Normal Most of us think of ourselves as “normal.” I know that our culture is overrun with a victim mentality that causes people to believe that they are truly afflicted in some special way. Others are convinced that they are genuine snowflakes, as unique as their own fingerprint. Still some are filled with hatred and pride because they belong to a particular tribal affiliation. But in truth, we all think that we are rather normal. We assume that our experiences, thoughts, understandings, and emotions are like most other people’s. Or, more accurately, we believe that other people are like us. We are even likely to do things purposefully or subconsciously to try to fit in when we feel like we are outsiders. I believe that this sense of normalcy is closely connected with our innate understanding that we are made in God’s image. This goes deeper than just our outward, corporeal existence because the image of God is reflected in our whole being including both our rational mind and soul. Even though because of sin we are plagued by the sins of partialism, kinism, and tribalism, we all also have a common understanding of our connection as human beings. Excluded Because we have this natural sense of belonging, we tend to think that to be excluded is somehow unfair. But when reading through the many laws given in the Old Covenant to the nation of Israel, it becomes very apparent that God took very seriously who could and could not come near to worship Him. For a specific example, consider Leviticus 21:16-13, in this text the Lord is giving specific instructions about who is prohibited from serving as priests because of physical deformities. To understand these exclusions, we must remember the external nature of the Old Covenant. But still reading the list it is striking to see these people excluded from this service and access to God because of physical defects. For the most part these are not necessarily the outcome of any moral or ethical failure on the part of the individual person. I am sure that many enemies of God would want to use this as evidence that God is capricious and unfair. However, we must understand that the purpose of these holiness codes and ceremonial commandments were to communicate the perfection and holiness of God Himself. God is not condemning people because of these things nor is He being unfair because in truth no one should be allowed to approach His holiness, rather He is communicating His greatness and holiness to His people and to the world through the law code which is a revelation of His righteousness (Romans 3:21). Accessible I must admit as I was reading the text in Leviticus 21, I was reminded that in that covenant I would have been excluded from the service and access to Yahweh. This thought caused me to immediately reflect on the amazing grace of God. In Christ, I am given free access to the very throne of grace and presence of God (Hebrews 4:14-16)! I must add that this access has nothing to do with my calling or vocation being in service to the church but rather it is the heritage of every member of the New Covenant (1 Peter 2:9). In Christ, all believers are priests and have access to God through Jesus. This last Sunday, we considered Paul’s teaching about the fact that through the doctrine of adoption Christians have been brought into God’s family. Paul goes on in Ephesians 2:18-21, to tell us that through Christ we have access in the Holy Spirit to the Father. He then explains that we are therefore, citizens in God’s kingdom, saints in God’s service, and members in God’s household. When we come to God through the transforming power of the gospel and the sanctifying work of God we are given access to God both free and forever! That is something worth singing about, worth preaching about, worth living for with our whole life!
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False Teachers The Scripture is clear that we should expect false teaching in the world (1 John 4:1) and false teachers to even arise among us (2 Peter 2:1-2). Therefore, we should be vigilant that there are wolves who would seek to devour the sheep with the infectious disease of their heretical teaching. Many of these wolves even disguise themselves in sheep’s clothing and bring reproach upon the name of Christ (Matthew 7:15-20). In the passage just mentioned, the Lord Jesus instructs us to judge the teachers according to the accuracy of their teaching. Of course the only way to measure the accuracy of their teaching is against a sure and common standard. The only perfect and inerrant standard by which to judge Christian teaching must be the eternal word of God (2 Timothy 3:14-17). The Apostle Peter is quick to remind us that it is the living and abiding word of God that is the imperishable seed by which we have been born again (1 Peter 1:22-25). False Teachings Several heresies exist which have been repeated over the centuries since the establishment of the church. Heresies are different from errors. Error in doctrine or Biblical teaching is simply a wrong or ignorant view of a particular doctrine. But heresy is the denial or contradiction of an essential doctrine of the Christian faith. The distinction is about the serious nature of the specific incorrect teaching. For example, a differing view on the administration of baptism and the Lord’s supper would usually fall into the category of being in error, while denying the full humanity and deity of Christ would be heretical. The kingdom of God will be full of believers who had differences in this life of practices regarding the ordinances of the church. But everyone will have believed in the perfect God and man mediator, Jesus Christ (1 Timothy 2:3-6). This means that with the world full of both religious and secular false teachers we must be on our guard against every doctrine that conflicts with the message that has been given to us by our great God (Galatians 1:6-9). Historically, the doctrines that have been attacked by heretics are those dealing with the person and work of Christ, as well as the nature and extent of the gospel. So, the target of the enemy is Christ and His bride, the church. The doctrines are essential to the hope of salvation and so they are malined by the debased and demonic enemies of God. True Teachings However, the danger of false teachers is not only the dissemination of false teachings, but also in introducing confusion about true teaching. False teachers do not only teach lies but also teach some things that are true. This is of course necessary for one purpose of making their false teachings believable. But this mixture of truth and error can also cast doubt on true doctrines. Just because a teaching was taught by a prideful and abusive false teacher does not mean that the doctrine itself is an error or a heresy. It also does not mean that the teaching is itself abusive or harmful. For example, a hammer can be used as a torturous tool of abuse or even murder, but it can also be used to build a home. Remember even Satan attempted to utilize and twist Scripture while tempting the Lord Jesus (Matthew 4:1-11). My point in this post is that while we must be careful not to just accept every plausible or hopeful teaching that comes along (Ephesians 4:11-14), we also should not discount or disregard everything that may have been taught by a false teaching on the basis that it was taught by them, but we must test the teaching by the measure of the Scriptures. What time is it? I have heard a few different interviews with Rosaria Butterfeild over the last several months. Rosaria is the wife of a presbyterian minister who was formerly a lesbian activist and professor of English and women’s studies at Syracuse University. (You can read more about her here, she was also recently featured in a video called “He saves us” made in response to the He gets us ad during the Super Bowl.) In these interviews, she has pointed out repeatedly that as Christians we don’t realize what time it is. What she means is that in response to so many culturally divisive and spiritually damaging topics of our day we still act like we are living in the quasi Christian culture of twenty or thirty or fifty years ago. A couple of examples might help us to understand this point. In terms of thinking about gender and sexuality, many of us are thinking that the argument is over ethics. Meaning is this behavior right or wrong. Or we may be thinking that the debate is about truth, such as is this gender claim true or false. But actually, the disagreement is much more fundamental, because it is about identity. Our response to the sexual promiscuity and gender fluidity of our day must be with the understanding that the true identity of each and every person is found in being made in the image of God as both male and female (Genesis 1:26-27). A second example would be our understanding of racialism or tribalism. For many of us the first thing that comes to mind when we hear the term ‘racist’ is a person who hates and persecutes other people because of their skin color or ancestry. But again this is because we don’t understand what time it is. Racism is now defined in terms of power and oppression. In this way of thinking, the needs of the oppressed should always be favored over the rights of the privileged because the privileged are benefiting from the plight of the oppressed. Our argument cannot simply be personal or inalienable rights because again that misses what time we are in. Rather, from the Bible, we must remember that prejudicial partialism is condemned whether it benefits the rich or the poor (Deuteronomy 1:16-18,James 2:1-13). What these examples and Rosaria’s point about knowing what time it is should help us realize are that often the problems that our lost and sinful culture are bogged down in are not the presenting preversions or the surface sins to which we often react. Rather, we must realize that there are deeper problems which these outward manifestations are revealing. These sins are the result of misplaced beliefs and worship. Human beings are created to be believers and worshippers but when that believing and worshiping nature is corrupted and polluted so that we believe lies and worship false deities then we are left with only emptiness and brokenness (Romans 1:18-32). Now What? So, if we realize what time it is, what should we do? First we need to tell the truth out of love for people and not out of fear or anger. Have you noticed that speaking out against most sins has become labeled as fear in many cases? Words such as “homophobic” are used to refer to those of us who would say that homosexuality is sin. But we are not afraid so why this label? I think it is because our opposition is understood as angry and hateful. Of course, no matter our tone, no one likes being told that they are sinning or that they should repent. However, we must still convey the only salvific gospel of Jesus Christ by calling out sin and commanding repentance out of love for sinners and not anger at sin or fear that we are losing our country or culture. It really does sometimes seem to me that many professing Christians just want the sinners to go back into the closet and out of sight. But we must love people enough to engage them with the life changing and hope giving message of the gospel (Titus 3:1-11). I could give a list here of things that we all know we need to do more. We need to share the gospel more, pray more, etc. But really what we need to do is love more. And loving more means loving enough to say hard things and even risk losing the relationship for the sake of the other person’s soul. Wedding Practice We usually think of wedding practice as something you do before the ceremony. But maybe we should think about marriages from the perspective that we are always seeking to improve. A physician or an attorney is said to be practicing their field, not before they enter the occupation, but while they are engaged in the work. In the same way, we, as fallen and sinful people, must be practicing at being better spouses and having better marriages. Maybe you are thinking, “How do we have better marriages?” Well, first let me tell you that affection alone is not enough. What we need is real love that causes us to do the hard things. In the world of real estate the answer is “location, location, location” in the realm of Biblical interpretation or reading comprehension the rule is “context, context, context” and after counseling many couples and a couple of decades of wedded bliss I can tell you that in marriage and relationships the issue is “communication, communication, communication.” Communication is built on two key components. The first key is that content must be expressed. If no message is being sent, then no genuine communication can happen. For us to have better communication, especially in our homes and marriages, we must focus on expressing ourselves clearly and coherently. The other necessary aspect of communication is receiving the message that has been sent. This means practicing good listening skills. If we desire to have more harmonious homes and deeper relationships, then we must listen with the attention and intention to know what was actually said. Sadly miscommunication is at the core of so much hardship and heart ache in many homes and marriages. Using our good communication skills we then must have the confidence and the vulnerability to talk about every portion of our lives. We must communicate to our spouse about our fears, our dreams, and our priorities. A marriage is not a joint venture or a mere partnership but a covenantal unity that cannot be undone or dissolved. In the first marriage in the garden of Eden, Adam said she is my bone and my flesh (Genesis 2:18-24). Also God Himself pronounced them one flesh and the Lord Jesus said that what God has joined let man not separate (Matthew 19:6). But why should we work so hard to have strong marriages? Let me give you three reasons. First, God has given you a precious gift in your relationship with your spouse. Imagine that you were given a delicious pie as a gift from your grandmother. You decide that you aren’t really hungry now so you will save it for later. But you end up simply leaving it in the fridge till it is spoiled and must be thrown out. You received the gift but you didn’t really enjoy the blessing. The Lord has given you a gift but you must enjoy it! Secondly, to not give effort and intention to your covenant relationship is to rob others. Certainly when we do not seek to have God honoring Biblical marriages we are robbing the people in our community, especially our in church, of the testimony that a godly marriage brings. Even more so we are depriving our extended family and especially our children of the blessing of a godly marriage. But most of all we are stealing the covenantal blessings that God gives in marriage from our spouse with whom we have unitied our lives. Finally, we should seek to have strong Biblical marriages for God’s glory. In Ephesians 5, Paul is clear that earthly marriages are a reflection of the relationship between Jesus and His bride, the church. Men we must love our wives sacrificially just as Christ does the church. Wives, you must respect and honor your husband, rightly reflecting the beauty of the church. Christ loves His bride! Jesus gave Himself up to save the church and to make the holy and pure. Let us not fall into the cheap frivolous view of marriage promoted by our culture but rather honor marriage as what it really is the greatest typological picture of the gospel. Let me urge you that if you are far from Christ, He is ready to welcome you when you come to Him with humble repentant faith. He will give you full salvation, sanctification, and ultimately glorification forever! Valentine I was looking back over the posts from previous years and it seems that I have not really written anything themed around the Valentine holiday. I must admit that I am not really all that well educated on the origins of the day that we set aside to celebrate romance and love. However, the true love story is a fundamental tale deep in the heart of all people and cultures. The reason it is so common and shared among all people is because the Lord has written it into His glorious redemption story. Wedding Bells Remember that the first human relationship fashioned and facilitated by God ever was a wedding between the man and the woman (Genesis 2:15-24). God brought the woman to the man as the father escorting his daughter to her groom. The Lord also presided over the establishment of the covenantal bonds. Here in the perfect environment of the Edenic garden, the Lord placed the perfect couple in perfect purity and innocence. In some sense, all our love stories are trying to recapture the reality of the gift of pure love that God had given to mankind when no hint or tint of sin had crept in to defile and deform His precious gift. Think about the way that even our modern western marriage traditions reflect this modeling. The purity of the bride dressed in white gown. The fruitful fertile garden is represented in the floral bouquet. Even naming is represented when the woman takes on the name of her husband. All of these practices may seem to many like old fashioned and meaningless traditions. Certainly they are old but they are not meaningless as they harken back to the beauty of God’s original masterpiece. Arranged Marriages We live in a very emotional and maybe sentimental age. Our concepts of personal autonomy and entitlement cause us to be very arrogant and selfish. This being the case, we tend to think that truest and purest relationships must be the ones with the most freedom. We see this illustrated in many ways in our society. A couple of examples would include that in most of our stories we see so much premarital promiscuity. This is so common in modern stories that most people, even Christians, don’t even notice it. A second example would be the prevalence of pornography in our society. I don’t want to dwell on this point, but much of this is about a person's desire for sexual options that they do not have in real life or physical attention that they are not receiving in real life. All of the above noted realities would make most recoil at the idea of arranged marriages. Now, I am not going to argue here for arranged marriages, but I do want to point out that the three most important marriages ever were arranged marriages. The first one is the one noted above from Genesis 2. Adam and Eve had an arranged marriage. God purposely formed Eve for the forming of this marriage and ultimately through them all other marriages. The second and most important arranged marriage ever is that of Christ and the church (Ephesians 5:22-33). Remember that Jesus said that everyone who comes to Him was given to Him by the Father (John 6:37). The doctrine of election is the arrangement of the marriage between Jesus and His bride, the church. The last marriage I would point to is yours. You see, if you are in a biblically legitimate marriage, then that is the marriage to which God’s providence has brought you. I am not minimizing nor excusing sin or suffering. But if God is in control, and He is, then He ordained your marriage. He arranged it. Why? He did it because He has a good intention for you in this marriage. I, of course, can’t tell you what that is. But it is. He also has brought you as a believer to this marriage for the display of love and sacrifice to His church, because all Christian marriages are meant to do that. Finally, your marriage exists for God’s ultimate glory! Envy So many of the problems that we face today in our world stem from greed and pride. We have expectations about how we deserve to be treated. I believe that this sense of justice comes from the fact that we know that we bear God’s image even in our fallen state, and that image bearers should be treated appropriately for the Lord’s sake. The problem is that, since we are fallen, we have abdicated and abandoned the state of righteousness that deserves favorable treatment. In our current sinful condition humanity deserves justice. But we envy those who are receiving something we want or who we think deserve less than us. This sinful attitude does great harm to our relationships with others as we feel mistreated and abused. Even worse, this has destroyed our relationship with God because, even if we would not say it this way, the only one who we could be blaming for our wrongful mistreatment is God Himself. Of course, God is not at fault, but that is what we are implying when our desire gives birth to sin (James 1:12-15). Brotherly Rivalry We see many occasions in the scripture that teach us about this kind of envious sin. One example is in the account of Joseph and his brothers in Genesis 37. My intention is not to exegete this entire passage here but only to make a couple of relevant points. First, the brothers are predisposed to envy by Jacob’s blatant favoritism. The Bible has much to say about the sin of partiality (Leviticus 19:15; James 2:1-13). It is not true that we owe everyone the same affection regardless of the state of the relationship. And Israel was within his rights as a father to give to one son and not give to all. But it is clear in the text that Jacob was favoring Joseph with a kind of implicit disregard for the other sons. I am not making an excuse for them, only desiring to deal fairly with the account. The brothers are next driven to great anger by Joseph’s disclosure of his prophetic dreams. I think that many of us assume something that the text doesn’t say. Often when I read this I think that I read Joseph as having a smug or arrogant tone. But I don’t think the text supports this analysis. Instead upon careful reading it seems that Joseph is simply reporting dreams that he believes are or could be from the Lord. But as we often do with news we don’t like, the brothers take out their displeasure on the messenger. The point is that the men who were destined to be the headwaters of the individual tribes of Israel succumbed to violent and heartless sinning against their own brother because of their pride and envy. Jacob was plunged into great grief and despair. Ultimately, they were not immediately served by their treacherous sin. If God had not sovereignly appointed Joseph to this saving ministry then they would have perished in the coming famine. Humble Homes Under the affliction of the severe famine that God brought on the world in those days the patriarchs were humbled into seeking relief in the wealth of Egypt. But in God’s glorious providence they not only found food but also that God delivered Joseph and established him as leader over the affairs of Egypt. It was Yahweh’s provision and not simply Egyptian wealth that saved the Hebrew people. As the brothers came in necessary humility to the feet of Joseph, just as he had dreamed, it was not Joseph who was exalted but Yahweh who was vindicated in fulfillment of His great and powerful promises (Genesis 42-45). Extremes Last week, we experienced what was for us here in north central Arkansas, extremely cold weather. But, this week the temperatures have risen and the rain has fallen. The combination of the thawing ground and the saturating rainfall have caused our soil to become a muddy mess. Of course some projects (construction, etc) are impossible with these circumstances. And some others (tending livestock) are made much more difficult. But, this is the natural consequence of this type of weather and the normal experience this time of year. As I wrote last week, we can find ourselves going from one set of complaints to another as our situation changes. What is amazing is just how quickly we can convince ourselves that we are doomed to our current circumstances. One constant that each of us should remember is that things will change. Temporal Engagement With all of the muddy conditions many folks have been dealing with vehicles and equipment getting stuck. Sometimes we can feel like we are stuck in a never ending loop or cycles of events, behaviors, or even decisions that we wish would change. But whether we are enduring a challenging season in our lives or enjoying a successful peak in our lives the best thing we can do is to not miss it. In these hard and difficult times, the Lord has blessings and lessons for us to learn that will allow us to be more useful for His glory and more blessed for our own good as well as others (2 Corinthians 1:3-11). In pleasant and fruitful seasons, our gracious God has provided for us and these blessings are best experienced through us purposefully engaging in these precious moments. However, one way to gain the proper perspective that will cause us to appreciate these fast and fleeting moments is our Biblical understanding of eternity. We are able to be fully present in both the pain and pleasure of this life because as believers we understand that eternity awaits us. The world, for the most part, is caught in one of two extremes. Either they are battling to preserve their youth and maximize their health because this is all there is. Or they are seeking to seize the day in a grand effort to not miss out on anything but without any real purpose or meaning. In either case, neither the present nor the future are served well. Everlasting Life Jesus told the disciples that He came to give us abundant life. And the Scripture continually points to the Christian hope of everlasting life (John 10:10). But this is not just more time but an ever increasing experience of our great God, who is life. We will always experience this fullness of life through the person of the Lord Jesus Christ who is life (John 14:6). Both our possession and experience of genuine life is in Christ (1 John 5:10-12). The promise of the new covenant gospel extending even from the Old Testament period was that God would take us up from the miry mud and place us on the solid rock of the Lord Jesus Christ (Psalm 40:2)! So let me encourage you to flee the sloppy, muddy muck of temporal, fleeting passions and enticing sinful pleasures and go to the rock of Christ (1 Corinthians 10:4) in full faith and confidence in the power and promises of God that are for us in Jesus Christ our Lord!
Winter We are into the cold days and nights of winter. This coming weekend and through the next week or so local weather forecasts are calling for very cold conditions. Everybody has their own preferences when it comes to weather. In reality the weather is going to be what it is going to be regardless of what we want or wish for. However, our attitude can play a big role in how we deal with changing weather from the hot and humid dog days of summer to these bone chilling cold winter nights. Goldilocks When I was in High School I learned a poem from our ag teacher, Mr. Todd Prothro. It went like this: People may falter, but their bold; When it's hot, they want it cold; When it’s cold, they want it hot; Always wanting what is not! Through some quick searching on the internet I found that it has been published more often in another form: As a rule, man is a fool; When it’s hot, he wants it cool; When it’s cool, he wants it hot; Always wanting what is not! I personally prefer Mr. Prothro’s version, but that may just be nostalgia. The point of the silly little limerick is that people tend to not be content or satisfied regardless of the circumstances. This is maybe an even more prevalent problem in our day as we have become accustomed to so many comforts and conveniences. In some ways, we have become like the mythical character Goldilocks. We want everything just right. The problem is that everything is never just right. If we spend our lives seeking out the just right conditions we will miss out on all the wonderful moments that often are so great because they are not just right. We must be on guard against the tyranny of perfection. I don’t just mean in critiquing the weather but much more the people that we have been blessed with in our lives. You and I are not members of the perfect people friend group because we are not perfect people. I might also add that whoever you think is in the perfect people friend group they are not because they are not perfect people either. The people the Lord has placed in my life, especially in our local church, are not perfect but according to His purposes they are perfect for me. Enjoy So what should we do when things are not to our preferences, or honestly even when they are, we should rejoice in the Lord. Remember Paul told the Philippians from prison that they should rejoice in the Lord always (Philippians 4:4)! The Scripture also tells us that this is the day that the Lord has made and we should rejoice and be glad in this day (Psalm 118:24). There really are elements to be appreciated about all the seasons. I’ll also challenge you that many of your best days probably were not perfect days. Instead many of the days with the best stories and most meaning are the days when you overcame adversity to accomplish a goal or succeed in a task. In the classic film, “Ol’ Yeller,” Fess Parker playing the father character says to Travis, the coming of age young man, “You can’t waste the good time fretten about the bad. That makes it all bad.” So no matter what comes to us, may we rest in the Lord for His day is called “today” (Hebrews 4:1-13)! New Things One of the things that I have been trying to do to help my understanding and comprehension of the scriptures is to change up the translation that I use for my daily Bible reading from year to year. I am not prescribing this as a practice for you because the benefit of getting really comfortable with one translation is also very helpful. However, because I am regularly teaching and preaching from my preferred translation (ESV) this has been a refreshing practice. Sometimes the differing choices of the translators is helpful to cause me to think again about something that seems rather familiar. It is the new year and no doubt many pundits, prophets, and gurus will be proclaiming the year of advantage and favor available to those who believe it, claim it, or speak it. Of course what they mean by favor is probably a mix of carnal pleasures, casual employment, and comfortable requirements. But is this how the Bible uses the idea of being favored by God? Favorites Favorites are things that we love or enjoy the most. Of course, we assume that being fair and just requires that God does not have favorites. It is true that the scriptures are clear that God abhors the sin of partiality (James 2:1-13). This kind of favoritism is that which comes from preferring one over another based on the advantages or privileges that this one possesses. My point is that God commands us not to prefer one over another regarding things such as wealth or poverty, prominence or obscurity, beauty or disformity, ability or disability or a host of other distinctions we might make. The reason is that God, who has made men to differ, does not judge based on these external standards but rather based upon His own perfect choosing (1 Corinthians 4:6-7). The reality is that God does make distinctions between men, but not based on the differences between the men but rather based on His infinite and eternal purposes (Romans 9:6-29). So the basis for the election or choosing is found in God. This is not only dealing with eternal salvation but also with God’s providence over the unfolding circumstances of every life. God is in control of both the macro and micro levels of action and reaction within His creation. Grace But how is it that God can make distinctions between people without it being favoritism? The answer is found in the definition of grace. I mentioned at the beginning of this post that I was brought to this subject matter through reading a different translation of the Bible. I am most familiar with the ESV (English Standard Version) translation, however this year I am doing my Old Testament reading in the NKJV (New King James Version). In Genesis 6:8, the ESV states that “Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD” but in the NKJV it says that “Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.” The Hebrew word translated here carries the idea of acceptance but that acceptance is based not on the object, in this case Noah, but on the One giving the acceptance. In this case it is the LORD. If we read the ESV translation of Noah finding favor, which is a good and acceptable translation, as God seeing that Noah was better than everyone else then we negate the point of this word “favor.” Genesis 6:9 goes on to describe Noah as a just man, perfect in his generations, who also walked with God. But did Noah find favor and grace with God based on these characteristics? I think it is more consistent with the use of this word “favor” or “grace” and the order and flow of the text in Genesis 3 to conclude that Noah has these traits because the LORD accepted him. Grace is best defined as unmerited favor. That’s really the key to understanding not only how God chose Noah but also how God could choose you and I. God’s choice is not based on some merit in us but on His unmerited favor. This means that everyone that God claims and redeems is a trophy to His divine grace and not to human effort or work or achievement. So If you have decided that you are too sinful or too stupid or too stained to be accepted by God, simply turn to Him in faith because His salvation is based entirely on gracious unmerited favor (Ephesians 2:1-10)! |
AuthorEddie Ragsdale Archives
May 2024
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