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Every student in grades K-8 in Detroit Public Schools will have the opportunity to play in an organized sport and every DPS elementary and middle school will offer arts/music programs, due to funding and a partnership announced at Nichols Preparatory Academy by DPS, the DPS Foundation, United Auto Workers, Ford Motor Company, and Ford Motor Company Fund.
The UAW-Ford National Programs Center will provide $355,000, Ford Motor Company Fund $125,000 and the Detroit Public Schools Foundation $60,000 to support this initiative. DPS is working with other partners and will utilize other non-general fund sources to provide remaining operating costs of the program estimated at $1.2 annually.
"With these organizations' support, I am confident that Detroit Public Schools will provide the necessary enrichment experiences our children need in order to grow into well-rounded, dynamic and accomplished adults," said Emergency Manager Jack Martin.
The new Detroit Public Schools Arts, Music and Athletics Enrichment Initiative is a key Phase I pillar of the district's new five-year strategic plan and will launch this year to enhance the educational experience of all interested K-8 students. DPS will partner with several private and non-profit providers including Healthy Kids Inc., The Horatio Williams Foundation and Courageous Inc. to offer organized sports team competition for each grade level during the 2013-2014 school year. Fall sports will include soccer, basketball and football and winter sports will include basketball and other offerings.
The combined programs will constitute a new DPS Elementary-Middle School League to add to DPS' legacy in high school athletics through its Public School League. Team sports will begin as soon as October 7.
Detroit Public Schools will offer arts/music at every elementary and middle school this school year, expanding the programs to cover all schools not previously offering arts/music. The programs will include daytime instruction by DPS teachers as well as afterschool enrichment with offerings including vocal music, instrumental music, visual arts, dance and/or literary arts. DPS is interviewing teachers for new positions for the daytime classes and completing a strategic sourcing process to offer afterschool enrichment programs to requesting schools via several Detroit-based music-art educational providers.
"UAW-Ford recognizes the importance of supporting arts, music and athletics in our schools because of the tremendous impact these enrichments can have on the overall development of students," said Jimmy Settles Jr., vice president and director, UAW National Ford Department. "Today's students are our future leaders and that is why as part of our on-going mission we continually seek opportunities to brighten their path."
"There is nothing more critical than the education and development of our young people, which is why Ford Fund has focused on education from its start 64 years ago," said Jim Vella, president, Ford Fund and Community Services. "This initiative is important, not just for Detroit students, but all of us who care about our community."
As part of the expanded enrichment and afterschool offerings, more schools are expected to offer dedicated tutoring opportunities and latchkey services. Additionally, the UAW-Ford has adopted 25 Detroit Public Schools for which they will provide additional support in a variety of areas.
Understanding that the identification of long-term funding for these programs is critical to their future success, the District has entered into preliminary discussions with the DPS Foundation to establish an endowment for their on-going operations.
"The DPS Foundation believes that the arts are an essential component of a holistic education. We are therefore pleased to have an opportunity to participate in extending the educational experiences for DPS students by ensuring that music/art are available at every elementary and middle school," said Dr. Glenda Price, President of the Detroit Public Schools Foundation.
Registration information for the new sports leagues is being sent home to parents today, with sign up for fall sports to take place at schools on Wednesday, October 2.

subset: commoncrawl


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There's a "silent killer" that became evident in Wal-Mart's earnings announcement today.
"The results announced today are flat-out bad, and its time for shareholders to take management to task for this," said Brian Sozzi, chief equities analyst at NBG Research.
The biggest problem, according to Sozzi?
Sam's Club.
"Sam's Club now becoming a silent killer to Wal-Mart's consolidated financials," Sozzi told us. "This comes even as the company has stepped up its price investments."
The buy-in-bulk chain has more than 600 stores in the U.S. While it's grown rapidly in recent years, Sam's Club has still lagged behind competitor Costco.
Wal-Mart's buy-in-bulk chain expects little growth in sales this quarter compared to this time last year, CEO Rosalind Brewer said in the company's earnings release. That compares with a robust 5.3 percent growth last year.
In November, Sam's Club reported that its traffic had slowed down and that when people were buying stuff, they were trading down.
Brewer blames the "mounting economic concerns" for the slow-down in growth for Sam's Club's current woes. In a series of leaked emails, Wal-Mart also blamed the economy for the worst start to a sales month in seven years.
Sam's Club relies on businesses for more of its sales. Its members are generally higher-income than Wal-Mart's.
"Like Walmart U.S., our members are pressured by higher payroll income taxes, ongoing unemployment and higher gas prices," Brewer says in the release.
The expiration of the payroll tax means that Americans began paying 2 percent more in Social Security taxes on their first $113,700 in wages, reports Renee Dudley at Bloomberg. That's $60 a month for someone making $40,000 a year.
The slow-down at Sam's Club is concerning because it shows that businesses and higher-income consumers are just as wary as Walmart's core customers.


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2014 USBR 23 Spring Ride
Several of us are testing the route with an actual ride from Kentucky to Alabama on USBR 23 April 24-29. It has its own blog. http://usbr23.blogspot.com/
Posted by coastdownhills
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So, you've arrived at this BLOG either through the ACA, Facebook, Bike Walk Tennessee, or some other website. Maybe it was a search engine? Maybe you're looking for a place to take your next vacation with your bicycle on a loop. Maybe you're passing through on a trip across the country? In any regard, we look forward to hosting you in Tennessee.


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NORTH DARTMOUTH, Mass.—After finishing in sixth-place in the Little East Conference each of the past two campaigns, the UMass Boston softball team was picked to finish in sixth place once again, in the LEC Coaches' Preseason Poll.
Defending tournament champion Western Connecticut State University was picked first in the Little East, just barely ahead of Eastern Connecticut State University, Keene State College and Plymouth State University. The top four teams in the poll were separated by just eight points, with all four squads earning at least one first-place vote.
UMass Boston will open their season Saturday March 15 in Clermont, Florida. The Beacons are slated to play eight games as part of the National Training Center Spring Games in Florida, including tilts against defending national champion Tufts University and regionally-ranked Babson College.
Seventh-year head coach Natalia Ardagna returns 12 of the 15 players from last season's squad, which earned their program-record third-straight Little East Conference Tournament berth. Overall the Beacons return seven starters including their entire starting outfield and their starting battery.
Seniors Erika Vecchiet (Pequannock, N.J) and Natalia Bouyea (East Longmeadow, Mass.), along with junior Kristina Bove (Medford, Mass.) headline the returners coming into this season. All three players are former Little East Conference All-Conference honorees and the trio stand as the top three returners in terms of batting average from last year's team.
UMass Boston also brings back their two pitchers from last season, as junior Michelle Zullo (Everett, Mass.) and sophomore Emily Gray (New Bedford, Mass.) will look to improve upon their combined 3.44 earned run average from 2013.
Western Connecticut State University finished with 55 total points and four first-place votes, just ahead of Eastern Connecticut State University's 53 points and one first-place vote. The Owls of Keene State College placed third with 50 points and one first-place vote and were followed closely by Plymouth State University who picked up two first-place votes and 47 total points.
Rhode Island College finished a distant fifth with 34 points, just ahead of UMass Boston's 22. The Corsairs of UMass Dartmouth earned 17 points and the University of Southern Maine rounded out the poll in eighth with 10 points.


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Creative Commons: Catching the Waves' mix
Mix Info
The second mix in our Curratorial Mix Series - from CC/free netlabel blog Catching the Waves:
Catching The Waves has been reviewing free netlabel and/or Creative Commons albums since 2006. That's pretty much it. The catalyst was a desire to thank CC artists for their marvellous free music and to further the cause of free and legal CC music. The reviews, which are the work of one lone idiot, are infrequent, short and badly written yet undeniably sexy. Visit CTW and you'll find reviews of anything from rock to IDM, trip-hop to minimal and even Country to Western. (I've used that joke before – I'm all for recycling.) You won't be bothered by fees, hidden or otherwise, advertising, requests to register or even recommendations for teeth-whitening regimes. However, there is a rather decent collection of links to netlabels and CC music portals.
I am deeply honoured to join in the fun at the FMA. My mix consists of some of the best tracks from some of the best albums that have been lassooed (SP) at CTW. It features lots of different genres, tempi and moods (rock, IDM, trip-hop, minimal, folk, ambient, etc.,) from as far afield as Germany, Japan, Colombia, the United States, France, Canada, Italy and the U.K. It was murderously difficult to whittle the mix down to a still unwieldy twenty tracks. It would be wonderful if people who were new to netlabels, and CC music in general, stumbled upon these songs and realised, as I did, that there's a whole world of wonderful music just waiting to be discovered – and that it's all free, legal and made by artists who want their music to be downloaded, copied and shared. Catching the waves can be fun...
My dirty secret: I've compiled this mix specifically to cause arguments in the FMA and in Creative Commons.org offices around the world as they argue as to which is the best track. Let the chaos begin!
Comfort Fit – Sorry
This hip/trip-hop will increase your factor of "Cool" by infinity.
Kriss – Jazz Club
Italian minimal that feels, well, jazzy.
Monopole – Stereo-vision Radio
If you know any David Lynch film buffs, send them this amazing electronica.
Nobara Hayakawa – Trail
Ethereal vocals & Colombian/Japanese electronica – you were expecting something else?
Paper Navy – Swansong
Country & Western can be good – honest...
Professor Kliq – Bust This Bust That
Meet the love-child of James Brown and Fatboy Slim.
Robin Grey – These Days
Folk is not a four-letter word.
Sean Fournier – Falling for You (Piano Version)
Soppy, romantic, etc. - one to snuggle to.
The Lights Galaxia – While She Sleeps (Morning Edit)
Radiohead fans, this is like listening to bunnies having a pillow fight.
The Orientalist – Islamatronic Cantillation
Cavernous, Middle Eastern-tinged, grooving trip-hop....from France.
adcBicycle – Poor Economic Policies
This fantastic brass-laden, insane pseudo-Native American chanting, epic slice of rock (from a concept album) will be the most original track you'll hear today – or your money back.
Choc – Eigenvalue Subspace Decomposition
An utterly sublime blend of electronica and neo-classicism.
Entertainment for the Braindead – Run!
Featuring a winsome, winning woman on vocals, guitar and inspiration.
Erdbeerschnitzel – Walkampfchampagne
Get up onz your feet und danz till you fil better, ja?
Halogen – Length and Brecht (Synaecide Remix)
Press "play" and hear beautiful contemplative music morph into catchy, driving IDM.
Karaoke Mouse – Shanghai Reggae (DJ Side's Alternate Take)
You need a shot of stone cold hip-hop reggae, don't you?
Keinzweiter – (Mircoobee)
This is how Germans cram a jazzy loop till the minimal is maxed out.
Krill.minima – Sommerdellen
Taken from a Qwartz award-winning album, this is ambient at its best.
Brad Sucks – Total Breakdown
Never has mental illness sounded so rocky and uplifting.
Josh Woodward – I Want To Destroy Something Beautiful
One of America's great undiscovered songwriters, IMHO.


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Math, science scores for some US students improving, but lag behind many in Asia, Europe
WASHINGTON – An international study shows American students perform better than the global average, but still lag behind many of their peers in Asia and Europe.
The study is conducted every four years in nations around the world. This year's results show a mixed bag for American educational progress.
Fourth-graders in the U.S. have improved their math and reading scores since 2007. But eighth-grade math and science scores are stagnant.
Kids in countries like Finland and Singapore outperform American fourth-graders in science and reading. Eighth-grade scores are lower in the U.S. than in Russia, Japan and Taiwan for math. Hong Kong, Slovenia and South Korea outperform American eighth-graders in science.
Reading skills are a major strength for the U.S. Only a few points separate American fourth-graders from the world's top-scoring students.


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102 members19 Comments 8 Likes
161 members22 Comments 48 Likes
154 members46 Comments 11 Likes
glea sutterfield has not received any gifts yet
Posted on April 1, 2011 at 5:21pm 20 Comments 0 Likes
My name is Glea, and I joined "Think Atheist" last night. Made a couple friends, etc.
Imagine my surprise, when I logged on just now, to find my web page titled "Think Christian!" Have I missed something?
I tried reloading, re-logging-in... the top of the web page looks like this:
Have I overlooked a setting? Have we been…Continue
Totally my honor, sir. Thank you for adding me as your first friend.
I hope you enjoy our community.
Welcome to Think Atheist, Glea. We are happy to have you here.
Here is a list of useful links to get you started:
Shop Think Atheist Bracelets Dog Tags
Any suggestions or questions you might have, don't hesitate to contact me, or any of the moderators.


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the kind of shotgun shell that is used to kill large game and people. it's what police and criminals use in their shotguns to kill humans. it comes in different sizes, the smaller the shot, the greater number of pellets. #4 buckshot pellet is about the size and velocity of a .22lr. there are 27 pellets in one round of #4 buckshot. 00 buckshot has larger pellets but only has 9-12 pellets per shell.
1 round of buckshot to the head is pretty messy.
me killa/ with the buckshot imma peal ya/
layzie bone "mo murda"
me killa/ with the buckshot imma peal ya/
layzie bone "mo murda"
by the-sawed-off-gangsta April 24, 2006
the tiny curls of hair near the neck. this is an indication of a urgent need for treatment or a perm.
that girls got more buck shots than a deer the first day of hunting season.
by race queen June 12, 2009
by Big DiK TJ fRom Tha 5 1 izzO(510) September 21, 2004
term used to describe the action of crumpling up a dollar bill and throwing it at a stripper while she/he is on stage.
Hey whoever can hit a stripper in the head with a buck shot first gets a lap dance on me.
by Nilsson March 03, 2008
The act of ejaculating and the semen flies in everywhich direction.
Guy One:Yo, what happened with your girl last night?
Guy Two:Bad, she was giving me oral and she got a load of buck shot in the face.
Guy Two:Bad, she was giving me oral and she got a load of buck shot in the face.
by SpookePlayer April 20, 2010
A Bacardi 151 mixed drink that you chug out of a red bull can. The drink is made by punching a hole in the bottom of a red bull can, pouring out a minimal amount of red bull and filling the can with Bacardi 151 till it spills. You take the drink by placing your mouth over the punched hole and chugging it while opening the top of the red bull can for maximum flow.
I was at Tipsy Clover and ordered two "buck shots", after I took them I blacked out and woke up in a ditch.
by Krazy Mikey V October 10, 2011
Buckshot: an insanely large amount of seminal fluid secreted on a girl right after rough sex in a splattering form that covers her when the male pulls out for ejaculation.
you should see where i buckshot this chick last night after we banged, it was all over her.
by sms10 April 10, 2011


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LocationNantes, France
Design TeamAnne Lacaton, Jean-Philippe Vassal
Area15150.0 m2
Project Year2009
© Philippe Ruault
In building a structure of great capacity, the project design comes up with a scheme capable of creating a set of rich and diverse situations of interest to the School of architecture, the city and the landscape.
© Philippe Ruault
Three decks at nine, sixteen and twenty-two meters above the natural ground level, served by a gentle sloping external ramp, progressively put the ground surface of the city in touch with the sky overhead.
© Philippe Ruault
A lightweight steel structure redivides the height of these main levels. It enables the spaces devoted to the program to be generously installed and creates a system adapted to their extension and their future evolution.
© Philippe Ruault
Linked to the spaces of the program are ample, double-height volumes with non-attributed functions, the transparent facades of which harness the sun's rays and vouchsafe the indoor climate. On the initiative of the students, teachers or visitors, these spaces become the locus of possible appropriations, events and programming. At any one moment the adaptation of the school to new interventions and its reconversion are possible.
Like a pedagogical tool, the project questions the program and the practices of the school as much as the norms, technologies and its own process of elaboration.


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Philips Fantasy Factory was overseeing SMWW
>> Saturday, January 31, 2009
We don't know a lot about the Philips Fantasy Factory. It is interesting to me because it is the only Philips studio who made a Nintendo title. Yes, all the other Zelda games were contract jobs given out by Philips. Just like with Super Mario's Wacky World. It is a pleasure to meet the people who were behind this. Thankfully our contact list made it to Steve: "You do remember correctly. I was a Vice President of development as well as the Executive Producer of the Fantasy Factory projects. I would be happy to answer any questions that I can, so just let me know." He was the Philips guy overseeing the Super Mario's Wacky Worlds part, which was a contract job for Novalogic for Philips. Apparently though, Novalogic cancelled the project without Philips knowing it. So it will be interesting to hear his side of the story.
We'll remember the Philips Fantasy Factory as one of the least productive studios regarding to the amount of games that they have released. It was based in the USA and released two titles on CD-i: -Name that Tune (1993) and -Hotel Mario (1994).


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(CNN) -- Generalized anxiety disorder is the single most common mental health diagnosis, and yet it's still taboo to talk about it. I recently went public with a very personal essay about my battle with it, and in doing so, realized an awful lot of people have been aching for a chance to talk about their struggles.
After comments poured in through CNN.com, e-mails, Facebook, Twitter and other channels, CNN Living hosted a live Google Hangout to address some of the issues. Scott Stossel, author of "My Age of Anxiety: Fear, Hope, Dread, and the Search for Peace of Mind"; Daniel Smith, author of "Monkey Mind: A Memoir of Anxiety"; and psychiatrists Dawn M. Porter and Scott Krakower joined me for a robust, hourlong video chat about treatment, taboos, triggers and the breaking of bad habits.
Here are 10 things we learned from that conversation:
Military families may be especially susceptible to anxiety
Porter is a military spouse and treats people in the community. She says that anxiety -- and stressors -- are present and constant.
"There are a lot of issues that our families go through with every transition," she said. "You're moving every two to four years, depending on what your service member's responsibilities are. The service member has to settle into a new position and figure his or her way out; the spouse or partner also has to navigate a new environment and connect with a new community. If there are children involved, they have to get settled into a new school."
The general public isn't aware of such adjustments, Porter said, making it difficult for military families to assimilate into life outside a base. "They don't get that our children are struggling, and their children don't pick up on it. They have their stability and structure and don't bring the military families in -- which makes it even more difficult."
She said she believes her own experiences help make her a more effective therapist for military families.
Physical symptoms are par for the course, but they'll pass
A viewer wrote in, describing "feeling like I am going to faint, my heart will race and I get hot. I went to the doctor and they ran blood tests. Now they are sending me to a cardiologist. After looking up my symptoms it kind of sounds like anxiety but I am not sure. Since I ... went to the doctor I keep feeling this tight pressure in my chest and I keep crying for no reason. Does this sound familiar?"
Members of the panel all shook their heads emphatically. "That's the remarkable thing about anxiety: It's so embodied, such a physical experience," said Smith, who has undergone botox injections to counter excess sweating.
Stossel, whose memoir vividly detailed gastric symptoms he's suffers, said, "My physiology has commandeered my sympathetic nervous system."
I also fight a rapidly beating pulse, twitching muscles and deeply painful acid reflux. These symptoms are no picnic -- and sufferers and ER doctors often mistake them for a heart attack -- but they're not fatal.
Living with anxiety, searching for joy
Anxiety begets more anxiety
Krakower noted even seeing a specialist to deal with treatment can cause more stress. "We can't rule out a medical problem, but that, in turn, can feed the anxiety."
That response is "definitive of anxiety," Smith said. "You're anxious about something, which leads you to focus more attention on the feeling -- which leads you to be more anxious. Before you can snap your fingers, you're on that merry-go-round, which once it starts, can be inordinately difficult to jump off of."
Stossel agreed the cycle is hard to break. "I know a lot about the neuromechanics and the physiology of panic," he said. "I feel myself having anxious thoughts and I'll tell myself, 'You've been through this a million times, and this is probably a panic attack.' More often than not I can tell myself that it's just a panic attack ... but every once in a while, I'll think, 'But this feels slightly different than the previous 782 times. Maybe I am having a heart attack!' "
Medications aren't one size fits all
People may not be able to benefit from talk therapy if they're in a state of panic. "If the level of anxiety is very high, it may be necessary to bring that down so they can use some relaxing techniques," Porter said.
Stossel started his journey with medication at age 11 or 12, using Thorazine in the 1980s. He's studied all sides of the argument, from those who feel a "rapacious" pharmaceutical industry makes issues worse and prefer a med-free treatment, to physicians who believe that drug therapy should be the first recourse. His view falls somewhere in the middle.
"Medication can be part of a psychotropic arsenal," he said, discussing one therapist who urged him to stop taking Xanax so he could address his anxiety directly and not mask the physical symptoms.
But a psychopharmacologist felt his physical symptoms were so extreme that unless he tamped those down, he couldn't benefit from other coping techniques, according to Stossel.
"Some drugs have worked some of the time," Stossel said. "I couldn't have gotten through my book tour without benzodiazepines, but there are reasons to be wary of dependence, abuse and masking the symptoms but not treating the underlying source of the anxiety."
Here's what to do about your anxiety
Younger people may feel less stigma about mental health than their parents
"There's more publicity about anxiety," Krakower said, "and it's becoming more acceptable in the community."
But there are certain things to consider when dealing with children and adolescents, these experts said.
"You first have to work at trying to engage them. If they're not on board, it's not going to work," he said.
Krakower, a child and adolescent psychiatrist, uses a two-pronged approach of cognitive behavioral therapy and gradual medication if needed. He said he pays close attention to which treatment is working best and tries to make younger patients feel comfortable with the process.
He also said some youths self-medicate by smoking pot, but the temporary relief often results in a loss of motivation at school.
Porter agreed that it's important to relate to children and teens. "They're very perceptive about if you're really interested in helping them." She said she also tends to steer clear of certain groups of medications with that age group, so these drugs don't become a crutch in the midst of change, or trigger suicidal impulses.
She also cautioned parents against overloading children with too many activities, expectations and pressures. "They have no downtime to be themselves. How do we balance their lives?"
Cultural taboos can get in the way of people seeking help
"Especially in the African-American community, there are a lot of issues that we face," Porter said. "There's always the stigma, there's always the feeling that you have to be twice as good to get half as much. Because of this, there's always a fear that anything someone finds out about you will be used against you. We're also a strong community, based in our religion. With that, there's a feeling that if you have an issue, you need to take it to God."
As a Christian, she said, she leans into her faith -- but she also believes it's God who brings people to a psychiatrist and provides the medication that helps people to do better or feel better. Porter said pastors, community groups and even celebrities are normalizing the notion of seeking help and encouraging people to share their own stories.
National Depression Screening Day: Sharing experiences can help
Anxiety can be the enemy of romance
In Smith's research for "Monkey Mind," he saw a pattern emerge when it came to love. "When you're anxious, you tend to scan around for what may be causing it. And often you alight upon that person who is right next to you."
In addition to assuming a relationship is the root of a problem, he noted some people often experience shame that their partners will see them as weak.
In his own life, Smith pushed away a partner, and then in midst of the resulting sadness, felt he needed her and pulled her back. "That speaks to the whole stigma," he said, "the whole worry that if someone knows you are suffering from anxiety, they will consider you to be somehow less."
Can anxiety kill your ability to love?
Gender expectations take a toll
Writer Stossel was struck by the extra burden many men face when it comes to anxiety. "There's a stigma around vulnerability," he said.
"Women have higher rates of diagnosis of anxiety disorder than men do," Stossel said. "That could be for temperamental reasons or for social reasons -- because of glass ceilings or extra pressures. It could also be because it's more acceptable for women to seek out treatment and accept a diagnosis. Whereas men have higher rates of alcoholism, and it may be that we're all just trying to sublimate and are afraid to seek help."
Krakower said he believes it's important, when working with young, male patients, to understand they may feel more stigmatized by school and friends than their female peers. "It's important to make them feel accepted in the individual therapy sessions and then teach them more ways to control their anxiety." These may include learning relaxation techniques, or how to be more assertive and not feel so nervous.
Anxiety doesn't have to define you, so make peace with it
Smith was diagnosed in college -- by his mother, a therapist who specializes in anxiety -- and he called the diagnosis a doubled-edged sword. "It's helpful to name something, but at the same time makes you feel trapped in that particular diagnosis," he said.
"It's important not just to think of it as a disorder or a mental construct, but as an emotion -- a universally held and rather important emotion. We need anxiety, and if we didn't have it, we'd be hit by cars far more frequently," Smith said. "You don't necessarily want to banish your anxiety; you want it to be there to some extent but not rule your life."
Stossel, now 44, spent the first 43 years of his life trying to hide his condition -- before penning a wildly popular and public memoir about it. "There are times when the level of suffering (is) so high, not to treat it as an illness ... is unfair and almost handicapping the therapist's ability to treat it. Even then, I've had to come to terms with thinking of this as woven into my personality and part of my temperament, but not what completely defines who I am."
Anxiety, you're not the boss of me
It might not feel like it in the thick of things, but it's possible to fight back
Porter starts by asking her patients to make a list of what relaxes them and what activities they enjoy. These might include exercising, taking a walk around the block, deep breathing, talking to family members or listening to music. When in the throes of a panic attack, they will have some solutions at the ready and can pick out which are the most effective in the moment.
Smith has found cognitive behavioral therapy effective in changing some of his patterns and also seeks peace through Buddhist meditation, and in particular Zen. Both methods focus on mindfulness and paying attention to thoughts that trigger anxiety.
"The one thing you're not doing when you're anxious is existing in the present moment," Smith said.
Stossel recalled that when an excerpt of "My Age of Anxiety" ran in The Atlantic, strangers inundated him with advice to cut out gluten, sugar and caffeine, eat more fish oil and magnesium, try massages or yoga and smoke pot. But the things that sound the most banal are the most effective, he said.
"They're the things that your internist and your mother and your grandmother told you," he said. "Get enough sleep. It's good for you physically; it reduces depression and anxiety." He also swears by exercise, breathing techniques and cognitive behavioral therapy.
"So many of us with generalized anxiety disorder are gifted catastrophizers and worry that any decision we make or anything we enter into is going to be absolutely catastrophic and existentially damaging," Stossel said.
"But if you actually think it through and imagine the worst thing that could happen, well, did anybody die? Is it really that bad? Then use that to try to calm yourself."
Do you deal with anxiety? How do you try to fight it? Let us know in the comments below.


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A member of the Blue Angels flight demonstration team killed during practice in Tennessee lost control of his fighter jet because it was traveling too fast and then failed to recover because it was too low for the maneuver he was performing, a Navy investigation shows.
A report cited pilot error as the primary cause of the crash that claimed the life of Marine Capt. Jeff Kuss while he was preparing for an air show June 2 outside Nashville.
The report, released Thursday, said Kuss' jet was traveling too fast and too low as he transitioned from a high-performance climb into a Split-S maneuver, a 180-degree turn that involves inverting the aircraft and then making a half-loop to go in the opposite direction at a lower altitude. The plane tumbled from the sky and crashed. The report cited pilot fatigue and cloudy weather as contributing factors.
The Navy found no mechanical problems with the F/A-18C fighter jet, and Kuss did not black out before the crash, the Navy said.
An F-16 fighter jet from the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds crashed on the same day in Colorado. That pilot ejected and wasn't seriously injured.
The report, released to The Associated Press under the Freedom of Information Act, indicates Kuss failed to disengage afterburners, contributing to the excessive speed, and failed to climb to the appropriate altitude, possibly because of cloud cover, giving him too little space to recover.
"Airspeed higher than normal for the maneuver and the lower starting altitude limited decision-making opportunities and removed margins of error for corrections to the flight trajectory," wrote Vice Adm. Mike Shoemaker, commander of naval air forces in San Diego.
Recommendations by the report to improve safety have been implemented. Those include eliminating the Split-S maneuver from the Blue Angels' show.
Kuss was killed while practicing for the Great Tennessee Air Show. No one on the ground was hurt when the fighter crashed and burst into flames.
Five other F/A-18 jets that were part of the team landed safely after the crash.
Kuss, who was survived by a wife and two young children, was a native of Durango, Colorado. He had nearly 1,700 hours of flying time and had served in Afghanistan.


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(PFR3-107) Rear Differential Mount
Qty Per Car: 1
Qty Per Pack: 1
Powerflex Black Series - Designed for the Track - Ready to Race - Engineered to be the best.
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It's been six-months since the public unveiling of Microsoft's Windows Phone 7. The company today stated that while the handsets themselves may not yet be on the shelves, an enormous amount of activity has been taking place behind the scenes, particularly among its developer community.
Microsoft says that to date, there have been more than of 300,000 downloads of the Windows Phone Developer Tools (Beta) and that the final Windows Phone Developer Tools will be available for download from September 16.
"The past six months have affirmed that a rich application platform based on the well-understood Silverlight and XNA technologies, combined with the free tools based on Visual Studio 2010 and Expression Blend, is the right approach for enabling developers and designers of all skill levels who are looking to capitalize on the opportunities presented by Windows Phone 7," said Microsoft's OS & mobile product manager lead William Coleman.
"Building on the feedback we've received since the beta launch, the final tools will include several highly requested Silverlight controls, which will make it easier for developers to deliver high quality Windows Phone 7 experiences. Also in the September 16th final release, the panorama, pivot, and Bing maps controls will all be available to drop into applications," added Coleman.
As part of its Windows Phone 7 developer support services, Microsoft has also introduced a new online training resource called Jump Start with 12 hours of classroom training and supporting exercises — as well as the Windows Phone 7 Developer Training Kit.


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Please note: You are viewing an archived Bucknell University news story. It is possible that information found on this page has become outdated or inaccurate, and links and images contained within are not guaranteed to function correctly.
Recent efforts like the Bucknell University Entrepreneurs Incubator, the Bucknell Innovation Group and the School of Management's new Markets, Innovation and Design major have made Bucknell a burgeoning hotbed for innovation, but Yifan Ge '14 believes the University shouldn't rest on its laurels.
Ge, a fifth-year computer science and electrical engineering major from Nanjing, China, has been named a University Innovation Fellow by Epicenter: The National Center for Engineering Pathways to Innovation, and hopes to use the opportunity to make Bucknell's campus an even better environment for the fledgling entrepreneur.
As part of his six-week training to join the program — which is supported by Stanford University, the National Science Foundation and the National Collegiate Investors and Innovators Alliance — Ge assessed the entrepreneurial environment at Bucknell. He met with students and key stakeholders at the University and in the surrounding community, delivered talks on campus and shared what he'd learned with Innovation Fellows at institutions around the country. Ge is the second Bucknellian to join the program, following Amanda Ruppert '14, who was named a fellow last year. Professor Joe Tranquillo, biomedical and electrical engineering, also served as a visiting faculty scholar with Epicenter at Stanford last year. Ge said he hopes to build on the progress the University has already made. | Read Ge's assessment.
Ge said the University takes a proactive role in piquing student interest in entrepreneurship through programs like the Residential Colleges and the Bucknell Forum series "tech/no," and supports students who want to explore that interest further through club activities and academic opportunities, such as Arts Entrepreneurship and Markets, Innovation and Design. But Ge also sees opportunities for Bucknell to aid students and recent graduates with the high costs that come with starting and fostering their fledgling companies.
"We need to create more programs to help people realize their endeavors in entrepreneurship," Ge said.
Ge knows about those costs firsthand, having started his own computer hardware company, Unparalleled Systems, with Kevin Thomas '13 in the Bucknell University Entrepreneurs Incubator in downtown Lewisburg. While he applauded the resources the center offers him and other efforts like the Business Pitch Competition — which has a $1,500 grand prize — Ge believes a student entrepreneurship fund providing seed grants or loans to startups would encourage more students to make their business dreams reality. He also wants to help lower the costs of starting a business by offering low-cost software development to aspiring entrepreneurs, an idea he said has generated excitement among his peers.
"A lot of management students have great ideas that they want to implement, but they don't have the technical support to do it," Ge said. "The idea is to make software development really inexpensive. So they bring their idea into the office, and we develop the software for them for a really low cost — maybe even zero cost if we like the idea. The whole idea is to make it easier for people to start their own company."
Between his two majors, start-up company and fellowship work, Ge doesn't find much time for himself these days, but he said he doesn't mind the long hours. He gets back as much as he puts in.
"It comes back to my personality; I like to learn new things," Ge said. "When there's something new I'm interested in — and I'm interested in entrepreneurship — I just like to spend time on it. I can pull all-nighters doing this because I like it. I don't realize the time passes so fast."
"And I do think Bucknell is on the road to improving the entrepreneurial ecosystem," he added. "So I really want to put my effort into this and make it even better."
| Related story: ICE Talks: Innovation, Creativity and Entrepreneurship


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As I mentioned this morning, tonight I'm gonna give you a few sort of mementos of my recent trip to Europe. Last Sunday, a week ago today, I was preaching in Geneva, Switzerland. Geneva, of course, is famous because of its tremendous importance during the time of the reformation. It was in Geneva that John Calvin established his great base of teaching, and from 1536 to 1564, exposited the Scriptures through all of those years, with the exception of a few, and established himself, really, as the great power, the theological force of the reformation.
So last Sunday, I was in Geneva. All of the churches came together in one place. And I had the privilege of preaching in Geneva. And I thought that I oughta preach on the doctrine of justification by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, which was, of course, the great doctrine of the reformation. So I did that. I preached on the doctrine of justification, hoping to be something of a faith echo of John Calvin, 400years later.
In that service last Sunday, among many people was a man who for 22years had been a Jesuit priest in the Roman Catholic Church. For 22 years, as Jesuits do, he had studied the Scriptures. At the end of that message on the doctrine of justification, he confessed, "In all my years as a Jesuit priest, in all my study of Scripture, I have never heard of that doctrine." And in a word, in a single testimony, he gave to me the reason why there was a reformation.
That was true, for the most part, of the whole world at the time of the reformation. Nobody had heard of the doctrine of justification by grace, through faith alone, nobody. That's why it was so monumental in 1517, when Martin Luther, a Catholic priest, who came to the knowledge of the doctrine of justification, put it into a thesis and pinned it on the door of the church in Wittenberg and launched the reformation.
About eight years before Lutheran pinned his thesis to the door of the church in Wittenberg, 1517, about eights years before that, in the year 1509, was born John Calvin, as they call him there, John Calvin. Born north of Paris, he was the son a secretary to the bishop. And he studied to be a lawyer in Paris.
In 1532, you can tell, in his very early 20s, under the influence of Luther's writings he became an evangelical. And as a result of that, he had to flee to Paris because he was accused of writing things that were insurrectionist against the Catholic Church. By the year 1536, still in his early 20s, he had completed the great institutes of Christian religion, his monumental Calvin's Institutes, as they are known. He originally wrote them in Latin and later translated them into French.
Because of the tremendous persecution that broke out in France, Calvin went to Geneva. Because in 1536, the City of Geneva had declared itself a city of the reformation and adopted reform theology, brought an end to the mass in 1536. He converted the catholic cathedral into a reformed cathedral. That cathedral is still there. I stood in that cathedral by John Calvin's chair. And next door, I stood in John Calvin's pulpit where he preached in the little chapel that's adjacent to the cathedral where he exposited the Scriptures for all those years from 1536 to 1564.
Well John Calvin came to Geneva in 1536, the very year that the Genevan people had, by popular vote, accepted the reformation. He came there, not intending to settle there, but he was confronted by a man named Farrell, Giliuum Farrell, who was a great reformer. He actually outlived Calvin by a year. Farrell was a fiery man, and he told Calvin that he should stay in Geneva and do his ministry there. And Calvin said he didn't want to do that, so Farrell said to him, "If you don't stay in Geneva, I'm gonna pray that God curses all your teachings." (Laughter) Well, that was a fairly convincing speech, and Calvin stayed; (Laughter) stayed there really, until he died.
In 1559, he founded the academy, which is now the University of Geneva. According to some reports, he also established a seminary there. So many Protestants, called Huguenots in France, were leaving France under the fiery persecution of the Catholic Church. They were coming to Geneva, really, to save their lives.
When they arrived in Geneva, there was John Calvin, teaching the Word of God. He had established a seminary, and according to some reports, he trained 2,000pastors to go back with the true message of the Gospel, 2,000preachers to go back into France with the Gospel and the true reformation faith. His seminary became known as, "The seminary of death," because so many of the preachers he trained went back to France and died as martyrs. The seminary of death. Might be a little hard to recruit people to that today.
The effect of John Calvin's life and ministry is almost beyond description. We know his masterpiece, The Institutes of Christian Religion, completed in 1536, as I said, in Latin, and later translated in French. Book One is on the knowledge of God, Revelation. Book Two is on sin, the fall, the separation of man from God, and God for deeming activity. Book Three on faith, salvation by faith on election by which God directs our lives. And Book Four, on the true and the false church and the ordinances or sacraments of the church.
He also wrote commentaries on every book of the Bible. He came out of his constant teaching from 1536 to 1564. He wrote a commentary on every book in the Bible except Revelation. He wrote catechisms. He collaborated in the translation of the Bible into French. He was the one who instituted the public education as compulsory in the West and Europe. He developed the system of charity directed at the poor and needy. He developed a system for the regulations of loans and interest and the legal offices of the City of Geneva and the regulation of justice in the courts. He had an immense impact.
Those countries which accepted the reformation, Switzerland, Germany, Holland, and England, became the most prosperous countries in Europe. In fact, look at the history of the world. You will find those countries most strongly influenced by protestant reformation, including America and Canada, to be the most prolific, the most economically successful, the countries that enjoy the greatest freedoms in the world, largely influenced by Calvin and his profound and lengthy ministry.
You look at the impact of this man's life. You look at the impact of the reformation in Europe and how it brought the true and saving Gospel to Europe, and you wander around Europe today and you say, "What in the world went wrong?" I stood in Calvin's cathedral by his chair, and I looked up on the wall, and I was with our missionary, my good friend, John Glass, and he said, "I want you to see if you can read that. It's in Latin." And I tried to remember my high school Latin. And I kinda sorted through it and then I got a little paper that explained the words that I couldn't figure out.
Basically what it said was, "We are declaring the true Gospel. We are declaring the true Biblical faith. We are declaring that we stand against the Roman system for the true Gospel," and it goes on and on to basically say, "This is our reformation statement. And we deny the things that have been a part of the Catholic Church. We embrace the true and Biblical doctrine of salvation." It's a beautiful, big, brass plaque.
And as I was looking at it I was thinking of how strong a statement that is, how great a statement that is. And I asked John, I said, "is the Gospel preached in this cathedral?" And he said, "Oh, no." He said, "In fact, the word is that within a few years that will be taken down because it's politically incorrect." I said, "Is the man who is the current pastor of Calvin's cathedral Christian?" He said, "Oh, no."
He then took me into the basement of Calvin's cathedral in the old City of Geneva, which is still there with the walls around it and everything, just as it was in Calvin's day. We went down into the basement and amazingly, they've done archeological digs there. And as you go into the digs, you find that the site of that cathedral has been the site of a Christian church way, way, way back.
In fact, they have artifacts down there that they, even before the Christian era, as far back as 450B.C. But they have baptisteries there that date back into the 300s. As each layer goes archeologically, you find another church with another baptistery. And by the way, none of them were little sprinkling fonts; they were all great big holes in the ground which indicates clearly that early church was engaged in immersing people. But just consistently, this was the place where the church met in 300, in 350, and all the way through the centuries, on up until Calvin's cathedral was built by the Roman Catholic Church in the 12th and 13th Century.
That was a place of early church baptisms. Then it became the place of Catholicism and eventually it became the place where the reformation found its center in the ministry of John Calvin and William Farrell. It's also something to say about -- that I think you'll find interesting -- during the time that Calvin was there, people who were being persecuted by the Roman Catholics were coming to Geneva for the protection that the City of Geneva provided them and in fellowship with Calvin. There were also scholars there, and scholastics, and great students of Scripture, and students of theology there. And so it was a good place to come to refine one's theology.
One of the men that came there was a former priest born in 1505 who didn't die until 1572 when he was murdered. His name was John Knox. And John Knox came there because over in England, Bloody Mary on behalf of the Catholic Church, was also executing believers. And so Knox, under the threat of death, left England, came to Geneva in 1556. While he was there, John Knox translated the Bible from the original languages into English, 1556.
In 1559, John Knox went back to Scotland to print that Bible, 1559. He went back to print that Bible in Scotland, and also to establish the reformation, which became known as Scottish Presbyterianism; 1559 he went back. Well, took him a few years, but eventually they printed that Bible. It was the first Bible ever printed in Scotland.
And while I was in Geneva, I was getting all this history. And I was talking to John Glass and we were going over all this history, and I said, "By the way, John, you might be interested to know." He said, "What?" I said, "I have that Bible." He said, "What?" I said, "I own that Bible." "What do you mean you own that Bible?" "I own the Bible that they printed that John Knox translated and took back." "You own that Bible?" He said, "Do you know how much that Bible is worth?" "I said I have no idea who much that Bible is worth monetarily. I know how much it's worth to me."
I have a Bible that John Knox held in his hand that was printed by carving out individual letters in wood, setting them in one page at a time, rolling a roller over one page and then dumping the letters and doing it all over again for the next page. "And by the way," I said to John, "it's a study Bible." (Laughter) it has notes up and down both sides and all across the bottom and down the middle column and in the front and in the back.
And I said, "It was that Bible that motivated me to do a study Bible. I figured if John Knox could do one, I wasn't really treading on sacred ground; I could do one, too." All that just to say when you get into that environment and you feel the pulse of the reformation in Geneva -- and we climbed to the top of the tower of the church and looked over the city, as it used to be, with all the same clay tiles and the same buildings inside the Wall of Geneva, you realize that John Calvin probably stood in that place many times, concerned about the people of Geneva, taught regularly, daily in a little chapel next door. His ministry caused the reformation that really gave birth to the great revival out of which we have been born who really understand the Gospel. And you look over that same city today and it is utterly indifferent.
John Glass, pastors, the evangelic, alica evangelic in Geneva, which is the largest church in Geneva and its 200people. The city is secular. It's a city of half a million people who for the most part could care less about the Gospel, who have no interest in anything other than the sort of ancient history of these pieces of antiquity. And you go all over Europe and you find that the church is small and it's a tragic, tragic situation.
And I've been into Eastern Europe, and I've been into Western Europe, and I've seen the picture. And I think the best way to understand what has happened there -- and it's something that we can translate into what we see in our own experience here -- is to look at Revelation2 and 3 for a minute, just a perspective that I want to give you tonight. I'm not gonna unfold everything.
But you say to yourself, "What happened here? This is sad. What went wrong?" You have a reformation that starts in 1517 with Martin Luther and you have John Calvin with a flourishing expository teaching ministry that goes all the way through the whole Bible, as well as writing the great theology that he wrote. It goes 'till 1564. You have the printing press invented in around 1545. You have Bibles being published at that time. You have all of these marvelous influences of the reformation. You have preachers going everywhere preaching the reformation Gospel. You have the establishment of a state-reformed church in Holland, a state-reformed church in Switzerland, a state-reformed church in Germany, and going back to England with John Knox, the great Scottish reformation, and back into England the great reformation that ultimately yields the 1611 King James Version of the Bible. And you have all of this tremendous influence. Obviously, the Catholic Church maintained its power in many places, Spain, France, and Italy. But the protestant reformation had a massive impact upon England. And of course, we are the beneficiaries of that. wherever England went, they basically took the Gospel, whether it was here or whether it was Canada or whether it was other of their colonies, including South Africa, which was settled by the English and the Dutch, whether it was Indian. English took the Gospel to India, although there it was smothered by the impenetrable darkness of Hinduism.
But there was tremendous influence out of the reformation. It was not a small event. It changed the face of Europe economically in terms of civil law, in terms of society, in terms of how people lived their lives. It brought in democracy. It broke the back of monarchies. It was a tremendous movement. And yet, you go there today and the church is small and the church is weak and the church, in many ways, is defeated. To say nothing of being liberal and apostate, etcetera, etcetera. The churches that linked themselves historically with the reformation have all but on totally apostate.
And you ask yourself, "What happens? What is the sequence? How does it happen?" And it never happens on a sort of a macrocosm without happening in a microcosm. That is to say, it doesn't happen countrywide until it happens in individual churches. So it provides for us a warning, not only of what happens on the big scale, but what happens on the small scale and what we need to be aware of as a church. Because it starts in the individual churches and escalates until it takes them all down the same path.
To look at Revelation2 and3 is to get the answers. Satan has a five-step plan. It's a five-step plan that's to take over the church, to basically do more than neutralize it, but to run it right out of existence. And we see this five-step plan unfolding in seven letters to seven churches from the Lord here in Revelation2 and3.
Now the seven churches here were seven actual churches in Asia Minor. In fact, they really run in the sequence of the postal route that began at Ephesus, ran through the country all the way to Leodecia. They were the main sort of regional postal stations from which mail would be disseminated to other areas. And so this was the postal route. And on that main road, that main route, they established seven churches. Those churches were most likely established by influences from the church at Ephesus, which was the mother church were Paul had spent three years of his ministry and that church had grown strong. So out of Ephesus, the message was taken, and other churches were planted.
By the time you reached 96A.D., this is only a few decades after these churches has been established, they're already beginning to run into serious problems, and the sort of five-step plan of Satan is beginning to show itself. First of all Chapter2, the angel or the messenger of the church in Epasus is to be told this, "The one who holds the seven stars in his right hand, the one who walks among the seven golden lampstands says this: 'I know your deeds, your toil, perseverance that you can't endure evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles and they are not, and you've found them to be false. And you have perseverance and have endured for My namesake, and have not grown weary. But I have this against you, that you've left your first love. Remember, therefore, from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first, or else I'm coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place unless you repent. Yet this you do have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. You, as an heir, let him hear what the Spirit says to the church, as to him who overcomes I'll grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God.'"
Now this letter is written to be directed at the church at Ephesus many years after Timothy's ministry had concluded at Ephesus. Remember, Paul established the church later on and Timothy ministered there. In fact, Timothy was laboring there when Paul wrote him 1 and 2Timothy. And Timothy did his task very well. The church was strong in doctrine. He says that to them, "You cannot endure the evil men and you put to test those who call themselves apostles and they are not. And you found them to be false."
So they were pretty clear on their theology and they could measure anybody by that theology. Strong in doctrine, committed to godliness, they couldn't endure evil. They were committed to doing deeds and working hard and persevering, many good things. They endured, "For My namesake," it says in Verse3, "and didn't even grow weary." But in spite of all these strong elements, strong doctrines, zealous for service, there was a tragedy there indicated in that familiar statement in Verse4, "You left your first love." Ephesus, you remember was a city where the worship of Dianna, or Artemus, was centered.
And the temple of Dianna was one of the Seven Wonders of the World. According to archeologists, they had 127pillars, each one made out of marble, given by 127different kings, each one covered with gold and studded with precious stones. This temple was literally the center of pagan debauchery. There were unics and prostitutes and singers and dancers and flautists and other instrumentalists and all stirring people to a kind of hysteria, a frenzy that ended up in an orgy of sex and even sexual mutilation.
The church had been founded there, according to Acts19, by Paul. And the birth of the church was so powerful that the whole church was thrown into confusion. People literally burned their idols and they burned their books on magic and created a riot in the city. So huddled in this mass of pagan vice was the church. And for three years, Paul had been their pastor. And they were the ones, really, who founded the other six churches. They later had the privilege of having Timothy as a pastor, having Aquila, and even Apollas, the great Old Testament teacher.
Through the labor of Timothy, they were drawn out of false doctrine. Through the labor of Timothy, they were drawn to solidify around the true faith. And through the leadership of Timothy, they reacted and rejected ungodly leaders, and established godliness as the basic principal of spiritual leadership and Christian living in the church. And they knew what it was to correct lies and to hang onto truth and to fight heresy and to discipline evil men and to confront ungodliness and recognize demon doctrine and even be strengthened by some persecution. So they were strong Christians.
But, even with all the commendation, Verse4 strikes the tragic note, "You left your first love." And the clear penetrating eyes of Jesus see through see through to the heart of this church. Their hearts had grown cold. Their passion at love for Christ, their zeal for God, their deep sense of thankfulness was becoming cold orthodoxy. It was becoming perfunctory service. First love was gone. Enthusiasm was gone. The thrill was gone. The joy was gone. The honeymoon was over. And the Christian routine took over. They were in a rut.
Like the puritan who once prayed, "Oh God, I know I often do your work without your power, and sin by my dead, heartless, blind service, my lack of inward zeal, love, delight, my mind, heart, tongue moving without your help." That was Ephesus. And this is Step One. This is where it all begins. You lose your first love. You leave that fiery passion, that hot heart. And He says to them in Verse5, "You gotta get back. You gotta get back." You get back by first remembering from where you've fallen.
Remember the precious love-filled early days. Spiritual defection comes from forgetting. "Trace your memory back to the early joys," He says. It was there at the start. "Remember," and then He says, "Repent and recognize your present state as sinful, even though you're orthodox. Confess your lack of love, your lack of communion with Christ, your lack of worship, your lack of joy." And then he says, "Repeat. Repeat the works. He did it first. Go back and do it the way you did it then."
Well, they didn't. The church failed. The light went out, never to be lit again. I've been to Ephesus; just ruins. And the City of Kuzidaci, which is just a short bus ride away in Turkey, is a city dominated by Islam. That's where the disaster begins. And I think that's where it began in Europe, when that fiery passion of the reformation became cold orthodoxy.
That leads to the second letter, and the second step in Satan's sort of five-step plan. This letter goes, starting in Verse12. It's actually the third letter, but the second one I want to point to you. The letter to the messenger from the church in Pergamum or Pergamus, "Tell them this, that the One who has the sharp two-edged sword," that's Christ as He's described in Chapter1 in the vision there, "I know where you dwell. You dwell," Verse13, "where Satan's thrown is. And you hold fast My name. You didn't deny My faith even in the days of Antipas, My faithful one who was killed among you where Satan dwells.
"But I have a few things against you, because you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam, who kept teaching Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit acts of immorality. Thus, you also have some who in the same way hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans. Repent, therefore, or else I am coming to you quickly, and I will make war against them with the sword of My mouth. He, who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, to him I will give some of the hidden manna. I'll give him a white stone, and a new name written on the stone which no one knows but he who receives it." This is Pergamus.
If Ephesus' fatal flaw was they left their first love, Pergamus' fatal flaw is compromise with the world. I'll tell you something, when love for Christ goes out, the world comes in. This church was in the middle of paganism also. In fact, the Pergamum is basically described as "where Satan's throne is." What an amazing statement. "Where Satan's thrown is." This is the headquarters of Satan's operation. Satan's thrown. Why? Because, well emperor worship was there. It was the head city for the worship of Caesar.
Also, there was in Pergamum, an altar to Zeus that was shaped like a thrown. And it was one of the largest and most renowned alters in the entire ancient world. They also were engaged in the worship of Esculapius, the god of healing. You see him depicted on the medical symbol. He's a snake wrapped around the symbol. He was the Pergumese God. He was a snake. And in the temple, snakes slithered all over the floor and people came in to sleep among them to be healed, demon healing from the prince of demons, the old serpent himself. That was a tough place for a church. But they were there.
And he says, first of all, "You hold fast my name and you haven't denied my faith." They were orthodox. They named the name of Christ. And they held onto the true faith. Even in the day of Anapest, my witness, who was a martyr, was killed among you where Satan dwells. But sadly, in Verse14, he says, "I have a couple of things against you, a few things. First, Balamism."
You know Balam. He taught the Israelites to intermarry with the heathen, and thus to become what the heathen were. This was a failure to be separated, to get the children of Israel to marry the pagans was to get them to eat things sacrificed to idols, and commit all the acts of immorality the pagans committed. This was a seduction. This was seducing Israel to engage in pagan activity. This is exactly what was going on in Pergamus.
They were there tolerating the teaching of Balam. They were starting to compromise with the world. Same with the Nicolaitans. The Nicolaitans were some kind of a cult of sinful indulgence. Now here was a church that had taken the second step. First, you lose your first love, and when the love of Christ goes out, the world comes in and you begin to compromise with the world and you intermarry with the heathen, and the church and world start to come together, and the church become characterized by sinful indulgence. And there's no church discipline. And there's no high standard of holiness.
Even though the faith is still orthodox, even though you still believe in Christ and you still believe the truth faith, you just tolerate compromising sin and worldliness in the church and there's a failure of separation.
I know that's what happened in Europe. First, the love of Christ went out, and then next thing, the world came in. And certainly we're seeing it, even in the churches in our own nation, aren't we? Churches that would say, "Well, we're evangelical and we believe in Christ and we hold to the orthodox faith." But they kicked the doors wide open for the world to come in full force.
Well, Verse18 introduces us to Step Three in this process. The third of the letters that I point out to you here is to the church in Thyatira, the Son of God who has eyes like a flame of fire, and feet like burnished bronze; again, drawing descriptions from him that are given in the vision of Chapter1, referring to Christ, the Lord of the church.
He says this, "I know your deeds, your love, your faith, your service, perseverance, and deeds of later, greater than at first. But I have this against you; you tolerate the woman, Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. She teaches and leads my bondservants astray so that they commit acts of immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols. I gave her time to repent. She doesn't want to repent of her immorality.
"Behold, I'll cast her on a bed of sickness, those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, lest they repent of her deeds. I'll kill her children with pestilence. All the churches will know that searches the minds and hearts. I'll give to each one of you according to your deeds. But I say to you, the rest who are in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not known the deep things of Satan, as they call them -- I place no other burden on you.
"Nevertheless, what you have, hold fast until I come. And he who overcomes, and he who keeps My deeds until the end, to him I'll give authority over the nations; and he'll rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of the potter are broken to pieces, as I also have received authority from My Father; I will give him the morning star. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches."
So here's the third letter to the church at Thyatira. And it starts out that in some small compromises, you tolerate those who teach the doctrine of Balam. You tolerate those Nicolaitans who want to open the door and let the world in. And let's not make an issue out of separation because that divides. And we want to invite the unbelievers in. And we want them to feel comfortable. And we want them to feel welcome. And we want them to feel accepted in the church.
By the way, that's the very reason why after all the years of ministry that Jonathan Edwards had in the great church that he pastured for 22 or 23years, the church kicked him out because he wanted to keep the standard clean and clear, and he did not want to admit to the communion of the church those who didn't belong to Christ. And they threw him out of the church, even after all the years of his great ministry in Massachusetts.
And that's the same thing you see here. In the church at Pergamum, the doors are all thrown open and the world is invited in. And now once they come in, doctrine starts to change. And that's what happens in Thyatira. All of a sudden, you have a Jezebel there who is a false prophet and she's given opportunity to teach and lead people astray. First, the first love goes. Then we open the doors to let the world in, holding onto our doctrine. And then we allow false teachers in, because we've already agreed we're not gonna make a separation. And false doctrine comes in.
Compromise leads to deep sin, deep sin. And He refers to that, "The deep things of Satan," in Verse24. Boy, what a sad and tragic commentary. Idolothist orgies were being held. They were committing acts of immorality, eating things sacrificed to idols. Now this could be exactly what even went on in the Corinthian church as people were coming to the Lord's table and then going to the table of demons, as 1Corinthian10 describes it.
The Lord says in Verse21, "You're gonna have to repent." But she doesn't want to repent. Now the church is tolerating sin, not only tolerating sin, it won't repent. It won't make a separation. It won't deal with sin. It won't do church discipline. Not only that, I won't even deal with a heretic. It won't even hold onto true doctrine anymore and expose the false. Judgment's gonna fall. Verse24, He says there are few there, some who don't this teaching teach. Verse25, He says, "Hang one. Hang on 'till I come."
You see, the great enemy destroying the church moves slowly. It takes time. First, you lose your first love and you end up with a cold orthodoxy that becomes a dead orthodoxy. And then you open the doors for the world to come in. Oh, ostensibly we want to embrace them. We want them to feel welcome. We want them to come in. And then all of a sudden, you tolerate their sin and you never deal with sin, and then you never deal with false doctrine.
And then the fourth step comes down in Chapter3. And then the messenger of the church in Sarados is gonna take this letter back to that church. Again, Christ is identified by descriptives that come in the vision of Chapter1 as the one who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars. And He says, "I know your deeds. You have a name that you are live, but you're dead." There it is, folks. Now the church is dead. It's dead.
First, you leave your first love. Then you compromise with the world. Then you tolerate sin. Then you're dead. All you've got left is programs, programs, programs. Oh, it says you have a name that you're alive. You have your programs. You pass out your little bulletin and your schedule and you go through the motions. But you're dead.
"Wake up," He says. "Strengthen the things that remain which are about to die, or a few things that are just breathing their last. Try to salvage them. For I have not found your deeds completed in the sight of My God. Remember, therefore, again, you always have to remember to go back to where you started. Remember what you received and heard and keep it and repent. You always have to repent because it's so sinful. And if you don't I'm gonna come like a thief and you not gonna even know what hour I come."
When you look at the churches in Europe and even the churches in America that have followed this process, they're under Divine judgment. They're dead because basically the Lord shut them down. Oh, it says in Verse4, "There's a few people in Sarados, a few who haven't soiled their garments. And there are a few in these dead churches, a few people who are real. And they'll walk with me in white, because they're worthy," it ways.
By the way, 700years before this letter, Sarados was one of the great cities of the world. Today it's rubble. Sarados had a great king. When I say his name, you'll remember it. His name was Kresis. When we want to say somebody is really rich, we say they're as rich as Kresis, synonymous with wealth. But that city degenerated just like the church in it. It was a degenerate church in a degenerating city. By now, it was a corpse.
And they're nothing to commend. He just says, "I know your deeds. You have a name that you're alive. But you're dead." He doesn't come into anything, because the church is dead. All there is is dry rot. That's what happened in Europe. The church lost its first love and became cold in its orthodoxy. And then it became compromising. And then it tolerated false doctrine. And then it was dead. And all it had was social programs and politics and activities.
It was like "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner." Do you remember that from your Lit class? Corpses man the ship. Dead men pull the oars. And dead men steer the vessel. Nothing left but form. Nothing left but programs. Lots of activity. "Sound and fury," said Shakespeare, "signifying nothing." Ichabod, the glory has departed. Again, the message to better remember and you better repent.
Finally, in Chapter3, Verse14, we come to the fifth step in the sequence. And this is the letter to the church in Laodicea. And this is the church which isn't a church. The church died in Step Four. This is the non-church, church. And again, the Lord is described as the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God. Again, descriptives from the vision in Chapter1.
And He says, "I know your deeds. You're neither cold nor hot. And I wish you were cold or hot. But you're lukewarm and you're not cold or hot. So I'll spit you out of My mouth. Because you say I'm rich and have become wealthy, in need of nothing, and you do no know your wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked." That's about as strong as you can get.
"I'd advise for you go, refine by the fire, that you may become rich and white garments that you may clothe yourselves, and that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed, an eye salve that you may anoint your eyes that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove in discipline. Be zealous, therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door I'll come into him and dine with him, and he with Me." This is the church with Christ on the outside knocking on the door trying to get in. This is the church which is no church. This is the church of the terrors, the first church of the terrors.
There's no mention of any in this church that are faithful. There's new few here that still have their garments white, that are still holding fast, that are still worthy. But the door is open. I should say, the savior is there. They can open the door if they want. Salvation's still available. But they're nauseating to God. I mean, He would rather have them hypocrites, cold, or saved, hot, than lukewarm, professing Christians, playing church, no real faith at all. They were absolutely without God. "They were wretched and miserable," Verse17, "poor and blind and naked."
And so in Verse19, He says, "Repent." And so this is our Lord, and He's looking at a church and He sees five kinds of churches here, in sequence. And He really gives us a picture of history here. This is how they go. They leave their first love. They let the world in. And once they tolerate sin, then they tolerate false doctrine, and then they die, and then they're apostate. They're centers of false religion.
You go to Europe today and you can see it. You can see the church when it grows cold in history. And all it is is a cold orthodoxy. And then you can see it when it begins to marry the world and tolerate sin and never deal with sin. And then you can see it as it begins to tolerate false teaching and its schools and universities are filled with false teachers. And then it's dead. And then today, it's apostate.
You go into those churches today and they attack the Bible, and they attack the deity of Jesus Christ, and they attack the Gospel. That's what you see in the west of Europe. And that's the process we're even seeing in America. Liberal churches here once were the passionate, zealous churches of the founding fathers of this nation, and the pilgrims who established, for example, the Ivy League schools to train pastors and missionaries. And they're all ranked liberal and apostate to this day. It's the process. It's the way it goes.
The Lord always has His remnant. In the heyday of the Roman Catholic's there were the Welvencians and Huguenots, which is the French word for the "Protestants, the reformed. There were some anti-Baptists true to the faith. And the Lord always has His true people, but this is the historic cycle of the way the church goes. This is the story of the church in Western Europe.
And I tell you, folks, the need is profound. They need a revival of the hearing of the truth. They can't even remember where they came from. They certainly aren't willing to repent. And they can't repeat the first works unless somebody goes and awakens their heart to the true condition of the church. I'm not talking just about Spain and France and Italy that are dominated by Roman Catholicism. I'm talking about places like England and Holland and Switzerland and Germany that are dominated by apostate Protestantism.
Now, there are two other letters here. I want you to see these two other churches. If you go back in Chapter2, Verse8, "To the angel of the church in Smyrna write: "The first and the last, who was dead, and has come to life. I know your tribulation, your poverty, but you are rich. I know the blasphemy by those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. Do not fear what you're about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison. You may be tested. You'll have tribulation 10days. Be faithful to death and I'll give you the crown of life.'" Did you notice where was absolutely no warning to that church? There's no comment about sin. This is a good church. This church has only commendation. Why? It was a persecuted church.
Now go to the third chapter, Verse7. And here again is a church of Philadelphia. And as the Lord speaks, the Lord is identified again in Verse7 as "the Holy One, the True One who has the key of David, who opens and no one shuts, shuts and no one opens." He says, "I know your deeds. I put before you an open door which no one can shut because you have a little power and this is a frail church. But you've kept My word. You've never denied My name. And that indicates again, persecution. And I'm gonna cause those of the synagogue of Satan that again, is the same group of people that went after Smyrna. They say they're Jews; they're not. They lie.
"I'm gonna make them come down and bow at your feet, and to know that I loved you. Because you kept the word of My perseverance, I will keep you from the hour of testing, the hour which is about to come on the whole earth to test those who dwell on the earth. I'm coming quickly. Hold fast what you have. Don't let anybody take your crown." Again, nothing said negative. Why? This is a persecuted church.
Wherever you have persecution, you have the preservation of the church. And then you look at Eastern Europe, you look at Russia, the church was mercilessly persecuted. Not all of Eastern Europe, by the way, was under the influence of Christianity. A lot of it was under the influence of Islam, but that part of Eastern Europe, which got the Christian message and then went under communism. For example, in the Ukraine and in Russia, the church is strong. The church is pure. And the church has sound doctrine. The church disciplines sin. The church is separated.
I think if I were to define the church in Eastern Europe, the ones that I know of and that we minister to, that's what I would say about them. Their theology is solid. They deal with sin. They are separated from the world. They have a passionate and zealous love for Christ. They're going everywhere preaching the Gospel, planting churches. And that's the benefit and the blessing and the benediction of having been persecuted. Sadly, with the protestant reformation came prosperity, economic prosperity. It was a boon, literally. Literally, the areas of Western Europe dominated by Roman Catholicism are behind the protestant areas economically and socially.
The Gospel is a powerful liberating force in every realm. And it brought even social wellbeing. But the church didn't handle that well, whereas in the persecuted areas the church is pure and zealous and passionate and faithful and loyal and separated.
See outside persecution tends to purify the church. That's what you see so starkly when you go to Europe. You see the persecuted church strong, in love with Christ, passionate, zealous, faithful, separated 'cause the outside persecution kept them pure. You can go through the whole church in Russia; you'll never meet a liberal because you can't become a liberal by reading your Bible. You have to go to a school to learn that stuff. (Laughter) You have to sit at the feet of a heretic.
Outside persecution tends to purify the church and keep it strong. Inside, defection leads to its death. That's what you see in Europe. So you have two great needs there. We have to help the persecuted church because it has limited resources. It doesn't have enough books and its pastors aren't trained well enough and they don't have enough money to build church. And there are thousands of cities throughout that part of the world don't even have a church.
But the church is so strong. You can use them as a powerful force. There are no liberals. There's no compromise. And they are a pure force. It's like giving an army weapons and just turning them loose 'cause you know what good fighters they are. But in Western Europe, it's a whole different story. The church is weak and the church is defeated and the church is compromised. The church is worldly. The church is dead. The church is apostate.
Somehow, we gotta go in there and we gotta attach to those pure believers, those who have kept their garments white, who've held fast, who're hanging on by the fingernails, as it were. We've gotta help them, strengthen them and equip them and challenge them and give them vision and meet their needs. That's what we try to do.
On this trip, I got a dose of both. And as I was coming back, I was thinking of, "This is exactly the way it lays out in Revelation2 and3. And I bring it to bear on our own church as well and just remind you that we don't ever want to get caught in this cycle where we leave our first love, we lose the passion and the fire. I hope we have enough persecution to keep us pure. And I hope we have enough of that vision of the church at Philadelphia that was proclaiming all the time. That, too, is a purifying influence.
I don't want to see us ever go on that slide and first drift into coldness and indifference toward Christ, and then we open our doors like so many quote unquote "evangelical" churches today and just invite the world to come in and then you don't do church discipline. You don't deal with sin. You want to make the world feel comfortable. Pretty soon, you have false teaching. Then you're dead. Then you're apostate. What a sad cycle. That's the cycle.
Let's pray. Father, we praise you for what you're doing. We thank you. We look back to the great reformation and we have hearts that are grieved and broken over such immense beginnings that dissipated. It seemed so fast. And yet, you haven't failed your church and your church is there. And maybe this is a time for a great, new launching that can, again, sweep across Europe. Maybe we can be a part of that.
We would pray for the same to happen even here in our nation that you would use us mightily even in the City of Los Angeles, in our community here, not just in other parts of the world, but right here. Use our people as they touch lives with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We pray that our church may continue to be a maternity ward where there's the constant cry of newborn souls in Christ, where we're continuing to see people embracing Christ, being baptized and growing in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord.
Bless our church. Bless our people. Keep us faithful. Keep your mighty hand of blessing on us. And we'll give you praise and glory. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
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