Evangelical Christianity, Premarital Sex, and Early Marriage

Through my experiences as a pastor, I have become increasingly concerned about the situation our younger generation of Christians are facing when it comes to marriage, premarital sex, schooling, careers, etc. They are growing up in a culture where the struggle of relationships, and specifically premarital sex is itself a daily battle. But first, let’s get a few operating assumptions and facts out of the way.

1) The Bible says that any sexual activity outside the bonds of marriage is not honoring to God – ok, let’s call it what it is – its sin. Why? Because that part of life was meant to find expression in a lifelong commitment to a spouse. It is a natural and healthy part of a growing, monogamous, marriage relationship. Sex is not evil, it is God-ordained and healthy, but like a fire in the fireplace it must be kept in its context or else it can be destructive. Thus we believe in abstinence before marriage.

2) Secondly, we live in a way too sexually explicit culture. Need I say more? It is a battle every day for young people. From every angle, they are pressured and taught lies about sex, and the casual nature of it that is portrayed in the media outlets of television, movies, and the internet has led many down the wrong path. It is sooo tough for so many young people today.

3) Third, couples are waiting much longer to get married than ever before. A recent survey said that the average median age for first marriages in the United States is now age 26 for women and age 28 for men.

Now having said all this – I have a few thoughts to consider. Doesn’t all of the above facts make for the “perfect storm” when it comes to the battle that our younger generation of Christians go through when it comes to sexual temptation and premarital sex?

The pressures are so intense. The hormones are so intense. The battle with what one can do and what one can’t do in a dating relationship and be “technically” honoring to God is so intense. But to be honest, I think there is a greater issue at stake here in all of this. And I think it has to do with our views on marriage in general -- and this is the main intent of this blog.

So the question for consideration is this. Why is it that we insist that they need to be “done with school, financially secure, and on a career path” before they consider the idea of marriage? Can that be defended biblically?

Side note -- this is not to say that people who are in their late 20’s or early 30’s who are single are in any way wrong for being in that spot – it may not be God’s will for them to marry just yet, or at all. But they will be the first to tell you that it’s not easy and that they need God’s grace every day to be patient and focused on God.

In the Bible young people were married much earlier than they are now. The “Virgin Mary” was most likely in her early to mid teens when betrothed to Joseph. (It had much to do with the Jewish view of procreation, blessing, and the ability to have children). I’m not suggesting that this should be the Christian norm today, for certainly we live in a different culture and different time. We don’t need to arrange marriages at age 14. But is there some merit to avoiding all the battles we sometimes face by getting married a little earlier than we currently do?

I think so. I was 25 and my wife was 19 when we got married. My parents were 21 and 19. Now someone may say – “19?!!! Wow, that’s a little young – don’t you think they should grow up a little more and finish school first?”

My answer is this – not necesarily. I think it's possible that we've simply put a strong cultural prerequisite on them. It is true that in some cases it may be wise to wait, but we cannot make that a blanket expectation that is true for every young couple who thinks that God is leading them to marriage. Long engagements are hard, for it is natural for couples to come together emotionally, spiritually, socially, and physically all at the same time. And when we tell them that they have to wait on this one part while the wedding is two or three years away – boy that’s tough!

Though there are challenges and some cons to the argument for early marriage, I believe that there are some definite pros that we are overlooking.

1) Sometimes being dirt poor is a good thing. And young couples who get married early are not usually rolling in the dough. They are forced to make sacrifices. They are forced to cling tight to one another, make important decisions together, battle their tendencies to be materialistic, etc. And all of that is a good thing. You may have to live off of borrowed furniture for a while, eat off paper plates, drive an old Honda. This just might be the situation God wants for them in order to develop in that young couple a deeper conviction about God, money, and trusting in Him for what they need rather than what they want all the time?

2) I think when we get older we get more stuck in our ways, and perhaps even more selfish. Getting married early can help with that problem, for it forces us to grow up together. We learn to compromise, making sacrifices for each other. There is no doubt that maturing socially, spiritually, and relationally together brings a bond to the relationship that sets it up for surviving the long haul. Many older couples who married early can attest to this benefit. Growing together spiritually at an early age has tremendous benefits. Biblical convictions can be cultivated together and most young students in their early 20's can catch on fire for God as they are in the midst of considering their life calling.

There is something to be said about a young couple getting married in school, working and paying for their education, growing together, being dirt poor for the first couple years, growing together, learning to live within their means, growing together…oh, did I mention growing together? Yes, that's what they do.

Don’t misinterpret this. No one should rush into marriage. Some who do, regret it later. One must be fully convinced of discerning God’s will before doing so. And like I said before, those who are single in their 20’s, 30’s, and 40’s can surely be blessed by God. Not all need to or should marry. Each one must consider their own giftedness and unique calling or place in life. And Paul did in fact commend singleness, saying that it can be a gift. So I’m not saying the early marriage or marriage in general is the ideal for everybody.

But what I am saying is that we should be very careful about the cultural prerequisites that we put on young Christian couples when a relationship gets serious and seems to be heading towards marriage, being especially mindful of the sexual temptation our young people face today. Sometimes early marriage is a better option, even if it means life is tough for a while. They may not be as tempted and they may grow up faster because of it.

No, we should not get married just so we can have sex. That’s crazy. But when we get married much later in life, get ready for an emotional and physical battle until that day comes. To be sure, with God’s grace it can be done, but perhaps much of the struggle can be left behind if we are willing to consider the alternative and leave our biases behind.

Another topic for consideration -- Where are the men? We have lots of godly young women who are looking for godly young men? But where are they? I think in some sense the church has utterly failed in this. To be sure, men themselves have failed in this. I have intense compassion for the women in our church who are bright, spiritually strong, single, who wish to get married but who look around and find nothing. But that’s another topic for another blog.

If one some point you think differently than I do on these things, then please see Philippians 3:15b. I’m not being contentious, but I see the battle every day in the lives of our younger Christians. Let’s pray for them, shall we?

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While writing this blog, I discovered a recent article about this, and it argues my point much more thoroughly and better than I do. Might I encourage you to read Mark Regnerus’ recent article in Christianity Today magazine (August 2009) entitled, “The Case for Young Marriage.” It, in my opinion, is a powerful read. You can read the article here:

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2009/august/16.22.html

In reading it, I feel affirmed in what I was thinking. And for further critique and comment on Regnerus’ article and early marriage, see also Al Mohler’s commentary at…

http://www.albertmohler.com/blog_read.php?id=4161

What Faith IS and What it is NOT

How much do we really live by faith? Do we live the kinds of lives that really require us to exercise a certain amount of faith or do we base our goals and lifestyles on goals that are very achievable on the human level, within our own power? And further, can faith be merely equivocated with risk taking?

The most important aspect of faith is its object. If God is the object of faith, then it is faith. Why? Because God is fact. God is certain. God is absolute. If an educated guess or risky living is the definition of living by faith, then we are operating under an unbiblical definition, because the Bible says,

HEB 11:1 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.

So under that definition, ideas like "confidence, assurance, and certainty" are necessary components to faith. This is only possible if God is the sole object. So that is why we can “live by faith” and not by sight, because we know that God is the author of life, the sustainer of life, is sovereign over all of life, and is the goal of life. So in the end, to live by faith is to trust God with all of life.

Therefore, “taking chances,” “risky investments,” and "counting the odds" are not what it means to take “a leap of faith.” Because in those things, there is no assurance and certainty of anything. Maybe it will work and maybe it won’t. But that’s not faith. Faith involves certainty. We would be much better to call those things “educated guesses.” Nothing wrong with educated guesses – just don’t call it faith.

So practically speaking, to live by faith then is to be certain that God will provide everything I need that He has promised. Not everything I want, but everything I need. We can be certain of that.

MT 6:25 "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

28 "And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

Living Theologically in the Church

One of the primary criticisms that is directed toward the arena of academia is that it often produces material that converses with the theological elite while leaving behind the common layperson who seeks to understand and encounter God throughout their daily lives, and weekly in a place of worship. An unhealthy division of the Christian faith is seemingly promoted between theory and practice. On the flip side, the evangelical Church of today is often guilty of perpetuating this gap when it focuses primarily on attainting an “experience” with God, devoid of any profound theological reflection, dialogue, or foundation

Reflection upon the doctrine of God, his attributes, names, and nature, as well as the ways in which we acquire that knowledge, may be studied in seminaries and Bible colleges, but at times is often thought to be irrelevant by the Christian on the street. However, on the other hand, John Armstrong asserts that the church for too long has been preoccupied “with everything from revivalism to church growth” and “has almost sterilized our schools and churches to serious doctrinal reflection, especially in written form.”[1]

Today, however, there seems to be a desire from both the academy and the church to come together, to increase dialogue, and to share the glorious reality of connecting the mind, the heart, and the daily walk in a more holistic approach to life and theology within the community of faith.

As Paul wrote to Timothy, God has given divine revelation for many purposes, including ones that necessitate doing theology, but the ultimate reason for giving divine revelation and for theologians doing theology is that the people of God may be fitted for every good work. (2 Tim 3:16-17)[2]

Recent theological discussion has taken special notice of how theology, and the doctrine of God in particular, should be understood as more than a mere assent to cognitive truth claims. At its heart, the truth about God must be seen in the lives of each individual Christian and the practical, corporate life of the Church, especially in its worship and concrete, biblical practices.

This is one of the primary arguments and basic assumptions that serve as the foundation for a recent series of essays edited by James J. Buckley and David S. Yeago, found in Knowing the Triune God: The Work of the Spirit in the Practices of the Church. In these essays the authors aim to bring theology and practice together, arguing that biblically speaking there is no such thing as head knowledge of the truth that is divorced from the “faith, worship, and godly life of all who are incorporated into Christ as members of His body.”[3]

Therefore one of the primary goals of theology should not only be to help build and articulate a deeper understanding of the doctrine of God, but to help incorporate such an understanding and its relevance into the life and ministry of the church. In this way, our theology, daily walk, and church life should inform, interact, and shape one another.[4]

Bernard Ramm has pointed out the significance of theology for the Christian life when he writes,

. . .to the evangelical, theology is a matter of life and death, vindication or judgment, to be in the love of God or under the wrath of God. Theology must then be built on the most absolute foundation possible–the revelation of God in Scripture. And that revelation can only be known by the evangelical's becoming an expert in the exegesis of Scripture and a master of its contents.[5]

So the Biblical text and the theology it conveys serve as the absolute foundation and cornerstone of the Christian life and the practices of the church. As Ramm has stated, it's a matter of "life and death." Similarly, Millard Erickson, in speaking of the critical nature of one's theology, emphatically states that "our theological beliefs affect the nature of our relationship with the Lord,” and so theological reflection cannot be separated from encountering or experiencing God and his purposes for us in our daily lives.[6]

Indeed, we are to think biblically and theologically so that we, by God’s grace, may live faithfully and obediently as the children of God in a foreign world. You can’t have one without the other. Why would anyone want to? If you refuse to believe or reflect on the fact that God is sovereign then you will always question whether he has the power to have control over anything that happens in your life. If you think that Scripture may contain historical or scientific errors in it than this may inevitably cause you to question the trustworthiness of God himself, who was said to inspire every word of it. (2 Tim. 3:16) Do you see how important this is? But as we gain knowledge, the knowledge that changes us, let us also live it out with simplicity and fidelity, so that head and heart can go hand in hand. Let us master the basics and dive deeply into the waters of the Word all at the same time as the Spirit will guide us in both. Then we will be living out a healthy spiritual life.

[1]John H. Armstrong, “The Trinity: What and Why?” Reformation and Revival Journal 10, no. 3 (2001): 9.

[2]John S. Feinberg, No One Like Him: The Doctrine of God (Wheaton: Crossway Books, 2001), xxiii.

[3]Thomas F. Torrance, The Trinitarian Faith: The Evangelical Theology of the Ancient Catholic Church (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1988), 33; quoted in James J. Buckley and David S. Yeago, eds., Knowing the Triune God: The Work of the Spirit in the Practices of the Church (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2001), 9.

[4]Our standard for practice should proceed from a biblical theology, derived from a sound literal, grammatical, historical exegesis of the text.

[5]Bernard Ramm, The Evangelical Heritage: A Study in Historical Theology (Waco, Tex.: Word, 1973; reprint, Grand Rapids: Baker, 2000), 154, emphasis mine.

[6]Millard J. Erickson, Where Is Theology Going? (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1994), 12, emphasis mine.

A Memorial Tribute to a Dear Brother -- Dave Hahn

At approximately 7:45 AM this morning, our dear friend and brother Dave Hahn stepped into what I like to call, “phase 2 of eternal life.” Our heavenly glory - that future glory that awaits all believers who have trusted in Christ alone for their salvation. It is as real a place as anything ever known – a place where we are more alive than we are today – spiritually alive, spiritually complete, morally perfect and fully aware of being in the Lord’s presence. For Paul said that to be “absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.”

Dave had an extensive battle with cancer, much more extensive than we would have liked. The way he died has had an effect on all of us, in more ways than one. First, no one would ever pick to have something that is slow and drawn out. But even though Dave passed this way, it truly gave him a platform to speak to so many people about the love of God in Christ. There is a mountain of people who came across this man who are now changed for life because of his love and testimony. We have no idea how many people have been touched for eternity simply by seeing this man stare at the face of death with confidence and assurance of his eternal destiny because of his Christian faith.

Perhaps one of the most healthy and most powerful expressions of faith amidst the dying process came when Dave spoke in our church several months ago, sitting comfortably in a lounge chair on the stage, telling us what it was like to “get one’s house in order” while trusting in God who heals or carries us to heaven, whichever it may be. Dave’s counsel, advice, experience, and blunt honesty had a huge impact on so many. He talked of things that we don’t normally speak of, things that are often “uncomfortable” for us. He said what we all thought and wondered about, and when the time was done, he played his favorite song over the loudspeakers and sat there with his hands in the air in a spirit of worship. There was not a dry eye in the house.

Truth be known – Dave was a fighter. He was a self-avowed “analytical warrior” when it came to the medical side of his cancer fight. Just the other day, in some of final moments of lucid conversation, he told me that the dying process has been fascinating for him – calling it “Dave Hahn’s Great Scientific Experiment.” He had a real sense of humor and was refreshingly transparent. He always wanted to remain conscious for as long as he could so that he could track what was happening to his body. It wasn’t until the very last weeks that he finally agreed to some pain medication.

Always the picture of health, Dave enjoyed the study of nutrition. This is why his passing is so puzzling for us – Dave wasn’t careless with his health. He wasn’t overweight. He didn’t smoke. He exercised and took care of his body. And yet cancer invaded him anyway. Humanly speaking, we have many questions with little answers. But cancer is no respecter of persons. Our response is to put our trust in God, who numbers our days and holds our lives in His sovereign hands. We consider it a blessing from God that He gave us 49 years with Dave Hahn.

Dave’s life and death has brought us together. It has put things in perspective. We have seen a church family come together to rally around a family in need. We have been drawn into prayer as God’s people. We have seen many use their spiritual gifts to minister to his family. The love that has been expressed in so many ways is a true reflection of Christ’s love spilling out of this wonderful church. What do people do without a church family? I have no idea. This is what it’s all about. God has raised up many who have stepped forward to care for Dave. His small group, his many friends and family, you name it. Oh, how we’ve loved one another.

On Tuesday Dave and I talked about what the final moments would be like. We speculated on the fact that perhaps there will be angels that may come to usher him to glory. What would he see? How would he feel? All these were things we pondered, considering all the Scripture says and more. A glorious thought – seeing the face of Jesus. Joining the “great cloud of witnesses,” to the place where “the souls of righteous men have been made perfect” (Heb. 12:23). It’s a heavenly Jerusalem. It’s not our final place. For there will be a day when the Lord returns to earth with his angels and those like Dave who have gone before us, and there will be a resurrection body granted to Dave that will be immortal. And then glorification will be complete in the fullest sense.

Oh Lord, haste the day! It won’t be long beloved. Mind you, there are “birth pangs” to this world right now, and soon our Lord will come.

I will miss Dave. We all will. It is still for us to care for his beautiful wife and daughter, a privilege we will take seriously, I know. Faith allows us to grieve, but we do not grieve like those who have no hope. Jesus rose from the dead, victorious over death. Therefore, it is a sad day and a day of victory all wrapped into one. Finally, one more story.

The story is told of a young man by the name of William Dyke, who at the age of 10 went blind. Yet even though he was blind, William went on to be a very intelligent, witty, and handsome man. He attended graduate school in England, and he met the daughter of an English Admiral, and he fell in love.

The two were engaged. He had never seen his future wife’s face, but he loved her very much. Right before they were to be married, a new treatment was developed that could possibly reverse William’s blindness.

In a rather unusual request, William decided that he did not want the gauze from the treatment removed from his eyes until the wedding ceremony was in full swing. If the treatment worked, the first thing he wanted to see was his new bride’s face.

As the bride came down the aisle, William’s father began to unwind the gauze from his head and eyes – still not knowing whether the operation was a success. When the last piece of gauze was removed from his eyes, William blinked several times and then looked into the face of his new bride for the first time.

And his first words were, “You are more beautiful than I ever imagined.”

I can imagine that this is what Dave felt the very moment he stepped into his heavenly dwelling and saw the face of his Savior for the very first time. And I can hear him humming his favorite song, “some glad morning when this life is o’er, I’ll fly away. To a home on God’s celestial shore…I’ll fly away.”

Dave, yes indeed, that “glad morning” was this very morning. We’ll see you soon brother. We love you.

PS 27:4 One thing I ask of the LORD,
this is what I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the LORD
all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD
and to seek him in his temple.

The Need for Daily Spiritual Sensitivity

Looking back on your life, where have you seen the Holy Spirit at work? Whether it’s over the years or even in the last few months, where have you seen God at work in an obvious way? Can you easily identify God’s hand? In Ephesians 1, Paul prayed this for the church:

“18 I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe.” (Ephesians 1:18-19a)

Paul wanted the church to see life through a fresh set of eyes. He wanted them to experience an enlightened heart, to see and experience spiritual realities in a way that changed their whole perspective on life and life’s situations. I have found it a little a little easier to look back in 20/20 hindsight and trace God’s finger or hand on my life from past experiences. But it is quite another thing to cultivate the kind of spiritual sensitivity that is able to trace his guiding hand on a daily moment by moment basis.

When you step foot in a foreign country, you might be stepping foot in a place that is rather unfamiliar to you. The sites will look different, the people will look different. The language will sound different. You have stepped into a new world. You will notice things you’ve never seen before. You will have a heightened sense of awareness. Things will stand out to you. You are much more sensitive to your surroundings.

In the same way, there is also a heightened sense of spiritual awareness and sensitivity that God wants to cultivate in you, even now right where you are. You would do well to ask yourself, where do I see God at work here? Where is there a need that I can help meet? Where is there a situation that is calling me to address it through prayer? Where is the Holy Spirit at work and how and how can I join in on that work so that God might use me as well? What is God doing in my heart and how is he speaking into my life through all of this?

Try not to let unconfessed sin cloud your spiritual vision. Let us be mindful of the potential for spiritual laziness that may make us blind to what’s happening. Let us be careful not to be so focused on our own daily agenda that we miss out on what God wants to show us or do with us. Pray for God to wake you up with a new set of glasses on. May you have eyes to see, because God has much to show you, and He wants to cultivate that kind of sensitivity in you every single day of your life.

Pastor Eric

A Church Celebrating 40 Years

This year marks the 40th anniversary of Clearwater Community Church. It is a church with a rich history centered on the Gospel, the preaching of the Word, and the Great Commission. Throughout our history (see below) God's faithfulness has truly been evident, and it's to His praise and glory that we celebrate this milestone.

A Brief History of Clearwater Community Church

God began His work in what is now known as Clearwater Community Church when five families gathered together to worship and pray in February 1969. Their hearts were committed to the idea of glorifying God through worship, discipleship, and evangelism.

The church soon rented the teaching auditorium at St. Petersburg Junior College (Clearwater campus) and began to hold services there. The needs of the children were met with the purchase of a large empty house trailer, which served as a portable nursery. About 100 worshippers attended the first service where Dr. Haddon Robinson, a former professor of Dallas Theological Seminary, provided the sermon. Guest speakers continued to lead the congregation until Pastor Jim Rose was called to serve as their first full-time pastor/teacher.

By 1980, God continued to bless the church and in the latter part of that year, the congregation moved into its own building on Landmark Drive in the Countryside area of Clearwater. It was during this time that God blessed CCC with remarkable growth and eventually there was a great need for expansion. Then in 1992, after much fervent prayer, the church voted to sell the existing building to a nearby Methodist Church, and services were temporarily held at the Kent Jewish Community Center while the church began the process of building its present facility on Belcher Road.

A spirit of unity and excitement filled the hearts of the congregation as they moved into the new facilities on Belcher Road in November 1994. Now today, as God continues to build His church, the hearts of those who make up Clearwater Community Church are committed to glorifying God by making disciples who will use their gifts to meet the needs of the greater Clearwater community. There is much excitement about what lies ahead, and as the church remains faithful to its original calling, we will, by God’s grace, bear much fruit for the Kingdom of Christ. It is indeed His church, and we are His people, the sheep of His pasture (Psalm 100:3).

Forgiveness...The Nature of the Cross

"Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”

Crucifixion was one of the worst ways a man could die. The Romans often killed people this way, and here in Jerusalem their sight of crucifixion was a place called the Skull – an appropriate title since this place came to represent death. The process of dying was drawn out over a period of time. It began with what was called scourging – where a prisoner was bent over, tied to a post, and whipped on his bare back with a lash or a whip that had either pieces of bone or metal tied to the end of it.

It was a cruel punishment. And the punishment continued as the criminal was to carry the cross on his bloody back all the way up the hill, where the even more graphic details of death were to be carried out.

But why this man? Was he a wicked criminal deserving of death? No, in fact, we know him as a man without sin who raised people from the dead, who caused the deaf and the dumb to hear and speak again, who gave sight to the blind, who told the lame to get up and walk, whose gentle touch and words of love could restore hope and joy, and heal the body and soul.

But now, here he was. Jesus, the man who healed, was now himself bruised and battered, spit upon and falsely accused. And he said, “Father forgive them?”

The teachers of the law had claimed that he was a blasphemer, and even said that, “he was of the devil.” Over and over insults and spit were hurled at him, as if beating him wasn’t enough. The soldiers had placed a crown of sharp, skin piercing thorns upon his head. In order to make the pain more treacherous, they jammed the crown down further and further as they struck him on the head with a staff. Some people were ruthless; their blood was burning with hate and filled with anger. But there were also those who were laughing. Some thought it was funny. Scripture tell us that the soldiers would sarcastically fall to their knees and pay homage to him, shouting “Hail, king of the Jews.” And he said, “Father, forgive them?”

Christ was condemned to death like a common criminal -- as if he was nothing more than a thug or a thief! And everywhere there was more shouting, more words were tossed at him. But the words that Jesus returned were very different.

Out of all this injustice, all these lies and all of this pain, when nails were being driven in his feet and hands, Jesus had every right to bring down words of instant judgment upon them. He could have called a legion of angels to strike down each soldier, or to silence each laugh, in order to make right this wrong he was suffering, to end this misery that he was facing.

But he didn’t do that. Instead of words of hate and retaliation or revenge and justice or firing out words of death, he spoke words of life. Words that would have a sudden impact on a Roman centurion and a few who surrounded him. In fact the centurion said, “Surely this man was the Son of God!”

Jesus’ words were words filled with compassion for these people who did not realize what was actually happening at that very moment –when the enormous weight of sin was placed upon his shoulders. No, they weren’t words of judgment, but words of grace and life, and some of them sounded like this: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” It is the substance of these words that today remind us of one of the most undeserved blessings that God showers on those who believe, and that is the blessing of forgiveness. Forgiveness, resulting in eternal life.