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MONTPELIER — State and local officials on Thursday formally announced e-Corp English's plans to grow in Middlebury and confirmed details of a state aid package that helped woo the English-language training company to Addison County's shire town.
The company's plans, first reported by the Addison Independent, call for an initial work force of 35 workers to locate next year in a vacant 6,700-square-foot space at 1197 Exchange St. Deborah Schwarz, founder and president of e-Corp English, hopes to expand that work force to more than 100 within the next three years.
ADDISON COUNTY — In today's international food system, a consumer can get a pound of bananas grown in the tropics at any grocery store for under a dollar. But a local potato? That's something the average consumer has to do a little work to find.
To the Addison County Relocalization Network (ACORN), however, change is imminent.
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BRANDON — Café Provence chef Robert Barral and Line Barral will buy the downtown Brandon building that houses the restaurant and expand their business plan.
Robert Barral confirmed last week that he and his business partner are buying the Café Provence building on Center Street and will transform the larger space downstairs into a private dining room and state-of-the-art kitchen for cooking classes.
BRISTOL — According to town officials, after 125 years of active duty, Holley Hall was in need of a little relief. The renovation project began in 2008 and was completed last month. It rehabilitated the historic building and updated the space to meet the current needs of its inhabitants.
"It was not a delightful space," Town Manager Bill Bryant said. "The needs had just really changed."
BRISTOL — The Mount Abraham Union High School girls' basketball team made a promising debut on Saturday when the Eagles showed dominating defense and patient offense on the way to a 36-8 win over visiting Randolph.
Mount Abe forced 22 first-half Randolph turnovers before Coach Connie LaRose called off the press, and six Eagles scored to give Mount Abe a 15-0 lead before the Ghosts managed their first points at 5:08 of the second quarter.
MIDDLEBURY — Emily Blistein had spent most of her adult life as a student, lawyer and advocate for women in crisis.
But last month, at age 31, she decided to dramatically shift gears and pursue another one of her passions: Collecting well-made, vintage things and sharing them with the public.
A wide variety of those things — including caned rockers, glass ornaments and fragrant soaps — can be found in Blistein's new store "Clementine," located at 58 Main St. in Middlebury.
MIDDLEBURY — A surging company offering English instruction to corporate professionals throughout the world has picked Middlebury as the spot in which it will expand its operations and bring as many as 100 or more good paying jobs to the area by 2013.
The company, called e-Corporate English, provides intensive language training and coaching in-person, online and over the phone. It was launched in 2007 by Deborah Schwarz, an entrepreneur, foreign language expert, and past attendee of the Middlebury College Language School's summer programs (in Russian and Chinese).
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DebianOn is an effort to document how to install, configure and use Debian on some specific hardware. Therefore potential buyers would know if that hardware is supported and owners would know how get the best out of that hardware.
The purpose is not to duplicate the Debian Official Documentation, but to document how to install Debian on some specific hardware.

subset: commoncrawl


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Squier Vintage Modified Telecaster Deluxe Electric Guitar Black Maple FingerboardProduct #H84286 Squier H84286 AAG Solid Body Electric Guitars https://www.esnapw.com/rses/ESnapServlet?MerchantNumberSent=63655 false true true
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An affordable classic that's ready-to-rock with dual humbuckers and medium jumbo frets.
For the first time ever, Squier introduces a Vintage Modified Telecaster Deluxe guitar armed with Fender-designed Wide Range humbucking pickups. An acclaimed and time-honored Fender innovation, the Wide Range humbucking pickup delivers incredibly full tone and lends even more vintage-style authenticity to this model. Other features include a maple neck and fingerboard with 21 medium jumbo frets and vintage-style tuners.
Players have done it for years. Whether installing hotter pickups, different pickguards or just plain personalizing their instruments with distinctive paint jobs, modified means adding new twists to familiar designs. Squier's Vintage Modified series excels at just that, imparting hot-output chop-shop sound, feel and value to traditional instrument designs.
- C-shaped maple neck with vintage-tint gloss finish
- 12-radius maple fingerboard with 21 medium jumbo frets and black dot position inlays
- Fender-designed Wide Range humbucking pickups
- Three-way toggle pickup switching, four black skirted amp knobs (two volume, two tone)
- String-through-body bridge with six stamped saddles
- Vintage-style chrome tuners
Add a Tele with the sound of dual humbuckers to your arsenal. Order today.
Vintage Modified Telecaster Deluxe Electric Guitar Specifications:
- Body: Basswood
- Body Shape: Telecaster
- Body Finish: Gloss Polyester
- Series: Vintage Modified
- Neck: Maple, "C" Shape
- Fingerboard: Maple
- Finger Board Radius: 12" Radius (305 mm)
- Frets: 21, Medium Jumbo
- Scale Length: 25.5" (64.8 cm)
- Nut Width: 1.650 (42 mm)
- Hardware: Chrome
- Tuning Keys: Vintage-style chrome
- Bridge: Chrome string-through-body Telecaster with six stamped saddles
- Pickguard: 3-Ply Black/White/Black
- Pickups: Wide Range Humbucking Pickup (Bridge), Wide Range Humbucking Pickup (Neck)
- Pickup Switching: 3-Position Toggle: Position 1. Bridge Pickup, Position 2. Bridge and Neck Pickups, Position 3. Neck Pickup
- Controls: Volume 1. (Neck Pickup), Tone 1. (Neck Pickup), Volume 2. (Bridge Pickup), Tone 2. (Bridge Pickup)
- Strings: NPS, Gauges: .009, .011, .016, .024, .032, .042 Incl. Accessories: Wrenches: 1.5 mm, 4 mm
- Unique Features: Wide Range humbucking pickups, black skirted amp control knobs, black dot position inlays, Belly Cut, gold-and-black Squier logo


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21st November 2013 – The medicines regulator has announced that all manufactured herbal medicines will have to be authorised before they can be sold in the UK.
After the end of April 2014, retailers will no longer be able to sell unlicensed herbal medicines that are not registered under the Traditional Herbal Registration, or THR, scheme.
Until now, old stock of unregistered products has been able to be sold.
THR registration doesn't mean herbal products have been proved to be effective, but it does mean they meet safety and quality standards. They also have to be sold with patient information about how the product should be used and any warnings.
Registered products can be identified by the THR logo and a THR number.
In a statement, Dr Linda Anderson from the MHRA's Licensing Division says: "Natural doesn't always mean safe and some unlicensed herbal products can be harmful and some may have serious side effects.
"It is now nearly 10 years since the implementation of the European Directive on herbal medicines. Companies have had this time to bring products up to appropriate standards and apply for a THR registration. "
Consultations with herbalists
The THR scheme does not cover face-to-face consultations with herbalists and practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine. The Department of Health is working on plans for them to allow them to continue their trade providing they join a register.
In a statement, a Department for Health Spokesperson says: "The regulation of herbalists and traditional Chinese medicine practitioners has been a matter of debate for over 10 years. In February 2011 we announced our intention to regulate these practitioners, and since that time we have been working through the issues involved, including with other UK governments.
"As a result of the complexity of the outstanding issues, a working group is being established to consider matters relating to patient protection when using unlicensed manufactured herbal products, increasing the use of herbal product licensing to minimise risk to consumers, and to consider how best to ensure these products do not cause harm to consumers.
"We must make sure that whatever approach is taken addresses any potential risks to consumers as well as the needs of practitioners."//


text: Powder is like an addiction for many of us. We're willing to drive or hike way too long to reach it. And once we're in it, the rest of the world disappears. We can be freezing, dehydrated and malnourished, but we wouldn't even notice because we're floating along in deep, untouched snow. Such was the case when I sat in the car for five hours to get to Colorado's Wolf Creek Ski Area so I could take advantage of a recent storm. Unlike the rest of the Southwest, where the snowpack has been anything but stellar this season, Wolf Creek is up to its goggles in fluffy stuff. The ski area is located in a strange weather pattern where it always seems to be snowing. When it's blue skies for the rest of us, Wolf Creek is getting pounded. It's not only known for its deep snow, but also for its extensive sidecountry terrain where skiers have the opportunity to hike out of bounds to access some steeper runs that stay fresh longer because they're not serviced by a chair lift. With a truck full of all-mountain gear designed specifically for such terrain, I was pumped on adrenaline like a little kid on Christmas when I pulled into the parking lot with a long day of freshies in front of me. Let the testing begin... Line Influence 115s Thanks to these bad boys, I had one of my best ski days in recent history. I'm normally a telemarker, which makes me graceful but inefficient, and I normally can't unlock the full power of a traditional downhill ski. But with my heel fastened into the Influence 115s ($750), I felt like Superman. With just enough rocker in the tip to ensure they plowed above the deep stuff, and a nice fat 115cm midsection to keep the rest of the ski floating as well, the Lines were designed for hard-charging powder days. They're built with a maple core, which provided the dampness I needed to jump off a cornice and proceed to rip through a series of big, sweeping deep-powder turns. But down in the trees, where things are tighter, the skis also responded well. They deliver plenty of pop, so I could bring them around fast enough to not ruin my day by hitting a tree. The skis have a traditional camber underfoot, which means that as the day went on and the runs bellow got packed down, I didn't hate my life. The skis is designed to hold an edge on the harder stuff too, so they can easily become your daily drivers, and you won't have to invest in multiple pairs of skis for variable conditions. WIRED Fat enough to kill the pow on even the deepest days. Stable underfoot so you can rip steep lines or tight trees. Versatile enough that this can be your only ski. TIRED I'd haul them into the backcountry, but it would be a workout. Not friendly on ice. Rating: 9 out of 10Photo by Jakob Schiller/WiredDPS Wailer 99 Pure The real standout feature of DPS' Wailer 99 is its low weight. Built with a shitload of carbon, it's 30 percent lighter than other skis in its class. For those who like to ski the backcountry or the sidecountry, that's great news. I only got to ski the Wailers in a little sidecountry, but let me say this: It would be my ski of choice in the New Mexico backcountry, or anywhere devoid of chairlifts where you have to haul your own butt to the snow. Too often, I'm so whooped from the uphill that the downhill isn't much fun. Not anymore. Because the Wailers are so light, I'd have no problem skiing them along the miles and miles of skin tracks it sometimes takes to reach the good stuff. And unlike other weight-watcher skis, performance doesn't takes a back seat. The Wailer Pures killed it in the powder and on the steeps, giving me the confidence I would need to navigate the kind of terrain we like to pick off in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Like the Influence 115s, these are also meant to fill out a one-ski quiver -- they're still responsive, hold a nice edge, and are plenty of fun in-bounds. The problem with these skis is that they'll break the bank. I know carbon is expensive, but what kind of ski bum can afford $1,250? WIRED Even the weaklings will have the stamina to bring them into the backcountry. Just as much fun on the groomers as they are in the trees. Fun to look at. TIRED You'll be scraping under the couch cushions for extra change to pay for your bindings. Bright orange isn't your color? Too bad. Rating: 7 out of 10Photo by Jakob Schiller/WiredRocky Mountain Underground Apostles I chased the Rocky Mountain Underground guys around for a month trying to track down a pair their Apostle skis ($805) for this test trip. I finally connected with the company's product rep on New Year's Day in Pagosa Springs, outside Wolf Creek. Instead of sleeping in and enjoying what was a holiday for most people, the RMU rep got up early that morning and braved the snow-packed roads to deliver these puppies in my hands. And I'm glad he did, because they were a lot of fun. Like the Influence 115s and the DPS Wailer 99 Pure, these are made to excel on powder runs, but they perform well all over the mountain. Rocky Mountain Underground calls this ski its "Swiss Army Knife." The versatility of the Apostle comes from its shape -- five different widths along the length of the ski form five separate contact points with the snow. Certain parts are utilized in hard pack, and other parts come to life in soft snow. Sure enough, they floated in Wolf Creek's sidecountry powder, and brought me back to the base safely on the groomers with a fair amount of traditional camber. WIRED Designed to keep you happy on all snow types. You'll be the cool kid because you have an obscure brand to show off. TIRED Too heavy for long backcountry tours. A lot of ski, so you need to know what you're doing. Rating: 8 out of 10Photo by Jakob Schiller/WiredDynafit TLT Radical FT Bindings None of my fun would have been possible without bindings and boots. The biggest standout were the Dynafit TLT Radical FTs ($600), which have developed a cult following. They're alpine touring bindings, which means you can unlock your heel when you need to skin up a trail, and then lock the heel back in when you want to shred down. Dynafit has shaved a lot of weight off the TLTs, making them very light when compared to more traditional alpine touring bindings. That might lead you to think they're weak (and they certainly don't look very sturdy) but they're remarkably tough. They steered my fattest skis through deep snow, and I'm sure they'd keep you locked in as you stick a rough landing off a cliff. WIRED Super light, super strong. Heel locks and unlocks, letting you navigate the backcountry terrain with ease. TIRED Not completely intuitive. Pricey. Rating: 9 out of 10Photo by Jakob Schiller/WiredScarpa Maestrale RS Boots Specifically designed for a matched fit with the Dynafit bindings are these Scarpa Maestrale RS boots ($700). Like most alpine touring boots, they're uber-light, so they don't weigh you down when you're earning your turns. I realize it's a cliche, but they were so light, I forgot they were on (Really! OK, not really, but you get the point, they're very light). I never once wished I had a heavier, more traditional downhill boot. The icing on top is that they have a great walk mode. There was so much flex when I walked around in them at Wolf Creek that I started dreaming about testing them on some longer backcountry tours. WIRED Light, light, light. Still pretty stiff and tough -- I got as aggro in them as I would in a heavier boot. Comfy, even when walking around the resort. TIRED A little hard to get on and off. They're priced to match your crazy-expensive bindings. Rating: 9 out of 10Photo by Jakob Schiller/Wired


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Well, this is our kitchen for now, while two very talented guys repair the rotten floor underneath our real kitchen. It�s like camping, except, OK, with electricity.
Well, this is our kitchen for now, while two very talented guys repair the rotten floor underneath our real kitchen. It�s like camping, except, OK, with electricity. There�s a microwave on the other side of the fridge and the obligatory coffee and tea station on the table in the other room. My husband was practically gleeful when he got the hotplate burner because it seems he�s always wanted one. Go figure.
Week one has been easy. Salads, chili, soup, pancakes on the electric griddle. The biggest problem is remembering to hold the plastic cups when pouring stuff in them. It�s really irritating when they skid away and you end up pouring milk on the dog�s head. Not that she minds, but still.
But as the weeks stretch out, we�re going to have to get a little more creative � not grilled cheese on an ironing board creative, but something beyond sodium-laden cans of food and mini pizzas. We gladly accept the challenge. The trouble with thinking small, so dishes will cook correctly in the toaster oven, is the lack of leftovers. My husband, who takes his lunch to work every day, lives for leftovers. He�s famous in our circles for his enthusiasm for getting an extra meal out of our potlucks and dinners out. In fact, our friends sometimes give him their doggie bags, just to see the glee on his face.
So, I�ll have to blow the construction dust off the slow cooker and make some larger meals too. I can brown meat or vegetables on the hotplate and chop ingredients on the dining table. It�s all about flexibility � and leftovers. And while dinner simmers away, I can go wash the dog because she smells like sour milk.
1 pound of dry navy beans
3 Tbs. olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
3 carrots, peeled and diced
4 cups vegetable broth
2 bay leaves
4 sprigs fresh parsley
1 sprig fresh rosemary
2 tsp. fresh thyme (stripped off stems)
Juice of one lemon
1 large baking potato, peeled and diced
Place the navy beans in water and soak 8 hours. Drain and rinse. Place beans in slow cooker. Heat olive oil in a saut� pan over medium heat and saut� the onion, garlic and carrots about five minutes, until garlic is just turning brown. Pour broth into pan and scrape up any brown bits. Pour the ingredients over the beans in the slow cooker. Add the bay leaves, parsley, rosemary and thyme. If ingredients aren�t fully covered by liquid, add some water. Cook on low for seven hours. Add lemon juice and potatoes and cook for one more hour.
Serve with freshly grated parmesan.


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I'm not entirely sure what the average score on CC is. All players start at 1000 points, but new recruits who dissappear usually lose more games then they win, so the actual average will be higher. The below assumes that the average point total is 1000. Because the actual average is higher, the winpercentage needed to maintain your score will be lower, and the point total on which you should stabilize will be higher, but they should make the idea clear.ksslemp wrote:On my way to playing all the maps from A-Z. Holding a 55 winning percentage and have lost almost 400 points so far.
If this doesnt make you see that the scoring system is screwed up, well then you're pretty f'uckin' dense!
You have a score of 2500. Those scores express that if you play a game against an opponent with 1000 points (the assumed average), you are expected to win roughly 6 games for every game they win. If you don't hold a winning percentage of 85%, you don't do as well as your score implies, meaning that your score is likely higher then it should be and you should lose points.
If you maintain a win percentage of 55% in 1v1 games, and the average opponent you play has a score of 1000, the score that actually reflects that you win 55% of the time is 1100.
Based on the data you have given, you are ranked far higher then your actual results say you should, even after the 400 point loss. So why are those 400 points lost an indication of a screwed up system?
Or a minimum won of 1 and a maximum lost of 100, as we currently have?JefJef wrote:A minimum of points won and a maximum lost.
Say 10 minimum per player win and 30 maximum per player loss.


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As we come tonight to a time of study of the Word of God and as we prepare ourselves for the Lord's table in a few moments, I want you to open your Bible once again to the sixth chapter of John. I was just telling Chris Mueller that I had really intended this originally to be a twopart series, two messages that I would do on two Sundays, but the first time we did it we had a visiting children's musical and I wasn't left very much time. And so it sort of turned into a short one, a long one and then a couple weeks off and here we are again, kind of approach. But I do want to complete what we began in John chapter 6 on the subject of divine sorrow over spiritual defection. I think, and I regret, that perhaps it's lost a bit of its impact in our minds because of the time involved, but I trust in the future as it goes out on tape it will have the continuity of those who listen to these sequentially.
John chapter 6 provides for us a very good illustration of the problem and the characteristic of spiritual defection. We took as a key verse a verse near the end of the chapter, verse 66. Now that verse says, "From that time, or that point, many of His disciples...that is the disciples following Jesus...went back and walked no more with Him." Spiritual defection, disciples who defected. This is not the only place in Scripture where we find out about such things. We are reminded of the parables of the soil and those soils where there seem to be life, there seem to be interest in Christ. And after a little while, when pressure and tribulation came, the sun of persecution came out, they were scorched because there was no real root and died. We are reminded of that soil filled with weeds and when the true seed would have been able to grow and bring forth fruit, it was choked out by the weeds in that life being the cares of this age and earthly riches and such things.
We are not unmindful of those who are exhorted in Hebrews chapter 3, not to abandon the day of salvation, not to move away from the things they know to be true. We are reminded of those in 1 John 2:19 who having known in their minds the truth rejected it, walked no more with the truth of Christ but left. And John writes of them and says they went out from us that it might be made manifest they were never of us.
The reality then of spiritual defection is something that Scripture deals with from the beginning of the history of Israel right on through the close of the book of Revelation. And ever and always such spiritual defection causes sorrow to the Lord. And in this particular chapter, chapter 6 of John's gospel, as clearly as anywhere we can sense the pathos of the heart of Christ as He deals with spiritual defectors. And though it does not say specifically, I believe in this particular incident is very likely that Jesus Himself wept tears over the anguish of His own soul in seeing spiritual defection.
Now as we look at the chapter, we ask the question: what marks a spiritual defector? What do we look for and how do we identify someone who appears to attach himself to Christ but then defects? And all of us have experienced such people, all of us if we've been Christians for any length of time at all. What marks a spiritual defector?
First of all, we said in verses 1 and 2 that it tells us that a great multitude followed Jesus, verse 2. And we noted that spiritual defectors are attracted by the crowd. They are attracted by the crowd. The truth is, and I say this not as a matter of absolute fact but as a sort of formulating opinion, I believe there are more likely to be spiritual defectors in a large church than in a small one where there is sort of a bandwagon mentality, or there is sort of an attractiveness because of the diversity of options. A church like ours that provides all kinds of social contacts, all kinds of recreational opportunities, all kinds of music opportunities, and many many kinds of relationships and conferences and seminars and camps and trips and so forth provides, I think, a more attractive lure to a person who is not genuine than, for example, a very small church with very limited resources where a person might only go in search of that which was truly representative of the mind and heart of God. So I don't want to say that as an absolute fact, but it seems to me that since these people tend to follow after the crowd, we might be more prone to experience spiritual defection than some others.
Secondly, we noted in our last study that a spiritual defector is fascinated by the supernatural. There is a mystery about Jesus in John 6 that draws the crowd, verse 2 says, "Because they saw His miracles which He did on those who were diseased." The spiritual defector tends to be the person who is attracted by the crowd and fascinated by the promise of a changed life or miraculous intervention by God or miraculous success in his business or miraculous success in his social life or his relationships with others, or even in the area of peace and joy. He's looking for something that's going to come from outside his little world, maybe a supernatural intervention to change things from being the way they are to being the way he'd like them to be. These are the thrillseekers. And you remember they followed Jesus. They saw the miracle that day, verses 11 and 12, He fed them, He gave them all that food. That fascinates the defector. You don't know that he's going to be a defector yet but certainly he is attracted usually, not always, by the supernatural fascination. It seems in the New Testament that these kind of people always wanted more miracles, more signs, more wonders and on many occasions even asked Jesus please if He would accommodate them by performing what they wanted.
The third thing he mentions and we saw this in verses 14 and 15 is that the spiritual defector tends to think only of earthly things. They were in verse 14 convinced that Jesus was the great prophet mentioned by Moses in Deuteronomy. In Deuteronomy, Moses was given the revelation of God that there would come that prophet, that great prophet who would bring truth into the world. And that prophet would be the Messiah, that great anointed one. Here they are convinced that Jesus is that prophet. But instead of worshiping Him, verse 15 says, they wanted to take Him by force to make Him a king. They wanted to force Him to overthrow Rome and provide free food on a continual basis. They wanted to push Him, in other words, into their own earthly enterprises.
The spiritual defector is the person who is attracted by the crowd. He's attracted, more fascinated by the supernatural promises of Christianity. And he shows up with one thing in his mind or her mind and that is to see if Christ might not deliver what he or she wants in this earth. If it's joy or peace or happiness, or bliss or a meaningful relationship, or success, or prosperity or whatever it is, they seek the fulfillment of those earthly things. And, of course, Jesus answered that in His conversation with Pilate in John 18:36 and 37 when He said, "My Kingdom is not of this world." But these people have no sense of the spiritual, no sense of the eternal, no concern for the divine plan of God. They want here and now what Jesus can deliver and if Jesus doesn't deliver it, they're not going to hang around. It's all in the here and now.
Fourthly we saw the spiritual defector also has no desire for true worship. In the incident beginning in verse 16 and running down to verse 21, Jesus walked on the water, came into the little boat with the disciples finally. The incident ended with worship because Matthew 14 recording the very same incident in verse 23 says, "And they worshiped Him." And here we have set in contrast to the false worshipers the true disciples who worshiped the Lord Jesus Christ. Sham believers never do that. They're not interested in worship, they are basically self centered and religion for them is strictly utilitarian. It is strictly a matter of pragmaticism, what is it going to benefit me? There is no awe, there is no wonder, there is no adoring praise. They are not interested in true worship.
Fifthly we saw that the spiritual defector is a seeker of personal prosperity. We've already hinted at that in terms of the idea of their desire for earthly things. This expands it a little bit more. Beginning in verse 22 going all the way down to verse 27, all they have in mind is personal prosperity, all they have in mind is what they want. What can I get from Jesus? And here it had to be food. As I told you last time, life for them in that agricultural society basically was taken up in trying to earn their bread. They had not the sophisticated options that we have today, in a society that most of us have absolutely nothing to do with producing what we eat. We simply go down and buy it or pay somebody to feed it to us. Those people literally lived to eat. And the idea or the prospect of free food would have given them total vacation the rest of their life. And so, when they thought Jesus might provide that, they sought after Him, verse 26, strictly for the loaves, strictly for the loaves. And in verse 27 He reminds them that they are ignoring the eternal and they are hankering after that which perishes.
Typically a spiritual defector comes around Christ, Christians and Christianity and the church to seek out personal prosperity. There is no thought of worship. There is no concern for heavenly things, eternal things, divine things. There is a fascination with the supernatural and what it might mean to them. And there is certainly the attraction of the crowd and all these people who seem to be happy and have found something meaningful in their life but there is that underlying seeking of personal prosperity that dominates the thought.
That leads to a sixth characteristic or mark of a spiritual defector, he makes demands on God. He makes demands on God. Beginning in verse 28 was the demand for power. They said, "What shall we do that we might work the works of God?" And they're just like Simon in Acts 8 who wanted the miracle power of Philip and he said, "Here's some money, I'll buy that magic, I want that power." And there are those people who demand power from God. They seek the miraculous. They seek the supernatural. They want God to give them the power. That's why they line up, as I mentioned to you, in the meetings that are held by people like Kenneth Hagan and Kenneth Copeland and Fred Price in this area and others who preach that kind of doctrine. And they demand that God give them power so they can be prosperous, so they can be effective in attaining their goals.
The second thing this crowd demanded in verse 30 was the demand not only for power but the demand for proof. "They said therefore to Him, What sign do You show us then that we may see and believe You? What do You work?" Well how ridiculous, He had just fed maybe as many as 30 thousand people, He had created food in His own hands for them, they all not only saw the miracle, they all ate the miracle in a very personal appropriation. But still they're saying, "Prove Yourself...Prove Yourself, show Your credentials." And this is something, believe me, that the church has always had to deal with with those people who are forever seeking proof. It is not faith to seek that. People say, "You know, if you believe God He'll do a miracle, if you believe hard enough He'll do a miracle. If you don't doubt He'll do a miracle." There are people out there trying to screw up all their faith and sort of force God to do a miracle. That is not faith, that is doubt looking for proof. That is not faith. There are those people who want God to top the miracle that He did last time to show His credentials, to pressure Him to do more just as these people wanted Jesus to perform better than Moses. They reminded Jesus that He only fed them one meal and Moses had fed the children of Israel for all their duration in the wilderness with manna from heaven and Jesus turned around and remind them that Moses didn't feed them, God did. Moses just organized the collection process.
Then in verse 34 they demand something else. First they demanded power, secondly they demanded proof and thirdly they demanded provision. They said, "Give us this bread. You've got some kind of special bread that's going to make us so satisfied we won't hunger anymore, give it to us...give it to us." It's a very grasping response to Christ. He is referring, of course, to the bread of heaven, the eternal life that's in Himself. He is offering Himself to them. They don't understand that. They say, "You've got some kind of bread that causes people never to hunger, give it to us on our terms, powerful bread to end our hunger." Very self seeking.
And you see the selfseeking spirit in all these things. So the shallow disciple, the spiritual defector makes demands on God to perform at their command, give them power, give them proof, give them provision. We want what we want when we want it. It's very much like a spoiled child...with no patience, no sense of submission.
And then in the seventh place the spiritual defector, and this is very important, seeks no personal relationship. The spiritual defector is not interested in a personal relationship. Do you remember from verse 35 to 40 we talked about this. Notice how many times in verse 35, "I am the bread of life...he that comes to Me shall never hunger...he that believes on Me," note those personal pronouns. Verse 36, "You also have seen Me," and you should believe but you believe not is implied there. In verse 37, "Him that comes to Me." Verse 38, "I came down from heaven." He is the bread and what He is saying is that you must come to Me, believe in Me, commit your life to Me, receive Me. Verse 41 kind of sums it up, "I am" is repeated again, "the bread." The Jews, of course, were murmuring that He said that.
But the idea here is everything in terms of what Jesus has to offer is connected to a personal relationship. You receive Him, not His teachings, you receive Him. I had someone say to me this week and well meaningly, when I asked the person if that person knew Jesus Christ, the response was, "I've had a religious experience...I've had a religious experience." I said, "You have? Well, what was it?" "Well, one time I was up north in a certain place and all of a sudden I was spiritual transported to Southern California and I...and this was very sincere...and I found myself in a certain place, recognizing everything, and seeing things in that place that were not there the last time I saw that place but were there the next time I saw that place so I know I was really there. And that was a spiritual experience. So I really believe God is with me cause I've had a spiritual experience."
To which I replied, "Do you know what that spiritual experience means?" "No." I said, "I do. It means nothing. It means absolutely nothing in regard to your relationship to God. It means nothing. I don't even know what it was. Maybe it was a dream. Maybe it was a hallucination, maybe it was demonic. You have no indication that it was God and there's no content to it." No, we're not just looking for a spiritual experience.
A young man said to me this morning, going through the line in the visitors reception, he said, "I've been going to a different church and I came to visit your church today but," he said, "it was nice but your church isn't as spiritual as the other church I've been going to." I said, "Really?" He said, "No, they're more spiritual." I said, "Well, what do you mean by that?" "Well, I'm not sure." I said, "Well what did you want out of church? What did you come for?" He said, "Well, I want to learn about God." I said, "Well, this morning with us did you hear things about God? Did you learn some things about God?" "Yes." And he said, "Well, I wanted to...I wanted to understand...I want to understand the Bible." I said, "Well, did I help to explain a little of the Bible to you?" "Yes." I said, "Well, what do you want?" He says, "Well, it wasn't much of an experience." And I said to him, "Well, you keep coming and maybe you'll get into it."
If you want an experience, go to a boxing match. You can laugh and cry and feel pathos and suffer vicarious pain. You can agonize, you can scream. You can throw your arms back and go into a dead faint if you want, if all you want is an experience. Go to a basketball game. I mean, if you're looking for a feeling, if you just want to emote, go to a funeral and just cry or go to a party and laugh, but don't equate that with a genuine living relationship with Christ, it may not have anything to do with that.
Personal relationship...but you see, the spiritual defector is not looking for a personal relationship, that isn't the issue. The true disciple seeks a personal relationship. Defectors, they have no...no desire for a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, that is very threatening to them.
So, the spiritual defector is drawn by the crowd, fascinated by the supernatural, thinking only of earthly things, he has no desire for worship. He seeks personal prosperity therefore makes demands on God and seeks no personal relationship. Now that brings us to where we ended. And let's pick it up just briefly at verse 41.
The eighth mark and this may be not always the case but is very often the case, he speaks privately against the truth. He speaks privately against the truth. It's been my experience, and I think it's the understanding of spiritual experience on a pretty wide basis, that people who come into the church seeking what they can get out of Christ who don't get it may continue to play the game in front of the Christians but they begin to down play and criticize and mock the church when they get outside. Verse 41, of course the Jews then...there's that conguzo word means to mumble or murmur, speak privately, quietly, mumble, murmur, grumble, a mocking tongue. The Jews mocked because He said I am the bread that came down from heaven, how ridiculous. They laughed to scorn. "Is not this Jesus the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that He says I came down from heaven? We know He was just a child just like every other child." And they scorned the truth.
"Jesus answered and said to them, Stop your murmuring among yourselves." You see, He shattered their hope for free food and they were upset and once Jesus doesn't deliver, people begin to turn. There was no desire for repentance, there was no desire for faith. They just wanted...they wanted to dine basically on the husks of earth fit for the pigs and not the sweet bread of heaven, to put it simply. So when they didn't get what they wanted they mock.
That's not the way it is when someone truly comes to Christ. So they mocked. And Jesus said, verse 44, "No man can come to Me except the Father who has sent Me draw him and I will raise him up at the last day." And there we have that same most interesting thing where Jesus in almost wanting to explain their unbelief leans on God's...what?...sovereignty again and says almost as if to say oh well, after all they couldn't come except the Father draws them. I mean, it's almost a way of saying, "Well there is an answer to how they could reject Me, there is an explanation to how they could say no. There doesn't seem to be any reasonable explanation but there is and that is they couldn't come any way unless the Father drew them. And if the Father drew them they would come and they would stay and I would raise them up at the end." He doesn't argue with them. He doesn't say, "Well if you're going to insist let Me do a few more tricks..let Me do a few more wonders." He doesn't say that. He just returns to His confidence in God's sovereignty. He says, in effect, water won't flow up hill, bitter fountains don't yield sweet water, evil trees don't bear good fruit. And without sovereign calling grace, nobody can come any way. And again He leans on the sovereignty of God.
But it is typical I think of a defector to speak evil against a church. I've experienced that many many times. People come and, boy, they want to cash in on the crowd and they want to see what God will do and they come with their agenda for God to perform. And when God doesn't perform the way He ought to, they begin to mock. And...the words come back to me on many occasions about people who came for a while and then begin to speak evil against the ministry because it didn't deliver all the little things they had on their list.
A defector is also marked, if you're keeping score this is number nine, a defector is also marked because he has no hunger for divine reality...divine truth, no hunger for that. Look at verse 45 which is really a quote from Isaiah 54:13 but a representative quote from many prophets, Jeremiah, Joel, Micah, Zephaniah, Malachi, they all taught the same thing and this was common among the prophets. And so it is written in the prophets and Isaiah 54:13 is quoted as representative of those prophets. "It is written in the prophets and they shall all be taught of God, every man therefore that has heard and learned of the Father comes to Me." You see, He says those who come are the ones who have been taught of God, they've been taught of God. That's a beautiful phrase. It is equal to being drawn by the Father. Verse 44, "The Father draws them." Verse 45, "The Father teaches them." It's as if to say all that the Father draws He teaches and all that He draws come and all that He teaches learn.
So, true disciples come to Christ and they love the Word. They have a hunger for divine reality. Elections drawing is connected to divine truth coming through the Word. And so we can ask the question very simply, if your heart...ask yourself this, what is the longing of my heart? Is the longing of my heart a hunger for the bread of the Word? If it is then that is the mark of a true disciple. If that is not the hunger of your heart, if the hunger of your heart is for personal prosperity, personal gain, self aggrandizement then that's characteristic of a spiritual defector and when you don't cash in you'll be gone....you'll be gone. Mark it. Does your heart hunger for the Word? Is the bread of heaven enough? Is it enough for you to be drawn by the Father and then to be taught by God? To hear the truth and learn it, is that the deepest cry of your heart?
And someone comes to me....recently I got a letter from someone who said, "I'm leaving your church because I want to go where I can go and have an experience." I understand that. Some people want to be taught of God, some people want to have an experience. And when they're not feeling what they would like to feel, they're not getting what they want to get, they're gone. I understand that. And I guess, in a sense, you know, I feel badly about that, but in another sense we believe the priority is the Word of God.
Look at verse 46, "Not that any man hath seen the Father except He who is of God, He hath seen the Father." In other words, in verse 45 He talked about learning of the Father and He wants to be sure that nobody thinks that there is a possible way to see the living God so He just sort of adds the footnote, no one has ever really seen the Father except He who is of God, He has seen the Father. And He sees Him through the eye of faith. Christ is the one who reveals that everlasting life of God in Himself. God communicates through His Son. So the point of this little area of the text that I want you to see is that where you have true faith you have a desire or a hunger for spiritual reality. When you have sham faith and where you have a defector there is not the interest in teaching, there is not the longing to see God, to know God, to commune with God through His Son. "Verily, verily...verse 47 says...I say to you, he that believes on Me has everlasting life, I am that bread of life, your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness and are dead, this is the bread that comes down from heaven that a man may eat of it and not die." And then in verse 51 He says it again, "I am the living bread." And He keeps offering Himself to them but that's not what satisfies their desire. They're not hungry for Him. They're not hungry for spiritual reality. They're just not. There's no desire to appropriate. There's no desire to take in divine reality.
To add to that, may I also say, if you want to put number ten on your list, the spiritual defector has no deepfelt hunger for true salvation. He has no deepfelt hunger for true salvation. Look at verse 51 again. "I am the living bread that came down from heaven, if any man eat of this bread he shall live forever and the bread that I will give is My flesh which I will give for the life of the world." And there He speaks of His death. "If one will believe in Me," He says, "and in My death for the sin of the world, and will take Me into his life personally, like eating bread, he will have eternal life." Some people will look at Christ and they'll sniff the bread a little, they'll admire it, they'll analyze it, they'll philosophize about it, they'll eulogize it, they'll handle it, they'll even say it's excellent but they'll never know what it means to have eternal life until they eat or personally appropriate Christ by faith, till you receive Christ personally into your own life.
But some people have no deepfelt hunger for true salvation. They have no real hunger for spiritual reality, they're not interested in the truth of God. They can take it or leave it, they can come to church or not come to church as far as the message is concerned. They can complain if it gets longer than ten or fifteen minutes. They're not interested in spiritual reality. They would never read the Bible on their own, they might go to a Bible study because they think they might get something out of it to meet their personal agenda and list of things. But they're not going to study on their own, they're not going to search for spiritual reality, they're not going to long to know God, they have no hunger for true salvation.
So, verse 52 says, "The Jews therefore argued among themselves saying, How can this man give us His flesh to eat?" And they mocked that showing their abysmal ignorance. "What is He teaching, cannibalism? This is ridiculous. How is He going to...how is He going to give us His flesh?" This shows you how thick they were. They couldn't even understand the metaphor in His language. Obviously He wasn't talking about His physical flesh because in verse 51 He said, "The bread that I will give is My flesh which I will give for the life of the world." Did they think He was silly enough to assume that He had enough flesh to feed the whole world? Of course He didn't mean that but in their spiritual thickness they couldn't understand what He did mean.
By the way, that's been one of the major errors of Catholicism through the years. The Catholics have misinterpreted this passage to severely through the centuries that they actually believe that in the communion service transubstantiation takes place and the wafer and the cup literally become the actual flesh and blood of Christ. And the world of people who partake of that are literally eating that miraculously transformed flesh and blood of Jesus Christ. And I think they have the same inability to understand divine truth who proffered that doctrine as those listeners did on this particular occasion in John 6. He is not talking about that, that is obvious. What He is talking about is personal reception of Himself, personal appropriation.
Follow His thought in verse 54. "He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life." He's not talking about cannibalism. He's talking about one who accepts My incarnation, that's the flesh, and accepts My death on the cross, that's His out poured blood. This is, in a sense, an allusion...with an "a" not an "i"...an allusion, that is alluding to His incarnation and His crucifixion. You must accept that God came in human flesh and died on the cross. And the one who will accept that, who will eat that truth and take it in, I'll raise him at the last day and implied, just as I'll raise Myself from the grave, for My flesh is food indeed and My blood is drink indeed and He that eats My flesh and drinks My blood dwells in Me and I in Him.
Just as when you take in...listen...when you take in food it becomes you, have you noticed? It sure does. That's the work of amino acids. It doesn't matter what you eat, it comes out you. You can take in any kind of food. It can be vegetable, it can be mineral, it can be animal, you can take in chicken and you don't grow feathers you just get more you. And that's the work of your amino acid system. And that little picture of science is our Lord's analogy. When you drink My blood and eat My flesh, that is you take in My incarnation and you appropriate My death, you literally become one with Me. Isn't that a marvelous thought? I become you. That's why Galatians 2:20 says, "The life which I live I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me." That's why Galatians 2:20 says, "It's no longer I but Christ living in me." And I receive eternal life and I receive resurrection life and I will be raised at the last day when I personally appropriate Christ.
And He says it again in verse 57, "As the living Father has sent Me and I live by the Father, so he that eats Me, even he shall live by Me." You receive His life, the very life of God. Take Him into your life and receive life, the life of God, eternal life, resurrection, oneness with Christ. Incredible things. This is that bread which came down from heaven. It's not like the manna your fathers ate, verse 58 says, and they're dead. You eat this and you'll...what?...you'll live forever. You understand His words, don't you? Not so hard.
Salvation is relationship, beloved, that's what He's saying. It is the exchanged life, it is taking Christ in. It brings me eternal life, resurrection life, divine life, one with Christ. But Jesus is saying that to them and they're not interested. Verse 59 says He was teaching these things in the synagogue, they weren't interested in this. You see, it's a very basic thing, only the hungry eat...only the hungry eat. The defector is not hungry for spiritual righteousness. The defector is not hungry for salvation. Why? He's full of the world and he's full of himself and he has all the answers and he is selfsatisfied, fed with the food that perishes and the idea of the bread of life is absolutely ridiculous to him.
Let me just talk about that concept of eating for a moment, before we wrap this up. The concept of eating is a very graphic figure to express personal appropriation of Christ. Let me tell you why. First of all, eating is necessary if I am to derive the advantage of the bread that it is intended to give. I can smell bread, I can look at bread, I can like bread, I can squeeze bread but it isn't going to do a thing for me until I...what?...till I eat it. The same thing is true of Christ. You can admire Christ from a distance, you can kind of poke around say, "Isn't that wonderful, isn't He beautiful, isn't that great, boy, I sure believe in Him, that's a great thing." But not until you take into your own life and receive as your own Lord and Savior the living God in human flesh and accept His death and resurrection on your behalf do you appropriate the advantage that the living bread is intended to convey. So eating is a very apt analogy.
Secondly, eating is always responding to a felt need...a felt need. That need is called hunger. And let me tell you something, there is nothing as wonderful as eating when you're hungry, it is wonderful. And I'll tell you something else, there is nothing as repulsive as eating when you are not hungry, and I have experienced that in my ministry where everyone, when you go somewhere, feels they want to feed you the fatted calf...breakfast, lunch and dinner. And when you are still carrying around by late evening what you have not been able to swallow since morning and they want to feed you again, it really is repulsive. And I often liken that to the person in the world who has no appetite for things divine. You can't stuff it in them, there's no appetite. But when a sinner loves his sin, when a sinner is stuffed full of the world, stuffed full of the flesh, full of the food that perishes, the thought of true bread is ridiculous, repulsive, nauseating, he mocks it, he distains it, he pushes Christ away. It's not until a man is broken over his sin, awaken to his lost condition, his purposelessness, not until a man or woman senses his void, his loneliness in front of God, the gnawing hunger of his soul that cries for salvation, it's not until he experiences that that he will eat eagerly the true bread. And so what we're doing in that sense is as we carry the message of Christ we're looking for hungry hearts, aren't we? So eating is an apt analogy for that reason, because it's responding to a felt need.
Eating also does imply appropriation. Food is taken in and it becomes us. And eating also is personal. You can't have someone eat for you. If I could have done that years ago I would have because I get so busy I sometimes don't have time to eat. I've thought about asking someone to eat for me, but I really don't think it will work too well. I have to do that myself. I have to do that myself, no one can do that on my behalf. So when the Lord selected eating as the analogy here, He really selected a marvelously rich analogy. Christ is the living bread. If we are to derive anything from that it must be taken into us, that by faith we receive Him as Lord and Savior, the one who lived for us, died for us and rose again. That will only occur when we are hungry for that. It only will benefit us as we literally appropriate the life of Christ in us so that He becomes one with us and that must be done personally, it cannot be done on our behalf by anyone else. And so, the spiritual defector is not interested...not interested. He has no hunger for such bread. And if you try to give him that, he usually leaves.
Well, those are some marks. Let's see the response in verse 60. "Many therefore of His disciples when they heard this said, This is a hard saying, this is difficult, many of His learners," by the way, these are not necessarily true believers as we will see in verse 66, "they said this is hard." By that they mean it's objectionable. This is offensive. What is offensive about it and what's hard? I'll tell you what it is, very easy, Jesus is saying I am it spiritually, I and I alone am the source of spiritual life. And they're saying, "Wait a minute, that's objectionable. And then to accept Your flesh and Your blood, that is objectionable." They didn't like the narrowness of what He said.
Oh, they were attracted by the crowd, and they were fascinated by His miracles, and they couldn't think of anything in this world that they wouldn't like to have Him give them, but they had no desire to worship Him, adore Him, they sought only personal gain, they wanted to demand whatever He could give them. There was no desire for relationship. There was no hunger for spiritual reality. There was no felt need for repentance and salvation. There was no interest in His death for sin. And so, in verse 61 Jesus sensed their response and when Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples, now you can't make that word "disciple" mean anything more than a follower, true or false here, when He knew inside of Him by His omniscience that they were grumbling at this, He said to them, "Does this offend you? Don't you believe I came down from heaven? Don't you believe I alone am the bread of life? Don't you believe I am the one and no one else who can satisfy the cry of your heart?"
Verse 62, "What if you see the Son of Man ascend up where He was before?" In other words, if I just take off like a rocket and go back to heaven, will you believe Me then? If I go back to heaven, will you believe I came from heaven? And that is an interesting statement because that is precisely what He did, right? In His ascension but not before the eyes of any but His own disciples who were true believers. So in verse 63 He says, "It is the spirit that gives life, the flesh profits nothing, the words that I speak unto you they are spirit and they are life." And what He's saying is, "Look, don't be stuck on the physical. The eating I'm talking about means accepting My words, accepting the truth I'm speaking."
But, verse 64 says, there are some of you who don't believe. "For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not...and here it comes...who it was that betrayed Him...that would betray Him." He knew who the defectors were and who the betrayers were. He was omniscient. Oh, there were some things that He chose not to know, like the times and the seasons of the Father planning the future, but there were some things He chose to know in His omniscience. And one of those areas was who was a defector and who was a betrayer. And how deeply that must have heart His perfect soul. I know who you are, He said. I know that.
And again, verse 65, He leans on sovereignty and He said almost in this soliloquy again, "Therefore said I unto you that no man can come unto Me except it were given unto him of My Father." That's always His explanation...Well, logically and rationally and reasonably I can't understand why you won't believe but I understand that you can't believe unless it's given you of My Father. An expression of response to His own pain of rejection, He leans on sovereignty.
And then it says in verse 66, "From that time many of His disciples went back and walked no more with Him." Fickle spiritual defectors. And I believe at this moment Jesus felt a pain within like a sword run into His own heart, like a spear rammed in His side. I believe the pain here must have at least been equal to that He endured on the cross. And I believe in an emotional sense His heart was absolutely broken. Many of these disciples went away and that hurt Him deeply because He is not willing that men should perish. And even though He's leaning on the sovereignty of God, He is still in deep pain over their unbelief. And look at the response in verse 67, this is a great insight into the compassionate Christ, "Then said Jesus to the Twelve...and you have to understand the Greek text, it says this...you won't go away also, will you?" It's almost pathetic, as if to say you won't do this too, will you, please? It is me in the Greek and it expects a no answer and so you phrase it that way, you won't go away will you?
And sweet Peter responds, "Lord, to whom shall we go, You have the words of eternal life." He knew. He knew He wasn't talking about eating His body and drinking His blood. He knew that taking in His flesh and His blood was receiving His words, His truth. And Peter responds not for himself, "To whom shall we go," and he embraces all those genuine disciples who are still left. And verse 69 says, "And we believe and we are sure that You are that Christ, the Son of the living God." We accept You're God in human flesh. Oh bless them. Here by the calling grace of the Father are some who think of heavenly things. Oh, what a change, what a refreshment. Some who seek to worship, some who desire a personal relationship with Christ, some who understand His truth and seek repentance and seek salvation. Bless them...bless them. They're the genuine.
But it doesn't end there. Verse 70, the chapter closes, two final verses, "Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen you twelve? And one of you is a devil." Peter, you're wrong. I know you said "we", Peter, but it's not you twelve, it's only eleven, one of you is a devil. "He spoke of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for he it was that should betray Him, being one of the twelve."
Listen, some spiritual defectors defect early. Some spiritual defectors get in the inside group and defect very late. Judas is the archetype, the prototype defector, the perfect closing illustration. Listen, Judas was drawn to Jesus by the crowd. Judas was fascinated by the supernatural. Judas thought only of earthly things. He had no desire to worship Christ, he sought only personal gain, money was his god. He demanded what he wanted and when he didn't get it, he tried to sell Jesus for all he could get. He never had any true intimate relationship with Christ. He had no understanding of divine truth and he never hungered for genuine salvation. He is the model defector. I wish he was the only one, he is not. There have been millions who have joined Judas in the defector's kiss to be betray the Son of God. And that grieves the heart of the Savior.
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text:
High-end quality speaker system
Stylishly designed to be in line with the display and only requiring a few clips for installation or removal. Ideal solution for Video Conferencing. Compatible with 55" NEC large format displays.
|Número de orden:
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|Net Weight (each)
|2.8 kg


text:
God Highly Exalted
God's choice to raise the poor and needy from the dust to sit with royalty does not mean He does not do the same for the wealthy. In light of the entire witness of Scripture, we understand that the poor ...Read More
Emulating the Model of Worship
In your devotional time today, try some of the forms of praise and worship described in Psalm 150.Read More
The Form of Worship
Take some time today to consider the liturgy used in your own church. Have its different elements become meaningless to you, things you do without consideration? Or, do you take care to contemplate the significance of the words you speak ...Read More


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What the new TV3 Poll really says
What the TV3 poll tells us is what white wealthy people with landlines think. Let's not forget that the TV3/Reid Research Poll claimed National had 50.8% in the week before election.
In fact that entire month the TV3 Reid Research Poll was out. Their first week in November they had National at a staggeringly wrong 53.3% (6% out) and 50.3 (3% out)
So over that month, the TV3 Reid Research Poll was out between 6% and 3%. Now the election show I hosted with vastly less resources than TV3, ZB, RNZ and TVNZ was the only election show that called the election right and iPredict still have Labour having a 52% possibility of winning the 2014 election.
Why we are listening to a poll that was out by as much as 6% in the last election is utterly beyond me. This Poll is not reflecting opinion, it's manipulating it. The constant drum beat that Key would have over 50% support by flawed landline polls like the TV3/Reid Research Poll over the space of 3 years leading up to the 2011 election was I believe a contributing factor in the last election being the lowest voter turn out in over a century.
These Polls screaming Key is loved by over 50% of the country generates the apathy, combine it with an Opposition that doesn't know if it's diet National or lite blue and progressive NZers are still waiting for leadership from the left.
In the meantime, let's not get sucked into the corporate media brainwash.


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Academic Transcript
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Prior to leaving SJSU, please verify with Admissions and Records that your academic records are correct and include all of the courses that you took while at SJSU. It is much easier to deal with any errors while you are in San José instead of from your home country.


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I was hired by Pitang/Qualiti to work in its office in Sao Paulo/Brazil. Pitang/Qualiti is an IBM Business Partner, and was finalist for Rational Award for Innovation in IT Development at IBM Innovate 2012.
I'll be working directly with IBM's products, especially Rational Tools, which surely will render great (and frequent) posts to this blog. So be sure to closely follow the updates.


text:
Turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 11 as we continue drawing toward the end of the study of 2 Corinthians, we come now to verses 16 through 21....2 Corinthians 11:16 through 21. And as I said, it is in theological content really a sort of a meager text. In terms of great historic import, it lacks. In terms of profound far-reaching height, depth and breadth of spiritual impact, it lacks. And yet when you've said all of that you still have the Word of the living God and what is not apparent on the surface, I hope the Spirit of God will allow us to discover as we look a little deeper. Let me read the text to you, verses 16 to 21.
"Again I say, let no one think me foolish, but if you do receive me even as foolish that I also may boast a little. That which I'm speaking I'm not speaking as the Lord would, but as in foolishness in this confidence of boasting. Since many boast according to the flesh, I will boast also, for you being so wise bear with the foolish gladly. For you bear with anyone. If he enslaves you, if he devours you, if he takes advantage of you, if he exalts himself, if he hits you in the face, to my shame I must say that we have been weak by comparison. But in whatever respect anyone else is bold, I speak in foolishness, I'm just as bold myself."
Paul has been forced to boast. By that I mean he's been forced to defend his apostleship. He has been forced not to overstate the case but to speak the truth. He has been forced to identify himself as a true apostle and to give his credentials. He's been forced to do that because false apostles have come to Corinth and told the people that he was a fraud, a liar and a charlatan. And the people have, in some measure, believed the false apostles. False teachers, liars, false prophets, false apostles all attempt to destroy the truth and in order to destroy the truth, you have to discredit the truth teachers. And so they came into Corinth and then attempted to destroy Paul's credibility. As a result, he has to defend himself. In fact, he has to defend himself against their specific accusations. He has to take them on.
He hates that. He resents it. He does not like to defend himself. He's very comfortable talking about his weaknesses. In fact, he's happy to do that. He's very comfortable talking about his inabilities. He's very comfortable saying he's the chief of sinners. He's very comfortable saying that he is what he is by the grace of God and the grace of God alone. He's very comfortable saying that he is a clay pot, a garbage bucket. He's very comfortable saying he is a former blasphemer, injurious persecutor, murderer, enemy of Jesus Christ whom God saved graciously and thrust into ministry. He's very glad to talk about that. But he has almost an impossible time talking in a boastful way about his credentials.
Now we know he's not going to say more than is true because back in chapter 10 he says, "If I have to boast," verse 13, "I will not boast beyond our measure, but only within the measure of the sphere which God apportioned to us." Verse 14, "We will not overextend ourselves." Verse 15 again, "Not boasting beyond our measure." But even boasting in proper boundaries, even boasting about what God has done in and through him and about his call and about his credentials, as true as it is is still very difficult. And it's difficult because the man is so devoted to humility and he sees all boasting as folly and fleshly. In fact, there really are only two points in these verses and the two points would be these; boasting is foolish, and boasting is fleshly. That's what he's saying. And yet he is forced to do it not for his own sake but for the sake of the truth. He must reaffirm to these people who have doubted his credentials that he is in fact God's spokesman, the true apostle who presents the true gospel and they must listen. Paul is committed to humility. Numerous time sin his epistles he vouches for it. In fact, it is identified in the Scriptures as the noblest of Christian virtues.
Scripture teaches, for example, that those who manifest humility will be heard by God when they pray. They will be delivered by God when they are in trouble. They have the privilege of enjoying the very presence of God. They will be honored by God. They will enjoy a long and prosperous life. They will be the object of God's special attention and personal care. They will be lifted up and exalted by God. They will be the greatest in His Kingdom. They will receive the fullness of His grace. They will inherit the earth and get eternal glory. All that for the humble.
On the other hand, the Bible is very clear in saying pride is a sin. Pride is hateful to God. Pride is reflective of self-righteousness and an unsanctified heart. Scripture says that pride is forbidden because it defiles the person, hardens the mind, hinders the knowledge of God, retards spiritual development, leads people to contempt for God's Word and God's servants, produces anger, contentiousness, envy, jealousy and self-deception. Those guilty of pride are warned in Scripture that God will resist them, judge them, punish them and destroy them. No wonder the writer of Proverbs said, "It is better to be of humble spirit with the lowly than with the proud."
Paul knew all of that. And all of those considerations help us to understand the importance of humility, and therefore the importance of it to Paul. Paul, frankly, apart from Jesus Himself, is the greatest New Testament model of humility. In fact, he did what is very difficult to do. In Acts chapter 20 he was speaking to the Ephesian elders and he told them he was humble. That's hard without losing at the same moment your humility. He says in Acts 20:19 that they knew from the first day they ever met him that he was serving the Lord not with some humility but with all humility. When a man can say to his people, "Follow the pattern of my humility," he has...he has really set the course for his life. If he's going to maintain his integrity then, he has to maintain his humility. Paul sought that. He sought to be truly humble. He learned it from Jesus who said, "Learn of Me for I am meek and lowly," Matthew 11. He learned it from Jesus of whom Paul wrote, "He thought it not something to grasp to be equal with God," Philippians 2, "but gave it up and took upon Himself the form of a man and humbled Himself even to death." Paul said, "Be ye followers of me as I am of Christ," and that had to do with his humility too. Christ was humble, perfectly humble, and Christ was the pattern that Paul followed. And the whole idea of boasting in that context was repulsive to him. He saw it as foolish and fleshly. But here he is about to boast. He doesn't start it really till verse 22, he just can't get to it. It's so distasteful that he just keeps talking about other things and he keeps giving disclaimers because he wants so not to be under...misunderstood.
Now remember, his apostolic credentials were under massive assault by the false teachers. These agents of Satan had come into Corinth with their different Jesus, their different Spirit and their different gospel, as he says back in verse 4. They came with satanic lies. They were disguised as angels of light, as messengers of Christ, as servants of righteousness, but they were not. And so they came attacking Paul, trying to discredit his authority, his morality, his message, his integrity. They criticized his person. They criticized his style. They criticized his preaching. They said he lacked the necessary charm and attractiveness as well as the preaching ability to appeal to the sophisticated Greeks. They said religious leaders, great men, men who are...who generate movements are not ordinary men, and Paul is a very ordinary man. If he was really a man of God, if he was really the man to bring the gospel to the Gentile world, if he was to be in such a tremendously strategic place of leadership, if he was a genuine apostle he should have a superior personality. He should be a momentously great speaker. He should almost be divine. He should have demonstrated superior transcendent, almost magical powers and be able to do mysterious and inexplicable wonders. He should have lived above the normal trials of lesser men, above the sufferings and the pains of the hoi polloi. He should have triumphantly risen above the common mundane tasks of life and here he was working with leather and making tents, how demeaning. He should have had amazing experiences with God. He should have been strong and dominating and high priced and forceful. He should have been physically imposing, if not physically perfect since the Greeks despised any bodily weakness or physical deformity. He should have been heroic. He should have been athletic. He should have been proud and confident, even arrogant. And he was absolutely none of those things. He just didn't fit the model.
And unfortunately, the Corinthians bought these assaults and began to think of Paul as, "Yeah, he's really not what he ought to be, he's not imposing, he's not wealthy, he's not confident, he's not transcendent, he's not dynamic, he's not arrogant about his exploits in his achievements...he's's just...he's just plain, common. And his message is this one-dimensional talking about the cross of Christ.
And so the Corinthian false apostles used all of this to manipulate the minds of the church into thinking Paul was a fraud. They, on the other hand, were the super-apostles who had everything he lacked. And the church had begun manifesting dangerous gullibility. They were buying into the deception and Paul was left really no choice but to defend himself. And he hates it...he hates it. He has said before that he is a clay pot, that he's a garbage bucket, that he's nothing, he's a nobody. He even said that. But he's forced to defend himself. And here then, beloved, is the real measure of a person's humility, can you boast and stay humble at the same time? That's the real test of humility. Not can you survive your failures, but can you survive your successes and be humble. Anybody can be humble in his failures. Anybody can be humble in neutral. But Paul hadn't lived a failing life and he hadn't lived in neutral. He had lived an eminently successful and blessed life and the question was, "Could he defend himself, say what was actually true and be humble at the same time?" It's not an easy challenge and he knew it. But as we shall see as we get into this defense, starting in verse 22 and it runs all the way to verse 13 of chapter 12, he does it. In fact, the more he gives his apostolic credentials the more humble you recognize he was. It is an amazing passage. It is the most unique and powerful example of humility in the Bible because it is a man demonstrating his humility when he has to boast about himself. And that's the test.
As we pick up the text in verse 16 Paul picks up the theme of foolishness again. He launched that theme in verse 1. "I wish that you would bear with me in a little foolishness." He thinks the whole idea of defending himself is just plain foolish. It's just foolish. "But it has become a necessary folly." So here he is, he's going to boast. He has to, but another disclaimer about how foolish it is seems necessary to him. So verse 16 he says, "Again I say, I said it once back in verse 1, I'll say it again, let no one think me foolish but if you do and admittedly I do, receive me even as foolish that I also may boast a little."
I just have to do this. I just have to do it. I have to answer a fool according to his folly, as Proverbs 26:5 says. It's a kind of insanity but I have to do it. So if you think me foolish, I wish you didn't, but if you think me foolish, I understand. Frankly, I think me foolish too, but would you endure it anyway? And would you please acknowledge what I say as you acknowledge what the false apostles said? It is a necessary foolishness. I just need to boast a little. And he uses the word mikron. His enemies had boasted a lot. They had boasted endlessly and greatly, forcing him to boast just a little. He's saying, "Look, I know it's foolish. I know you know it's foolish. I want you to know I know it's foolish also. I don't have a choice."
Boasting was natural to false apostles, it always is. It's natural to all fakes and frauds and false teachers and false preachers and false apostles. But it's utterly unnatural to Paul. He's like an actor playing a reluctant role to make a point. It's not him, but he's going to do it. And thus he sets up his defense with this disclaimer that it is folly.
Then in verses 17 and 18 he does something quite interesting. He says in this interesting parenthesis, there's something else that I must say by way of disclaimer, too. "That which I am speaking...verse 17...I am not speaking as the Lord would, but as in foolishness in this confidence of boasting. Since many boast according to the flesh, I will boast also." This is a most fascinating section. That which I am speaking...what I'm going to say to you in this necessary boast, I am not speaking as the Lord would.
What in the world are you talking about, Paul? Just this, I'm not following any example Jesus ever gave. And that is what was crushing about this. That's what was so hard for him. Because, you see, he was the man who said, "For to me to live is Christ." He was the man who said, "Be ye followers of me as I am of Christ." He was the man who said, "If I live I live unto the Lord, if I die I die unto the Lord, so whether I live or die I am the Lord's." He is the man who said, "I press toward the goal and the goal is Christ's likeness." He wanted to be like Christ, that was the passion of his life. And he had no model of Christ ever doing this. There is no example of Christ ever boasting. It was Christ who said He was meek and lowly. He had referred, as I noted earlier, back in chapter 10 verse 1 to the meekness of Christ. Even when He was being ridiculed, persecuted, executed there was never any self-defensive boast. This bothers Paul. He doesn't like boasting in the first place because it is foolish. He doesn't like it in the second place because he has no model from Christ to follow. All Christ ever did when He was falsely accused was take it in silence. And it bothers him that he has to do this. It's not the example of Christ that he's following. This is what crushed him, it's the example of his enemies. They have dictated what he has to do, not Christ. And that is hard for him.
As a footnote, may I suggest something to you? Godless, unbelieving people who call themselves Bible scholars have used verse 17 to teach that Paul didn't claim to be inspired by God, that when Paul said, "That which I'm speaking I'm not speaking as the Lord would," Paul is putting a disclaimer on everything he wrote and saying none of it came from God. Nothing could be further from the truth. Paul himself said, "All Scripture is inspired by God." And what Paul wrote was Scripture.
Listen to what Peter said, 2 Peter 3, "Regard to the patience of our Lord and salvation," he says, "just as our beloved brother Paul according to the wisdom given him wrote to you,." Paul wrote wisdom given to him by God. "So also in all his letters." It was all wisdom given to him by God. "Speaking in them of these things in which are some things hard to understand which the untaught and unstable distort as they do also the rest of the Scriptures to their own destruction."
What is he saying? Paul wrote wisdom given to him, he identifies it in verse 16 as the Scriptures. Paul wrote Scripture and all Scripture is inspired by God. It is the untaught and the unstable who distort Scripture to their own destruction. And unstable, untaught critics have distorted, verse 17, in an attempt to discredit New Testament inspiration. That's now what it's saying. He's simply saying I can't follow the model of Christ in this because Christ neither boasted in self-defense, nor did He teach His disciples to do so.
So, he says, I'm just speaking in foolishness in this confidence of boasting. In my confident boasting, I confess it's foolish. I really have been forced to a lower standard than my Lord, and so it is a kind of folly but a necessary folly. Why necessary? Verse 18, "Since many boast according to the flesh, I will boast also." The "many" here are the false apostles. They are the same many in chapter 2 verse 17, "We are not like the many peddling the Word of God. But as from sincerity as from God we speak in Christ." The many were the false teachers, were hucksters and con-men. Here he says, "The many are forcing me to this folly, it's not something that Christ gave me a pattern for, I'm having to follow their lead."
His reluctance is understandable. Their boast was according to the flesh. What does that mean? What does that mean? Just according to their human achievements. They weren't boasting about what God had done for them. They were not boasting about what God had done in them. They were not boasting about what God had done through them. Why? Because He hadn't done anything. They weren't believers. They had a different Jesus, back to verse 4, they had a different Spirit than the Holy Spirit, and they had a different gospel. They didn't even know God, God wasn't even operating in their lives. All they had was fleshly boasts. They could only boast about their personal achievements and their personal privileges motivated by their corrupt desires and by Satan who was their father. Paul hates the fact that such have forced him into this necessity.
I'll tell you, that is a very hard place to be. When you are falsely accused by the enemies of the church, when people ridicule and say things about you that are not true and you're forced into some necessary self-defense for the preservation of the truth, and you know that 1 Peter 2:23 says that when Jesus was reviled, He reviled not again, and did nothing more than to commit Himself to a faithful creator and left it to God. But Paul and us sometimes are forced to a reasonable and honest and fair defense. But it's never a happy occasion. You never feel good about it. It's not sin, but Paul says it's just folly. Never, I say again, do we see his humility more clearly than in his reluctance to boast. And especially when you see the way he boasts.
Well you think that maybe he's given enough disclaimers, he's got one more and this is directed right at the Corinthians in the most strong terms possible, sarcasm. Sarcasm is the strongest force that language can bear. It's the strongest force of ridicule. It's, "Well, aren't you something?" and when you mean by that the very opposite. Sarcasm is saying the opposite of what is true for effect. That is a cutting use of language, sarcasm, irony, biting. And that's what Paul uses in verse 19. It's a very good form of language if you want to get across a point. It's not new to Paul. Back in 1 Corinthians he was questioning their wisdom, he really was. First Corinthians chapter 3 verse 18, "If any man among you thinks that he is wise," and there were some in there, they thought they were real smart, "then let him become foolish that he might really become wise." You'd think you...the Corinthians really thought they...they were sort of spiritual smart alecks. They thought they were real smart and Paul had to confront that. Chapter 6, "You're so wise," he says, "you're going to sue each other, isn't there one among you wise enough to decide these things, since you're so wise?" Chapter 8 he says in verse 2, "If anyone supposes that he knows anything, he hasn't yet known what he ought to know." You know-it-alls, you think you're so wise. Chapter 13 he says to them, sort of sarcastically, "I don't care if you speak with the tongues of men and angels, if you don't have love you're nothing."
They thought they had it all. They really did. And in chapter 4 of 1 Corinthians he takes them on with very sarcastic language. First Corinthians 4:8, "You are already filled, you have already become rich, you have become kings without us." You know what he means by that? He means you're empty, poor slaves. It's all sarcasm. Aren't you something? You've got it all. You have become rich. You have become kings without us. I wish you had become kings. And look at us, what are we? Verse 10, "We're fools and you are wise, we're weak and you are strong. You're distinguished and we're without honor. And to this present hour we're hungry and thirsty and poorly clothed and roughly treated and homeless and we toil and we work with our hands and we're reviled. And when we are we bless and we're persecuted, and when we are we endure and we're slandered, and we try to conciliate or make peace, even when we're slandered. And we're the scum of the world and we're the dregs and you're the kings and you're everything." Boy, what a sarcastic attack.
And he comes right back to that kind of sarcasm here. And he says this, "For you," verse 19, "being so wise bear with the foolish gladly." You ought to bear with me if I'm foolish, you do real well with fools. Evidence? You've just listened to the false apostles. You're so wise, aren't you? So smart. You do real well with fools. How wise you are, so wise to gladly hear fools. That's real wisdom, isn't it? You're so wise you tolerate liars, maybe you'll tolerate a fool like me. How foolish are you really? Verse 20, "You're so foolish you bear with the foolish gladly, if he enslaves you, if he devours you, if he takes advantage of you, if he exalts himself, if he hits you in the face. You're so smart, aren't you? So smart you've been enslaved, exploited and trapped, dominated and humiliated. Real smart."
You've been enslaved...that's what he says in verse 20. You bear with anyone if he enslaves you. Somebody might say, "Well, is that talking about bringing them out of freedom in Christ into the bondage of Judaism?" Could be. Could be that they brought some Jewish legalism along, some stuff about circumcision, or some stuff about observing the Jewish law. Probably not the issue of circumcision in this case, but some other kinds of legalism, could be. But I think more than that it's typical of all false teachers, all cultic leaders that they wind up exercising control over people that turns people into slaves. They manipulate them to serve their ends and their motives. You've let those false apostles enslave you, that's how smart you are. And then you've let them exploit you. He means that when he says if he devours you, it's used in Luke 20:47, "For the Pharisees devouring widows houses," which means they went to the widows and took their money. Not only do they manipulate you and get you completely under their control, but they take away your money and your possessions. They're like parasites. False apostles, false preachers, cult leaders, whatever they are, they're like...they're like leeches who suck the life out of their victims. Have you noticed all the prosperity preachers get rich? All the cult leaders become rich at the expense of their followers.
Thirdly, you've been entrapped. That's what...if he takes advantage of you means. Now you're caught like a succor fish who buys the bait and is caught. Like an animal who comes to the trap and sticks his nose in there to get the bait and is caught. You've been baited by what appears to look good only to be caught in their trap. And now you're just meat for them. You've been dominated. It says, "If he exalts himself, you bear it." What does that mean? Well that simply speaks of the domination aspect of false teachers, they are controlling, they exercise abusive authority. They lord it over people, as it's mentioned in 1 Peter 5:3. Matthew 20 verse 25, a good verse to look up, "The Gentiles dominate you." Gentile leadership is a leadership of domination. You're so smart you've allowed these false teachers to come in, enslave you, exploit you, and trap you and dominate you. And then lastly, humiliate you. If he hits you in the face, you take it.
You know, in the ancient world this was...this was common, probably more common than it is today when we have the kind of little more cultured society in some respects, or at least a fear of litigation. But in ancient times people punched people. In 1 Kings 22 you have an illustration of it, you can look it up some time. Zedekiah was a false prophet, he was the spokesman for the false prophets and Zedekiah came face-to-face with Micaiah who was the true prophet of God and in response to Micaiah's message, Zedekiah hauled off and it him in the mouth, struck him in the face for his perceived insolence in claiming to speak for God. He was struck in the face by a false prophet. False prophets can get very, very angry. I had one say on television about me that if he had his way he'd get his Holy Ghost machine gun and blow my brains out. There's a great amount of contempt on the part of false prophets because they're afraid of any invasion into their domain. Jesus, of course, claiming to be the King was smashed in the face in Luke 22 verses 63 to 65 by those who were mocking Him. Acts 23 records a similar striking. And that's why in 1 Timothy 3:3 and Titus 1:7 it says that an elder can't be a striker, pugnacious. In the ancient world things were not always solved by quiet negotiation. False teachers sometimes used physical, corporeal abuse to get control of their people.
It also may refer just to the general disrespect and contempt apart from the physical abuse. And even though Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:39 taught us to turn the other cheek, He never taught us to accept that tyranny as anything other than sin. Paul says you just take it all. Ah, you're so wise, wise enough to endure all of that from false teachers.
Well, verse 21, here's the last verse in his disclaimer, more biting sarcasm, "To my shame I must say that we have been weak by comparison." This is so sarcastic. He means the opposite. Paul could have told the Corinthians, "You ought to be ashamed, folks. You really ought to be ashamed. You ought to be ashamed for disgracing yourselves. You ought to be ashamed for your stupidity in gladly receiving those lying false apostles, you ought to take another look and realize how stupid you are for getting yourself enslaved, exploited and trapped, dominated and humiliated." But instead, he makes the point stronger by sarcasm and says, "I ought to be ashamed for being so weak, I am just so weak as evidenced by the fact that I didn't do that. I'm so weak I didn't come in and I didn't enslave you. I didn't entrap you. I didn't manipulate you. I didn't intimidate you. I didn't abuse you. I didn't take advantage of you. I didn't exploit you. I didn't humiliate you. I didn't do any of that. I'm just so weak. Boy, I should have known, I should have known true apostles are strong, they abuse people. I guess I should have known how true apostles act, they exploit, they enslave, they entrap, they dominate, they humiliate. I guess I...I guess I just didn't know how an apostle should really act. I guess I'm just ashamed that I'm so weak by comparison. If greed, abuse, tyranny, exploitation, manipulation and humiliation are the marks of a true apostle, then I'm a failure...I'm a fake."
I think they got the message. Then he says in conclusion in verse 21, "But in whatever respect anyone else is bold," he means the false apostles, "to whatever degree they've been bold," again another disclaimer, "I speak in foolishness. I am just as bold myself." I hate it, I don't want to do it. It is foolish because you're foolish. You think you're so smart and you're so foolish that you forced me to this folly and I'm going to do it, I have to do it. They were bold and I'm going to be bold. They were confident and I'm going to be confident.
He will write unhesitatingly, confidently in the hope that the Corinthians will once and for all and finally see the truth and turn from the destructive bullies to the true apostle and the true Word of God. He finally starts in verse 22 and we'll start with him next time.
In conclusion, just a comment or two, the key to understanding this lesson today is to understand how much Paul hated pride, how much he hated to boast even when it was about the truth. He didn't even want to say what was true about him for fear it that it might somehow bring honor to him rather than his Lord. He is frightened even to say what God has done for fear that it somehow might intrude on his commitment to humility. And he teaches us so powerfully that never is a person more humble than when they are forced to boast and can do it humbly. That's exactly what he will do. And for those who are humble, the promises of Scripture again, you will be heard by God when you pray, delivered by God when in trouble, have the privilege of enjoying the presence of God, be honored by God, live a long and prosperous life, be the object of God's special attention and personal care, be lifted up and exalted by God, be the greatest in His Kingdom, receive the grace of God, inherit the earth and eternal glory and you will be like Christ. Join me in prayer.
Father, this is such a small little glimpse into the life of a man but such a big issue, this matter of humility. It elicited out of him the most reluctance of anything we've seen in his life. It elicited out of him the most blistering sarcasm which showed his immense disdain for pride which is exactly what totally characterized the false apostles. It invaded his desire to follow Christ in everything and it threatened his humility. Lord, he is such an example to us of being humble even when forced by the worst of situations to a self-defense. We must do it reluctantly, thoughtfully and humbly. Father, we pray that You would produce in us that humility that we see in Jesus and in Paul. And may we meet those circumstances as he did in those times when forced to that defense to do so with meekness. Thank You, Father, for this wonderful morning, may it be used mightily in our lives. We pray for the glory of our Savior. Amen.


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Globular Star Clusters in Galaxy Cluster Abell 1689
Hubble Finds Galaxy Cluster Abell 1689 Full of Giant Star Clusters
Peering deep into the heart of the massive galaxy cluster Abell 1689, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has nabbed more than 160,000 globular clusters, the largest population ever seen.
The image at left, taken by Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys, shows the numerous galaxies that make up Abell 1689. The box near the center outlines one of the regions sampled by Hubble, containing a rich collection of globular clusters.
The monochromatic view at right, taken at visible wavelengths, zooms into the region packed with globular clusters. They appear as thousands of tiny white dots, which look like a blizzard of snowflakes. The larger white blobs are entire galaxies of stars.
Globular clusters, dense collections of hundreds of thousands of stars, are the homesteaders of galaxies, containing some of the oldest surviving stars in the universe. Almost 95 percent of globular cluster formation occurred within the first 1 billion or 2 billion years after our universe was born in the big bang 13.7 billion years ago.
Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys snapped these images from June 12 to 21, 2002, and between May 29 and July 8, 2010.
Members of the science team are John Blakeslee; Karla Alamo-Martinez and Rosa Gonzalez-Lopezlira, Center for Radio Astronomy and Astrophysics of the National Autonomous University of Mexico, in Morelia; Myungkook James Jee, University of California, Davis; Patrick Cote and Laura Ferrarese, DAO/NRC Herzberg Astrophysics; Andres Jordan, Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, in Santiago; Gerhardt Meurer, International Centre of Radio Astronomy Research, University of Western Australia, in Perth; Eric Peng, Kavli Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Peking University; and Michael West, Maria Mitchell Observatory, in Nantucket, Mass.
NASA, ESA, J. Blakeslee (NRC Herzberg Astrophysics Program, Dominion Astrophysical Observatory), and K. Alamo-Martinez (National Autonomous University of Mexico);
Acknowledgment: H. Ford (JHU)