text:
Careers in the food business don't always follow the traditional path that starts at a cooking school, leads to an apprenticeship, and ends in the management of a medium-sized restaurant. Some culinary degrees give their holders opportunities in a variety of career paths.
Below are just a few career paths open to those with baking and pastry degrees.
Pastry Chef
The top pastry schools can teach you a broad range of skills and techniques, and can help you develop a certain spirit unique to pastry chefs and bakers. You'll rise early to spend a long day on your feet, kneading dough, or creating eye-catching sugar decorations.
A pastry chef is an expert in baked goods and desserts, including cakes, chocolates, bread, and cheeses. A recent, job-attracting must-have skill is the ability to use molecular gastronomy gadgets, like induction burners. Of course, you also need to know how to use classic tools of the trade like food processors.
Other skills employers look for in pastry chefs include the ability to do extensive research, develop new recipes, and take action to move the business of the restaurant forward (for example, creating new drink pairings with desserts).
The job of a pastry chef doesn't just involve making desserts. You're often asked to manage a staff, choose products and tools, or help develop an overall image. You may work as the restaurant manager or the materials buyer. Or you might be hired freelance for a single product, such as an expensive bejeweled and flowered wedding cake.
Bakery Owner
You don't have to be a pastry or baking expert to own a bakery but there's no question it's a huge advantage. The sheer number of tasks related to owning this type of business may overwhelm those without experience or insight into properly baked goods.
Bakery workers have to be incredibly talented, dedicated, loyal, and maintain recipe continuity.
Owning a bakery involves buying goods, including ingredients and tools. And you'll also need local marketplace knowledge. If bakeries within a short radius offer cheaper, tastier fare, you're in trouble.
If you're thinking about becoming a bakery owner, you need proper business skills. First, decide which type of bakery you want to own (cupcakes only? organic? commercial?), and make sure there is a demand for that specific sort of bakery. After you've surveyed what else is out there and researched trends, you'll need to create a long-term business plan that considers insurance (fire, theft), real estate, publicity and design.
A caterer plans, makes, transports and serves food for meetings, parties, weddings, organizational fêtes, and a host of other events. Some caterers specialize in baked goods and pastries.
The baking-specific skills you can learn in culinary school, such as proper standards for food safety, nutrition, and venue preparation, are essential for any caterer. You'll determine, down to exact quantities, the amount of ingredients you need for each serving, and you'll also need to successfully replicate taste and presentation hundreds, if not thousands, of times.
Good business skills are essential to running a catering company. Manage your catering staff carefully, communicate effectively with your clients, and set fair prices to establish a good reputation.
See this article on catering from our sister site, HospitalitySchools.com, for more information.
Bakery Scientist
At its heart, baking is a science.Chemical reactions in a controlled environment cause bread to rise. Cakes depend on tried-and-true formulas of fat to flour and sugar.
Bakery scientists create new bread items, such as low-carb breads, fat-free frostings, shelf-stable pastries, and more. The products these food scientsists create are usually made for mass production, and so shelf life, and the effects of boxing or refrigeration, must also be considered.
As a bakery scientist, you'll work with a team in food preparation, and also be expected to take part in meetings with marketing and other business executives. You may be asked to create analytical data reports, help maintain the efficiency of the lab, and transfer new ideas into working recipes that can be easily replicated by lower-level chefs.
Bakery scientists may work at a major food ingredient development company like Cargill or a food retailer like McDonald's. The core of this position involves creating menus, sourcing food, and constantly experimenting to meet company goals and satisfy customer taste.
Find baking and pastry chef jobs on Monster.com »


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Major Section: RULE-CLASSES
See rule-classes for a general discussion of rule classes and
how they are used to build rules from formulas. An example
corollary formula from which a
:refinement rule might be built is:
Example: (implies (bag-equal x y) (set-equal y x)).Also see defrefinement.
General Form: (implies (equiv1 x y) (equiv2 x y))
Equiv1 and
equiv2 must be known equivalence relations. The effect
of such a rule is to record that
equiv1 is a refinement of
This means that
rewrite rules may be used while trying to
equiv2. See equivalence for a general discussion of
the issues.
The macro form
(defrefinement equiv1 equiv2) is an abbreviation for
defthm of rule-class
:refinement that establishes that
equiv1 is a
refinement of
equiv2. See defrefinement.
Suppose we have the
rewrite rule
(bag-equal (append a b) (append b a))which states that
append is commutative modulo bag-equality.
Suppose further we have established that bag-equality refines
set-equality. Then when we are simplifying
append expressions while
maintaining set-equality we use
append's commutativity property,
even though it was proved for bag-equality.
Equality is known to be a refinement of all equivalence relations.
The transitive closure of the refinement relation is maintained, so
set-equality, say, is shown to be a refinement of some third
sense of equivalence, then
bag-equality will automatially be known
as a refinement of that third equivalence.
:refinement lemmas cannot be disabled. That is, once one
equivalence relation has been shown to be a refinement of another,
there is no way to prevent the system from using that information.
Of course, individual
rewrite rules can be disabled.
More will be written about this as we develop the techniques.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
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text:
Union Memorial Hospital and the chief of its cardiac catheterization lab have been sued by a woman who claims that she unnecessarily had stents placed in her arteries, and that her recurring chest pains were later diagnosed as stemming from a stomach ailment.
The lawsuit was filed last week in Baltimore City Circuit Court by A. Donald C. Discepolo and Andrew J. Toland III on behalf of Martha J. Phillips of Baltimore.
In addition to the hospital, Dr. John C. Wang, now the cardiac catheterization lab chief there, was also sued. The Sun was unable to reach a Union Memorial spokeswoman.


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May is National Stroke Awareness Month
Billy Jo L.
Thursday, November 21, 2013
By: Billy Jo Lau
The testimony of Billie Jo Lau's 3 strokes and 1 heart attack
On March 20, 2007 I was visiting my mom in Chester SD. I had spent the night at mom's and that
morning I woke up feeling kind of funny. I had a major dizzy spell and stumbled
to the kitchen. Mom asked me if I was ok. I said I was fine.. the dizzy spell
had subsided. We went shopping in Brookings that day for material to make
quillows. Those are quilts that can be folded into a pillow. That night we were
sewing away and visiting, having a nice chat and fun. The next part I don't
remember very well. This is what Mom told me happened.
Around 9:30pm I was sewing a seam around my quilt, when I started
to sew crazily. I didn't feel anything. I had no emotion and my mom said
"What are you doing?" I said, "Sewing." Mom said
"Ok." Then went about her sewing still watching me as I continued to
sew. She let this go on for a couple minutes. Then she said "Stop
sewing." I put my hands down to my sides and stared blankly at the
machine. She asked me if I was ok. I said "I am fine." She said I had
no emotion and was very quiet which is not my usual self. She asked Kenny, her
companion, to come to the table and look at me. He asked me if I was ok. I
didn't respond, just stared at him. Mom then said "Come on, we are going
to the hospital." I got my coat and my cigs and off we went. I remember
having a cigarette with her and the ride to the Dell Rapids Hospital. Once
there, they asked me to fill out some papers. I remember not being able to do
that and asked mom to do it for me. They rushed me to Sioux Falls McKennan. I
am not sure what all happened there but I got an MRI and a cat scan. They
concluded that I was having a stroke. I do not remember a thing from the first
4 days of my stay in the hospital. On the 5th day, I was walking in the hall
with a nursing assistant. I recognized her to be Joyce Huntimer! I was shocked
and wondered what in the world I was doing there. They said that was the first
that I talked and realized anything for 4 days. I had an Ischemic stroke of the
frontal part of my brain. I had limited of my right side. I had to learn how to
walk and talk all over again. I remember being very hungry LOL I stayed in the
hospital another 3 days. I remember the day they asked me to write my name. It
was a sad thing. My 14 year old daughter was there. She was smiling and happy
that I seemed to be my old self somewhat. But I could not write my name. I only
made little circles over and over on the paper. It was very frustrating. By the
time I left the hospital I could write my name legibly but it wasn't my usual
hand writing. I was very sad and very mad.
After a month of therapy I was pretty much back to my old
self and could walk and talk and write just fine! As a matter of fact I wanted
to walk everywhere anywhere all the time. I could not sit still! haha I had a
panic attack a few weeks after returning home. It scared me really bad. They
put me on an anti-depressant called Lexapro. I thought it was a miracle drug!
haha I loved it. But my family thought it made me loopy and withdrawn. So I
ended that drug after 6 months. The summer went great. We went on a family
vacation to Duluth and the north shores of Minnesota. I no longer smoked nor
did I have any desire to drink coffee.. which was a staple before the stroke. I
have since started to drink a little coffee. If it is really, really strong, I
don't mind it!
On August 23, 2007 my husband Jeff and I were getting ready
to go to a golf tournament in Benson, MN. I was doing some dusting and noted
that the dust rap would drop from my hand. I just knew I was hanging on to it,
yet it would drop to the floor. I told Jeff, "Watch this.." and
repeated the task of trying to hold the dust rag. Then my left hand felt numb
and soon my left foot followed. I told Jeff, "I think I am having another
stroke." We went to the hospital and sure enough, another small stroke
they called a TIA. The doctor said it had passed and to go ahead with our plans
to go to Benson. So we did. That was on a Friday morning. By Saturday morning,
I was dragging my left foot and my left arm just hung there like it belonged to
someone else. We went to Sioux Falls on Monday to the doctors that had treated
me before. They put me back in the hospital. They could not believe the
hospital here in Minnesota had not kept me. Anyway.. I had to learn to walk and
to use my left hand once again. That only took me a few weeks to learn. I felt
like I had before the first stroke. Able to do anything I wanted!
December 18th, 2007
Jeff and I were on a vacation to Branson MO. It was the last
day we were there. We were in the car heading for home. I am not sure what we were talking about, but
I do remember I was trying to say the name "Delores". It sounded fine
in my head but when it came out my mouth it was garbled. My left hand started
to numb up and my left foot followed. I told Jeff "I think I am having
another stroke." He looked at me with sadness and asked me "What do
you want to do?" I told him "I want to go to Sioux Falls as fast as
we can!" I did not want to go to a doctor in MO that did not know my
history of strokes. So we headed for home. I had a feeling this stroke was like
the last and would not last long. So he agreed to get me to South Dakota as
fast as we could. When we got to Sioux Falls later that evening, they agreed it
was a TIA and it had subsided. They put me on Coumadin, a blood thinner. I
recovered from learning how to walk again and teaching my left hand how to be
its old self all over again with therapy. I still have numbness in my left hand
and my left foot but am able to walk very well now. I had a limp for a long
time but that has gone almost all away.
December 11th, 2008
It was almost a year since my last stroke and I was feeling
like my old self. Though taking a lot of meds for high cholesterol and my blood
condition (Anti-Coagulate Lupus) which the doctors had determined was the cause
of my strokes was a pain. I had started smoking again after that 3rd stroke.
Why - You ask? I was fed up with my health and just felt the need. If you are a
smoker you will understand.
On December 11th, 2008 was parents' night at the school for
the dance line. My daughter is in it and I am very proud of her. It was the
first dance of the season. I didn't want to miss it. I had to work that day and
asked a guy to come in early so I could leave around 4pm to have time to get
ready for the parents night. Around 2 pm I went on break and had a cigarette.
At 3:30 pm I started to feel funny, I had a headache and heartburn really bad.
I thought it was from the cigarette and the chest cold I was getting. So I
continued on with my work and watched the clock for the guy to come in at 4.
When he got there at 3:45 I said, "I am so glad to see you!" He said,
"Why?" I said, "Because, I don't feel well at all." I was
putting my coat on and getting ready to clock out. He said, "Have fun at
Parents Night!" I knew then I was not going. I got in my car and normally
I would have light up a cig and headed for home. I did not feel like a
cigarette at all.. all I wanted to do was get home and go to bed. I was so
tired. It takes me about 15 minutes to get home. I throw my purse in a chair
and my coat in another and flop down on the couch and fall asleep instantly.
Jeff came home around 5:30 and nudged me awake. He said, "Come on, we need
to get ready to go!" I said, "I am not going. I don't feel well this
chest cold is kicking my butt!" He said, "You don't look so
hot!" I said, "I know!" Jeff thought I should call "Ask a
Nurse" which is a thing through our insurance to see if I should go to the
doctor. So I did. The whole time I was talking to her I kept saying "Look
lady, this is a chest cold" She insisted it was a heart attack and instructed
me to call an ambulance. She told me she would call back in 5 minutes to see if
I called 911. I hung up.. and Jeff and I agreed maybe we should go to the
hospital. I was throwing a few things in a bag when the phone rang. It was the
nurse. She said, "Did you call
911?" I said, "No!" She was upset at this and was going to call
one for me when I told her that my hubby could get me there faster than an
ambulance coming here then back to Marshall.. that would take an hour. This way
would take 1/2 hour at best. So off we went.
After much convincing and I mean much! I am very ornery!
After all, it was just a chest cold! LOL They called a helicopter to get me to
Sioux Falls Heart Hospital. It took 15 minutes to get there from Marshall which
would normally take around 2 hours by car. After they stabilized me they did an
angioplasty. I had 100% blockage of the right coronary artery. I was in shock!
LOL Still am! I don't feel any different than I did the day before the attack.
But I have quit smoking and am working on the heart healthy diet. ugh.. I hate
fish and white chicken and white turkey meat. But I guess, if I want to get
healthy I better learn to like it! I take Plavix and a host of other drugs to
lower the cholesterol. I am still on Coumadin and a baby aspirin as well.
I am doing great and working each day to get my health in
Attitude is one of the best things I can say you will need
after suffering a stroke! My attitude was, "I will be the best me no matter
what!" I never let the effects of my strokes make me upset. Though that is hard
sometimes! It is what it is! My fault? More than likely, but it is all part of
the BIG picture God has in his plan for me!
If my testimony can help one person then, my job here is
Remembering, "There is always someone out there worse off
than I am!" is how I get through every day!
Thank you for reading!
God Bless you
Billie Jo
Display of the Faces of Stroke stories does not imply National Stroke Association's endorsement of any product, treatment, service or entity. National Stroke Association strongly recommends that people ask a healthcare professional about diagnosis and treatment questions before using any product, treatment or service. The views expressed through the stories reflect those of the authors and do not reflect the opinion of National Stroke Association.
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text:
EDITOR'S NOTE: An earlier version of this story said Brian Green's phone was a Galaxy S7 but it was later confirmed Green's phone was a Note7.
LOUISVILLE (WHAS11) – A Southwest airplane was evacuated at the Louisville International Airport on Oct. 5.
An airport spokesperson said smoke was reported in the airplane's cabin at 9:15 a.m. and no one was injured.
Louisville Metro Arson confirms a Samsung phone was the cause of the smoke. Officials said the phone overheated.
The phone had some heat damage, but also singed the carpet of the plane; there was no real damage to the plane otherwise, according to Louisville Metro Arson.
The airplane, Flight 994, was at the gate when this happened. The airplane's final destination was Baltimore.
The passenger's whose Samsung phone overheated on Flight 994 talked to WHAS11 about the situation.
Brian Green said he was powering his Samsung Galaxy Note7 down when it started smoking. He said it was a refurbished phone that was deemed safe.
Green said he threw his phone when it began to smoke and the flight crew then swiftly started to evacuate the plane.
He said he is in the process of getting a new phone after the incident.
Green said he is in the process of getting a new phone, clothing, and getting rid of the smoky smell after the incident @WHAS11 pic.twitter.com/slkvBdCTvZ— Holden Kurwicki (@WHAS11Holden) October 5, 2016
WHAS11 talked to two passengers on Flight 994.
Passenger Rob Nentwig said he had just finished boarding the flight when he smelled smoke in the cabin. He said at that point a male passenger took a smoking Samsung cell phone out of his pocket and threw it. Another passenger said that cell phone was so hot it actually burned a hole in the carpet.
Another passenger described what happened.
Taneka Lindsay, a Bellarmine Professor, said, "I saw the flight attendant go up to the front and there seemed to be some commotion and then the next thing that you know it was yelled out that it was smoke, and I turned around and I see smoke coming from a few seats behind me and at this point in time. Everyone is panicked because they don't know what's going on."
Southwest has canceled the flight and grounded the plane until an inspection can be completed.
Southwest said, "Customers will be accommodated on other Southwest flights to their final destinations."
They said safety is their top priority and encourage their customers to comply with the FAA Pack Safe guidelines.
It is not known how many people were on board at the time of the incident.
A Samsung spokesperson released a statement on Wednesday afternoon that said the following:
"Until we are able to retrieve the device, we cannot confirm that this incident involves the new Note7. We are working with the authorities and Southwest now to recover the device and confirm the cause. Once we have examined the device we will have more information to share."
The Consumer Product Safety Commission is investigating the incident.
The released the following statement:
"CPSC is moving expeditiously to investigate this incident. Thankfully, reports indicate that all of the passengers were able to make it off the plane without harm. Agency staff has already reached out to the FAA and Samsung to gather the facts about the incident. Agency staff will also reach out to the consumer who experienced a serious incident with his phone. I want to reiterate my call for consumers who have the recalled Galaxy Note7 to keep their smartphones powered down and to immediately take advantage of the remedies being offered by Samsung. Consumers should know that one of the remedies is a refund."
EDITOR'S NOTE: An earlier version of this story said Brian Green's phone was a Galaxy S7 but it was later confirmed Green's phone was a Note7.


text:
ObjectiveEllsworth Growth and Income Fund Ltd. operates as a closed-end, diversified management investment company and invests primarily in convertible securities and common stock, with the objectives of providing income and the potential for capital appreciation; which objectives the Fund considers to be relatively equal, over the long-term, due to the nature of the securities in which it invests.
Ellsworth Growth and Income Fund Ltd.
Investors should carefully consider the investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses of the Fund before investing. You can obtain more information about the Fund by calling 1-800-GABELLI (1-800-422-3554). The Fund's net asset value ("NAV") per share will fluctuate with changes in the market value of the Fund's portfolio securities. Stocks are subject to market, economic, and business risks that cause their prices to fluctuate. Investors acquire shares of the Fund on a securities exchange at market value, which fluctuates according to the dynamics of supply and demand.


text:
Now we've been talking about glorification. It's...it's a critically important thing for us to understand because it is the end of our salvation. Let me take you, to begin with, to John chapter 6 and just set a few passages with which you are familiar back in your mind by way of remembrance. And then we will move from there.
In John chapter 6 Jesus in verse 37 and following speaks about the promise and inevitability of glorification for all who come to Him. Verse 37, John 6, "All that the Father gives Me shall come to Me and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out, for I have come down from heaven not to do My own will but the will of Him who sent Me, and this is the will of Him who sent Me that of all that He has given Me, I lose none, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of My Father that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him may have eternal life and I Myself will raise him up on the last day."
There in the words of the Lord Jesus comes the promise of final glorification. Divine, effectual calling is expressed in the Father giving. Salvation is expressed in the Son receiving. Security is indicated in His statement, "I lose none." And final glory in the promise that I will raise him up on the last day. Full glory. Not only our spirits, as we have learned, but resurrection bodies as well.
In Romans chapter 8, again another Scripture to bring back into your minds because it is so important in foundational thinking about this doctrine. In Romans 8:28 there is this golden promise that all of us become fairly familiar with early in our Christian experience. "We know that God causes all things to work together for good." You understand there that God is the cause, that divine power is at work not in some things, not in most things, but in all things. "God causes all things, leaving nothing out, to work together for good." Another way to say that is because of the power and the purpose of God, nothing can work together for anything but good. "Not for everyone but to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose, His divine elective sovereign purpose which resulted in an effectual call to salvation which transformed us into lovers of God, and now for us God is causing all things to work together for good." And the reason is, verse 29, "For whom He foreknew," that is predetermined a relationship with, knew in an intimate and personal way, "long before," that would be before we were born, before time, "whom He foreknew He also predestined and to...what?...to become conformed to the image of His Son." We were predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son. That is, we were predestined to become like Christ. That's glorification. "In order that He, Christ, might be the prototokos, the premier one among many brethren," many who are like Him. So we are a redeemed humanity who are in some way made like the incarnate Christ. It is in order that God may bring us into conformity with the image of His Son so that He can have us as eternal brothers, that God chose us, predestined us, regenerated us and keeps us. And in keeping us, overrules all evil and causes everything to work together to a good and glorious end.
Summing it up, verse 30, "Whom He predestined, these He called. Whom He called, these He also justified. Whom He justified, these He also glorified." Whomever it is that God predestined, He called. This again is an effectual calling, that is it is an irresistible calling. Another way of really describing regeneration. And whomever He calls effectually, irresistibly and regenerates, these He also justifies...that is declares them righteous by faith in Christ and these He also glorifies. The point is that the purpose of God from the very beginning was our glorification.
One other text of Scripture, Ephesians chapter 1, just so we understand the sweeping nature of this doctrine and then we'll kind of dig in to some other things in the little Bible study we're going to do tonight, covering not little themes but vast ones, little in the sense of brevity. But in Ephesians chapter 1 it's important for us to understand the essence of God's eternal purpose. Verse 3 begins with a familiar words, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ." God is to be honored, God is to be glorified, God is to be blessed as the source of every spiritual blessing which is ours in Christ. These are by nature heavenly blessings. We were not saved primarily for earthly blessing, we were saved in order that we might be given blessings which are by character and definition heavenly.
Then he goes on to say, "Just as He chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world," and there we are back to that great doctrine of sovereign election. "He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and blameless before Him." What do you mean by that? "He chose us for ultimate holiness, ultimate perfection that we would one day stand before Him holy and blameless. In love, He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself we have been adopted as sons through Christ to God, we are now sons of God according to the kind intention of His will to the praise of the glory of His grace."
The whole point is this. It is all by grace to His eternal praise. "Grace, by the way, verse 6, which He freely bestowed on us in the beloved one in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches of His grace which He lavished upon us." We didn't earn it. We can't become worthy of it in this life. It is all of grace. God's purpose in choosing us was to bring us to glory, holy and blameless before Him as His own sons as we saw earlier, brothers to Christ. This was His purpose in the beginning in order that forever and ever His grace may become the reason for our eternal praise.
Drop down to verse 11. "To the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ should be to the praise of His glory." Down to verse 14, "Who is given as a pledge," speaking of the Holy Spirit, "with a view to the redemption of God's own possession to the praise of His glory." That the whole point of salvation is to the eternal praise and glory of God. The reason that we were chosen, the reason we were predestined, the reason we were regenerated, the reason we were adopted as sons, the reason we have been forgiven and been redeemed by grace, lavished on us is in order that forever we will be to the praise of His glory, the praise of that particular aspect of His glory, namely His grace. There will never be any explanation for our presence in heaven except it is an act of God by grace. And that's why we started in 1 Peter 1:13 four weeks ago where it says, "Fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ." The final grace, the future grace, the ultimate grace is our eternal glory.
In the light of this, one of the most, I would say, discouraging, only it's more severe than that, one of the most disparaging..it's worse than that...one of the most fearful, one of the most unnecessary and far worse than that, one of the most injurious errors in terms of striking a blow on the character of God, striking a blow on the nature of grace, striking a blow on the significance of salvation is the idea that you can lose your salvation. It fails to understand salvation at all. It fails to understand that the plan of God in salvation began at election and consummates in glorification and no one is lost on the way...no one. You were saved for eternal glory. It should be for all of us a concession of some sort that we are even left here. Make the most of it, enjoy it, take in all the richness that God provides, but do not allow yourself to become content with this life. You have been chosen for glory, nothing short of that should satisfy you. Nothing short of that will satisfy God. When you were saved, the day you were regenerated and put your trust in Christ and were justified, it was for your eternal glory. And we have already learned that when we die as believers, our spirits go immediately into the presence of the Lord. We pointed that out, Philippians 1 simply says, "Far better to depart and be with Christ," there's no middle experience of limbo, purgatory, or soul sleep. Second Corinthians 5, "Absent from the body, present with the Lord," nothing in between. Your spirit goes immediately to be with the Lord. Your body as of all the saints through the ages, in fact all of humanity goes into the ground or into the sea or into the fire or somewhere and remains on this earth in some form, waiting the great future event, the resurrection which all the bodies of all the people who have ever lived will be raised. When a believer dies, their spirit goes immediately to heaven. When a non-believer dies, their spirit immediately goes out of the presence of God into an area of eternal punishment. In both cases some day there will be a resurrection. The bodies of believers will be brought out of the grave when Jesus comes descending from heaven with a shout and the dead in Christ rise first in the case of the church. A little after that in the case of the Old Testament and Tribulation saints when Jesus returns in His glory with His church, then the saints of old are resurrected and the completion of God's redemptive plan started in the Old Testament will be finished and we'll all be absorbed into the final glory of the heaven of heavens, the new heaven and the new earth. There will be also at the return of Jesus Christ the resurrection of the unrighteous, called the Great White Throne Judgment when the sea and the land will give up their dead from all history. They will be judged and the spirits of the damned will then be joined to eternal bodies which will suffer in the final form of hell called The Lake of Fire.
But let's just look at what happens to believers. We will be joined body and spirit in the presence of the Lord. We wait, says Romans 8, the redemption of our bodies. We wait the redemption of our bodies clearly promised in Scripture at the return of Jesus Christ in the future. This is how it ends. This is the glory that we wait for. It strikes me as a terribly tragic thing to minimize heaven and equally tragic thing to minimize the return of Christ and the future resurrection. There is a trend these days, believe me, there is a trend to deny the resurrection. It's an old trend, it started back in 2 Timothy 2 verse 18 where it is noted there that some were saying the resurrection has already passed, what is called preterism or hyper-preterist has been around a long time. But the story has an ending and the ending is laid out in Scripture, God has a goal and a purpose for this world for the redeemed and for the lost. It is all divinely planned out and it comes to consummation in the glory of the return of Christ. Because this is so connected to this, going forward in our studies on doctrine, I want to do a study on eschatology. Okay? So we'll start that in a few weeks. By the way, I meant to say next Sunday night because I'm going to finish this up tonight, I'm going to do a study on the role of Mary in Catholicism. I've been telling you about that, get ready, it's next week. I can't hold it in any longer. Next Sunday night we're going to look at the bizarre idolatry and blasphemy in the worship of Mary, but for tonight, let's get back to our subject.
Now, when we get to heaven in our spirits, all that God has planned for us is there waiting. There is no need to think we're there in spirit and we just stand around till our bodies arrive, what do we do? We enter fully into the glories of heaven. There is no sense of time so there's no sense of waiting. I don't know how that all works in a timeless environment. But all that the Bible tells us about dying is that we are immediately in the presence of the Lord, in the fullness of all that He has promised us. So let's talk about that a little bit.
What is going to be our relationship to God in heaven? And I'll just ask a few questions tonight as we've been doing and try to answer them, just some very simple things. This is the best we can do and just kind of take you through a little Bible study, keep it basic and foundational because some of you are so new to this. We will be with God in heaven. We will be with the Lord Jesus in heaven. That is the main attraction. John 14, let me just kind of take you around a little bit and show you some of these wonderful texts, very familiar, John 14, "Let not your heart be troubled or stop being troubled." Jesus had told the disciples He was leaving them, obviously this was horrifying to them. "Stop letting your heart be troubled, believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house there are many dwelling places, if it were not so I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you."
Let's get this right, okay? "In My Father's house are many rooms and I am going to prepare a room for you in My Father's house." The Old English said, "In My Father's house are many mansions," which didn't make sense. How can you have mansions in a house? The Greek is rooms in a house, that makes a lot of sense. We're going to live in the Father's house, not ten blocks down and fourteen blocks to the right and further away from the Father's house, the more we sinned or failed to serve. We are all in the Father's house.
And here's the wonderful reality. Verse 3, "I will come again and receive you to Myself that where I am, there you may be also." You're going to come into eternal fellowship with the Son of God, eternal fellowship with the Lord. Now look over at 17 of John and verse 24 and Jesus praying this wonderful prayer to His Father, verse 24 of John 17, "Father, I desire that they also whom Thou hast given Me be with Me where I am in order that they may behold My glory which Thou hast given Me. For Thou didst love Me before the foundation of the world." "Father, He says, bring Your promised plan to fruition. The ones You have given Me whom I have received, whom I keep, whom I raise, I long that they be with Me in order that they may behold My glory, the glory You gave Me because You loved Me before the foundation of the world."
What does it mean to go to heaven? It means to be in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. It means to be in His presence and see His full glory, something like Peter, James and John saw on the Mount of Transfiguration and were stunned and overcome and sent into a faint and a coma, if you will, because of the shock of it. We will, however, be suited for such a beatific vision, such a magnificent display of the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. We can say then that the essence of our relationship to God in heaven will be fellowship, communion, we will be in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ and we will see Him in His full glory, incarnate and resurrected and ascended glory.
Look at 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 where we read at the time of the Rapture of the church, something we'll talk about in our study of eschatology, when we are caught up in the air with the dead in Christ when the Lord comes for His church, we who are alive and remain, 1 Thessalonians 4:17, shall be caught up together with Him in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and thus we shall always be with the Lord. And that last little phrase is the key phrase, "with the Lord...with the Lord...always with the Lord, forever and ever enjoying the glory of communion and fellowship with Him."
Turn to the twenty-first chapter of Revelation. Let's broaden our understanding a little bit of this, just taking it as it comes in the Word of God. Not just the Lord Jesus Christ, but Revelation 21:3, "I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, 'Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men and He shall dwell among them and they shall be His people and God Himself shall be among them.'" We will not only be in the presence of the Lamb of God, the Son of God, the glorified Christ, we will be in the presence of God Himself and He is depicted as having a very intimate and personal attention to us. He shall wipe away every tear from their eyes and there shall no longer be any death, there shall no longer be any mourning or crying or pain, the first things have passed away. We will be in the presence of God.
Over in chapter 22 and verse 3 it says, "In this wonderful capital city of the eternal heavens, there is the throne of God and of the Lamb and His bondservants shall serve Him and they shall see His face and His name shall be on their foreheads." We will bear the very name of our Lord on our heads indicating that we indeed belong to Him.
What is if God that we will see? God is a spirit, how will we see God? Well verse 23 of chapter 21 gives you a little idea. "The city has no need of the sun, it has no need of the moon to shine upon it, for the glory of God has illumined it and its lamp is the Lamb and the peoples, or nations, shall walk by its light and the kings of the earth shall bring their glory into it and in the daytime for there shall be no night there, its gates shall never be closed and they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it and nothing unclean and no one who practices abomination and lying shall ever come into it." Here is this glorious heaven, the final state, and radiating from the middle of it is the shining, blazing brilliance of the glory of God. God is a spirit, He has no flesh and bones, He has no body but He reveals Himself in supernatural illumination.
More about this earlier in chapter 21. We see in the holy city in verse 10, verse 11, "The glory of God," and it's amazing how this is going to work, the description is startling. The brilliance...and what you have, let me just give it to you simply, you have the infinite new heaven and the new earth, this is infinite, the new heaven and the new earth. But in the middle of it is the capital city of the eternal state which is the New Jerusalem. It is a cube and in the middle of this cube is the throne of God from which His glory proceeds. The streets are transparent gold so the glory penetrates them. The gates are massive pearls, one pearl for each gate, off of which the light dances and splatters into infinity. And everywhere there are jewels, everywhere. Verse 11, the brilliance is like a very costly stone, a stone of crystal-clear jasper. The capital city of heaven, this cubed heavenly city, massive in size, 1500 miles cubed, enough to hold the population of all the redeemed of all the ages in their resurrection bodies, is like a diamond. And out of the shining center comes the blazing glory of God. There are twelve foundations, the names of the twelve Apostles. Goes on to describe something of those foundations in verse 19, the first foundation is jasper, sapphire, chalcedony, emerald, and it goes on to name all these wonderful jewels. The streets of the city, pure gold, verse 21, like transparent glass. So the picture here is God is everywhere blazing His glory and its refracted and splattered through the transparency of these jewels, setting on fire the infinite new heavens and new earth with His glory. That's where we're going to live in His presence. Beyond that, 1 John 3:2 says, "We shall be like Him because we shall see Him just as He is." No more faith view, sight...perfect sight, perfect supernatural eternal vision of the Lord Jesus Christ.
So what will be our relationship to God in heaven? Fellowship. He will be there. He will be there in our midst. The Lord Jesus will be with us. We will live in the Father's house in a room prepared for us in unbroken personal communion with Him. We will see the glory of God. In the human realm in this world, no man can look on God's glory and live. We know that from Exodus 33. First Timothy 6:15 and 16 says, "Whom no man has seen or can see." First of all, God is invisible and if made visible through shining light, no one can look upon the full blaze of that light and survive. And so no one has seen or can see God, as John 1:18 says.
But, there's a reason why we cannot look upon the blazing glory of God, because we are impure. We would be consumed by it. Even Moses who wanted to see the glory of God could only see a little glimpse of it, you remember in Exodus 33. But Matthew 5:8 says, "The pure in heart shall see God." When there is no sin, when there is nothing to consume, when we are fully acceptable to God in utter holiness, we will then be exposed to a vision of God far grander than anything we could ever see here. David the psalmist in Psalm 42 said, "When shall I come and appear before God?" He said, "I will never be satisfied until I awake in His likeness." We will some day see Him and fellowship with Him in perfect glory. Now one other question I think we have time for tonight and that is...What are we going to do in heaven? And I know this is one people ask a lot and I get asked this question frequently and I just have to tell you...all I know is what the Bible says. But I'll give you a few things to think about, okay? A few pretty amazing and staggering things, as a matter of fact, to think about, stunning.
First of all, we will spend our time adoring Christ. We will spend our time in perfect worship. I don't know about you, but for me the highlight of the week is to worship with the people of God as to teach the Word of God, to celebrate its truth, to sing praise to His name. This is exactly what we will do in heaven. We have been called, according to John 4, by the Father to become true worshipers. God seeks true worshipers. God who is spirit, says John 4:24, seeks those who are true worshipers who worship Him in spirit and in truth. And while we're in the book of Revelation, if you're still there, turn back to chapter 14. There are a lot of glimpses of this here and all we can say is what is recorded here, very hard to go beyond that, pure speculation. But one thing stands out. All the glimpses of heaven reveal a worshiping environment.
There was an angel in Revelation 14:6 flying in mid-heaven. This during the future time of Tribulation, preaching the eternal gospel to those who live on the earth, to every nation, tribe, tongue and people. And saying with a loud voice...and here basically is the gospel... "Fear God and give Him glory because the hour of His judgment has come and worship Him, made the heaven and the earth and sea and springs of water." What is the eternal message? What is the eternal good news? God is to be feared, given glory and worship. Because if you don't, judgment is coming. Worship God, worship God...that is what God demands, commands, and that is why God redeems, to produce worshipers. That is the eternal message...worship...worship, far more important even than evangelism. Evangelism is just the problem that stands in the way of worship. And the reason you evangelize is so that the person who has not worshiped can worship. That's why when the church comes together, it comes together to worship. That's the highest priority for the church. Evangelism is the means to the end, but the end is worship and God is seeking worshipers and that's what will occupy us in heaven. We've already looked at it, but just a glance at Revelation 4 where you have all the beings in heaven, the redeemed represented by the elders, the angels represented by the living creatures, and other angels, all worshiping, Revelation 4:10, all worshiping. Down in verse 10 ...verse 12, I should say, of chapter 5, it starts in chapter 4 verse 10, jumping to chapter 5, the redeemed are around the throne, the elders around the throne, verse 11, the living creatures, the ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands and thousands of angels are all there and they're all worshiping and every created thing in heaven, on earth, under the earth, on the sea and everything all together saying, "To Him who sits on the throne be blessing and honor and glory and dominion for ever and ever." That's the picture of heaven.
It doesn't end there. Chapter 7, interesting, in chapter 7 you have, for example, in verse 9, "A great multitude which no one can count, out of every nation, tribe, people, tongue, standing before the throne, that puts them in heaven, standing before the Lamb, they're clothed in white robes, the symbol of their righteousness. They have palm branches in their hands. They are crying out with a loud voice, 'Salvation to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb, giving God and the Lamb glory for salvation, all the angels around the throne." Here the elders are again, representing the redeemed. The four living creatures, they all fall on their faces before the throne, they worship God saying, "Amen, blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever. Amen." This goes on, folks, forever...forever...forever. In fact, in verse 15 they are before the throne of God, they serve Him day and night in His temple and He who sits on the throne shall spread His tent over them. They shall hunger no more, thirst no more, neither shall the sun beat on them nor any heat, for the Lamb in the center of the throne shall be their Shepherd and guide them to springs of the water of life and God shall wipe every tear from their eyes." Very intimate, very rich, very blessed as God shelters us forever as we worship Him.
Chapter 11 of Revelation, same thing, verse 15 talks about the kingdom of the world becoming the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ and He reigns forever and ever. And when that happens, when history is consummated with the glory of Christ establishing His Kingdom which is eternal, the twenty-four elders who sit on the throne, again they are representative of the redeemed, they sit before God and they fall on their faces and they worship God saying, "We give You thanks, O Lord God the Almighty, who art, who wast because Thou hast taken Thy great power and begun to reign." Again this praise breaks loose. Again 15, chapter 15, you see the throne of God again and here is this sea of glass and the singing of the Song of Moses and the Son of the Lamb, "Great and marvelous are Thy works, O Lord God Almighty, righteous and true are Thy ways, Thou King of the nations. Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify Thy name for Thou alone art holy, all the nations come and worship before Thee for Thy righteous acts have been revealed." Worship is the occupation of heaven.
Turn to chapter 19, just this one and we've already looked at 21 and 22. Verse 1, "After these things...John says...I heard, as it were, a loud voice, a great multitude in heaven saying, 'Hallelujah, salvation and glory and power belong to our God because His judgments are true and righteous. He is judged the great harlot who was corrupting the earth with her immorality. He has avenged the blood of the bondservants on her.' And a second time they said, 'Hallelujah, her smoke rises up forever.'" The twenty-four elders, there the redeemed again, joined with the representatives of the angels, the four living creatures, every one falls down, worships God who sits on the throne saying, "Amen, hallelujah," and a voice came from the throne saying, "Give praise to our God, all you His bondservants, you who fear Him, the small and great.' And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude and as the sound of many waters and the sound of mighty peals of thunder saying, 'Hallelujah, for the Lord our God, the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him.'" That's heaven...that's heaven...one eternal, unending paean of praise. Worship God, adore God, Christ.
There's a second aspect of our occupation in heaven and that is we will reign with Him. In the midst of this worship, we will be given some responsibilities. We will be given some functions, some duty. This will not be a benign environment, this will be an active environment, this will be an aggressively active environment. This will be one glorious adventure every conscious moment and they'll all be conscious since there's no night and no sleep. Every waking moment will be for us an explosion of glorious new reality. We will be challenged with new opportunities and new ministries that we never dreamed of. Jesus even said, "If you're faithful over little, you'll be lord over much." We will have responsibilities, functions that will occupy us. There will be no wasted moments. I think most people think of heaven as leisure. They think of heaven as like retiring forever, sitting on a cloud and plucking a harp. That is ridiculous. You will be busy. You will be occupied forever, relentlessly occupied. The difference will be you will never grow weary, you will never grow tired. Your energy will never be dissipated. First Corinthians 6:3 says, "We will judge angels." That is we will rule angels.
There's going to be a lot going on in eternity. I don't know what God has planned for eternity, but He has some amazing things planned for eternity. He had a little part of His plan was this little redemptive scheme going on on this planet dangling in the middle of infinite space, like some infinitesimal dot. We are now the participants in an amazing little plan for this little theater in the middle of His infinite universe. But believe me, this is not the only plan and when it has reached its fruition, God does not switch into neutral. Whatever it is that God has planned is going to involve us and is going to involve the holy angels who even now are sent to minister to us and throughout all eternity will be at our disposal as we will be ruling over them. We will be reigning with Christ, joint-heirs with Christ and He rules the angels and only for a little while was made lower than the angels. Whatever it is we're going to do, we're going to be able to dispatch the holy angels of heaven to do what we've been given as an assignment in the great eternal adventure. I can't even begin to comprehend it, nor can you because I have no comprehension of living in eternal perfection and eternal glory. But the plans of God go on forever and they involve us.
That's back to Matthew 25, "Well done, good and faithful slave, you were faithful with a few things, I'll put you in charge of many things. Enter into the joy of your Master." Being in charge of many things because you've been faithful over a few things here is going to be joy for you. Whatever our work is going to be, it's going to be a joyous work, an exhilarating kind of work, a level of joy the likes of which we have never ever known. I suppose down in this world there are joys in our labor. I'm sure some of you go to a job that you hate. Some of you may go to a job that you don't mind. And others of you may work in a place where you actually enjoy it. I'm privileged to do something that I love to do, but I don't love it all the time. It has its moments of pain and there are many times when I say to myself, "I wish I didn't have to do this. It's hard, it's relentless. They show up every week, they expect me to say what is profound, and to say something I haven't said for a long time." That's a great challenge and it's kind of a blessed bondage. But at the same time thinking about heaven, thinking about never sleeping, always serving, and always doing that which brings you limitless, unmixed joy and satisfaction.
In a similar accounting of the parable of Jesus, Luke 19 verse 17, He said, "Well done, good slave. Because you've been faithful in a very little thing, be an authority over ten cities. The second came saying, 'Your mina, master, has made five minas.' He said to him, 'You are to be over five cities.'" There are going to be degrees of responsibility. There are going to be something like cities, something like realms in eternity over which we will reign and rule and have angelic aide to serve us as we serve our great God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
There is an element now that comes to us from the word serve. We will worship. We will rule. And we will serve. Now we've already looked at Revelation but look at Revelation chapter 7, just to clarify one other time what we do by way of service. Verse 15, we read it a moment ago but I want to draw it back. Describing those who had washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb, now appearing in heaven. They are before the throne of God, verse 15, they serve Him day and night...they serve Him day and night. There is no day, there is no night, but that's an expression all the time. We worship all the time. We rule all the time throughout eternity. And our rule is a way of serving the Lord, latreuois the Greek, religious service we render. Revelation 22:3 which we looked at a few moments ago says, "His bondservants shall serve Him...shall serve Him." It sounds like we're going to be busy, doesn't it? Constant worship, constant ruling over vast portions of the infinite heaven, constant unceasing service, no sleep, no night, I can't even comprehend it. And it's amazing to think about it in this fashion, but I want you to turn to Revelation 14 and just look at verse 13. You can't comprehend this but it's wonderful to imagine it. It will be reality. Verse 13, "I heard a voice from heaven saying, 'Write blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.'" It's good to be dead. It's blessed to be dead if you die in the Lord. "That they may rest from their labors." Rest? I thought You just said forever we're going to be worshiping, spending all of our glorified energy in worship, forever we're going to be ruling and reigning as Christ dispenses to us the responsibility over ten locations or five or however many our service to Him has gained for us in that eternal reward. And we're relentlessly and unceasingly going to serve Him. By what definition can this be called rest? But we are at rest.
In the promise of the Word of God in the book of Hebrews, it tells us that to come to Christ is to enter a state of perfect rest. If we come to God through Christ, we enter rest. If we reject the gospel, God swears in His wrath, Hebrews 3:11, they shall not enter My rest. Verse 18, He swears again, "They shall not enter His rest." But for us who hear the gospel and believe it, a promise remains, Hebrews 4:1, of entering His rest. Verse 3, "We who have believed enter that rest." Verse 9, "There remains therefore a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for the one who has entered his rest has himself also rested from his works as God did from His. Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest.
Now what he's talking about there in the terms of salvation is when you embrace the gospel you rest from any effort to earn your own salvation. You rest by faith in grace, you rest in the gospel, cease from your works, but entering into that saving rest will ultimately bring you to that eternal rest where forever you will rest from your labors. Heaven then is rest in the sense that there's no weariness, there's no suffering, there's no diminished power or capacity. That's why there's no crying, there's no pain, there's no sorrow. Everything we know about expended energy in this life is irrelevant in the life to come.
Having said all that, I think there's one more reality about life in heaven that always is the most stunning to me. It's found in the twelfth chapter of Luke. Some of you will remember our look at this. Luke chapter 12 had a whole section on the Second Coming of Christ which we told you about when we went through it some months ago. But I just want to draw you in to verse 35 and we'll read down to verse 40, Luke 12:
"Be dressed in readiness, keep your lamps lit. Be like men waiting for their master when he returns from the wedding feast so that they may immediately open the door to him when he comes and knocks. Blessed are those slaves whom the master shall find on the alert when he comes. Truly I say to you that he will gird himself to serve and have them recline at the table and come up and wait on them. Whether he comes in the second watch or even in the third and finds them so, blessed are those slaves. Be sure of this that if the head of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have allowed his house to be broken into. You too be ready for the Son of Man is coming at an hour that you do not expect."
The imagery is pretty graphic here. There's a time when the Lord is going to come, you want to be ready when He arrives. It's like a master who went away. He's coming back, returning from a wedding feast. Be ready when He arrives. And when He does arrive, for those who are ready, verse 37, He will gird Himself...that means He'll put on a slave's apron...and He'll have the slaves recline...which means to take their place at the banquet...and He will come up and wait on them. To me this is the most staggering reality of heaven. It is not just where we worship Christ and the Father, it is not just where we rule and reign over the angels to do the duties that God has granted us as an eternal reward for our faithfulness, it is not where we just forever and ever serve the Lord in undiminished strength and power, but it, more amazing than all of those, is where we are seated at the heavenly banquet table as if we are the honored guests and the Lord Himself takes on the role of the waiter and the servant, puts on an apron and comes up and serves us. I don't know what that will mean but to think of the Lord Jesus Christ serving me is a phenomenal thing and doing so forever...forever.
This is the great love that God has for His own, expressed in its final form. This is the final grace. We started with fixing your hope on the grace to be revealed. Here is the final heavenly grace, that the Lord Jesus Christ will serve us forever. He will take the role of the slave, we will take the role of the honored guest and He will serve us forever. With all of that in view, the words of the Apostle Paul are helpful. "Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth," Colossians 3:2. Join me in prayer.
Nothing that we have ever done could, Father, ever earn us any of this, that's why it's the final grace, a future grace, the ultimate grace and that Jesus will be our servant and we the honored guests at the heavenly table is beyond understanding. Why? To the glory of His grace all heaven will explode forever in loud and endless praise at such a God and such a Christ who would forever serve sinners in this way, who would forever serve enemies, blasphemers, wicked, God-haters, defiled and corrupt. What grace, what staggering grace. Not just the grace that rescues us from hell, not just the grace that lets us in heaven, but the grace that calls on the Son of God to serve us. And we should know for even here He came not to be served but to serve and give His life a ransom for many. Give us this heavenly glimpse, may our affections ever be there as we long for that day when we enter the eternal glory. For this incomprehensible grace we offer our gratitude and our praise and we fix our hope unwaveringly on what is prepared for us. We come before You humbled by this all, our Father, and thankful beyond expression but we will have a full eternity to offer our gratitude for Your work in us through Christ, in His name. Amen.
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Which means if you own a beauty or cosmetics line, the potential for some serious business is there. But it also means if you want to grab that business and take it for yourself, you're going to need to find a way to break through the clutter, jump off the shelf at Sephora, and tell your ideal customer "THIS is the lipstick for you!" And the best way to do that is your packaging.
Your packaging is the first thing the beauty die-hards you want to turn into customers are going to see. If your packaging grabs their attention and speaks to what they're looking for, they're likely to take your product home and give it a try. If not? It's likely to gather dust on the shelf.
But how, exactly, do you design the kind of packaging that makes your ideal customer scream "I need that blush yesterday?" Never fear, 99designs is here with all the information you need to design packaging that stands out on the shelf and gets your product into your customer's bag (and, eventually, on their face).
- Prime before you design
- "Make up" your packaging
- Choose your packaging type
- Choose a focal point for your design
- How to find the right designer for your cosmetics packaging
- Start designing
Prime before you design
Before you get started with your packaging design, there are a few things you want to clarify:
Define your ideal customer
It's important to know who you're designing for. Who's your ideal customer? Are they tween girls just as obsessed with sparkles as they are with boy bands? Are they women of color who want makeup that actually (finally) matches their skin tone? Are they men who are masculine… but also want baby soft skin? And once you know who they are, what are they looking for in a cosmetics brand? What's going to grab their attention?
Define your brand personality
Just as important as your customer's identity is your identity. What's your branding? Are you dark and edgy (like Urban Decay)? Simple and classic (like Bobbi Brown)? Luxurious (like Dior)? Accessible (like Wet n Wild)? Who you are as a brand—and the personality you want to portray to your customers—is going to determine what design elements you use in your packaging.
Define how your ideal customers are buying your product
You'll also want to consider how you're going to sell your products. Are you selling online or in store? In small boutiques or in large retailers? Your design strategy might change depending on where you're shelling your goods.
Create a mood board for your brand
A great thing to do before you start designing is to create a mood board for your brand. Pull together images, colors, advertisements and whatever else you feel embodies your brand personality; these will act as inspiration as you go through the design process.
"Make up" your packaging
Alright, once you've got all of your pre-design tasks checked off, it's time to start designing your beauty packaging and cosmetics labels.
Set your brand design standards
The first thing you'll need to do when designing your packaging is set your elements of design.
There are a few different elements you'll need to consider:
The first thing you'll want to consider is the mood and personality you want to bring to your packaging. Are you going for a minimalist vibe in your design? Or do you want to go more over-the-top and stylized?
Knowing what style you want to move towards will help lead the rest of your design and ensure you make packaging decisions that are in line with your overall design goals.
Locking in your style will also help you determine any additional design elements you need to consider. Are you going for a pop art feel? Then you might need some illustrations done to lead the design process. Are you incorporating natural elements for your natural cosmetics brand? Then maybe you'll want to pull in some nature photography to include on your packaging. The point is, when you know what style you're going for, you know what design elements you'll need to get that style to come across in your packaging.
When choosing colors, you want to choose colors that a) match your brand personality, b) grab customer's attention and c) stand out from the competition. This last point is especially important in the uber-competitive world of beauty and cosmetics.
Think about choosing your brand's color palette like you would assembling this season's must-have eyeshadow palette; you want to stay true to your brand while differentiating yourself from the competition. So, for example, pink is a wildly popular color in the beauty and cosmetics world. It's fun, it's feminine, and it just so happens to be a color that's widely used in all the glorious cosmetics we put on our faces. But if you go with pink as your packaging color, it might be hard to grab your customer's attention since the shelves of every cosmetic store are already a sea of pink.
The most recognizable beauty and cosmetics brands use color as a way to build their brand. When people think purple, they think of Urban Decay. Bold black and white belongs to Make Up Forever. And the reigning queen of pink? Too Faced Cosmetics.
If you want your brand to be just as successful, you'll need to do the same thing and find a brand color palette that not only jumps of the shelves, but becomes instantly synonymous with your brand.
Next up is fonts.
Like with colors, you want to choose something that's unique, on brand, and instantly recognizable to your customers while they're scanning the shelves.
Have a brand that's a little on the edgy side? Go for a bold, display font like Urban Decay.
More fun, flirty, and feminine? Go with a whimsical or script font, a la Too Faced.
How about clean and sophisticated? Try a sans serif font, which will give an upscale modern feel, like Chanel.
Going for the classic feel? Stick with elegant serif fonts, like Clinique.
One more thing you'll want to think of when choosing fonts? How it's going to look on your packaging. You want your fonts to be clear and easy to read—even when they're on a tiny compact box.
Gather the info you need to include on your packaging
Next up, you want to collect all of the information you need to include on your packaging (including the information you need to be FDA-compliant).
Some common things that show up on cosmetics packaging:
- An image to show your product is cruelty free
- Expiration labels
- Government warning labels
- Additional images and graphics
- Brand copy
Choose your packaging type
Now, it's time to actually choose the physical packaging.
Know the three layers
Just like you start with primer, follow with foundation and end with finishing powder, when it comes to packaging, there's three different layers you need to think about: outer packaging, inner packaging, and product packaging.
Outer packaging is the first thing your customers will have to dig through to get to your product. This can be the box you use to ship customer orders from your warehouse or the bag you package your cosmetics in at your retail location.
Inner packaging is what houses your product, like the box your customers open to get to their lipstick.
And the product packaging is the packaging itself: the container that holds your product inside, be it a lipstick tube or a foundation bottle.
Common packaging types in the cosmetic world
When it comes to beauty and cosmetics packaging, the sky's the limit. The first thing you need to think about when choosing your cosmetics packaging is the "what." What is the purpose of your packaging? What kind of product are you creating? Obviously, the product packaging that works for a lip gloss isn't going to be the right pick for a body butter, so you want to choose the product packaging that makes the most sense for each product.
Some popular packaging options in beauty and cosmetics include:
- Airless bottles
- Pumps
- Sprayers
- Jars
- Tubes
- Droppers
- Compacts
Now, obviously, there are certain packaging standards for different products. Most lipsticks are going to be housed in a lipstick tube. But that shouldn'ts top you from thinking outside of the box! Take lip gloss, for example. It used to be the standard to put them in a tube with a wand. And while that certainly still is the most common packaging choice, plenty of brands deviated from the "norm" and went with other options, like squeeze tubes, jars, and twist tops. So don't feel like you need to stick within the confines of "standard" packaging!
Once you know what kind of packaging you want, you need to figure out how and where you're going to get it. There are tons of cosmetics packaging companies out there where you can buy packaging at wholesale prices. You can also get custom bottles, boxes or tubs designed, which can make your product stand out on shelves, but will definitely cost you more than a pretty penny.
Choose a focal point for your design
Once you know what type of product packaging you want to move forward with, it's time to start thinking about design. And the best place to start? Choosing a focal point.
When your customer looks at your product, you have a split second to get your message across before they move on to something else on the shelf. What's the one thing you want your customer to know about your product? Whatever it is, that's what needs to come through on your packaging design.
Do you want to build brand recognition and let your customer know the lipstick or face cream they're picking up is all you? Then you'll want to put your logo front and center. Is there a certain ingredient in your beauty product you know will wow your customers and get them to make a purchase? If so, that needs to be the focus of your design.
By focusing on one core element in your packaging design, you ensure that your key message gets through to your customer.
Think about your materials and specialty printing options
Next up is choose the materials and speciality printing options you'll use in/on your packaging.
There are so many options out there to jazz up your packaging. But keep in mind: the more complicated your packaging, the higher the budget. Some upgrades might be necessary, depending on your product (for example, if your product is meant to be stored in the shower you better make sure your labels are coated and water resistant).
Others are design choices to help you create a specific look and feel. Incorporating things like foil-stamping, embossing, metal, or ink that gives a 3D effect will definitely make your packaging feel more high-end, luxurious and fun, but it will also add to your cost-per-package.
If you're not sure what options are out there—or what options your budget allows—talk to your designer about the material and printing options that are the best fit for your brand and budget.
How to choose the right designer for your cosmetics packaging
There are a two common ways you can move forward with your cosmetics packaging design:
Your first option, of course, is to do things yourself. And while you might be tempted to take on the design yourself in an effort to keep your budget low, unless you have design experience, we don't recommend it. Your cosmetics packaging design is so important to the success of your business; it's not the place to cut corners.
Hire a designer
Your other option is to hire a designer to manage the design process for you. There are two good ways to do this: you can hire a freelancer or you can launch a design contest.
If you want to work directly with a freelancer, you'll want to look for someone with experience in product packaging design (even better if they've specifically worked in the cosmetics industry).
If you want to write a single brief and have designers from all over the world send you unique ideas, you can run a packaging design contest on 99designs.
Start designing!
Once you've got your designer on board, it's time to start designing! Woohoo!
After you've reviewed your brand style design with your designer and let them know exactly what you're looking for, you'll want to ask them to develop a design mockup. This will give you a concrete piece of packaging to look at before you finalize your design.
Once you have your design mockup, you'll want to evaluate your design and see if it feels like the right fit for your product. When evaluating your mockup, ask yourself:
- Does this grab my ideal customer's attention?
- Is is clear what this product is from the packaging?
- Does the packaging seem accessible/easy to use?
- Would this stand out against competitor packaging?
- How does this look in 3D? (you can even print the prototype and assemble the package to get a better sense of what it will look like IRL)
- Will this design be as relevant 5 years from now as it is today?
Once you finalize your design and your designer creates your packaging dielines, you'll need to get the files to send to the printer. You'll need:
- A vector file of your packaging dielines for each product (typically in .ai or .pdf)
- Pantone or CMYK color codes
Once you have those files, you can send them to the printer, print up your packaging designs, and get your products out into the world!
Wrapping things up
There's a ton of opportunity in the beauty and cosmetics industry. And with the right product, the right packaging, and the right design, that opportunity is yours for the taking!


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PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — PGA Master Professional Dawes Marlatt has been promoted to Senior Director, Education and Employment, following his four-and-a-half year stint as The PGA of America's Director of Education.
During his tenure overseeing The PGA's Education Department, Marlatt led several significant enhancements and new program additions to the Association's educational services, including: Professional Golf Management curriculum, Certified Professional Program 2.0, and Golf 2.0/Player Development education.
Marlatt will now take charge of The PGA's Education and Employment departments, both vital to the delivery of important programs and services to PGA Professionals and the golf industry. His expanded role will include working closely with the 12 PGA Employment Consultants who are regionally based throughout the country to assist PGA Professionals and employers in filling key positions at both the green grass and administrative levels.
"I am honored that The PGA of America would entrust me to take on this expanded role of leading the Employment department as well as the Education department," said Marlatt, 41, a PGA member since 1997. "I believe it is truly a testament to all the dedicated individuals whom I have had the pleasure of working closely with over the past several years as we strived to enhance the education services The PGA provides to its member professionals."
"We are thrilled to elevate Dawes Marlatt to the position of Senior Director, Education and Employment," said PGA of America Chief Executive Officer Pete Bevacqua. "His track record of taking the lead on enhancing The PGA's educational offerings provides us with great confidence that he will have similar success with enhancing the employment services that our more than 27,000 PGA Professionals have come to rely upon."
About The PGA of America
Since its founding in 1916, The PGA of America has maintained a twofold mission: to establish and elevate the standards of the profession and to grow interest and participation in the game of golf. By establishing and elevating the standards of the golf profession through world-class education, career services, marketing and research programs, The PGA enables its professionals to maximize their performance in their respective career paths and showcases them as experts in the game and in the multi-billion dollar golf industry. By creating and delivering world-class championships and innovative programs, The PGA of America elevates the public's interest in the game, the desire to play more golf, and ensures accessibility to the game for everyone, everywhere. As The PGA nears its centennial, the PGA brand represents the very best in golf.


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Trust is apparently in short supply when it comes to the Duke Energy coal ash spill in Rockingham County and what role state regulators played in facilitating this environmental disaster on the Dan River.
And really, who�s surprised?
Indeed, a poll commissioned by the pro-environment Sierra Club found last week that the utility giant and state officials both are under scrutiny from wary voters in North Carolina. The poll shows that 57 percent of the respondents believe stronger state enforcement could have prevented the spill. And 69 percent of those interviewed believe �other serious incidents like this one will occur unless some action is taken to prevent them.�
Sounds about right.
It seems that each day dredges up new and troubling information regarding Duke Energy, its policies in North Carolina regarding coal ash � a problem statewide � and the state�s lax approach to monitoring and enforcement. In the Dan River incident, coal ash measured by thousands of tons, and laced with substances like arsenic, tumbled into the water, leaving toxic sludge along the bottom for miles leading into Virginia. A federal investigation of the incident is under way.
Public perception has been clouded from the start, first by Gov. Pat McCrory�s longtime ties to Duke Energy � where he was a 30-year employee. The governor�s original tepid response to the Feb. 2 incident has improved in recent weeks. Credit McCrory for stepping up his game and now pushing Duke Energy to clean up the dozen coal ash sites across North Carolina.
But it probably doesn�t help win over a skeptical public, especially when it�s learned that the McCrory administration hired a former U.S. attorney to help the Department of Environment and Natural Resources respond to a federal investigation of the Dan River spill and the relationship between DENR and Duke Energy � an attorney who represented Duke Energy in a separate matter in 2004.
Lawyer Mark Calloway represented Duke in a year-long federal grand-jury investigation of whether the utility was under-reporting its profits. Earlier, while he was U.S. attorney, Calloway hired a young prosecutor for his staff, who later followed him to work at a private law firm. That lawyer was Thomas Walker, the current U.S. attorney who�s running the Duke investigation.
While legal experts say it�s not a conflict of interest to everyday folks, it sure looks and smells like it.
That Duke Energy is also a heavy and longtime contributor to politicians of both parties doesn�t help much either. A cynical public seems to believe the nation�s largest electric utility will pass along expenses for cleaning up the Dan River mess to its customers and face no penalty at all. For its part, Duke has said it will try to share the cost for dealing with other coal ash sites to consumers but will handle the Dan River problem on its own.
Duke Energy appears to be on a mission to improve its image. It has developed an ad campaign addressed to �the People of North Carolina,� saying the company wants to regain customer confidence and will do what�s necessary to �ensure the safety of our ash basins and develop a plan for long-term management, including closure.�
With 70 percent of the public pointing a finger at Duke for the spill, following that course would be a wise move. The ball is also in the state�s court. Sixty-three percent of those surveyed said the state isn�t doing enough to protect North Carolina�s rivers and streams.
That�s a clear message. To McCrory and environmental regulators. In the case of coal ash, the state and Duke have a long way to go to regain public confidence.


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I use Debian Lenny on an embedded device
uname -a
Linux device 3.4.0 #83 Sun May 26 17:07:14 CEST 2013 armv4l GNU/Linux
I have a C code (say
my_C_program) that calls a board specific binary file (via
system("spictl someparameters") ) called
spictl to use SPI interface
user:~# ls -al /usr/local/bin/spictl
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root staff 24 Jun 9 2011 spiflashctl -> /initrd/sbin/spiflashctl
if I run my code (
my_C_program) from the command line
user:~# /user/sbin/my_C_program
spictl is executed without problem and outputs data from the SPI interface.
I need the program to be run when the board is powered. Therefore, I add
/user/sbin/my_C_program line before the
exit 0 at
/etc/rc.local. When the board is powered, the my_C_program is executed and
spictl is executed but the SPI interface does not output any data.
I tried to run the program via
/etc/init.d/ script on this link. The script works fine and it executes the
my_C_program, the program executes the
spictl successfully (as
system() return value says), but the SPI interface does not output any data!
ls -l /usr/sbin/my_C_program
-rwxrwxrwx 1 root root 61713 Jun 28 2013 /usr/sbin/my_C_program
top shows that the program is run as root
1095 root 20 0 2524 1140 924 R 4.2 1.8 0:00.35 top
1033 root RT 0 35092 34m 1852 S 3.0 56.5 0:14.06 node
if I execute the
my_C_program on terminal, the program calls the
spictl (via
system(spictl someparameters)) and it is executed without any problem. But if I run
my_C_program through
/etc/rc.local or
/etc/init.d script, then
spictl does not work as it supposed to be. I suspect that it has something to do with the root privilege. When I execute the program on the terminal (as root) all works fine. But I guess
/etc/rc.local and
/etc/init.d somehow runs the program with a lower privilege. I could not really solve the difference between executing a command from the terminal as root or executing the program via
/etc/rc.local or
/etc/init.d/ script. If you also think that it is a privilege problem, could you please explain how can I ensure that init.d script or rc.local would run the program with the highest privilege. Or what could be the issue?
Please note that the problem/question is not SPI related.
P.S. in order not to have unnecessary conversation like "oh Debian lenny is too old, you should use wheezy etc.", the board has armv4l processor and as the producer says it does not support wheezy because of some processor instructions.


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This thread will provide a place to list geocaching organizations and associations located in the
East North Central region.
*If you know of another organization that should be listed here, send me a PM and I will get them posted.
And be sure to check out the "Other Areas" forum for a list of global organizations too!


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Your list is empty.
Save musicians, entertainers, speakers, and services, and they'll appear here.
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Click here to get quotes from Percussionists near you!
About Booking Percussionists
From bongos and steel drums, to marching drums and classic drum kits, we'll hook you up with percussion players for a variety of styles that'll be a great fit for any type of event. From corporate functions and fundraisers to private parties and weddings, percussionists can provide your event with the perfect beat. The only work you need to do is take a few minutes to watch videos, listen to audio, check out photo galleries, read reviews, and contact the percussionists that you're interested in to ensure you book the perfect entertainment for your upcoming event.
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Reading and Study Skills Lab
(CRSS Lab)
The Reading and Study Skills Lab is staffed with faculty tutors to assist students in the areas of reading comprehension, test taking, vocabulary improvement, memory enhancement as well as a wide range of study strategies. Students receive personalized one-to-one instruction in a relaxed and comfortable environment.
Appointments can be made by calling 330-972-7046 or stopping by check-in area outside Polsky 332. Advance appointments are suggested, but drop-in appointments are available on a first-come, first-served basis.
The lab is open Monday through Thursday (9 a.m. to 5 p.m.), and Friday (9 a.m. 3 p.m.)


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Editor's note: This piece is first in a series of "city smackdowns" pitting rival cities against each other and letting you decide which one's best. Check back tomorrow for an equally passionate argument for New York, then visit CNN iReport to defend your city of choice!
(CNN) -- If you told me eight years ago I'd end up writing an article extolling the virtues of Los Angeles, I would have laughed.
I moved to the City of Angels in 2004 reluctantly. I had a great job offer for a newly minted position as the Supervising Producer of CNN's Entertainment Unit. There was just one problem: It was in L.A. Flash forward to 2012, and I proudly call Los Angeles home. But the road to loving my city certainly had its potholes and traffic jams.
A sage Los Angeles resident offered some excellent advice that's useful for anyone contemplating a move: Don't come to a conclusion about a place before you've lived there at least a year. So I suspended judgment and decided to look at the city with fresh eyes. Here's what I saw:
In Southern California, you can view snow-capped mountains from a warm sandy beach. You can surf and ski or snowboard in the very same day, should you choose. Our city is defined and criticized for its car culture, but we have access to the most amazing surfing, biking and hiking trails in the Santa Monica Mountains and beyond. Deserts, old growth forests and lakes are all within easy reach.
When people come to visit, I drop the top on my old convertible and take them up the Pacific Coast Highway into Malibu, through Topanga Canyon down the 101 (immortalized in the America song "Ventura Highway") into "The Valley" and then on to Mulholland Drive, where the winding road along a ridgeline provides breathtaking views. It's a trip that offers visitors an immediate snapshot and understanding that Los Angeles is not a flat, squalid concrete jungle. It has curves, sexy curves.
Photos: The glamour of Los Angeles
Our incredible natural resources are only enhanced by our weather. The year-round warm temperatures draw visitors from around the world to our miles of golden, sandy beaches. Southern Californians love their bikes, motorized or otherwise. Readers of a certain age will remember the opening from the '70s sitcom "Three's Company," where roommates Janet, Chrissy and Jack ride their bikes down a pathway on the beach in Santa Monica. I live 10 blocks from that very same bike path and love riding my beach cruiser to Venice for an icy cold beer at the Candle Café with good friends.
Los Angeles is criticized for not having a defined city center, but I'd counter with the assertion that our many different "centers" are a positive. Each neighborhood has a distinctive flavor and appeal. The Hollywood Hills offers homes with little street appeal and amazing views. There's the always-posh Beverly Hills, and Silverlake and Los Feliz are hipster heaven, albeit hipsters with bank accounts. Brentwood seems to have its share of agents, psychiatrists and TV producer types.
The beach vibe is like most coastal communities, relaxed and low-key. Westwood is packed with students, and driving down Western Boulevard through Koreatown, you're hard-pressed to find a sign in English. On the edge of Hollywood, Thai Town and Little Armenia merge and intertwine; the written languages, to my untrained eye, look similar. I shop in the Korean and Thai markets tucked away behind dazzling gold statues, and get the most amazing hummus and sujuk from an Armenian restaurant with the worst lighting.
Speaking of food, Los Angeles' ethnically diverse population offers an incredible array of restaurants and eating experiences. You can get great BBQ in Koreatown, fabulous banh mi from a food truck, a steamy pupusa from a number of tiny strip mall restaurants, and homemade tamales from the guy who rolls his cooler down the street every Sunday morning yelling "Tamales, tamales here." Local food critic Jonathan Gold built his career chronicling L.A.'s diverse cuisine; he was the first food writer to win a Pulitzer Prize for criticism.
On Sundays, the Hollywood Farmer's Market takes over two streets and four blocks. It's a great way to spend a morning strolling between stalls, choosing from produce that was picked just days before at the height of ripeness. I once heard an Aussie extolling the virtues of basil from a particular herb stand. I turned and realized it was the late Heath Ledger, with Michelle Williams, their new baby Matilda Rose and Jake Gyllenhaal. The very produce we ship across the nation is at our fingertips, and you can taste the difference.
Not only are the vegetables lush, so is the vegetation. Outside my kitchen window is a Bird of Paradise. Most people see them in flower arrangements, but here it's the size of a small palm tree. Bougainvillea blooms year round, palm trees are everywhere dotting the skyline like enormous chrysanthemums and ficus trees reach the size of old growth oaks, reminding you that California is a very hospitable place to grow and bloom on many levels.
If you happen to like sports, we have the Dodgers, and while the team has had its woes, my co-worker David Daniel (an L.A. native) reminds that "they play in a real league without the designated hitter." Speaking of baseball, CNN reporter Casey Wian loves the fact that the late Casey Stengel, the Hall of Fame manager of the Yankees, Mets and Brooklyn Dodgers, called Glendale home. Some will cite our lack of a football team, but if you're comparing us to New York, just remember that the Giants and the Jets both play in New Jersey. Oh, and let's not forget the Lakers, designated the most valuable NBA franchise by Forbes magazine. Their 16 championships, five of which came in this millennium, don't hurt either.
When people judge Los Angeles, many criticize it for being plastic and fake. If you just scratch the surface of the city that might be all you see, but don't forget Los Angeles is home to an enormously creative population. Much of your entertainment is generated here. The musicians, artists, writers, producers, photographers and directors who call Los Angeles home also imbue the city with an incredible energy. It's palpable in our bars, restaurants and on our streets. It's infectious; we clap during credits at the end of movies because we know how much work goes into making that two-hour film and we applaud the effort.
In Los Angeles, we know hard work, we know how to meet the deadline and we know how to get the job done. The difference here is that we just don't stress the journey. It may have a few potholes and traffic jams, but it also comes with a double helping of sun, sand, surf and smiles. The City of Angels is a heavenly place, and even though it's not for everybody, we're sort of happy to keep it that way.
Are you a hardcore New Yorker or surfing Angeleno? Vote in the poll above, defend your city of choice on CNN iReport, and share your tips for visitors. We'll reveal the winning city in an upcoming story.