Worldwide Decrease In Crop Diversity. 3 Myths in the Noah Movie. Simon Bolivar. Update.

 

For Scripture Sunday:

Vertical News: Worldwide Decrease In Crop Diversity

"What do global agricultural trends really mean to us on a daily basis?

Source: sxc.hu/pitrih

"United Nations data finds that diversity in varieties of global mainstay crops has and is decreasing, by 75% during the 20 ^th century, and will decrease by another third by 2050. This “globalized diet” consists mostly of wheat, rice, potatoes and sugar, as well as soybean, which was not a staple crop just fifty years ago. Crops in decline include millet, rye, yam, sweet potato, and cassava.

Experts feel that this opens up the world to two dangers; the danger of increased non-communicable diseases like diabetes and heart disease (the result of increased reliance on starchy crops and processed foods as dietary mainstays) and the very real crisis of major, worldwide crop failures. The concern is that plant breeding is controlled by a small number of multinational companies, which focus on a limited number of plant varieties, this further limiting genetic resilience to disease (Mark Kinver, “Crop Diversity Decline ‘Threatens Food Security,’” BBC News at BBC.com, March 3, 2014).

Most of us don’t actively participate in agriculture as a career choice and from the perspective of going to the grocery store, the scale of global food production can seem so immense as to be impossible to comprehend. However, it all comes down to basic facts: humans have to eat and our food has to come from somewhere. If that chain breaks down, many people will suffer.

The book of Revelation outlines events that will occur before the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, and among those events are worldwide famines. It’s important as a young person to keep an eye on agricultural as well as moral trends in the world because that knowledge will help us to be watchful and alert and actively obedient to God when Jesus Christ does return.

“Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man,” (Luke:21:36, NKJV).

In the mean time, our prayers are very valuable when we pray for God’s mercy on our individual nations and all the nations of the world that food will be accessible to those who need it, which is all of us, every day!" article by Amanda Stiver. From:  http://www.ucg.org/youth/vertical-news-worldwide-decrease-crop-diversity/  See comments, too.

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3 Myths in the Noah Movie

"The controversial Noah movie has been called biblically inaccurate, but visually stunning. Read this review to learn about the major problems with this movie.

Noah, starring Russell Crowe, has hit theaters.

Life, Hope & Truth published a blog post analyzing the film based on early reviews by individuals who had prescreened it: “Read This Before Seeing the Noah Movie.” The author of that blog, Arnold C. Mendez Sr., is one of our experts on scientific issues and has studied and taught the Noah story for many years. On March 30 I was able to view Noah on behalf of Life, Hope & Truth. After viewing the film, I would like to offer our readers further analysis of this controversial movie.

The bottom line

Darren Aronofsky’s Noah can be summarized very simply: manipulation and mockery. The film very blatantly manipulates the story of Noah by adding many fictional elements that go far beyond reasonable dramatic license.

Don’t let Russell Crowe’s portrayal of Noah form your mental image of this important man. Read about the real Noah in Genesis 6-9.  Rob Moore, the vice chairman of Paramount Pictures, was very candid about the film: “The single most important piece of information was that this was not attempting to be a 100% retelling of the story from Genesis. … A 100% literal retelling would not make a great film” (“Films Are His Flock,” Time, March 31, 2014, p. 55). In other words, this was an attempt to make money and entertain people—not to educate them about the Bible.

Unlike the movie, our mission is to help our audience accurately understand the Bible and its message. So, when something like this comes along that could lead to a distorted view of the Bible, we feel responsible to speak out."  Complete article at: http://lifehopeandtruth.com/prophecy/blog/3-myths-in-the-noah-movie/

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Simon Bolivar

An Amazing Fact: "Simon Bolivar was South America’s greatest general. He is known as “the great liberator” because his victories against Spain won independence for Venezuela, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and a country that bears his name, Bolivia.

In 1824, after Bolivar helped Peru win its freedom from Spain, the great general called for a convention to draft a constitution for the new country. After the convention, a delegation approached Simon Bolivar and asked him to become their first president. He gracefully declined, saying that he felt someone else deserved the honor more than he. But the people still wanted to do something special for Bolivar to show their appreciation for all he had done to free them from the oppression of Spain. So they offered him a gift of a million pesos, a fabulous fortune in those days.

Bolivar thoughtfully accepted the gift and then asked how many slaves there were in Peru. He was told that there were about 3,000. “And how much does a slave sell for?” he wanted to know. “About 350 pesos for an able-bodied man,” was the answer. “Then,” said Bolivar, “I will add whatever is necessary to this million pesos you have given me, and I will buy all the slaves in Peru and set them free.” He added, “It makes no sense to free a nation unless all its citizens enjoy freedom as well.”

The Bible teaches that Jesus came into the world to set captives free. Near the beginning of His earthly ministry, Jesus attended the synagogue in Nazareth on the Sabbath day and read from Isaiah’s prophecy about Himself: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; he has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord” (Luke 4:18, 19).

On another occasion, when the Jewish leaders claimed that they were in bondage to no one, Jesus explained that “whoever commits sin is a slave of sin” (John 8:34). But He assured the people, “Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed” (verse 36). There is true freedom in Christ alone.   Are you truly free?

KEY BIBLE TEXTS: Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness. -Romans 6:18

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Update:

The second batch of antibiotics have made me feel a bit more like my old self, so we have been getting a few jobs done around here.

Nala's new playmate, Chelsea the tortoiseshell cat, is now out of hiding, and has the run of the house.  But she and Nala don't have anything to do with each other. Although, Nala has settled down immensely now, and isn't bugging me for attention all the time.  So that's a good thing.

We are still gradually rebuilding the fence that goes between the properties, but then we had to fix a water leak in a water line that goes to the guest house.  Unfortunately it was on this side of the meter, so we have an enormous water bill!!  That leak caused another problem which we haven't fixed yet.  It washed away a drain support that hadn't been installed properly.

It is very depressing that the known burglars who broke into my house when I was in the hospital, still have not been arrested.   Golly, what takes so long?

Ray's back was hurting, so Jay and I went to church without him.  It was a pleasant service even though many were absent, and a great potluck afterwards.  Jay took an angel food cake and strawberry pudding that he had made. (In England we call that a "trifle".)  My contribution was an organic beef Shepherd's Pie for the day.