Since Roe vs Wade, the amount of women & children at poverty level has increased to a majority, not decreased as was supposed would happen. This is because men are now less likely to marry a woman bearing their child --after all if she hadn't wanted to raise a child alone she could have aborted it. Our culture of abortion isn't freeing women from "unwanted" children, it's freeing men to be childish.

Thank God, I was blessed with a man who stepped up and decided to call me "My Lovely Wife" instead of relegating me to "My Baby's Mama". And thank God or the life of our precious son (who is almost 16yo now), and the two children that followed him.

Go here....

http://www.nogreaterjoy.org/podcasts/live/

And listen to the one titled "Imputed Righteousness". This message will not be there forever, so don't put it off.

WR

This is a recollection of what I taught the kids in my VBS class a couple years ago. It's not complete, some of it's in the wrong order, I need to edit for repetition, and add a few more links and verses, but I wanted to get it out before Sunday was over. I hope it will be helpful to someone....

I started out by saying how excited I was to get to talk about the Gospel with them. I told them that I love talking about the Gospel with young people; it was my one of my favorite things to do, so I was very excited to about it.

I showed them a "Science & the Bible" printout first. It talks about just a few of the scientific facts found in the bible, that the scientists of the that time didn't understand, but that we now know are true.

After going through the handout, I said, "God's pretty smart, huh? Now we're gonna see how smart you are" and I pulled out the optical trick called "Read the Triangles" and a sheet of trick questions called "Intelligence Test Questions" and went through those with them by asking for volunteers. They all laughed and got a big kick out of them.

I got another volunteer and asked him how many sodas he could name. I had to stop him at ten. By this time all the kids were in a great mood and were participating very well. Then I asked him how many of the Ten Commandments he could name. He named about three or four. A few of the kids made comments like, "Wow, it's a shame that people know more sodas than Commandments!" They made my point for me! Then a boy said, "I think I can do it" so he stood up - and as soon as he started, I could tell from the way he phrased them, that he had probably memorized them from a "Hey Kid's" tract (the same ones we bought to put in their goody bags at the end of the week). He said them in order and he only missed two.

Then I said that Jesus had been asked, once, what was the greatest commandment and I asked them what He said. They didn't know. So I briefly told them the story and what the two great commandments were. I said that these two were a summery of the Ten Commandments, and showed them how you can split the commandments into the "love God" commands and the "love your neighbor" commands.

I asked them what the Ten Commandments are for. I got a bunch of answers from them and then I said they were God's standard for righteousness, and I defined righteousness as "right-doing". I told them that He gave us the Commandments/the Law to us to show us where we've sinned and not been righteous.

Next, I went through a few of the "Good Test" questions (have you ever lied, stolen, disobeyed your parents, used “God” or “Jesus” to express anger, etc.) and then showed them how Jesus had used the Commandments, by reading Mark 10:17-27 with them. I talked about the “Why do you call me good?…” question and how Jesus was challenging the young man to admit that either Jesus was God or his idea of “good” was wrong. Jesus used the “love your neighbor” commands and the man said he had kept them all. It says that Jesus loved him, so He showed him where he had gone wrong, he had not kept the “love God” commands – he was one of “them that trust in riches” – he loved his stuff more than God.

Then I really slowed down at the last couple verses and emphasized with my voice that the disciples wondered, “Then who can be saved?” and Jesus answered, “With man it is impossible.” I paused here and said, “Jesus just said that with man it is impossible to be saved!… But look at the next part… with God all things are possible!” That’s good news!

Next I said I would show them why Jesus said it was impossible with man. I went through a few of the verses that say we have all gone astray, there is none good, etc. and followed it up with hatred is murder in God’s sight, so even the intent of our heart is judged. That really made an impact!

So I used an illustration to make it clear why hate is murderous. I said, “Come on now, you all know that if we had the power to call down lightening, there would be a lot fewer people walking around.” Nods all around. I continued, “Well it’s not out of the goodness of our heart, that we don’t hurt the people we hate – it’s because we are afraid of--" here one of the kids interrupted and said “--the consequences!” I said, “Right! We are afraid of what will happen afterward. It’s not because we are good.”

I asked them if they knew the biblical definition of sin, and I read James 4:17 and 1 John 3:4. I drew a target on the board and explained that the first verse was about falling short of a known target and pointed to the board. And the second one was about breaking through a set boundary. Then I drew a field around the target and put a fence around the field and illustrated “breaking” or trespassing/transgressing that boundary. I pointed out how some of the commandments say “do” something, in other words, “hit this target” (tap on the target), and others say “don’t do” something, in other words, “stay in this boundary” (tap on the field).

I said it is not unreasonable for God to require that, when we are faced with the choice, we choose what we know is right (hit the target) and to not choose what we know is wrong (don't break the boundary). That’s reasonable.

But we haven’t done that. We can’t say that when we lied we didn’t know that lying was wrong. We can’t say that when we’ve stolen something that we thought it was the right thing to do. There are times when we knew what was right and we chose to do wrong anyway. We’ve sinned.
Then I read James 2:10 and asked them if that made sense to them – that breaking one part of the Law, is the same as breaking it all. They weren’t sure, so I took out a paper chain, with ten links, that I had made. I said that I had made it good and sturdy and asked if anyone would like to hang from the top of a building by it. They said no, I asked why not and one said, “I’m not ready for a funeral,” I prodded, with "What-do-you-mean?", and he said the chain would break. I came back with, “Well, yeah, but probably only one link”. Then they got it!

I said, “If you are holding on to the commandments to keep from dropping into hell then if you break one you will fall just the same as if you had broken them all.” And I pointed out that if you violate even one of our civil laws you are considered a criminal – a lawbreaker, and can go to jail because you broke the law. The commandments aren't ten separate laws they are one Law -God's Law. "We haven’t kept God’s Law and that’s sin and that’s why Jesus said that with man it is impossible to be saved..." :dramatic pause:

"But with God all things are possible!" That's good news! It's GREAT news! The word gospel, means "good news". Then I went through a whole list of verses I have printed out about how Christ came to suffer for our sins. He took our iniquities (defined it as lawlessness) He was wounded for our transgressions, and on, and on, through about 10 or 11 verses (and a few more that came to me off the top of my head).

The ones I had printed off:

1Peter 2:24
Isa 53:5
Isa 53:6
Isa 53:10
1Peter 3:18
John 3:16
John 3:17
John 3:18
Romans 3:23-26
Romans 10:3-4
Romans 10:9-10

When I got to Isaiah 53:10, I stopped and asked them why in the world it would it please God to do that to His own Son. A couple of them said, because it saved us. I talked about the fact that Christ was bearing our sins and because God is just (as in a just or righteous judge) and holy, He must punish sin. So His judgment came down on all the sins of the world in His Son’s body on the cross.

One of the kids said something like; “You mean it pleased God to do all that to His Son, just to save us?” And I said, “Yes, that’s how much He loved you! I’ve heard it said that, even if you were the only person on the whole earth Jesus still would’ve come down and died for you. And I think it’s true. Look at John 3:16.” I told them that if you read it with your name in it then it becomes personal. I read it with my name in it. For God so loved [WR] that He gave His only begotten Son, that if [WR] believes on Him she should not perish but have everlasting life.

I think I stopped at John 3:17 and explained God didn’t strike us dead the first time we sinned but we stand condemned for that sin. And so people who don’t believe on Christ’s name are condemned already, both because of their sins and then ultimately because they reject Christ. If a criminal is guilty of crimes and is on death row, he is going to die because of the crimes he committed. But, if the governor writes him a pardon and he refuses it, then he will die for his crimes because he refused the pardon. People who never heard the name of Jesus aren’t condemned to hell for never having heard --they are already condemned, because they sinned. Also, John 1 says that Jesus is the true light that gives light to every man that comes into the world, and Romans 1-3 says that they are without excuse because know the truth, God showed it to them. So even those in hell who never heard the name "Jesus" still had a chance to believe but rejected the truth and turned from the light because they loved the darkness.

Then, after all the verses, we went on to talk briefly about the resurrection and how that was the sign that God saw Christ’s sacrifice as an acceptable payment for sins --and it lets us know that if we also accept it then we can have eternal life. A man on death row may receive a pardon but of he refuses it he will still die.

Somewhere in all of that I used the courtroom analogy a few times and explained that we were lawbreakers, death was the sentence (talked briefly about the difference between the first death and the second death), but Jesus paid it for us so that we can be set free from the penalty of our sins.

I don’t remember if it was that night or the next night but I fielded some questions like, what if we confess our sins and what if we do good works to make up for our sins. But I answered by using the court analogy again and pointing out that a criminal who confesses isn’t set free – the judge has to have legal grounds to free him. That’s what Jesus’ sacrifice did. It is the legal grounds upon which God can dismiss our case. Also trying to do good things to make up for sin, was like trying to bribe a judge. If you washed the judges car on your way into court, and then brought it up as a reason for why he should let you go, what do you think would happen?

I continued to explain why 'good works' aren't enough, by talking about the fact that we owe God prefect righteousness every day (do good and don't do evil), if we failed to be righteous yesterday, then being perfectly righteous today could not make up for it, because we already owed Him that much today... For example, if you owe me $2 a day, every day, but didn’t pay me yesterday, then paying me what you owe me today wont make up for it – you already owed me that. And I talked about how Paul said that he counted all his good works as dung (told them what that was) so that he may win Christ. Abandon all hope in your works and turn to Jesus as your only hope.

A few more things I remember…

I let them all read a comic strip called “What Do People Say About You?” that I had found the day before. It’s made for kids, and is about a guy trying to make excuses for himself. It talks about the law, ends with the Gospel of Christ, and invites them to believe and ask God to forgive them. It was very light – not written with in a “heavy-handed” way and a bit humorous. And I gave out the “decision cards” from the church's packet and let them fill those out.

I talked to some of the kids individually

Most of Wednesday, after going through the lesson, I tried to answer questions and address things that I thought might have not been clear. I asked them a lot of questions and engaged them in discussion, so as to judge if they were confused about anything.

I used a lot of illustrations and analogies to try and make clear that it’s because we have already broken the commands that we cannot do good to make up for it, and that’s not what the law does anyway– it just shows you your sins, it doesn’t take them away, Christ’s sacrifice does that. It’s his perfect record of goodness/righteousness that gets you into heaven by replacing or covering your imperfect record. Law is just a mirror so we can see our sins, but when you see that you have egg on your face you don’t wash your face with the mirror – you go to the water to wash. Jesus is the living water.

The last night of VBS I printed off a bunch of verses on God’s love to show that His love is almost never mentioned without being directly connected with the sacrifice of Christ.
Here are the verses I used, about God’s love:

♥ For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have everlasting life. - John 3:16.

♥ Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. - John 15:13.

♥ But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. - Romans 5:8.

♥ But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) -Ephesians 2:4,5.

♥ And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour. - Ephesians 5:2.

♥ Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. - 1 John 3:1.

♥ Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: - 1 John 3:16a.

♥ In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. - 1 John 4:9,10.

♥ And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. - Revelation 1:5,6.

I read a little story [will edit to link to it later] to illustrate how God showed His amazing love for us on the cross by His own substitutionary (defined it) sacrifice that upheld the Law like never before by meeting it's holy demands, carried out the penalty against sin, and at the same time made a way for us to be justified (defined it – “just as if I’d” never sinned). Romans 3:19-26.


I talked about how when we are saved, we want to obey God and please Him out of sheer gratitude for all He’s done. Before, we obeyed to try and stay out of Hell - but after, we obey out of love for the one who first loved us. Our good works, as Christians, are not for salvation and we don't count them as righteousness. Christ is our righteousness. And I said that we ought to want to go out and tell others the good news. And lastly I talked about getting baptized and what it symbolizes.



WR

Yes, this is long... but it is WELL worth your time to watch it all the way through!

"My God would never create Hell."
Those who say that are right. Their god would never create Hell, because he couldn't. He doesn't exist. He is a figment of their imagination. They have created a god to suit themselves. It's called "idolatry," and it's the oldest sin in the Book. Idolaters will not inherit the Kingdom of God.

"God told Joshua to kill every man, woman, and child. If that's your 'God of love' I don't want to have anything to do with Him!"
God didn't confine His wrath to the Canaanites. He proclaimed the death sentence upon the whole of humanity. We all die because of sin. Sin is braking God's holy Law. All of us are waiting on death row. Instead of standing in moral judgment over Almighty God, come down from your throne and judge yourself according to the Law of God (the Ten Commandments). You will find that you have a multitude of sins and you therefore are not in a position to point your holier-than-thou finger at God.

"I’m as good as any Christian!”
The Christian is no better than a non-Christian, but he is infinitely better off. It's like two men on a plane. One is wearing a parachute and the other is not. One is no better than the other, but because of the law of gravity the man with the parachute on is certainly better off than the man who is not wearing a parachute. The difference will be seen when they jump. Jesus warned that if we "jump" through death’s door without Him, we would perish. Our great problem is a Law that is even harsher than the law of gravity. It is the Law of an infinitely holy and just Creator. The Scriptures warn us, "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God." They tell us that we are His enemy.

“I don’t see what Jesus’ death has to do with me.”
Neither did I.
I didn't realize that the Bible warns that every idle word that I have spoken, I have to give an account of on Judgment Day. I thought that as long as I believed there was a god and tried to live a good life, I would go to heaven when I died. It’s not like a had ever killed anyone. But I was wrong. The Bible says, “He who hates his brother is a murderer," and Jesus said “Whoever is angry with his brother without cause, is in danger of judgment.” He also warned if I as much as looked with lust, I had committed adultery in my heart. Sin, in my heart? I realized that God saw even the hidden sins of my heart and I knew that if God judged me by the Ten Commandments on Judgment Day, I would end up guilty, and go to Hell. It was when I acknowledged my sins, that I began to understand why Jesus died. It was to take the punishment for my sins.

How do you think you will do on Judgment Day, if God judges you by the Ten Commandments?
Take this simple test to find out...
http://needgod.com/

by Oswald J. Smith
1925, From his book The Revival We Need

Can we travail for a drowning child, but not for a perishing soul? It is not hard to weep when we realize that our little one is sinking below the surface for the last time. Anguish is spontaneous then. Nor is it hard to agonize when we see the casket containing all that we love on earth borne out of the home. Ah, no; tears are natural at such a time! But oh, to realize and know that souls, precious, never dying souls, are perishing all around us, going out into the blackness of darkness and despair, eternally lost, and yet to feel no anguish, shed no tears, know no travail! How cold are our hearts! How little we know of the compassion of Jesus! And yet God can give us this, and the fault is our if we do not have it.

Jacob, you remember, travailed until he prevailed. But oh, who is doing it today? Who is really travailing in prayer? How many, even of your most spiritual Christian leaders, are content to spend half an hour a day on their knees and then pride themselves on the time they have given to God! We expect extraordinary results, and extraordinary results are quite possible; signs and wonder will follow, but only through extraordinary efforts in the spiritual realm. Hence, nothing short of continuous, agonizing pleading for souls, hours upon hours, days and nights of prayer, will ever avail. Therefore, "gird yourselves, and lament ye priests; howl, ye ministers of the altar: come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God. Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and 'all the inhabitants of the land unto the house of the Lord your God, and cry unto the Lord." (Joel 1:13-14) Ah, yes Joel knew the secret. Let us then lay aside everything else and "cry unto the Lord".

We read in the biographies of our forefathers who were most successful in winning souls, that they prayed for hours in private. The question therefore arises, can we get the same results without following their example? If we can, then let us prove to the world that we have found a better way, but if not, then in God's name let us begin to follow those who through faith and patience obtained the promise. Our forefathers wept and prayed and agonized before the Lord for sinners to be saved, and would not rest until they were slain by the Sword of the Word of God. That was the secret of their mighty success; when things were slack and would not move, they wrestled in prayer till God poured out His Spirit upon the people and sinners were converted.

I have no confidence at all in polished speech or brilliant literary effort to bring about a revival, but I have all the confidence in the world in the poor saint who would weep [their] eyes out because people are living in sin. — Charles Spurgeon

Below are a few thoughts taken from a tape called Authority Prayer by Michael Pearl. I wish I could share more of the scriptures discussed, but you can find the tape at nogreaterjoy.org.

...In Luke 10:2 Jesus is speaking. He says, “The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest.” Doesn’t that seem strange to you? Jesus is Lord of the harvest. He sees the need, He knows the field is “white already to harvest” (John 4:35). Why doesn’t He just send forth laborers? Must He wait till the few laborers He has, ask for help? Would the fruit actually rot in the field if the laborers didn’t request assistance? It looks as if He has said, “That field is yours, I’m putting you in charge of it—if you need help ask and I’ll send it.”

...Most books you read on prayer begin and end with the concept that prayer is intended to change the one praying. This smacks of oriental meditation. If I am the answer to my own prayers, then I can’t encourage myself to pray. If my prayers are going to be answered because I’m going to change, then I don’t have time for prayer. Unless I am talking to a real God, who is alive and active, and who responds when I pray, and my prayers are going to produce a response that will make things change and happen and be different today than they would’ve been—then I’m not going to pray. If you don’t believe that your prayers move God, that God acts in response to your prayers, then I know you don’t pray. Or else your prayers are just some kind of formal response.

...2 Peter 3:9 says God is “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” I ask you, will some perish? Yes, many already have, have they not? Why isn’t God’s will being done? Is God limited? If a sovereign God has a will, and that will does not get done, then we can only conclude, that He has sovereignly designed a program wherein He has limited Himself. The only way a completely sovereign God can have a will, and that will not be done, is if He has placed His will in the hands of another and they have failed.

...Many Christian’s believe that God is a puppet maker, that Christians are puppets, that God pulls the strings and therefore bears all the responsibility. They believe that if they don’t go and take the gospel, someone else will, and if no one else goes then those lost souls weren’t ordained to life and it will all work out in the end. They believe that in the long run, their actions, their obedience, and their prayers don’t really make a difference—Calvinist or not that’s what most believe, but wont admit it.

The man looked to the heavens and shouted obscenities at Jesus Christ that would make your hair curl. He concluded his conversation by telling the Lord to strike him dead. He then turned to me and screamed, "Nothing happened!" I thought, "Yes it did. You have just stored up wrath, which will be revealed on the Day of Wrath."

Why would a man lack any fear of God? I believe it's because we insist on telling a sinful world that God loves them and has a wonderful plan for their lives. We give the world a choice: Do they choose God's wonderful plan, or is their own life's plan more wonderful?

But isn't God's plan for them wonderful? Your idea of "wonderful" and the world's may be a little different. Take them through the pages of Acts and show them the terrifying scene of boulders breaking the bones of Stephen. Then smile and whisper "Wonderful..." Listen together to the "wonderful" sound of a "cat of nine tails" as it rips the flesh off the back of the Apostle Paul. Follow the word "suffering" through the Epistles, and see if you can get the world to whisper "Wonderful!" After such a ride down Honesty Road, they may think the pleasures of sin are a little more attractive than the call to "suffer affliction with the people of God."

Who in the world is going to listen if we are so blatantly honest about the Christian life? Perhaps not as many as are attracted by the deceptive talk of a wonderful plan. However, the answer to our dilemma is to show that the real issue is one of righteousness, not happiness. This is what Jesus did. He used the Ten Commandments to show sinners the righteous standard of God (see Luke 10:25 and Luke 18:18). Once the world sees the perfect standard by which they will be judged, they will begin to fear God, and through the fear of the Lord, men depart from sin (Proverbs 16:6). They will begin to hunger and thirst after the righteousness that is in Jesus Christ alone.

If you study the New Testament you will see that God's love is almost always given in direct co-relation to the Cross: Herein is love, For God so loved, God commended His love, etc. The Cross is the focal-point of God's love for the world. How can we point to the Cross without making reference to sin? How can we refer to sin, without the Law (see Romans 7:7)? The biblical way to express God's love to a sinner is to show him how great his sin is (using the Law--see Romans 7:13, Galatians 3:24), then give him the grace of God in Christ. This was the key to reaching so many on the Day of Pentecost. They were "devout" Jews who knew the Law and its holy demands, and therefore readily accepted the grace of God to escape its fearful wrath.

When you use the Law to show the world their true state, for the first time in their lives, they will see the Christian message as an expression of love and concern for their eternal welfare, rather than of merely proselytizing for a better lifestyle.

Statistics show that up to 90% of those coming to Christ under the methods of modern evangelism, fall away from the faith. Their latter end becomes worse than the first. They openly crucify the Son of God afresh.

In their zeal without knowledge, those who prefer the traditions of modern evangelism to biblical evangelism betray the cause of the gospel with a kiss. What may look like love for the sinner's welfare, is in truth eternally detrimental to him.

Like Peter, our zeal without knowledge is actually cutting off the ears of sinners. Those we erroneously call "backsliders" won't listen to our reasonings. As far as they are concerned, they have tried it once, and it didn't work. What a victory for the prince of darkness, and what an unspeakable tragedy for the Church!

When David committed adultery with Bathsheba and killed her husband, God sent Nathan the prophet to reprove him. Notice the order in which the reproof came. Nathan gave David a parable about something he could understand. Sheep. He began with the natural realm rather than immediately exposing the King's sin. He told a story of a rich man, who rather than take one from his own flock, killed a poor man's pet lamb to feed a stranger.

David was indignant, and said that the guilty party would die. Nathan then exposed his sin of taking another man's "lamb," saying, "You are the man... Why have you despised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in His sight?" (2 Samuel 12:9). When David showed signs of contrition, Nathan then gave him Grace and said, "The Lord has also put away your sin; you shall not die." Imagine if Nathan, fearful of rejection, instead told David, "God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. However, there is something which is keeping you from enjoying this wonderful plan; it is called 'sin.'"

Imagine if he had glossed over the personal nature of David's sin, with a general reference to all men having sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. David may have reacted with, "What sin are you talking about?" rather than admit his terrible transgression. Or he may have, in a desire to experience this wonderful plan, admitted that he, like all men, had fallen short of the glory of God. If David had not been made to tremble under the wrath of the Law, the prophet would have removed the very means of producing godly sorrow. It is "godly sorrow" that works repentance (2 Corinthians 7:10). It was the weight of his guilt that caused him to cry out, "I have sinned against the Lord." The Law caused him to labor and become heavy laden; it made him hunger and thirst for righteousness.

How true are the words once spoken by Charles Spurgeon (the Prince of Preachers), "The Law serves a most necessary purpose." He also said, "They will never accept Grace, until they tremble before a just and holy Law."

Paradox though it may seem, the Law does make Grace abound in the same way darkness makes light shine. It was John Newton (the writer of "Amazing Grace") who said that a wrong understanding of the harmony between Law and Grace would produce "error on the left and the right hand." I don't know if any of us could claim to have a better understanding of Grace than the one who penned such a wonderful hymn. The world will never clearly see the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ, until the blackness of sin is exposed by a just and holy Law. When a Christian sees what he has been saved from, he will realize what he has been saved for. He will have a love for God, for the unspeakable gift of the cross. It will be a continual source of joy. Gratitude will motivate him to reach out and do the will of God, to seek and save that which is lost. That is the key to genuine church growth, and that is how to see revival.

Grace means nothing to a person who does not know he is sinful...It is therefore pointless to preach grace until the impossible demands of the Law and the reality of guilt before God are preached. - John MacArthur

If a person does not clearly understand that they have sinned against God, they
will sense no need for salvation. In other words, if they think lightly of sin they will think lightly of the Savior -Andy Lapins

Jesus Christ didn't save us for God, He saved us from God! -R.C. Sproul

http://livingwaters.com/