
I believe in religion. After reading this article, I have new hope that society will embrace religious concepts as relevant and powerful vehicles for addressing the world's problems. After all, even Mr. Firmage, a secular environmentalist, sees church as the answer:
"Looking at American society, the only place I see communities that could rally around the idea of Zion is our churches."
Amen Brother Firmage.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Review of "Light in Darkenss: Embracing the Opportunity of Climate Change" by Firmage
1 comment:
- coltakashi said...
Ed Firmage Sr. was my mentor in law school. I appreciate your thoughts on his son's article.
I would be interested in getting your feedback on my short essay in Mormontimes.com concerning the concept that our stewardship for the earth was initiated by our pre-mortal participation in the creation.
--Raymond Takashi Swenson
- April 14, 2011 at 3:14 PM
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