text:
Let's open our Bible to 1 Timothy chapter 3...1 Timothy chapter 3. We are looking at the call and character of church leaders and discussing the qualifications for the ministry. First Timothy 3:1 to 7 is the very familiar text in which Paul writing to Timothy at Ephesus gives him the qualifications necessary for those who lead in the church. Since Timothy is given the responsibility of setting right leaders in the church and getting rid of the wrong leaders, he needs to know what characteristics should mark those that he brings to leadership. The church at Ephesus had fallen into sad times theologically and as well in behavior and their leadership needed to be replaced and the standards need to be established as to who is fit for spiritual leadership.
Here then in 1 Timothy 3:1 to 7 you have the standards for one who pastors or is an elder or overseer in the church. A very high standard is given.
Now before we get into the list again, and we're taking our time because there's so much that we need to talk about, we might just answer the general question, when a person is called to lead the church in general what are they really called to do? And I don't necessarily mean just in specific, their teaching and leading and praying and those kinds of things, ordaining other elders, but within that leading and teaching and praying, what are their objectives? What are their goals? What are they trying to accomplish? What is a church leader to be all about?
Now let me answer that by just giving you a brief list of things that the church leader must focus his life on. These are the priority things. We could spend a lot of time talking about the things we don't need to be doing but if we talk about what we do need to be doing it will adequately fill up our whole life, and the other discussion would be a rather moot discussion. What is it that one called to pastor a church, to lead in the church as an elder or overseer, is really called to do?
First of all, those called into church leadership are called to work for the salvation of the unconverted, to work for the salvation of the unconverted. That's obvious. Whatever else we do in the church, the ultimate primary task and objective is to bring about the salvation of lost souls. So all of the means of the church and all of the disciplines of the church and all of the duties of the church and the functions and programs and ministries of the church have as their ultimate end the salvation of the unconverted, bringing to Christ those that do not know Him. We are called, as was Paul, to open their eyes, to turn them from darkness to light, from the power of Satan to God that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among them that are sanctified. We are called to bring about the salvation of the unconverted. We are to cry after the impenitent, the unbelieving and apply the great work of converting souls, whatever else we may have to leave undone. This is essential, this is why we're here, to see people who do not know Christ come to know Him. So mark it, when you are called to church leadership, you are called to the task of bringing unconverted sinners to Christ. And even though you may emphasize the edification ministry and even though you may emphasize some kind of design of church program, even though you may have oversight into some area of administration, the ultimate end of everything you do and I do is to bring the unconverted to Christ.
Secondly, it is a supporting priority for the church leader to build up the saved to maturity in Christ. We are called to build up the saved. This includes warning them that are unruly, encouraging the faint hearted, supporting the weak and being patient to all men, Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 5:14. We are called to perfect the saints for the work of the ministry to the building of the body of Christ. So the priority then of perfecting and polishing the saints for useful service, for strong service for Christ is a top priority. This means we must provide care for those who fall into sin, for those who lose their zeal, for those who disobey the Word, for those who lose their first love, the responsibility of strengthening, restoring those who are overtaken in a sin, feeding, challenging the strong to greater perseverance and even greater strength.
The third thing, and we could spend a lot of time on each but just to touch them, the third thing that we are called to do by way of objective in the ministry is to feed the flock the Word of God regularly...to feed the flock the Word of God regularly. A strong and steady diet of divine truth and exhortation is the core of the church's life. There should be in the heart of the pastor or elder a certain amount of anxiety, a certain amount of pain...Paul calls it travail or birth pains...until the people have Christ formed in them. This means that we are involved also in the ministry of intercession on behalf of those to whom we speak the Word of God.
So we are called then for the work of seeing the unconverted come to salvation. We are called also to build up the saved to maturity in Christ. And we are called to feed the flock of God regularly, to feed them the Word which equips them for service.
Another of our priorities is to give special attention to the spiritual order and devotion of families...to give special attention to the spiritual order and devotion of families. This involves leading families, I think, into proper roles, men into proper roles for men, women into proper roles for women. This involves teaching families how to love each other, how to serve each other, how to combat treacherous destructive things that are happening in the world around them, influences that tend to tear the family apart. This involves teaching the family how to devote themselves to one another, how to devote themselves to God, how to devote themselves to the Word, how to devote themselves to the church, how to devote themselves to the ministry and how to have Christ at the center of everything they do. It is a high priority of ministry in the church to give special attention to the spiritual order and devotion of families.
Another one that helps crystallize what it is that the pastor or elder does, we are to minister to those people who are in special distress. We are to minister to those people who are in special distress. One of the great traditions in ministry and as it ought to be as the Savior gives us the example is to reach out to those people who have unusual problems, whether they are ill, whether they are facing death, whether they have disease or divorce or disappointment, whether they've gone through a disaster, whether they are need of comfort, this becomes a very...a very important matter of commitment on the part of those who serve in the church to minister to people who are in special distress. Very often you sort of see yourself tracking down a certain track in your ministry and all of a sudden a disaster happens in the life of someone and you are diverted to that disaster because of necessity.
I was just a moment ago expressing love and greetings with a family who recently lost a father and husband. And in the midst of my own pattern of ministry, it was necessary and happily so to make a turn from the normal ministry, have the privilege of seeing both the husband who is now dead and the wife come to Jesus Christ and the family be joined together in the Savior. And that kind of thing is that special distress that calls upon the servant of God to give attention. That's part of the ministry.
There are people, I hate to admit this, who feel that things like that are an intrusion in their schedule when the fact is they are divinely appointed things that God would have at the very head of our list if we could see that our list was like His list.
Another one, in terms of objectives or goals is to administer the Lord's ordinances of baptism and communion. I believe those who are called into leadership in the church have the responsibility to keep the people alert to the death of Christ and alert to the resurrection, to keep the death and the resurrection of Christ in the forefront of the thinking of the people. And that is done by the patterns of the Lord's table and baptism. The Lord's table reminds us of His death, baptism reminds us of His resurrection. We constantly involve ourselves in those ordinances in order that we might demonstrate to the people as reminders that Jesus died and rose again for them.
Another element of objective and purpose in the ministry is to lead the church together in holiness and Christ's likeness so as to be salt and light in the world. To lead the church together in holiness and Christ likeness so that it can be salt and light in the world. The church is to shine as a light in a dark place. It is to penetrate this evil generation. That is essential to the life of the church and therefore must be a priority that is established in the hearts of those who lead the church.
Now you can see then by just this little list of things that we are called to that we have a very very serious responsibility. Working for the salvation of the unconverted, building up the saved to maturity in Christ, feeding the flock the Word of God regularly, not only that but we are called also to give special attention to the spiritual order and devotion of families, to minister to those in special times of distress, to administer Baptism and communion, to lead the church to holiness and Christ's likeness so it can be salt and light in the world and penetrate the darkness with the saving truth of Christ.
Having said all of that we recognize then that this is a high and holy and sacred calling to which men are called when they are called into the leadership of the church. It involves several things. It involves discipline. Anyone who is going to be successful in fulfilling this divine calling is going to maintain in his own life discipline. There's going to be in his own life selfdenial because your life is not your own. You talk about a person who is called into a task beyond himself, this is it. You are not the master of your own fate, you are not the captain of your own soul, you are not the determiner of your own destiny. You move at the bidding of the Spirit of God. And the work that is done well will be done well then by those who are disciplined and by those who understand selfdenial. Giving yourself to this tremendous immense task of taking the unsaved out of the hand of Satan and from the clutches of death and hell is not an easy task...not an easy task. And even instructing the saints to maturity is not an easy task. And the work demands diligent effort, it demands hard hard toil because rescuing men from hell is no easy job.
It also demands not only the discipline and the selfdenial and the hard work, but it also demands great care, planning and order...the ability to do what is priority, the ability to structure your life to the things that matter. It also involves doing all of this with gentleness and all of this with humility while maintaining passion and severity and zeal and seriousness. It is a matter of being confrontive and dramatic and direct and authoritative and yet being warm and loving and affirming and compassionate. The various things that come together to suit a man for this are quite humanly impossible. And over all of this must come a great amount of patience...a great amount of patience.
Richard Baxter writing in the seventeenth century said, "We must bear with many abuses and injuries from those to whom we seek to do good. When we have studied for them and prayed for them and exhorted them and beseeched them with all earnestness and condescension and given them what we are able and tended them as if they had been our children, we must look that many of them will requite us with scorn and hated and contempt and account us their enemies because we tell them the truth. Now we must endure all this patiently and we must unweariedly hold on in doing good in meekness, instructing those that oppose themselves if God per adventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth. We have to deal with distracted men who will fly in the face of their physician. But we must not therefore neglect their cure. He us unworthy to be a physician who will be driven away from a frenetic patient by a few foul words," end quote. There must be patience.
Now this kind of duty, this kind of goal and objective structure, this kind of necessary ingredients of attitude and temperament all comes together to say this is a very unique man. And because the task is so great and because humanly it is so impossible and because it demands so much, there are only certain people who qualify to do that and those are people who are qualified according to the standards of 1 Timothy 3 and that takes us to our text.
Let's look at it. First Timothy chapter 3..and may I say at the very beginning, please, you understand that I am not intending to set myself up as the perfect fulfillment of all of these things but to simply say to you that by God's grace as much as is humanly possible within me under the power of the Spirit, I strive to fulfill these things. And that's all God requires of those of us who as yet have not been fully glorified. These are things that are true as a general pattern in the life of one qualified to serve in leadership in the church.
And I also would add, if the church would do a better and more careful job of screening people going into ministry, it would have less anxiety when they fail in the ministry and make a black mark on the church. The standards are all here. They are those which are pursued by, if not fully attained, those who fulfill the qualifications for ministry.
Now notice what I said to you before in verse 2 that the first and over arching qualification is blameless. The person who serves in the church is to be a blameless person. That is, there's nothing that can be held against him as a blight on his life. Now that blamelessness then is defined in a series of categories. First, his moral character, then his family life, then his maturity and then his reputation. And that flows down through verse 7.
Now we're looking at his moral character this morning and we'll wrap that up in our discussion today. What is to be the moral character of this man's blamelessness. First of all, and I'll review briefly, verse 2 says he is to be a onewoman man. That is singly devoted to the wife that he has, a onewoman man. It is not an issue of whether or not he is married, previously married, divorced, widowed, that isn't the issue. It isn't status and it isn't circumstance, it is attitude. It is moral character and it is that he is to be a man who is singly and wholly and totally devoted to the woman who is his wife, if indeed he does have a wife. So it's speaking about his moral character.
Secondly, we noted the word temperate, which means literally wineless, wineless. That is his mind is not clouded by taking in drink. It came also metaphorically to mean alert, watchful, wary, aware, sensitive, wide awake. This is a man who is alert to what's going on. He's alert physiologically and he's also alert in terms of his spirit. He senses what's happening. He is a watchful person. He knows how to read the signs of the times. He understands what's going on around him. He is perceptive.
Thirdly, he is sober minded. That means well disciplined in his mind. His mind is ordered. He has a sure steady thoughtful earnest welldisciplined, wellordered mind. He has control of his pleasures. He has control of his passions. His mind is an ordered mind.
As a result of that, we remember of good behavior which comes next, the fourth of the qualifications in his moral life. That is a wellordered life. A wellordered mind produces a wellordered life. A chaotic mind produces a chaotic life. So you have an ordered life flowing from an ordered mind. Because everything in his mind has its priority ranking, because everything in his mind has its time and place, everything in his life does as well because as a man thinks in his heart, so is he.
Fifthly, he is characterized by being given to hospitality which means he loves strangers. He has the ability to love strangers. He is not at all a respecter of persons. He does not hold one race as superior to another. He is able to love strangers. He goes beyond the circle of his own friends and his life is open. He's not a closed person. He's not a recluse. He's not private. He is public in the sense that he opens his life and his heart and his arms and his home and his world to people in need, whether he knows them or whether he does not. He demonstrates the love of Christ, the compassion of God toward those who are in distress and those who have need.
Sixthly, it says at the end of verse 2 he is apt to teach. He is skilled in teaching. He is skilled in teaching. Now this is the only one of the qualifications that has anything to do with what he does functionally. All the rest are strictly characteristics of his life. This does relate to his function but is nonetheless a moral qualification. For the essence of all teaching is in example and it is what he is that is the priority in his ability to communicate to others. So the heart of the task of teaching is his character.
Now when you look at this concept of skilled in teaching and you say, well, if a man's going into the church as an elder, or a leader in the church, an overseer, a pastor of a church, you young men that are looking for that you folks that are trying to evaluate perhaps your own children and whatever, you may be looking at what are the criteria that identify a person as a skilled teacher, let me help you with that. I can't leave this apt to teach or skilled in teaching without at least identifying how you can know a skilled teacher. What marks a skilled teacher? What are the characteristics? And I tried to think this week those things which would be most general so that we get something to grasp at but not something that's stylistic, that would betray the fact that the Spirit has given different styles and different avenues and different approaches in teaching to many people. There are some things that are common denominators and those are the ones that I want to share with you.
Here are the elements that identify a skilled teacher. Number one, example...example. The first and primary issue in teaching is do you live what you say? Therein lies the greatest power the teacher has in his own pattern. You begin right where I told you you had to begin with example. Skilled teachers set a living demonstration of their teaching for people to follow. I mean, that's just basic. If you teach one thing and live another, you are not a skilled teacher, you are a very unskilled teacher. And people will not follow that kind of teaching. You must pattern in your life what you propagate in your lesson.
First Timothy 4:12, Paul writes to Timothy and I'll show you how these are illustrated in the first two epistles to Timothy here. In verse 12, "Let no man despise thy youth," but here's the key to teaching effectively, no matter what age you are, "be thou an example of the believers." Literally, be the model by which they trace their own life. Be the prototype of what you teach. "In wordthat's what you sayin conductthat's what you doin lovethat's what you feelin spiritthat's your attitudein faiththat's what you believein puritythat's the way you act." In every dimension of life, what you think, what you feel, what you do, what you say in your general attitude, in every dimension of your existence you are to be the prototype of what you are asking people to be. Therein lies the first and foremost factor in being a skilled teacher.
And that's the real challenge. That is the real challenge. Paul says, "Be followers of me as I am of Christ." That is the challenge every teacher faces. You are not a skilled teacher unless you can open your life, let it be transparent and say to people you be what I am.
Secondly, a skilled teacher will possess not only an exemplary life but the gift of teaching...the gift of teaching. In Romans 12:7 it talks about the gift of teaching. In 1 Corinthians 12:28 it talks about the gift of teaching. In Ephesians 4:11 it talks about being a pastorteacher. Now there's no question in my mind nor in the Word of God but that there is a gift given to one called to teach. It is a Spirit given endowment that enables one to teach effectively the truth of God. It doesn't necessarily...it's not the kind of a gift that helps you teach nonbiblical material, there isn't a gift of teaching that makes you a better math teacher, there isn't a gift of teaching that makes you a better coach, there isn't a gift of teaching that makes you a better history professor, there is only a gift of teaching related to the articulation of the Word of the living God. It belongs to those who are skilled in teaching God's Word. It is an endowment of the Holy Spirit. It is not a natural thing.
You might be a great teacher in a classroom and not have the gift of teaching the Word of God. You might be a very glib person, you might be a great salesman and not have the gift of teaching the Word of God. It is a spiritual endowment to convey spiritual truth. Sometimes there is a parallel. Sometimes, of course, God has endowed us naturally with certain skills that feed into the use of the gift He gives us through the Spirit. So there is the gift of teaching, the ability to communicate the Word of God effectively, more effectively than the normal or average person.
In 1 Timothy 4, would you look at verse 14? And again I want to illustrate this aspect of it with Paul's writing to Timothy, he says to Timothy, "Don't neglect the gift that is in you." And obviously the gift he refers to there is the gift of teaching. "It was given to you through prophecy," that is God spoke and said you were to receive it, "it was confirmed by the elders who put their hands on you, now you need to make sure that you don't neglect it, meditate on true things, take heed to yourself and to doctrine, continue in those things." So here is Paul telling Timothy to keep using this gift.
Second Timothy 1:6, "I put you in remembrance, stir up the gift of God which is in you." Now I don't want to go into a whole thing on spiritual gifts but just to remind you that we are endowed by the Spirit of God to serve the body of Christ. Every Christian has a gift, some have gifts in the area of teaching. And I believe to be a pastorteacher, to be an elder in the church, and to be a skilled teacher would mean that you need to have had given to you by God's Spirit the gift of teaching.
You say, "How do I know if I have it?" Two things basically. One, do you have a strong and consuming desire to teach? Two, do the people you teach think you have the gift? Very important. There are people running around saying I have the gift..l have the gift, and their class is coming after them saying no he doesn't, no he doesn't. You don't want to be under some illusion, you don't want to seek some place of preeminence, you don't want to rise in your own ego to a place where you are revered and esteemed a teacher if you do not have the gift. The gift of teaching is a Holy Spirit endowment that is given by God specially to those called to teach.
You know, sometimes people say to me, in fact this is quite common, "How do you get that out of the Scripture? I read that verse so many times, I don't see that." Other people will say, "How is it that you can do...convey Scripture and other people can't?" And the answer to that is very simple. It is a gift given by the Spirit of God. It is different maybe than your gift, you have a gift to do things with a facility spiritually that I don't have and that's the way the Lord has structured His body. So skill in teaching involves exemplary life and the gift of teaching.
Thirdly, a skilled teacher will have a reservoir of doctrinal understanding...a skilled teacher will have a reservoir of doctrinal understanding. In 1 Timothy 4, again verse 6, he says, "A good minister of Jesus Christ," 1 Timothy 4:6, "is one nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine." And he says, "Timothy, you've attained to that."
You know what set Timothy apart as such a skilled teacher was the tremendous reservoir of biblical knowledge that he had. In 1 Timothy 6:20, "O Timothy, keep that which is committed to your trust." What did he mean? He meant doctrine, sound doctrine. Second Timothy chapter 1 verse 13, he says to Timothy, "Hold fast that form of sound words which you have heard of me." Verse 14, "That good thing committed to you, keep it by the power of the Holy Spirit." Don't let go and he's referring again to truth, to sound doctrine. Chapter 3 verse 15, "Timothy, from a child you have known the holy Scriptures." What a great legacy.
Now, beloved, let me tell you something. The more reservoir that a spiritual teacher has the more skilled will be his teaching. And there's something wonderful to be said about a great spiritual heritage, something wonderful. Timothy was beginning to be equipped for the role of teaching when he was just a child because he learned the Scriptures. And there came into his life a deep reservoir of truth out of which one teaches.
Someone said to me recently, "Can you...do you have to prepare for every sermon? Can't you just get up and teach right off the top of your head?" The answer to that is yes, I can get up and just say whatever comes to my mind and it might be half way interesting in part. I could do that, I mean, I have the ability to stand up and talk and say things to you and maybe could keep your attention for a while and I also have somewhat of a reservoir and that's the real issue. Yes, I said to this person, I can speak not just superficially but I could speak for a while right out of the depth of a reservoir that began to be filled right when I was born because for all my life long I have learned the Word of God. I learned it as a little child. I learned it in Christian school. I learned it in college. I learned it in seminary and I've been learning it ever since. And because of that, if for example there was a confiscation of Bibles in the United States and every one of us had to depend only on what we had in our reservoir, there would be some by God's grace because of their Christian heritage that would have a greater reservoir than others, and there's a richness to that. Now I'm not saying that if you are a new Christian and you're out trying to pastor a church you can't be a skilled teacher. All I'm saying is you've got a lot to make up for. There's a lot of work that has to be done to fill that reservoir.
By the time I begin to teach the Word of God...began to teach the Word of God here at Grace Church, so much of what I believed was already solidly in place that I didn't have to take every passage and start from zero to figure out what it meant because I already had a reservoir of understanding.
I mentioned to you that some time back that recently in a discussion with some Christian leaders they were selecting some people to consider for a very important task in the Christian world, a very important one. They gave six names. And I said, "Isn't that interesting? Did you notice that all six of these men named had pastors, wellknown pastors for fathers?" And they said, "We didn't notice that." And I said, "What does that say about the depth and richness of Christian heritage in terms of Christian leadership?" It's a tremendous commentary on that. So that underpinning of doctrinal understanding...and I would simply put it this way, any skilled teacher has first proven to be a skilled pupil. You are apt to learn before you are apt to teach.
Fourthly, another element or very important factor in being skilled to teach is the attitude of humility. Attitude is as important as content. If you were to teach truth with arrogance, you would undermine the very truth you were teaching. The attitude of humility is so essential. That's why Paul writing again in 2 Timothy 2 says that the one who is the servant of the Lord doesn't argue, he is gentle, in meekness he instructs. He instructs in meekness. There is a humility of heart and that conveyed attitude of humility is essential to effective teaching. Wherever you have an arrogant teacher, wherever you have a self seeking teacher, you have someone who literally is contradicting an attitude the things the Word of God is saying.
So, example, gift of teaching, doctrinal reservoir, humility...let me give you a fifth and a rather obvious one, a skilled teacher has a life marked by holiness. Not absolute perfection but a commitment to things spiritual and divine. In 1 Timothy chapter 4 and you remember this, verse 8, Paul says to Timothy in verse 7, he says, "Exercise yourself to godliness." And then in verse 8 he says, "Godliness is profitable to all things because it contains the promise of life that is now and that which is to come." It is eternal, so give yourself to godliness. Verse 15, "Give yourself wholly to things that are true." Verse 16, "Take heed to yourself, continue to live out those things which will save you as well as those to whom you speak." The spiritual character of the man then is at the core of his teaching.
Chapter 6 verse 3 again mentions the word "godliness." And then verse 11, "O man of God, follow righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience," there's that word meekness again. So the attitude of humility and the life of holiness.
In 2 Timothy would you notice chapter 2 for a moment, verse 20? He says, "In a great house there are gold vessels, silver vessels, wooden vessels and some made out of pottery." And your house is like that. You've got the good stuff, and then you've got the other stuff that everybody normally eats off of. And when the company comes, you bring out the good stuff. You have some vessels to honor and some vessels to dishonor. And so it is with men who would serve God. If you purge yourself, that's godliness, that's holiness, then you'll be a vessel to honor. You're sanctified. You're fit for the Master's use. You're prepared unto every good work. In order to be so prepared you flee youthful lust, you follow righteousness, faith and love and peace along with them who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. It's the pure heart, it's the holiness of life that makes the teacher the skilled teacher.
An exemplary life, the gift of teaching, a doctrinal foundation, humility and holiness...and sixthly, another factor in the character of a skilled teacher is diligence in biblical study...diligence in biblical study. No matter how deep the reservoir, no matter how much we may know, no matter how much we have the gift of teaching, there is necessarily a commitment to the discipline of study. First Timothy 5:17 says that the elders that rule well are to be counted worthy of double pay, especially the ones who work hard in the Word and doctrine. The assumption there is that the faithful men will work hard. And the word means to work to weariness. Wearing themselves in the teaching and the study of the Word of God.
You remember 2 Timothy 2:15 don't you? Familiar terms in the Authorized, "Study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of truth." You must be a diligent student, be diligent so that the work you do is not something to be ashamed of. You should be...be able with no guilt and no impingement on your confidence to teach and preach what you have learned because you've done your study in the Word of God. A source of teaching is always the revelation of God and so the student must be the student of that revelation, faithful and diligent in searching its truths out.
Then number seven in this list and these kind of flow sequentially. If you are a diligent Bible student, you're inputting the Word all the time, you'll note that another mark, I believe, of a skilled teacher, is avoidance of error...avoidance of error. It is a tragedy to recite how many wellmeaning people gifted by God's Spirit, called into the ministry, instead of going someplace where they could learn to strengthen their faith, went to a school that undermined their faith. They may have maintained the basics of their faith but invariably with very few exceptions they lose their conviction, they lose their courage of conviction, they're not sure that they have the answers anymore and they have lost their their strength, they have lost their courage. It literally sucks the very strength out of ministry to be constantly having to fight against error. Questions...questions...questions, criticism of everything you believe..the end result is a softening of conviction.
Notice 1 Timothy chapter 1 verse 2...I'm sorry, verse 4, 1 Timothy 1:4, he says to Timothy, "Don't you give heed to fables and endless genealogies," he calls it other doctrine in verse 3, "because they minister questions." All they do is serve you questions, questions, questions, "Which are not godly edifying." They don't build you up. You go and you get attacked all the time with questions, questions, questions and it begins to suck the strength out of your conviction. Don't do that. Don't you give heed. In other words, don't listen to it at all. There are some people who want to tell us that you're not scholarly if you haven't studied under the people who attack your faith. The Scripture, I believe, calls us away from that. Don't even give heed to that. All it does is create questions that do not edify, they do not build up to godliness.
Chapter 4 verse 7, "Refuse...strong words...don't listenhe said in verse 4 chapter 1, don't listen, here he says refuse, "profane, evil and old wives fables." Refuse them, don't even hear them, push them away. Second Timothy...pardon me, 1 Timothy 6, he says, "Avoiding...verse 20, 1 Timothy 6:20...avoiding profane and vain babblings and the oppositions of knowledge falsely so called." He says don't listen to it, refuse it, and avoid it, stay away from it. It does not help, it does not produce godly edification. Verse 21 of chapter 6 says, "Some listening to that stuff have erred concerning the faith." Some? Many, many, many.
Now 2 Timothy chapter 2, look at verse 16, "Shun profane and vain babblings." Don't listen, refuse, avoid, shun, all very strong words, "For all they do is increase unto more...what?...ungodliness...ungodliness." Keep in mind, will you, anybody who attacks the truth of the Scripture does so not because of intellectual attitudes but because of ungodliness. People want to alter the text of Scripture because they do not want it to confront their ungodliness. And all it does is increase that ungodliness. You expose yourself to that and you expose yourself to the real reason. And look what he calls it in verse 17, "Their word will eat as does a gangrene." Don't call it scholarship, call it gangrene and that will help you deal with it. And Hymenaeus and Philetus did that and concerning the truth they erred, came up with some bizarre view of the resurrection and overthrew the faith of people. But this is always coming under the name of scholarship, under the name of academia. It's nothing more than gangrene.
Chapter 3, he says in verses 15 and 16, "Just stick with the Scripture, it's profitable for doctrine, reproof, correction, instruction in righteousness and it makes the man of God perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works." So the skilled teacher avoids lies, he avoids errors, he avoids the things that undermine the faith, that shipwreck the faith, the things that eat like gangrene, the things that only bring arguments and strife and he teaches the perfecting Word of God. That's why in 2 Timothy 4 Paul says to Timothy, "I charge you before God, the Lord Jesus Christ who shall judge the living and dead at His appearing in His Kingdom, preach the Word and be diligent in season, out of season," and so forth. Stick with that. Preach the Word. You're always going to have those people who want to heap to themselves teachers having itching ears because they want to hear what they want to hear.
So, the skilled teacher has an exemplary life, the gift of teaching, doctrinal reservoir, humility, holiness, he's diligent in his biblical study, he avoid errors and finally as a result of those things he has strong courage and consistent conviction. The skilled teacher teaches with conviction. In 1 Timothy 1:18, "I charge you...he says...I commit this charge to you, Timothy," verse 19, "hold the faith and hold your good conscience, don't waver." That's the skilled teacher. Boy, he holds his convictions, he holds to the faith, he says, "Some have put it away, they've become shipwreck like Hymenaeus and Alexander and I had to turn them over to Satan to teach them not to blaspheme."
Chapter 4 again of 1 Timothy, same idea. Verse 11, "These things command and teach." And verse 13, "Until I come, you give attendance to reading the text, applying the text, explaining the text." That's what reading, exhortation and doctrine are, you stick with the Scripture and you read it and you teach it and you apply it and you take heed to it. Verse 15, and you meditate on it. Stick with the book. As we just read in 6:20, don't give yourself to other stuff. Let your conviction stay strong.
He says in 2 Timothy 1:15 that everybody in Asia has turned away from me, the idea is don't you do that, Timothy, don't you do that. You stay there faithful and true.
Now go to chapter 4 of 2 Timothy as we just summarized. Look at Paul's testimony, "I have...I am not ready to be offered," he says, verse 6, "the time of my departure is at hand." Then I love this, "I have fought a good fight, and it wasn't easy, I have finished my course and I have...what? isn't that wonderful?...I have kept the faith." He's right where he was when he started. The courage of conviction, he's unwavering. Contrast verse 10, Demas who forsook him having loved the present world.
So these are the things that I believe are the identifying marks of a skilled teacher, so essential in spiritual leadership. Now let's go back to 1 Timothy 3 and finish our little list here. Verse 3, and this would be number seven in the list of qualifications of moral character for one who leads a church. It says in the Authorized, "Not given to wine," the word is paroinos and it basically means a drinker, not a drinker. It isn't a reference to someone who drinks unto drunkenness, that's obvious. You wouldn't have to include drunkenness here, anyone would know that a drunk was not fit to lead the church. Whether he drinks to drunkenness or not isn't the issue, the issue is whether he has a reputation as a drinker. You can go back to the word "temperate" and we saw there the idea of wineless, but here it's another idea. There it has to do with his watchfulness and his clear headedness and his alertness. Here it has the idea of his associations. He is not a drinker. He doesn't frequent bars and taverns and inns, he doesn't sit around in all the noisy scenes associated with drinking and make those his habitat. He doesn't find his place in the tavern and the saloon and the bar. That's the issue here. He is not a drinker.
In fact, 1 Thessalonians 5:22 tells us to avoid all appearance of evil. It means all outward display of evil. We are certainly not to occupy ourself with that. In chapter 3, the same chapter verse 8, it gives the same qualification for a deacon basically, he's not to be a drinker either. There's no place for that in leadership. Look at Isaiah 28:7 for a moment and the tragedy of Israel. Isaiah says in 28:7, speaking of the leaders of Israel, "But they also have erred through wine." They have erred through their drunkenness. They've made stupid judgments. "And through strong drink they are out of the way." What does that mean? They've turned from God's path. They're leading everybody astray. Everybody is following the leaders and they're leading everybody astray, they're out of the path, they're out of God's way. "The priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they are out of the way through strong drink, they error in vision, they stumble in judgment, all the tables are full of vomit and filthiness so that there's no place clean." Nice bunch of leaders, right?
It always grieves my heart when I get a report of someone supposedly in leadership in the spiritual ministry who is known as a drinker. Obviously not many are known publicly as that but some are found to be so by some and what a sad thing it is when they are exposed. Here were the leaders of Israel making stupid judgments, perverting the truth of God, leading people out of the path and all because they were erring through drink. That's why in Proverbs 31 it says, "Wine is not for kings and princes," and that's why in Leviticus 10:9 it says, "It's not for priests," anybody in spiritual leadership stays away from anything that blurs their...their vision.
In Isaiah 56:9, listen to what it says, "All you beasts of the field come to devour all you beasts in the forest." Why? Here it is, "His watchman...that's the leaders of Israel...are blind, they are all ignorant, they are dumb dogs, they can't bark." In other words, they don't even warn, you know, like the watchdog who doesn't bark when the robber comes. "Sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber, they're greedy dogs that can never have enough, they are shepherds that cannot understand, they all look to their own way, everyone for his gain from his quarter. This is what they say, Come, I'll fetch wine and we'll fill ourselves with strong drink and tomorrow will be as this day and much more abundant." We'll just keep drinking day after day. That's the spiritual leadership of Israel. Is it any wonder that they went to the depths that they did?
I remember when I was called by the wife of a very prominent Christian who has written books and who has ministered effectively by the judgment of some. And she said, "I wish you could help my husband." And I said, "Well, I'd be happy to." And she said, "He's got a very severe drinking problem, he's a drinker." So I said, "Well, I'll do what I can." And so he came to meet with me at the office and we talked and I said, "How can we...how can we set up an accountability kind of relationship where we can deal with some of these issues?" There were other factors that, of course, were wrong in his life, too, as a result of this one and in combination with it. And I said, "What shall we do?"
And he said, "Well, let's meet every week and that way I'll have that accountability." So the next week came and we were planning to meet here and I got a phone call, "I can't come, meet me down where I am," and gave me an address and I went down and it was a restaurant. I walked in and he was sitting at the bar talking to a barmaid drinking. And so, I went over and said hello and said, "Let's go over to another part of this place," where there was a restaurant and I said, "This is the first and only time I will ever meet you in a place like this. If we're going to do anything about this we're going to meet in another place, not here." And that is the last time he ever met with me. And to this day goes on with a ministry of sorts that would be known to you if you were to know who it was. But what is curious to me is that in very clear biblical terminologies, the man is disqualified, he's a drinker. I'm not saying he's an alcoholic, I'm saying he frequents bars and that's exactly what this term is discussing here. That man has no part in ministry. Why? Because he's a poor example, because he chooses the company of people who are not the kind of people who choose the company of God. Something wrong, so you want a man whose associations are very very different from the associations of the world.
Would you please notice again now verse 3 says he is not violent. I think this is wonderful. You're not to be a pastor if the way you handle things is with your fists or with instruments of violence. That seems kind of obvious, doesn't it? It literally means not a giver of blows, plektes, not a giver of blows. He doesn't punch people when he gets upset. By the way, this is connected to the guy who is a drinker, usually. People who drink result...the result of it often is violence. The idea is here is a person who is not quick tempered, one who doesn't resort to physical violence. I remember the pastor who told me about the fight he had with his deacon. The deacon punched him and away they went. I'm sure he wasn't the only one. But you don't want people who deal with difficulty through violent physical reactions. No place for that. This leadership demands a man who can deal with things with a cool mind, with gentleness, who doesn't fight. You remember what I said that Paul said to Timothy in chapter 2 if 2 Timothy, "The servant of the Lord must not fight, he must not strife, he doesn't deal with things like that." He does not resort to violence.
And it's not only physical violence, I think we could imply also that it's verbal violence. His tongue is not to be a lashing tongue which reaches out in strife. First Timothy 6 talks about using the tongue to bring about strife and railings. The tongue can be an instrument of violence. It can, as James 3 says and we'll get into that in some weeks, it can set on fire all of nature, the tongue can be such a violent violent instrument. So the man then who leads the church is not to deal with difficulty through violent physical or verbal means.
Notice then, and we skipped one in the Authorized version, it's not in the better manuscripts and it's covered by the last one, so we go to the one that says, "patient...patient," epieikes, it means to be considerate and genial and forbearing and gracious and gentle. Aristotle said it has the idea of a person who easily pardons human failure. It's a beautiful virtue. A person who easily pardons human failure. And it's used in 2 Timothy 2:23, it says the servant...2:24 rather, 2:23 says, "Don't start fights," 2:24 says, "Be gentle and patient." Patient...what does it mean? You remember good, not evil. You don't build up a chronolog of everything everybody ever did against you. Listen, that messes up people's ministry. I have known people in the ministry who get out of the ministry, who leave churches because they cannot get over the fact that somebody criticized them, somebody said something against them, somebody did something that upset them and they carry around a list of grievances that eventually makes it impossible for them to serve anybody. That's all they can see. There's something wonderful about having a bad memory, I'm sort of living testimony to that. One of the blessings of having a bad memory is you can't remember bad things that people did, and that's good. Of course you also can't remember good things either and that's bad.
But I don't know how you are, I..I...I really like to cultivate in my own mind forgetting things that have been done that were wrong. I don't like to bring those up. That's why I don't like gossip. I don't like to drag up stuff from the past that somebody did. I don't want to talk about that. I just soon not even think about...that has no particular virtue, all that does is cloud your mind with things to anger you. Patience is the ease of pardoning human failure, focusing on the good done by others rather than injury and retaliation, all of that. And that's the kind of person you want. You don't want a person who holds grudges.
And then not a brawler, amachos, again this is a quarrelsome thing, it's very much like the other term we looked at which talks about coming to blows, but it doesn't so much mean using physical violence, it means a quarrelsome person. Nothing is more difficult in a plurality of leadership, leading a church, then to have somebody who just likes to quarrel about everything. And I just praise God continually month after month at Grace Church that people on our leadership team are peace making people. We never say to each other, "Boy, we've got to go to this meeting, oh brother, we've got to present this and I know so andso is going to argue about everything." We don't talk like that because everyone seems to pursue peace. And that's again 2 Timothy 2 where he reminded Timothy not to be a..one who strifes and argues but to be gentle and patient, peace making.
And then finally in verse 3, "not covetous," aphilarguros, the twopart word, threepart word really with an alpha primitive makes it a negative, but the two main parts mean to love silver, not be a lover of silver. What a corruption that is in the ministry to love money. And you see people as means to getting money, everybody you look at becomes simply an avenue for you to get rich. That is such a temptation. And that's why in 1 Timothy 6 Paul says in verse 6 to Timothy, "Godliness with contentment is great gain, Timothy." We brought nothing into the world, it's certain we're going to do...what?...take nothing out. That's why I'm always so happy when they get that casket in the funeral home and everybody leaves the room and the guy starts taking off all the jewelry. I don't see why they want...some people want to leave it all on the guy. I mean, he's not going anywhere with it. Take nothing out.
"If you have food and raiment, be content, but the people who pursue riches fall into temptations, snares, foolish hurtful lusts that drown men in destruction and perdition." Why? Because the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people have coveted after money, they have erred from the faith, they have pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
I remember an evangelist that came to the valley years ago when I first came to Grace. He was all over the valley preaching crusades and evangelism and, boy, everybody was hooplaing this guy and people were giving me his tapes. And it was a few years later that I saw him on television and they were doing a special on him, I think it was "60 Minutes," and his shirt was unbuttoned to his stomach and he had gold chains hanging around his neck and gold rings on his fingers and he said, "I'm out of that business, I'm into riches." By the way, someone told me last week he's back in evangelism now, so maybe he got tired of his money, but...that's the kind of thing that is such a prostitution and such a temptation, very often.
Just to give you close to home. A few weeks ago I got a letter from someone that said, "I'd like you to speak at a banquet we're having." I said, "I can't do that." We wrote back and thanked him very kindly and said I wouldn't be able to do that. Wrote me back again and said, "We'd like you to come and be our speaker and I'll give you a $5000 honorarium." Well I've never ever had a $5000 honorarium or anything remotely related to that. And so I realized I was in a very difficult position, right? If I say yes, the guy knows that I will speak for money. If I say no, I'm nuts. I mean, it was only across town, too, see. So, I'm saying to the Lord, "Now how do I do this." And so I wrote him and said if you would allow me the privilege of taking the money and giving it to someone other than myself, then I'd be happy to do that because I can think of some areas of ministry where there's some great need and it would be a joy for me to be able to know that that was provided for those ministries. So I said I'll do it on that basis. But you have to guard yourself very much, very cautiously.
Anyone of you who was offered $5000 for a 40 minute message could probably think of something to say. And it would be a very small problem for me to come up with something. And so it's easy to get tempted and those things are tests of where your heart is. One of the things I've done in my own life, I write a lot of books and so publishers would want me to write a book and you can get into a negotiating situation with royalties on books and things like that. I've always had a simple policy and that is I never negotiate a contract. If I want to write a book and I feel the publisher's committed to publishing it, I'll accept whatever they offer. It doesn't matter what it is. If I don't seek it then I can accept it from the Lord. As soon as I get into the negotiation, then I'm in the struggle to see how much money I can get. So that's something I will never do, have never done and I've told the publishers I work with that, that's probably why I get such low royalties. But that's all right. I don't want it to be any different because I feel that as one who serves the Lord Jesus Christ and whose needs are met by the church and by your gracious and kind generosity to me, I never want to get into a situation where I am trying my best to get certain amounts of money. I don't want to do that. That's not something that I am interested in. I want to keep myself clean from that kind of involvement. But that kind of temptation can be there.
There's a simple principle I've used and that is this, if you seek for nothing you can take whatever comes as from the Lord. So I don't ever seek...people say, "How much do you charge for this?" I don't charge anything for anything. That's something that's up to the ministry, if they want to give me something fine, if they don't, fine, it doesn't matter to me. But when you go out and pursue money, you corrupt everything. And if you can sit back and say whatever the Lord gives I'll take and it's up to Him, you know. If someone gives you something and you didn't seek it, then it comes from the Lord and you can say thank you and you become a steward of it. As soon as you start to pursue it, then it's something that you've grasped after and you've got it but you don't know whether its yours because it's what you wanted or yours because God gave it to you. So it's very simple for me in the ministry to just draw the line at the bottom and say I don't seek anything. Whatever the Lord provides, I thank Him and praise Him and He's been very generous.
Free from the love of money. This is the kind of person morally who's qualified to serve in the leadership of the church of Jesus Christ. He doesn't have any earthbound desires. You see, earthbound desires and a covetous spirit clip the wings of faith, clip the wings of love and clip the wings of power, believe me. He's not greedy, he's not stingy, he's not indulgent, he's not ambitious. That's the sum of verses 2 and 3, the moral character of the man who leads the church.
My prayer is that God will give us such men, that God will make us such men because we're not all we ought to be. And we thank God that in His grace He's allowed us to lead in His church who are still pursuing the fulfillment of all those things. You pray for us and for the church around the world. Let me say in closing, I believe it is becoming increasingly more difficult in our culture to find people like this because our culture is so insidiously corrupting. To find men so qualified becomes more and more difficult. What a challenge. Well, let's bow in prayer.
Father, help us who are given the responsibility in the church to do as we should, to be what we should be that we might lead your people right. We thank You for the high and holy privilege of spiritual leadership and we plead for the grace and the power to do it in a way that brings you honor and glory for Christ's sake. Amen.
This article is also available and sold as a booklet.
This sermon series includes the following messages:
Please contact the publisher to obtain copies of this resource.Publisher Information


text: The Kaiser 68mm Plastic Lens Cap is a push-on style cap. It is designed to fit any camera or enlarger lens, binocular, tele-, micro-, or spotting scope lens. The actual size needed depends on the lens in question. The cap should fit snuggly but not so tight that it is hard to remove.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Help at Home
How can I get help at home to take care of myself, like a visiting nurse or nurse�s aide?
Trish Gambino, RN, MSN, Nurse Navigator , responds:
Most insurance companies will pay for skilled nursing visits to teach you how to do certain procedures (such as wound care), physical therapy or occupational therapy. This will only be for a designated amount of time. As far as continued support in the home, you should access your community's office on aging. They may have programs that are supplemented by federal or state funding, should you financially qualify. There are many private agencies available but you must pay out-of-pocket for these services.
This question and answer was part of the OncoLink Brown Bag Chat Series. View the transcript from Finding the Cancer Resources You Need.
Getting Insurance After Cancer


text:
The Microsoft CodePlex site is host to a wide range of open source projects and were pleased to announce the first beta release to allow hosting of Moodle 2.0 or Moodle 2.2 on the Windows Azure cloud service.
As the project notes says, The MoodleBuild toolchain patches and packages a Moodle source code directory into a Windows Azure Package using the Azure SDK directly, instead of relying on third-party tools. This allows an easier way to update and customize Moodle, components and the Windows Azure SDK without the hassle of using outdated and incompatible versions.
The advatages of using Azure is that it means you can avoid the hassle of having to deploy in-house servers and complex infrastructure, and instead deploy Moodle in the cloud. This is ideal for agile projects, or where you expect the demand for the system to be variable, as a huge benefit of the Azure platform is that ability to scale it up and down as you want, rather than having to build a system.
Download the Moodle 2.0 resources for Windows Azure from CodePlex


text:
WCF Books
WCF Step by Step by John Sharp
Source : 4shared
Rate this:
Share this:
- Click to print (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
- Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
March 16, 2012 - Posted by Donepudi | .Net Books, Books | .Net, WCF
No comments yet.
Leave a Reply Cancel reply
I'm Sivakrishna Donepudi, a Dot net cookie from Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India working in Vienna, Austria, My Author Satya Puvvada working as a Lead Engineer in MNC, Chennai and he has 9+ years of experience in Microsoft Technologies.
You can Download .Net Books, Faq's, MCTS Dumps, Read .Net Articles & Inteview Questions,Find Tutorials and See .Net Videos from this Blog.
Need a Book/Material/Help/Suggestion… Post a comment or send a mail to firstname.lastname@example.com or email@example.com
Recent Posts
Blog Stats
- 44,840 visitors
See Videos
Ask a Certification Expert
My Profile
Working as a Module Lead on Microsoft Technologies....
Verified Services
Search A2ZDotnet
.Net KnowledgeCheck ur .Net Skills
Take Online Quiz
Free MCTS Practice .Net Faq's
.Net Code Tutorials
Know latest Microsoft Updates
Need .Net code.. check out here
Switch on the Code
Tags.Net .Net 3.5 .Net 4.0 Ajax Asp.Net Asp.Net MVC book programming books C# cookbook CSS dummies IIS Java Script javascript pdf jQuery MCTS Metro Apps microsoft sql server pdf source Share Point Sql Sql Server Sql Server 2008 Sql Server 2012 sql server books technology VB.Net WCF Web Services Windows8 Windows Apps
Top Posts
- November 2012 (3)
- May 2012 (2)
- March 2012 (1)
- December 2011 (2)
- October 2011 (4)
- September 2010 (2)
- June 2010 (1)
- August 2009 (2)
- June 2009 (2)
- April 2009 (1)
- October 2008 (7)
- September 2008 (6)
- August 2008 (3)
- July 2008 (7)


text:
Story highlights
- Newcastle United manager fined £100,000 by club for clash with opposing player
- Pardew head-butted Hull City midfielder David Meyler during second half of league match
- Newcastle also give Pardew a formal warning; English FA set to investigate incident
Newcastle United has fined their manager Alan Pardew £100,000 ($168,000) for head-butting an opposition player during an English Premier League match on Saturday.
The 52-year-old clashed with Hull City midfielder David Meyler during Newcastle's 4-1 win at the KC Stadium.
The incident happened in the 72nd minute as Meyler was retrieving a ball for a throw in. Pardew was sent to the stands by the referee and later apologized.
"I apologize to everyone. I should not have got involved in it," Pardew said.
In a statement published on the club's official website, Saturday, Newcastle said that Pardew's actions were "disappointing" and "unacceptable" and took away from a positive performance on the pitch.
"Alan unreservedly apologized immediately following the game to the player, to Hull City Football Club and its fans, and to the fans of Newcastle United," the NUFC statement said.
"We have held discussions this evening with Alan who has offered his sincere apologies to the Club and it is clear he deeply regrets his actions. Alan has accepted a formal warning from the Club in relation to his behavior today and also a Club fine of £100,000."
Pardew, who has been manager of Newcastle since December 2010, will also be investigated by the English Football Association about the incident.


text:
Selection of Recent Paintings
Selection of Paintings (2012 - 2014)
In his collection of new work, Stephen Ibbott draws from the semiotic resources provided by Western culture over the centuries and collapses them into a 21st century mode of visualization, playfully operating within the traditional still life genre. The works rely on the viewer's cultural knowledge of historical objects, now so readily available through Internet propagation and Google image searches. Indeed, images from art history have become so ubiquitous that they too are now considered in the context of Pop. The trans-historical contexualizations demonstrate how the visual meanings inscribed in objects such as antiquities and eBay collectables are mutually affected and cross-pollinated. Ibbott's idealized encapsulations of pop, modern, and antiquity begin as digitally-composed collages and are then painted freehand in oil on canvas.
Jodie Elliott
Project Manager - MOCCA (Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art
2011 Good vs Baaaaaaad - oil on canvas
2011 Good vs Baaaaaaad - oil on canvas
2010 Hey Monkey! - oil on canvas and acrylic on aluminium
2009 - Love in Digital Times - acrylic on aluminium
2008 - Love in Digital Times - acrylic on aluminium
2007 - Love in Digital Times - acrylic on aluminium
2006 - Love in Digital Times - acrylic on aluminium
2005 - I Can Control Chaos - acrylic on aluminium and plywood
2005 - Remarkable Stories - acrylic on aluminium
2004 - Secrets From the Master Plan - acrylic on plexiglas
2003 - Somewhere Over the 10011101110110 - enamel paint on aluminium
2002 - Ctrl/Shift - acrylic on aluminium


text:
Every time i try to down load a kit or even an individual asset, all I get is a screen that says access denied, and was wondering why that is?
Having problems downloading
That's happening to me too!
Happening to me, too! I tried to get my new user free kit and got the access denied screen. Now I no longer have a free kit available.
Me too!
Me as well. Same for my roommates.
Well I am not the only one! I have tried several things and have got the no access message!
yes happening to me too.... just wondering if it is anything to do with the new version of firefox? That is the only thing changed here since my last visit....
Same here - Access Denied on everything I try to download!
I am having the same issue. I've sent a message using the contact form provided so hopefully the fabulous support team "Jordan" will get this bug fixed soon.
Yay - I knew there'd be a gathering Not working for me either but I'm sure Jordan will make it all wonderful again soon.
Me too, glad to know it is not just me.
Same Here
It appears to be working now....go check! (at least it is for me now)
Working for me as well.
Thank you!! Working fine now. Much appreciated.
It was happening to me yesterday, but It works now, thank you! :)
Sorry about that everyone! It should be working now. Let us know if you're still having any issues.
Same here, everything I tried to download it just said access denied. Came back this morning and no longer free kit available.
Sorry about the download issues . @Raina: your free kit option has been restored.


text:
Prior to the 0.7 release, Cassandra storage configuration is described by the conf/storage-conf.xml file. As of 0.7, it is described by the conf/cassandra.yaml file.
Loading the Config
To convert a working storage-conf.xml into yaml, bin/config-converter will complete a best-effort conversion. It assumes that your xml file is at conf/storage-conf.xml, and it will output to conf/cassandra.yaml. Note though that the scope of many properties have changed (endpoint_snitch is global instead of per-KS, gc_grace_seconds is per-KS instead of global, etc.), so the generated yaml will undoubtedly need to be looked over.
You can specify any configuration to load by passing a VM parameter to java when Cassandra starts up. This is done by supplying a value to -Dcassandra.conf=<your value here>. Values can include files located in the classpath or local and remote URLs. Here are a few valid examples:
loads alternate-cassandra.yaml if it can be found in the cassandra classpath.
loads a configuration file from a remote host.
loads a local configuration file that is not located in the cassandra classpath.
"Where are my keyspaces?"
LiveSchemaUpdates. You can load the schema once by using:
bin/schematool HOST PORT import
Config Overview
Not going to cover every value, just the interesting ones. When in doubt, check out the comments on the default cassandra.yaml as they're well documented there.
per-Cluster (Global) Settings
Allows for pluggable authentication of users, which defines whether it is necessary to call the Thrift 'login' method, and which parameters are required to login. The default 'AllowAllAuthenticator' does not require users to call 'login': any user can perform any operation. The other built in option is 'SimpleAuthenticator', which requires users and passwords to be defined in property files, and for users to call login with a valid combo.
Default is: 'org.apache.cassandra.auth.AllowAllAuthenticator', a no-op.
Set to 'true' to make new [non-seed] nodes automatically migrate the right data to themselves. (If no InitialToken is specified, they will pick one such that they will get half the range of the most-loaded node.) If a node starts up without bootstrapping, it will mark itself bootstrapped so that you can't subsequently accidently bootstrap a node with data on it. (You can reset this by wiping your data and commitlog directories.)
Default is: 'false', so that new clusters don't bootstrap immediately. You should turn this on when you start adding new nodes to a cluster that already has data on it.
The name of this cluster. This is mainly used to prevent machines in one logical cluster from joining another.
commitlog_directory and data_file_directories and saved_caches_directory
Be sure to seperate your commitlog and data disks, as commitlog performance is reliant on its append-only nature, and seeking to random data at the same time will damage write speed. The saved caches directory holds the saved caches of the column families. See key/row_cache_save_period_in_seconds for elucidation.
Defaults are: '/var/lib/cassandra/commitlog', '/var/lib/cassandra/data', and '/var/lib/cassandra/saved_caches' respectively.
concurrent_reads and concurrent_writes
Unlike most systems, in Cassandra writes are faster than reads, so you can afford more of those in parallel. A good rule of thumb is 4 concurrent_reads per processor core. It's unwise to adjust the concurrent_writes until you have a a performance problem to address. In general, though, for a dedicated cluster it should exceed somewhat the number of cpu-cores on the ring
Defaults are: '8' c. reads, and '32' c. writes.
commitlog_rotation_threshold_in_mb, commitlog_sync, commitlog_sync_period_in_ms, and commitlog_sync_batch_window_in_ms
The rotation threshold determines how often a new commitlog segment is created. This number is generally never changed, but can be reduced if small amount of memory need to be squeezed from the system.
CommitLogSync may be either "periodic" or "batch". When in batch mode, Cassandra won't ack writes until the commit log has been fsynced to disk. It will wait up to CommitLogSyncBatchWindowInMS milliseconds for other writes, before performing the sync.
This is less necessary in Cassandra than in traditional databases since replication reduces the odds of losing data from a failure after writing the log entry but before it actually reaches the disk. So the other option is "periodic", where writes may be acked immediately and the CommitLog is simply synced every CommitLogSyncPeriodInMS milliseconds. Usually the default of 1000ms is fine; increase it only if the CommitLog PendingTasks backlog in jmx shows that you are frequently scheduling a second sync while the first has not yet been processed.
Defaults are: '128'mb commitlog size, 'periodic' sync, '10000' ms between syncs.
In 0.7, the default 'auto' is recommended.
dynamic_snitch and endpoint_snitch
EndPointSnitch: Setting this to the class that implements IEndPointSnitch which will see if two endpoints are in the same data center or on the same rack. Out of the box, Cassandra provides 4 such Snitches, found in org.apache.cassandra.locator :
org.apache.cassandra.locator.SimpleSnitch which will do nothing,
org.apache.cassandra.locator.RackInferringSnitch which will assume that the 2nd and 3rd octets of the IP contain the datacenter and rack,
org.apache.cassandra.locator.PropertyFileSnitch which will read from cassandra-topology.properties to give explicit proximities, and
org.apache.cassandra.locator.Ec2Snitch which will read the region and zone from the ec2 node and use them as datacenter and rack. Don't use this if you're not running on EC2.
Dynamic Snitch is a boolean that controls if the above snitch is wrapped with a dynamic snitch, which will monitor read latencies and avoid reading from hosts that have slowed.
Defaults are: 'org.apache.cassandra.locator.SimpleSnitch' and 'false'.
Commenting out this property leaves it up to InetAddress.getLocalHost(). This will always do the Right Thing *if* the node is properly configured (hostname, name resolution, etc), and the Right Thing is to use the address associated with the hostname (it might not be: on cloud services you should ensure the private interface is used).
Default is: 'localhost'. This must be changed for other nodes to contact this node.
memtable_flush_after_mins, memtable_operations_in_millions, and memtable_throughput_in_mb
memtable_flush_after_mins: The maximum time to leave a dirty memtable unflushed. (While any affected columnfamilies have unflushed data from a commit log segment, that segment cannot be deleted.) This needs to be large enough that it won't cause a flush storm of all your memtables flushing at once because none has hit the size or count thresholds yet. For production, a larger value such as 1440 is recommended.
memtable_operations_in_millions: The maximum number of columns in millions to store in memory per ColumnFamily before flushing to disk. This is also a per-memtable setting. Use with MemtableSizeInMB to tune memory usage.
memtable_throughput_in_mb: The maximum amount of data to store in memory per ColumnFamily before flushing to disk. Note: There is one memtable per column family, and this threshold is based solely on the amount of data stored, not actual heap memory usage (there is some overhead in indexing the columns). See also MemtableThresholds.
Both mem_ops and mem_size are defaulted based on the heap allocation during boot.
Defaults are: '60' minutes, 'HeapSize/512 * 0.3' millions (i.e. 300k operations per 512 mb of heap, or 64 mb of throughput), and 'HeapSize/8' mb respectively, where HeapSize is measured in mb.
Partitioner: any IPartitioner may be used, including your own as long as it is on the classpath. Out of the box, Cassandra provides org.apache.cassandra.dht.RandomPartitioner, org.apache.cassandra.dht.OrderPreservingPartitioner, org.apache.cassandra.dht.ByteOrderedPartitioner, and org.apache.cassandra.dht.CollatingOrderPreservingPartitioner. (CollatingOPP colates according to EN,US rules, not naive byte ordering. Use this as an example if you need locale-aware collation.) The only difference between BOP and OPP is that OPP requires keys to be UTF-8 encoded. Range queries require using an order-preserving partitioner.
Achtung! Changing this parameter requires wiping your data directories, since the partitioner can modify the !sstable on-disk format.
If you are using an order-preserving partitioner and you know your key distribution, you can specify the token for this node to use. (Keys are sent to the node with the "closest" token, so distributing your tokens equally along the key distribution space will spread keys evenly across your cluster.) This setting is only checked the first time a node is started.
This can also be useful with RandomPartitioner to force equal spacing of tokens around the hash space, especially for clusters with a small number of nodes.
Cassandra uses MD5 hash internally to hash the keys to place on the ring in a RandomPartitioner. So it makes sense to divide the hash space equally by the number of machines available using InitialToken ie, If there are 10 machines, each will handle 1/10th of maximum hash value) and expect that the machines will get a reasonably equal load.
With OrderPreservingPartitioner the keys themselves are used to place on the ring. One of the potential drawback of this approach is that if rows are inserted with sequential keys, all the write load will go to the same node.
Default is: 'org.apache.cassandra.dht.RandomPartitioner'. Manually assigning tokens is highly recommended to guarantee even load distribution.
Never use a node's own address as a seed if you are bootstrapping it by setting autobootstrap to true!
Setting this to '0' is how to denote using unframed (Buffered) transport, and a nonzero value for framed transport.
Default is: '15' mb.
per-Keyspace Settings
Required field. Will not allow you to use dashes.
replica_placement_strategy and replication_factor
Strategy: Setting this to the class that implements IReplicaPlacementStrategy will change the way the node picker works. Out of the box, Cassandra provides org.apache.cassandra.locator.RackUnawareStrategy and org.apache.cassandra.locator.RackAwareStrategy (place one replica in a different datacenter, and the others on different racks in the same one.)
Note that the replication factor (RF) is the total number of nodes onto which the data will be placed. So, a replication factor of 1 means that only 1 node will have the data. It does not mean that one other node will have the data.
Defaults are: 'org.apache.cassandra.locator.RackUnawareStrategy' and '1'. RF of at least 2 is highly recommended, keeping in mind that your effective number of nodes is (N total nodes / RF).
Strategy: Setting this to the class that implements IReplicaPlacementStrategy will change the way the node picker works. Out of the box, Cassandra provides org.apache.cassandra.locator.SimpleStrategy, org.apache.cassandra.locator.LocalStrategy and org.apache.cassandra.locator.NetworkTopologyStrategy (place one replica in a different datacenter, and the others on different racks in the same one.)
Note that the replication factor (RF) is the total number of nodes onto which the data will be placed. So, a replication factor of 1 means that only 1 node will have the data. It does not mean that one other node will have the data.
Defaults are: 'org.apache.cassandra.locator.NetworkTopologyStrategy' and '1'. RF of at least 2 is highly recommended, keeping in mind that your effective number of nodes is (N total nodes / RF).
per-ColumnFamily Settings
comment and name
You can describe a ColumnFamily in plain text by setting these properties.
The CompareWith attribute tells Cassandra how to sort the columns for slicing operations. The default is BytesType, which is a straightforward lexical comparison of the bytes in each column. Other options are AsciiType, UTF8Type, LexicalUUIDType, TimeUUIDType, and LongType. You can also specify the fully-qualified class name to a class of your choice extending org.apache.cassandra.db.marshal.AbstractType.
SuperColumns have a similar CompareSubcolumnsWith attribute.
BytesType: Simple sort by byte value. No validation is performed.
AsciiType: Like BytesType, but validates that the input can be parsed as US-ASCII.
UTF8Type: A string encoded as UTF8
LongType: A 64bit long
LexicalUUIDType: A 128bit UUID, compared lexically (by byte value)
TimeUUIDType: a 128bit version 1 UUID, compared by timestamp
These are currently the same types used for validators.
Used in conjunction with the validation_class property in the per-column settings to guarantee the type of a column value.
Default is: 'BytesType', a no-op.
Time to wait before garbage-collection deletion markers. Set this to a large enough value that you are confident that the deletion marker will be propagated to all replicas by the time this many seconds has elapsed, even in the face of hardware failures. The default value is ten days.
Default is: '864000' seconds, or 10 days.
keys_cached and rows_cached
Determines how many keys and rows to cache. The values can either be an absolute value or a double between 0 and 1 (inclusive on both ends) denoting what fraction should be cached.
Each key cache hit saves 1 seek and each row cache hit saves 2 seeks at the minimum, sometimes more. The key cache is fairly tiny for the amount of time it saves, so it's worthwhile to use it at large numbers all the way up to 1.0 (all keys cached). The row cache saves even more time, but must store the whole values of its rows, so it is extremely space-intensive. It's best to only use the row cache if you have hot rows or static rows.
Defaults are: '200000' keys cached, and '0', disabled row cache.
key_cache_save_period_in_seconds and row_cache_save_period_in_seconds
Determines how often Cassandra saves the cache to the saved_caches_directory. Saved caches greatly improve cold-start speeds, and is relatively cheap in terms of I/O for the key cache. Row cache saving is much more expensive and has limited use.
Defaults are: '3600' seconds (1 hour) between saves of the key cache, and '0' (disabled) row cache saving.
min_compaction_threshold and max_compaction_threshold
Previously in the CompactionManager, these values tune the size and frequency of minor compactions. The min and max boundaries are the number of tables to attempt to merge together at once. Raising the minimum will make minor compactions take more memory and run less often, lowering the maximum will have the opposite effect.
Note: Setting minimum and maximum to 0 will disable minor compactions. USE AT YOUR OWN PERIL!
Defaults are: '4' minimum tables to compact at once, and '32' maximum.
Attempts to populate the row cache on start up with sequential reads. Despite the improvement over random seeks during runtime, this can still take a fairly long time if the row cache to fill is massive.
Default is: 'false'.
Before 0.7, read_repair was either invoked on every read request or on none of them. This is now tunable as a double between 0 and 1 (inclusive on both ends) for the chance of invoking the repair. Note that this property is ignored if the ConsistencyLevel is greater than ONE and read repair always occurs. For details see ReadRepair.
Default is: '1.0', read repair on every read request.
per-Column Settings
index_name and index_type
These settings control the secondary (automatic) indexes. Both need to be set at the same time to be used. The name is something user-friendly and unique on the CF, the type is currently only KEYS. See SecondaryIndexes.
Default is: None, no secondary index support.
This binds the validator (and optionally the automatic indexer) to every column with this name in every row of the enclosing CF. Required.
Used with the default_validation_class property in the per-columnfamily settings. Whenever the column with this name is populated, the value is validated with the validation classes' validate() method. Required.


text:
U.S. Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission
Company Violated ADAAA Disability Law, EEOC Charged
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – D&H Company, Dodge Brothers, Inc., and Giant Oil Company of Arkansas, Inc., doing business as Savings Station Dodge Stores and Dodge's Chicken Store, will pay $190,000 to settle a disability lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today.
In its lawsuit, the EEOC charged that the companies denied the store leader of their Dodge's Chicken Store 631 in Hot Springs, Ark., a reasonable accommodation after she had seizures. Because her doctor restricted her from driving, she requested that the employer allow another employee to conduct daily competitor gasoline price surveys while she handled that employee's in-store duties. The defendants denied her request for an accommodation and discharged her.
Denial of a reasonable accommodation to people with disabilities violates Title I of the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) as amended by the Americans With Disabilities Act Amendments Act of 2008 (ADAAA). The EEOC filed suit on Sept. 28, 2010, No. 6:10-cv-06072, in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas, Hot Springs Division after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process. This case was among the agency's first lawsuits filed under the ADAAA.
EEOC General Counsel P. David Lopez noted that President Barack Obama recognized October 2011 as National Disability Employment Awareness Month.
"The Commission has devoted considerable attention to ensuring compliance with the ADA through the issuance of policy and public attention," said Lopez. "As reflected by this case, however, the EEOC, when necessary, is prepared to litigate to ensure that persons with disabilities have fair opportunity for economic independence. Indeed, last fiscal year, the EEOC filed approximately 60 disability discrimination cases."
Faye A. Williams, regional attorney for the EEOC's Memphis District Office, which has jurisdiction over Arkansas, added, "Reasonable accommodations allow many individuals with disabilities to work. Employers should understand their obligation to provide an employee with a reasonable accommodation unless it poses an undue hardship. The EEOC remains committed to its responsibility in enforcing the ADA."
In addition to monetary relief, the terms of the 30-month consent decree require that the defendants create a disability policy in its employee handbook for distribution to all its employees; provide for training under the ADA; maintain records of any disability complaints; provide reports to the EEOC; and post a notice to employees about the lawsuit that includes the EEOC's contact information.
Defendants own and operate convenience stores and gas retailers in 10 states including Arkansas and Mississippi and collectively employ more than 700 people.
The EEOC enforces federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. Further information about the EEOC is available on its web site at www.eeoc.gov.


text:
I need to add a class of "two-sidebars" to the regular bunch of WP classes that are generated by
<?php body_class(); ?>>
The reason I need to do this is I'm integrating WP into a Drupal install, and need to keep the "two-sidebars" class for style reasons for the Drupal part of the page.
What's the best way? jQuery? Is it possible to hook into body_class?


text:
The longer World waits to address climate change, the higher the cost
In September, the world's top scientists said the human influence on climate was clear. Last month, they warned of increased risks of a rapidly warming planet to our economies, environment, food supply, and global security. Today, the latest report from the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) describes what we need to do about it.
The report focused on mitigation, says that global greenhouse gas emissions were rising faster in the last decade than in the previously three, despite reduction efforts. Without additional mitigation efforts, we could see a temperature rise of 3.7 to 4.8 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial times by the end of this century. The IPCC says we can still limit that increase to 2 degrees, but that will require substantial technological, economic, institutional, and behavioral change.
Let's translate the numbers. For every degree rise, that equates to more risk, especially for the poor and most vulnerable.
Source: Rachel Kyte.


text:
Print integers 1 to 100, but replace multiples of 3 with "Fizz" and multiples of 5 with "Buzz" and multiples of both with "FizzBuzz"
Do it in the least amount of bytes possible.
My PHP Entry(83 bytes): wrote:<?for($i=1;$i<101;$i++)echo(($i%3<1?"Fizz":'').($i%5<1?"Buzz": (($i%3?$i:''))."\n")?>
A friend's Ruby Entry(65 bytes): wrote:(1..100).map{|n|puts"FizzBuzz#{n}"[n%3<1?0:n%5<1?4:8,n%15<1?8:4]}
Brainfuck! (9951 Bytes) wrote:http://zorachus.net/brainfuck.bf
I didn't use looping in Brainfuck, just did it line-by-line, but by God, I did it!
This should be interesting.
Edit: If you go to the main site of http://zorachus.net, you'll see random XKCD comics, and then, of course, a link to this site. I'm hotlinking, but my site has less than 20 people that have even seen it, so I'm assuming it's not a problem. If it is, of course, I'll stop hotlinking immediately.


text: At high temperature, , the assumption of non-relativistic electron velocities becomes invalid, and a variety of physical processes such as electron-positron pair production may come into play. At very low temperatures, , many of the analytic fitting formulae used to parameterize atomic rates are unreliable, and the neglect of molecule formation and atomic fine structure cooling renders rates inaccurate. The code does not allow temperatures less than 3000K for this reason and because serious numerical errors can occur. If lower values are attempted the temperature is artificially reset to 3000K. On the high temperatures end, there is no mechanism preventing values greater than , but the user should be aware that in this regime the rates are probably unreliable.


text:
Garmin BlueChart Marine Navigation Software
So it's time to hit the water, but your Garmin GPS screen is blank. Where are the depth contours? Navigation aids? Buoys? Ports?
To get all this, and more, you'll need the latest Garmin BlueChart g2 or Inland Lakes software from Tiger GPS. Available on various types of pre-programmed data cards, there's a high-detail mapping solution for your outdoors Garmin unit. BlueChart g2 software covers coastal waters and the Great Lakes in North America, and waterways throughout the world; Inland Lakes software covers freshwater lakes within the continental United States.
If you have the latest and greatest form Garmin, you'll need the new Garmin BlueChart g2 Vision SD cards. These add features such as full aerial photography, two different 3D modes, Auto Guidance and more - you can read up on that in the Tiger GPS Garmin Marine Guide (click here). The new BlueChart g2 Vision cards work on the GPSMAP 400 series, 500 series, 600 series, 700 series, 4000 series, 5000 series, 6000 series, 7000 series, 8000 series. There's also a new BlueChart g2 Vision Inland Lakes format for these units, as well. Units (such as the GPSMAP 4212 or 541s) that were pre-loaded with coastal charts will contain detail identical to the standard BlueChart g2 cards; you must add the Vision chart for enhancements.
If you've got a different unit from the 2006 or later line, you'll need to use a BlueChart g2 on proprietary Garmin data card instead. BlueChart g2 adds an optional 3D perspective and richer detail and content than original BlueChart products. Units (such as the GPSMAP 492 or 498) that were pre-loaded with coastal charts will contain detail identical to the standard BlueChart g2. BlueChart g2 cards are compatible with the GPSMAPs 192, 198, 276C, 278, 292, 298, 376C, 378, 392, 398, 478, 492, 498, 2106, 2110, 2206, 2210, 3005C, 3006C, 3010C, 3205, 3206 and 3210. For Inland Lakes data, you can also purchase a pre-programmed data card for plug-and-play convenience.
If you've got a new expandable-series handheld, you can get BlueChart g2 data on a pre-programmed MicroSD card. Compatible units for these include the Oregon, Dakota and Colorado series; nuvi 500 and 550; GPSMAPs 76CSx, 76Cx, 60CSx, 60Cx; eTrexes Vista Cx & HCx, Legend Cx & HCx, and Venture Cx; and Rino 530HCx and 520HCx. You can now get full coastal maps for the United States - East Coast, West Coast, Gulf of Mexico & Great Lakes - all on one card (click here)! There's also Inland Lakes coverage on pre-programmed MicroSD as well.
If you've got a chartplotter made before 2006, your unit accepts the older Garmin Data Card format. This includes GPSMAPs 172, 172C, 178, 178C, 182, 182C, 188, 188C, 2006, 2006C, 2010, and 2010C. Unfortunately, Garmin is no longer updating these maps; the last update was in July 2008, but we will still carry these 2008 cards until stock runs out. Simply order a pre-programmed BlueChart data card for any of these units and pop it in. For Inland Lakes detail, however, you'll have to purchase the Inland Lakes DVD and load your data onto a blank memory card.
- Wrist / Fitness GPS
- Automotive GPS Units
- Handheld GPS Units
- Chartplotters / GPS
- Fishfinders / GPS
- Motorcycle / ATV GPS
- Two-Way Radio / GPS
- Safety & Tracking
- Camping & Outdoors


text:
New York Jets Bring Back WR Braylon Edwards
NEW YORK (AP) - The Jets are bringing back wide receiver Braylon Edwards, less than a week after he bashed the organization in support of quarterback Mark Sanchez.
New York was awarded Edwards off waivers from Seattle on Tuesday.
Edwards, who played for New York from 2009-10, was waived by Seattle on Monday. He had two productive seasons with the Jets, developing a good rapport with Sanchez in helping New York to consecutive trips to the AFC title game.
With Rex Ryan contemplating last week whether Sanchez would remain the starting quarterback or be replaced by third-stringer Greg McElroy, Edwards wrote on Twitter that people shouldn't blame Sanchez, but should "blame the idiots calling shots." He tweeted an apology the next day, and was reunited with the Jets less than a week later.
Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. Material may not be redistributed.


text:
Follow RFF News on your cell phone. Text follow rff to 40404 you will receive txt messages with RFF News
0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.
I just saw The Amazing Race 15 Episode 1 Title : "They Thought Godzilla Was Walking Down the Street" (Japan/Vietnam)http://www.cbs.com/info/schedule/index.php
I'm completely unfamiliar with the regular viewing schedule, but does TAR normally run for 2 hours (8:00 -> 10:00)?If not, then maybe its a double length episode (or something to that effect)?
Quote from: The Amazing Race on September 13, 2009, 10:00:50 AMI just saw The Amazing Race 15 Episode 1 Title : "They Thought Godzilla Was Walking Down the Street" (Japan/Vietnam)http://www.cbs.com/info/schedule/index.phpJapan and Vietnam already for the first episode? Does this make 10 legs only?Leg 1 JapanLeg 2 VietnamLeg 3 CambodiaLeg 4 UAELeg 5 UAELeg 6 NetherlandsLeg 7 SwedenLeg 8 EstoniaLeg 9 CZ RepublicLeg 10 Las Vegas???Or could Vietnam/Cambodia have two legs??? O_o I'm puzzled!
Might wanna fix the timeline on the spoiler thread.
Page created in 0.107 seconds with 33 queries.


text:
So I've been making chainmail for a few years now and finally decided to get my own website and give it a go that way.
I'm still working on it and getting things going, but have been getting past and present works uploaded. Check it out, let me know what you think.
Chainmail! Art, Jewelry, Tools and Toys
Think your art is better or your stick figures worse? Got a link to a site you want to share? Post it here!
Moderators: Jacque, Moderators General, Prelates
1 post • Page 1 of 1
Chainmail! Art, Jewelry, Tools and Toys
Chainmaille, our best personal raptor defense wear
1 post • Page 1 of 1
Return to "Your art and links"
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 6 guests


text:
Staples release 2.28
Please Go To; http://www.janiservu.com/ for related articles!!
Advantage Cleaning Services Does Commercial Site Cleanings For Elmira, N.Y. 14903!!
Staples Teaches the ABCs of School Facility Floor Care
Staples Advantage Provides Floor Care "Curriculum" for Facility Managers
FRAMINGHAM, Mass., – Educators are always telling students to stop running in the halls, but the directive has a purpose other than wrecking some between-class fun. Student safety is of utmost concern at schools from pre-kindergarten through the college and university level, and proper floor care is essential for getting a high grade in maintenance and liability prevention.
It may seem as though floor care involves a simple broom and mop, but in fact, keeping school floor surfaces clean and safe, and extending the life of costly flooring materials and other assets, requires some specific knowledge. Staples Advantage, the business-to-business division of Staples, Inc., through its facilities division, offers some helpful suggestions to educate school facility managers about ongoing floor care and maintenance. These ABCs of floor care include:
· Always clean: Facility managers should make sure they only use solutions that are appropriate for the floor material they are cleaning and to read the manufacturer instructions to be certain they are mixing and applying the solution properly. Remember to look for sustainable cleaning solutions that are not only healthier for students and maintenance staff, but fit into tight school budgets as well.
Other tips to keep in mind: spills on the floor should be wiped up with an absorbent cloth immediately. One of the best methods for protecting floor surfaces is to use floor mats at each entrance that are specially designed to capture moisture and debris that can be tracked inside on shoes.
· Be mindful of safety and liability: Slips and falls can cause serious injury. There are several precautions facility managers and custodians can take to reduce liability with regard to flooring. Educate school administrators and teaching and maintenance staff about potential floor hazards and ask them to report spills, floor damage or other safety concerns immediately. It would be even more beneficial to assign someone on the maintenance staff to be responsible for checking all floor surfaces for potential dangers on a daily basis. Proper lighting in all areas of a school facility is key to prevent slips and falls. Remember – no running in the halls!
· Computers can be zapped: Believe it or not, flooring can have a negative impact on school computers and handheld devices that are used for learning. Electrostatic discharges (ESD) – that shock you feel sometimes when you walk across the floor and touch something – can easily be transferred to computer devices from the floor. Costly damages can be prevented by using conductive flooring material or by applying several coats of an ESD-preventing finish solution to the existing floor of the computer lab, library or classroom. Once the floor protection is applied, special care must be taken with daily and weekly cleaning to ensure the effectiveness of the solution. Another option is the use of special mats, floor paint or tiles that help prevent electrical shocks to computers.


text:
The commander of the Naval Special Warfare Command denies allegations made in an Esquire feature article that the SEAL team member who claims he first shot Osama bin Laden was left in the dark about what benefits were available to him after he left the service.
"This former SEAL made a deliberate and informed decision to leave the Navy several years short of retirement status," Rear Adm. Sean Pybus, commander of Naval Special Warfare Command, wrote in a statement. "Months ahead of his separation, he was counseled on status and benefits, and provided with options to continue his career until retirement eligible. Claims to the contrary in these matters are false."
Pybus said he is "very disappointed with the few people who use their SEAL cachet for self-serving purposes, particularly through falsehoods and certainly when the safety and security of themselves and their active-duty teammates and families are put at risk."
However, he said the Navy will help the former SEAL "address health or transition issues, as we would for other former members."
"Naval Special Warfare has bright and motivated people engaged in difficult, but satisfying work. They are very familiar with their compensation and options," he wrote.
On Wednesday, during his final press conference, outgoing Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta also spoke out about the Esquire article -- which he acknowledged he did not read -- by saying there are service members engaged in acts of bravery every day.
Panetta cited former Staff Sgt. Clinton Romesha, the newest recipient of the Medal of Honor. "This kid is out there in the middle of nowhere with 300 Taliban charging him, and he's tremendously courageous and tremendously brave in taking them on and saving not only his fellow soldiers, but ultimately saving that base. Acts of that kind of bravery and courage go on often every day in a war zone."
Panetta said it's "difficult to think" that everybody "who performs in that kind of fashion" ought to get a "separate fund to try to assist them." He added that "the reality is, men and women in uniform put their lives on the line every day to sacrifice for this country."
The SEAL in question, identified as "The Shooter" in the Esquire article, said he feels abandoned by the military.
In the article, titled "The Man Who Killed Osama bin Laden ... Is Screwed," he described the killing of bin Laden by SEAL Team 6 in detail and also talked about his struggles to find work and protect his family since retiring in September, four years short of pension eligibility.
Related: SEAL who shot bin Laden living 'like a mafia snitch,' reporter says
TODAY.com's Scott Stump contributed to this report.