text:
In Acts Chapter 9 we study really the conversion of Saul of Tarsus. We're going to follow the subject the transformed life from verse 10 through verse 31. Now we'll never be able to cover all of that. We'll get to about verse 17, but it really is one unit and we see in it the characteristics of a transformed life. Now that's a very interesting subject, the subject of transforming people. And that's really what this world is endeavoring to do. Recently Phyllis Diller, whom you all know, the comedian had a very expensive facelift. And at the particular interview that I happened to watch, she said that it transformed her life. I don't know about that. I do know it transformed her face. I don't know what it did for her life or what it will do in the long-run.
Once in a while I hear people say well, you know I got a new job and I'm a new man. Or you know I had a financial problem and it's answered and I got a windfall from a great aunt who passed on or whatever and boy it's a new life. And you hear this very frequently. Somebody who was sick and they're healthy and it's a new life. They've been transformed. Television says if I use certain products I'll be a new man with a transformed life. Some people think that when they fall in love that transforms them. It does for a while. And you know, Madison Avenue is forever selling products that are geared to transform us. And we aren't stupid, we all know that these are hopelessly superficial all of this that we've talked about is.
And that brings us to the real question and the real question is can anybody be really transformed. Is it even possible? Can you actually take a bad man and make him a good one? Can you take a sinful woman and turn her into something lovely? Can a shattered broken relationship be put back together as good as new or even better. Can the incurable be cured? That's the question. And psychologists and psychiatrists and counselors have in our society been given the assignment of transforming people. And they're doing frankly a miserable job, hopeless. And even in their textbooks, it's interesting if you ever get a chance to look at a psychology textbook or some kind of an advanced textbook along that line, you'll find in many of them an introductory statement to the effect that this is only a so-called science and none of the cures which are connected to it can honestly be connected to it on a positive basis any more than they could be connected just to the passing of time and the changing of circumstances, which is quite an admission.
In fact, changing human behavior is a seemingly impossible task. And most psychological problem people are chronic. You get them over one neurosis and they'll get another one, it's inevitable in most cases. Somebody else comes along and says well, it's education that transforms. If we could educate people we can change our society. We can get rid of crime. We can get rid of this and this. And so we educated people and now we have smarter criminals and psychotics with BA's.
You know? And yet everybody still is pressing the issue of transforming people. We have everything from shock treatment, which is stark and risky and ultimate and desperate to the kind of positive gentle urgings of Norman Vincent Peele and the power of positive thinking, all the way down to the children's version, which is the little train that keeps saying, "I think I can. I think I can." And guess what? He does. Everybody wants to change behavior.
I had a friend, I think I might have told you about this some time back, we wanted to change a...get into a seminar on changing behavior and so we went to this particular seminar and he paid $500.00 and when he got there they gave him a coin. They said this coin will change your behavior. It was one they had particularly designed and it had a kind of a relief thing that you could rub it in your fingers. And they told him to find everything he didn't like about himself and write a reverse positive statement. Like if he was unorganized, he was to say I am amazingly organized and then every time he touched the coin in his pocket, two or 300 times a day he'd repeat that statement and pretty soon, he'd convince himself that he was organized.
Now, they told people who didn't love their wives that all they had to do was say I'm madly in love with my wife. Write that statement, memorize every time you touch the coin. I'm madly in love with my wife. I'm madly in love with my wife. And if you did that long enough, guess what? You'd throw the coin away. No, you'd be madly...you'd be madly in love with your wife. And you know what? It doesn't work. It's fine and dandy as an approach, but it doesn't change anybody's behavior. And then somebody came along and said well society needs to reform people so we have a sophisticated prison system which is not just incarceration, but it's reform. And we talk about reformatories. And we talk about rehabilitation, but the majority of them go back. And of the ones who don't go back, we wonder whether it's real reform or whether it's only a fear of having to go back into a place that they don't want to go back into so that they restrict what is...what would be their normal behavior.
And we're promised if people were economically better off that we would be able to change them and so we moved in with the affluent 60's and 70's and we reached the apex of riots, revolutions, killing, and everything else. And then B.F. Skinner comes along and he says, we can only transform men by controlling them like an animal, genetically controlling the children they produce, brain control and then the movie Clockwork Orange comes along, it says it won't work. And so everybody's worrying about how we're going to transform people. How are we going to change them into what they have to be to preserve themselves. Is the world really doomed? Are we sentenced to a full existence of hate, lust, murder, rape, violence, robbery, war, psychological disease, and psychosomatic illness? I mean, is this it? Just because this man can't change, you can't resist the flow of his nature, the bent of his person.
I mean, can't we transform man somehow? God has something to say about it and if you want to go to the book of Jeremiah and kind of linger there for a minute, we're going to see some verses there that are important. Jeremiah 13:23, very interesting verse listen. This is what God says about people being transformed. "Can the Ethiopian," Jeremiah 13:23. "Can the Ethiopian change his skin?" Here's a better one. "Or the leopard his spots? Then may ye also do good that are accustomed to do evil. God says that it is against your very nature to change. A leopard by sitting in a corner and thinking about removing his spots doesn't do it. An Ethiopian by determining that he would rather have a different kind of skin doesn't accomplish it.
And a man doing anything and everything to try to alter what he is, is unsuccessful. Listen to it again. "Then may ye also do good that are accustomed to do evil." Only if the leopard can change his spots and the Ethiopian his skin. And that can't be done. And so man cannot really change what he is says God. Will a new deodorant soap do it? Will a new deodorant soap transform us like they say? Listen to Jeremiah, he knew all about deodorant soaps. You didn't know that did you? Jeremiah 2:22, listen to what he said. "For though thou wash thee with lye and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before Me saith the Lord God."
Soap doesn't do it. Very superficial. You say I know what will change the world, love. Love baby, that's the little phrase, right? What the world needs now is love. Saw a little film deal on that last night. The answer is love. That such a superficial answer at that point. It's like one guy said it's...you know, I love you humanity, it's people I can't stand. And that's a very common reaction, but Jeremiah said something about whether we can just really count on all of us loving our neighbors and all of this brotherhood of man thing. Jeremiah 9:4, listen to this. "Take heed every one of his neighbor." You know what he says? Watch out for your neighbor. "And trust not in any brother for every brother will utterly supplant and every neighbor will walk with slanders and they will deceive everyone his neighbor and will not speak the truth. They have taught their tongue to speak lies and they wear themselves out committing iniquity."
You know how to really get bilked every time you turn around? Just start loving everybody with complete blissful trust. You'll get wiped out. Believe me, this world is full of con men. Everybody that talks about love doesn't do it and it's very cheap to talk about it. You say well, if you can't really love everybody and have all this brotherhood thing, if you're going to go around watching your brother because he's going to try to supplant you, move in and take what you have, maybe then what we need to do is have firmer laws and correction methods and we've got to strengthen our prison system and discipline. That's fine, that's all right, but Jeremiah had something to say about that. Back in Jeremiah Chapter 2, verse 30, he said this and here God is actually doing the talking.
Verse 30 of Jeremiah 2, "In vain have I smitten your children, they received no correction." God said, I tried correction and that didn't do it. Soap doesn't transform you. Love isn't really a commodity that you can even use. It's foreign to human kind in its real honest depth. And even rules and discipline and chastisement and punishment doesn't seem to do a whole lot. You say I guess B. F. Skinner's right. I guess the only way to transform people is to smash them. Is to just crush them, you know. Crush out all their personality and all...you make them a nut in the cosmic machine and nothing more. Solomon had something to say about that.
Listen to what he said in Proverbs 27:22. This is a great verse. Listen to it. "Though thou shouldest crush a fool in mortar among grain with a pestle," have you ever seen a mortar and a pestle? It's used to crush things, a little stone thing and today if you go into a chemistry lab or something you'll find one out of steel, metal. Listen to what he said. "Though you crush a fool in a mortar among grain with a pestle, yet will not his foolishness depart from him." You're not going to get rid of a fool, you're just going to have a crushed one. You can't press upon man a crushing debilitating experience and expect to turn him into something wonderful.
There is no outside force that can change man. None. You know why? Man doesn't have an outside problem. What kind of problem does he got? An inside problem. And if you're going to get at transformation, you're going to get at it from the inside. It isn't facelift. It isn't soap. It isn't superficial lovey dovey brotherhood. It isn't any of these things. It's not prison. It's not genetic controls. It's got to be inside. And that's exactly what Jeremiah hit on in Chapter 9, verse 1.
Listen to what he said. "Oh that my head were waters and mine eyes a fountain of tears." He's really sad about the state of people. "That I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people. Oh that I had in the wilderness a lodging place of wayfaring men that I might leave my people and go from them. I'd like to go out to a cabin in the woods and just cry. He was so broken. Here's why. "For they are all adulterers and assembly of treacherous men. They bend their tongues like their bow for lies, but they are not valiant for the truth upon the earth for they proceed from evil to evil and they know not Me saith the Lord."
That's the problem. Jeremiah went on to say in Chapter 17, verse 9 "The heart of a man is deceitful above all things and," what, "desperately wicked." Now Isaiah really hit it on the head in Isaiah 1:5. "Why should you be stricken any more? You will revolt more and more." Listen, here's the problem. The whole head is sick and the whole heart weak. You see that's the problem. We cannot transform people on the outside. It's got to be something again on the inside. You say well, is there anybody that can do that? There is. God can do it can't He.
And you see this is where the Word of God moves in in 2 Corinthians 5:17 and says "If any man be in Christ he is a new creation, old things pass away behold all things become new." God is in the business of transforming people. God is in the business of doing that. And we come in Acts Chapter 9 to just one of those people that God has done this for and his name is Saul. Now, Saul, just let me give you what kind of a guy he was. Just let your imagination run over these thoughts. First of all, he claimed to be the world's worst sinner, right? Now we know we sin, but I doubt whether any of us would announce to our friends that is the characterization of us.
But he claimed to be the world's worst sinner, and he really had a lot of things to support that claim. He lived his life to hurt, to injure and if need be, to kill people who disagreed with him. In fact, by his life he blasphemed God and he made good people who loved God suffer torture. He was a bad man, very bad. He as a man who was the hireling, to make it worse, of dirty politicians. He worked for the crooks in Jerusalem. He was very, very evil. His name was Saul of Tarsus, but you know something? That man was absolutely, totally transformed, totally transformed. And it wasn't superficial, it was deep.
Listen to what the same man said to a group of Christians in a little city called Thessalonica. The 1st letter, the 2nd Chapter, verse 1. "For yourselves brethren know our entrance in unto you." Now can you imagine this fire-breathing Christian hater arriving what you're going to be like? "You know how we came unto you? It was not in vain, but even after we had suffered before and were shamefully treated and as you know at Philippi we were bold in our God to speak unto you the gospel of God with much contention. For our exhortation was not of deceit or uncleanness or guile. We were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel. Even so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who tests our hearts. For neither at any time used we flattering words as you know, nor cloak of covetousness. God is witness. Nor of men sought we glory, neither of you nor yet of others when we might have been burdensome as the apostles of Christ, but we were gentle among you as a nursing mother cherishes her children."
You say how did he get tender all of a sudden? Listen to this. "So being affectionately desirous of you." He used to hate them. He used to want to kill them, now he loves them. "We were willing to have imparted unto you not the gospel of God only but our...also our own souls because you were dear unto. We just love all you wonderful Christians." Same ones he was killing if need be not too long before. I love this. It says in verse 11, "As you know, how we exhorted and encouraged and charged everyone of you as a father does his children." You see, here's a change. This man is a whole new man. Something drastic has happened in his life. At the end of the first...well, in the middle of the 1st Chapter of Philippians, verse 18, he says, "Notwithstanding everyway whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached and in that I do rejoice ye and will rejoice."
Now all of a sudden this person who hated Jesus Christ is rejoicing when He's preached. He was absolutely and totally transformed. In fact, the Christians fell in love with him. When he left Ephesus they fell all over him and cried like babies because they loved him so much. Now what in the world could change a man like that? Only Jesus Christ, only God, because God gets at the heart of the issue. Now, as we look at Chapter 9 of Acts, we're going to see the characteristics of this man's transformed life. And I think really what is a pattern for all transformed lives, this is one of those chapters that gives for us some great insights into the basics of the Christian experience. It's not a...it's not a far out kind of thing or an obscure doctrine that you're going to be finding here. It's just some basic root, first floor, bottom shelf kind of stuff. But it's so important.
There are seven ideal characteristics of a transformed life. The first one is faith in the Savior, faith in the Savior. Now that is in the first nine verses and we covered that last week. We're not going to go into except to just bring it back to our attention. We know that this transformation in the life of this man came when he put his faith in Jesus Christ. We know that. We know the apostle Paul was on his way to Damascus to kill Christians. That's exactly what he had in mind. And on the way, the Lord Jesus Christ stopped him in the middle of the road to Damascus just prior to coming to the city. He fell on his face. At that point Christ revealed Himself to him. He saw Jesus Christ in blazing glory. At that point, he believed that Jesus was who He claimed to be. The Messiah who had died and risen and was alive and he put his faith in Jesus Christ and the transformation took place on the Damascus Road.
And Paul said to Timothy, "I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who hath enabled me in that He counted me faithful," full of faith. "I believed, putting me into the ministry who was before a blasphemer, persecutor, injurious, but I obtained mercy," verse 14, "and the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus." He said, I was changed because of Christ Jesus. It was the grace and the mercy and the hope and the love and the faith all wrapped up in Jesus Christ that changed my life. Transformation then comes by faith in the Savior. There never will be a transformed life apart from Jesus Christ. You can fiddle around with the superficialities but you're never going to get at the issue unless you change a man's heart and his heart is only changed by Christ Himself.
Only God could say to the prophet Ezekiel, "I'll take out the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh." I'll put my Spirit within you. Only Jesus could say Nicodemus, here's how to be born all over again. I can change you. I can create a metamorphosis. You hear about the word in the New Testament regeneration, new creation. That's all it means. The new birth, only in Jesus Christ. And this man Saul of Tarsus was changed in that moment. He became a new creation. He who was dead in sin became alive to God. He who was insensitive to divine truth began to taste that God is good. He who was blind began to see. He who was in darkness stepped into blazing light. He who did only evil continually began to do and have a desire to do good. He who wasn't sure what the questions were now had all the answers. The hell bound became the heaven bound, the rebel became the son.
And it all happened in an instant on a Damascus Road. Some people say salvation is a process. I say that's wrong. Salvation is an instantaneous miracle. The process of conviction only leads up to the instant miracle. So if you're looking for a changed life, the only place you'll ever find it is by personal faith in Jesus Christ. Now that's where Paul began, the transformation took place. That was the positional transformation. He was a new man. Then there became some practical things that needed to be adjusted as he went and the transformation continued.
Because you see, the transformation then is a process of being conformed to Jesus Christ and that'll finally be complete when we see Him face to face. All right, we won't say any more about that because that's very familiar and very basic. The transformed life begins with faith in the Savior.
The second point, fervor in supplication. Fervor just means energy, passion, drive. Supplication means prayer. I believe that one of the characteristics of a truly born again saved individual is prayer. I don't think prayer is just a requirement. I think prayer is a response to salvation. Do you get the difference. I don't think that prayer is something you have to beg Christians to do. I think that if you're really born again, you do it. Now, I think you need to encourage Christians to do it more than they do it. But I believe that a true Christian can be determined on the basis of fervor in supplication.
Now the narrative here leads up to this and it's so beautiful. Saul is now blind. He was blinded by the sight of Jesus Christ. He was going to go into Damascus breathing fire. He goes in there blind and all he can see is the blazing sight of Jesus Christ before him like a man who stared at the sun and can't see anything but the sun no matter where he looks. And he sees only Jesus Christ and somebody's leading him by the hand he's stumbling around and he goes into Damascus and he finds his way to the house of a man by the name of Judas not Iscariot, but some Judas we don't know anything about at all, so there's no point in speculating and he goes to that place and the Bible says in verse 9 that he stayed there for three days and he didn't eat and he didn't drink. For three days he just stays there. The Lord told him to go there and wait and that's exactly what he does and he exists in a solitary blindness without food, without drink.
And I really know what was happening in those days. Those were days when he concentrated on Jesus Christ. Those were days when the shock of the transformation began to settle in his brain. He began to understand what had happened so rapidly and so dynamically. Now as he's sitting somewhere in this house of Judas on Straight Street, meanwhile God is beginning to move on the heart of another man who is going to go to him and pick up the ministry that needs to be accomplished in his life and that's where we begin in verse 10.
As God is dealing with another man on the other side of town. "And there was a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias." That's different than the Ananias who was executed by God in Chapter 5 for lying to the Holy Spirit. "And to him said the Lord in a vision," now Ananias, God gave him a vision. And the Lord just said this, " Ananias," isn't that interesting. And listen to what he said. "And he said behold I am here Lord." I mean, he obviously knew that was not the voice of Mrs. Ananias or of any of the little Ananiases running around. He knew it was God.
God moved and maybe...and maybe in a dream situation, maybe God just brought it across his attention. Maybe there was something with physical eyes that he was able to see. We don't know. But nevertheless, God said, "Ananias." And he knew who was talking. You know, I love somebody who's listening for the voice of the Lord. You know, some Christians God could say John. Huh? Who's that? Because the last person they expect is God. Ananias lived in communion with God apparently to the point when God spoke he was ready. Some Christians are listening to the myriad voices of the world and when the still small voice of God comes they're not ready to hear it. But Ananias apparently walked with God and so when God talked Ananias knew who was speaking.
Anyway, He said, "Ananias." And he said, "Behold I am here Lord." Now here's Ananias and we don't know anything about him except in Chapter 22, verse 12, it tells us that he was a devout Jew and he had good reputation. He was a devout Jew who had now believed in Jesus as Messiah. And I just think, and I may be wrong, but this is a risky guess, but it may well be that Ananias was a leader, if not the leader of the church in Damascus. That he was a primary kind of person there. And in fact, when all the records are done and we get to heaven it may be that if we chat with Ananias we'll find out that it was really him that Saul was after. That he was the head guy that Saul wanted to get at.
Which then brings an interesting flavor to this whole thing. Ananias appears very suddenly and he disappears very suddenly, but it's a beautiful thing to see how God just picks his chosen instrument. He just had Ananias created, saved, and living in Damascus just to go over there and minister to the infant Saul when he was born into the kingdom. Ananias was the right guy. God determined that and eternity passed. Set it all up, moved on Ananias, put the whole thing together. I love the sovereignty of God. I like to see God doing things from His end. That's a securing doctrine people. That's a securing doctrine.
God is very selective in choosing His people to do His tasks. Everyone of you, listen to this, everyone of you as a Christian has a specific, what should I say, specific gifts, specific ministries that the Spirit of God has designed for you to carry out within the framework of God's master plan. And you know, it's only as you're available that those things come to fruition. The willing people are the used ones. And Ananias was willing and he got used.
So Ananias is one of the forgotten heroes if we...we always say we owe the conversion of Paul to the prayer and the testimony of Stephen, I think we also owe the conversion of him to, let's put it this way, the service and brotherliness of Ananias. He fits in there. Well, listen to the command that came to him. "Lord here I am. What have You got?" The Lord said unto him, just get what his reaction must have been. "Arise, go into the street which is called Straight and inquire in the house of Judas, for one called Saul of Tarsus." And you can imagine what Ananias thought at that point. Is He kidding? This isn't really God is it? Who is this?
You sure you know who you're talking about? Saul of Tarsus. This man's reputation followed him everywhere. He didn't even...and there was no statement about Saul had become a believer, which may not have changed the situation anyway, because that would have been so incredulous he likely would never have believed that either at that first contact. He didn't know Saul. He didn't know Saul had been blinded on the Damascus Road. He didn't know that his life was transformed. He didn't know he was now a Christian, didn't know anything.
Told him to go to the street called Straight. Just a historical note, Damascus is ancient city. It had a street that ran right straight through the middle of it from the eastern gate to the western gate, straight about three miles long. It's still existing today. The street's called Straight there, it's called Darbal Mospakeem, different name of course. But it's still there and the street called Straight, at one end of it was the house of Judas. Today some people say that there's a spot where that house was and supposedly a closet where Saul was praying for those three days, but that's conjecture.
Nevertheless, told him where to go. We don't know anything about that Judas as I said. The end of verse 11, he has a footnote. "For behold he prayeth." He's over there in Judas' house praying. Now Judas was probably another Christian and God had set that thing up, which we don't know about. The text says nothing about that. But Saul is over there praying in Judas' house. Well, this is too much. I mean, you know, this vagers your faith. Have you ever thought of the worst enemy to Christianity in your life and then just written him off? That's one guy God will never get. That's terrible to do that. I'm sure that these Christians hadn't even thought to pray for Saul of Tarsus. And here he is over there, God's got a hold of him. He's down at Judas' house and he's praying. What a shock.
You say, what's he doing there again? He's praying. That's why I say the second thing in the transformed life is fervor in supplication. Do you know what Saul spent three days doing? What? Praying. You know what prayer is? Prayer is just communication with Jesus Christ isn't it? Communication with God and all alone for three days. The only thing he could see in front of him very likely was Jesus Christ. The shock of what happened on the Damascus Road preoccupied his thoughts with the things of Christ. He just spent three days in communion with Christ, that's prayer.
And I believe this people. I believe that somebody who is really born again, somebody who really comes to Jesus Christ finds himself lost in communion with Him. Now it's not just going around mumbling prayers. And it's not formally getting on your knees or folding your hands or saying grace at the table. It's just this constant kind of life flow and communion with Christ. Now this isn't the first time Saul prayed. It's just the first time he got through. He used to pray like a Pharisee depending on his own self-righteousness. Now he prays like a broken contrite sinner depending on the mercy of God. But he's praying, he's talking to God. The transformed life people is the life in constant contact with God.
If somebody says to me, oh yeah, I'm Christian, but they have no desire to commune with God then I don't think their Christianity is legitimate. I've illustrated it this way before. For the Christian, prayer is like breathing. You don't come to the end of the day and say boy I'm all tired out, I've been breathing all day. It's easy to breathe. Very easy to breathe. Why? Because the atmosphere around you exerts pressure on your lungs. And it's just...all you got to do is relax to breathe. You don't go to sleep at night saying boy I hope I remember to breathe while I'm asleep. You breathe better when you're asleep than you do any other time, because your body relaxes and the pressure of the air just moves right in.
Now it's hard to hold your breath. Very difficult to hold you breath. Now in terms of prayer, that's exactly what it is. Prayer is just breathing. It's harder not to pray for a Christian than it is to pray. Because when you're not praying, you're holding your spiritual breath. If you're really born again, the easiest thing to do is just let God flood your life. That's just a normal kind of thing. The transformed life lives amid the atmosphere of God. We live in the atmosphere of God. It's normal to just relax and let God get involved with us, you see. I've defined it this way. This is MacArthur, take it for what it's worth. Prayer is simply this, the soul of the Christian moving in the presence of God. That's what it is. Prayer is not formal little things. Prayer is the soul of a Christian moving in the sphere of the presence of God.
Then again, on another angle, prayer is the same to a new creature that's in Christ as crying is to a baby. When your baby comes into the world, you don't teach it how to cry. It comes in crying. Just cry. You say why do babies cry? Now, I'm not a doctor and I don't know all the secrets of why babies cry, but I have a good idea. They cry, in my experience, because they want something. Would you buy that? Of course, they come into the world and they want something. And when they get it, guess what? They stop crying, which is a pretty good indication why they cry. A baby comes into the world and a baby needs something and he wants the supplier to be aware that he needs it, but since he can't articulate it, God has just supplied for babies the knowledge and whatever it takes to yell and the supplier usually responds.
For the Christian it's much the same thing. Prayer for a new Christian is not learned by a manual, nor is it learned by someone giving you a lecture on prayer. It's like crying. You come into the world and you have needs. As a Christian you have needs and the very normal thing for a Christian to do is just to start saying Supplier I have needs. And so we cry a lot. And I wonder sometimes if you're not crying whether you've ever been born. I believe Saul was crying for milk, for clean clothes, do the whole transformation. For somebody to teach him how to crawl and then how to walk and to give him all the things he needed. And so he just spent three days just crying.
And I think that's proof of the transformation and incidentally friends, prayer is not one-sided conversation. God answers it doesn't He? Now God may take three days to do it, but He always answers. And it's beautiful to realize this, that all the time he's over there crying, God's working on the answer somewhere else. Have you ever thought about that? Have you ever just had some kind of thing in your life and you get down and you say I've got to pray about this. You start praying and you think God's a million miles away. It just seems very remote and you wonder if God...you've got such a little silly thing here and you just...you think God's got all these things to do and He's got to make sure Venus stays on course and He's got to take care of all that. It's just really too much for Him to ever get involved in your little piddly deal, and then all of a sudden you forget that God is somewhere and He's got to throw the whole universe into a different gear to get back down to you, you see. Because all kinds of things are tied into you.
Well, that's what He's doing. In the case of Saul, He had to be working with Ananias. Get Ananias all in shape, get that thing going. Get him down the street there and care for all those details. Don't ever assume that when it doesn't happen now, it isn't happening with God. It is. It is. God works in His own way and in His own time. So Saul's over there and he's crying a lot. And he hasn't gotten his milk yet, but God's getting it ready and Ananias is going to deliver it.
That's exciting. Believe me people, watch this one. The work of God is just that. The work of God. Did you get that? God is in control. In Ephesians 2:10, it says, "We are His," what, "workmanship." The word in the Greek is masterpiece. "Created by Him in Christ Jesus unto good works which He has ordained." You see, God is in control of our lives by design. And so God's ordering the circumstances. A pair of corresponding visions at two ends of town are going to meet head on. Verse 12, "Saul has seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in and putting his hand on him that he might receive his sight." God gave Saul a vision. You say why did He do that? Because He wanted him to have something to hang on to. He wanted to have something to trust in.
What are the two things that prove to us God answers prayer? Number one, the Bible, right? Did Saul have a Bible? No. What's the second thing that proves to us God answers prayer? Past performance. Right? Did Saul have any of that to bank on? He didn't have anything. And so the Lord just said here I'll give you preliminary vision. He gave Saul a vision and in his vision, he saw a man name Ananias coming along and touching him and receiving sight.
So Saul's had a vision. Ananias had a vision, God's got two corresponding visions, two men who not three days before were at the other end of the world from each other are now on a dead course to hit head on. Now that's God's control. So God ordered the events. For three days, Saul prayed and God moved to answer his prayer. Believe me people, part of the transformed life is fervor and supplication. When you're really transformed you spend your time communing with God.
You know, there's nothing sweeter than to talk to Him. That's part of the transformed life. There's a third thing and you can add a lot to that. But let me quickly go to this so we'll finish this, at least this third one, faithfulness in service. Another thing that comes, I think, right on the heels of the new birth is faithfulness in service. Now Ananias had lived in Damascus and I'm sure since the time of his salvation he'd been faithful to the Lord. It's very apparent to me that he was a servant of the Lord from his sensitivity to the voice of the Lord when the Lord said Ananias, and bang he jumped. Kind of reminds you of Isaiah when the Lord spoke and Isaiah said, "Here am I, send me." He was ready. And so was Saul at the moment Saul was saved, what's the next thing he said? "Lord what wilt Thou," what, "have me to do?" What am I going to do? Now I'm ready.
Talked to a kid last night, he said to me, you know, he said, "I've been a Christian a long time, but he said for ten years, my Christian life never amounted to anything. Only in the last eight months have I really begun to live for the Lord." And he said, "Is that a common experience for Christians?" And I said, "That's a common experience for most Christians to go like this." Maybe they get saved and they're young and they just don't ever really amount to much until sometime later and they begin to move for the Lord. But I said something else to him, I said, "That's no excuse." Because I said, "There are also Christians who from the moment of their salvation live the life of full service til the day they died." And a classic example is a man named Saul.
That man committed his life to Jesus Christ at the very instant of salvation and he never took back claim to his life until the day his head was laid on block and an ax head severed it off. He never took it back. Faithfulness in service. Now let's pick that up as we look at verse 12...verse 13. "Then Ananias answered Lord," now I hear Your request Lord, but let me just give You a little thought on this, "I've heard by many of this many how much evil he hath done to Thy saints at Jerusalem." This is the guy who's after the Christians. "And here," that is here in Damascus, evidently the word that he was coming preceded him. "And here hath authority from the chief priest to bind all that call on Thy name." He says, I heard about this guy Lord. This is a guy who's got authority to come to Damascus and do what he's been doing in Jerusalem. Do you know what You're asking Lord?
But our gracious Lord didn't rebuke Ananias, because it was a little hard to handle. I mean, let's face it. You can think of the worst possible enemy conceivable and that's Saul and to hear in a word that he's on his way to Damascus to capture Christians when he gets there he's already turned into one. A little hard to believe. And so the Lord accepts the lingering doubt in Ananias' mind. Secures him in verse 15. "But the Lord said unto him, go thy way." I like that. Don't you like that? Get going Ananias. Get going, don't argue with Me. "For he is a chosen vessel unto Me to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel." Ananias, get on, get going.
I like the fact that God demands immediate service. I like that. You know, I really think that we can branch off of that thought and think about a lot of things, but I like the fact that God wants us to move for him now. You know, God must have a monstrous file up in heaven somewhere full of quotes under the category someday. Can't you imagine how He hears, someday Lord once I get the fence painted and the garage fixed, I'm going to go witness that neighbor. God says okay, some day, put that one in there. File that one.
Somebody else is going, Lord, I'd like to teach a class of people. I'd like to start a Bible study, but you know as soon as I get over the hump on this new job, and somebody...some day, I'll put that one right over there, some day. I imagine that thing could fill all eternity that someday file. God isn't interested in some day. I've always said this; God doesn't care about your future. Did you know that? You say oh that's heresy. No, it isn't, because you'll never live in your future. Why should He care about it? You'll live right now. Don't go to God and say some day God I'm going to do this, someday, someday, some day. That never happened.
You never get there. God wants your love and the investment of your life now. And what does He say in verse 15? "He is my chosen vessel to bear my name and God said he's saved and now is job is settled." There wasn't any difference between his salvation and his call. It happened bang, just like that. Faithfulness and service is just...if you go down to verse 20, in the same passage it says, "and immediately he preached Christ." Now that guy really responded immediately.
Saul's only been a believer a little while and he's already preaching. He didn't postpone his service. He did it when God called him. Now there were times, of course, when there was a postponement. He went to the Arabian Desert for several years while God refined him, but he began immediately to do what God wanted him to do. He set his sight there. Sure there was preparation, there was education, there was time to grow. But nevertheless, he pursued the call immediately.
You know, there are needs that we have here in this church. There are needs around the body of Christ everywhere and they're not being fulfilled because everybody's going to do it in the future. That's no good. If I go to my wife and I say, "Honey, do you love me?" I don't want her to say "oh hit me in a couple of weeks." I don't want to be loved in a couple of weeks. I want to be loved now. That's all that matters to me is now. I don't want to be loved in the future. When I got married, long time ago, nine, ten years. Remember standing in the little room there thinking now these vows I'm going to say, I promise to love you til death do us part. See? That's hard to say that. I mean, if you really...I'll love you til death...you don't know that. You have no idea. You haven't even lived with this woman. I mean, she's lovely and she's the object of your love at that point. But how are you going to say I'll live with you and love you clear on out. I just said I'm not going to love her for 60 years. Not a chance. I decided, I'm not even going to love her for 20 years. I decided I wouldn't even love her for one year. In fact, I decided I wouldn't even love her for a month. I decided, I'd just love her right now. And you know what? I still love her right now, more than I ever did. And you know when she wants to be loved? Ask her. Right now.
God doesn't want your service tomorrow. Because He's not interested in it. There's nothing to do for tomorrow. Tomorrow will take care of itself the Bible says. He wants you today. You're sitting around making spiritual plans, they're not spiritual. Ananias' protest was overruled. The risen Lord said, You go, I've selected Saul and there's no dichotomy between his salvation and his service. "He is a chosen vessel." Paul himself picked that phrase up and used it at least four times in the New Testament, Romans 9, vessels of honor, vessels of mercy, 2 Corinthians 4, vessels of earth or earthen vessels, 2 Timothy 2, he talked about being a vessel sanctified and fit for the Master's use.
The term vessel means an instrument to convey the grace of God to men. He is to be My instrument to convey the grace of God to men. Incidentally, the Greek here where it says chosen vessel is literally a vessel of election. God elected him for service. Now I say this as a footnote. The call to the ministry people is not a whim or a will on the part of man, it is of God. It is of God. In Galatians 1:1, the apostle Paul simple says this, "Paul an apostle, not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father." I was called by God Himself. And it says he was called to reach the Gentiles first of all. And you remember in Romans 11:13 and also in Romans 15:16, he specifically says "I am the apostle to the Gentiles."
And so he knew his part. Incidentally, he preached to kings as well, Agrippa and very likely Nero and also to the children of Israel. Verse 16, He goes on, "I will show him how great things he must suffer for My name's sake." He says to Ananias, Saul's going to suffer, which must have been a comfort of some measure to Ananias that he didn't have to fear, because it was going to be the other way around for a while. And Saul did suffer, 2 Corinthians 11:23-27 is the list of the things that he suffered.
Well, Ananias was obedient, discipleship means risks, he was expendable. Verse 17, "And Ananias went his way entered into the house." So Ananias went to commission Saul and he putting his hands on him said, "Brother Saul." He commissioned him. As God's instrument, he just went to help Saul to understand what God had called him to do. And that really was his commission. Ananias said in Chapter 22, verse 14-15 when he arrived, you have his words. He said this, "The God of Father has chosen thee that thou shouldest know His will and see that Just One," that's Jesus, "and shouldest hear the voice of His mouth for thou shalt be His witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard." Ananias said God chose you to be His witness and he put his hands on him.
People the transformed life, the man's service to Christ. Remember the old statement "saved to," what, "serve." "Saved to serve," that's true. When you become a Christian, immediately whatever your vocation was it becomes your avocation. Whereas a Christian the thing that you are to be known for is just that your Christianity. That's the key. Let me close with a verse. 1 Corinthians, don't look it up, just listen, 4:1. If you're a Christian, you ought to be known by your service to Christ. If you have none, you're a contradiction in terms. 1 Corinthians 4, listen, "Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ." When somebody points to you, they should say oh there's John, he works over at Lockheed. Well, look at that, that's Suzie and she is a...she's a waitress. No, no. Oh that's John, he's a minister of Christ. Oh look at...that's that minister of Christ Suzie. See, that's what we should be known as.
"Let a man so account of us, as of," what, "the ministers of Christ, stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover it's required in stewards that man be found," what, "faithful." The world ought to know us by our service to Jesus Christ, by that we should be identified. What are you doing for Him? What kind of service do you have? How are you using your spiritual gifts? Where are you using your abilities? If you're not you're a contradiction in terms. The transformed life, faith in the Savior, fervor in supplication, faithfulness in service. Let's pray.
Father, we've just begun to study these things, but how our hearts have been enriched and blessed and reminded again of that which is our responsibility before You. Father, we know there's so many things that our Lord would accomplish in this world and so many times limitations are placed because of the inavailability of Your people. God we thank You for the transformation of salvation and we pray further for a transformed prayer life and for a transformed service that we might be diligent and faithful to give our very best to You.
Father, we would ask that every one of us would take inventory in our own hearts to see whether or not we really have been transformed and give You the praise for what You want to do in our lives if we let You. In Christ's name. Amen.
This article is also available and sold as a booklet.
This sermon series includes the following messages:
Please contact the publisher to obtain copies of this resource.Publisher Information


text:
The Daily Word 09.02.10: Another Gulf rig explodes, chain-smoking 2-year-old, no creator
Another offshore oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico exploded.
Hurricane Earl is growing and heading for North Carolina.
Stephen Hawking says God didn't create the universe.
Woman's body found on a NE Heights sidewalk. She was 30.
Pipe bomb in a Rio Rancho apartment complex.
Privately owned prisons in N.M. haven't paid fines for understaffing.
More people in N.M. don't like the boosted war effort in Afghanistan.
LANL OK'd to build a staging facility for nuclear waste.
Families say Santa Fe police threatened them with deportation when they wouldn't cooperate in an investigation.
Chain-smoking 2-year-old quits.
Look how much BP spent trying to clean up … its image.
Stop the press! Some women like having small breasts.
Have a DIY drink.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
When the world ends, what are you going to do with your data? Luckily there's a startup for that. Off World Backup promises that they can save your data even if "we can't save you." Now you can save your most valued files in a cloud whose servers are located on Mars, the Moon, and various space stations around the system. It's safe, and it makes the perfect gift for loved ones this apocalypse season. Plus you can monitor your server status constantly, just to see how things are going in the Ferdowski Colo on Mars.
On their site, these intrepid space entrepreneurs write:
Our proprietary process gets your data encrypted, transmitted and stored through our state of the art satellite array. Your content is initially stored locally within our super secret server bunker protected by a MagnetoPlasmic Repulsar Field (trademark pending) powered by a completely green geothermal energy transducers located several miles under a remote mountain range. Data is then methodically broadcast up to our geosynchronous satellite web where your data is encrypted using our quantum bilateral encryption technology. From there we bounce your data through a series of parallel redundant transitional satellites spanning all the way to our various data centers sprinkled around the solar system, with our main facility located within the walls of Olympus Mons on Mars. In case of disruption our satellites implements various algorithms derived from the Nash Equilibrium to find the most beneficial and efficient path to store your data safely and securely. Our martian armed guards are on staff 25 hours a day to provide that last bit of security, to allow you to have one last comfortable night's sleep, knowing that your data, business and personal, will be ready for you when you need it in the post-apocalyptic rebuild.
Right. Listen and learn, seasteaders — this is a way cooler idea than Havenco, the server farm on the independent nation-state known as Sealand.
Still having a hard time understanding the importance of this service? Off World Backups explains in this fine illustrated guide to their services (click to embiggen):
For the .0001 percent of you who have never seen an internet joke before, this is one. And it's awesomely hilarious — especially because it's all too believable as the kind of thing the space-obsessed nutjobs in Silicon Valley would actually fund. The dice are a nice touch. Check out the site at Off World Backup.


text:
|Working Group I: The Scientific Basis
|Other reports in this collection
2.5 How have Precipitation and Atmospheric
Moisture Changed?
2.5.1 Background
Increasing global surface temperatures are very likely to lead to changes in precipitation and atmospheric moisture, because of changes in atmospheric circulation, a more active hydrological cycle, and increases in the water holding capacity throughout the atmosphere. Atmospheric water vapour is also a climatically critical greenhouse gas, and an important chemical constituent in the troposphere and stratosphere.
Precipitation measurement and analysis are made more difficult by accompanying natural phenomena such as wind and the use of different instruments and techniques (Arkin and Ardanuy, 1989). Because of the substantial under-catch of precipitation gauges during solid precipitation, frequent light rainfall events, or windy conditions, the true precipitation in the Arctic is more than 50% higher than the measured values (Førland and Hanssen-Bauer, 2000). Gauge under-catch is substantially less in warmer, less windy climates with heavier rainfall. New, satellite-derived precipitation estimates offer the prospect of near-global climatologies covering at least one or two decades, but multi-decadal global changes cannot be estimated with high confidence.
For all these reasons it is useful to compare changes in many of the moisture-related variables, such as streamflow and soil moisture, with precipitation to help validate long-term precipitation trends.
Other reports in this collection


text:
The conference is open to ESA Principal Investigators, OMI/FTS/MAESTRO data users, scientists, and students working in the field of remote sensing of the atmosphere and to representatives from national, European and international space agencies and Value Adding Industry.
The Conference is meant to:
The conference will be organized around oral and poster presentations, invited talks from key experts, and hands-on demonstration of data ordering and software tools.
Poster Dimensions: maximun width - 1m, maximum length - 2m.


text:
3333 North Main Street
Directions Gainesville, FL 32609
Sorry, there are no matching vehicles in stock at this time. Please contact us for more information or submit a vehicle search request using our CarFinder tool.
Explore everything your new 2018-2019 Lincoln has to offer. Parks Lincoln of Gainesville, Serving Gainesville, Lake City, Alachua, Chiefland, and Newberry, is proud to sell new Lincoln models. If you're in the market for a new car, that means you surely have questions. If you do, our website is here to give you answers. Listed are the new Lincoln MKC, Lincoln MKS, Lincoln MKX, Lincoln MKZ, and Lincoln Navigator models currently for sale at our Gainesville, Florida Lincoln dealership. Have a look, take in all of the details and be sure to consider each trim and optional accessory to see what meets you needs. If there's a specific vehicle you're interested in, our staff will be happy to set schedule a new car test drive. Serving Gainesville, Lake City, Alachua, Chiefland and Newberry drivers is what we do best!
When you've picked a new Lincoln that really speaks to you, our biggest priority is helping you get behind the wheel on a more permanent basis, on your terms. Our financing specialists are ready to help tailor a Lincoln lease that fits within your monthly budget. It also means making sure you leave with a plan in mind for how to properly care for your car, and our onsite Lincoln service center is more than happy to help. With Parks Lincoln of Gainesville at your service, you can drive knowing your car is in good hands.
Contact Information:


text:
Pos Malaysia issues limited royal institution stamp collection
Malaysia is a federal constitutional elective monarchy. The system of government is closely modelled on that of the Westminster parliamentary system, a legacy of British colonial rule. The head of state is the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, commonly referred to as the king. The Yang di-Pertuan Agong is elected to a five-year term by and from among the nine hereditary rulers of the Malay states; the other four states, which have titular Governors, do not participate in the selection. By informal agreement the position is systematically rotated among the nine, and has been held by Mizan Zainal Abidin of Terengganu since 2007. The Yang di-Pertuan Agong's role has been mostly ceremonial since changes to the constitution in 1994.
Legislative power is divided between federal and state legislatures. The bicameral federal parliament consists of the lower house, the House of Representatives and the upper house, the Senate. The 222-member House of Representatives is elected for a maximum term of five years from single-member constituencies, which are determined based on population. All 70 senators sit for three-year terms; 26 are elected by the 13 state assemblies, and the remaining 44 are appointed by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong upon the Prime Minister's recommendation. The parliament follows a multi-party system and the government is elected through a first-past-the-post system. Since independence Malaysia has been governed by a multi-party coalition known as the Barisan Nasional.
Pos Malaysia is to sell from 12 December 2011, a stamp and philatelic collection on the theme of the institution of the monarchy, showcasing three items of the royal regalia. Pos Malaysia Berhad Group Chief Operating Officer Shukrie Salleh said the company was honoured to produce exclusive stamps, envelopes, first-day covers and folders on the royal institution.
The special stamps, measuring 50mm x 40mm, depict the Royal Tiara (60 sen), Royal Waist-Buckle (80 sen) and the Royal Throne (90 sen) and can be purchased from post offices nationwide.
Folders are priced at RM5.50 each and can only be obtained from selected post offices. "We hope Pos Malaysia's efforts will encourage an appreciation for the history and heritage of Malaysia's royal institution," he said at a news conference here today.
Meanwhile, Pos Malaysia Stamp and Philately Unit chief Yasmin Ramli said the items of the royal regalia found on these exclusive stamps had been gazetted as national heritage on March 16, 2009. "Pos Malaysia targets local and foreign stamp collectors to purchase this edition as it is limited and will not be reprinted. "The royal institution stamp collection is the last for this year, whereby 14 collections have already been issued. We will continue issuing various stamp collections next year," she added.
Technical Details
Stamp Value :60sen, 80sen, 90sen
Stamp Sheet
Sheet Content :20 Stamps
Paper :SPM Watermarked, Phosphor Coated
Printing Process :Offset
Printer :National Security Printer
Stamp Designer :Prof. Dato' Raja Zahabuddin Raja Yaacob
First Day Cover
First Day Cover Value : 50 Sen
Folder Value :RM5.50
First Day Cover (with stamps)
Date of Issue 12-Dec-2011


text:
William Wordsworth
A Whirl-Blast From Behind The Hill - Poem by William Wordsworth
A Whirl-Blast from behind the hill
Rushed o'er the wood with startling sound;
Then--all at once the air was still,
And showers of hailstones pattered round.
Where leafless oaks towered high above,
I sat within an undergrove
Of tallest hollies, tall and green;
A fairer bower was never seen.
From year to year the spacious floor
With withered leaves is covered o'er,
And all the year the bower is green.
But see! where'er the hailstones drop
The withered leaves all skip and hop;
There's not a breeze--no breath of air--
Yet here, and there, and everywhere
Along the floor, beneath the shade
By those embowering hollies made,
The leaves in myriads jump and spring,
As if with pipes and music rare
Some Robin Good-fellow were there,
And all those leaves, in festive glee,
Were dancing to the minstrelsy.
Comments about A Whirl-Blast From Behind The Hill by William Wordsworth
Amoo Oluseun (6/25/2014 8:21:00 AM)
Sally Plumb Plumb (6/25/2014 1:17:00 AM)
Sankaran Ayya (6/25/2013 4:36:00 AM)
Wordsworth has no equals in poetic world. He is natures own poet.
Watch the words and worthy sound and lyrical beauty in these opening lines.
A Whirl-Blast from behind the hill
Rushed o'er the wood with startling sound;
Then- all at once the air was still,
And showers of hailstones pattered round.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - KAVIN CHARALAN (Report)Reply
Behzad Savari (6/25/2013 3:18:00 AM)
Terence George Craddock (6/26/2012 10:37:00 PM)
Wordsworth accurately describes the sudden onslaught of an autumn or winter squall in this poem, celebrating the joy and wonder of being caught outdoors and finding the refuge of natural shelter, from which to observe stimulating changes in the seasonal weather. The poem is both realistic description and romantic images. The immediacy of the first two lines, 'A Whirl-Blast from behind the hill/ Rushed o'er the wood with startling sound; ' describes the sound and force of a wind gust originating from 'behind the hill', funneled into 'the wood'. This squall, the sudden sharp increase in wind speed, which proceeds rain showers, thunderstorms, heavy snow, or in this case hailstone showers; we feel and experience with Wordsworth.
The strange phenomena of still air, just before hailstones strike through 'leafless oaks towered high above', we can also observe as hailstones 'pattered round', rebounding with force from the ground; seeming to dance gleefully. Our image of the scene is extended, we now view Wordsworth as he 'sat within an undergrove' of hollies. These hollies provide excellent shower because they are evergreen and deciduous trees, shrubs, climbers. We feel Wordsworth's admiration and appreciation for this foliage 'Of tallest hollies, tall and green; ' which shelters him.
Why does Wordsworth describe it as 'A fairer bower was never seen.' Because 'all the year the bower is green.' But what point is Wordsworth making? 'From year to year the spacious floor/ With withered leaves is covered o'er, ' and this contrast of 'withered leaves' from the wood of tall now 'leafless oaks'; highlights the miracle of the deciduous hollies, amazingly still 'tall and green; ' despite the harsh chill weather.
With childlike joy Wordsworth exclaims 'But see! where'er the hailstones drop/ The withered leaves all skip and hop; ' and we share marvel at the sight of dancing leaves, dancing with hailstones 'pattered round'. Wordsworth continues his keen observation of nature and the effect of the squall. More contrasts, leaves skip and hop but 'There's not a breeze-no breath of air—', and our eyes race everywhere; watching the scene of 'leaves in myriads jump and spring', 'here, and there, and everywhere/ Along the floor, beneath the shade/ By those embowering hollies made'.
How can Wordsworth best describe this magic effect of leaves in myriads dancing? With the romantic yet fitting explanation that the leaves dance 'As if with pipes and music rare/ Some Robin Good-fellow were there, ' and Wordsworth proceeds to describe the accumulate effect. It is as if 'all those leaves, in festive glee, / Were dancing to the minstrelsy.' Wordsworth has combined a mastery of realism with an appealing flight of mystic fancy, to write an endearing poem, which deserves to be read several times in detail. (Report)Reply
Michael Pruchnicki (6/25/2011 4:25:00 PM)
Ah sure, there's room for both enjoyment and a wee bit of explication, don't you know? A reader can both comment and enjoy the melody at one and the same time. Employ intellect and emotion to get the best from A WHIRL-BLAST! !
One can be taken out of himself by a 'blast from beyond, ' a sudden explosion of the senses and the mind suddenly and without warning, as one sits quietly - (contemplates nature? lets his mind take in the sudden insight, experiences the 'AHA! ' moment! all of the above?) ! You take from it what you can, old scout! Let the querulous cynic and critic bitch and moan at this and that! He doesn't have a clue! (Report)Reply
Larry Mike (12/10/2010 10:47:00 AM)
Not really a Wodsworth fan but I can see why so many people love his poetry. Hey Kevin, this is a poem, it's to be enjoyed not dissected like a mathematical problem. (Report)Reply
Joseph Poewhit (6/25/2010 9:31:00 AM)
Kevin Straw (6/25/2010 6:10:00 AM)
What was William doing sitting in an undergrove of hollies in the middle of Winter?
Some comments:
"Where leafless oaks towered high above…"
"high" is included in "towered" ("high" added for scansion)
"A fairer bower was never seen."
Was this the fairest bower ever? Had W seen every bower ever? This adds nothing to the description of the bower.
"Of tallest hollies, tall and green…"
Why repeat that they were tall? ("tall" added for scansion)
"The leaves in myriads jump and spring, …"
What is the difference between jumping and springing? - "spring" (or "jump") added for scansion) .
"As if with pipes and music rare…"
Why should the music of Robin Goodfellow be "rare"? What does "rare" mean in this context – rarely heard or of surpassing excellence? In either case how can W ascribe such qualities to music he has never heard? (Report)Reply
Ramesh T A (6/25/2010 2:17:00 AM)
Lover of Nature, Wordsworth shows his minute observation of Nature even if it is a minor matter! It is a recording of his experience in Nature! (Report)Reply
Will Servell (6/26/2009 12:58:00 AM)
It is such a nice poem to read. Thank you. Not much commentary. (Report)Reply
Kevin Straw (6/25/2009 9:04:00 AM)
Thnak you for giving us these minor poems. It makes one realise that the anthologies are not everything! (Report)Reply
Rituparna Choudhury (4/9/2008 3:50:00 AM)
Extremely superb! I really am a great fan of William Wordsworth....such a beautiful poem! The use of those lovely words have really touched my heart.. (Report)Reply
Dimitris(Jimmy) Psachos (6/25/2007 8:34:00 AM)
A pre-dust in the wind...William does not need a poem of the day, they should create for him poem of the month. (Report)Reply
Trevor Irwin (6/25/2007 5:16:00 AM)
I love the energy of the poem; how the falling hail brings the dead leaves back to a kind of life! WW was a genius! Trevor Irwin (Report)Reply
Read this poem in other languages
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem »
Read poems about / on: green, music, spring, dance
William Wordsworth's Other Poems
Famous Poems
- Phenomenal WomanMaya Angelou
- Still I RiseMaya Angelou
- The Road Not TakenRobert Frost
- If You Forget MePablo Neruda
- DreamsLangston Hughes
- Annabel LeeEdgar Allan Poe
- Caged BirdMaya Angelou
- Stopping By Woods On A Snowy EveningRobert Frost
- IfRudyard Kipling
- TelevisionRoald Dahl


text:
Americae pars VIII. Continens primo, descriptionem trivm itinervm Francisci Draken, qvi peragrato primvm vniverso terrarvm orbe, postea cum ... Iohanne Havckens, ad expugnandum ciuitatem Panama, in Indiam nauigauit ... Secvndo, iter ... Thomae Candisch ... Tertio, duo itinera ... Gvaltheri Ralegh ... nec non ... capitanei Lavrentii Keyms. Qvibvs ... describitvr ... regnum Gviana ... Primo Anglicana lingva sparsim consignata: iam verò in vnum corpus redacta, & in Latinum sermonem conuersa, auctore Gotardo Artvs.
- Thumbnail200x200
- Small463x640
- Medium740x1024
- Large1157x1600
- Original2776x3840
- Upscale 2x5552x7680
Bound with the editor's [America. pt. 5. Latin. Francoforti] 1595. 1st ed., 1st issue, copy 3.
Plates have special t.p.: Tabulae & imagines ad septimam et octavam Americae partem ...
The history of Drake's first voyage is translated from the account by Nuno da Silva; the second is based upon an account by Walter Bigges; the third is from Drake's logbook, continued by his mate. The voyage of Cavendish is by Francis Pretty; Raleigh's first voyage is written by himself; the account of the second is by Lawrence Kemys.
First ed., 1st issue. Cf. Church. Cat. of books relating to ... America, 163; with maps on p. 78 (1st group) and p. 3 (2d group); and plates 13 and 14 printed on correct leaves.
Kraus, H.P. Sir Francis Drake, no. 31
Also available in digital form on the Library of Congress Web site.
Explore the New World: As young readers a few hundred years, you can delve into the expeditions of Vasco da Gama, Christopher Columbus, Ferdinand Magellan, John Cabot, Hernán Cortés, and more. High-Resolution, ready to print scans.


text:
Scribus 1.2 Announced at aKademy
The Scribus Team is pleased to announce the release of Scribus 1.2 - Open
The Scribus Team is also proud to announce the first commercial
Among the major changes and features in 1.2 since the release of Version 1.0:
Scribus was chosen by Trolltech as one of their "Cool Applications". We on
more integration with KDE?
will there be more integration with KDE -- common dialogs, kio slaves, printing system, icons, etc? Right now it's a foreign body, more like LyX (with Qt interface).
By Sergey at Sat, 2004/08/28 - 5:00am
Re: more integration with KDE?
More than likely, but not for 1.2, which will be maintained strictly for bug fixes and some minor updated.
This has already been submitted as a feature request. No time frame, but we have given it some serious discussion. As for printing, Scribus directly supports CUPS, so any printers configured via kdeprint, are automatically picked up.
This will probably be a compile time option, as we wish to keep Scribus available for MacOSX and eventually Win32.
By scribusdocs at Sat, 2004/08/28 - 5:00am
btw 1.2 is so much more responsive than 1.1.7, and a new story editor is excellent.
As for the interface, yes, I understand that Scribus tries to be more than just another KDE app, and you probably don't want to get yourself into the LyX-style UI-independence mess. But support for ioslaves when compiled for KDE will add alot productivity-wise. As for printing -- stuff like pseudo-printers is a nice addition, IMO.
Thanks for the marvelous work you are doing.
By Sergey at Sun, 2004/08/29 - 5:00am
Re: more integration with KDE?
Take a look at the kvirc3 code, there you'll see pretty clearly and example of how to implement the KDE support at compile time.
By Juanjo at Sun, 2004/08/29 - 5:00am
Great app
Scribus is really a great app.
By Martin at Sat, 2004/08/28 - 5:00am
Re: Great app
The slogan of Open-source is there is no warranty or fitness for any particular task, use it at your own risk.
If you want something work right out of the box, buy Apple based or Microsoft based. This is the people's perception about Open-source products whether you like it or not. No offense please. I'm a user of open-source products and I support to change the above slogan to Our project and products conforms to Mercedes quality :)
All most all of the open-source projects do not have schedules, develop when they feels to do so, there is no testing or quality criteria to pass, there is no proper management or developers are responsible to any person or authority unlike in commercial software development.
What most of the open-source projects lack is quality and standards. What we need is a standardization authority to standardize projects and products. Can the ISO be kind enough to help open-source? Is there any opportunity for open-source projects to proudly display a certification on their web sites that it conforms to this level of standards?
This is the right way, I think your's and other's questions should be answered no matter whether it today conforms to 1% compared to it's commercial counterpart, but we all know if the project adhere to same quality one day it surely going to surpass the commercial counterparts.
By Sagara at Sun, 2004/08/29 - 5:00am
Re: Great app
What a nice troll !
"All most all of the open-source projects do not have schedules"
WTF ? ALL big open source projects have roadmaps, release schedules, and so forth. Look at the KDE developer info for one. But also OpenOffice, GNOME, Mozilla, Shessh!
"there is no testing or quality criteria to pass"
go to bugs.kde.org, take a look, for God's sake, what the hell are you smoking ?
Open Source developmenmt is peer reviewed, strongly remminescent of the basic sciences. Whether you like it or not. Mozilla, OpenOffice, the BSD kernels, Linux kernel, KDE, GNOME, how many examples you need ? It works.
And yes, it can work out of the box. Boot Knoppix from a CD, install Mandrake or Suse ...
I know, I know, I shouldn't feed the trolls ... I'll stop here.
By MandrakeUser at Sun, 2004/08/29 - 5:00am
Re: Great app
I'm sorry if you see it as a troll, but I never meant that way.
There is a saying, be sensitive to what he say, rather than how he say :)
We both lovers of Open Source software but the difference is how we see it and where we stand.
I may be wrong, but according to your reply you are at the 'peer' end. But I'm in the middle between the peer and the developer, like the MandrakeSoft. I know the pain of compiling software from source and make it ready for peers to enjoy.
The main point what I tried to say is the requirement of an International Standard Institution to standardize the Open Source projects and products to the bring them to the next level. Let the peer to risk burn hand is not the way I see. Just turn your telephone and see the other side what standards the manufacture followed to make it a working product for you! Actually, safety matters more than functionality.
The MandrakeSoft, Suse, etc. are not open source projects, they are commercial companies and they bridge the gap between the peer and the open source developer. Without them if you don't like Microsoft, you got turn to Apple, no other choice.
When I say most, I did not mean all. It's mostly the case, I have great product but no manual :) It's like to me you wear a Giorgio Armani jacket, but no pant just underwear only :)
Standardization make a product usable and safe in many ways.
By Sagara at Mon, 2004/08/30 - 5:00am
Re: Great app
Ok, sorry for the rant ;-)
I honestly thought you were astroturfing or something. I think I now understand better what you mean, but I still humbly disagree :-)
See, under the peer-reviewed, open-source method, one important element is the "bazaar model":
Development is rather caothic at some instances, but there is an overall evolution towards order.
Take an example, any example. Office suites. Late 90's. It was a mess. Some worked a bit, some didn't, etc. OpenOffice emerged.
DE's. After several dozen projects started, two strongest contenders survived: GNOME and KDE.
As for Standarization and all, yes, it has to happen and it will happen. There are several efforts on the way. A few: LSB, freedesktop.org, this Linux Registry thing posted recently here at the dot.
One more thing: putting together open software yourself is hard. But then what ? Try doing that with the MS sources. Oh, wait, they don't offer you the source, my bad ;-) But this is the whole idea of (commercial or non-for-profit) distributions. This is WHY they exist!
And finally: yes, I agree that commercial (opensource) contributions are important. Mandrake and SuSE are there for profit and there is nothing wrong with that. It is to be noted that Knoppix is helping bring debian to the masses.
It's all good, I still fail to see where Open Source projects are inherently low quality. There are several huge, excellent projects around, and thousands of smallish projects that will either grow strong or die ;-)
By MandrakeUser at Mon, 2004/08/30 - 5:00am
Re: Great app
Although you "love" open-source software, I'm afraid you don't understand it. The best measure of the quality of software is how many people use it. Do you really think people would use it if it was not any good? I installed my first version of linux in 1997 because I needed a unix-like environment to develop code for my research. I have used nothing but open-source software ever since. The number of people with a similar story has grown to millions since the early days of linux.
By insanepenguin at Mon, 2004/08/30 - 5:00am
Re: Great app
I don't deny the strength of open Source model.
To make things simple, lets take an example. We don't have to go too far, lets download the latest Scribus 1.2 (http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/linux/apps/office/scribus-1.2.tar.bz2).
Now try to compile and install it according to the instructions given in a Intel Pentium III or 4 based computer running Linux and honestly post your experience here :)
By Sagara at Mon, 2004/08/30 - 5:00am
Shoo! Shoo!
Just type:
By A Numinous Cow Herd at Mon, 2004/08/30 - 5:00am
Re: Great app
Okay. Done. you can read about my experience here
wget http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/linux/apps/office/scribus-1.2.tar.bz2
Now, you do something for me: find any piece of software you like, download the source, and compile it; do it all under any Microsoft or Apple OS then honestly post your experience here. :)
By insanepenguin at Mon, 2004/08/30 - 5:00am
Re: Great app
I use Linux 2.6.7, Xfree86 4.4.0, Freetype 2.1.9, Qt 3.3.2 and KDE 3.2.3 and all installed from source.
Here is my experience:
The freetype-config is available in /usr/X11R6/bin and /usr/X11R6/bin is available in PATH variable.
I managed to get Scribus 1.2 to compile only by patching the configure script.
This is just one example. I compile and install wide range of software for Linux desktop. I must say now there are very much less bad experiences than 2 years ago.
Btw, I have no experience in compiling software in either Microsoft or Apple.
I was very much happy to see the start of KDE Quality Team
What I say is we need an institution like ISO to rate Open Source projects. Rate means not one aspect, wide range of aspects, like in a beauty contest marks are given on a wide rage of criteria, not just for beauty. Thereby, each and every project can see where they stand and what are their strengths and weaknesses.
Today what I see projects get disciplined by them selves. It's better than nothing. But that's not the way whole world works. They comply to well established standards like ISO 9000, ISO 14000, etc. And those companies proudly display their grade in advertisements and in their web sites. Thereby, we all know what is the level of quality of their products. By third-party standardization, you have a target to achieve, and some thing to protect.
The number of people using a product is not an indication it is a superior product. Sometimes, people use a product because no choice. One example is, OpenOffice suit on Linux, if you compare OOo to Microsoft Office suit, where does OOo stands?
Anyway, guys, lets conclude our argument here as we all are busy people. I sincerely thank all of you for your time.
By Sagara at Tue, 2004/08/31 - 5:00am
Re: Great app
"And as far as the "feeding the troll" comment made by MandrakeUser, this kind of post stems from ignorance and misunderstanding. They will only multiply as open-source becomes more high profile; should we dismiss them or do our best to inform?"
Point well taken, cheers and thanks !
By MandrakeUser at Mon, 2004/08/30 - 5:00am
Re: Great app
We know of many personal and small organisation newsletters and magazines being made with Scribus. As the release states, we also have one commercial weekly newspaper in the USA now running off OSS and of course using Scribus. I know of 2 others newspapers thinking of moving, and I know of at least one commercial magazine wanting to switch.
As for comparison to InDesign, well, many people including myself have moved to InDesign to Scribus, many from Quark. We have many professional DTP people helping out and giving advice. If its not there yet, it will be there in the future.
By Craig Bradney at Sun, 2004/08/29 - 5:00am
KDE integration
Better KDE integration is really important. It could improve productivity to large scale.
By Jupp at Sun, 2004/08/29 - 5:00am


text:
Penola the perfect place to pause.
Penola is a town steeped in history with a vibrant community spirit, surrounded by wineries, a short drive from World Heritage features and beautiful beaches.
For anyone wishing to find a place where they can relax in comfortable surroundings, indulge in good food and wine while immersing themselves in the culture and heritage of the community, Penola is the perfect place to pause and enjoy it all.
So why don't you stop to eat in one of our many Cafes and Restaurants before shopping your way through our unique shops and galleries, then take a wander along our Heritage Walk to see our many Heritage Listed and National Trust Buildings and Mary MacKillop Interpretive Centre.
You can stay in a broad range of accommodation in and around Penola from Retreats, B&B's and Apartments to Hotels and Motels,Backpackers and Farm Stays. Within a few minutes' drive down the main strip, there are 20 or more Coonawarra Wineries and Cellar Doors to visit and sample some of the best wines made in Australia.Once you have seen all we can offer, use us as a base and take in one of the many day trips that are just over an hour away. The choice is yours; World Heritage Caves & Blue Lake, Piccaninnie Ponds. The beachside towns of Robe, Beachport and Southend. Bool Lagoon and it's waterbirds, or if you love golf your choice of seven golf courses and that's just a taste of what you can enjoy.
Why don't you time your visit with one of our many events happening throughout the year; from the Coonawarra Vignerons Cup to Penola Coonawarra Arts Festival, Generations in Jazz or Coonawarra Cabernet Celebrations to name a few. So get yourself here, unpack and meander. Place yourself in
the middle of it all. Relax, enjoy and explore from Penola.
The perfect place to pause, you might find yourself staying longer than you thought.


text:
Sunday School – 10:00 am
Worship Service – 11:00 am
Bible Study – 12:15 pm
Wednesday Bible Study - 6:30 pm
12859 Martin Road Spur
Northport, AL 35473
Watering the Tulips
March 9, 2016
"The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord" – Proverbs 16:33
The quadrennial event we have all come to love is nearly upon us. It is presidential election season in the United States. However, it seems to grow less and less presidential and more and more like a WWE Wrestlemania event every time it rolls around. Without a doubt, debates have become less about the positions of the candidates and more about ratings. Most of us that take note of the downward direction of our country are left scratching our heads puzzled by what we ought to do. If things continue as they appear, this time Christians may face a dilemma far beyond anything that they've face before.
Come November, what if believers are faced with candidates from the two major parties who literally have nothing in common with Christians? What if the "conservative" candidate is one of the most corrupt, morally bankrupt people to ever run? What if he actually supported the candidate from the other "liberal" party in previous elections? What if supporting pro-choice candidates is merely a "business decision" for the guy? What if both candidates are known, proven liars and thieves? Do believers have Biblical instruction to "hold their nose and pull the lever"? I mean, we aren't voting for a pastor, right? So, is our vote really something God takes notice of?
First of all, take a deep breath. Don't lose sight of the fact that "the lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord". God ultimately "removes kings and sets up kings" (Daniel 2:21). He even raised Pharaoh up to show His power over him (Exodus 9:16; Romans 9:17). I'm not in any way suggesting that our vote doesn't matter. I'm not suggesting that we all skip out come November. But the Bible is clear; God ultimately is guiding this world down a track that is in accordance with His will. He even orchestrated the death of Christ. However, those that murdered Him bear the guilt (Acts 2:23).
The understanding of God's sovereignty over an election should take the politics out of the equation. Too many believers overthink their vote to the point of watching polls and political newscasts to find out whom they need to vote for so another candidate has less of a chance. In this scenario, our vote becomes less of a vote FOR and more for a vote AGAINST. There may be a more godly candidate. But we feel compelled to vote for a less godly man who has more of a chance to win. However, this approach to voting loses sight of some things. First of all, God is ultimately running this show. Secondly, there's never a right time to do the wrong thing. We are to "overcome evil with good" (Romans 12:21). Oddly, today we've reworded Romans to say, "overcome evil with less evil". But God certainly never advocates that.
Child of God, thank Him today for the opportunity you have to live in a country where you can vote for a leader. Take this opportunity to find the most godly candidate on the ballot and cast your vote for him. Forget all of the political rhetoric. Your duty is to do the right thing. Trust God to handle His end.
Watering the Tulips is brought to you by Sovereign Grace Baptist Church in Northport, AL. For more information, please visit www.sovereigngrace.net . "Your App to the Gospel" can be downloaded at iTunes for iPhone, iPad and IPod Touch, Google Play for Android, the Windows Phone Marketplace, and the Windows Store for Windows 8/8.1 based tablets and computers. Please download it today!


text:
U.S. Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission
Tables Present Employment Discrimination Statistics in User-Friendly Format
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) today announces the availability of private sector workplace discrimination charge statistics for each of the nation's 50 states and U.S. Territories for fiscal years 2009-2011. These data provide a look at EEOC charge receipts, broken down by the basis of discrimination, as well as the percent of total state and national charges. The state data tables are available online at http://www1.eeoc.gov/eeoc/statistics/enforcement/charges_by_state.cfm.
The EEOC will update the state data when new charge statistics are available each fiscal year.
The EEOC enforces federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. Further information about the EEOC is available on its web site at www.eeoc.gov.


text:
Author Gregg Braden expounded on the concept of a divine matrix, which he defined as a container, a bridge between the inner and outer world, and a mirror of quantum essence. In further describing the matrix, he cited the work of physicist Max Planck who wrote about a non-conventional form of energy from which all physical matter originates.
This matrix or field is not something that is "out there" but rather it's the very stuff that is holding us together, said Braden. The universe can be viewed as a massive computer, with our consciousness as the operating system and our emotions/feelings as the software, he continued.
We each create a feeling in our heart, and like prayer, it can have a direct effect on the planet, Braden contended. Prayer can be most effective if the desired outcome is perceived as having already happened, as this gives the field something to work with, he explained.
Oil Update
First half-hour guest, researcher Matt Savinar commented on oil prices and supplies in relation to the peak oil theory.


text:
Our Scandinavia-obsessed, Portland-based intern Joanna Han publishes this gorgeous photo blog and tweets as @joannakarenina. Don't just compliment us on her weekly recap posts; share the love with her on Twitter. Think of it as Direct Trade.
Nordic Roaster Forum: The sold-out Nordic Roaster Forum is happening this weekend in Stockholm, Sweden. An adjunct event of the annual Nordic Barista Cup, NRF sees Scandinavian roasters of all stripes gathered together for the 2-day seminar at the Johan & Nyström Konceptbutik Pavillion and Auditorium. Guests will learn about processing, sourcing, direct trading, and roasting through a mix of lectures, conversations, and cuppings led by Morten Wennersgaard, Graciano Cruz, Felipe Croce, and João Hamilton dos Santos, among others. They'll also going all out with fancy feasts at a welcome dinner and goodbye party — fun! Follow Nordic Barista Cup on Twitter for event updates.
Blue Bottle Sells Equity For $20m: Quite a bit of media frenzy followed the news of the $20 million sale of Blue Bottle Coffee to a fellow named Bryan Meehan, but we don't think it's anything to go crazy over, really. Founder James Freeman told Oliver Strand that he'll still be in charge of decisions about opening or not opening new shops, what shops look and feel like, what kind of coffee to buy, etc., and it seems to us that none of the things that really matter will actually change. We congratulate Mr. Freeman and the Blue Bottle team for their continued success – their coffee just gets better and better.
New Grinder Requirements For USBC Competitors: The SCAA has announced official WBC rule changes requiring competitors to use official sponsor-provided grinders at national-level competitions, and you heard about it here first on Sprudge. Personal grinders may be used, as long as they're by the same manufacturer as the official USBC grinder sponsor, and while competitors can't alter grinders internally, they may adjust grind particle size and doze externally. What do you think? Love it/hate it? Tell us your thoughts in the comments section — looks like so far, reactions have been positive, or at least understanding.
Pop Up, Stay Put: San Francisco pop-up shop Wrecking Ball Coffee Roasters is officially staying put inside gallery and event space Firehouse 8 in SF's Nob Hill neighborhood. The shop currently serves Kalita filter brew coffee and espresso drinks using a La Marzocco GS3, and owners Trish Rothgeb and Nick Cho plan to start serving pastries and tea, install a Strada EP, and add a three-seat slow bar inspired by the Brewers Cup Competition and South Korean "Top Barista" Youngmin Lee. Just one more chip in the argument for San Francisco as the world's fancy coffee capital. Also, they're hiring.
Kenya Dig It?: Sprudge's sixth public cupping party is next Thursday, October 25 in the Windy City! We'll be hosting it at Intelligentsia (222 W Merchandise Mart Plaza Suite 1212) and featuring a refined selection of around 25 Kenyan coffees, along with a chance to get some serious knowledge dropped on you Intelligentsia's green buying visionary, Geoff Watts . The event is from 4pm-7pm and is free and open to the public. If you're in the area, come by – you will still have time to do other stuff that night.


text:
In 1848, the present Key West lighthouse was built in 48 days at a cost of $7,247. It stands 86 feet tall, and was the only southern light to stay lit during the Civil War.
Located at the intersection of Truman Ave. and Whitehead St., this lighthouse is a tourist favorite with an excellent museum and tours. Key West is a city with an incredible history of storms, sunken treasure, pirates and slave trading ships, war, and it?s notorious salvage business.
In this painting is a 2-man Japanese submarine that was captured at Pearl Harbor and a Spanish galleon anchor. Both relics are now seen at the Navy Maritime Museum. From the catwalk wrapped around the third-order Fresnel lens, the view is overwhelming.
Look east to the Atlantic and Cuba, west to the Gulf of Mexico, across the street to Ernest Hemingway?s home, Duval Street, and the entire classic town of Key West.


text:
Even if you're completely happy in your current job, it makes sense to keep your resume up to date. You never know when you might stumble upon your dream job — or, in this economy, have to deal with a nightmarish downsizing. Here are a few tips for readying your resume:
- Update your focus. When was the last time you looked at your own resume? Chances are, it's tailored for the job you already have. Do you want to stay in the field you're in right now, or do you have other skills you should highlight? Either way, make sure that your most-recent experience is at the top of the page.
- Make it email-friendly. Nowadays, companies don't necessarily want to wait for the postal service. Paper is proper, of course, but make sure you have your resume ready in an easy-to-email format as well. It's not hard to do: Eliminate the graphic elements that look so good in print and stick with plain text, in a clear font, and use 12-point type. (Also, some people shy away from opening attachments, so copy and paste the text into the body of your email.)
- Make it active. Instead of listing your responsibilities, list your achievements. Mention specific projects and goals that you met. As the Penelope Trunk points out on BrazenCareerist.com, "Anyone can do a job. Achievements show you did the job well."
- Keep it short. Remember that you're pitching an idea to a busy person, and that idea is "Hire me!" and that person is really, really busy. If a prospective employer has to turn the page to read the rest of your resume, chances are that he or she isn't going to bother reading the rest of your resume. Keep it to a single page.
- Rethink your references. You don't have to put your contacts on your resume — and you don't even have to include "references on request" because, really, everyone assumes they are — but you should take the time to get in touch with your references and make sure they're still willing to vouch for you. Do they prefer phone calls or emails? Do you have their correct titles and contact information? Is their input still relevant to the jobs you're seeking?
Find out more:
- Breathe new life into your resume
- How to explain your resume gap when you opt back into the workforce?
- Enhance your LinkedIn profile for job seeking


text:
Nightlife Awards brauchte ein neues Print oder Verpackung Design und hat einen Wettbewerb auf 99designs gestartet.
Aus 14 Designs von 4 Designern wurde eine Gewinner gewählt.
Nightlife Awards 2011
Hi Everyone!
Our company is based in The Netherlands and has been organizing the 'Oscars' for the Nightlife and Leisure industry for 8 years. The event is called NIGHTLIFE AWARDS 2011 and is a contest entered by about 250-300 clubs, discotheques, bars and DJ cafes. Every year, the public casts over 100.000 votes to elect the winners, for instance the most popular Nightclub in the country or the most popular Nighttime Bar.
More information can be found on our website: http://www.nightlifeawards.nl. Although this site is in Dutch only, the images will speak for themselves. Have a look at our history page: http://www.nightlifeawards.nl/historie/ Here you can see our 4-minute video of last years event, that will give you a good feeling of what is going on.
The contest has been growing every year, this year we expect up to 250.000 votes, 300 participating companies and about 3000 people visiting the awards night.
The voting will start in about a month time and then Awards Night will be 8th of November 2011.
The winning design of 2010 can be found on http://99designs.com/print-design/c…ster-49259
Please do not use a face this time! This year the theme is "THE JOURNEY OF NIGHTLIFE"
If you create the award-winning design, we will offer you a VIP package for 2 people to the awards night in The Netherlands (excluding flights or hotel). This will consist of a visit to the award show, free drinks, free food and a spot on the VIP balcony. You will see your design in action on the huge LED screens!
The design we need is the IMAGE for the advertising campaign. We usually start with a poster design (which is what you should create). This design consists of our Logo (available) then a very strong and appealing image (created by you) and finally the info on the website for voting http://www.stemenwin.nl (this means vote and win).
The image can consists of either graphics or a composition of photos... that's up to you!
You should use the existing logo, but are allowed to improve on this, and change it somewhat, as long as it is still recognizable.
Every year we host a theme. Last year's theme was "Faces of the Night". This year the theme is "THE JOURNEY OF NIGHTLIFE" .
This theme is meant to take a look in the future of the Dutch Nightlife.
Let your imagination run wild with creativity on this theme :)!
Just to clarify, we can add text later. For now, the image is the most important. You should always put the logo in (Nightlife Awards 2011) and the website (http://www.stemenwin.nl). Other text is not necessary at this stage, the image should speak for itself! If you want to add extra text you could add "Vote Now!" or in Dutch "Kies de populairste!" But once again, we prefer a strong image to which we can add text later on. Font suggestions are appreciated.
We need a couple of things from you. A High-Res CMYK PDF image that can be blown up to max. A1 size. And then your design files, so that we can use the logo for videos, animations, webbuttons etc. These can be either photoshop, or eps files.
Contact us if you need more info!
The contest has various targets:
1) Business-2-Business: we want to be appealing to as many businesses in the Nightlife industry as possible.
2) Business-2-Staff. Nightlife is created by the fashionable people working in bars and clubs. The Awards have to be appealing to the staff of the venues participating
3) Consumers. We want to get as many votes as possible! So the design has to appeal to people going out at night... everywhere!
As the Nightclub business is always based on being fashionable and young, the design has to reflect this in its creativity and style. We need a good design that would appeal more to (for instance) the crowd of the Ministry of Sound, Sensation Dance Festival or MTV and not just to a local bar owner.
Of the 3 target groups, the third is the most important. If your design appeals to consumers, it will also appeal to 1+2.


text:
LiveJasmin Hack – Free Credits For Sneakpeek This is Livejasmin hack – Latest Sneakpeek DOWNLOAD 1. First download "LiveJasmin Hack" file above… 2. If you still haven't livejasmin account go to joyourself.com and create a free account. 3. After you created the account, Go to livejasmin.com/ and login with that username and password you created from JoYourSelf.com. 4. You will be logged in successfully! 5. Extract .rar file (Live Jasmin Hacker.exe) to add your free credits to enter sneakpeek like presented in video… enjoy in free sneakpeek! 😉 This hack is sensitive and it will be soon or later discovered by livejasmin software developers but again we will upgrade software so it work again … Please check out for updates on the top of description!
Posts Tagged 'jasmine cam'
LiveJasmin Hack – With Proof (Free Credits For Sneakpeek)
Posted by Admin on


text:
Returning Home
Phillies Alumni keep coming back.
Last year, Mark Parent returned as the Phillies' manager at Lakewood. He's moving up to Reading in 2011. Three second basemen got in line recently: Juan Samuel (major league coach), Ryne Sandberg (Lehigh Valley manager) and Mickey Morandini (Williamsport manager).
Two other former Phillies second basemen are also looking for jobs: Manny Trillo and Mariano Duncan.
Happy Birthday
Monday: OF Alex Pitko turned 96, the second oldest Phillies Alumnus. He played in 1938. The day also saw Greg Luzinski turn 60. Soon a senior citizen will be manning Bull's BBQ.
Thanksgiving this year means three former Phillies will also be celebrating birthdays the same day: C-CH Mike Ryan, 69 (1968-73; 1980-95); LHP Mark Davis, 46 (1980-81;1993), OF Mark Whiten, 44 (1995-96).
HAPPY THANKSGIVING…Gobble, Gobble


text:
Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches were the staple food of my childhood. Anyone else? From the playground to hiking trails, the sticky-sandwiches were Ziplocked and stashed in my pack on an almost daily basis.
So you can feel my despair, when all of a sudden…no more PB&J. It's the Gluten-Free (well, almost GF) life for me now. So here are three of my favorite gluten-free hiking snack alternatives to keep you feeling like that energizer-bunny, school kid on every mile.
Recipe for a good hiking snack:
- packed with protein and calories
- light weight to carry
- doesn't need to be refrigerated
Trail Mix
Try making your own! It's cheaper, plus then you don't have to pick out all the ingredients you don't like. I enjoy a simple mixture of raw almonds with white raisins and chocolate chips.
Rice cakes with peanut butter
Slap two of these together and enjoy almost like a real PB&J! If you want to mix it up more, try the apple cinnamon cakes with almond butter or nutella.
Home made granola bars
These are way cheaper than the prepackaged snacks and customizable to be gluten-free – just make sure to use GF rolled oats. I like adding sunflower seeds, toasted almonds, white chocolate chips and coconut to my creations. Just bake and wrap in plastic to make it to-go friendly. Here's a tasty recipe!
What is your favorite treat to bring hiking?
*Always check package descriptions and ingredients when buying gluten-free snacks.