This is a Lumpfish..
haha
Hopefully you have learned two things from this:
1. You now know what a Lumpfish is.
2. Never eat caviar if you don't know where it came from. It just may be from a Lumpfish.
:)
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Ew..
A friend of mine just told me about a time she was tricked into eating Lumpfish caviar.
This is a Lumpfish..
This is a Lumpfish..
Marine Life Census
I didn't know about his until recently and I find it amazing what little we know about the oceans and the creatures that call it home. About ten years ago a global census of marine life was started and was completed October 4th. I found out about this when it popped up on one of my news feeds. I don't know if this is all over the news and I'm the only one that doesn't know about it but in any case I think its worthy of sharing.
This census involved over 2,700 scientists and 80 countries who all wanted to find out what lived in the ocean (things already known and hopeful of new discoveries). The ten year period is now over and the number of new species that was found amazes me. They found about 4,800 species that were already identified but they discovered 1,200 more!
I think that's so cool..I looked it up to find out more about it and the article went on to say that only 5% of the ocean has been well explored and over 20% of it has never been explored. To me that's kind of exciting but scary. Exciting because there is so much more to discover, scary because who knows what's out there.
But anyways I just had to share this! God is great! :)
p.s. If you want to see some of the pictures from the census there are some crazy cool ones on National Geographic's webiste.
This census involved over 2,700 scientists and 80 countries who all wanted to find out what lived in the ocean (things already known and hopeful of new discoveries). The ten year period is now over and the number of new species that was found amazes me. They found about 4,800 species that were already identified but they discovered 1,200 more!
I think that's so cool..I looked it up to find out more about it and the article went on to say that only 5% of the ocean has been well explored and over 20% of it has never been explored. To me that's kind of exciting but scary. Exciting because there is so much more to discover, scary because who knows what's out there.
But anyways I just had to share this! God is great! :)
p.s. If you want to see some of the pictures from the census there are some crazy cool ones on National Geographic's webiste.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Our Conviction as Creation
If you have read my other posts, you know how I feel about creation and its relationship to God.
But I haven't talked about the relationship that I see between God as the creator and our "conviction" as the creation that He gives us.
Genesis 1:24-30 says, "And God said, 'Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind.' And it was so. God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds , and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. Then God said, 'Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.' So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, 'Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.' Then God said, 'I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground-everything that has the breath of life in it-I give every green plant for food.' And it was so. "
For me this is a verse that I love to read. Someday I plan to have a career where I am involved in some sort of wildlife management or conservation agency. I find it very cool that one of the very first things God says to man is that all of the plants and animals are under his control. God essentially commands Adam to be a conservationist. To look over the plants and animals.
In a way I see this as a gift from God. Going back to the analogy of God being an artist and the earth as His art, its like one of your friends creating something for you and giving it to you. I'm sure everyone has given something or has been given something at some point. Either way, it's a good feeling. But think about that for a moment. If you painted something for a friend of yours, you wouldn't want them to just look at it and say, "Eh, whatever. That's nice." and then throw it away! You would want them to keep it, put it somewhere special where it won't get bent, broken or ripped. I feel the same is true for God. I believe God created all the things on this earth for two reasons: to give Him glory and to help us through this life. There are new discoveries that come up all the time of some plant that can cure some sickness and things of that sort. God gave us what He did because He loves us. Just the same reason why you would make a gift for a friend.
I feel like often times (myself definitely included) we tend to take what we have been given for granted. It's like we look at the earth and say, "Eh, whatever. That's nice." and then throw it away. I don't know about you but if I was the creator of something that was treated that way, my feelings would be hurt.
Shifting into another direction, the same is true for the people God has created. The way God tells us to treat each other is different than the ways he expects us to treat the earth, but it is still our conviction to treat people with respect too. More so than the earth actually.
I'm pretty sure that if Jesus was here in the flesh today that no Christian would treat Him in a disrespectful way (if they did, that wouldn't make much sense). But where it gets difficult is where, as Christians, we are supposed to treat everyone like Jesus. That is SO hard. Especially because people aren't perfect. I know in my life it has been hard especially after someone has hurt me. Sometimes its hard to forgive and forget.
And you also have the homeless, the murderers, the alcoholics, the rapists...It's hard to reach out to people with that reputation and treat them like Jesus too. And I feel terrible saying that. It makes me sound like I think I'm better than them. But that is society. That is human nature. But Christianity isn't supposed to be easy. To be a Christian you literally have to go against almost everything society tells you is true. You have to treat them like Jesus too.
Recently, I have placed membership at Highway Church of Christ here in Searcy while I am here for college. I feel like God is using the people and the messages there to help me with that concept. In the college class, our theme for the semester is "Give me your eyes". This was taken from a Brandon Heath song. The chorus goes-"Give me your eyes for just one second, give me your eyes so I can see. Everything that I've been missing. Give me your love for humanity. Give me your arms for the broken hearted, the ones that are far beyond my reach. Give me your eyes for just one second, give me your eyes so I can see". So in class we are focusing on seeing people through God's eyes. Seeing potential in the homeless and the prostitutes and approaching them with the love that we should have for them. We will actually be going to talk with the homeless and other people in the near future. I'm kind of scared because this requires some coming out of my comfort zone but I'm excited to see how I grow from these experiences.
Anyways, I don't want to sound so preachy. That's not my intention. But these are two things that I feel convicted to do.
I am not saying that if you were a good Christian, you would become a Wildlife activist and never turn your lights on or drive your car in order to be green. God put compassion for His creation in my heart. And He puts other desires and passion in other peoples' hearts in order to do His will. But I think the underlying factor here is respect. Respect for all creation: humans and the earth. You don't have to be a radical environmentalist to be respectful of His art. Just thanking Him for what He has made is enough.
On the other hand..I do believe that a radical love for humanity is what God wants for all of us. The world would be a much better place if we were all like His son.. After all, Jesus was a radical too..
But I haven't talked about the relationship that I see between God as the creator and our "conviction" as the creation that He gives us.
Genesis 1:24-30 says, "And God said, 'Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind.' And it was so. God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds , and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. Then God said, 'Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.' So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, 'Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.' Then God said, 'I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground-everything that has the breath of life in it-I give every green plant for food.' And it was so. "
For me this is a verse that I love to read. Someday I plan to have a career where I am involved in some sort of wildlife management or conservation agency. I find it very cool that one of the very first things God says to man is that all of the plants and animals are under his control. God essentially commands Adam to be a conservationist. To look over the plants and animals.
In a way I see this as a gift from God. Going back to the analogy of God being an artist and the earth as His art, its like one of your friends creating something for you and giving it to you. I'm sure everyone has given something or has been given something at some point. Either way, it's a good feeling. But think about that for a moment. If you painted something for a friend of yours, you wouldn't want them to just look at it and say, "Eh, whatever. That's nice." and then throw it away! You would want them to keep it, put it somewhere special where it won't get bent, broken or ripped. I feel the same is true for God. I believe God created all the things on this earth for two reasons: to give Him glory and to help us through this life. There are new discoveries that come up all the time of some plant that can cure some sickness and things of that sort. God gave us what He did because He loves us. Just the same reason why you would make a gift for a friend.
I feel like often times (myself definitely included) we tend to take what we have been given for granted. It's like we look at the earth and say, "Eh, whatever. That's nice." and then throw it away. I don't know about you but if I was the creator of something that was treated that way, my feelings would be hurt.
Shifting into another direction, the same is true for the people God has created. The way God tells us to treat each other is different than the ways he expects us to treat the earth, but it is still our conviction to treat people with respect too. More so than the earth actually.
I'm pretty sure that if Jesus was here in the flesh today that no Christian would treat Him in a disrespectful way (if they did, that wouldn't make much sense). But where it gets difficult is where, as Christians, we are supposed to treat everyone like Jesus. That is SO hard. Especially because people aren't perfect. I know in my life it has been hard especially after someone has hurt me. Sometimes its hard to forgive and forget.
And you also have the homeless, the murderers, the alcoholics, the rapists...It's hard to reach out to people with that reputation and treat them like Jesus too. And I feel terrible saying that. It makes me sound like I think I'm better than them. But that is society. That is human nature. But Christianity isn't supposed to be easy. To be a Christian you literally have to go against almost everything society tells you is true. You have to treat them like Jesus too.
Recently, I have placed membership at Highway Church of Christ here in Searcy while I am here for college. I feel like God is using the people and the messages there to help me with that concept. In the college class, our theme for the semester is "Give me your eyes". This was taken from a Brandon Heath song. The chorus goes-"Give me your eyes for just one second, give me your eyes so I can see. Everything that I've been missing. Give me your love for humanity. Give me your arms for the broken hearted, the ones that are far beyond my reach. Give me your eyes for just one second, give me your eyes so I can see". So in class we are focusing on seeing people through God's eyes. Seeing potential in the homeless and the prostitutes and approaching them with the love that we should have for them. We will actually be going to talk with the homeless and other people in the near future. I'm kind of scared because this requires some coming out of my comfort zone but I'm excited to see how I grow from these experiences.
Anyways, I don't want to sound so preachy. That's not my intention. But these are two things that I feel convicted to do.
I am not saying that if you were a good Christian, you would become a Wildlife activist and never turn your lights on or drive your car in order to be green. God put compassion for His creation in my heart. And He puts other desires and passion in other peoples' hearts in order to do His will. But I think the underlying factor here is respect. Respect for all creation: humans and the earth. You don't have to be a radical environmentalist to be respectful of His art. Just thanking Him for what He has made is enough.
On the other hand..I do believe that a radical love for humanity is what God wants for all of us. The world would be a much better place if we were all like His son.. After all, Jesus was a radical too..
Random Animal Fact
There are about 50 different kinds of Kangaroos. A group of Kangaroos is called a mob.
haha :)
Good words from a good book
My last year in the youth group, the girls read a book for our Bible study. You may have heard of it. Its "Crazy Love" by Francis Chan. This is truly an excellent book and I recommend it to anyone. I love the second chapter of this book and I wanted to share it.
"The wise man comes to God without saying a word and stands in awe of Him. It may seem a hopeless endeavor, to gaze at the invisible God. But Romans 1:20 tells us that through creation, we see His "invisible qualities" and "divine nature."
Let's begin this book by gazing at God in silence. What I want you to do right now is to go online and look at the "Awe Factor" video at www.crazylovebook.com to get a taste of the awe factor of our God. Seriously-go do it. (see link at bottom)
Speechless? Amazed? Humbled?
When I first saw those images, I had to worship. I didn't want to speak to or share it with anyone. I just wanted to sit quietly and admire the Creator.
It's wild to think that most of these galaxies have been discovered only in the past few years, thanks to the Hubble telescope. They've been in the universe for thousands of years without humans even knowing about them.
Why would God create more than 350,000,000,000 galaxies (and this is a conservative estimate) that generations of people never saw or even knew existed? Do you think maybe it was to make us say, "Wow, God is unfathomably big"? Or perhaps God wanted us to see these pictures so that our response wold be, "Who do I think I am?"
R.C. Sproul writes, "Men are never truly touched and impressed with a conviction of their insignificance, until they have contrasted themselves with the majesty of God."
Switch gears with me for a minute about the detailed intricacy of the other side of creation.
Did you know that a caterpillar has 228 separate and distinct muscles in its head? That's quite a few, for a bug. The average elm tree has approximately 6 million leaves on it. And your own heart generates enough pressure as it pumps blood throughout your body that is could squirt blood up to 30 feet.
Have you ever thought about how diverse and creative God is? He didn't have to make hundreds of different kinds of bananas, but He did. He didn't have to put 3,000 different species of trees within one square mile in the Amazon jungle, but He did. God didn't have to create so many kinds of laughter. Think about the different sounds of your friends' laughs-wheezes, snorts, silent, loud, obnoxious.
How about the way plants defy gravity by drawing water upward from the ground into their stems and veins? Or did you know that spiders produce three kinds of silk? When they build their webs, they create sixty feet of silk in one hour, simultaneously producing special oil on their feel that prevents them form sticking to their own web. (Most of us hate spiders, but sixty feet an hour deserves some respect!) Coral plants are so sensitive that they can die if the water temperature varies by even one or two degrees.
Did you know that when you get goose bumps, the hair in your follicles is actually helping you tay warmer by trapping body heat? Or what about the simple fact that plants take in carbon dioxide (which is harmful to us) and produce oxygen (which we need to survive)? I'm sure you knew that, but have you ever marveled at it? And these same poison-swallowing, life-giving plants came from tiny seeds that were placed in the dirt. Some were watered, some weren't; but after a few days they poked through the soil and out into the warm sunlight.
Whatever God's reason for such diversity, creativity, and sophistication in the universe, on earth, and in our own bodies, the point of it all is His glory. God's art speaks of Himself, reflecting who He is and what He is like."
"The wise man comes to God without saying a word and stands in awe of Him. It may seem a hopeless endeavor, to gaze at the invisible God. But Romans 1:20 tells us that through creation, we see His "invisible qualities" and "divine nature."
Let's begin this book by gazing at God in silence. What I want you to do right now is to go online and look at the "Awe Factor" video at www.crazylovebook.com to get a taste of the awe factor of our God. Seriously-go do it. (see link at bottom)
Speechless? Amazed? Humbled?
When I first saw those images, I had to worship. I didn't want to speak to or share it with anyone. I just wanted to sit quietly and admire the Creator.
It's wild to think that most of these galaxies have been discovered only in the past few years, thanks to the Hubble telescope. They've been in the universe for thousands of years without humans even knowing about them.
Why would God create more than 350,000,000,000 galaxies (and this is a conservative estimate) that generations of people never saw or even knew existed? Do you think maybe it was to make us say, "Wow, God is unfathomably big"? Or perhaps God wanted us to see these pictures so that our response wold be, "Who do I think I am?"
R.C. Sproul writes, "Men are never truly touched and impressed with a conviction of their insignificance, until they have contrasted themselves with the majesty of God."
Switch gears with me for a minute about the detailed intricacy of the other side of creation.
Did you know that a caterpillar has 228 separate and distinct muscles in its head? That's quite a few, for a bug. The average elm tree has approximately 6 million leaves on it. And your own heart generates enough pressure as it pumps blood throughout your body that is could squirt blood up to 30 feet.
Have you ever thought about how diverse and creative God is? He didn't have to make hundreds of different kinds of bananas, but He did. He didn't have to put 3,000 different species of trees within one square mile in the Amazon jungle, but He did. God didn't have to create so many kinds of laughter. Think about the different sounds of your friends' laughs-wheezes, snorts, silent, loud, obnoxious.
How about the way plants defy gravity by drawing water upward from the ground into their stems and veins? Or did you know that spiders produce three kinds of silk? When they build their webs, they create sixty feet of silk in one hour, simultaneously producing special oil on their feel that prevents them form sticking to their own web. (Most of us hate spiders, but sixty feet an hour deserves some respect!) Coral plants are so sensitive that they can die if the water temperature varies by even one or two degrees.
Did you know that when you get goose bumps, the hair in your follicles is actually helping you tay warmer by trapping body heat? Or what about the simple fact that plants take in carbon dioxide (which is harmful to us) and produce oxygen (which we need to survive)? I'm sure you knew that, but have you ever marveled at it? And these same poison-swallowing, life-giving plants came from tiny seeds that were placed in the dirt. Some were watered, some weren't; but after a few days they poked through the soil and out into the warm sunlight.
Whatever God's reason for such diversity, creativity, and sophistication in the universe, on earth, and in our own bodies, the point of it all is His glory. God's art speaks of Himself, reflecting who He is and what He is like."
I LOVE this. So much. I couldn't have said it any better.
http://www.crazylovebook.com/videos_awe.html
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." Genesis 1:1
A verse that is well known by believers as well as nonbelievers, but is often overlooked. To a nonbeliever this is a hard concept to grasp, to a believer it is common knowledge. But to a person like me, it is much more. You see, I, before becoming a Christian, have always had a deep appreciation for the beauty of the earth. And in the back of my mind I have always known that the miraculous beauty of the earth was no accident of some explosion of matter in space. It was a creation, a work of art. But who was the artist?
My faith has given me the answer."The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands." Psalm 19:1. Suddenly, everything fit together. My passion for animals and plants, seas and skies became more meaningful. I now saw that the God who shows me endless love and mercy also took the time to create rollie pollies and whales.
but I think the keyword in this verse in Psalms is glory. "The heavens declare the glory of God" This verse is just proof that God's creation screams of HIs majesty and power. There is no one ion this earth that can deny that a sunset is anything less than captivating. Everyone, whether they know it or not is touched by God's beauty. The very fact that we are breathing gives Him glory. I could go on forever..
Therefore, I am convinced that the beauty of the earth is only a mere representation of the beauty of God himself. I am captivated by that beauty and therefore captivated by Him.
I am new to this whole blogging thing. But if you choose to follow my blogs, you have to first understand the foundation from which I am coming from. I hope I have explained it well here.
"Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of His glory."
Isaiah 6:3
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