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We worship the Lord through the study of His Word, this morning, as we draw our thoughts to Him, to His revelation. And we're looking for our text to the sixteenth chapter of Matthew, Matthew chapter 16.
We began last time with a look at verses 18 through 20, a very, very important text in the Word of God. In order for us to have it in mind, I want to read chapter 16 verse 13 down through verse 20. And you follow along and prepare your heart for the Word of God.
When Jesus came into the borders of Caesarea, Philippi, He asked His disciples saying, Who do men say that I the Son of Man am? And they said, Some say that Thou art John the Baptist, some Elijah and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets. He saith unto them, But who say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood hath not revealed unto thee but My Father who is in heaven. And I say also unto thee that thou art Peter and upon this rock I will build My church and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the Kingdom of heaven and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Then charged He His disciples that they should tell no man that He was Jesus the Christ.
As I told you last time, the key to the passage to which we look is found in verse 18 in the statement of our Lord, "I will build My church." Throughout all of human history, God has been gathering a redeemed people. God has been collecting a righteous assembly. All of the forces of hell, all of the forces of Satan, all of the forces of the flesh, the world system have not been able to stop the fact that God has been collecting His redeemed community.
Now listen, if the ultimate goal of the universe is to glorify God, and it is, if the ultimate reason why God made everything is for His glory, if all things are made by Him and for Him, if God has created man for His own glory, then we should not be surprised to see as the purpose for all of human history that God should be collecting a redeemed assembly of people who will be forever to the praise of His glory. And that is the theme of history, that is the rhyme and the reason of human existence.
Philosophers, historians through all the history of man have wondered why we exist, have questioned why it is that man is, what is the purpose, what is the meaning of life, why are we here. Dr. G.N. Clark in his inaugural address at Cambridge said, quote: "There is no secret and no plan in history to be discovered," end quote. He had come to the conclusion that there was no rhyme and reason. Andre Moreau, the French biographer, critic and novelist, wrote, "The universe is indifferent. Who created it? Why are we here on this puny mud heap spinning in infinite space? I have not the slightest idea and I'm quite convinced that no one else has either," end quote.
The ancient Greeks, of course, believed that life was a circle...or a cycle, just kept going around and around and around. It was always repeating itself going nowhere in particular, had no purpose, had no goal. It was an incomprehensible mystery.
The French writer, Jean-Paul Sartre taught that every man exits...he called it in a water-tight compartment as an utterly isolated individual in the midst of a purposeless universe. Now with that kind of philosophy reigning rampant on our university campuses, is it any wonder that young people have reached the point of license, the point of despair where revolutionary violence and arson and rape spread death and destruction in our cities and college campuses throughout the nation and the world? Where almost overnight society has exploded in lawlessness and crime and riot and murder in the insanity of the drug culture? It's the result of the philosophy of ignorance concerning the past and hopelessness concerning the future.
And I suppose nowhere is this so clearly seen today as in the writings of the French molecular biologist by the name of Jacque(?) Moneau(?) who is very often quoted by Francis Shaffer. Moneau says "Man's existence is due to the chance collision between minuscule particles of nucleic acid and proteins in a vast pre-biotic soup." He says, "All of life results from inter- action of pure chance and necessity. Man is utterly alone in the universe's unfeeling immensity out of which he emerged only by chance, his destiny is nowhere spelled out or is his duty. Man is the product of the impersonal plus time, plus chance. The result of which is that man is no different than a tree, so killing a man is no different than chopping down a tree."
You see, people in our society who are supposed to be erudite are trying to grapple with the reason for being. It's one thing to decide that we came out of pre-biotic soup, it's something else to figure out why. And most of them just come up with the reason there is no reason...there is no why...there is no purpose. And that's why we have ultimate hedonism. But in the midst of this we postulate the fact that everyone of us was created for a very specific reason and that reason was to glorify God. And we are rebels to that reason and so God amidst all of this rebellious human society is calling to Himself those who will become the redeemed assembly, who will forever and ever give Him glory. That's the reason for history. That's the purpose for human existence. We are called to glory. We are called created to give God glory. That's why the Bible says whatever you do whether you eat or drink, do all to the glory of God. That's why it says we are to confess Jesus as Lord to the glory of God the Father. That's why all we are and have and ever could possibly be ultimately is destined for the purpose of glorifying God. Because God is a worthy God and deserves glory, He has made men who can give Him eternally glory, who can reflect eternally the majesty and splendor and wonder of His glorious person. And out of the rebels that populate this world, God is collecting that redeemed community who will be obedient to give Him glory. And that's the purpose for life...human life.
Christ is history. History is His story. The maker of history, the people who are the architects of destiny...no not the Pharaohs, not the kings, not the Nebuchadnezzars, not the Alexander the Greats, the Caesars, the Napoleons, the Churchhills, the Hitlers, they don't move history, they don't make history. The architect of history is Jesus Christ who said, "I will continue to build My redeemed people." That's the reason for history. And if you're not part of the redeemed people, you will be cast into hell forever, you will be removed if you refuse to give God glory. History is His story. That is the only explanation that makes sense.
Now as we look at our text, Jesus is affirming this but He's not affirming it against a philosophical background like I've just done with you. He's affirming it against a very specific religious background, most specifically related to the disciples to whom He speaks. For they had been trained from their earliest years to anticipate the coming of the Messiah. And they had been trained that when the Messiah comes, He will reign as King. And He will be the anointed of God and He will deliver His people from the bondage and the oppression which they're under. He will bring righteousness. He will bring peace. He will bring prosperity. He will establish the throne of His father David and He will reign and rule and there will be economic prosperity and there will be religious prosperity, political prosperity, military prosperity. It will all happen when the Messiah comes and these disciples were reared with that expectation and then the Messiah came and none of that happened.
The people didn't know who He was. They thought He was John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah, one of the prophets. The religious leaders, the Pharisees, the scribes and the others, hated Him, despised Him, wanted Him dead, mocked Him. Said He came right out of the pit of hell. He was Satanic.
You see, all their expectations were unfulfilled. And now they're in Caesarea/Philippi, it says in verse 13, which is the northeasternmost corner of the land of Palestine and they're in a kind of exile because things are so hot down in Galilee, they had to retreat to a place of safety and quiet. And the whole plan isn't actually going the way they had thought it would go. And to make it worse, if they think it's bad up to now, wait till they hear the speech that begins in verse 21 when Jesus starts to tell them He has to suffer and die. And whatever may be left of their hopes after that speech, very difficult to hold on to. And that's why Peter says, "Let it not be so, Lord, this shall not be unto Thee." You can't mean it, Lord, You're not going to die. And He goes on to say, "Yes I am, get thee behind Me, Satan."
Not only am I going to die but in verse 24 He says you're going to take up your cross and verse 25, you're going to have to lose your life for My sake. This whole thing is all about death.
Now in the midst of that kind of situation you can imagine the disciples are going to wonder whether or not they've picked the right person and whether or not the plan hasn't been totally destroyed. But we notice in verse 16 that they affirm they know who He is, You are Christ the Son of the living God. But has the plan gone wrong? And so it is at this very juncture as Jesus moves into the shadow of the cross only a few months away and the time is drawing to a close that He spent with His disciples, it is at this moment that He reminds them, "I will continue to build My redeemed assembly." It's a great confidence statement in the midst of what looked like a plan that wasn't working out. I'll continue to build My church and the gates of Hades shall not be victorious over it.
Now this is to encourage and strengthen their hearts. And may I add that that same passage has been the strength and encouragement of many, many saints through all the years since it was written, who found themselves in a situation where they wondered whether God was not on the losing end of the battle, whether things were not working out for good but for bad...that has been the confident hope of all of us that Christ continues to gather together His redeemed people. And that is the rhyme and the reason of history, that there should be collected a redeemed community, the church of the first born, the assembly of the redeemed who forever and ever will be to the praise of His glory. And so our Lord gives them that confidence.
Now let's look at this section from verses 18 to 20 again, as we did last week. And when Christ builds a church, what's it like? Well, there's several points, let's go through them very quickly, the ones we did last week. First, we see the certainty of it. The church that Christ builds is a certain church. "I will build My church." There's certainty there. There's the promise and power of God there. It is based on His faithfulness, we can count on it.
Secondly, we see the intimacy of it. "My church..." the personal pronoun, it's His own personal possession. I love what Jesus said in John 6, "All that the Father gives to Me shall come to Me." John 10, "My sheep hear My voice and I know them and have known of them." Intimacy...one, he that is joined to the Lord is one spirit, joint heirs with Jesus Christ. Hebrews 2, He's not ashamed to call us brothers. And so there's intimacy as well as certainty.
Thirdly, we saw the identity of the church. He calls it "church," ekklesia from ek kaleo, to call out. The word is a general non technical word. It's used in many ways. It means a group called together for a certain meeting. The Greeks used it of a town meeting, of a meeting of the people of a certain city state to discuss their business. The word ekklesia, for example, appears in Acts 7:38 in reference to Israel. They're called the ekklesia in the wilderness. It appears in Acts 19 when the mob at Ephesus rioted, they're called an ekklesia, a group of people gathered together, an assembly broke into a riot. In Hebrews 12:22 to 24, all the redeemed of all the ages gathered before the throne of God are called the church, the ekklesia. So the word has a very general meaning. And I say that so you don't make the mistake of identifying this verse just with the New Testament church. It's a broader use than that because it was used in a very general sense. And the church isn't even started till Acts chapter 2. What the Lord is saying is I will go on building My redeemed people, collecting My assembly.
Now if you want the technical use of the word church, you wait till you get to the book of Acts as it begins to emerge and then into the epistles as you find the very technical use. A parallel would be to look, for example, at the word deacon. And you see it in Acts 6 where certain men are chosen out to serve. It's very non-technical. Deacon, diakonos means servant, that's all. They were chosen to serve. You get into 1 Timothy and all of a sudden the deacon becomes an official title of an official office in the church. So you go from a very general usage to one that becomes more particular. And the same is true with the word church. And here the Lord is saying I will continue to build My assembled people. And I see the whole continuity here of all of redemptive history. The church is not yet apportioned out as it later will be in the book of Acts and in the epistles.
So, the Lord is building a church with certainty, with intimacy, and with identity. The redeemed people who have come to God by faith are intimate with Him and His church goes on to its fulfillment.
Now let's look at a fourth point. And here we come to the heart of the text. And we're going to really do a study, a Bible study, more than anything else, not a lot of application because we must understand this very often misunderstood text. The foundation of the church...what is the foundation of the church the Lord builds? It says it right in verse 18, "I say also unto thee that thou art Peter and upon this rock I will build My church."
Now the Lord is going to build His church on a rock. The question we have is what is that rock, right? Now the normal language appears to say "you are Peter," and Peter translated means stone, rock, "and upon this rock I'll build My church." And so the very normal and first impression as you look at it is you're Peter, I'm going to build My church on you, Peter. And at that point, some of us who are Protestants get a little bit anxious because we say, "Now that's what the Catholics say." And that's what they say, to be sure. They say that this verse means the church is built on Peter. And therefore it establishes Peter as the first Pope, the first head of the church.
For example, Catholic theology says the Pope is crowned with a triple crown, king of heaven, king of earth and king of hell. He wields two swords, the spiritual and the temporal. The Lord conferred on St. Peter the first place of honor and jurisdiction in the government of His whole church and that same spiritual authority has always resided in the popes and bishops of Rome as being the successors of St. Peter. Consequently, says the Catholic theology, to be true followers of Christ, all Christians, both among the clergy and laity, must be in communion with the Pope of Rome where Peter still rules in the person of his successor.
Now that's Catholic theology, that Peter here is given the papacy. And that he established papal succession and that every pope that's come out of the Roman system and sat in Rome, and it gets confusing sometimes because there were as many as three at one time competing with one another, but supposedly has passed on Petrine authority so that now when there is a pope there, he is a pope, as it were, who is from the loins of Peter and bears his same authority, therefore he speaks authoritatively the truth of God. And when he speaks ex cathedra, it is as binding as the Bible. Now that's the papal system. And they get that out of this passage.
Now frankly, I really don't want to spend a lot of time arguing against that because it only comes out of the white spaces not from the words here because it doesn't say anything about that, not anything at all. And you almost don't even want to dignify such stuff by commenting on it out of this passage, lest you should be at all thought...else you should think at all that there's any hint of it here. There isn't.
Peter can't be the head of the church, Christ is. And Peter, no Peter, no earthly individual on his own can hold up the whole church by his authority. So Protestants very often approach this text and the one thing they want to do is make sure that we get rid of the thought that the church is built on Peter, right? So what they'll say, and this is a very common interpretation, "Thou art Peter," Petros, it's a masculine form of the word, "and upon this rock, petra" different word, different form of the same root, "I will build My church." And so the traditional interpretation then has been, "You are Petros--which means stone--but upon this petra," and Lydell(?) and Scott(?), for example, who give us Greek meanings say it means a rock bed, or a rocky mountain, or a rocky peak. In other words, you're a stone, but upon a rocky peak, or a rocky mountain I'm going to build My church so that the statement is a contrast. You're a little rock, I'm going to build My church on a big rock. And then they go back to the antecedent in verse 16, the confession of Peter and they say that is the rock bed, "Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God." And so, the Lord is saying you're a little rock, upon that rock bed confession of the reality of My deity I'm going to build My church.
Now that's fair to do that with the text because there is a difference in those two words. And I really don't have a problem with that viewpoint. If you want to hold that viewpoint, that's fine. In fact, I think at one time or other in my life, I've probably held that viewpoint, too. But as I've been studying it lately, I've kind of been thinking along another direction. And I'll show you what sort of shook me up. In Ephesians 2:20, as I began to think this through, we have a very interesting statement. It says here that the household of God, or the temple of God or the church of Christ, whatever you want to call it, verse 20 of Ephesians 2, is built on the foundation of the Apostles and prophets. Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone. Now follow my thinking. In Ephesians 2:20 it says the church is built upon the foundation of...whom? The Apostles. It says there then the very thing we're trying to make it not say in Matthew 16, you understand that?
You say, "Well, now wait a minute, in Matthew 16 it just says Peter." Yes, but what have we been saying all along in this passage as we looked at it? When Peter spoke he spoke on behalf of the whole group, did he not? And Peter spoke the consensus of the group and when Christ replied to Peter, in a very real sense He replied to the group. And so I really don't feel that uncomfortable if you just say you're Peter and upon this rock I'll build My church. You say, "Well, then how do you account for the petra, Petros difference?" Well, Petros has to be used in the case of Peter because it's a masculine form and he's a man. And so linguistically we won't have a problem saying you're a rock and upon that rock I'll build My church.
Now if we accept that, all we're saying then there is the very same thing it says in Ephesians 2:20, very same thing, that the church is built on the foundation of the Apostles, Peter being representative of them. And Peter was sort of a major representative, wouldn't you agree? I mean, for example, when you go into the book of Acts you'll find his name mentioned 50 times in the first twelve chapters of Acts...50 times. And you will find that the sermon he preached on the day of Pentecost was not just Peter but it was Peter speaking on behalf of all those who believed, wasn't it? For they all held to that same message and as a result three thousand were converted. It was again through the testimony of Peter in John, chiefly of Peter, that two thousand more were added later to the church in chapter 4. It was through the testimony and ministry of Peter that the lame man was healed. It was through Peter's leadership that the election of Matthias took place to replace Judas. It was the heroic message of Peter before the Sanhedrin. And so, you see, Peter was a key person and was acting as a representative of the ministry of all of them. So I don't really have a problem with the Lord saying...so you could take either view, the Lord saying to Peter, "You're the rock and on that rock I'll build My church." And then saying the same thing essentially as we saw in Ephesians 2:20.
And now comes the key question...but in what sense is the church built on the Apostles, Peter being the leader of them? The Roman Catholics say it is built on his rank, or his elevation to authority, or his elevation to office, or his elevation to worthiness, or his elevation to some high-level position. But the Bible doesn't say that. If it was built on the Apostles, it was not built on their persons, not built on their persons but built on their what? Teaching...right? That's why when the early church came together, they did not worship the Apostles, Acts 2:42, they studied the Apostles' what? Doctrine and teaching. So that what He is really saying is, "You're Peter and I can build My church on you as one of the foundation stones because you have affirmed `Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God,' and you didn't get it," verse 17 says, "from flesh and blood, you got it from My Father who is in heaven. And since you are the vehicle through whom the Father is revealing His truth, I can build My church on that."
So, the church is built. And it's built on those Apostles initially who affirmed the divine revelation coming from God and thus laid the foundation that is spoken of in Ephesians 2:20. So when we look at Ephesians 2:20 and we see the foundation of the church being the Apostles and prophets, it isn't their rank and it isn't their office and it isn't their title, it is the fact that they laid that foundation because they proclaimed the Word of God, so much so that they themselves were in many ways inseparable from their very message.
I think Martin Luther said it well. He said, "All who agree with the confession of Peter are Peters themselves setting a sure foundation." And I believe that the Lord is still building His church and putting up those living stones that Peter talks about, He's still building His church on those people who affirm the revelation of God about Christ to be true.
To look at it another way. A group of people who do not believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of the living God have no place where Christ can build His church. And so it's a mute(?) point. If you want to take the view you are a little stone and I'll build it on the rock of your confession, or if you want to say you're one with your confession, and you, Peter, can become a foundation because of your confession, because you're living by the revelation of God, because you're affirming the truth that the Father reveals to you, you are laying that foundation. Either way, you come up with the same thing. And so, the foundation of the church is the revelation of God as given to us through the Apostles. And today we lay down that foundation by establishing God's Word, we keep it there.
In 1 Corinthians 3, Paul approaches it from a little different angle when he says, "For other foundation can no man lay then that is laid which is Christ Jesus." That's not...that appears initially to be a direct contradiction to Ephesians 2:20. Here you have the Apostles and prophets foundation, here you have Christ the foundation. There's no contradiction at all. The only reason the Apostles and prophets were allowed to be the foundation stones was because they affirmed the reality of Christ as the true foundation. So, I believe the Lord is collecting all of those disciples into that confession and He says you've said it, Peter, and it's upon that affirmation of divine revelation about who I am as the Son of the living God that I can build My church.
What is this saying in a sense? It's saying that the Lord builds His church on His truth, but always has chosen to reveal His truth through His people so that they become inseparable from that truth. His people are one with Christ. The Apostles were so intimately attached to Jesus Christ that in one place Christ is the foundation and in another place they're the foundation. They were so intimately attached with and so true to His Word that in one place His Word is a sure foundation and another place the Apostles are the foundation. But whether it's Christ or the Apostles or the Word, it's all saying the same thing cause all were inseparably linked. You understand? And the Lord is still building His church on people who confess His Word, who confess the Lordship of Jesus Christ, the deity of Jesus, the Word of God, He's still building the church on the foundation of Jesus Christ and the doctrine of the Apostles.
Now the one thing we know here is that He didn't establish the primacy of Peter. And I'll show you why. Look at chapter 18 of Matthew, verse 1, "At the same time came the disciples to Jesus saying, Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven?" Now stop there.
If you go back to verse 19 of chapter 16 it says "I will give you, Peter, the keys of the kingdom of heaven." The Catholics say that's papal authority, the authority to open and close and control. So if Peter was given the keys to the kingdom, and the disciples come to Jesus and they say, "Who is the greatest in the Kingdom?", there's one thing for sure about that question, they wouldn't ask it if they already knew who it was, right? So the point is, they didn't have any idea that Peter was being given some papal primacy, or they wouldn't have even asked the question. You understand what I'm saying? Now follow Jesus' answer. Did Jesus say, "You know who it is, it's Peter, don't you remember what I said to you the other day?" No. Jesus called a little child, the most obscure kind of answer. Set him in the midst and said, "Verily I say unto you, unless you be converted and become as little children you shall not enter into the Kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the Kingdom of heaven."
So, who's the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven? Whoever, whoever humbles himself like a little child. He didn't say Peter, did He? So whatever was going on in the dialogue in chapter 16 certainly didn't assign to Peter any great primacy in the Kingdom. And there you have the indication that the Lord didn't intend that.
Now go to chapter 20 of the book of Matthew and verse 20, "Then came to Him the mother of Zebedee's children," that's James and John's mother and the sons are taking along and they worshiped and they desired a certain thing, and they came with their mother to get this request, "And He said unto her, What wilt thou...what do you want...? She said to Him, Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on Thy right hand and the other on Thy left in the Kingdom." Now what is she asking? She's saying, "Would you let James and John be the primary ones in the Kingdom?" Now listen, you know what this tells me? This tells me that James and John also never thought Jesus gave any particular primacy to Peter or they wouldn't have been there asking that question. You see? So neither James nor John nor their mother nor the rest of the disciples nor Jesus Himself ever meant that that should be construed from that passage as all of these indications tell us.
And then what about Peter? Did he think he was made pope? Hardly. In 1 Peter 5 he writes, "The elders who are among you I exhort who am also an elder." What are you saying, Peter? You're the pope. No, no, I'm just one with all the rest of you guys. I'm just another witness of the sufferings of Christ, a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed and I'm just telling you feed the flock which is among you, take the oversight not by constraint but willingly, not for filthy lucre but of a ready mind and neither as being lords over the charge committed to you but be an example to the flock. And then he goes on to say God resists the proud, gives grace to the humble, so humble yourselves. He's not telling us...he's not pulling rank, he's saying I'm just one like you and I'm just telling you don't do it as a lord over the flock, do it as a faithful shepherd, humble yourself, don't be proud. Listen, that's not speaking ex cathedra, that's humility.
So, the disciples never perceived Matthew 16 as giving Peter primacy. James and John never perceived it that way and they were intimate with Jesus. Peter never perceived it that way or he wouldn't have said what he said in 1 Peter 5. And the Lord Himself never perceived it that way or He wouldn't have said the greatest in the Kingdom is anybody who humbles himself like a little child.
So, we learn that the church then is built on the foundation. And the foundation is the doctrine revealed by God through those who were the foundational men, Peter being their leader and representative of the whole of them.
Now that brings us to the next feature and this will expand the one you've just studied. I call this the invincibility of the church. When Christ builds the church, it is invincible. I just love this. Watch verse 18...before we get to 19, verse 18, "And the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it." Now you've heard sermons on that. Let me see if I can kind of get you to think clearly about it.
I remember hearing about a whole dramatized scene where the church is here and here comes the devil and all his demons and all their forces and they are attacking the church and they're blasting and firing away at the church. And that was supposedly the imagery here. But it is not so because it says the gates of Hades will not overpower, overcome, hold in, conquer or whatever. Now when an army comes to attack they don't carry their gates from their city and throw the gates at the enemy. I mean, gates are not weapons, you understand that? Gates are not weapons. Gates are used to hold people in like in prison gates, jail gates. And so, the gates refer to something that's going to try to keep the church captive. And what is that something? They're the gates of Hades.
What is Hades? Hades simply means the abode of the dead. It's the same as the word Sheol. It isn't talking about the torment of eternal hell, it's simply the term used for the grave. It is never used specifically to speak of the torment of hell, it is the grave, the place of the dead, the realm of the dead, the place where all go when they die. And so what it's saying is this, death can't hold in God's redeemed people. See it? The gates of the grave can't keep us. And that is...that's the heart and soul of everything for the Christian, right? That there is victory through the grave, life after death. That's why Jesus died. John 14:19, "Because I live, ye shall live...what?...also." And that's the whole point that the worst that the devil can do to the church is to do what? Kill it, martyr, kill us. He has the power of death, Hebrews 2:14. And Satan will try to kill Christians, destroy the church, but the gates of Hades can't hold it in. It will burst out just like Christ burst out of the grave the third day. That's Acts 2 verse 24, that great word of Peter talking about Jesus Christ whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death because it was not possible that He should be held by it. Do you see? It wasn't possible for death to hold Christ and it isn't possible for death to hold us. And that's why we cry out with Paul in 1 Corinthians 15, "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? But thanks be unto God who giveth us the victory." That's the great hope of the Christian. No, no, this is a promise of resurrection and it's a very fitting one because He's just going to talk about the fact that He's going to die, He's going to be killed and He's going to be raised the third day. And later on He's going to say to them, men are going to kill you, they're going to destroy you, they're going to throw you out of the synagogues, you're going to have to give up your life, it says in verse 25, you may lose your life for My sake. And with all of the death that's coming on their scene, the death of Christ, most of the Apostles died as martyrs, with all of that anticipation, He is saying to them, I will be building My church and the gates of the grave will never hold it in.
Isn't that a great truth? This is the promise of resurrection. Every one who loves the Lord Jesus Christ leaves this world to enter into God's glorious world, absent from the body is instantly what? Present with the Lord. Far better to depart and be with Jesus Christ. And we wait just the redemption of the body when Jesus returns to take us to be with Him, our bodies rise out of the grave to be joined with the spirits that are already with Jesus Christ in that glorified form in which we shall give Him praise and glory forever and ever and ever.
In Revelation 1:18 it says that when Jesus died and rose again, He said, "I am He that liveth and was dead and am alive forevermore, amen, and have the keys of Hades and death." He has the keys, you see. He went down and took them from the devil, Hebrews 2:14, He destroyed the one who had the power of death. He took the keys and now He unlocks the grave and lets His own out. That's our hope. And as the song writer said in the church triumphant, "Many a foolish conqueror has made the mistake of thinking that because he has driven the church of Jesus Christ out of sight that he has stilled its voice and snuffed out its life, but the powerful current of a rushing river is never diminished because it is forced to flow underground." And there will be ultimately a bursting out of the church and all the redeemed throng will gather at the foot of the throne of God forever and ever and ever and ever. And Hades and the grave and death will never hold us. That's our hope.
Now you know how important that was to this little group of guys? They were going to look back and the day would come when they would be in the heat of that battle and the Holy Spirit would fulfill the promise that Jesus made, that He when He comes will bring all things to your remembrance. And I imagine there were times in the midst of their dying for the cause of Jesus Christ when they could hear the echo coming down through their minds of the words of Jesus Christ, "The gates of Hades shall not prevail against it."
And so we see when Jesus builds a church there is certainty, there is intimacy, there is identity, there is foundation, there is invincibility. Now look at the authority of it, verse 19. This is a great, great statement, the authority of it. He's still talking to Peter as representative of the group, "And I will give unto you, Peter, the keys of the Kingdom of heaven." That's authority, folks. You can lock it up and you can unlock it. "And whatever you bind," that means you forbid it, "shall be bound in heaven. And whatever you loose," that means you shall permit it, "shall be loosed in heaven."
You say, "Now wait a minute, that's a lot of power to give one guy. No wonder the Catholics got that out of there. You mean you've got the keys to the Kingdom of heaven and you can say who's in and who's out?" That's right. "And you can say you can't do that, that's forbidden; you can do that, that's permitted? You mean you have the authority to say that? You mean, Peter was given that authority?" That's right.
Let me take you a step further. John chapter 20, this will even amaze you more. It isn't only Peter, follow this, look what He says, "Whosoever sins you remit, they're remitted unto them; and whosoever sins you retain, they're retained." Now He's gone beyond Peter and He's given all of them authority to say your sins are on you, your sins are off of you, your sins bind you, your sins are loosed from you, you are forgiven, you are not forgiven. You mean to tell me He gave those men the right to say that to somebody? Your sins are forgiven, your sins are not forgiven? That's right. That's right.
Peter in Acts 16, the rest of the group in John 20, now go...I mean in Matthew 16, now go back to Matthew 18 and I'll show you something even more amazing...even more amazing. Look what it says, verse 17, and it's talking about disciple, you go to a person, he doesn't respond, you take two or three witnesses, doesn't respond, if he neglects to hear, Matthew 18:17, tell it unto the church, the whole redeemed assembly. And if he neglects to hear them, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a tax collector.
So, He says now look, you tell the whole assembly to go to that man and confront him about his sin and tell him he can't do that. What does that mean? You go to that man and say, "Hey, your sins are bound on you, you're still sinning, you're out of line with God's Word, you are to repent, you are to turn from that." And you say, "You mean we have the authority to do that? We're supposed to go out and tell people that. Boy, that's...ohh, I worry about doing that." And that's why verse 18 is there. "So verily I say to the whole church, Whatever you shall bind on earth shall have been already bound in heaven; and whatever you shall loose on earth shall have been already loosed in heaven."
Now wait a minute. First He said that to Peter. Then He said it to all of them. Then He said it to the whole duly constituted assembly of redeemed people. You mean we can go into the world and say your sins are bound on you, your sins are loosed from you, your sins are forgiven, your sins are not forgiven, you can do that, you can't do that? What authority.
That's right. You say, "Well, now wait a minute. Where did we get that authority? How in the world can we have that authority?" I'll tell you how, very simply, where is all of the truth needed to apply to every situation? It's in the Word of God, isn't it? It says what you're doing shall have already been done where? In heaven. You want to know how we can know what heaven is approving and disapproving? It's right here, isn't it? I have the authority if a person comes up to me, I can say to that person, "Have you received Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior?" If he says yes, I say then your sins are forgiven...your sins are loosed. If someone says to me, "I have never received Jesus Christ." I have the authority based on the Word of God to say to that individual, "Your sins are retained, your sins are not forgiven." And I have the authority to know that what I said to that individual, heaven has already said because heaven has revealed it right here. That's that authority. It is not some authority isolated from the Word of God. That's why the promise of the keys came on the heals of a divine revelation from the Father. As long as the Father is giving you the Word on the basis of the revelation of the Father, you have the authority. And I can say to a person you are forbidden to do that. Why? Because the Bible says so. I can say to another person you're free to do that because the Bible says so.
So that Peter had that right. The disciples had that right. So does the church because we have heaven's word on the matter. You understand? So it isn't some authority based on title. It isn't some authority based on office, or some human worthiness, or some elevation or some intelligence level, or some wisdom level. It is that the authority of the church lies in the fact that the church has heaven's word on everything and it can take heaven's word and make it authoritative in the lives of people.
Now, beloved, that is why we never compromise the Word of God cause it's the only authority we have. And God has put His church in the world and given His church His word so that His church can stand as a light, as a standard setting the pattern that is God's pattern. We pray Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven, and it can be as we enact heaven's decisions by the implementation of this Word of God which is authoritative. That's why I say so often that the church has to take God seriously. We're God's standard in the world. And we have to say to this world you can't do that. Your sins are bound on you. That's what heaven says in this book and heaven is in agreement with us, it's already settled there.
So, the church is the authority in the world. That's right. And those who are in the church are authoritative in the world as long as they enforce the Word of the living God revealed to them through the Spirit. And so we have authority. And we don't worry about what the world says, we're not going to change our message. We're not going to compromise. Our reason to exist in this world is to glorify God and we glorify God when we hold up the standard of His Word, don't we?
A final thought. We've seen the certainty of it, the intimacy of it, the identity of it, the foundation, the invincibility, the authority, finally, and just a word on this, would you look at verse 20 and see the spirituality of it? The church of Jesus Christ is a spiritual entity. "Then charged He His disciples that they should tell no man that He was Jesus the Christ." Now why did He tell them not to do that? I mean, some of us have been waiting for years for a command like that so we could step instantly into obedience because we never tell anybody about it. And you wonder, well, how can you square that off with a command later, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature?" Why does He say don't tell anybody that I'm Jesus the Christ? Why? Because the people were looking for a political economic Messiah. And He says, "Look, don't tell them I'm the Christ, their expectations are warped and all it does is confuse them and put pressure in the wrong area." We are not a political earthly economic kingdom. It's a spiritual reality and that's part of the problem. People don't understand the spiritual dimension.
His Messiahship, they thought, was primarily political, military, economic, earthly. He said it's spiritual, it's spiritual. And so they really couldn't say anything, you know, when they gathered in the upper room, and He appeared to them and they waited and He told them, He said, "You wait until the Holy Spirit comes and then you go." There really wasn't a lot of witnessing going on up to that time because the people's expectations were so warped. And I guess that's why I get very, very nervous when I see politics mixed with Christianity because ours is a spiritual message...a message of Christ the Son of the living God. And we will not offer any other Jesus than that one who is revealed in the Scripture.
Oh what a church Christ is building...a spiritual church, a church with authority, a church with invincibility, a church with a foundation on the revelation of the living God as granted by the Spirit through His Apostles and continuing to be built on those who confess the same truth, a church with identity, the sum of all the redeemed of all the ages, a church with intimacy, those who are the personal possessions of Jesus Christ and a church with certainty, it will be built. He will bring us to glory, will He not? That's His promise.
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2 Corinthians 1:3
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort.
In virtually all his letters, Paul prefaces everything else he has to say with this sort of praise to God. It is easy to sort of gloss over such words of praise as a kind of religious formality, sort of the ecclesial version of a handshake. But for Paul, such words—-spoken at the opening of his letters—-form the underpinning of everything else Paul has to say. "In the beginning God…" is more than a pretty sentiment from Genesis: it is a solid reality of life. Before, beneath and beyond everything else Paul has to say and do in his letters, the fact is there is a God and Father of Jesus who is blessed and who is not merely a Ground of Being or a Theological Axiom but is our—-our very own—-Father of mercies and God of all comfort. Everything else in Paul's letters leads back to that fact. Today, bless the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ for his mercies and comforts to us.


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This is an essay that I wrote last year on changing concepts of professionalism for a module on the Cardiff EdD. The ideas need a lot more work but there may be some parts that are of wider interest including a history of medical professionalism in the UK.
Governmentality refers to a Foucauldian concept of the "art of governing". If you have any thought on what I have written then please leave a comment. I'm publishing it today as a follow-up to some discussion with Cl are Gerada.
Governmentality and Medical Professionalism
Saturday, 24 September 2011
Wednesday, 14 September 2011
Social media, black humour and professionals...
Last week I presented at #altc2011 (the Association for Learning Technology Conference). My topic was "On being public.... how social media reshapes professional identity". One of my main points was that social media almost necessitates a reflexivity which we can get by without in face to face encounters. The pace of interaction is fast, we're dealing with people we may not otherwise come across, and norms are still being established. In fact we may never even get to the stage of having 'social norms'. Probably the only way to operate in these spaces is by having internalised your own values, but also being able to step outside of those values and to see what has shaped who you are and what you think, and to afford the same courtesy to others.
A few days later I came across a discussion between several male doctors on twitter which caused me to reflect on this very topic. The doctors were using slang, which I have not come across before, to refer to the wards in which they might have been working. The terms used were 'labia ward' and 'birthing sheds' to refer to the delivery suite where women give birth, and "cabbage patch" to refer to the intensive care ward where many patients are unconscious.
I was shocked at this and angry and did query the doctors about some of the other things they said, but I felt I couldn't challenge them directly at that time about this language. One of the doctors referred to midwifes as 'madwives' and was challenged by a medical student to justify this position. In the meantime I pulled together the tweets using a curation tool and informed the doctors involved that I had done this. I did not tweet the link publicly and did not endeavour to have a conversation in public about this. However I did feel the need to check with others how they felt about this exchange so I sent them a link to the collated tweets by private message. I wanted to find out if my own shock and revulsion was typical and also to gain some advice on what to do about this.
Almost all replies stated that they found the discussion insensitive. Doctors seemed to be as likely to be offended as non-doctors. Some thought that this was risky behaviour because regulators may take action. I personally think this is very unlikely and do not consider these tweets a disciplinary offence.
How did I feel?
I was surprised at the strength of my reaction to this. I wanted to let it pass but I also felt that this was not appropriate. I felt that the language objectified women and was misogynistic. I privately told one of the doctors this and asked that he removed the tweets but he refused to do so and suggested that my feelings of offence were my problem.
Some doctors have thought that I am concerned that this kind of talk will 'bring the profession into disrepute'. But I am not. I believe that patients make assessments of us as individuals. I don't believe that the public will think less of doctors after this. As has been pointed out, programmes like "Cardiac Arrest" have portrayed doctors as cold and callous individuals. But there has been no corresponding fall in trust in the "profession".
The doctors involved in the initial discussion have suggested that my views to their use of slang are atypical. Only a very small number of their followers have raised any kind of objection to their use of this language. Perhaps inside more women are offended but they feel that they can not speak up because to have your views dismissed publicly is humiliating. I don't know. But I don't think that this is an issue of numbers.
My account of this episode, so far, has been very personal. But I also want to place this story in a wider context within the medical education literature on professionalism and black humour. Is the use of derogatory humour or slang by medical professionals inappropriate? Berk thinks that ;
"Simply put, derogatory and cynical humour as displayed by medical personnel are forms of verbal abuse, disrespect and the dehumanisation of their patients and themselves. Those individuals who are the most vulnerable and powerlessin the clinical environment – students, patients and patients' families – have become the targets of the abuse. Such humour is indefensible, whether the target is within hearing range or not; it cannot be justified as a socially acceptable release valve or as a coping mechanism for stress and exhaustion."
Berk was writing this in response to research by Wear and colleagues on medical students and residents attitudes to this kind of humour. It is interesting to note that usually it is referred to as being performed behind closed doors. Some accounts suggest that it is about establishing insider and outsider groups if performed in public.
Wear suggests that doctors "throughout academic medicine might begin candid discussions of derogatory and cynical humour in their particular cultures in order to become better aware of their participation in it and their responses to it when they overhear it from others".
And so I am writing this. Social media- blogs and twitter- are my culture. I want to raise this topic here- in this public space- so that I can think about how I respond to it in the future when I 'overhear' it. The next time I may choose to ignore it. Despite Wear's suggestion that incidents like this provide 'teachable moments', and should be challenged, the spaces of social media are much more exposed than a hospital corridor.
But at the same time my blog is also a relatively safe place for me. I await your thoughts.
Monday, 12 September 2011
My #altc2011 presentation.
View more presentations from Anne Marie Cunningham
If you view this directly on slideshare the speaker notes might make my points much clearer I hope. When the video of the presentation becomes available I will upload that too.
Enjoy and any questions/comments please post them here!
If you view this directly on slideshare the speaker notes might make my points much clearer I hope. When the video of the presentation becomes available I will upload that too.
Enjoy and any questions/comments please post them here!
Sunday, 11 September 2011
A story needs a story-teller...
On September 11th 2001 I was working in Bristol as a doctor training in public health, I had arrived in Bristol less than a month before and still hadn't found anywhere to stay. Some friends said I could house-sit for them, whilst they were on holiday.
I watched the tragic events that day on a computer screen at work. I went back to the empty house and felt very alone. I hoped to hear that my friends in the US were OK. I felt powerless.
Today Twitter is full of many sharing their personal reflections of that day. Atul Gawande has been writing about how it was to be a doctor in New York. He is sensitive. But an account @911tenyearson by the Guardian, which was tweeting the factual series of events 'as it happened' has stopped. There are many tweets describing that stream as "bad taste" and "distasteful", but I think that it is the comment that these tweets were "blunt and faceless" when a "story needs a storyteller" which perhaps gets closest to why so many were annoyed.
Many expect social media presence to show sensitivity today. Many don't want cold hard facts. But others can't see why the stream ended.
Saturday, 10 September 2011
"What is evidence?" - tweets from a #amee2011 symposium
After 2 weeks of conferences I have a lot of SoMe activity to catch up with! This storify is for @mikey3982. Luckily I had set up a tweet archive of #amee2011 tweets with FoxePractice. I then have a scoopit chrome plugin that makes it quite easy to move tweets from the archive to a storify. A lot of my tweets contain images of slides but scoopit doesn't detect and embed these automatically as keepstream does- BUT- keepstream doesn't embed nicely (last time I checked anyway) and there isn't a chrome plugin.
I've also added in some tweets from the afternoon synposium on the contribution of the social sciences to medical education research. Greenhalgh was also present for this.
I've also added in some tweets from the afternoon synposium on the contribution of the social sciences to medical education research. Greenhalgh was also present for this.
Friday, 9 September 2011
Social media, organisations, identity and anonymity- an interview
Steve Wheeler interviewed me at the ALT-C conference on Wednesday just after my presentation on social media and professional identity. I will blog that shortly but here is the interview in the meantime.
Watch live video from jamesclay on Justin.tv
Watch live video from jamesclay on Justin.tv
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text:
By Andrew Bergmann, for NBA.com
Here's a look at how starters on all 30 NBA teams share the basketball.
(Click graphic to expand)
The thickness of the gray lines on the accompanying chart represents the average number of passes per game between two players.
A very clear picture emerges on which teams distribute the ball more evenly between players, such as the Nets, Bulls and Cavaliers. On the flip side, Chris Paul and Blake Griffin dominate passing for the Clippers, and likewise for Kevin Love and Ricky Rubio of the Timberwolves.
This data would have been virtually impossible to collect in the past. However, all NBA arenas are now equipped with SportVU technology. Several cameras are installed overhead which are used to track every move of the game.
Click on the chart for a bigger version.
The top level center, point guard, shooting guard, small forward and power forward were selected from all team depth charts.
The average number of passes were calculated from data from this season only (through Tuesday), taking into account only those games where all five players were active and saw playing time.
In-bounds passes were excluded.
Line thickness represents combined passing in both directions between two players.
Special thanks to Matt Scott and Ryan Warkins.
Andrew Bergmann's data driven design work can be found on CNN, NBA Digital, Sports Illustrated, FastCompany and Visual.ly. See more on www.dubly.com and twitter.com/dubly


text: Salem College was looking to increase enrollment by enhancing their communications to prospective students. Salem chose Keiger Graphic Communications to help with the task of reducing direct marketing budget by 20% all while increasing future enrollment. The resulting personalized campaign, which included mailers, emails, PURLs, and YouTube integration, increased response rates by 303% all while decreasing their mailing quantity by 20%.


text:
I speak to you from the very depths of Lewis Carroll's Hunting of the Snark … Fit the Fourth … an overly-inked German philosopher is bullying a better-inked Canadian Snark Huntress …
Judging from both the Barrister's exasperated demeanour (played here by the Eminent Continental Steamer, Martin Heidegger) and from the general tenor of Lewis Carroll's verses, the Beaver has no pride worth appealing to. And who can blame her, trapped as she is in a world not of her own making?*
Of course, all of us are trapped in a world not of our own making (probably) and it is at times like this that we might resort to the philosophical musings of the Barrister-Heidegger for further enlightenment concerning any time that we might spend being in this world almost certainly not of our own making :
"We name time when we say: every thing has its time. This means: everything which actually is, every being comes and goes at the right time and remains for a time during the time allotted to it. Every thing has its time."
After reading that, would it surprise you to learn that several philosophers were injured in the production of this Snark Hunt? Moments after this drawing was made, the Beaver savagely mauled the upper ontology of the Barrister-Heidegger!
* A common complaint of certain bright young things, those thrill-seeking, rootless cosmopolitans such as the Beaver … a Québécoise wearing an Iberian mantilla, enjoying the echt German music of Heinrich Ignatius Franz von Biber and reading the memoirs of the Mughal Emperor Babur.
NB. If you're eager for more snarkery this Friday, January 28th, 7 p.m., then come to the Librairie Drawn & Quarterly at 211 Bernard Ouest in Montreal … details here … you will enjoy the steam-powered magic lantern show I plan to expose to the public. I'll be signing books and discussing the post-Nonsensical dichotomies of Victorian hermeneutics … the poorer members of the audience can applaud politely, the rest of you rattle your poutines discreetly …


text:
Simon Lovell, 2 DVD Set W/ Special Bicycle Gaffed Deck
Extremely popular gaffed card tricks ever are featured on this 2DVD Set. Simon Lovell walks you through the performances and explains each trick while giving proper credit to their origination. Lovell performs over forty tricks that you too will learn to master using the Packet Killer, aka The Blue Deck. His add-ons and improvements take things to new levels!
Includes Bicycle Gaffed Blue Deck.
Four Odd Backed Cards - Oliver McKensie Drink Trick Variation, Simon's Namer Effect, One Handed Bottom Deal Force, Jumping Jacks
Wild Card (With Complete Routine) - The Glide, Face to Face Rub Change, Double Lift Change, Elmsley Count, Mexican Turnover Change, Hamman Count
Million Dollar Monte - Ken DeCourcey Routine, Simon's Multiple Top Change, Double Back Card Switch, Cut Switch, Six Card Turnover Switch
MacDonald's Aces - Regular Laydown, Super S Vanish, Bob Elliott's Vanish, Half Pass Vanish, Double Turn Vanish, Run Up Through Cards Variation, Piet Forton Pop Out, Simon's Version
Parade of the Kings - Original Version, Scratched Corner Ploy
Switched Cards - Simon's Transpo
Princess Card Trick - Card in Pocket, Blank Card Bluff
Double Backed Cards - Same Both Sides Switch Technique, Trick that Fooled Houdini, Simon's Give Me The Mayo, Blues Sisters, Perfect Force, No-Palm Card to Wallet, Easy Card to Wallet, Ghost of a Chance
Same Both Sides Double Facer - Open Prediction Variation
Double Face Cards - 8 Card Brainwave
Multiple Cards Printed on a Single Card - Side to Side, Top to Bottom
Card With Partial Red Back on Blue Back - Sneaky Monkey in the Middle Variation
Card With JD's on Back - Jack on The Run
Half 7C's & 5H's on Face Card - Double Your Pleasure
Blank Faced Cards - Elmsley Count Production, Half Pass Variation
Do you own this product? Write a review.


text:
Have a really cool idea for a class or glyph? Post it here and then get bashed on for how unbalanced it is!
So... anyone got cool ideas?
Proposed change to Normal dungeons: all Normal dungeons will spawn an additional altar to the God Baksheesh on the player's starting square.
Proposal: New God - BAKSHEESH
Baksheesh is the God of Trade, and exchanging possessions for money is his mode of worship. It's not having gold that he loves, though - it's getting it or losing it. Baksheesh hates it when gold is merely hoarded, and appreciates it when his adherents liberate treasure from monsters to refresh the economy. However, unlike other Gods who bestow increased power on their devout followers, Baksheesh shows his appreciation in the form of cold, hard cash.
Starting Piety
Piety gains
+1 - killing a monster
+1 - looting a gold pile
+10 - converting a Glyph
+10 - buying an item from a shop
Piety losses
Conversion: Tikki Tooki (cost: 40 Piety)
Boon: Miser's Misery (cost: 10 Piety) - Gain 1 gold when you kill a monster. (Cumulative with Tinker class ability)
Boon: Get To Give (cost: 20 Piety) - All gold piles will reward 3 Gold instead of a random amount.
Boon: Give To Get (cost: 40 Piety) - All shops offer a 20% discount. (Cumulative with Tinker class ability)
Boon: Shower of Gold (cost: 100 Piety) - Your gold pool is immediately filled to the cap.
MaximumSquid wrote:Class: TYRANT
FEARED: after leveling up enemies permanently lose 5% of their max health (roughly 40% total by level 10)
DESTROYER: converting glyphs offers double the reward
UNYIELDING: cannot die from a single blow if health is full, immune to naga weakening ability
Class: SCOUT
SCOUTING: while you have full health you can see 1 additional square
CROSSBOW: first attack against a foe deals +50% bonus damage and ignores physical resistance
TRAVELS LIGHT: gold and shops are replaced with power ups instead, -1 glyph slot
Class: RANGER
PATHFINDER: all walls are revealed at the start and can pass through obstacles such as plants
LONGBOW: no retaliation from attacking an enemy with full health
NATURAL LORE: 20% resistance to physical damage, starts with +2 mana
Class: HUNTER
TRACKING: after defeating a foe enemies of the same type are revealed
ADAPTATION: permanently adds +1 base damage for every enemy killed
AMBUSH: no retaliation for attacking enemies with full health who are alone
Class: DRUID
CHANNELING: spells cost only 1 mana while your mana bar is full
COMMUNE: 4 Extra temples in dungeon
PROPHET: Can be host to 2 deities at a time, start with 40 piety
Class: NECROMANCER
NECROMANCY: defeating a foe 2 levels lower than you adds 50% of their hp and atk to yourself for your next fight
DEFILER: randomly covert blood into +1 exp, base attack, mana, or health
WEAK STAMINA: 50% less health regeneration
Pathfinder is another negative ability, unless you mean it shows them shadowed so they can be explored like the Half-Dragon's increased sight radius. Even then, it would still be fundamentally useless as there's no advantage to knowing where the walls are.
zeemeerman2 wrote:-- WALL JUMP: Can jump over walls. +80% dodge to attacks from enemies next to a wall.
zeemeerman2 wrote:-- ASSASIN: When you enter the dungeon, choose a creature type. All creatures of that type are instantly killed. You gain XP as normal. Immune to bosses. (you can also choose creature types not in the current dungeon, so beware!)
zeemeerman2 wrote:-- ARCHITECT: The dungeon starts with +2 glyphs. You have +2 glyph slots.
zeemeerman2 wrote:-- WITCH (can't be Assassin at the same time): At the start of the dungeon, name a creature type. You gain its special abilities.
zeemeerman2 wrote:CITADELS PLAYER
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text:
- Details
- Category: About UDAF
- Published: Thursday, 22 August 2013 20:58
- Written by Anne Johnson
- Hits: 41680
(801) 538-7166
(801) 538-7162 - State Veterinarian, Dr. Barry Pittman
What We Do
The Animal Industry Division of the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food has six main programs:
1) Animal Health – Focuses on prevention and control of animal diseases, with special attention to diseases that can be transmitted to humans.
2) Meat and Poultry Inspection — Assure wholesome products for consumers.
3) Livestock Inspection (brand registration and inspection) — Offer protection to the livestock industry through law enforcement.
4) Fish Health — Protecting fish health in the state and addressing concerns of fish food production and processing.
5) Elk Farming and Elk Hunting Parks – Regulating this domestic livestock industry with an emphasis on protecting Utah's wild elk population.
6) Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratories - Disease diagnosis and surveillance.