Tag Archives: Christianity

I’m Worth It, Cuz I’m Human

Posted on September 16, 2011 by Sherri Lackey
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I am not one of those people who can listen to a song without really listening to the lyrics. Such bliss it would be if I could be one of those people! But I’ve been this way since I was a teen so I guess I’m hopelessly stuck in this rut for life.

Lyrics can be beautiful and lyrics can be ugly, they can be uplifting and they can be irritating depending on who wrote them and what their intentions were. Sometimes the meaning is obscure and those can really drive me nuts at times. I think the completely obscure ones actually don’t bother me too much however. I can listen to them without concern because no one can figure out the meaning; such as the lyric which says, “I’m a scary gargoyle on a tower that you made with plastic power, your rhinestone eyes are like factories far away.” What does that mean? Nothing. So it doesn’t bother me like some lyrics do.

My all time biggest pet peeve is with Christian Pop Music. I try to avoid it as much as possible; but when you don’t like the sound of a ringing alarm clock and prefer a clock radio to awaken you each morning, well, what else can you do? Maybe I should just condition myself to listening to the buzz of an alarm instead.

Currently, my two least favorite Christian Pop songs are Someone Worth Dying For by Mike’s Chair and Human by Natalie Grant. What I dislike about these songs and virtually all Christian Pop songs is the glorification of man instead of Christ. Which brings to mind another, older pop song which illustrates this point so well: “You (God) make everything glorious. And I am yours. What does that make me?” – David Crowder Band

Now, I know that God will glorify his saints one day in Heaven, but still, here is a song that focuses mainly on God and His glory and then shifts ever so slightly, the focus is taken off God for a moment, and the singer seems to say, “Wait a minute! What does that make me? Oh glorious Me, Me, Me! I’m pretty Special! What’s that? Oh yeah, I was worshiping God and got distracted with myself. You’re glorious too, God! Let me try to re-focus on You.”

Enter the two newest songs to rise to the top of the Christian Pop charts. Someone Worth Dying For centers on mankind, telling the listener that Christ died for you because you are worth dying for, which means you aren’t THAT bad of a sinner, you are mostly GOOD and therefore worthy, and if you are worthy then God actually OWES you salvation. Glorious You, You, You! Except…the gospel of the Bible does not back up this human sentiment expressed in the song.

Speaking of human sentiment. Natalie Grant’s song Human is a human wonder in and of itself. It is simplistic, a gifted five year old could have written it, and yet it is a glorious anthem of Humanism.  God gets a small part, very small, as it mentions God’s children…once again the focus of the song is on man after all! The gist of the song is this and I quote: “I’m human. You’re human. We are human.” Do you see the simplicity of this lyric? The rest of the song encourages humanity to “do better than this“. Why is that, Natalie? “It’ll be what makes the difference. It’ll be what makes us human.” Oh, OK! But wait, Natalie! I thought God was the one who is supposed to make the difference through sending His Son to die on the cross offering undeserved mercy and grace to His children. It seems to me that the focus of the Bible is on God and His glory which He says He will not share with another. He seems to be the central character in the Bible and the central theme is about what He does, not about what we humans do. We kind of messed up long ago in the Garden of Eden and we’ve never been able to overcome that no matter how much we try to “do better than this“.

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Fort Worth, Texas: Church Boot Camp

Posted on April 28, 2011 by Sherri Lackey
Skyline of Fort Worth at night as shot from th...

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I was so naive when it came to church and ministry when my husband entered seminary. I had my ideas of how church life should look and work. It wouldn’t be that hard because churches are full of Christians and that would make the way smooth since Christians are such a naturally loving and giving bunch. Er…well anyway, we arrived in Fort Worth and needed to find a church asap.

I had my ideas about this too. I wanted a church with a pastor who was a dynamic speaker, a praise team that would lead an awesome worship service, a children’s program that would cater to my three preschoolers needs, small group studies, a ladies ministry, etc., etc.

My husband wanted a church that was not already full of other seminary students and that’s all. He had no other requirements.

We were invited to a “seeker sensitive” church by some folks my husband met. It was different but not exactly what we were looking for. The family who had initially invited us bent over backwards making us feel welcome. It was like they were instant friends. But then when they learned that we wanted to try out another church they dropped us like a hot potato and we never heard from them again. How insensitive; we moved on.

Somehow my husband located a church in Wheatland just outside of Fort Worth. We gave that one a try. It was small, very small. There was no dynamic speaker, the pastor was a seminary student. There was no awesome praise team. There was no nursery much less a children’s ministry since they hadn’t seen an actual child in that church in quite a while. There were no small group studies and no ladies ministry. But other than the pastor, my husband was the only seminary student. Perfect! He was ready to join! He said so at the invitational time at the end. I shook my head saying no. Grinning, he grabbed my hand and pulled me down the aisle to join the church anyway. I wasn’t happy, not at all. Soon a handful of people were shaking our hands and welcoming us. We were officially in.

I thought my husband really messed up that time. I can look back now and see that it was a good experience for us. Even though our seminary student pastor was not a dynamic speaker by any definition, he was biblically sound. He mentored my husband in the doctrines of grace which forever changed our perceptions of grace. He opened our eyes and ruined us at the same time. I say “ruined us” because we would never again be able to naively believe the sugar-coated doctrine we had been spoon fed from infancy. Instead we developed a strong taste for the “meat” of scripture. If there was nothing else to be gained at that church then we had our doctrine straightened out at least. But there were more lessons to be learned.

Our pastor moved on after a while and the church needed a new pastor. My husband was already there and so after some formalities, which really rankled me at the time, he was voted in as the new pastor. I was officially a pastor’s wife. Yay me! Er…well anyway, in my new role I set about trying to start a ladies group study which was attended by me and one other lady. That fizzled out pretty quick.

After that I taught youth Sunday school and Wednesday night youth group. The youth who came to the studies were from that area of Wheatland and not from any of the families in the church as most members were grandparents. One set of grandparents did bring their teen grandchild to church with them but the others didn’t. For the size of church (minuscule) it was we had a fairly decent sized youth group. We soon requested and were granted the use of an old room that was being used as storage in the old, run-down brick building which used to be the original church building. Sometime later, since it was slowly falling down, they built another church sanctuary nearby.

We cleaned out the storage room and painted the walls. I let one of the youth girls, who was helping me paint, put slogans on the walls. DC Talk was a popular Christian band at the time and their song “Jesus Freak” was popular, so of course she painted that on the wall. That did not go over well with the grandparent set. I am sure if it had been the middle ages I would have been burned at the stake as a heretic. I felt misunderstood, misrepresented, miserable. I felt if I could only explain it then all would be sunny and well again. I prepared my speech explaining the intent of the song and how DC Talk had partnered up with Voice of the Martyrs to bring awareness to the church in general about our brothers and sisters in Christ being persecuted for their faith around the world. I might as well have been talking to the crickets chirping outside. The slogan was covered up, the youth were discouraged, I was discouraged, and that was that. This episode and a few others left a bitter taste in my mouth.

But we had some good times there as well. Toward the end of our time at that church we began having home fellowships with some of the members. None of the long standing members of the church attended these fellowships though they were welcome to do so if they liked. They didn’t like so they didn’t come. So our core group was a single guy named Jimmy who had helped me with the youth group before it dwindled away in discouragement, Larry who became like a part of our family and still comes to visit  us every summer, and a young married couple – Michael and Jennifer – who we still have contact with even though we live so very far away from each other. There was one other person, I almost forgot, Carol, a seminary student who became a missionary. We did lose contact with her after she came back from her first mission trip. We had sweet fellowship with those folks and I can’t say that I have ever experienced anything quite like it since.

After we left that church I thought we were leaving our troubles there behind. I look back on that experience as a type of boot camp. I had no idea that the trials we experienced there were only minor irritations at  worst, a mere taste of what was to come at the next church, a bump in the road in comparison to a major collision. Yes, I was still quite naive when we left Fort Worth behind. At the Wheatland church if it had been the middle ages I would have only been burned at the stake, but in the next church, if it had been the middle ages, I would have been drawn and quartered after being tortured for several weeks and then be burned at the stake. I’m glad I don’t live in the middle ages.

Church Boot Camp. I highly recommend it to all new pastor’s wives!

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Pastors Posing as God

Posted on January 29, 2011 by Sherri Lackey

There is a pastor I know who is always looking for ways to get people on his Facebook account to attend church. Prizes, good food, and gospel singers are often offered as incentives. His doting wife is always in the background via the comment section cheering him on. I bet she was a cheerleader in high school. She is quite perky.

This week he is posing as God in order to try to draw folks in to church tomorrow morning. At least…I’m pretty sure he’s posing as God. I don’t think God hijacked this man’s Facebook account and wrote the following, which I edited just a bit removing the name of the pastor and his church, etc:

A WORD FROM OUR SPONSOR: “My child  (pastor’s name)will be preaching tomorrow on my day in my house in (name of church). He has been instructed to preach from (name of scripture passage)and he will be teaching you on the subject of (Title of Sermon). Some of you claim to have forgotten but most of you just neglect to do it. Listen to him. But you have to be there to hear what I have to say.” GOD~

This is followed by Perky saying in the comment section that he is awesome. Does she mean God or her husband? Nevermind, that would involve a second poll.

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Polished Stones

Posted on January 6, 2011 by Sherri Lackey

I’ve encountered two very different takes on the church in the past twenty-four hours. One article is titled “Is Church Life Stifling Your Creativity” by Donald Miller and is located here. The other article is titled “Church Can be Fun” by Eric Rauch and is located here.

The first article is brief; the author makes his point and encourages his readers to go forth and be creative. I have no problem with the creative process; God made us to be creative creatures. He did not however give us license to pursue our creativity in such a way that abandons all thought of Him and His holy requirements of us. He is, afterall, our Creator, King of the Universe, Sovereign God, Mighty, Omnipotent, I could go on and on. What I mean to say is we essentially belong to Him and should pay attention to what He says. And He does have quite a lot to say. He put it in a book and lest we forget He has something to say, He also sent His Son to earth and named His Son – The Word.

What follows Miller’s article is a string of comments by people who feel set free, positively liberated to create with abandon, never minding what those stuffy traditional church going types think. Essentially the whole spirit of the conversation is pick your favorite commercial slogan: “Obey Your Thirst” or “Just Do It” and let nothing stand in your way, que sera sera.

I don’t know the general age of those commenting but I’m guessing there is probably a good percentage of twenty-somethings. I’m old enough now that I can usually gauge the age of most internet commentors without actually seeing their birth year. Each age group has their own set of characteristics which they seem to follow in general. I’ve noticed a pattern of angst among many twenty-somethings. They largely reflect a general despair that follows them about like a dark cloud and they readily latch on to writings such as Miller’s, I think, because they like to view themselves as persecuted and misunderstood. I personally know several twenty-somethings that reflect this behavior, they are on my Facebook friends list and I get to read daily about their trials and afflictions. To be fair there are also some forty-somethings who also daily voice their horrific circumstances in life. Horrific circumstances like: “I hate my job”, “I hate my co-workers, they’re all idiots”, “I have a paper due in three different classes this week”, “I am so bored”, and things like that. Add something as stifling as church to this mix and you have a very sad lot of people.

Now compare that to the second article where Rauch mentions a bumper sticker he has recently spotted claiming that church can be fun. The aforementioned people group who finds themselves stifled and bored by church would be interested (maybe?) to learn that there are others who would like to make traditional church a little more comfortable for them. I know a pastor who offers door prizes to coax people into his church. Showering folks with even more material wealth than they already have however has its limits. These people are bored, stifled, and misunderstood for goodness sake! You can let them throw pies in your face till the cows come home and nothing will change their dire circumstances!

I would like to add here that Rauch is not advocating ‘fun church’ and he makes some rather good points in his article about ‘fun church’.

I think something is being missed here about the purpose of church in the first place. Yes, when you become part of a church you will eventually get your feelings hurt. Yes, you might feel judged at times. Yes, your needs might not be met. But here is what we must not miss. There is a God. He made things, lots and lots of things. He has an order, sets of rules for the things He made. He lets us discover some of those rules in nature like the law of gravity and laws of physics. There are other rules though which he doesn’t want us to discover on our own and so He had them written down and put them into a book which we call the Holy Bible. They are not man-made rules. They are God-made rules. He made the church an authority in a believer’s life that should be acknowledged and obeyed just like He made governments which rule society at large. I am not an authority unto myself. I have authority figures over me which God put over me. Not because he wants to stifle me but because He loves me. I read that in His book. There is much more in His book which governs my life as well. I belong to Him, my life is not my own. I need to be reminded of that daily. Interacting with others in my local church helps to knock the rough edges off of me as I knock the rough edges off of them. In the end we will be polished stones.

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Pink Post

Posted on November 12, 2010 by Sherri Lackey

My ladies Sunday school class just finished a study on Galatians and so I needed a new study to do. I have decided to return to Pink, A.W. Pink to be exact. I’m basing my new study on his book titled The Nature of God. I began a study based on this book years ago. The book is split into two parts. One part is on the Godhead and the second part focuses on Christ. I covered the first part years ago and so now I’m returning to the second part.

As I was working on my lesson one particular quote stood out to me yesterday. It says:

How slight and shadowy, how petty and puerile are those things from which the trials of men arise! They all grow from the one root of the overvaluation of temporal things. Money cannot purchase joy of soul. Health does not insure happiness. A beautiful home will not satisfy the heart. Earthly friends, no matter how loyal and loving, cannot speak peace to a sin-burdened conscience, nor impart eternal life. Envy, covetousness, discontent, receive their death wound when Christ, in all His loveliness, is revealed as the “chiefest among ten thousand” (Song of Songs 5:10).

Once again I am brought back around to what I look at as my life verse, or perhaps I should say my life prayer – Psalm 73:25. And so as I read the above quote and more in the opening chapters of part 2 in The Nature of God I once again prayed that my day might be filled with thoughts of Christ my Lord and Savior.

Is it possible though to have ones thoughts remain on Jesus without having to purge ones thoughts of self? I don’t think so. Our minds turn so readily onto that which is troubling us most. And so my day ended with my emotions leaving me feeling like I had a gaping wound laid open raw and ragged. And I wonder if this wound will ever close before I die, for man is “born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward” (Job 5:7). One trouble seems to be replaced by yet another and another never allowing the previous wound to heal before another injury occurs.

Yet my hope is still in God. And why is that? I can only say that I am being held by His hand and His strength alone sustains me. I can agree with the apostle Paul when he says:

We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed….For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen, …but the things which are not seen are eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:8,9, 16-18)

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This Pet Peeve Moment Brought to You By the Word: If

Posted on October 25, 2010 by Sherri Lackey

I am really swimming against the current concerning what I am about to say. Casting Crowns new number one hit is driving me crazy! In truth, I would like this song as much as other people do if it were not for the word “If” in the song’s title. The song I’m talking about of course is “If We’ve Ever Needed You”.

Am I the only person who has a problem with the word “if” used in this context? Am I making a huge grammatical error? Am I translating this title incorrectly?

This is the definition of the word “if” from an online dictionary:

–conjunction

1. in case that; granting or supposing that; on condition that: Sing if you want to. Stay indoors if it rains. I’ll go if you do.

2. even though: an enthusiastic if small audience.

3. whether: He asked if I knew spanish.

4. (used to introduce an exclamatory phrase): If only Dad could see me now!

5. when or whenever: If it was raining, we had to play inside.

–noun
6. a supposition; uncertain possibility: The future is full of ifs.

7. a condition, requirement, or stipulation: There are too many ifs in his agreement.

—Idiom

8. ifs, ands, or buts, reservations, restrictions, or excuses: I want that job finished today, and no ifs, ands, or buts.

Origin:
bef. 900; ME, var. of yif,  OE gif, gef;  akin to ON ef  if, Goth ibai  whether, OHG iba  condition, stipulation
—Synonyms
1, 2. If, provided, providing  imply a condition on which something depends. If  is general. It may be used to indicate suppositions or hypothetical conditions (often involving doubt or uncertainty): If you like, we can go straight home. If I had known, I wouldn’t have gone. If  may mean even though: If I am wrong, you are not right. It may mean whenever: If I do not understand, I ask questions. Provided  always indicates some stipulation: I will subscribe ten dollars provided ( on the condition ) that you do, too. Provided he goes, we can go along. Providing  means the same as provided,  that is, just in case some certain thing should happen: We will buy the house, providing ( provided ) we can get a mortgage.

I’m not sure if that definition clears anything up. In my mind the word “if” used in such a phrase as “if we have ever needed you, it is now” conveys a meaning that says “it is possible that I never had need of you before, but given my current circumstances I do need you now”.

I suppose it is possible to say this phrase to some people in my life. It would seem ridiculous for me to say this to my mother however. From the moment of my conception I needed my mother. I wouldn’t have survived my first nine months without her. After my birth there were times that I needed her more and times when I needed her less.

Even more ridiculous however would be for me to say to God Almighty, the One who regulates every breath I take, Who holds the Universe in the palm of His hand, “If I have ever needed you…” On a basic level saying that to God is naive. On a broader scale it seems arrogant and in the worst case scenario it seems blasphemous.

If we (Christians) are truly people of the Word, shouldn’t we be careful about how we phrase our words? If truth (God’s truth) matters shouldn’t we walk circumspectly in grammatical areas too?

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Repel

Posted on October 21, 2010 by Sherri Lackey

My twin sons have decided to author a blog of their own and they call it Repel. They started it after they were kicked off of an atheist message board. My sons aren’t atheists but they had some questions that they would have liked an atheist to answer.

The atheists tolerated them, in a manner of speaking, for about three days. Their questions were met with hostility and were never answered. My sons continued to press for answers to their questions. Then they were kicked off the site and their posts were deleted.

The posts by the atheists who had responded to them were not deleted however. This was a bit amusing because due to this disruption in the stream of conversation it looked as if the atheists were randomly attacking each other in a hostile manner.

I suggested to my sons that they should start a blog of their own and post the same thoughts and questions. So that is what they did.

I am happy to announce and promote Repel.

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Strangers in this Land

Posted on October 20, 2010 by Sherri Lackey

My father’s funeral is tomorrow. We are laying him to rest in a place far from his boyhood home; a place he never wished to be buried, far removed from everything he held dear. I have mourned quietly that I could not afford to lay him to rest with his ancestors. I have questioned my reasoning for bringing my parents here to live out the rest of their mortal lives in a cold and harsh climate.

Yet this morning I have felt more at ease over this predicament. I see his move to this place with fresh eyes. There will be no friends to wish him goodbye at his funeral; the only family present will be my mother, my brother and his wife, my husband and myself, and our children. Yet I see in this a picture of what it is like for a Christian to die in this world.

This world is a cold and dark land. Many Christians have died and continue to die in harsh environments whether those environments be harsh due to climate or due to persecutions and sufferings they face in those lands. Many die alone or with only one or two loved ones at their side.

Nevertheless, it does not matter where they die. All that really matters is that they have finished their course on earth well. Before them eternity awaits, beckoning them to come and enjoy their reward forever. And what is that reward? Fellowship with God Almighty, continual amazement at the wonders God has yet to reveal to those who love Him more than their very lives while they lived here on earth. Christ is their hope; He is everything to those who give up the comforts of home and other temporal pleasures in order to pursue Him exclusively.

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A Narrow Gate

Posted on October 15, 2010 by Sherri Lackey

But the gate is narrow and the way is difficult that leads to life, and there are few who find it. – Matthew 7:14

At one point in my lifetime I thought there were so many Christians in the world. I no longer think that. The reason I thought there were so many was because of the many churches that graced the landscape, the many Christian television networks, the many Christian radio programs, the many Christian bookstores, the many Christian colleges and seminaries, etc.

As I’ve continued on my life’s journey I have seen many things that lead me to believe that there are not many who obey God but there are many who profess Him as Lord of their lives. Yet, Matthew chapter seven goes on to say:

7:21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ 24  will enter into the kingdom of heaven – only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. 7:22 On that day, many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, and in your name cast out demons and do  many powerful deeds?’ 7:23 Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you. Go away from me, you lawbreakers!’

Merely professing to be a Christian does not make one a Christian. Likewise all that seems to be Christian based such as the aforementioned things like Christian television, Christian radio, Christian churches, Christian bookstores, etc. are not always what they appear to be at face value either.

Sometimes I wonder about the usefulness of some of these institutions. For example, I listen to a Christian radio station every morning. This particular week is the one week I dread each year. This is the week of the fundraiser which they playfully call a friendraiser.

I have listened to many Christian radio stations during my life. This particular station has not been a favorite, but since it is the only one our clock radio will pick up it is the one we listen to the most.

Every year as friendraiser starts I become uncomfortable. I do listen to this station for one hour a day. Should I send them a contribution? They consider themselves a valuable ministry and view themselves as spreading the light of the gospel every year as they continue to expand their transmissions to more and more areas.

Yet I get the feeling that they just don’t get it. I am not sure that the radio announcers truly understand the gospel. This morning the female announcer was giving her testimony over the airwaves. Her testimony was this: One night she came home to find out her older sister had listened to a preacher on the radio station and had prayed a prayer to receive Christ. Her mother asked her if she would like to do the same thing. She said that she had a sisterly rivalry with her sister and didn’t want her sister to have something that she didn’t have and so she too prayed to receive Christ. Does she realize that she is portraying her acceptance of Jesus as sibling rivalry, like children fighting over a toy?

This is why I don’t particularly enjoy listening to this radio station and it’s why I’ve never contributed to friendraiser. I feel like there are ministries that do give a clear and accurate portrayal of the gospel and if I contribute to any ministry I want to feel like my contribution is going to a reliable source.

Still, though the announcers seem to not understand much of the gospel and though some songs they play also reflect their shallow understanding, they do play some songs that have a true gospel message and broadcast some preachers who also clearly portray the gospel. God can still use this radio station to reach the souls He is calling to Himself.

My sincere desire however is to see more ministries rise up which have a message of true passion and hunger for God. This topic has filled my mind lately and it seems that I am not alone in this.

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Revive Us Again?

Posted on October 13, 2010 by Sherri Lackey

Come to church this week! We’re having a revival! There will be food, fun, gospel singers, and door prizes for all who attend! You don’t want to miss it! Please come and bring a friend! Please! Please, please, please come! Please?

The above is based on an assortment of messages I’ve seen off and on from someone on my Facebook friend list. He’s the pastor of a Southern Baptist church somewhere in the deep south. When his church is not having revival his pleas for church attendance usually start on Saturday night with him begging his congregants to please attend Sunday morning service because if they do they will be blessed. His pleas are usually backed up by his dutiful wife who chirps in, “I’ll be there, Honey!”

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not making fun of this man or his wife. I feel their pain; perhaps even more acutely than they feel it themselves. When my husband began in the ministry we were very much like this couple.

My husband had just graduated from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and the graduating class marched out to the tune of Martin Luther’s magnificent hymn “A Mighty Fortress is Our God”. We left Fort Worth, Texas ready to conquer our little sphere of the world for Christ using all the time-honored traditions of the Southern Baptist Denomination. Five painful years later we went through a church split.

But before that we had revival meeting after revival meeting just like any good Southern Baptist church would do. The only thing was that there was no real revival taking place. Revivals have simply turned into just one more dysfunctional church program within the Southern Baptist church structure.

I see things differently now with much more clarity of vision. I’m sure God is not finished wiping the soiled windows of my vision and I will see things even more clearly in days to come. But here is a little of what I do see now.

Revival cannot be planned by church committees. People cannot be revived with offers of food and material prizes, and good entertainment. The world around us offers those things in abundance already.

Christ never offered these sorts of things to His disciples. He offered them eternity with Him and suffering while they lived out their temporal existence on earth. And they responded to His call to suffering and eventual eternity in Heaven. They responded because He opened their eyes and they saw the truth and they embraced it and knew that food, material prizes, and entertainment could never give them the joy and rest that He alone would give them. They knew that all the suffering was worth knowing and being with Him for all eternity. He was their treasure.

So now I do pray for revival; revival that only He can bring. We can’t plan it, mark it down on our calendars and timetables. We can’t coax it out with flimsy temporal trinkets. Only Christ can wake His people up, shake us to our core, cleanse us from our stupid self-seeking pleasures. But I can pray for it and encourage others to pray for it. Together we must mortify our flesh and pray until we see Christ formed in His church. That is all we can do to bring revival in the Church. Christ will do the rest as we bow the knee in humble submission to His Excellency.

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