Have Love Will Worship

^"And the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near Me with their mouth and honor Me with their lips but remove their hearts and minds far from Me, and their fear and reverence for Me are a commandment of men that is learned by repetition [without any thought as to the meaning],"   - Is 29:13 AMP

We say we love God but our hearts are far from Him, instead distracted by our phones and our dramas, and our constant state of alert to what other thing we might be missing. There's no practice of stillness in our lives. Every moment is full of doing something or being late or almost late, or rushing from one thing to something else, all the while being protected from thinking or being overly stressed by the sweet release of the constant buzz of all our digital media.

Where is quietness...? 

Where is worship...?

There is no worship without the time to meditate on the beauty and splendor of our King, yet we seem to "lose" the time to set our minds on Him and our thoughts on His beauty. Contrary to popular Christian thought, worship is not what we do with instruments or more often, what we listen to others do with instruments and sophisticated mastering.

No, Worship is the state of our attention. Worship is the state of our heart's affection. It is to where our focus is trained. It is in the quiet awe and also in the roar of our passion. It is our heart's absorption and our easy distraction. What is it that easily takes us away in our hearts? Are we easily distracted by the thought of our Jesus' goodness or do we find ourselves ruminating on offenses of others? Are our energies spent on fuming at what slight was done to us or are we captived and utterly distracted by the wonder of the beauty of Jesus' promises and love for us?

By this criteria, most of us actually are bent towards the altar of sports or the next sweet buy. We yield ourselves towards the latest gossip so that our hearts can no longer hear the quiet whisper of the Love that longs to not only save our souls but cause us to live our present life in joyful exuberance.

There's nothing wrong with putting our worship to music but music isn't the essence of worship. Worship is tied up within the thoughts and intents of our hearts.

Our Jesus sees our hearts. He redeemed our hearts. He wants to fill our entire view with the vision of His love for us. It is so interesting that the Psalms are filled with these kinds of exclamations: 

But his delight and desire are in the law of the Lord, and on His law (the precepts, the instructions, the teachings of God) he habitually meditates (ponders and studies) by day and by night. Ps 1:2

One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek, inquire for, and [insistently] require: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord [in His presence] all the days of my life, to behold and gaze upon the beauty [the sweet attractiveness and the delightful loveliness] of the Lord and to meditate, consider, and inquire in His temple. Ps 27:4

When I remember You upon my bed and meditate on You in the night watches. Ps 63:6

I call to remembrance my song in the night; with my heart I meditate and my spirit searches diligently Ps 77:6

I will meditate also upon all Your works and consider all Your [mighty] deeds. Ps 77:12

Sing to Him, sing praises to Him; meditate on and talk of all His marvelous deeds and devoutly praise them. Ps 105:2

I will meditate on Your precepts and have respect to Your ways [the paths of life marked out by Your law]. Ps 119:5

Princes also sat and talked against me, but Your servant meditated on Your statutes. Ps 119:23

Make me understand the way of Your precepts; so shall I meditate on and talk of Your wondrous works. Ps 119:27

My hands also will I lift up [in fervent supplication] to Your commandments, which I love, and I will meditate on Your statutes. Ps 119:48

Let the proud be put to shame, for they dealt perversely with me without a cause; but I will meditate on Your precepts. Ps 119:78

My eyes anticipate the night watches and I am awake before the cry of the watchman, that I may meditate on Your word. Ps 119:148

I remember the days of old; I meditate on all Your doings; I ponder the work of Your hands. Ps 143:5

On the glorious splendor of Your majesty and on Your wondrous works I will meditate. Ps 145:5

As the Isaiah 30:15 tells us, "For the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel has said this, 'In returning [to Me] and rest you shall be saved, In quietness and confident trust is your strength.'”

Until our hearts settle into Him and yield to His great love for us, there will ever be a striving and a seeking in our hearts. We will be easily distracted by all this world has to offer. The author of Psalms 119 settled in heart that no matter who is speaking of him or trying to get him, he won't be distracted from his passion and meditation on the love of His God. 

Until our passion for Jesus takes this bent we will like the one James 1:8 speaks of who is double-minded and unstable in all his ways.

Paul says it even clearer in Ephesians 4,

"¹⁴that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, ¹⁵ but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— ¹⁶ from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love

¹⁷ This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as ^[f]the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, ¹⁸ having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; ¹⁹ who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.

²⁰ But you have not so learned Christ, ²¹ if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: ²² that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, ²³ and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, ²⁴ and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness."

Until we settle that our undistracted focus should be in Jesus, we run the risk that we will decend into the futility our unredeemed nature so easily lives in.

Our worship must be with the clean hands given us by the redemption of the cross, and the  pure heart of a single-eyed focus of faith.(Ps 24:4) Until we let all other distractions go, lay aside every other weight, set our eyes like doves eyes, single-focused on our Love, we only rob ourselves of the bliss of worship and intimacy our own hearts are craving.

It is ours to choose what or whom to set as our first Love and once that is settled we will easily live daily in the joy of worship.

A Christian's Iniquity Part Two

“Therefore justice is far from us, and righteousness does not overtake us. We hope for light, but behold, darkness, for brightness, but we walk in gloom. We grope along the wall like blind men. We grope like those who have no eyes. We stumble at midday as in the twilight; among those who are vigorous we are like dead men. All of us growl like bears, and moan sadly like doves. We hope for justice, but there is none, for salvation, but it is far from us. For our transgressions are multiplied before You, and our sins testify against us; for our transgressions are with us, and we know our iniquities: Transgressing and denying the LORD, and turning away from our God, Speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving in and uttering from the heart lying words. Justice is turned back, and righteousness stands far away; for truth has stumbled in the street, and uprightness cannot enter.” Isaiah 59:9-14

It has been said that we can choose our actions but not the consequences of those actions. We would like to think that when we sin we come to the Father for forgiveness and  that forgiveness not only neutralizes the sin and the eternal consequence of sin, but the temporal consequence as well. But live a day and we realize there are consequences that bear on the decisions we make that must be paid. If you betray a friendship, you may receive an “I forgive you”, but you still must earn that friend’s trust again. Create a vehicular accident and you may get a pardon, but someone was still impacted to some degree by that accident. Even when we think we have gotten away with a fault, in reality someone is still paying the price for that choice, either someone else now, or you later, or worse, you may be paying and not even know it. If God pardons our sins, why then, is there yet a consequence? God promises to forgive our sins, and before God there is justification, but every choice we make sets about a sequence of events that often have much farther reaching consequences then we may know.

This is what has happened in Israel; this is what God is addressing through Isaiah. The children of Israel expected that if they were going to be punished for the choices they were making they would feel it right away. But because God is merciful and patient and slow to anger, He held back justice to give them a chance to repent. The Israelites viewed no retribution as license and instead of moving towards God and mercy, they became more and more wicked. Their wickedness became so intense that Hosea 4:2 describes it, “By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and blood touches blood.” Picture that, the blood of one slain from wickedness touches the blood of the next. It is a horrible state. They were paying for their sins and didn’t even realize it.

Today, we hate the idea that we cannot do what we want. We justify our behavior saying that we will apologize to God and He will wipe that sin away. We “forget” entirely about the consequences. Or we don’t apologize. We view ourselves as under grace, and the choices we make which are inherently selfish and self-seeking we dismiss because we are “saved” and under grace. Maybe we don’t think our decisions are so bad because after all we haven’t killed anyone, or physically knelt to idols, or stolen from someone’s home and if we have we expect a little token prayer will nullify our “slight” and let us get on our way.

Our platitudes sound eerily like those the Israelites made. After all they were the chosen and they were safe. As long as they made their sacrifices they could go right back to living how they wanted. Without the immediacy of consequence, they saw themselves as in the clear. We too say our casual prayers and return to our selfish pursuits and consider ourselves “safe”. I wonder if like the Israelites, we are storing up for ourselves judgement.

The entirety of Hebrews 4 speaks about approaching God with faith and that this same faith must be the foundation for our approach to God. How can we say we have faith when we treat His charge of how we ought to live so callously? Are we not saying to God, “I don’t really believe you when you tell me this is sin”? How then is that faith? In fact Hebrews 10:26-30 takes it one step further. “For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and THE FURY OF A FIRE WHICH WILL CONSUME THE ADVERSARIES. Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severe a punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know Him who said, “VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY.” And again, “THE LORD WILL JUDGE HIS PEOPLE.” It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”

I shiver when I think of the state of the church. But I call out for mercy when I realize the thoughts and intents of my own heart. When I realize that: what I may call ok to watch on tv, is what God calls unclean; when I allow anger and bitterness over injustice, yet Jesus calls anger akin to murder; when I get angry that I can't have what I think I deserve and I view the absence of these "proofs of God's love for me" (like having children, or an easier time in my marriage) and I recoil at God or the church; all these things left unrepented of come dangerously close to rebellion.

It isn't that I believe every Christian must be exactly perfect, but the stepping into sin should cause our hearts to shudder and surrender. Faith demands that I believe God when He says that rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft. My trip should cause me to land on my face before the cross. Paul reminds believers in Hebrews 8:11-14 that we should be moving toward maturity, not continually being tripped up in the same weaknesses. Paul reminds us in Romans 12:2, "be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God."

God allowing us to reap to some element of the consequences of our decisions is really such grace. It causes us to come face to face with our sin. We have such a merciful God that He gives us the chance to see what we have done, repent and return to Him. I don't want my sin to slide so that I fall farther and farther away, and so that the sin that used to make me quake before God now is dismissed as nothing.

God help us by His Holy Spirit to call sin sin, and see consequence as His mercy to show us that the time to become pure before Him is now.

(Next Post: He put on righteousness like a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on His head; and He put on garments of vengeance for clothing and wrapped Himself with zeal as a mantle. One of my favorite verses, it hides within it the single most powerful weapon God has given the Christian.)

A Christian’s Iniquity Part One

"Behold, the LORD'S hand is not so short that it cannot save; nor is His ear so dull that it cannot hear: But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear. For your hands are defiled with blood and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken falsehood, your tongue mutters wickedness.” -  Isaiah 59:1-3

What an echo: the ringing of the words in the heart of “the abandoned”. Every Sunday and throughout the week we hear over and over, “God will never leave you. You are not abandoned”. Yet in our hearts is an echo of loss. If God is so strong and so powerful, where, then, is our deliverance?? Where, then, is our answer? This repetition of “no answer” creates this pervasive doubt that, in our moments of weakness, in the times when we are tired, or overwhelmed, comes rushing into all the empty, lacking spaces with crushing whispers of, “see...He HAS forgotten. Maybe others can have, but you can’t. Your faithfulness has been for nothing. You thought you were loved; you thought if you persevered it would come but...” And so it echoes over and over. You pull yourself up. You reassure yourself in the Word and you persevere knowing full well that those words will come to haunt you again, and it wears you down. Your faithful, struggling heart is crying out, “Where are you, God?!?” So in a moment like that I come to this verse. To a tender, broken heart this feels like an assault. How can this be?

We Christians tend to want to ignore these kinds of verses. We stick to the comfort of the New Testament and want to rely exclusively on the Cross as our justification that these verses no longer apply to us: The Redeemed.

But these verses are written to us as much as they were to Israel. We may not crush the bodies of those around us, but have we shed the blood of the heart? Have our judgments and verbal assaults broken their spirits? Do we encourage and build up our brothers and sisters in Christ, and even those who have yet to come to the Savior, or are we spending our spare time perverting their justice by the words that we speak and by selfish grasping for our own? In a time that makes immediate anonymous judgement online, are we in fact holding justice far away from those who desperately need it?

There are so many ways that our iniquities accumulate: When we choose a television/internet show that “gently” assaults what is right, and boasts in perversity; When we would rather spend our time pursuing self-interest, or comfort, instead of spending time in prayer, petition and in the Word of God. Our lives have become so comfort seeking that we have forgotten to seek the Maker of our hearts. We have become accustomed to seeing our lives as the pursuit of pleasure instead of a means to serve the King of Kings. Every time we see someone who cuts us off as an assault on our rights instead of a moment highlighting someone who needs a face-to-face meeting with the very God. If that moment drives us to cursing instead of prayer of petition for that driver's salvation, we have perverted justice. 

We want to hang the weight of justice on the big momentous decisions, but God cares about all the little decisions just as much. These little decisions in fact comprise a whole life. These are the moments we can dedicate to the will and purpose of God, or the moments we do the work of the “Accuser of the Brethren”. Jesus defined that kind of character this way,

"You are of your father, the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies." John 8:44

It is not that such individual decisions cause us to lose our salvation standing before God, but about whose nature is being produced in us. We are in the process of being transformed into the image of God (2 Corinthians 3:18). So what nature are we fostering with us?

(Next article continues in Isaiah 59:9. How do we rate as one of those who are stumbling in the dark at noon as if we deserve such penitence? If we are covered by the blood of Christ, are not we covered despite our poor behaviour?? )

The Blessing of Suffering (cont...)

“Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you." Mt 5:11,12

Matthew 5 that tells us when we are reviled, persecuted, or lied about, that we are “blessed”!! WHAT?!  I admit, in fact I adamantly state, it doesn’t feel like a blessing, but that’s what the Word of God declares about it. It goes on to say that there is a reward laid up for us in glory as a result of this mistreatment.  In other words, those “persecutors”, are gaining for you a greater weight of glory that you could not have earned for yourself. You will enjoy for eternity what they have gotten for you that you could not have gotten on your own.

You should offer thanks to them for this great blessing they have achieved for your continuing benefit…but they likely would not understand. 

"For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." Romans 8:18

"My friends, do not think it strange, these fiery trials that come against you." I Peter 4:12

Despite the assault on our opinion, our reputation, our jobs, our entire selves and those we love, we are called to present the Love and Blood of Jesus because of who we are: Children of our Father. When you read this does your heart yell, "NO!" even reading it I hear that yell. Our whole society is built on the supposition that I must defend my rights. To do less is failure. But the Bible teaches the principle of servant-hood, not self-rights. If in the face of injustice we do less than present Jesus, we withhold the beautiful Glory of Jesus. The world is looking for something that is real. How can we not deliver to them the truth of the good news? If you are afraid they won't understand, likely they won't. But it isn't your job to reveal the truth, only speak it, only live it.  It is only the Holy Spirit that can reveal that truth. And He will do it in the most amazing ways.

So then what can we say when we walk this sometime solitary walk?? "The LORD is on my side, and I am not afraid of what others can do to me." (Psalm 118:6) and "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." (2 Timothy 1:7)

This persecution then is of the greatest of blessings we as Christians can receive. Revelations 12: 11 "They triumphed over him (overcame the accuser of the brethren) by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death." This is the heart of our victory. 

If you need some more encouragement, if you are facing fiery trials; here is a page full of verses to remind you of the greater glory of those tribulations. (http://www.openbible.info/topics/persecution) You are not alone. You have the Comforter within to encourage you (Jn 16:5-15), and Jesus Himself is making constant intercession for you (Heb 7:25).

So, be of good cheer, Jesus said, "These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” Jn 16:33

I think the most precious thought the Bible presents in this regard was the very same promise that Paul himself held on to, "Oh that I may know Him in the power of His resurrection and in the fellowship of His sufferings being made conformable to His death." Phil 3:10. What a strange promise, but to know resurrection, one has to die. Paul assumed that was a forgone conclusion, but he knew this process of dying would lead to fellowship, intimacy, knowing God the way Abraham, the friend of God, knew Him. What greater prize can there be in life than to have fellowship with the lover of our souls, the creator of the universe. Yes, that is the most precious gift that can only come from suffering.

The Blessing of Suffering

"But the Jews stirred up devout women and the chief men of the city, raised up persecution against Paul and Barnabus, and expelled them from their region. But they shook the dust from their feet against them, and came to Iconium. And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit." Acts 13: 50-52

"And when they had preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra (where Paul had been stoned and left for dead), Iconium and Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying, 'We must through many tribulations enter the Kingdom of God.'" Acts 14:21,22

We see Paul and Barnabas, faithful Christian workers who have “sold out” for the cause of Christ. At the heart of their ministry, even their teaching, was the understanding that the entry to the Kingdom of God was going to be through tribulation. This message they not only taught, but lived. How amazing to read that after being left for dead, Paul “rose up” and later re-entered back into the same city where he was stoned. On clear display, Paul indicated he did not fear persecution, nor would it deter him from his purpose. Paul was focused on the great mission of reaching people with the gospel.  Perhaps the words of Jesus "Remember the word that I said unto you, the servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you.” (Jn 15:20) were ringing through their ears.

The goal of the believer, contrary to popular current opinion, is not to build for ourselves "better lives", "a better financial base", "happiness in this life", or any other "kingdom" we think will earn us the praise from those around us. In fact our primary goal is to earn praise of our Father, to come into intimacy with God, and to make Him known. It's an idea that rubs our comfort-loving flesh absolutely the wrong way. While the Bible promises that a faithful man will abound with blessings (Prov 28:20) we completely miss the second half of the verse, "but one eager to get rich will not go unpunished". Pursuit of the "good things" of the world will destroy us, but in pursuing Christ all that is His becomes ours, the blessings AND the suffering.


This seems illogical to the world. In fact, the Bible states that the life of the disciple of Christ is foolishness to those who are not one.

"The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God.

"As the Scriptures say, 'I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and discard the intelligence of the intelligent.”

"So where does this leave the philosophers, the scholars, and the world’s brilliant debaters? God has made the wisdom of this world look foolish.

"Since God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never know him through human wisdom, he has used our foolish preaching to save those who believe.

"It is foolish to the Jews, who ask for signs from heaven. And it is foolish to the Greeks, who seek human wisdom.

"So when we preach that Christ was crucified, the Jews are offended and the Gentiles say it’s all nonsense.

"But to those called by God to salvation, both Jews and Gentiles, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.

"This foolish plan of God is wiser than the wisest of human plans, and God’s weakness is stronger than the greatest of human strength.

"Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world’s eyes or powerful or wealthy when God called you.

"Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful.

"God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important.

"As a result, no one can ever boast in the presence of God.

"God has united you with Christ Jesus. For our benefit God made him to be wisdom itself. Christ made us right with God; he made us pure and holy, and he freed us from sin.

"Therefore, as the Scriptures say, “If you want to boast, boast only about the Lord.”

1 Cor 1:18-31

Understanding the wisdom of Christ in these matters in fact can often seem like foolishness to those of us who say we believe. There are a million differing opinions on what suffering, and even what devotion looks like in the life of the believer. Does it mean self-flagellation? Should I purposely putting myself in danger to be harmed or killed to show devotion? Does it mean that if I see great blessings in my personal and spiritual life I have confirmation that I please God, or when I am targeted and assaulted for my faith that my love for Him is confirmed?

We can admit that we ourselves struggle with the same opinions that those during the time of Paul struggled with which made understanding of the message of Jesus so confusing. How difficult it can be to believe without the signs we all want as proof! How difficult when loving Jesus demands sacrifice, and may at times make no logical sense!!  

Can it be that we keep putting the cart before the horse, as it were? Our focus so often tends to be controlling what can be seen or perceived and therefore controlled, and by that we determine the truth about what can not be seen or controlled. We are walking after the flesh, the five senses.

Romans 8 brings all this into focus: 

"1There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. 2For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. 3For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: 4That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. 5For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. 6For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 7Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. 8So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God."

Paul urges us to put to death the deeds of the flesh and is reminding us to walk not after the inspiration of what our five senses dictate but what the Spirit of God in us inspires us to do. We are no longer living from the outside in but from the inside out. The Spirit dictates to our spirit which dictates to our flesh the course of action.  Later on Paul calls this "mortifying the deeds of the body" and tells us in vs 17 "And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together." 

It puts a new spin on suffering doesn't it?

The truth of the revealed Word of God calls to us to lay aside our worldly wisdom and human logic that wants to put suffering, and every other aspect of the nature and revelation of God, into a mathematical equation. The revelation of the Truth of the wisdom of God flips all that on it's head. 

Paul's dramatic conversion meant that where he measured the mettle of his devotion by inflicting suffering on others who perverted what he saw as truth, he now saw no merit in even counting physical suffering he personally endured as part of his devotion. It hardly registered. His passion became knowing Christ and making Him known. Everything else was something in the way that was to be overcome. He considered his biggest threat not those who looked to stop him or punish him, but it was his own flesh, which was to be subdued. Putting to death the deeds of his own flesh was to him the fellowship of suffering.

We feel that doing something big for God, some vast physical endurance plot or some great assault on us from the outside proves the intensity of our love for Christ. But the biggest struggle, the greatest suffering that will bear for us the greatest return, is to put to death the deeds of our body. To submit the weakness of our understanding to the bliss of pure trust in God, without requiring the endless justification we seem to need to keep our flesh in check.

Those who yield to this surrender to the Holy Spirit's work begin to see a crack in the supernatural, a shocking glimpse of Glory, that subdues all the other markers we look at that taunt us to define Him by our own selves and our own understanding. This dying to self and surrender to His Glory at work in us will overwhelm all we surrender to Him, will move us to live on another plane of understanding and redefine to us what even feels like suffering  anymore. 

(Watch in the next post for the continuation of the Blessing of Suffering...)