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Tonight we want to talk about saving faith. Nothing is more important than saving faith. The great doctrine of the gospel is salvation by faith, sola fide is the Latin expression that the Reformers used. They said that salvation is sola gratia, by grace alone, sola Christos through Christ alone, sola fide by faith alone. And what they intended to say is that salvation is apart from any human works. And, of course, that's exactly what the Bible teaches, "By the deeds of the Law, no flesh shall be justified. All your righteousness is to God as filthy rags. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God." So there's no way to be saved by our own works, we know that. Salvation is by faith, and we understand that. This is the great doctrine that distinguishes the Christian gospel from all other religions.
Now to just remind you of that, let's just do a quick run through, some verses in the gospel of John. John chapter 3 verse 16, that most familiar of all verses, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life." It's about believing. You escape judgment, receive eternal life when you believe in the Son of God. In the sixth chapter of John and verse 40, Jesus said, "For this is the will of My Father that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him may have eternal life." Same thing as in John 3:16, you believe, you have eternal life. And then as a summary statement for the whole of the gospel of John chapter 20 of John's gospel and verse 31, "These have been written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life, eternal life in His name." So there you have just several indications in one gospel, the gospel of John, that salvation is by faith...you believe and you receive eternal life. This certainly is a true indication of what the gospels consistently teach.
And even in the book of Acts we see as the church begins to move out that the Apostles preached the same message. Acts 16:31, Paul and Silas, they are approached by a jailer who is trembling with fear and falls down and says to them, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved? How is someone saved? 'Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ or the Lord Jesus and you shall be saved.'" Believe in the Lord Jesus.
And then to Romans 3 verse 22, "The righteousness of God is through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe." The righteousness of God, that is being right with God, having your sin forgiven, comes through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe. This is restated in verse 26, God's righteousness, His righteousness comes to the one, end of verse 26, who has faith in Jesus. Verse 28, "We maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law."
Salvation is by faith. And perhaps the most familiar and oft quoted verse, Ephesians 2:8 and 9, "For by grace you have been saved through faith and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God not as a result of works that no one should boast, for by grace you have been saved through faith." That's just to sort of establish the groundwork, the foundation that salvation comes by faith, sola fide and faith alone.
Now for an illustration of that, as long as you're in Romans, look at chapter 4. Paul's classic illustration of salvation by faith alone is none other than Abraham. If you're going to convince the Jews that salvation is by faith, you're going to have to pick somebody that they revere. If you're going to use an illustration of salvation by faith and you want to pick the hero of Judaism, you go to Abraham. And that's what Paul does because the Jews basically were convinced that Abraham was saved by works. It is true that Genesis 26:5, I think it is, has a commendation that God gave to Abraham for his obedience. It is true God spoke to Abraham in Isaiah 41:8 it is recorded, and God said to Abraham, "You are My friend." So Abraham did have a relationship with God. God did commend Abraham. God did identify him as a friend. But the Jewish idea was that Abraham earned that relationship to God. He earned that commendation. He earned that friendship with God by keeping the Law of God. And when somebody brings up the issue that Abraham lived before the Law was given, that Abraham is back in the twelfth chapter of Genesis and the Law isn't given till the twentieth chapter of Exodus, the question then arises, how was Abraham justified by Law if there was no Law? And the Jewish answer, traditionally was, he kept the Law by intuition and anticipation. He was so righteous that though he didn't even know what it was, he did it anyway because he was that righteous.
An apocryphal book called Ecclesiasticus taught that Abraham was given justification or righteousness and circumcision because he earned them. In fact, among many rabbis and Jewish scholars, Abraham was considered one of the seven men who by their own merits brought back the Shekinah to abide in the tabernacle. They were responsible by their own righteousness, their own intuitive righteousness, for God coming back in His presence among His people in the tabernacle. Some rabbis even taught that Abraham began to serve God at the age of three. They really made something out of this man, Abraham. There is an ancient prayer called "The prayer of Manasseh," it has a number after it, number 8, and it says, "God has not appointed repentance for the like of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob who did not sin against Him." Wow! And then they went so far as to say Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were sinless.
And there are other rabbis who in their writings in ancient Judaism did extol the faith of Abraham, but not apart from his works. They didn't deny that he had faith in God, but they affirmed what they thought to be true, that justification or righteousness, having a right relationship with God, salvation comes through one's work as well as faith.
Well the truth of the matter is, Abraham was anything but perfect. And we don't need to go over the whole story of that. Just read the book of Genesis and you'll be happy to discover his imperfections all by yourself. But it's amazing how history will embellish someone.
Now it is typically true that all religions of the world, except the true gospel, have always thought that we participate in earning our salvation, that somehow our righteousness counts, our good works count toward our salvation. And the Jews certainly believe that because everybody believes that, that's in a false religious system, and the Jewish religion, of course, apostatized, drifted away from its true character through the years. By the time you get into the New Testament era it is an apostate form of Judaism as it is today, like all other religions of the world, they've landed in the same satanic deception that you make some contribution to your salvation. This is what Catholicism believes, Greek Orthodoxy believes those kinds of Christianity. This is what liberal Christianity believes. This is what all the other religions of the world believe. There's really only two religions in the world, the religion of divine accomplishment, salvation by grace alone through faith alone; the religion of human achievement, some mixture of works and faith. By the time of Jesus, the Jews had developed a very, very sophisticated and firmly established system of self-righteousness and they were certain it would help to achieve their salvation. And they basically built their case for salvation by works on Abraham. On a very favorable review of Abraham, sort of revisionist history, they reinvented Abraham into a man who earned his own salvation and then made him the standard. They went so far as to say that Abraham was chosen by God to be the father of the nation because he was the only righteous man in his generation and that's why God selected him to be the father of his people. And they said because he intuitively kept the Law of God not yet given, God saved him, blessed him and promised him a seed which also would be blessed.
If you're going to bring down then the idea of salvation by works, the best place to do it would be to attack Abraham. That's what Paul did. How was Abraham really saved? Romans 4:1, "What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather, according to the flesh has found?" If we go back and do an honest look at Abraham, not this...not this sentimental revisionist, not this accommodating review of Abraham, not this redesigning of Abraham that accommodates a self-righteous system, but if we go back and honestly look at the man in the flesh, what are we going to find? Verse 2, "For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? And Abraham believed God and it was reckoned to him as righteousness. Not everyone who works his wage is not reckoned as a favor, as what is due. But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly," that is the key phrase, God justifies the ungodly because that's the only kind of people there are, all the people He justifies are ungodly because they cannot earn godliness, "the one who does not work but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned as righteousness." And the point he's making here is...Look, it is not by works that he was made right with God. If Abraham was justified by works in verse 2, then he has something to boast about, but not before God. He has nothing to boast about. His works gained him nothing.
If you backed in to chapter 3, starting at verse 21 which we looked at a moment ago where Paul says, "Look, salvation comes through faith, the righteousness of God comes through faith in Jesus Christ," then he goes on to talk about the righteousness of God in faith. He knows they're going to throw Abraham in his face and they're going to say, "Well wait a minute, that's not true because Abraham was justified by his works. Abraham was intuitively obedient. He was righteous." In some cases they even believed he didn't sin. And so Paul quickly says, "Let's talk about Abraham. Abraham, if he was justified by works had something to boast about, but he doesn't before God." He was not made right with God by his own righteousness. He is not a contradiction to the principles just articulated at the end of chapter 3. He was made right with God, he says in verse 3, because he believed. Again in verse 5, "God justifies the ungodly who believe in Him, their faith is reckoned as righteousness." In verse 6 he turns to David, another one of their..of their heroes, "Just as David also speaks of the blessing upon the man to whom God reckons righteousness apart from works. Blessed are those whose lawless deeds have been forgiven, whose sins have been covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will not take into account." Is this blessing then upon the circumcised, or upon the uncircumcised also?" And the answer, of course, "Either one, for we say faith was reckoned to Abraham as righteousness." It was reckoned because of his faith, not because of his circumcision, not because of intuition, it was faith. Back in Genesis 15:6, this is what Paul is referring to, there is a very clear statement, it's hard to imagine how the Jews could have overlooked this statement. It says of Abraham, "He believed in the Lord and He, the Lord, reckoned it to him as righteousness."
And so, Paul drags them back to their own Scriptures, Genesis 15:6, that salvation to Abraham, justification, righteousness before God, a right relationship to God was imputed to him by faith. Now listen, faith is not the means of justification. I should say it another way, faith is not the ground of justification. Faith is not enough to save you. What saves you, the ground of your justification is the death of Christ. You understand that? So God forgave Abraham, accepted his faith and made him righteous because Christ would pay the penalty for his sin. So the ground of our justification is not our faith, as if to say somehow if you have faith in God, that in itself earns you salvation would be just another work. The basis, the ground of our salvation is the death of Jesus Christ who pays the penalty for our sin. Faith is only the hand that reaches out to receive the gift. God offers the gift of salvation. Abraham reached out to take that gift and God could give it and God could justify that ungodly Abraham, and God could justify him and still be just because Jesus Christ would provide the sacrifice that covered his sin.
In Galatians 2:16 it says, "A man is not justified by the works of the Law, but a man is justified through faith in Christ Jesus. Even we have believed in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law." We are justified by faith, by faith in God in Abraham's case, by faith in Christ in our case, that faith itself is not a meritorious work which becomes the ground of our justification, but rather is simply the empty hand that reaches out to take a salvation provided for in the death of Christ. So the death of Christ becomes the ground of justification, faith is simply the empty hand that receives the gift.
Now all of that points out that salvation is by faith alone, justification by faith alone, being right with God by faith alone. Having said that, it's critically important that you understand that while salvation is by faith alone, not all faith saves. So we deal with the first issue, salvation is by faith alone, and then we have to ask the question...what is the nature of that saving faith? What is the nature of that saving faith? A lot of people don't want to talk about this. Many people don't want to talk about this. They want to accept any kind of faith at all. But we can't do that, and let me show you why.
Let's go to John chapter 2...John chapter 2 and verse 23. Jesus is in Jerusalem and He's cleaned the temple out, which He calls His Father's house that's been turned into a house of merchandise. And He speaks and in verse 22 it says this, "When therefore He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this and they believed the Scripture and the Word which Jesus had spoken. Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name, beholding His signs which He was doing." Verse 22 talks about the belief of the disciples which came later when they looked back and remembered what He had said and they finally believed because they understood it. But at the time He said it, when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, it says many believed in His name, but this is a different kind of faith. They believed in His name, beholding His signs which He was doing, but look at verse 24, "But Jesus on His part was not entrusting Himself to them for He knew all men." It says they believed, but whatever kind of belief it was, He made no commitment to them. He made no response to them because He knew them, and verse 25 adds, "Because He didn't need anyone to bear witness concerning man for He Himself knew what was in men." And what He knew what was in them was a non-saving faith, a kind of faith that fell short of being the saving faith. There are people then who even in the life of Jesus, even in the ministry of Jesus believe, but they do not believe in a saving way.
Look at the eighth chapter of John and verse 31. "Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed in Him," now we...we have already established that salvation was by faith and faith alone. So here we meet some Jews who had believed, same word as faith, by the way, it comes from the verb pisteuo, the noun form pistis, it means faith or belief. And verse 31 says, "He was saying to those Jews who had believed in Him, 'If My...if you abide in My Word, then you are truly disciples of Mine and you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.'" They believed but they had not yet been regenerated. They believed but they had not yet known the saving truth. They believed but they had not yet been freed from their sin. There is a belief then that Jesus doesn't commit to. There is a belief that doesn't save.
In the twelfth chapter of John, again, and verse 42, "Many even of the rulers, the rulers in Israel, believed in Him but because of the Pharisees they were not confessing Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue, for they loved the approval of men rather than the approval of God." Now whatever kind of believing that is where you love the approval of men more than the approval of God, whatever kind of believing that is that you will not confess Jesus as Lord, you will not confess Me before men, as He said in Luke 12, if you do not confess Me before men, I will not confess you before My Father in heaven. So there is a kind of believing that again doesn't save.
And I think this is...this is sort of what James has in mind in James chapter 2. You can look at this, I think, familiar text of James 2:14. "What is...what use is it, my brethren," says James, "if a man says he has faith but he has no works?" There's no evidence. "Can that kind of faith save him?" That's the question. Then he answers it in verse 17, "Faith if it has no works, no evidence, is dead." And verse 18, "Someone may well say, 'You have faith and I have works, show me your faith without the works and I'll show you my faith by my works." It's not enough to just believe if there's no evidence that that faith has brought about transformation manifest in works. Works don't save you, but if you are saved by faith, your life changes and it is manifest. You believe, verse 19, how about this one? "You believe, you do well. The demons also believe." This kind of believing qualifies you to be a demon, not a Christian...not a Christian.
And then he adds in almost contradiction to Romans 4 verse 21, "Was not Abraham, our father, justified by works?" And this is a bit of a play on words, we know he was justified by faith, but wasn't it apparent that he was justified by virtue of his manifest works? When in effect he was willing to offer his son, Isaac, on the altar, he was saying by that act that I have acknowledged You as my sovereign God and Lord and Master and I will obey even if You ask me to slay my son. And then he clarifies it again in verse 23, "Abraham believed God and it was reckoned to him as righteousness and he was called the friend of God." But you see, verse 24, "That a man is justified by works and not by faith alone." What that simply means is, faith alone is not a saving faith. The faith that saves is a faith that produces...a faith that produces.
So what is this saving faith? Well it's more than knowledge about the truth. It's more than belief in the truth. It's more than fearing judgment and wrath, demons fear judgment and wrath. It's more than feeling guilty about your sin. It's more than feeling conviction. It's more than desiring salvation. We saw this morning in Luke 13 that there are many who would desire to enter and aren't able. It's more than believing in Jesus.
You know, these things could all be said of demons, all of them right there in James 2. When you think about the demons, they know the truth. They fear judgment. They feel their guilt. Certainly they would desire to be delivered from their horrendous condition and the coming Lake of Fire. They understand the sovereignty of God and Christ. So again, there's a kind of faith that's at the demon level and it falls short of salvation. And we talked about it again this morning, those very familiar passages, Matthew 7, "Many say, 'Lord, Lord, haven't we done this and done that?' And He says, 'Depart from Me, I never knew you.'" Same thing in Luke 13 that we read this morning. People are going to bang on the door when it's shut in their faces in eternity and their suffering, their eternal punishment, and say, "Wait a minute, wait a minute, we ate with You and drank with You and we were in the street with You and we hung out with You and we were favorable to You, what are we doing down here?" There is a kind of faith that does not save.
In Hebrews 5 is a good summation of this, okay? Hebrews 5, he says, verse 12, "By this time you have enough information," he's telling the readers, you have enough information that you could be teachers, you know enough about the gospel to be teachers, but you still have somebody to teach you again the elementary principles, the oracles of God. You need milk and not solid food. So in verse 1 of chapter 6 he says, "Let's leave that behind, let's press on. We don't want to go back toward the Old Testament patterns of repentance from dead works and of rather simple faith in God and washing and laying on of hands." Just the basic truth of resurrection and eternal judgment, you can't live anymore with just that Old Testament information. You've got to go on, you've got to go beyond that. In verse 9 he says in chapter 6, "You've got to go on to the things that accompany salvation...salvation."
I think we all understand this. Faith alone saves, but there is a kind of faith that doesn't save. I have been, to one degree or another, in the battle over this faith for decades now in the writing of the book, The Gospel According to Jesus, and the sequel, The Gospel According to the Apostles, or as it was first called, Faith Works, that was a great portion of this battle because there are people who...who would accept any kind of faith at all as saving faith. But Scripture doesn't let us do that by virtue of the Scriptures I read you and many others as well. Some people are frankly threatened by any effort to distinguish saving faith from non-saving faith and they want to...they want to make sure that we let any kind of faith be enough...any kind of faith, partial faith, empty faith, any kind of faith. Now it's true, the Greek language, the word "faith," the word "believe" doesn't help us a lot because it just means to believe. Faith and belief is just the word. But it doesn't define it spiritually or theologically. If you look in the Oxford American Dictionary and you look up the word "faith," it will say this, "Reliance, or trust in a person or thing." Number 2, "Belief in religious doctrine." Number 3, "A system of religious belief, i.e. the Christian faith." Number 4, "Loyalty and sincerity." So we don't really get anything out of that, we could press the issue of real reliance, real trust, real loyalty, genuine sincerity. But there are some people whose faith is pretty sincere and pretty loyal. We would do better to get out of America and go to the Oxford English Dictionary, go back to the people who invented this language. And you'll find in the Oxford English Dictionary, classic dictionary, one full page on the word "faith," full page. And it gives synonyms like "confidence, reliance, trust, belief proceeding from reliance on testimony or authority." It says that faith or belief is the duty of fulfilling one's trust, allegiance owed to a superior, the obligation of a promise or engagement and the quality of fulfilling one's trust. That's doing something in good faith. It talks about faithfulness, fidelity and loyalty. And it goes on and on and on and on, paragraph after paragraph in the massive page of defining the word faith. But then the Oxford English Dictionary has a theological definition.
This is what it says. "Saving or justifying faith is a conviction practically operative on the character and will." That is a great definition, some theologians got a hold on this one. Saving or justifying faith is a conviction practically operative on the character and will and...it goes on...thus opposed to the mere intellectual ascent to religious truth that might be called speculative faith. And they really grabbed it in the statement, "It is a conviction practically operative on the character and will." It is a life-changing belief. In fact, it goes on. "To believe is to have confidence or faith in a person to rely on or to trust in him."
Now let's take the root of the English word believe. It comes from an English root meaning to hold as valuable, pleasing or satisfying. To believe is to be satisfied with. And what the Oxford English Dictionary says is, "To believe in Christ is to be fully satisfied with Christ." It's a great and rich definition. That describes a faith that is not minimal, it's not absent commitment, it's not void of surrender. It's not stripped of repentance. And on the positive side, it is a kind of trust that finds its full satisfaction, total fulfillment and absolute delight in the object who is the Lord Jesus Christ.
That's a good definition. But the best definition is in the Bible. Let's find it in Hebrews 11. Hebrews 11 and we'll try to work through this a little bit, I don't know if we'll make it, we'll try. Hebrews 11, long chapter, I'm not going through the whole thing. But I have to depend upon your familiarity with the chapter a little bit. This is the faith chapter. You see there, verse 3, "By faith," verse 4, 5, 7, 8, 11, 17, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, this is about faith, "By faith, by faith, by faith, by faith." This chapter is given to us to understand the faith that saves, okay? And we have models, the faith of Abel and Enoch and Noah and Abraham and Sarah and Isaac, and Jacob and Joseph and Moses and Rahab and Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, the prophets and a whole lot of unnamed people who lived by faith and conquered kingdoms and performed acts of righteousness and obtained promises and shut the mouths of lions and quenched the power of fire, verse 34, and escaped the edge of the sword and went from weakness into strength and became mighty in war and put armies to flight and faithful women who received back their dead by resurrection and others who were tortured and others who experienced, verse 36, mockings, scourging, chains, imprisonments. Some were stoned, sawn in half, tempted, put to death with the sword, went about in sheepskins, goatskins, destitute, afflicted, ill treated, wandering in deserts, mountains, caves, holes in the ground. Wow. These are the heroes of faith, okay? This is to understand faith, heroic faith, the faith that really saves and you have the Hall of Fame here of all those who possess that faith.
But what that faith is is given to us in the opening verses. Verse 1, here is the faith that is commended because it's saving faith. "Faith is the assurance, or the substance, of things hoped for, the conviction or the evidence of things not seen. For by it the men of old gained approval." Men being generic here, men and women, all those who are listed here and many more, they were approved by God because of their faith and they had a faith that was the real kind, the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Verse 3, "By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the Word of God so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible." Verse 6 adds, "And without faith it's impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him."
So here we have in these opening verses, verse 1, 2,3, and jumping down in to verse 6, a very good insight into faith. It's important for us to have a definition. We have the examples. We have a definition at the very beginning.
Now this is an epistle called Hebrews. It was written to Jews. And again it's very much like Romans 4. Romans 4 was a rebuke to those who thought Abraham was perfect and earned his righteousness by his own perfection. Or that he was nearly perfect and God was satisfied with his near perfection. This is another rebuke to the Jews. It's written to Jews. It's written to Jews who are believers, but it's also written to some Jews who know the truth but haven't accepted it and so they're still unbelievers and they're holding on to their old self-righteous works' system. This chapter is a rebuke to the Judaism of the day. It's a rebuke to the Pharisaism of the time which taught that righteousness, forgiveness and salvation only come through works. You earn them. Now even after the gospels, even after Jesus' life and preaching, even after the Apostles had been preaching this is still a problem. And that's why the writer of Hebrews is writing after the ministry of Jesus, after some of the ministry of the Apostles, is saying, "Look, you've got to get beyond this." The truth had been preached. They still held to their system, a system of works. And they wanted to be justified by their works. I guess the greatest example of that is the Apostle Paul who finally let go of it on the Damascus Road. And in 2 Timothy 1:9 he wrote, "God who saved us called us with a holy calling, not according to our works." That died hard, it always dies hard. It dies hard today. But the Scripture says, "The righteous live by faith," Habakkuk 2:4. That statement, "The just shall live by faith, or the righteous shall live by faith," is true from Adam to the end. That is repeated in Romans 1:17, Galatians 3:11, and Hebrews 10:38, the just shall live by faith...the just shall live by faith. And the saints are named here in chapter 11 because they're examples of saving faith, of justification by faith, by faith, by faith, by faith, by faith, by faith. It's just pounding it into the heads of those who hold on to a works/righteousness system.
And so he's saying to the Pharisees and the Jews and those who are caught up in the system, it's by faith. And then the question's going to be, well what is this kind of faith? What is this faith? And so the first thing I want to say is what faith is. Pretty clear, I'll give you a couple of points. One, faith is the assurance of things hoped for...it's the assurance of things hoped for. That's the beginning of verse 1. That is to say faith transports God's promises for the future into the present. Faith takes God at His word. Faith is a supernatural confidence in and reliance on God and His promises. It is the assurance of things we hope for. We hope for heaven. We hope for salvation. We hope for perfection. We hope for the bliss and the joy of that eternal place. We hope to enter into the place that the Lord is preparing for us. We hope to be holy. We hope to be like Christ. Our faith is the confidence, the assurance that that for which we hope is really true. It's not uncertain, it's certain. It's not a vague wish that something might happen. It is an assurance.
Let me talk about the word. It is hupostasis, hupostasis, literally means stasis, to stand. Something in a static state comes from that. Hupo, under, it is to have a foundation, that's what it means. It is a solid base. Faith is the solid foundation of our future hope. The word hupostasis is used in chapter 3:14 and it's translated assurance also there in the NAS. But it's also used in chapter 1 of Hebrews and verse 3 where it's translated nature, speaking of Christ, He is the exact representation of God's nature. It means essence. It means substance. It means reality as opposed to appearance. It is a real foundation. It is a reality. Faith then is the essence, the substance, the reality, the foundation on which we stand and hope for the future. In one Greek dictionary it says hupostasis is used in ancient literature to refer to documents bearing on the ownership of a person's property, it's evidence of ownership. If you had a document, that was the ground of your ownership, that was the substance. It is the title deed to things hoped for. It's not ambiguous, it's not unsure, it's not insecure, it is a concrete conviction that what God has promised is true. It is the present confidence of a future reality on which we bank our life in time and eternity. It is an absolute certainty with regard to the gospel. It is faith in a divinely produced conviction that what Scripture says is true. It's not a hope so. And I don't think that that's very often clarified. Put your faith in Jesus Christ for a lot of people is some kind of momentary emotional response, "Oh, okay, Lord, I'm going to trust You with my life. I don't know what that means, I don't know if You can fulfill my trust. I'm going to trust Jesus...You with my life." And if there's no real ground and there's no foundation and there's no reason to believe that and there's no great sense of who God is and who Christ is and no great grounding in the Word of Go, that faith becomes some kind of a momentary whimsy and it ends up being the faith that doesn't save.
This assurance is absolute certainty with regard to the nature of God and the character of the gospel and it then therefore requires an understanding of the nature of God and the gospel. Is that fair? It is a supernatural certainty about the truth of the gospel and the reliability of Christ that rises out of one's confidence in the Bible and what the Bible teaches. And, you know, people would today...I think...some people would put a premium on keeping people ignorant so they don't get confused with too much biblical data. Keep it simple so that their faith is easy. And there are people who say it's just like any other kind of faith...it's like any other kind of faith. You exercise faith all the time. Sure you do. Every time you turn on a faucet you exercise faith. You don't know who's playing in your pipes. You don't know what's going on. You live in Los Angeles, you trust the water, you don't know where it came from, who brought it here, what's in it, unless you can see it and sometimes you can. You get in your car, you fly down the freeway at 75 miles an hour, you wouldn't know a brake from a radiator if somebody put in front of you. You don't know what makes your car stop, but you trust whoever did put those brakes in there knew. You turn on your internal combustion engine and explosions are going on all the time 18 inches from your face, you don't expect you're going to blow up. You live by faith. You eat wherever you go. You go into a restaurant and you eat what they put on your plate. You don't know anybody in there, you've never been in the kitchen, you don't know where it comes from. It tells you what it is on the menu and more and more restaurants now are obscuring what it really is with all these weird names. You eat it, and worse thing, you go into surgery and they knock you out for hours and take out anything they want. And you don't have a check list and you wouldn't know it if you saw it. That is...you have faith.
Then you go to the drug store and you hand this guy an illegible piece of paper that you can't read and probably neither can he, and then he gives you a bottle of stuff and you go home and take it. This is faith. That's true, it is faith. And people say, "Well, you exercise faith all the time. That kind of faith, just put that kind of faith in Jesus." That's ridiculous. We're not talking about natural faith. The reason I drink out of a faucet is because I've been drinking out of a faucet and I'm still around. I've experienced water out of a faucet. So far so good. The reason I trust my brakes is I've been driving cars for years and the brakes always work. And if they are...if they're going bad, I begin to know that and I take care of it. The reason I'm willing to go into surgery is because doctors do it all the time and hospitals take care of people and everybody does it and experience says it's safe. And the reason I eat the food is because...hey, I've been eating it all along and here I am. And the reason I take the medication is because I've been taking it when I needed it through the years from time to time and it seems to do what it's supposed to do. So experience tells me that there are certain things that I can trust. Experience also tells me there are certain places I won't eat, certain mechanics I won't go to and certain doctors I wouldn't let touch me. This is simply because of experience.
And the fact is that experience isn't always reliable. We had a dear lady in our church one day who was having pain in her stomach. Went back to the surgeon where she had recent surgery and found out he had left one of his major instruments inside. I mean, they...they mess up occasionally, no question about it. Sometimes the water is bad. Sometimes the brakes go bad and you have an accident. Sometimes the food makes you sick. Sometimes the surgeon does the wrong thing. Sometimes the medication is wrong. But basically, experience tells you...you can trust those things.
But when God asks you to believe in the Bible, you've had no experience. He's asking you to commit your life to something you've had no experience with. He's asking you, as Peter says, to believe in one who is unseen. He's asking you to believe in a God you've never seen, a Christ you've never seen and a heaven you've never seen. He's asking you to commit your life in time and eternity to something you never have experienced, you never will experience until you experience it. And even then you can't experience saving faith. You can't feel saving faith. So what makes you do that? Why would I give my life in faith to a God I can't see and a Christ I can't see and discipline my life and live my life circumspectly by the Word of God for a heaven I can't see? Why in the world would I do that? No experience informs my faith. It's supernatural in two ways. I base that faith on the Word of God, the Bible, which is clearly to anyone who studies it not a human book. And you know very soon this is from God. I don't need to see heaven. I don't need to see Christ. I don't need to see God. The Scripture reveals that all very clearly and powerfully and convincingly. But beyond that, the Spirit of God has quickened my heart to believe and faith is a gift from Him. I have learned from Scripture that God is dependable and God is unchanging, and God is faithful, and God is loving and merciful and that God does what He says He will do. The history tells us that in Scripture. And here if you're still questioning it, look back. Abel lived by faith, and Enoch, and Noah, and Abraham, and Sarah, and Isaac, and Jacob, and Joseph, and Moses, and Rahab, and Gideon, and Barak, and Samson, and Jephthah, and David, and Samuel, and the prophets and all the rest of these people who went through all of these other things and in the end they all had their faith vindicated. And so in chapter 12 he says, "They become a great cloud of witnesses." And what do they give testimony to? To the value of the life of faith.
Verse 27 sort of sums it up. It says about Moses, "By faith he left Egypt not fearing the wrath of the king, Pharaoh who was going to chase him, for he endured...here's the key...as seeing Him who is...what?...invisible, unseen." That's it. Faith is the absolute ground conviction solid confidence in what we hope for being a reality. He says it a second way in verse 1. "It is the conviction of things not seen." That ties it into Hebrews 11:27. It is the confidence, the assurance of what we hope for and we hope for what God has promised us in His Word. And it is even deeper than just an assurance, this word is stronger, it is a conviction, a deep inward assurance in what we can't see.
Where does that come from? It comes from confidence in the God revealed in Scripture. It comes from a supernatural faith given to us by the Holy Spirit. And by the way, this kind of faith is portrayed here in its worst possible test. Every single person through here, the named and the unnamed, are shown in an environment of severe testing. The only exception might be Enoch, but everybody else had a very severe test. They lived lives of endurance, perseverance, where there was plenty to destroy human faith. Experience might have told them, "Don't trust God, don't trust God." Take Job. He's not mentioned here but add him to the list. Was Job's experience a verification of God's faithfulness? No, everything was going wrong, everything. Even his wife said, "Curse God and die. Get over it. Get off this faith. Get out of this religion of worshiping God. Look at your life." But this faith endures, it endures, it endures, it endures. And you come down to people who endured all kinds of terrible things at the end of the chapter, and I read you the litany of all the things they went through. This is the kind of faith that is so powerful, so divine, so supernatural, so lasting, it is unassailable, no matter what the cost. It survives. All these saints were so committed to God, they were so sure of what they believed in, even though they didn't ever live to see the promise. Look, it says at the very end, verse 39, they all died...they all died without receiving what was promised. They all died without ever seeing the Messiah, without ever seeing the Savior, without ever seeing the one who was coming. But their faith endured to the end. This is saving faith. It is the kind of faith that can't be explained naturally. It's the kind of faith that has a solid concrete confidence that the promises hoped for are real. And it has a settled conviction of the reality of the unseen world.
Let me just take you a little further into this definition. There's three elements, this kind of faith. Theologians have through the years characterized it as having three elements. Element number one, knowledge. An old Latin word the Reformers used was noticia(?), knowledge. That had to do with the mind. Second, assent...ascent, that had to do with the heart, asensus(?) in Latin. And third is Latin thaducia(?), it means trust. So these are the three elements of this faith...knowledge, in the mind; assent in the heart, and trust in the will. This kind of faith holds the knowledge of God and the knowledge of the gospel and the knowledge of Christ. That's why faith comes by hearing the Word of God because it's the kind of faith that has to know the truth. And not only knows the truth, but in the heart it assents to the truth. It knows it and it believes it. But there's something more, just those two can be a non-saving faith. The third is the will acts in total trust and makes the commitment. Saving faith involves all three. Trust, thaducia is the crowning element of believing. It moves the soul to a saving experience. It involves complete surrender to the object of faith. It takes Christ as Lord and Savior and makes a full surrender. It dies to self, it denies self. In the language of Matthew 13, it sells all to buy the pearl. It sells all to buy the treasure. And that's all in the text. In verse 3 it says, "By faith we understand." It does relate to our knowledge. In verse 1 it talks about assurance, that's assent. It talks about conviction, that's trust. It all has to be there. Saving faith is knowing, believing and entrusting. And this...this group in this Hall of Fame were all fully committed, mind, heart and will to the object of their faith who was God. And it was therefore enduring, unassailable, supernatural faith even though it was something they only hoped for and someone they had never seen. This is saving faith. It is a faith characterized by knowing, believing and entrusting.
There's more to this saving faith, but I'll save it till next time. We only talked about what faith is. A couple of other things we want to talk about next time, who faith trusts and how faith acts. Boy, the time goes quickly, doesn't it?
Father, we thank You for the richness of all of this and the consistency of Scripture which is so wonderfully blessed to us. Scripture never confuses us, it only opens itself to us and we see the divine authorship in its consistency. Lord, we know that we could never come to You through our works, nor could we come to you with our human faith, for we have no experience of you. And so the faith to believe in You has to be supernatural, it has to be something You give us, to trust You whom we've never seen and to trust You for promises in a world that is beyond us, to trust You for heaven to which we've never gone and to so trust You that we are willing to rest both our time and eternity in that confidence. We thank You that the Word is our anchor, that the Word is the source of our trust, the source of our confidence. We trust in You the God revealed in Scripture. We trust in You the Christ of Scripture. We trust in You the Holy Spirit of Scripture. We trust in a heaven of Scripture. We trust in all the promises of Scripture because we know the Word is true. It has been vindicated and verified for centuries and now to our own faith as a gift from You it has been verified in our lives for we have seen its power. Lord, we thank you for the true faith that saves and may we be faithful to proclaim the true gospel and call for the true faith which is a total abandonment, mind, heart and will to You our unseen God, our unseen Christ, the unseen Spirit and the hope of a yet unseen heaven. Thank You for this wonderful day together and thank You for calling us to Yourself and granting us this faith in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.


text:
The Outback Steakhouse may be well known for its steak and bloomin' onion, but it is just as well known for its philanthropic endeavors within the community. The Wheaton Outback Steakhouse is generously hosting a fall luncheon in support of the Western DuPage Special Recreation Association (WDSRA) Foundation.
"We are committed to improving the quality of life in our community," says Outback Proprietor Jay Ruck . "We are always looking to partner with groups, like WDSRA, who can help us achieve this goal."
No Worries Luncheon to benefit WDSRA
Outback Steakhouse
Friday, September 13th
11:30 am
50 E. Loop Rd., Wheaton
Open to the public
Tickets are $30 and can be purchased online at www.wdsra.com or by calling 630-681-0962.
Patrons will get Outback's most popular menu items and the satisfaction of knowing that they are helping WDSRA in the most delicious way! Lunch includes a choice of chicken, steak or salmon and Caesar salad, mashed potatoes, cheesecake, and soft drinks.
As part of the Outback philosophy, each year a select few organizations are chosen to which Outback donates time, staff and amazing food to provide a full course luncheon for each group to use as a fundraiser. Not normally open for lunch, the entire restaurant is filled with like-minded patrons ready to also give back to the community.
This year, the Western DuPage Special Recreation Association (WDSRA) Foundation, Glenbard South Girls Basketball team and Habitat for Humanity have been lucky enough to have been chosen as recipients by the Wheaton location.
"We want to give back to the communities we serve as much as we can. It's an essential part of the Outback culture," says Ruck. "Wheaton is such a family-oriented community and WDSRA impacts the lives of so many families. We are proud to be able to help."
"This luncheon provides a tremendous opportunity for WDSRA," comments Lea Jackman, WDSRA superintendent of communications and development. "As a not-for-profit, we are always looking for fresh ways to build donations. Through this luncheon we can offer an outstanding, delicious lunch for a reasonable price and realize a sizeable donation. Ruck, his staff, and Outback are the real heroes here. They are the ones making this possible."
For more information about WDSRA or the No Worries luncheon, contact Lea Jackman, WDSRA superintendent of communications and development, at 630-681-0962 ext580.
Western DuPage Special Recreation Association (WDSRA) provides engaging, community-based recreational programs and inclusion services for children, teens, and adults with special needs. WDSRA offers Special Olympics, adapted sports, dance and art programs, camps, trips, special events, and more. WDSRA's mission, the development of individuals through recreation, makes it possible for the more than 4,500 individuals served to grow personally, connect with their community and discover their potential.
For more information, visit www.wdsra.com.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
September 27, 2004
LOS ANGELES, Sept. 27, 2004 – UCLA Anderson School of Management will host the nation's first west coast recruitment event: the 2004 National Recruitment Forum for Doctoral Programs in Business and Management. This event will be held Thursday, October 7, 2004 from 6-8 p.m. at UCLA Anderson and is sponsored in part by the Graduate Management Admissions Council (GMAC). This is a first-of-its-kind event in southern California. (A similar doctoral program recruitment event will be held in northern California a day earlier.)
At the UCLA Anderson forum, there will be a panel discussion by UCLA Anderson faculty and current doctoral students who will provide information and first-hand experiences into the elements of a doctoral program.
Attendees will learn about the doctoral degree in business and management, gain insight into a career in academia, find out about academic research and preparation and ascertain the quality of doctoral student life. This forum is designed to attract individuals who are interested in careers in research and teaching in the various disciplines of business and management.
This event will bring together representatives from 24 leading business schools around the country, including:
Arizona State University
Columbia Business School
Emory University
Georgia State University
Harvard Business School
Indiana University
MIT Sloan School of Management
New York University, Stern School of Business
Northwestern University, Kellogg School of Management
Pennsylvania State University
Stanford University
UCLA Anderson School of Management
University of California, Berkeley, Haas School of Business
University of Chicago
University of Illinois at Chicago
University of Michigan
University of Minnesota, Carlson School of Management
University of Oregon, Lundquist College of Business
University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School
University of Southern California, Marshall School of Business
University of Texas-Pan American
University of Washington
University of Wisconsin, Madison
Vanderbilt University
For more information or to register, please contact Lydia Heyman, (310) 825-2667 or register online.


text:
When Matthew Shoup joined LinkedIn in 2010, he had a pretty run-of-the-mill job title: technical marketer.
But Shoup had a passion for hacking—a term which has come to mean quickly executed feats of coding, not its older connotation of breaking into systems.
And that helped him transform his role into something much more exciting and liberating, Fast Company's David Zax reports. Shoup's new title: hacker-in-residence.
"I started winning (hack days)," Shoup told Fast Company. "And through this series of small wins, people assumed I was working on hacks full time."
As it turns out, he was doing just that.
Shoup says that some of his hacks became prototypes for internal tools, and after a little while, people would pitch their own hack ideas to him.
Now, Shoup says he spends 80% of his time on passion projects, and 20% of his time on his day-to-day duties.
"I'm blessed to be able to shift those priorities," Shoup said.


text:
A book by Nick about his journey down the Hudson river, and Craftspeople he met along the way.
I produced a series of tiny vignette illustrations for the book (A small selection above), depicting tools surroundings of the featured craftspeople, which sit alongside Nicks photography.
Its an inspiring little book, featuring transcribed interviews with very interesting people, and is available from Abrams & Chronicle Books


text:
S4 E20 Episode 420
ENTREPRENEUR: Marc Newburger & Jeffrey Simon
PITCH: Drop Stop
ASKING FOR: $300k for a 15% stake
BEST PART OF THE PITCH: The guys have come up with a product that clogs up the gap between your car seat and the center console. It can universally fit into any car or truck. It'll stop anything and everything from falling into the black hole between seat and console where items get lost in the Carmuda Triangle. The guys have sold over 260,000 units. They've had $1.3 million in gross sales since opening their doors. Marc came up with the idea after almost getting into an accident due to distracted driving.
DO THE SHARKS BITE? Robert isn't a believer in the product, so he's out. Daymond likes the idea and the sales are showing there's a need. But like Robert, he just doesn't believe in the product. He's out. Mark will take the Drop Stop the guys gave him, but he can't add value to what they are doing. He's out. Kevin offers the $300k for a royalty of $2 per unit. Lori says she can easily make Marc and Jeffrey millionaires. She offers them $300k for 20% equity. Kevin then offers to drop down a $1 royalty after he gets his money back.
THE RESULT: Lori asks the guys to visualize her giving them a check for a million bucks as they sail around Martha's Vineyard together. The visualization trick works, as the guys accept her offer. Marc and Jeffrey can't wait to take that boat ride with Lori. Wonder if they'll make a Drop Stop for ships.
UPDATE: Buggy Beds
Maria Curcio & Veronica Periongo made a deal with all five sharks for their early bedbug detection system. They've gone from $150k to $1.2 million in two months. They are now rolling out into 600 stores across the country. They run a full warehouse and are on target to reach up to $10 million in sales. This is all for not letting the bedbugs bite.
ENTREPRENEUR: Gary Groomes & Dave Johnson
PITCH: Traditional Fisheries
ASKING FOR: $225k for a 25% stake
BEST PART OF THE PITCH: The guys need help from the sharks to fight a war against an environmental terrorist known as the lionfish. This fish is capable of causing an economic and ecological disaster. Their venomous spine allows them to have no natural predator and they've been putting our oceans in jeopardy. The guys say, if you can't beat 'em, then eat 'em. They cook and sell lionfish. They are essentially introducing a new fish dish, but they've only grossed $12,000 in sales
DO THE SHARKS BITE? Robert doesn't believe there's any kind of demand for this fish, so he's out. Kevin thinks it'll take too long to convince people to eat the lionfish. He's out. Daymond thinks this will be a huge educational challenge that $250k simply won't cover. He's out. Mark believes it's a good problem to solve, but it'll take too much money to do it. He's out. Lori is up for anything that helps the ecology, but she doesn't think anyone will come running to eat lionfish. She's out. Gary and Dave will have to hook another investor.
LEARN MORE: Visit http://www.traditionalfisheries.com
ENTREPRENEUR: Lani Lazzari
PITCH: Simple Sugars
ASKING FOR: $100k and a 10% stake
BEST PART OF THE PITCH: Lani started her company when she was 11. She created a product that took away her eczema. She created all natural sugar scrubs that gently exfoliate and provide deep skin nourishment in one easy step. Now that she's graduated high school, she's ready to go big with her product. Lori tries out the scrub and likes it. Lani has $55,000 in sales and projects $100k in the future. She tells the sharks how she's been able to grow the product all by herself. She wants to be an entrepreneur so that she can be in control of her own destiny.
DO THE SHARKS BITE? Daymond thinks Lani is doing great on her own and doesn't need him at all. He's out. Lori is thoroughly impressed by Lani, but she thinks there's too much competition out there. She's out. Kevin knows that the cosmetics market is so hard to compete it and doesn't think her product is worth $1 million. He's out. Robert believes any offer he could make would be inequitable to her, so he's out. That leaves Mark.
THE RESULT: Mark is willing to invest $100k for 33% of the company due the investment of his time that would be necessary. Lani counters with an offer of 25% equity. Mark stands firm at 33%. Lani says she would love to accept his offer. After Lani leaves the tank, Robert says she was one of the best pitchers they've ever had in the tank.
LEARN MORE: Visit http://www.simplesugarsscrub.com
ENTREPRENEUR: Jeffrey Miller
PITCH: Coolwraps
ASKING FOR: $100k for a 40% stake
BEST PART OF THE PITCH: Jeffrey has created a shrinkwrap gift bag that's very easy to use. He has a table full of gifts he wrapped the night before and actually had fun doing it. The product was out in the market 10 years ago where it sold out at places like QVC. He had partnership issues that didn't allow the product to grow. He was only a 20% shareholder at the time but he is now a 100% owner. He has a utility patent on the product.
DO THE SHARKS BITE? Robert doesn't see the market for the product. He's out. Lori likes the product but believes it needs a lot of revamping. She offers to buy the entire company for $100k. She's offering to take on all the risk and responsibility leaving Jeffrey in the clear. But Mark has something to say about that.
THE RESULT: Mark offers Jeffrey $250k for the entire company plus a 3% royalty, but he wants a yes or no answer immediately. Jeffery gives it to him. He says yes in one of the fastest deals ever made in the tank.
LEARN MORE: Visit http://www.coolwraps.com


text:
Prince William County Democratic state Sen. Charles J. Colgan plans to retire next year when his term expires.
The longest-serving lawmaker in the General Assembly tells the Richmond Times-Dispatch he's rejected Gov. Terry McAuliffe's multiple requests to run for another term.
The 87-year-old has served in the Senate since 1976.
Republicans currently hold a one-seat advantage in the Senate. Democratic Caucus Chairman Sen. A. Donald McEachin says his party is preparing for Colgan's retirement.
Former Democratic state Sen. Phil Puckett abruptly quit the upper chamber earlier this month.
Colgan's planned retirement was first reported by the Gainesville Times.


text:
As we begin to see what comprehensive immigration reform could look like, I tend to grit my teeth in frustration with the all-or-nothing crowd.
These are the people and organizations that look at various scenarios and storm in with a list of demands or a string of reasons why even preliminary proposals aren't tenable.
When immigrant advocacy groups send out impatient emails declaring that whatever is up for discussion just isn't good enough, I always wonder, "Why can't you, for just one minute, take on a spirit of compromise instead of doing your best to torpedo an already fragile process?"
Now, as details of the proposals by both the White House and a bipartisan group of senators are starting to emerge, one issue is how many illegal immigrants could be left out.
According to a Colorlines magazine analysis of previously debated proposals, anywhere from 3.6 million to nearly 6 million could be excluded from citizenship because they're unable to meet the English-language requirement, millions more for not meeting residency requirements or barriers such as nonviolent criminal records. The overall message: There shouldn't be any barriers.
There are other objections. Last week, groups started promoting a report from the University of Southern California that suggests the fees associated with the naturalization process are too high. The message: Not only should the process be easy; it should also be cheap.
I don't see how these demands are supposed to buoy a compromise process that has, until very recently, been thwarted by Republicans fearful of upsetting the nativist wing of their conservative base.
But we may need to at least hear the vocal advocates out, if for no other reason than their viewpoints need to be recognized by those legislators who are in the position to make the bargains needed for a compromise.
Take presente.org, a Berkeley, Calif.-based organization that describes itself as existing "to amplify the political voice of Latino communities." It is running an advocacy campaign titled "Citizenship for all 11 million, no less," which turns the strategy of going along with politically viable stances on its head.
Echoing a complaint I hear with regularity from small, grass-roots immigrant advocacy organizations who say their issues are being ignored, Arturo Carmona, presente.org's executive director, told me that the Latino community shouldn't fret about not agreeing on what constitutes a reasonable compromise for reform. More worrisome to him is that most of the people who will be impacted have little say in the debate.
"It is a very important political moment, but it's also very important that we find a reasonable, expedient pathway to citizenship for the 11-plus million -- we think that's a middle-of-the-road approach," he said.
For Carmona, a "real solution" doesn't mean addressing only the exemplary illegal immigrants but the whole population, warts and all. It's a population, he says, that has had little opportunity to help shape a workable compromise.
"Our role is to elevate the voice of the constituency who doesn't have a voice," he said. "You've certainly seen some progress in getting real undocumented people to play a role in the discussions -- you've seen DREAMers who have become better represented -- but the vast majority of the undocumented population are domestic workers, car wash workers, day laborers. And their voices are not being adequately represented in the debate right now."
Carmona has a point. Every politician who supports reform makes it a habit of trotting out a model would-be citizen, while opponents will cite hardened immigrant criminals as their examples.
It's the people in the middle -- the ones who might not have money for fines, time to take English-as-a-second-language classes, or squeaky clean records because they live hand-to-mouth in jobs that employers hired them to do despite their legal status -- who need to be taken into account.
An all-or-nothing strategy isn't going to work for everyone. But if we completely ignore those who will surely be left out of a legalization opportunity, we will be debating what to do with them for years to come.
Email: email@example.com.
Listening to those left out


text:
Elliott Gilbert
landscapes, cityscapes, portraits, people, still life
I have spent recent summers in France, painting watercolors in the
Provence villages and landscapes of Goult, Lumières, Montfort,
Najac, St-Affrique, Carcès, Bonnieux and elsewhere. As a practical
medium for travel, watercolor has been my choice; however my studio
work has included oils and pastels. Artists with whom I studied include
Isaac Soyer, Rufino Tamayo and Stephen Greene. I have also
illustrated children's books including "Mittens in May" by poet
laureate Maxine W. Kumin. Currently in print: "The Best Loved Doll"
by Rebecca Caudill, published by Henry Holt.
Hexton Gallery, New York City
Springfield Art Museum, Springfield, MO
North Colorado Artists Association, CO
Great Neck Library, Long Island, NY
Foothills Art Center, Golden, CO
Rhode Island Watercolor Society, Pawtucket, RI
Agama Gallery, New York City
Synagogue for the Arts, New York City
Associated Artists of Winston-Salem, NC
Peninsula Fine Arts Center, Newport News, VA
Louisville Art Association, Louisville, KY
Franklin 54 Gallery, New York City
Maryland Federation of Art, Annapolis, MD
Pastel Society of North Carolina, Graham, NC
Wilkes Art Gallery, N. Wilkesboro, NC
SW Minnesota State University Art Museum
Patron Purchase Award, Springfield Art Museum, Springfield, MO
Patron Purchase Award, Associated Artists of Winston-Salem, NC
Honorable Mention, Rhode Island Watercolor Society, Pawtucket, RI
Tel. 201-222-3695; firstname.lastname@example.com


text:
Jewish history began about 4,000 years ago (c. 17th century BCE) with the patriarchs – Abraham, his son Isaac, and grandson Jacob.
After 400 years of bondage, the Israelites were led to freedom by Moses who, according to the biblical narrative, was chosen by God to take his people out of Egypt and back to the Land of Israel promised to their forefathers (c.13th-12th centuries BCE). They wandered for 40 years in the Sinai desert, where they were forged into a nation and received the Torah (Pentateuch), which included the Ten Commandments, and gave form and content to their monotheistic faith.
The exodus from Egypt (c.1300 BCE) left an indelible imprint on the national memory of the Jewish people and became a universal symbol of liberty and freedom. Every year Jews celebrate Pesach (Passover), Shavuot (Pentecost) and Succot (Feast of Tabernacles), commemorating events of that time.
During the next two centuries, the Israelites conquered most of the Land of Israel and became farmers and craftsmen; a degree of economic and social consolidation followed. Periods of relative peace alternated with times of war, during which the people rallied behind leaders known as judges, chosen for their political and military skills as well as for their leadership qualities.
The weakness inherent in this tribal organization in face of a threat posed by the Philistines (sea-going people from Asia Minor who settled on the Mediterranean coast) generated the need for a ruler who would unite the tribes and make the position permanent, with succession carried on by inheritance.
The first king, Saul (c.1020 BCE), bridged the period between loose tribal organization and the setting up of a full monarchy under his successor, David.
King David (c.1004-965 BCE) established his kingdom as a major power in the region by successful military expeditions, including the final defeat of the Philistines, as well as through a network of friendly alliances with nearby kingdoms. Consequently, his authority was recognized from the borders of Egypt and the Red Sea to the banks of the Euphrates. At home, he united the 12 Israelite tribes into one kingdom and placed his capital, Jerusalem, and the monarchy at the center of the country's national life. Biblical tradition depicts David as a poet and musician, with verses ascribed to him appearing in the Book of Psalms.
David was succeeded by his son Solomon (c.965-930 BCE) who further strengthened the kingdom. Through treaties with neighboring kings, reinforced by politically motivated marriages, Solomon ensured peace for his kingdom and made it equal among the great powers of the age. He expanded foreign trade and promoted domestic prosperity by developing major enterprises, such as copper mining and metal smelting, while building new towns and fortifying old ones of strategic and economic importance.
Crowning his achievements was the building of the Temple in Jerusalem, which became the center of the Jewish people's national and religious life. The Bible attributes to Solomon the Book of Proverbs and the Song of Songs.
(The Israel Museum, Jerusalem)
A tiny, 7th century BCE silver scroll found in Jerusalem, contains the
priestly benediction:
"The Lord bless thee and keep thee;
the Lord make his face to shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee;
the Lord lift up his countenance upon thee and give thee peace."
(Numbers 6:24-26)
Israel Antiquities Authority
Religious sages and charismatic figures, who were perceived as being endowed with a divine gift of revelation, preached during the period of the monarchy until a century after the destruction of Jerusalem (586 BCE).
Whether as advisers to kings on matters of religion, ethics and politics, or as their critics under the primacy of the relationship between the individual and God, the prophets were guided by the need for justice and issued powerful commentaries on the morality of Jewish national life. Their revelatory experiences were recorded in books of inspired prose and poetry, many of which were incorporated into the Bible.
The enduring, universal appeal of the prophets derives from their call for a fundamental consideration of human values. Words such as those of Isaiah (1:17), "Learn to do good, devote yourselves to justice; aid the wronged, uphold the rights of the orphan; defend the cause of the widow continue to nourish humanity's pursuit of social justice."
The end of Solomon's rule was marred by discontent on the part of the populace, which had to pay heavily for his ambitious schemes. At the same time, preferential treatment of his own tribe embittered the others, which resulted in growing antagonism between the monarchy and the tribal separatists.
After Solomon's death (930 BCE), open insurrection led to the breaking away of the 10 northern tribes and division of the country into a northern kingdom, Israel, and a southern kingdom, Judah, the latter on the territory of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin.
The Kingdom of Israel, with its capital Samaria, lasted more than 200 years under 19 kings, while the Kingdom of Judah was ruled from Jerusalem for 400 years by an equal number of kings of the lineage of David. The expansion of the Assyrian and Babylonian empires brought first Israel and later Judah under foreign control.
The Kingdom of Israel was crushed by the Assyrians (722 BCE) and its people carried off into exile and oblivion. Over a hundred years later, Babylonia conquered the Kingdom of Judah, exiling most of its inhabitants as well as destroying Jerusalem and the Temple (586 BCE).
The Babylonian conquest brought an end to the First Temple period, but did not sever the Jewish people's connection to the Land of Israel. Sitting by the rivers of Babylon, the Jews pledged to remember their homeland:
If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its cunning. If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I do not set Jerusalem above my highest joy. (Psalms 137:5-6)
The exile to Babylonia, which followed the destruction of the First Temple (586 BCE), marked the beginning of the Jewish Diaspora. There, Judaism began to develop a religious framework and way of life outside the Land, ultimately ensuring the people's national survival and spiritual identity and imbuing it with sufficient vitality to safeguard its future as a nation.


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hey there my name is julian i was wondering if u converted ur rear breaks to disc instead of drum
Are there no for sale sections anymore?
Would you like the radio? Ill give you that pioneer as well.
Yes i have 2 factory radios at my house and that pioneer 6 disc from the 2000 sl. The 96 was my sl2 and has tan interior.
Send an Instant Message to ProDarwin Using...


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A little more than a year ago, the families of Cloverbank Elementary School in Hamburg had a dream to bring a new playground to the children.
"We figured it would take two to three years," recalled Michele Grime, outgoing chairwoman of the school's Playground Committee.
The effort began in earnest in May 2012 to raise $120,000 to build a new playground to replace the wooden structure that has become outdated, attracts bees and is difficult for special needs children to use.
The seed for that dream to grow came through a $20,000 donation from Hamburg village jeweler John T. Sharp, owner of Gold & Pearl Studio, who died of cancer in March.
One of Sharp's neighbors, Jane Brueckl, is a physical education teacher at Cloverbank and had told Sharp about the project. Sharp wanted to help, said Grime and Cloverbank parent Janice Shaver, the committee's treasurer.
"We were looking to build a playground not just for the students, but the entire community," Shaver said.
Sharp's donation "really got the momentum going for us. We were lucky enough to secure a donation from him," Grime said. "He's one of the main reasons we were able to raise it so quickly."
Sharp never got to see the playground come to fruition, but he knew just how much the playground meant to the children. "The kids sent thank-you cards to him," Grime said. He'd read a few cards each day as he was dying. "He called all the kids his angels," Grime said.
To raise more funds, supporters have been selling cookie dough and holding faculty basketball games. They held a craft show and two walk-a-thons, too.
So far, the supporters have raised $80,000, which has already been donated to the Frontier School District.
"We're just thrilled we got this far and are able to do this for the kids and the school," Grime said. "The donations we received from the community were outstanding."
The new playground, designed by Miracle, will sport primary and secondary play areas, a fitness circuit, and offer handicapped accessibility. It will have a wide range of different types of swings and feature a sponsor-personalized brick-lined walkway. The playground will be situated behind the school on the same footprint as the existing playground.
Cloverbank has an enrollment of about 600 students in prekindergarten through fifth grade.
The Frontier School District is handling the cost of demolishing the old playground in late September and putting in a surface for the new one. Construction is expected to take place over the course of one to two weeks, by late October. A formal opening or dedication will be planned for next spring.
Parents, businesses, Frontier alumni, the Teachers' Association and Board of Education all have backed the project. The nonprofit committee is continuing to raise money for donations for a brick walkway that will lead to the playground, and to also help pay for tables and chairs near the play area.
Shaver said the committee hopes to make a stronger push in September to raise more money for the brick walkway, benches and tables.
Perhaps a student's wish will also be answered – Shaver says one child has requested a chess table.
email: firstname.lastname@example.com


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Dinner & A Movie is a public benefit 501(c)(3) non-profit working with homeless youth. We serve them without preference to race, ethnicity, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, disability or creed. Our passion is to help these youth change their negative core beliefs through mentoring. Dinner & A Movie believes that an individual's core beliefs will impact their feelings, actions, and ability to change.
Who Are the Lost?
Dinner & A Movie is committed to helping Portland's lost youth through providing for their physical, psychological, emotional, mental and spiritual needs. We believe in the value of the whole person, and seek to enable street youth to progress in every facet of their lives. The staff and volunteers at Dinner & A Movie are dedicated to re-parenting the broken hearts of our city's lost youth. We share the love of Jesus by providing hope and a chance at new life.
As they exist on the streets they embark on journeys that would make other people shudder. Dinner & A Movie wants to provide them with a new road map, giving them the help they need to get to a better destination than the one that is currently offered to them.
Portland, Oregon has the highest population, per capita, of homeless youth in the United States. A conservative estimate reports the streets of Portland to be home to 2,500 youth. Of these 2,500, two-thirds are native Oregonians. These numbers are our city's lost youth… but who are the lost?
They are the beaten, hated, molested, ignored, addicted, scorned, sold and exploited. Up to 90% of homeless youth are sexually and/or physically abused prior to street life (Robert C. Coates, A Street Is Not a Home: Solving America's Homeless Dilemma [Prometheus Books: Buffalo, NY, 1990]), with 80% of the sexual abuse victims denying their abuse (Department of Justice, 1997). 74% of sexual abuse is committed by either an immediate or extended family member (ibid). Eventually over 80% will turn to prostitution during their lives (New Avenues for Youth: Portland, OR, 2004). Street youth become targets for gangs and other predators.


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Liverpool striker Luis Suarez flattered by interest amid Arsenal & Chelsea links
Unsettled Liverpool striker Luis Suarez has admitted it is good to know he is still valued by teams like Arsenal.
By Pete O'Rourke - Follow me: @skysportspeteo
Last Updated: 10/07/13 6:39pm
Suarez's future at Liverpool has been the subject of constant speculation all summer with the player not hiding his desire to leave Anfield.
It was reported that Arsenal had a bid turned down by Liverpool for Suarez, while Chelsea have also been credited with an interest in the former Ajax man.
Real Madrid are thought to be leading the chase to sign Suarez with the player's agent reported to have met Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers and managing director Ian Ayre on Monday to discuss his future.
Liverpool are loath to lose the Uruguayan with the player thought to be keen on a move away in a bid to be playing in the Champions League.
The 26-year-old insists there have been no bids for his services yet, but claims Liverpool know his intentions to leave.
"There have been no offers yet, but Liverpool know exactly what is going on and what I want," Suarez told Uruguayan radio station Sport 890.
"My agent is in charge, he knows what I want, I am resting and relaxed. I am due back in about ten days, on the 21st of July (for the friendly with Melbourne Victory)... a phone call could change everything."
On the rumours linking him with Premier League rivals Arsenal and Chelsea, Suarez said: "It's good to know that I am still valued by teams like Arsenal. Friends call me up to ask if I am moving to Chelsea, to which I laugh.
"Don't believe everything you read or hear! I am sometimes off the grid. I don't even know where my phone is sometimes."
Since his arrival in England in January 2011 he has been banned for racially abusing Manchester United defender Patrice Evra, castigated for diving and is only four matches into a 10-game suspension for biting Chelsea's Branislav Ivanovic in April. He has also claimed he is being hounded by the British media.
"They (the press) have given it to me in England but, like we say, I've given them stuff to eat because if I hadn't done anything then probably they wouldn't have been as bad.
"But football is like that and you have to be accustomed to all that and it's good that the English clubs still want me."
Real Madrid, whom Suarez expressed an interest in last month during a series of interviews which put his future at Anfield in serious doubt, remain favourites although they have yet to make any approach.
Speculation about his future has followed Suarez for several months and he admits it does entertain him.
Chelsea were also linked with a move while he said his wife told him Paris St Germain wanted him after reading some of the gossip.
"It does amuse you because they (media) don't know anything," he added.
"I think it was my wife told me that I am going to speak French (at Paris St Germain) with (compatriot) Edinson Cavani. She comes and tells me something different all the time.
"Or when I'm having a chat with my brother in law and he says 'I saw Chelsea want Luis Suarez' and I say 'Ah yeah I see you're eating up what the press say.
"I say to him they know more than we do and it's funny. For now everything is going well I am very calm."


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Another spring, another show season. In the mercurial world of fashion, it's comforting to know that some things will never change—Anna Wintour's hairdo, an Olsen in the front row, and a tsunami
of earnest media coverage on how a conspiracy of evil designers and
foolish models are reducing women to jutting-collarboned wrecks, barely
able to lift their heads from the lavatory bowl to make it to Barneys
in time for the pre-collections.
Another spring, another show season. In the mercurial world of fashion, it's comforting to know that some things will never change—Anna Wintour's hairdo, an Olsen in the front row, and a tsunami
of earnest media coverage on how a conspiracy of evil designers and
foolish models are reducing women to jutting-collarboned wrecks, barely
able to lift their heads from the lavatory bowl to make it to Barneys
in time for the pre-collections.
Click the Image to View Our Gallery of Skinny Models
Let's be clear. Anorexia and bulimia are horrific psychological conditions, destroying lives and families, and carrying devastating long-term health risks even when not fatal. Sufferers deserve nothing
but respect and support for their condition. But is that condition
nearly so prevalent as the barrage of attention it regularly attracts
actually deserves? And are women really so pathologically stupid that
they are unable to distinguish the fantasy of the runway from the
realities of their own bodies? Arguably, the "size zero" debate is
merely another side of the infantilized, hysterical box women thought
they had clawed their way out of a century ago, an insidious means of
suggesting that though we can run companies and governments we're still
not quite rational creatures, too dainty and delicate to cope with the
dissonances between the Bambi-limbed aspirations of the catwalk and our
own wretched, cellulite-smothered carcasses.
That women can be beautiful at any size, age, or color is something no serious person would dispute. But the fashion industry is ultimately unconcerned with beauty, its objective is selling clothes, and the
consensus remains that in order to achieve this, models need to be
thin. Whether or not this is aesthetically desirable is a matter of
taste, not morality. The recent success of "bigger' girls such as Lara
Stone or Daisy Lowe suggests that it does not always obtain, as V
magazine's recent billboard campaign emphasizes. Even Karl Lagerfeld
has jumped onboard the biscuits and gravy train with his latest shoot
of Miss Dirty Martini. The fact remains that for girls chasing the big
money, skinniness is professionally necessary.
We rarely get hysterical about the weight qualifications required of male sportsmen. Jockeys, boxers, and wrestlers put themselves through torture to make weight. A survey published by the U.S. National Library
of Medicine lists a range of weight-loss methods for jockeys that would
make any model agency proud—69 percent skip meals, 34 percent use
diuretics, 67 percent sweat off the pounds in the sauna, 30 percent
regularly vomit and 40 percent use laxatives. So where are the angry
headlines and government initiatives to fatten up our jockeys? Perhaps
in sport, the sacrifices are viewed as noble, and the rewards (prize
money or prestigious college scholarships) seen as secondary to the
noble end of winning for its own sake. Shifting dresses is after all a
frivolous little multibillion dollar industry. Or is it that men are
considered psychologically robust enough to admire the buff beauties of
GQ or Men's Health without getting their tighty-whities in a twist?
Women, it is implied, are too fragile to make a distinction between the
Victoria's Secret catalogue and their own closets. Young women who
choose to conform to the demands of their industry in order to maximize
their earnings are portrayed as irrational and deluded, while young men
who make comparable choices are admired.
Eating disorders, we are told, are on the rise, ready to grab the gut of any vulnerable teenager who spends too much time dreaming over Vogue. Except, actually, they're not.
The South Carolina Department of Mental Health claims that one in 200 American women suffer from anorexia, as opposed to the American Heart Association's statistic of 39.4 million women suffering from
obesity. So that's half a percent against 34 percent. EMJA, the medical
journal of Australia, concurs with the 0.5 percent statistic, noting
that anorexia nervosa is not common and adding, "Eating
disorders have captured the public imagination… This publicity tends to
obscure the continuing puzzle created by these…conditions." (Gilchrist
et al., 1998) Clinical Knowledge Summaries 2009, the statistics
department of the British National Institute of Health and Clinical
Excellence, says that 19 out of one million women are diagnosed as
anorexic, as opposed to 240,000 per million for obesity. The British
NHS survey of Disordered Eating noted 620 hospital treatments for
anorexia or bulimia (with some patients registered twice or more) for
2005 to 2006 as opposed to 17,458 for the same period for obesity.
There is simply no argument to be had as to the most prevalent weight-related threat to young women's health, and yet still every year someone vilifies poor old Kate Moss for suggesting that nothing tastes
as good as skinny feels. Well, right on, Kate. The hoary old trope that
models are statistically thinner than the average woman now as opposed
to 20 years ago proves nothing more than that the average woman got
Women have always gone to absurd and often dangerous extremes in pursuit of the beauty myth. Fourteen-inch waists and mercury-eaten complexions for the Elizabethans, pthisis- inducing sponged muslin for
Romantic groupies. One of the many rather creepy truisms trotted out in
support of "real' models is that much fashion is produced by men who
would prefer us to resemble adolescent boys. Yeah, we get that.
Fashion is about fantasy, about impossibility, about, dare we say it,
art. Most women can tell the difference. The suffragettes got us the
vote and they did it in whalebone corsets. Stop the presses, how we
look is not actually who we are.
Women recovering from severe eating disorders consistently report that their illness was not induced by the desire to look like Gisele, but by far more complex psychological issues. Is it not demeaning to
insist that such women were gripped by nothing more than vanity?
Feminism has created a world in which young women are safe and secure
enough to do a lot of stupid things as part of a rite of passage—they
can drink Jell-O shots and worship Robert Pattinson and grow up to
become accountants or lawyers or CEOs. Laying off the Krispy Kremes for
a few years in order to shimmy into Paige jeans is hardly on a par with
being unable to menstruate, but the rhetoric of the eating-disorder
lobby insultingly blurs the difference between harmless faddiness and
genuine disease.
Thin is a feminist issue because it grabs the headlines from more serious causes with which committed feminists might concern themselves. As the late great George Carlin put it, "What kind of goddamn disease
is this anyway? "I don't wanna eat!", "Well, go fuck yourself." If we
want to worry about malnutrition, why don't we get exercised about the
hundreds of thousands of women who starve slowly around the world? Thin
is a feminist issue because the well-meant anxiety over eating
disorders makes us look dim. It's patronizing and disempowering and
reduces legitimate concerns over body issues to juvenile whining. We
could just leave the models to get on with their job. Maybe the radical
way to look at this season's shows would be to enjoy the spectacle, buy
the frock and get on with something more interesting? Obviously, we're
not all brainless enough to starve ourselves out of existence because a
sinister conglomerate of designers and editors says we should. Sadly,
the current correlation between fashion and anorexia suggests precisely
* not her real name
I think this article brings up a lot of good points, personally.
Separating eating disorders from being naturally skinny is just as important as separating runway models from real life people.
I personally do not find fashion models attractive in the least. Give me a choice between Sports Illustrated girls and Calvin Klein, and guess who I'm going to aspire to look like?
The chick with boobs. That's who.
I can't honestly think of a single friend or co-worker...any female adult that I know in real life that wants to look like Cruella D'Ville from 101 Dalmatians. Sure, a lot of women want to drop a few pounds, but they also want a nice ass and chest.
When you model clothing, those are the first things you've got to give up. Those with a coltish body type don't have em to begin with. I know. I've been friends with girls that didn't weigh a hundred pounds, and ate twice what I did. (I'm a curvy girl.)
Why don't we just understand as people and as a society that fashion models are not beautiful. They are simply a body type that makes clothing look good to investors. No more, no less.
Feel free to go to town, folks. I know it's controversial. Just remember to keep it civil!
((sorry about the bad c&p last time. I fixed it for reading ease.))
Views: 269


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Staff Writer
Laurel Hamers
Staff Writer
Laurel is the general assignment reporter at Science News. She holds a bachelor's degree in biology from Williams College and a graduate certificate in science communication from the University of California-Santa Cruz. Before coming to Science News, she covered the intersection of physical and life sciences at the American Institute of Physics. Her work has also appeared in Science, Mongabay, and the San Jose Mercury News.


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Thursday, July 22, 2010
Digital Libraries à la Carte 2010. Module 4: Mobile Technologies in Education and Library
9:00 hrs The Use of Mobile Devices by Teens and Young Adults
Kristen Purcell / Associate Director, Research, Pew Internet & American Life Project, USA.
Internet connectivity is increasingly moving off of the desktop and into the mobile and wireless environment, particularly for teens and young adults. These populations no longer access the internet solely from a computer or even a laptop; they now go online via more mobile technologies such as cell phones and portable gaming devices. Rates of cell phone ownership in particular have risen dramatically for both teens and adults over the past five years, driving the mobile internet revolution. .
Understanding an individual's technological environment is now a vital clue in understanding how that person uses the internet, connects with others and accesses information. This presentation will draw on nationally representative data on the behaviors and attitudes of teen, young adult, and older adult internet users from the United States and other countries (where available) to outline the technological environment in which these groups currently reside and explore the subsequent impacts on the ways they access and share information..
The presentation will also explore how understanding the new information ecology, and the new information consumer, can help educators and librarians in particular rethink and reimagine their roles in information flow.
The Pew Internet Project has conducted more than 100 surveys and written more than 200 reports on the topic of teen and adult internet use, all of which are available on our website: http://www.pewinternet.org/.
11:00 hrs Do More, More Effectively, with Mobile Technology - 'Uses and Strategies'
Adam Blackwood / E-Adviser Teaching & Learning, JISC Regional Support Centre South East, UK.
Educational organisations are in a quandary about the relevance of mobile technologies for supporting teaching and learning processes. Few organisations have a holistic strategy for accommodating the potential of mobile technologies effectively. This session looks at the range of possibilities that mobile technologies provide for education and examines the strategies which can be used to harness that potential effectively.
The devices themselves are incredibly powerful with some current devices having more computing power and faster connectivity than some colleges had less than a decade ago. Within organisations, localized approaches to harnessing the potential of mobile technologies are less effective than a strategic organisation wide approach.
Many organisations concentrate on trying to raise staff skills and awareness for using e-learning. However, we will examine the notion that actually, an important part of any implementation should also involve educating the students as to why and how they might choose to use their devices differently. For example, not all students know the 'educational' value of some web2 technologies, or the value of enabling bluetooth on their mobile phones for receiving calendar files which can be used to embed course and assessment deadlines directly into their mobile phone calendars. Students may not be aware that their phone could be used as an e-book reader or a device to upload podcasts or read QR codes. To gain the most from the potential of the technology for libraries and education, implementation strategies need to be socio-technological in their scope, encompassing both staff, students and technological considerations. .
The session will explain how your library and organisation could use podcasting and vodcasting, animated gif guides, mobile phone e-book solutions, dedicated e-book readers, augmented reality applications, GPS applications, social networking developments and bluetooth solutions amongst many others, to enhance the present learning environment for your students. It will highlight a variety of strategies for allowing the effective implementation of mobile technology solutions and examine the concerns people have about their use. .
And... If you choose to use Twitter, follow the pre-session 'chat' to this presentation on Twitter using the hashtag #Ticer2010
14:00 hrs Opportunities for Mobile Enhanced Library Services and Collections
Tito Sierra / Associate Head for Digital Library Development, North Carolina State University, NCSU Libraries, Digital Library Initiatives Department, USA.
The 2010 Horizon Report from the New Media Consortium identified Mobile Computing as one of two emerging technologies likely to have a significant impact on teaching, learning, or creative expression in higher education in the coming year. How can libraries approach the opportunity created by pervasive mobile computing?.
The presentation introduces one model for planning mobile initiatives within an academic library context, informed by the experience of mobile library initiatives deployed at North Carolina State University. The model advocates for thinking about mobile as a use context rather than a content delivery channel, and leveraging existing digital assets where possible. The model distinguishes between: .
•library services optimized for a mobile use context, and
•digital library collections optimized for a mobile use context.
The NCSU Libraries Mobile project is used as a case study for mobile optimized library services. NCSU Libraries Mobile provides a suite of library services designed to make library users more productive. The WolfWalk project is used as a case study for mobile optimized digital collections. WolfWalk is a historical guide to the NCSU campus that exposes archival content through a location-aware mobile interface. Location-aware interfaces to digital library content hold the promise of providing in situ learning opportunities by exposing content in the context of the users current location.
The presentation outlines several considerations when planning a mobile initiative, such as .
•the difference between mobile-optimized websites and native mobile applications,
•the challenges of testing and evaluating mobile applications, and
•the importance of adapting mobile technologies to suit local needs.
The presentation will conclude with some thoughts about potential future uses of mobile technology in libraries, including staff-facing applications.
16:00 hrs eReaders in Education and Libraries
Rudolf Mumenthaler / Head Innovation and Marketing, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zürich (ETHZ), ETH Library, Switzerland
The year 2010 is already acclaimed "year of eReader". The second generation of eReaders is on the market. Amazon launched its Kindle and this was followed by new models and an increasing number of eReaders basing on the eInk-Technology. Book stores and libraries are afflicted by the new business models. Also, user behavior is changing if books are bought and read in digital format on mobile devices. Mobile devices can be eReaders, netbooks, mobile phones, and tablets.
What do these developments mean for the usage of eBooks by students and researchers in universities? What is the role of libraries in this new game? What kind of services can they offer for the new way of reading and learning? Should libraries lend or rent mobile devices with loaded content or should they electronically lend eBooks? Do they have to accept restrictions in usage (DRM)? What's the difference between the different formats and which are the consequences for the users? Which possibilities have academic libraries compared to public libraries? Do we need new models for licensing e-content from the publishers? .
In this presentation, different technologies, digital eBook formats and business models are presented and discussed. The possible impact of eReaders on libraries and their services is a crucial issue for university libraries and a second focus of the presentation. How can we integrate the new technologies in our product portfolio? And which new technologies are already appearing on the horizon?
Source And Links To Associated Handouts > Presentations > Etc. Available At
!!! Thanks To Gary Price / ResourceShelf / For The Reminder !!!
Photo by Lisa Carlucci Thomas
2 comments:
- AnonymousJuly 28, 2010 at 4:34 AM
Mobile Learning can be better appreciated with new age learning platforms like Mobl21 ( www.mobl21.com)ReplyDelete
People loves Mobile Technologies in Education and Library, actually its very useful too...ReplyDelete
great post
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Joint Steering Committee on Shared Collections (JSC)
The JSC develops principles and rationale for the California Digital Library's collection development and advises the CDL on sustainable budget and co-investment models for the University of California's shared digital collections. The JSC collaborates closely with the Collection Development Committee (CDC) to analyze and filter information on digital resources.
Committee Organization
Current Activities
Meeting Notes


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Livestreamers and viewers - a post for you!
We've recently launched the "LiveStream" room in ChessCube - specifically for all Livestreamers/uStreamers to announce when they're live. Also - its a central room for all to see who will be broadcasting, and when they will be broadcasting.
If you're a broadcaster - simply post a "/me" announcement in the room, such as:
Moreover, you can also request that a Moderator in the room updates the topic, something along the lines of:
"KingsCrusher is now live on (link) || Chess_Network live soon on (link).
Additionally simply post your links and schedules in this thread
Also - if you would like to be a Moderator in the room, to help Broadcasters advertise their schedules in the room topic etc, please let me know ([email protected]). I'd recommend all that established broadcasters request to be a Room Moderator - as you can then change the topic yourselves.
While broadcasting - you can invite users to chat and view your games from the LiveStream room right on ChessCube. This should add more buzz to your broadcasting .
ChessCube Livestreamers:
Chess_Network - http://www.ustream.tv/channel/chessnetwork
KingsCrusher - http://www.livestream.com/kingscrusher
BehindBluEyes - http://www.livestream.com/behindblueyes
If you would like your channel mentioned in this list, please email your ChessCube username and channel URL to [email protected]
Remember, anyone can broadcast! You do not need to be a good chess player . If you are entertaining - either on the board or with your commentary, you can be sure others will enjoy your channel! If you want to give it a try - send your details to me - you might be the next star on ChessCube
Thanks and happy broadcasting!