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We return to our study of the little book of Jude...little book of Jude, just 25 verses, but what a powerful, powerful epistle this book is. This book, as I said last time, gets lost in the shadow of Revelation. But if there's any letter in the New Testament that the church today needs to hear, it's this one...it's this one. The church today is weak and compromising and tolerant and shallow, unwilling largely to give biblical truth its rightful place and certainly disinterested, if not outwardly opposed to going to war to protect the truth. The church today seems to have very little interest in defending the truth against all the assaults.
In the face of that reality as the church gives evidence of having lost its will to fight for the truth, and is therefore more and more encroached on by error, the call of this potent letter comes at a critical time. And you'll notice verse 3 which, in a sense, is the theme or the heart of this letter. "Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints." It is a battle cry, this is. It is a call to arms, this letter. Jude understands that the times are critical, the truth is under assault and he is endeavoring to call together the people of God to become an army to fight for the true faith.
The times have been critical, as we noted last time, since the Lord came because with His first coming what the Bible calls the "last days" began. We are now living in the last days, the days when deceivers, doctrines of demons, hypocritical liars will pervade in their assaults against the gospel. This is the time when we are to expect apostasy, a falling away, a departure from the truth. And Jude's theme is apostasy, actually apostates. He doesn't really talk about the nature of the apostasy, that is what the doctrinal aberrations are. He is more interested in helping us to spot the apostates by looking at their lives.
Now to further kind of identify what an apostate is, an apostate is a defector from the truth. That is to say someone who has known the truth, been associated with the truth, around the truth, maybe even proclaimed the truth and still purports to do that. They know the truth but they reject it. And apostates often stay within the church. They pretend to serve God but they serve only their sinful desires. They pretend to belong to the church but they belong to Satan's kingdom. They pretend to believe the Bible but they pervert its teachings and use it for their own ends. They pretend to speak the truth, to have deep spiritual insight, even to speak for Christ but they are the agents of Satan who in reality deny the lordship of Christ in His church. What distinguishes apostates from other false teachers is their connection to Christianity. They are those who have known the truth, been exposed to the truth, who stay in some way around the truth and claim to hold to the truth but do not. And as I told you last time, apostasy is an inside job. That's why it's so dangerous. In fact, you will notice in verse 4, and I remind you of this, as he begins to describe these apostates he says, "Certain persons have crept in unnoticed." This is the MO for apostates. They take advantage of the people of God. They take advantage of their labels, of their connections to the true church.
Verse 12 further defines them as those who are hidden reefs in your love feasts. They're there under the surface ready to tear up, as it were, the ship. In truth, the description of them in verses 12 and 13 is pretty amazing. "They are clouds without water carried along by winds, autumn trees without fruit doubly dead and uprooted." The picture here is that clouds give the hope of rain but these are clouds without water. Trees give the hope of fruit, but these have none. They come along telling you they have some spiritual reality to offer and they have none. They are, verse 13, "Wild waves of the sea casting up their own shame like foam, wandering stars for whom the black darkness has been reserved forever." And over in verse 16 they are described as "Grumblers, finding fault, following after their own lusts. They speak arrogantly, flattering people for the sake of gaining an advantage. They are...in verse 18...seen as mockers following after their own lusts. They cause divisions, worldly minded, devoid of the Spirit."
Now this gives you the characterization of these apostates. The fact that they come in under the radar, that they come in under the surface of the water, that they creep in unnoticed and then begin their deception makes them very, very dangerous. And if you would notice verse 23, you get a little bit of an idea of how dangerous they are. We are given the responsibility to rescue people, to save others, snatching them out of the fire. In this battle for the truth, we're engaged in rescuing souls from the fire of judgment. And it even says in doing so in verse 23, have mercy with fear. In other words, you go into this battle, you go into this rescue operation with a healthy fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh. You go in this very carefully for the reason that you don't want any of the corruption that exists among these apostates to stain you. You hang around apostates and you'll get your clothes dirty. You go in realizing that you can be polluted by this, that your mind can be corrupted, it can lose your confidence. You can begin to doubt and fear and wonder and ask questions. So we're engaged in a battle, we're engaged in a battle for the truth which puts us in direct conflict with those who need to hear the truth and are being exposed to those who are telling them lies. We therefore are engaged in a very close and intimate level in this battle and we have to be very careful because being so close to the enemy in our rescue operation, we can find ourselves polluted by the deceptions that they are being exposed to. So we're in a battle that's going to take some great wisdom and some careful preparation, lest we find our own garments polluted in an effort to rescue other people.
Now back to the beginning for a minute. The book of Jude then becomes a manual for us for waging successfully the war for the truth. As I said, it's a call to arms and since we live in the midst of growing apostasy and are called to engage ourselves in this battle for the truth, we need to know what Jude has to teach us.
Now in the opening verses, Jude greets the Christians to whom he writes and all of us who as believers will read and benefit by this epistle. The greeting is itself very powerful. Listen to this, "Jude, a bondservant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, to those who are the called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ....or kept by Jesus Christ...may mercy and peace and love be multiplied to you."
Now last week we took a little bit of a look at that but I can't leave it because there's just too much there. I covered some of it last time, but let me just kind of take you back into that opening greeting because it is very, very important. First of all, Jude, the common name, there are quite a number of them in the New Testament, the Hebrew version is Judah, the Greek version is Judas. Jude here calls himself a bondservant of Jesus Christ and brother of James and thus he identifies himself. We know it is not Judas Iscariot, the betrayer of Christ. He can easily be eliminated. We know it is not Judas of Damascus mentioned in Acts 9:11. We know it is not Judas Barsabas mentioned in Acts 15:22 for there's no indication that either of these men was the brother of James. We know it is not Judas not Iscariot who was one of the Twelve, also called Labbaeus and Thaddaeus, he had a lot of names. And unfortunately if you have a King James Version of the Bible and you're reading in Luke 6:16 and even in Acts 1:13, Judas not Iscariot or Labbaeus, Thaddaeus, is said to be the brother of James, and that is a problematic rendering. The Greek construction in these verses should be translated "son of James," not brother of James. So this Judas not Iscariot, this Judas who is Labbaeus, Thaddaeus had a father named James, not a brother. The only other Judas you have, or Jude, you have to choose from in the New Testament is indeed the half brother of the Lord Jesus. In Matthew 13:55 and 56 it lists the names of Jesus' brothers, James, Joseph, Simon and Jude, or Judas.
And so, this is the half brother of Jesus because there is another half brother of Jesus named James. Judas, a bondservant of Jesus Christ who is the brother of James. James doesn't need any definition or description, it is the James that everyone knows, the James who is the half brother of our Lord and the James who is the leader of the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15, a leader really of the Jerusalem Church and the James who wrote the epistle of James. Really all we know about Jude is that he was the brother of James and thus the half brother of Jesus...and I say half brother because Jesus only had half the earthly parents that these men had. He only had an earthly mother, Mary, and God was His Father.
And you might wonder, why doesn't he introduce himself, Jude, the half brother of Jesus Christ? Wouldn't that give him more clout? Why did he say he was a bondservant of Jesus Christ?
Well I think the answer to the question sheds some light on Jude's character. Had he referred to himself as the brother of Jesus, he perhaps could have been accused of boasting and no doubt that was the farthest thing from his desire. He may have rather been ashamed of the kind of brother he was to Jesus through most of his life. Remember that His brothers did not believe in Him and it was not until after the resurrection that they came to believe. Then after the resurrection, the earthly relationship that he had had with Jesus ceased to be the important relationship. It didn't really matter after that what his earthly relationship to Jesus was, all that mattered was what his spiritual relationship to Jesus was and he was a bondservant of Jesus Christ, that took greater precedence than his physical relationship to Him. So he speaks, I think, the way he should speak about his relationship to Jesus. You remember one time when we pointed out last week in the third chapter of Mark, Jesus' mother and brothers were looking for Him and Jesus said, "Well, whoever does the will of God, he's My brother and sister and mother." We know that after the resurrection Jesus appeared to James because 1 Corinthians 15 says that. We know that Jesus' brothers and sisters who had come to believe in Him were in the upper room on the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came, Acts 1:14. So there was a transformation but when the transformation came, all that was sort of physical was passed and he was no longer the half brother of this man named Jesus, he was bondservant of the Jesus who was the Christ, the Messiah...a servant of Jesus, Messiah, the Promised Messiah.
And the word servant is doulos, bondslaves. He knew what slave meant. He lived in a world of slavery. He was a slave in world of slaves. This was a very familiar way to designate oneself. Paul, Romans 1:1, a bondservant of Christ Jesus, Paul loved that designation, Philippians 1:1, Paul and Timothy, bondservants of Christ Jesus. And even Peter saw himself the same way, 2 Peter 1:2, "Simon Peter, a bondservant and Apostle of Jesus Christ." And though we as Christians are free from the Law and we're free from its condemnation, we are still slaves to righteousness and slaves to the righteous One. And I love the fact that he began that way. It really suits this epistle so wonderfully because apostates cannot handle that kind of slavery. Apostates cannot handle the true slavery of the regenerate. Look at verse 4 and you will see that. "Certain persons...the apostates...have crept in unnoticed, these who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turned the grace of our God into licentiousness...see...and they deny our only Master and Lord Jesus Christ." That is to say they never will live under the authority and the lordship of Jesus Christ. They cannot handle this true slavery. They live, as it were, outside the boundaries because false salvation can't restrain the flesh. And so whenever you see an apostate, you look at his life, he will manifest himself. And that will unfold for us all through this epistle.
Jude sets himself then in stark contrast to the apostates. He is a willing slave of Jesus Christ. The apostates will claim the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and turn into license and licentiousness and, in effect, deny the lordship of Jesus Christ over them. And they live, as it were, as if Jesus was not Lord. They live in what they assume to be grace as if they had no responsibility at all. So Jude happily and properly identifies himself as a bondservant of Jesus who is the Messiah and he includes that he is the brother of James, just to give you an earthly identification. And he knows his readers will gladly track that back to the fact that he is the half brother of our Lord Jesus, but that is not the essential reality of his relationship to Jesus anymore.
And after Jude then is properly identified himself, he then properly identifies the believers to whom he writes. And I want you to notice what he says. He says, "you're called, you're loved, you're kept and you're blessed." This is a pretty obvious outline, called, loved, kept, verse 1, blessed, verse 2. This is very important against the backdrop, very important to understand why he does this because we're going to engage our minds in this discussion about apostasy. We're going to be faced with some very important questions. One of the questions that is going to come to mind is this...if all this is going on in the church, if all this corruption and apostasy is escalating and escalating and escalating and escalating, is God really sovereign? Are things running amuck because God really doesn't have control over all of this? And if that's the case, if this thing is out of hand, and if it's so potentially dangerous, we might be engaging in this battle exposed to deadly things and just in the process lose our salvation. But the fact that...listen...we are called, loved, kept and blessed in the midst of an escalating apostasy, protects both the sovereignty of God and the security of believers. Yes, apostasy escalates. Yes, it's dangerous. And that's why he begins by saying, "You have nothing to fear. You're the called, the loved, the kept and the blessed." That's how he begins and look how he ends, verse 24, a final note of encouragement, "Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy to the only God our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord be glory, majesty, dominion and authority before all time and now and forever. Amen." The bottom line is, he begins by telling us we are the called and we are the loved and we are the kept and we are the blessed and he ends by saying God is able to keep us from stumbling and make us to stand in the presence of His glory, blameless with great joy. So front and back, the emphasis is on the security of the believer...the security of the believer.
In 2 Peter 2 which I said last time parallels Jude a lot, and we'll see that parallel as we go, we see two striking examples of how God protects and delivers the godly who find themselves living in an ungodly culture doomed to destruction. And one of them Peter looks back to is the time of Noah and this is 2 Peter 2:5 to 7. Peter tells us God did not let Noah fall to the horrible evil of his day, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness with seven others...you remember Noah's wife and his three sons and their three wives, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly. God knows who belongs to Him. And then the second illustration in that same passage, he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes, but He rescued righteous...whom?...Lot. And then Peter concludes, look at it in verse 9, 2 Peter 2:9, "The Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment." God knows how to sort us out. He knows who to punish and who to protect so we can engage in this battle, realizing it's a serious one, realizing it's a dangerous one. We are literally snatching souls out of the fire, as it were, and we have to be careful lest we get stained because we get too close to this. But at the same time we need not fear that God is not sovereign over all of this and we need not fear that somehow the Lord might lose us in the battle. He knows how to rescue the godly. What a great statement. He knows how to keep us from stumbling.
And why are we so protected? The answer right there in verse 1, "Because we are the called, the loved and the kept." Consequently we are the blessed. We are the ones by God the Father called and loved and kept. This is just a tremendous insight into the great, great doctrine of election. And I've taught this enough that I don't want to go back through everything we've said, but I have to give honor to this incredible text. You will notice the word "called" there, to those who are the called, the kletos, verbal adjective from kaleo, to call. Every time this term is used in the epistles, every time it's used in Revelation, it means the same as chosen. It's a synonym for chosen and it is the main word, it's a verbal adjective, but it's the main word in the sentence. It is at the end of the sentence in the Greek. The other perfect passive participles are in apposition or explanation of this main one. Because we are the called, we are beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ. That's the way you would understand the grammar here. Or you could read it this way, "We are beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ since we are the called." It is this calling that sets us apart and makes us both loved and kept.
Now this idea of being called is really a rich part of the New Testament literature. In Romans 1:1 again, Paul says, "He was called as an Apostle." In verse 6 he talks about the obedience of faith among the Gentiles among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ. I'm called, you're called. You're also beloved, he says, in the next verse, and you're also blessed, grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. This language is then familiar to any reader of the New Testament. You see the 1 Corinthians again, 1:1, "Paul called an Apostle." And then in verse 2 , "To the church of God in Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling....by calling." And down in verse 24, "To those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God." We are the called.
Now in Revelation 17:14, that's an important verse, you can jot that down because it ties these things together. It says here, "These will wage war against the Lamb and the Lamb will overcome them because He is Lord of lords and King of kings," listen to this, "and those who are with Him...believers...are the called and chosen and faithful." Those words belong together. If you're called, you're chosen. If you're chosen, you're faith sustains. Okay? That's really a great text, Revelation 17:14. The called are the chosen are the faithful. If you're called, it's the same as being chosen. If you're chosen, your faith sustains. There's only one time this term is used in the New Testament in a general invitation that means something other than being chosen and that's in Matthew 22:14 where it says, "Many are called, few are chosen." Every other usage of this word is synonymous with the election. This is a settled call. It means to be efficaciously called, as theologians say. That is called with the desired effect that God has predetermined in eternity past.
Now it's helpful for us to get a bit of a look at this, so let me help you with it. There is a general external invitation, no question. There is general preaching of the gospel, general preaching of repentance and the general offer of salvation. Isaiah 45:22 says, "Be ye saved all the ends of the earth." Isaiah 55:6 says, "Seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near." These are general invitations. Ezekiel 33:11, "Turn ye, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, turn ye from your evil ways for while will you die?" That's a general invitation. Matthew 11:28, "Come unto Me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." That's a general invitation. John 7:37, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink." Revelation 22:17, "The Spirit and the bride say, 'Come,' and let him that hears say, "Come.' And let him that is thirsty come; and whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." That's a general invitation. And Romans 10 says, "Faith comes by hearing a word concerning Christ. Have they not heard? Yes truly, their sound went out into all the earth and their words to the end of the world." The invitation to salvation has covered the globe. This is a general, external invitation. This is the widest possible exposure of the gospel calling sinners to repentance and faith.
It is illustrated in a story Jesus told in Luke 14, verse 16. He said, "A certain man was giving a big dinner and he invited many. And at the dinner hour he sent his slave to say to those who had been invited, 'Come, for everything's ready now.' And they all alike began making excuses. The first one said to him, 'I bought a piece of land, I need to go out and look at it. Please consider me excused.' Another one said, 'I bought five yoke of oxen, I'm trying...I'm going to try them out, please consider me excused.' Another one said, 'I married a wife,...that's a bigger excuse....and for that reason I can't come,'"...couldn't get permission. Verse 21, "The slave came back, reported this to his master." That's an illustration of the general invitation. The salve comes back and says to his master, this is what happened... "The head of the household became angry, said to his slave, 'Go out at once into the streets and the lanes of the city and bring in here the poor, the crippled, the blind, the lame.' And the slave said, 'Master, what you command has been done and still there's room.' And the master said to the slave, 'Go out into the highways and the hedges and compel them to come in that my house may be filled. For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste of my dinner.'" I gave them the opportunity, I gave them the invitation...He's talking about Israel here. Israel received the general invitation and they wouldn't come. And the highways and the byways represent the Gentiles and the outcasts and the church.
And Jesus looking over Jerusalem in Matthew 23:37 says, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets and stonest those that are sent to you, how often I would have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings but you would not." I reached out, I reached out, and you refused. John 5:40, "You will not come to Me that you might have life." Acts 7:51, "You stiff-necked uncircumcised in heart and ears, you do always resist the Holy Spirit."
So here, you see, there are all through Scripture such invitations. And when you preach the gospel, you get two responses...2 Corinthians 2:16 says, "Sometimes the preaching of a truth is fragrance of death to death." Sometimes the preaching of the gospel just takes people from bad to worse. It heightens their condemnation. They go from one bad condition to a worse condition because they now have more knowledge which makes them more guilty which brings upon them greater punishment. And for others, the preaching of the gospel is a fragrance of life to life. People are always responsible for what they do with that invitation. It is a legitimate invitation. A sufficient sacrifice has been made on the cross. The offer is genuine and the offer is legitimate. And to refuse that offer is to bring upon yourself a just condemnation. People are responsible for their response to God's general external invitations to salvation. Some will respond and believe.
And that takes us to the second category and the category of this concept that is being dealt with here. Not a general call but an efficacious internal call. Not an external call, but an internal call. This is the kind of call that we've been reading about in Romans 1:7, 1 Corinthians 1, the called. This is not just an invitation extended to them on the outside, this is a moving of God on the inside. This is the work of the Holy Spirit on what the Bible calls "the elect." This is the saving call. You will remember that Paul writing in 2 Thessalonians 2:13 says, "We should always give thanks to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God has chosen you form the beginning for salvation and it was for this He called you through the gospel." He called you because He had chosen you. First comes the choosing, then comes the calling. First the choosing, then the calling. And He called you through the gospel that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ because that's what He chose you for in the beginning, as Romans 8 says, that you would be conformed to the image of His Son. This is a call that the theologians have called irresistible. This is a call not apart from human will, but by the power of God the human will is awakened, given life and sight to embrace this call. And the caller is God. In this call the caller is not the preacher. In the general call, the caller is the preacher or the witness, or the missionary. This is God, 1 Corinthians 1:9, listen, "God is faithful through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son." This is a call from God. This is a call that awakens the dead. You were dead in trespasses and sins, when this call came you were awakened out of your deadness. It is what our Lord was talking about when He said, listen to this, John 6:45, "Every one who has heard the Father comes to Me." When you hear this call, you come. And this call is predicated on the fact that you were chosen. This kind of call, as I said, cannot be resisted.
Listen to 2 Timothy 1:8 and 9. "Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord nor of me as prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God...key word God...who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works." In other words, this calling is predicated on anything we have done, it's like God's calling of Jacob over Esau before either of them were ever born, Romans 9. So, this calling has nothing to do what we have done...with what we've done, it is a holy calling not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which is granted us in Christ Jesus...listen to this...before time began. This is a calling predicated on nothing we have done, but according to a purpose and an act of grace predetermined to occur in Jesus Christ from before time began. This is so wonderful. This is the foundation of why we are secure. Our security is not found in anything we do anymore than our salvation is found in anything we do. Our security is found in the fact that from eternity past we have been chosen and we have been chosen unto eternal glory, we have been chosen to be conformed to the image of Christ, we have been chosen to be made righteous, we have been chosen to enter into the glories of heaven and worship there forever and ever. And to bring that original choice to its fulfillment, we must be called and justified, sanctified and ultimately glorified. And nobody gets lost, "All that the Father gives to Me," Jesus said, "will come to Me and I will lose none of them but raise him up at the last day." This is that calling. And if you look at Romans 8, for just a moment, I think it's important to have you see this. In Romans 8 he pulls this word "calling" as I noted a moment ago together with the big scheme of things. Verse 30, "Whom He predestined, these He also called. And whom he called, these He also justified. And whom He justified, these He also glorified." That is just a monumental statement. If you were predestined, you will be glorified because He will call you, He will justify you and He will glorify you.
No wonder the New Testament calls this a holy calling, 2 Timothy 1. No wonder the New Testament calls this a high calling, Philippians 3:14. No wonder the New Testament calls it a heavenly calling, Hebrews 3:1. It is defined in some amazing ways. In 1 Corinthians 1:9 it says we're called to fellowship with the Son. In 1 Peter 3:9 it says, "We're called to inherit a blessing." In Galatians 5:13 it says, "We're called to freedom." In 1 Corinthians 7:15 it says, "We're called to peace." In 1 Thessalonians 4:7 it says, "We're called to holiness." In Ephesians 4:4 it says, "We're called to hope." First Timothy 6:12 says, "We're called to eternal life." That's the call. It's an efficacious call.
So our security against being washed away in the terrible tide of apostasy is that we are called and whom He calls He justifies, and whom He justifies He glorifies. We are the called. We have nothing to fear. The shackles of sin have been broken. We have been liberated and set free. The blindness has been removed and we see. The oppressing burden of sin has been lifted and we are released. And we who are dead have come to life.
And somebody might say, "Wow, what if I'm not called?" Well since the decree of God is secret, that's not a problem for you. Jesus said in John 6:37, "Him that comes to Me, I'll never turn away." If you don't come, you're responsible. You say, "I don't know how that can be. How can I be responsible to come and yet I can't be saved unless God chooses me? How can I resolve that?" You can't. You cannot resolve that. Don't try. In fact, turn to Romans 9, I'll help you with that, okay? This is going to be good help for you. This is the best help the Bible gives. Everybody asks me this question all the time. I can't understand how human responsibility fits with divine sovereignty. I can't understand how moral accountability fits with election. Well you can understand what the Bible says, right? So would you please notice verse 19 of Romans 9.
Somebody is going to say, "Okay, if God does the choosing, how can He hold me responsible? If I'm not chosen and I'm not called, how can I be responsible?" So you will say to me then, "Why does He still find fault? How can God find fault with me? How could He punish me? How could He send me to hell, make me guilty for my sins and hold me guilty if I'm not chosen?" And you know what Paul's answer is? Verse 20, "On the contrary, who are you, O man? Who answers back to God? Shut your mouth." And then he gives this illustration. "The thing molded will not say to the molder, 'Why did you make me like this?' will it?" You know what he says? He says you going to God and saying, "Wait a minute, God, I don't like this deal, is as ridiculous as an inanimate pot asking for an explanation of the way the potter made it. Pots don't talk. Pots don't think. There is an infinite gulf between a pot and a potter, that is a gulf that cannot be bridged. The pot can't get there. Understand? There's an even greater gap between you and God. You have no more right to assume that you need an explanation than a pot does from the potter, there is an infinite gulf. It is out of your capability to grasp. And so what do you do with it? Stop, do not pass Go, do not collect $200, stop at that point and let God be God, right? And shall not the judge of all the earth do right? I can't harmonize all of that, but then again, I'm a pot and why would I expect to? But I do know this, God will do what's right and sinners will perish because of their rejection of a gospel actually presented to them truly offered and we go to heaven because God chose us. I don't know how all that works but I know that's what the Bible says and there's a time when you just stop and leave it with Him.
Well, we are not only called, secondly we are loved, "Beloved in God the Father." This is so wonderful. Some versions say "sanctified," but that's not the best manuscript word. It is beloved in God the Father. We rest safely in the fact that we have been called because we were loved, this is so amazing. It isn't a call of indifference. It isn't a call, you know, it isn't a lottery that got held in heaven. For reasons that are outside of us that may never be known to us, God uninfluenced determined to set His love on us. This is staggering. While we were His enemies we were loved. Before we ever were born we were loved. And God demonstrates His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us, Romans 5:8. We are loved. We are loved. It's a perfect participle that shows that the love was manifested in the past and continues now and in the future. That's what the perfect tense does, in the past and on. We were loved in the past, we were loved in eternity. We were loved in the eternal heart of God in the timeless past when our election occurred. God determined then to set His love upon us and that love toward us was openly demonstrated at Calvary when Christ died as a substitute for our sins. And that love continued on until the time that God convicted us and called us and justified us. And it goes on and it goes on and it goes on and we literally live in that love. We are loved in God the Father. We have entered into a relationship with God and it's a relationship of love. He loves us so much that He made us His own son, as it were. He loves us in the beloved one, Christ and we are joint heirs with Christ.
First John 3, we studied it a few months ago, 1 John 3 verse 1, "See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us...See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us that we should be called children of God." This is such a great love. It actually in the original, it literally says, "See what kind of love," potapon(?), the classical Greek means what...from what country? From what tribe or from what race? In other words, this is a love that's alien to us. I mean, God loves us with a love that must come from another race. So foreign it's outside the human realm. I mean, people just don't love somebody they don't know, they don't just choose to love people independent of how those people act, or particularly independently of how those people treat them. It's an unearthly love, it's a...it's a kind of love that comes from somewhere else.
In fact, I would like to show you...I can answer the question, what kind of love is it? Look at John 17 and I'll show you what kind of love it is. John 17, because He tells us what kind of love it is, verse 23, the Lord here is praying, He's praying that all of those who belong to Him will be brought to glory and that the Father, verse 22, would give the glory which He had given to Him to us that we'd all be one, just as the Father and the Son are one. This is incredible. "I in them and Thou in Me that they may be perfected in unity." The Son desires for us that we be brought to heaven and literally become one with God the Father and God the Son. And verse 23 then says, "That the world may know that Thou didst send Me and didst love them even as Thou didst love Me." What kind of love is it that God has for us? It's the same kind of love He had for whom? His Son....staggering. It's one thing to love the perfect second member of the Trinity, it's something else to love sinner. But God loves us with the same love that He loves His Son with. And He loved His Son so much that He brought about the whole redemptive story to get a bride for His Son who could serve His Son and adore His Son and worship His Son and love His Son forever and ever. It's just staggering to me...I want them to know that You love them as You love Me. "Father...verse 24...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." I want them to know the love with which You love Me and I want them to know that as You loved Me before the foundation of the world, so You loved them before the foundation of the world. Wow!
And then verse 26, "I've made Thy name known to them and will make it known and the love where with Thou didst love Me may be in them and I in them." Staggering stuff, folks. When you talk about being loved by God, you're talking about being loved....what manner of love? The kind of love with which the Father loves the Son and the Son loves the Father...a love from all eternity. Staggering. Ask yourself, how secure am I in that love and let Paul answer it..."What shall separate us from the love of Christ?" Nothing. This is an eternal love. What do you think is going to separate the Son from the loving Father? Nothing...nothing. He loves us the way He loves His own Son and nothing will ever separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord, Romans 8:39.
Thirdly, Jude says we are kept. And some translations, NAS says, "For," I prefer "By," it's a dative in the original language, could kind of go either way, but I think it's better to see the expression here meaning by than for. We're kept by Jesus Christ. Oh, that opens up a whole world of study. It's from the word tereo,to watch, guard, keep. We are kept by Jesus Christ. And that's again John 6, "All that the Father gives to Me will come to Me and Him that comes to Me I'll never turn away." And then Jesus says in John 6, "I'll lose none of them but raise them up at the last day." He knows who are His. John 10, I think it's about verse 28, yes, "My sheep...verse 27...hear My voice, I know them, they follow Me....listen to this...I give eternal life to them and they shall never perish and no one shall snatch them out of My hand, no one. My Father who has given them to Me is greater than all and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand." Once you're in the Father's hand and the Son's hand, nobody can take you out, you are kept and you are kept by Jesus.
How? Well first of all, because you are a love gift from the Father to the Son, He keeps you because that gift from the Father is an expression of the Father's love and therefore has infinite and eternal value. You don't really think, do you, that Jesus who is completely sovereign and omnipotent is going to lose someone who was given to Him as a love gift from the Father? And if the Father loves us and the Son loves us the way they love each other and we're caught up in that love and nothing can ever change that love, by what would we ever been lost? And it is also true that when any accusation is ever brought against us that bring about our salvation into jeopardy, we have a great High Priest who intercedes for us at the right hand of the Father. First Peter 1:5 says we are protected by the power of God...protected by the power of God. What does that mean? There's no greater power. If God holds us, there's no power that can break His hold...none. And Jesus ever lives to make intercession for us before the throne of God. That's Hebrews 7:25 . "And if any man sins...1 John 2...we have an advocate with the Father, a lawyer for our defense." And 1 Peter 3:18 says, "Jesus suffered the just for the unjust...listen to this...that He might bring us to God." He didn't just suffer to make sure that we had our sins forgiven temporarily, He suffered in order that He might ultimately bring us to God. That's glorification.
Then He gave us the Holy Spirit. Second Corinthians 5:5 is a guarantee, pledge, arrabon, engagement ring, seals us. You're talking about being kept. Jesus keeps us by interceding for us. Jesus keeps us by His power, never letting anything come upon us that is more then we can bear. Jesus keeps us by giving us His Spirit as a guarantee. Jesus keeps us by loving us as a gift from the Father and the Father keeps us because His power cannot be overcome.
So, it's a tough battle, it's frightening, it's fearful, it's dangerous, but you can join the army, folks. Are you ready for this one? There are no casualties in this army. Nobody perishes, nobody perishes. We win and we all go into glory together.
One other thing. We are the called, the loved, the kept and the blessed. See it in verse 2 and I won't take this all apart but just a comment or two. And Jude says, "May mercy and peace and love not be yours but be...what?...multiplied to you." May mercy and peace and love be multiplied to you because you're the called and the loved and the kept. The verb here, plathunomeans to be increased. May you just have a constantly increasing amount of this. It's like Peter said, 1 Peter 1:2, "May grace and peace be yours in fullest measure." Or 2 Peter 1:2, "Grace and peace be multiplied to you." It's the same thing. It's...it's the prayer and the pledge and the promise that no matter how difficult the battle is, no matter how hard, no matter how threatening it is, you're going to not only survive but you're going to experience multiplied blessing. And mercy is part of it.
Now if you could...if you could lose your salvation, it would have to be due to sin. Is that right? It would have to be due to sin. Somebody could say, "Well if you sin you might lose your salvation." That's what people say who believe that. But whenever we sin, God multiplies...what? Mercy. God is rich in mercy. And I love Romans 9:23, he says that God has made known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy. Do you know what a vessel of mercy is? Do you know what a vessel is? It's a cup or a glass or a bowl. And God says that's what you are. You're a bowl into which I just keep pouring mercy. What a great idea. Just keep pouring it in and pouring it in and pouring it in. And you can always come to the throne of grace, Hebrews 4:16, to find mercy. So isn't it wonderful that we are blessed with multiplied, multiplied, multiplied mercy for all of our sin? And not only that, peace. Peace in every situation multiplied peace, My peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you, not as the world gives give I unto you, let not your heart be troubled. Do you believe in God? Believe also in Me. I'm preparing a place for you, in My Father's house there are many rooms. Rest.
Paul says in Romans 15:13, "My the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace." And when trouble comes into your life, He pours out peace. When sin comes into your life He pours out mercy. You're a vessel of mercy and you're in some sense a vessel of peace. And thirdly he says, "And may love be multiplied to you." Romans 5:5 says, "The love of God is poured out within our hearts." Whenever we lack mercy, He pours out mercy. Whenever we lack peace, He pours out peace. Whenever we lack love, He pours out love. He's just continually multiplying blessing. So here we are, it's not as if we're going to get into this battle. You say, "Ah okay, verse 1, we're going to survive, we're going to survive. I can see us, we're going to get through by the hair of our chinny-chin-chin, you know, we're going to barely get through. We're going to survive, we're not going to lose our salvation." That isn't the way to look at it. Get into battle, fight for the truth, understand that you're going to triumph in the battle because you're the called, the loved and the kept and know this, in the process it's not going to be a meager existence, it's going to be a lavish existence because as you go through this, all the time God is going to be multiplying whatever mercy you need, whatever peace you need, and whatever love you need. And I will tell you this, the more of that you need, the more of it you will experience, right? Now if that doesn't charge you up to get on this list, I don't know what would.
Apostasy is present in the church and it's going to get worse. It's bad now. You have nothing to fear. You're secure in Jesus. And more than that, you're not just called and loved and kept, but as you indicate your willingness to be faithful, you're going to have a multiplication of everything you need of God's mercy and God's peace and God's love.
Lord, there is much more to say about this and it's so wonderful and so rich. But that's enough for now. Thank You for these grand and glorious truths, that just overwhelm us. We are grateful. What can we say? Make us faithful in Your Son's name. Amen.
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It was a New Bern mayoral forum that almost wasn�t Wednesday night when candidates Sabrina Bengel and Dana Outlaw showed up at the Flame. Bengel was the only candidate the sponsoring organizations were going to let speak.
It was a New Bern mayoral forum that almost wasn�t Wednesday night when candidates Sabrina Bengel and Dana Outlaw showed up at the Flame. Bengel was the only candidate the sponsoring organizations were going to let speak.
Both candidates, who are running in the Nov. 5 runoff for mayor, were invited to the forum and also invited to open their wallets to participate.
The Rev. Des Toon, executive director of the Charitable Christian Community workers, said to put on the mayoral forum at the Flame it cost $800 and Bengel and Outlaw were asked to underwrite the cost at $400 each.
�Mr. Outlaw agreed then disagreed,� Toon said.
�It�s a first for me,� Outlaw said just before the forum, adding he has never been asked to pay to participate in a forum where the public meets the candidates.
Toon justified the cost by saying during the October election all of the candidates spent more than $70,000 on campaigns and very little was spent in the minority communities.
When Toon turned the dais over to Bengel while Outlaw sat in the audience of about 150 people, Bengel went to the three moderators and could be heard whispering that she did not think it was fair that only she would be allowed to speak. After that, Toon said all of the organizations agreed to allow Outlaw to participate.
Each of the candidates were asked five questions dealing with the minority communities and how they would represent the people in those communities if they were elected mayor. Then they took questions from the floor.
In a question about bringing economic development that would include jobs for minorities, Bengel said it would take education, working with the public school system to educate youths about the importance of jobs, how to get them and how to keep them; and then cooperation from Craven Community College to help train those youths when they are older.
Bengel said she has heard of youths who get in trouble with the law when they are 14 or 16 have records that follows them through life.
�We need to work with local and state police and get that law changed,� she said, causing much of the audience to applaud. �We need to go to Raleigh and change the law. Let it be 18 (years old) so young people can get a job.�
Bengel said college isn�t for everyone so there needs to be vocational programs like when New Bern had a bricklaying program and produced some of the best bricklayers in the state.
The New Bern Area Chamber of Commerce also has a minority business council and it needs to work with existing businesses to create jobs, Bengel said.
When asked how he would establish a minority council to act as a liaison between the mayor and community, Outlaw said he would set up a board of �junkyard dogs like (Alfred) Popeye Barfield� who would �tell it like it is.�
The board would need people who are willing to commit, he said.
�The committee would have to be very active,� Outlaw said.
The city did away with an electric committee because it didn�t do anything, he said.
�We need members who want to be on the board,� he said.
Outlaw said anyone who knows him knows he is a �boots on the ground� guy who gets out in the communities throughout the 30 square miles of New Bern to help people. He wouldn�t spend money decorating the mayor�s office, he said. He and his daughter might vacuum it, but then he would get out in the city to help, he said, causing some people to laugh.
This was the second mayoral forum for Bengel and Outlaw. It was called the �Candidates Forum/Town Hall� and was sponsored by the New Bern African American Leadership Council.
The forum was held to encourage and bring together minority voters by addressing concerns and issues that affect the minority constituency and in particular the African American community, and to allow time for community leaders to have a dialogue with the candidates about strategies of change to benefit citizens of New Bern.
Eddie Fitzgerald can be reached at 252-635-5675 or at email@example.com. Follow him on Twitter @staffwriter3.


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I'm presented with a Hilbert system with just one inference rule (MP) and these axiom schemes:
$$A \supset (B \supset A)$$ $$(A \supset (B \supset C)) \supset ((A \supset B) \supset (A \supset C))$$ $$A \supset (B \supset A \wedge B)$$ $$A \wedge B \supset A$$ $$A \wedge B \supset B$$ $$(A \supset C) \supset ((B \supset C) \supset (A \vee B \supset C))$$ $$A \supset A \vee B$$ $$B \supset A \vee B$$ $$(A \supset B) \supset ((A \supset \neg B) \supset \neg A)$$ $$\neg \neg A \supset A$$ $$\textbf{F} \supset A$$ $$A \supset \textbf{T}$$
How am I supposed to memorize all of them? In other words, why these particular schemes? I think I've seen examples of every one of them to be necessary for various formal proofs, but I'm curious how the authors have come up with this.


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Our fourth annual Farm City Day is scheduled for Nov. 2, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and we hope you�ll have the opportunity to stop by sometime during the day. We�ll have activities, displays and educational booths set up at both the New Bern Farmers Market and the N.C. History Center.
Our fourth annual Farm City Day is scheduled for Nov. 2, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and we hope you�ll have the opportunity to stop by sometime during the day. We�ll have activities, displays and educational booths set up at both the New Bern Farmers Market and the N.C. History Center.
Farm City Day provides an opportunity for Craven County residents to become better acquainted with the diversity and importance of agriculture in our region, as well as the connections between farm, city and other sectors of the local economy.
I�ll have more to say about this event in the coming weeks, but if you have questions about Farm City Day feel free to contact our office at 633-1477.
Other major fall time events include Big Sweep, which is underway today, and the Coastal Carolina Agricultural Fair, which will be open for business Oct. 17-21 at the Craven County Jaycees Fairgrounds.
One useful skill I�ve developed over the past 26 years of Extension work is knowing pretty quickly when I have no idea what I�m looking at. This was the case recently when a muscadine grape vine sample was dropped off to the office, with what appeared to be a tremendous number of small grapes that had never ripened or developed normal size. A digital image was submitted to our Plant Disease and Insect Clinic at N.C. State, and for me the answer was a surprise.
According to the Clinic report, the image showed a muscadine grape vine being attacked by a parasitic plant known as dodder (Cuscuta spp.). The �miniature grapes� were actually developing seed pods forming in a spiral around the stems of the host plant. Suggested control was to prune out infested portions of the vine, and to place the seed clusters in a trash bag for disposal.
Dodder is a parasitic plant that has no roots, and but forms long, spaghetti-like tendrils that wrap around host plants and penetrate their stems for sustenance.
My son and I are quite familiar with mature dodder plants, and we�ve noticed an increasing presence alongside area streams such as Brices Creek (for example, upstream from the boat landing accessed from Perrytown Road). Our local species of dodder tend to be orange or yellow-orange in color, and resemble masses of used weed-whacker string dumped on top of shrubs and weeds.
Dodder management is difficult, and herbicide options and strategies appear to be quite limited for homeowners and landowners. Sanitation � that is, removal of developing seeds as well as dodder plants � would appear to be a critical part of the process. Contact our office if you wish to obtain additional information regarding this fascinating but problematic parasitic plant.
It will be at least a couple of weeks before we receive all of the clean up inventory sheets from this year�s Craven County Big Sweep. But I would like to go ahead with a special thanks to the Tuscarora Hunt Club for contributing to the effort with an �unofficial� roadside clean up back in September. The club has been around since 1980 and currently has about 38 members. Many thanks to the Tuscarora Hunt Club for setting a good example.
Tom Glasgow is the Craven County Extension director. Contact him at firstname.lastname@example.com.


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Struggling to fit your tweets, no issue twitter is now testing 280-character tweetsSeptember 28, 2017 07:16
Most of the people in present generation use social media platforms to express their opinions. Twitter is one such platform widely used across the world to express their opinions.
From some of us, it is always a struggle to express our views in those 140 characters. Twitter has found a solution to this problem of its users. Twitter is experimenting on doubling the characters.
Twitter explained in its blog post that we want every person around the world to easily express themselves on Twitter, so we're doing something new.
Twitter is experimenting by increasing its word limit to 280 characters. They are planning to do this in all languages impacted b cramming.
The company said that the major cause of frustration for People tweeting in English is due to this character limit, rather than people tweeting in other languages. 4% tweets written in Japanese are of 140 characters, as compared to 9% tweets in English.
By A.s


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UTS Library asked 7 years ago:
Are there filters for all databases?
1 answer
32628 views
No. But many filters are supplied with EndNote - look in EndNote's Filter Manager. You may be able to use Direct Export (which is much easier) instead of filters.
If you cannot find the filter to the database you want:


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Abraham, Hebrew Avraham, originally called Abram or, in Hebrew, Avram, (flourished early 2nd millennium bce), the first of the Hebrew patriarchs and a figure revered by the three great monotheistic religions—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. According to the biblical book of Genesis, Abraham left Ur, in Mesopotamia, because God called him to found a new nation in an undesignated land that he later learned was Canaan. He obeyed unquestioningly the commands of God, from whom he received repeated promises and a covenant that his "seed" would inherit the land. In Judaism the promised offspring is understood to be the Jewish people descended from Abraham's son, Isaac, born of his wife Sarah. Similarly, in Christianity the genealogy of Jesus is traced to Isaac, and Abraham's near-sacrifice of Isaac is seen as a foreshadowing of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross. In Islam it is Ishmael, Abraham's firstborn son, born of Hagar, who is viewed as the fulfillment of God's promise, and the Prophet Muhammad is his descendant.
Why is Abraham important?
Where was Abraham from?
What was Abraham's family like?
What is Abraham best known for?
What did Abraham believe in?
The critical problem of a "biography" of Abraham
There can be no biography of Abraham in the ordinary sense. The most that can be done is to apply the interpretation of modern historical finds to biblical materials so as to arrive at a probable judgment as to the background and patterns of events in his life. This involves a reconstruction of the patriarchal age (of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph; early 2nd millennium bce), which until the end of the 19th century was unknown and considered virtually unknowable. It was assumed, based on a presumed dating of hypothetical biblical sources, that the patriarchal narratives in the Bible were only a projection of the situation and concerns of a much later period (9th–5th century bce) and of dubious historical value.
Several theses were advanced to explain the narratives—e.g., that the patriarchs were mythical beings or the personifications of tribes or folkloric or etiological (explanatory) figures created to account for various social, juridical, or cultic patterns. However, after World War I, archaeological research made enormous strides with the discovery of monuments and documents, many of which date back to the period assigned to the patriarchs in the traditional account. The excavation of a royal palace at Mari, an ancient city on the Euphrates, for example, brought to light thousands of cuneiform tablets (official archives and correspondence and religious and juridical texts) and thereby offered exegesis a new basis, which specialists utilized to show that, in the biblical book of Genesis, narratives fit perfectly with what, from other sources, is known today of the early 2nd millennium bce but imperfectly with a later period. A biblical scholar in the 1940s aptly termed this result "the rediscovery of the Old Testament."
Thus, there are two main sources for reconstructing the figure of father Abraham: the book of Genesis—from the genealogy of Terah (Abraham's father) and his departure from Ur to Harran in chapter 11 to the death of Abraham in chapter 25—and recent archaeological discoveries and interpretations concerning the area and era in which the biblical narrative takes place.
The biblical account
According to the biblical account, Abram ("The Father [or God] Is Exalted"), who is later named Abraham ("The Father of Many Nations"), a native of Ur in Mesopotamia, is called by God (Yahweh) to leave his own country and people and journey to an undesignated land, where he will become the founder of a new nation. He obeys the call unquestioningly and (at 75 years of age) proceeds with his barren wife, Sarai, later named Sarah ("Princess"), his nephew Lot, and other companions to the land of Canaan (between Syria and Egypt).
There the childless septuagenarian receives repeated promises and a covenant from God that his "seed" will inherit the land and become a numerous nation. Eventually, he not only has a son, Ishmael, by his wife's maidservant Hagar but has, at 100 years of age, by Sarah, a legitimate son, Isaac, who is to be the heir of the promise. Yet Abraham is ready to obey God's command to sacrifice Isaac, a test of his faith, which he is not required to consummate in the end because God substitutes a ram. At Sarah's death, he purchases the cave of Machpelah near Hebron, together with the adjoining ground, as a family burying place. It is the first clear ownership of a piece of the promised land by Abraham and his posterity. Toward the end of his life, he sees to it that his son Isaac marries a girl from his own people back in Mesopotamia rather than a Canaanite woman. Abraham dies at the age of 175 and is buried next to Sarah in the cave of Machpelah.
Abraham is pictured with various characteristics: a righteous man, with wholehearted commitment to God; a man of peace (in settling a boundary dispute with his nephew Lot), compassionate (he argues and bargains with God to spare the people of Sodom and Gomorrah), and hospitable (he welcomes three visiting angels); a quick-acting warrior (he rescues Lot and his family from a raiding party); and an unscrupulous liar to save his own skin (he passes off Sarah as his sister and lets her be picked by the Egyptian pharaoh for his harem). He appears as both a man of great spiritual depth and strength and a person with common human weaknesses and needs.
The Genesis narrative in the light of recent scholarship
The saga of Abraham unfolds between two landmarks, the exodus from "Ur of the Chaldeans" (Ur Kasdim) of the family, or clan, of Terah and "the purchase of" (or "the burials in") the cave of Machpelah. Tradition seems particularly firm on this point. The Hebrew text, in fact, locates the departure specifically at Ur Kasdim, the Kasdim being none other than the Kaldu of the cuneiform texts at Mari. It is manifestly a migration of which one tribe is the centre. The leader of the movement is designated by name: Terah, who "takes them out" from Ur, Abram his son, Lot the son of Haran, another son of Terah, and their wives, the best known being Sarai, the wife of Abram. The existence of another son of Terah, Nahor, who appears later, is noted.
Most scholars agree that Ur Kasdim was the Sumerian city of Ur, today Tall al-Muqayyar (or Mughair), about 200 miles (300 km) southeast of Baghdad in lower Mesopotamia, which was excavated from 1922 to 1934. It is certain that the cradle of the ancestors was the seat of a vigorous polytheism whose memory had not been lost and whose uncontested master in Ur was Nanna (or Sin), the Sumero-Akkadian moon god. "They served other gods," Joshua, Moses' successor, recalled, speaking to their descendants at Shechem.
After the migration from Ur (c. 2000 bce), the reasons for which are unknown, the first important stopping place was Harran, where the caravan remained for some time. The city has been definitely located in upper Mesopotamia, between the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers, in the Balikh valley and can be found on the site of the modern Harran in Turkey. It has been shown that Harran was a pilgrimage city, for it was a centre of the Sin cult and consequently closely related to the moon-god cult of Ur. The Mari tablets have shed new light on the patriarchal period, specifically in terms of the city of Harran.
There have been many surprising items in the thousands of tablets found in the palace at Mari. Not only are the Ḫapiru ("Hebrews") mentioned but so also remarkably are the Banu Yamina ("Benjaminites"). It is not that the latter are identical with the family of Benjamin, a son of Jacob, but rather that a name with such a biblical ring appears in these extrabiblical sources in the 18th century bce. What seems beyond doubt is that these Benjaminites (or Yaminites, meaning "Sons of the Right," or "Sons of the South," according to their habits of orientation) are always indicated as being north of Mari and in Harran, in the Temple of Sin.
The Bible provides no information on the itinerary followed between Ur and Harran. Scholars think that the caravan went up the Euphrates, then up the Balikh. After indicating a stay of indeterminate length in Harran, the Bible says only that Terah died there, at the age of 205, and that Abraham was 75 when he took up the journey again with his family and his goods. This time the migration went from east to west, first as far as the Euphrates River, which they may have crossed at Carchemish, since it can be forded during low-water periods.
Here again, the Mari texts supply a reference, for they indicate that there were Benjaminites on the right bank of the river, in the lands of Yamhad (Aleppo), Qatanum (Qatna), and Amurru. Since the ancient trails seem to have been marked with sanctuaries, it is noteworthy that Nayrab, near Aleppo, was, like Harran and Ur, a centre of the Sin cult and that south of Aleppo, on the road to Ḥamāh, there is still a village that bears the name of Benjamin. The route is in the direction of the "land of Canaan," the goal of the journey.
If a stop in Damascus is assumed, the caravan must next have crossed the land of Bashan (the Ḥawrān of today), first crossing the Jabboq, then the Jordan River at the ford of Dāmiyā, and arriving in the heart of the Samaritan country, to reach at last the plain of Shechem, today Balāṭah, at the foot of the Gerizim and Ebal mountains. Shechem was at the time a political and religious centre, the importance of which has been perceived more clearly as a result of recent archaeological excavations. From the mid-13th to the mid-11th century bce, Shechem was the site of the cult of the Canaanite god Baʿal-Berit (Lord of the Covenant). The architecture uncovered on the site by archaeologists would date to the 18th century bce, in which the presence of the patriarchs in Shechem is placed.
The next stopping place was in Bethel, identified with present-day Baytīn, north of Jerusalem. Bethel was also a holy city, whose cult was centred on El, the Canaanite god par excellence. Its name does not lend itself to confusion, for it proclaims that the city is the bet, "house," or temple, of El (God). The Canaanite sanctuary was taken over without hesitation by Abraham, who built an altar there and consecrated it to Yahweh, at least if the Yahwistic tradition in Genesis is to be believed.
Abraham had not yet come to the end of his journey. Between Shechem and Bethel he had gone about 31 miles (50 km). It was about as far again from Bethel to Hebron, or more precisely to the oaks of Mamre, "which are at Hebron" (according to the Genesis account). The location of Mamre has been the subject of some indecision. At the present time, there is general agreement in setting it 1.5 miles (3 km) northwest of Hebron at Rāmat al-Khalīl, an Arabic name which means the "Heights of the Friend," the friend (of God) being Abraham.
Mamre marked the site of Abraham's encampment, but this did not at all exclude episodic travels in the direction of the Negeb, to Gerar and Beersheba. Life was a function of the economic conditions of the moment, of pastures to follow and to find, and thus the patriarchs moved back and forth between the land of Canaan and the Nile River delta. They remained shepherds and never became cultivators.
It was in Mamre that Abraham received the revelation that his race would be perpetuated, and it was there that he learned that his nephew Lot had been taken captive. The latter is an enigmatic episode, an "erratic block" in a story in which nothing prepared the way for it. Suddenly, the life of the patriarch was inserted into a slice of history in which several important persons ("kings") intervene: Amraphel of Shinar, Arioch of Ellasar, Ched-or-laomer of Elam, and Tidal of Goiim. Scholars of previous generations tried to identify these names with important historical figures—e.g., Amraphel with Hammurabi of Babylon—but little remains today of these suppositions. The whole of chapter 14 of Genesis, in which this event is narrated, differs completely from what has preceded and what follows. It may be an extract from some historical annals, belonging to an unknown secular source, for the meeting of Melchizedek, king of Salem and priest of God Most High (El ʿElyon), and Abraham is impressive. The king-priest greets him with bread and wine on his victorious return and blesses him in the name of God Most High.
In this scene, the figure of the patriarch takes on a singular aspect. How is his religious behaviour to be characterized? He swears by "the Lord God Most High"—i.e., by both Yahweh and El ʿElyon. It is known that, on the matter of the revelation of Yahweh to man, the biblical traditions differ. According to what scholars call the Yahwistic source (J) in the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Bible), Yahweh had been known and worshipped since Adam's time. According to the so-called Priestly source (P), the name of Yahweh was revealed only to Moses. It may be concluded that it was probably El whom the patriarchs, including Abraham, knew.
As noted before, in Mesopotamia the patriarchs worshipped "other gods." On Canaanite soil, they met the Canaanite supreme god, El, and adopted him, but only partially and nominally, bestowing upon him qualities destined to distinguish him and to assure his preeminence over all other gods. He was thus to become El ʿOlam (God the Everlasting One), El ʿElyon (God Most High), El Shaddai (God, the One of the Mountains), and El Roʾi (God of Vision). In short, the god of Abraham possessed duration, transcendence, power, and knowledge. This was not monotheism but monolatry (the worship of one among many gods), with the bases laid for a true universalism. He was a personal god too, with direct relations with the individual, but also a family god and certainly still a tribal god. Here truly was the "God of our fathers," who in the course of time was to become the "God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob."
It is not surprising that this bond of the flesh should still manifest itself when it came to gathering together the great ancestors into the family burial chamber, the cave of Machpelah. This place is venerated today in Hebron, at the Ḥaram al-Khalīl (Holy Place of the Friend), under the mosque. Abraham, "the friend of God," was forevermore the depositary of the promise, the beneficiary of the Covenant, sealed not by the death of Isaac but by the sacrifice of the ram that was offered up in place of the child on Mount Moriah.André Parrot
Learn More in these related Britannica articles:
biblical literature: Christology in Hebrews…and superior to the patriarch Abraham, because Abraham paid tithes to the priest of Salem, Melchizedek, who as the prototype of Christ had no human antecedents. Christ, High Priest forever by obedient suffering and perfection in that he lives up to the demand, has become the source of salvation. He…
biblical literature: The patriarchal narratives…and unfaith in response, with Abraham as the model man of faith.…
Judaism: Choice and covenant…the subsequent chapters of Genesis, Abraham and his descendants are singled out not merely as the object of the divine blessing but also as its channel to all humanity. The choice, however, demands a reciprocal response from Abraham and his lineage. That response is obedience, as exemplified in the first…
Judaism: Historiated Bibles and legendary histories…was asserted, for instance, that Abraham had taught astrology to the king of Egypt, that his sons and those of Keturah had aided Heracles against the giant Antaeus, and that Moses, blithely identified both with the semi-mythical Greek poet Musaeus and with the Egyptian Thoth, had been the teacher of…
Islamic world: Efforts to reform Meccan society…the one God (Allāh) by Abraham, who fathered the ancestor of the Israelites, Isḥāq (Isaac), as well as the ancestor of the Arabs, Ismāʿīl (Ishmael). Muhammad asked his hearers not to embrace something new but to abandon the traditional in favour of the original. He appealed to his fellow Quraysh…
More About Abraham19 references found in Britannica articles
Assorted References
- Akedah
- In Akedah
- bound by patriarchal covenant
- comparison with Jesus Christ
- development of covenant tradition
- example of Providence
- fear of God
- prophetic status in Islam
- settlement at Harran
- In Harran
- tribute to Melchizedek
- In Melchizedek
association with
- Eid al-Adha
- In Eid al-Adha


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GateHouse News ServiceAs my mom often says with a knowing smile, �The more things change, the more they stay the same.�
Forgot my lunch, Mom. Left it sitting on the counter, just like when I was a kid. Drat.
So I�m at work, lunchless and famished, forced to head out to a local eatery. I chose one eatery because their freshly made soups are delicious, they willingly tell you the calorie count and they let you taste before you buy.
But the prices are outrageous. I selected the cheapest soup on the menu � vegetarian split pea. For a tiny 8-ounce serving and a rather tasteless dry roll, I paid $3.95.
For split pea soup? Diners have not been so hoodwinked since a hungry traveler arrived in a village with an empty pot, filled it with water and tossed in a stone.
To be fair, restaurants have rent and employees to pay. And restaurants are not the only places charging steep prices for split pea or bean soups. Check out the ubiquitous black kettles at the grocery store deli. You�ll pay about $3.29 for a 12-ounce container, which means an 8-ounce serving costs $2.19. Willing to heat your own?
I found a can of Campbell�s Chunky Pea Soup with ham for $2.39, or $1.19 per 8-ounce serving. And that�s before adding in the cost of a roll.
How much can you save if you make your own?
I bought two 16-ounce bags of split peas for 79 cents each and used three cups, for a total price of $1.20. I added four carrots (55 cents), three stalks of celery (36 cents), two onions (30 cents), two potatoes (20 cents) and garlic (10 cents). My total cost for the pot of thick, delicious soup was $2.70.
The recipe made about 14 8-ounce servings, or 19 cents per serving. Add in the cost of a slice of homemade bread (6 cents) and I�ve got lunch for a quarter. That�s a savings of $3.70 over the restaurant version.
If that 25-cent price tag isn�t enough to convince you, consider this: Pea soup is one of the easiest soups to make. Variations abound, it holds in the fridge for several days, and it freezes well. Split peas, like lentils and dried beans, are so nutritious that I don�t have enough space to list all the health benefits.
The results of my experiment reaffirmed my commitment to pack a lunch every day. And yes, Mom, I�ll try not to leave home without it.
Vegetarian Split Pea Soup
3 cups dried split peas, sorted and rinsed
10 to 11 cups water
2 medium onions, chopped
2 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped
4 carrots, chopped
3 stalks celery with leaves, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
Salt and pepper and hot sauce to taste
Optional toppings: Chopped tomato, chopped scallion, sour cream, croutons
Put peas and water in large pot on high and bring to a boil to give them a head start while you start chopping vegetables. Add onions, potatoes, carrots, celery, garlic, bay leaves and thyme. Reduce heat and simmer for 40 to 50 minutes. Season and serve.
If you prefer a smoother texture, you can puree about half the soup, in batches, in the blender, or use an immersion blender in the pot. If you prefer a creamier texture, use 10 cups water and stir in a cup of milk near the end of cooking time.
Variation: For a non-vegetarian version, fry four strips of bacon till crisp, remove from pan, then saut� onions and celery in the drippings. Drain off grease and add onions and celery to soup pot. Serve bowls of soup with crumbled bacon on top.Saimi Bergmann is a food writer for the Canton (Ohio) Repository. Reach her at firstname.lastname@example.com.
Don't pay high prices for soup
GateHouse News ServiceAs my mom often says with a knowing smile, �The more things change, the more they stay the same.�


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|Home > Florida Then & Now > A Short History of Florida > Three Column Notes
Three Column Notes
This strategy helps students with comparing and contrasting. Attributes are compared and contrasted using three-columns (different-same-different). This is similar to a Venn diagram, but in column form.
The students read an assigned story.
The students compare and contrast the story to one previously read, or within itself. If you wish to compare and contrast within one story, you can do so with the characters.
- The students take notes underneath the three columns to compare and contrast between any two concepts (characters, settings, subjects or topics, events, etc.).
- The students share their notes with the class, and may extend the activity by putting their information into paragraph form.
Reading FCAT Ideas from Pinellas County Teachers, Grades K-5, April 1998, p. 22.
|Home > Florida Then & Now > A Short History of Florida > Three Column Notes
Florida: A Social Studies Resource for Students and Teachers
Produced by the Florida Center for Instructional Technology,
College of Education, University of South Florida © 2002.


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Virginmartyr Justina of Nicomedia - Troparion & Kontakion
Troparion — Tone 4
You abandoned ungodly darkness, becoming a light of truth; / You were illustrious as a pastor; / You were glorified in contest: / O righteous Father Cyprian together with godly Justina, / Intercede for us before God the Creator of all!
Kontakion — Tone 1
You turned from the art of sorcery to the knowledge of God, / and were shown forth as a skillful healer for the world, Cyprian, inspired by God. / Together with Justina you grant cures to those who honor you; / with her, pray to the Master who loves mankind that He may save our souls.


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Loyola at a Glance
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"Spinning into Butter" tackles latent racism
November 7, 2008
|Loyola students Colby Lemaster playing Mr. Meyers and Laura Friedmann playing Sarah Daniels
Loyola's Department of Theatre Arts and Dance and director Laura Hope bring to the stage the hidden racism that may lurk in people's hearts in Rebecca Gilman's "Spinning into Butter."
Set at a small mostly-white private liberal arts college in Vermont, "Spinning into Butter" explores the danger when society fails to confront the issues of racism and political correctness.
When one of the college's few black students begins to receive hate and racial messages, the campus erupts with shock and mutual recrimination as faculty and students alike try to prove their own tolerance by condemning one another.
At the center of this chaos is Sarah Daniels, the dean of students. As the administration sponsors public race forums and the students begin activist groups, Daniels is forced to explore her own racist feelings. Her self-examination leads to some surprising discoveries and painful insights, the consequences of which even she cannot predict.
"This is a dangerous, searching, brilliant play, probing the self-inflicted wounds of a self-righteous civilization." – London Sunday Times
"It's a potent topic, and the playwright explores it with an admirable boldness as well as a nice leavening humor." – Variety
"Spinning into Butter" will run in Loyola's Marquette Theater, located on the second floor of Marquette Hall, 6363 St. Charles Avenue, on Nov. 9, at 2 p.m., and Nov. 7, 8, 13, 14, 15, at 8 p.m.
Tickets are $12 for general admission and $8 for students, seniors and children, and can be purchased on the web at montage.loyno.edu or by calling the Loyola Box Office at (504) 865-2074.
For the latest updates about Loyola University New Orleans, follow us on Twitter @LoyolaNOLANews or become a fan on Facebook at www.facebook.com/loyno.
Loyola at a Glance is written and distributed for the faculty, staff, students and friends of Loyola University New Orleans. It is published by the Office of Public Affairs, Greenville Hall, Box 909, 7214 St. Charles Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70118. (504) 861-5888.
Information to be included in Loyola at a Glance must be received 2-3 weeks in advance of the publication date. Send us your news here.


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There's plenty of science behind gratitude. The gratitude community has hundreds of gratitude posts to browse.
Pacifica offers daily activities for stress & anxiety alongside a supportive community.
We know first-hand how challenging life can be.
Pacifica is a free app for stress & anxiety that can help.
Available on iOS, Android & WebJOIN NOW


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Don't see your question? Visit our help section.
Get access to great in-store deals and local pick-up
Sign up for our email deals newsletter!
What's for dinner? Just tap the touch screen to reveal dozens of possibilities, then gather a team of friends or family members to help prepare it. 300 recipes have been tested and perfected by the three dozen test cooks at America's Test Kitchen, a 2,500-square foot kitchen that is home to Cook's Illustrated and Cook's Country magazines as well as the popular America's Test Kitchen public television show. Now their culinary expertise promises to give everyone the tools and knowhow to prepare spectacular meals - together.


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During a keynote address given Oct. 29 at the National Press Club, Anne Castle announced that a U.S. Geological Survey report, Summary of Estimated Water Use in the United States in 2005, states that Americans used 410 billion gallons of water per day; slightly less than what was consumed in 2000. The decline was specifically attributed to the increased use of more efficient irrigation systems and alternative technologies at power plants.
"Because electricity generation and irrigation together accounted for a massive 80 percent of our water use in 2005, the improvements in efficiency and technology gives us hope for the future," said Castle. The report states that in 2005, the majority of irrigation withdrawals and irrigated acres were in the Western states, but significant increases in irrigation have occurred in some Southeastern states. The report continues to state that even though the amount of irrigated acres throughout the United States has increased, irrigation application rates have decreased steadily from 1950 to 2005; a change that is directly attributed to the increased use of more efficient irrigation systems. Overall, the report concluded that irrigation withdrawals accounted for 31 percent of total withdrawals and 37 percent of freshwater withdrawals.
"We are pleased to see that irrigation efficiency played such a major role in decreasing our nation's overall water use, despite a 30 percent population increase during the past 25 years," said IA Federal Affairs Director John Farner. "As our nation's population increases, the demand for food will increase, as will the amount of Americans owning homes. We will need to do more with less in the future than we've ever had before. We are excited to continue to be part of the solution."
Since 1950, the USGS has compiled water use information by state in cooperation with state, local, and other federal agencies and organizations. The information included in the report reflects withdrawals from the nation's rivers, streams, lakes, estuaries and aquifers for major uses. The full report is available at http://water.usgs.gov/watuse/.


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PHOTOS: Getty
If it's March Madness you know what that means: Rod 2.0's annual installment of Robert Sacre, the seven-foot, 250 pound French-Canadian center and captain of Gonzaga's basketball team.
Sacre and Gary Bell Jr. scored 14 points apiece for Gonzaga's 77-54 win against West Virginia last night.
Sacre was last seen bearding and bulging on the court. Sacre clipped his curls for a close-cropped look this season. More of the Vancouver hotness AFTER THE JUMP ...
Continue reading "SPORNO: Gonzaga's Robert Sacre is 7 Feet of French-Canadian Hotness" »


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A Pad In The Hand
I got a free iPad from work a few months ago. I took it home, thinking I'd sell it on eBay. Because why on earth would I need one of those things? I have enough distractions as it is.
I opened it. Just to check. I turned it on. Just to see. I pressed a few things. They boinged. And then I fell in love with it in the space of two minutes.
The iPad is a strange creature. It does nothing brilliantly, but it does so much well enough that it's become indispensable. I can check the internet, read books, watch videos, listen to music, take photos, play games, follow recipes, all on the same gadget. And the App Store. Oh baby, the bloody App Store…
Lately I've started buying games and apps without thinking about it. When they cost a dollar or two, who really cares? Just press that little button. I now have a dozen apps that I've never even used at all. But I'm still happy I bought them. It's nice to see the little icons, all plump with possibility.
It's odd how my consumer patterns have changed just because a device has made it so pleasant to consume. Or, actually, it's not strange at all. It's the whole point. Apple are extracting my money, but they are doing it in such a terribly nice and enjoyable way that all I can do it bend over and keep on smiling. And that's the genius of the whole thing.
So app me baby. App me hard.
/ paddy


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|Statement by Ambassador Liu Zhenmin at the Plenary of the 64th Session of the General Assembly under agenda item 107: Report of the Secretary General on the Work of the Organization
Statement by H.E. LIU Zhenmin
Ambassador and Deputy Permanent Representative of China to the United Nations
at the Plenary of the 64th Session of the General Assembly
under agenda item 107: Report of the Secretary General on the Work of the Organization
6 October 2009
Mr. President,
The Chinese delegation welcomes Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's report on the work of the UN organization. I wish to take this opportunity to express my appreciation and gratitude to Mr. Ban Ki-moon for his diligent work and outstanding performance over the past year.
Mr. President,
The deepening economic globalization and rapid development of science and technology have further strengthened the interdependence among different countries and regions. Countries of the world find their interests and destiny increasingly integrated; no one can remain immune to the acute challenges of the financial and economic crisis, climate change, food security, energy and resource security and public health security, and no one can cope with these challenges single handedly. In the face of the unprecedented opportunities and challenges, we must adhere to multilateralism, promote the democratization of international relations and strengthen global coordination and cooperation.
Mr. President,
On top of the absence of a fundamental improvement of the serious lack of resources for development, developing countries are now confronted with further domestic economic difficulties and worsening external development environment as a result of the international financial crisis, which has caused immense setbacks to their efforts to realize the MDGs. Although developing countries are not responsible for the outbreak of this crisis, they are the major victims. In coping with the international financial crisis, we should also pay attention to the unprecedented development crisis. Any endeavor to address the financial crisis must take into account the need of development, particularly the special concerns of the least developed countries and African countries.
The United Nations should increase input in development, play a bigger role in responding to the financial crisis and promoting development, and work hard to create an international environment favorable to the development of developing countries so as to ensure the timely realization of the MDGs. The success of the High-Level Conference on the World Financial and Economic Crisis and Its Impact on Development held during the 63rd session of the GA has demonstrated the important role of the General Assembly in responding to the financial crisis. China supports the full implementation of the follow-up action of the high-level conference.
Climate change involves the common interests of all countries, particularly the development interests of developing countries and the welfare of their people. At the recent UN Summit on Climate Change, President Hu Jintao of China elaborated my country's position on climate change and announced a series of measures that China will take in this regard. As the most populous developing country in the world, China still faces numerous difficulties in its development endeavor. Nevertheless, it puts great emphasis on the issue of climate change. We will work together with other countries, take a responsible approach to the issue, abide by the UNFCCC and its Kyoto Protocol as the main channel in tackling climate change, adhere to the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and the mandate of the Bali Roadmap, and make active efforts to push for the success of the Copenhagen Conference.
Mr. President,
While the overall international security situation is stable, some long lasting hotspot issues remain unsolved and regional conflicts still flare up from time to time. The financial and economic crisis has exacerbated the existing social problems in some countries and triggered new social conflicts, even political turbulences. The international struggle against terrorism still faces daunting challenges. Somali pirates are now posing a new threat to international shipping security. In places like the Middle East, Darfur of Sudan, Horn of Africa, Iraq and Afghanistan, the United Nations is playing a significant role in peacekeeping and post-conflict reconstruction. At the request of countries and regional organizations concerned, the United Nations has also been actively engaged in good offices and preventive diplomacy, thus contributing to the prevention of further escalation of instabilities. Facts have proven that in addressing regional hotspot issues and international disputes, it is imperative to adhere to the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and keep to the means of peaceful dialogue. While deploying UN peacekeeping missions, equal attention should be paid to promoting political negotiations.
China is firmly opposed to all forms of terrorism, separatism and extremism. Combating terrorism requires the elimination of the breeding grounds of terrorism. Double standards should not be allowed in the fight against terrorism, nor should terrorism be linked with any specific country, ethnic group or religion. The United Nations should, within the framework of the Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy, continue to integrate resources of relevant organs of the UN system and implement the four pillars of the counter-terrorism strategy in a comprehensive and balanced manner.
The process of international arms control, disarmament, and non-proliferation is now presented with an important opportunity. Countries should set their sight on the goal of universal security, uphold the new security concept characterized by mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality and cooperation, give full play to the role of multilateral mechanisms including the United Nations, continuously consolidate and reinforce the existing multilateral mechanisms for arms control, disarmament and non-proliferation, strengthen dialogue and cooperation in the field of security and make joint efforts to create a harmonious and stable security environment at the international and regional levels. China has always stood for the comprehensive prohibition and total destruction of nuclear weapons and for the realization of a nuclear weapon free world. The international community should effectively push forward the process of nuclear disarmament, eliminate the risk of nuclear proliferation and promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy and the international cooperation in this regard.
Mr. President,
China supports the necessary and reasonable reform of the United Nations as a means to enhance its authority and efficiency, increase its capacity to respond to various threats and challenges and fulfill more effectively the responsibilities entrusted to it by the UN Charter. While some positive progress has been achieved in the UN reform since 2005, there is still some way to go towards meeting the expectations of the Member States. The reform of the United Nations should be a multi-dimensional and multi-sectoral undertaking with particular emphasis on development, which is the major concern of the developing countries. It is necessary to increase input in this field, guarantee resources for development, and strengthen development institutions.
China supports the revitalization of the General Assembly, which we believe is the joint political responsibility of all Member States. The revitalization of the GA should first of all find expression in the active participation of Member States in the policy deliberations of the GA and the effective implementation of GA resolutions and decisions. China supports Security Council reform, which is an important part of the UN reform. China is of the view that priority should be given to increasing the representation of developing countries, especially African countries, in the Security Council. The inter-governmental negotiations on Security Council reform have provided a new platform for Member States to explore this issue and we hope that Member States will continue the broad-based and democratic consultations with a view to achieving the widest possible agreement on a package solution to all categories of questions on Security Council reform. China supports strengthened UN capacity for peacebuilding endeavors. China hopes that the PBC will integrate the resources of relevant UN organs, strengthen coordination and cooperation with them and continue to seek successful ways to assist countries in post-conflict situations in their efforts to engage in peaceful reconstruction and embark on the path towards stability and development.
Mr. President,
The establishment of the Human Rights Council is one of the important achievements of the UN reform. The Human Rights Council has witnessed an improvement in its institutional operation and its capacity to respond to emergent human rights situations and a reduction of internal confrontations. Since the Human Rights Council is expected to be a forum in which human rights issues are dealt with in a fair, objective and non-selective manner, China hopes that in taking part in the work of the Human Rights Council, various parties proceed from the standpoint of promoting and protecting human rights, avoid politicizing human rights issues, pay equal attention to all kinds of human rights, and increase mutual understanding and narrow differences on the question of human rights through dialogue, cooperation and communication.
Mr. President,
The normal functioning of the United Nations needs a stable financial foundation. The principle of the capacity to pay is the basic principle in defining ways to assess contributions and should continue to be upheld. Stability should be maintained in the scale of assessment and its calculation methods. This contributes to a stable financial foundation for the United Nations. In the context of the further expansion and deepening of the international financial crisis, keeping the current method of calculating contribution assessments is in the interests of the majority of states.
Mr. President,
In his speech in the general debate of this session of the GA, President Hu Jintao of China called on the international community to join hands in the march forward, uphold the ideas of peace, development, cooperation, win-win progress and tolerance, and work towards a harmonious world of enduring peace and common prosperity. China will continue to firmly support the United Nations in playing a central role in international affairs, resolutely stand for the maintenance and enhancement of the authority of the organization and work tirelessly for the noble cause of peace and development of mankind.
Thank you, Mr. President.


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The Oracle APEX team has just published a new Statement of Direction for Oracle Application Express (APEX) which outlines the roadmap for the next two releases (3.1 and 4.0).
3.1 doesn't really contain a lot of new stuff, but the planned features for 4.0 are looking very interesting! Have a look.


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Kahala home with contemporary elegance
Last week, I talked about some Kahala homes that were having sunset brokers' opens. They're all nice, as Kahala homes are, but one stood out-the design was open and elegant, with the ambience of a mini-resort.
It's no wonder it had a very distinct Island atmosphere; it was designed by renowned architect Jeffrey Long, who has created some of the most amazing homes around Hawaii.
The property is located on Onaha St., which is wide and has ample street parking—a good sign if you're into entertaining. It's a corner lot, which gave Long a lot to work with—12,027 square feet—in creating a private oasis.
The dramatic, 25-foot ceilings and the unusual spiral staircase add visual space and energy to the classically stylish interior. Long pulled the casual and colorful elements of the outdoors into the home with huge, gorgeous sliding doors that lead to the lanai, pool and lush tropical landscaping.
"With the 10-foot Sapele mahogany pocketing doors, this home perpetuates the client's desire for indoor-outdoor living, while the corner lot provides the necessary privacy and an enhanced pool and landscape area," Long says.
There's 4,877 square feet of living area in the two-story residence, which comprises four bedrooms, 4.5 bathrooms, a home theater and an exercise room. High-quality materials, such as African mahogany, travertine marble and granite were used in building this six-year old home.
The kitchen features Sub Zero, Wolf and Thermador appliances, as well as a 300-bottle wine refrigerator.
"Natural light is infused throughout the home and the large windows provide energy-saving benefits as well as further connections to the tropical gardens," Long adds. (Click here for details.)
Money talk: $4,200,000 fee simple
Contact: Dolores Bediones, Prudential Locations, 808-732-5037, email@example.com