“...Something we once loved, and love now, in the shape of a book. Maybe eBooks are going to take over, one day, but not until those whizzkids in Silicon Valley invent a way to bend the corners, fold the spine, yellow the pages, add a coffee ring or two and allow the plastic tablet to fall open at a favorite page.””
“It’s always the end of the world,” said Russell Grandinetti, one of Amazon’s top executives. “You could set your watch on it arriving.” He pointed out, though, that the landscape was in some ways changing for the first time since Gutenberg invented the modern book nearly 600 years ago. “The only really necessary people in the publishing process now are the writer and reader,” he said. “Everyone who stands between those two has both risk and opportunity.” Amazon Signs Up Authors, Writing Publishers Out of Deal. New York Times, 10/16/2011””
“The Measure of America, a report of the Social Science Research Council, ranks every state in the United States on its “human development.” Each rank is based on life expectancy, school enrollment, educational degree attainment, and median personal earnings. Out of the 50 states, Louisiana ranked 49th and in overall health ranked last. According to the 2015 National Report Card, Louisiana ranked 48th out of 50 in eighth-grade reading and 49th out of 50 in eighth-grade math. Only eight out of ten Louisianans have graduated from high school, and only 7 percent have graduate or professional degrees. According to the Kids Count Data Book, compiled by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, Louisiana ranked 49th out of 50 states for child well-being. And the problem transcends race; an average black in Maryland lives four years longer, earns twice as much, and is twice as likely to have a college degree as a black in Louisiana. And whites in Louisiana are worse off than whites in Maryland or anywhere else outside Mississippi. Louisiana has suffered many environmental problems too: there are nearly 400 miles of low, flat, subsiding coastline, and the state loses a football field–size patch of wetland every hour. It is threatened by rising sea levels and severe hurricanes, which the world’s top scientists connect to climate change.””
E. S. RussellE. S. Russell was a prominent British zoologist and morphologist, recognized for his significant contributions to the understanding of animal form and function. His most notable work, "Form and Functi...
“In his book-length review of the executive functions, Dr. Russell Barkley (2012) explored the reasons that these skills evolved in humans in the first place. He makes the compelling case that it was the selection pressures associated with humans living in larger groups of genetically unrelated individuals, which made it selectively advantageous to have good self-regulation skills. That is, these abilities became more important to survival as humans became more interdependent with and reliant on dealings with peoplewho were not family.Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and executive dysfunction continue to have effects on the myriad relationships and social interactions in daily life. These connections include romantic and committed relationships/marriage, relationships with parents, siblings, children, and other relatives, friendships, and interactions with employers, coworkers, and customers. The executive functions in relationships also figure in the capacity for empathy and tracking social debt, that is, the balance of favors you owe others and favors owed to you. The ability to effectively organize behavior across time in goal-directed activities gains you “social collateral.” That is, the more you deliver on promises and projects, the more that you will be sought out by others and maintain bonds with them.Some of the common manifestations of ADHD and executive dysfunction that may create problems in relationships include:• Distractibility during conversations• Forgetfulness about matters relevant to another person• Verbal impulsivity”
“Genesis 2:5 takes our understanding beyond the fact that we were created to work. It introduces the idea of Adam being a coworker with God. We read that 'no shrub of the field had yet appeared on the earth and no plant of the field had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no man to work the ground.' This teaches us that plant life needed the rain God would send and that it also needed human workers in order to flourish. God waters, but man must work with God in the process, cultivating the ground as His coworkers. Sherman and Hendricks ask, 'Who took care of the garden of Eden? One view would say, Obviously Adam did. But the other view would say, No, God did; He merely used Adam as an instrument to meet the garden’s needs. But there is no reason why we couldn’t say they both participated in this work.' They continue, 'As humans, we act as junior partners in what is ultimately God’s work. Yet participation in that work makes it our work, too. We are colaborers with God in managing His creation.' Sherman and Hendricks advise, 'Perhaps you feel that I am implying that God ‘needs’ us to accomplish His work. Not at all. An omnipotent, sovereign Creator has no need. Rather, God chooses to have us participate in His plans.””
“In The Presence of God, J. Ryan Lister helps us understand the grand narrative that ties together the creation account in Genesis 1–2 and the description of the new creation in Revelation.Lister states, 'The garden was the sanctuary of God. Adam was his priest-king, who was to administer the rule and bring the presence of the Lord to the rest of the world. . . By issuing the command, the Lord called Adam to establish a dominion and dynasty that would cover the earth with his Creator’s relational presence. Adam was more than just a farmer; Adam’s call to subdue the earth had an eschatological, or future, goal.'Lister explains further, 'A large part of the divine mandate, then, consisted of Adam’s working to bring the presence of God to the rest of creation. Adam’s ‘subduing and ruling’ work in the garden was about the distribution of God’s presence. Adam was to expand the borders of Eden to cover the rest of the world. . . Adam was to subdue the whole earth – not just the garden.””
“Genesis 1:28 is called the cultural or creation mandate. The multiplying, filling, subduing, and ruling requirement God gave them was both a blessing and a command. This was a tall order for Adam and Eve. (And it is for us too.) In his book Becoming Worldly Saints, Wittmer summarizes God’s creative intention, “God created Adam and Eve in his image, empowering them to expand the boundary of Eden until the entire world flourished under their loving care.” What a high calling we have!””
“good, the Lord says was really evil. The apostle James in his letter says that faith without works is dead. And in the epistle to the Ephesians, it says that by grace are ye saved through faith. So notice how this works. Here is a prime example from the beginning of the history of God’s plan for salvation:””
“system of Leviathan dominates. Right now, Leviathan is running a great many Christian groups. Leviathan is the system of this world. It runs the governments of this world. Let’s take a look at this system of Leviathan. What is the beauty of his order? When things go wrong here on earth, it seems good to have someone in charge to resolve the issues. Israel had the same problem. They wanted a king like all the other nations. They wanted someone visible who would give them orders and settle their problems. On that occasion, this is what the Lord said to Samuel: Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee, for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me that I should not reign over them (1 Samuel 8:7). In the order of the Lord, He is the head and no one can harm Him or replace Him.””