Periods of Old Testament History

1.     Anti-Divilian Period.
        4004 - 2348 BC = 1656 years. From creation to flood.

2.     Post-Divilian Period.
        2348 - 1921 BC = 427 years.  Flood to the call of Abraham.

3.     Patriarchal Period.
        1921 - 1706 BC = 215 years.   Call of Abraham to migration to Egypt.

4.      Egyptian Bondage.  
         1706 - 1441 BC = 215 years.  Migration to Egypt to the Exodus.

5.      Wilderness Wanderings.
          1491 - 1451 BC = 40 years.  The exodus to the crossing of the Jordon river.

6.       Conquest of Canaan.
          1451 - 1400 BC = 51 years.  Crossing the Jordon to the death of Joshua.

7.       Period of the Judges.
          1400 = 1095 BC = 305 years.   Death of Joshua the Anointing of Saul.

8.       The United Kingdom.
          1095 -  975 BC = 120 years.   Anointing of Saul to the death of Solomon.

9.       The Divided Kingdom.
           975 - 722 BC = 253 years.  Death of Solomon to the fall of Israel.

10.     Kingdom of Judah Alone.
          722 = 586 BC = 136 years.  Fall of Israel to the Fall of Jerusalem.

11.     Babylonian captivity.  
          586 = 536 BC = 50 years.   Fall of Jerusalem to the rebuilding of the temple.

12.    Restoration of the Jews.
         536 - 400 BC = 136 years.  Rebuilding of the Templde to the close of the Old Testament.

11 Reasons to Study The Old Testament

1.      We find out about God's nature and character.

2.       It shows many things about man and his character and nature.

3.       It tells the origin, the nature and the consequences of sin.

4.      It reveals the greatest religious teachings found anywhere outside the new testament.

5.      It presents the highest moral and ethical standards found anywhere outside of the new              testament.

6.       It aids in developing a devotional and spiritual life.

7.       It helps one to solve many practical problems in family life, economics. national or civic relationships, education of children etc.

8.       It has historical information not known from any other source.

9.       It gives the only true account of God's people and his actions in this world.

10.     It contains some of the finest examples of literary excellence in the world.

11.     It gives necessary background for the understanding of the new testament.

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How to Clean Jewelry

There are many different brands of jewelry cleaners on the market today. Depending on how your
jewelry is made, these products may or may not be safe for your jewelry! Before using
jewelry cleaner, take a good long look at the jewelry and try to determine what it is made of.

First, any jewelry that has pieces glued on should not be soaked in jewelry cleaner. Instead, use a
little Woolite mixed with water, and soak the piece for just a couple of minutes. Remove the piece from the mixture and dry it immediately – but gently – with a soft cloth. Use a soft toothbrush to gently scrub small crevices.

Avoid soaking pearls! They may come from the ocean – but water from your tap may damage them.
Simply wipe the pearl with a damp cloth, then use a polishing cloth to give it back its shine. Never
soak any of your jewelry overnight. It isn’t necessary, and it may harm the jewelry wholesale.

Again, it is important to know what gems are used in your jewelry, and how the piece was constructed before determining how you will clean it.

Building Courage to Improve your Personal Life

     When you build courage, you start to improve your personal life. Building courage will help you take risks to a brighter future that you ordinarily would not take. When you build courage, you put fear behind you. courage is the process of admitting that you have fears, yet you are willing to find a way to defeat those fears and not allow these fears to take control of you.  It is ok to experience your fears at appropriate times. For instance, if a bus is heading in your path, swerving you have a right to fear. There is nothing wrong with healthy fear. The problem is you have to put healthy fear in its place and unhealthy fear out of your life.

Once you build courage, you will learn to self-direct you in life. You will learn to accept punishment and rewards gracefully. A courageous person will often feel motivated to accept blame and responsibility while reviewing their actions and using what they learn to move forward. Courageous people will step to the front, rather than stepping back when opportunities come their way. On the other hand, a courageous person will step back and take a view at his or her mistakes gracefully.

Sometimes the courageous person is spontaneous. It is never good to plan each day, because no one knows what the next day will bring in. Think about it. How many times have you planned something all to see it shatter in your face the next day. For instance, I plan to go to the ballgame tomorrow. Come tomorrow a blizzard, hurricane, tornado, wind storm, or rainstorm could change your mind. You planned, but did you plan for the weather. Did you make a backup plan in case your first plan failed. As you can see, planning is not always in your favour, which is why courageous people are sometimes spontaneous.  A person willing to improve their life will relax. This person will relax even when plans fail. For instance, if it stormed the next day the person will find something else to occupy his or her time and feel just as happy about joining this adventure.

To become successful and improve your life you will need to learn how to trust you. When you trust you, you can trust others as well. Unfortunately, we live in a world where trust is hard to find, yet when you trust you, you can’t blame others when things go wrong. Improving your life includes using your creative and critical mind. When you can create new ideas, you are off to the road to success. You have many options in this world, it takes you to pull up resources to find those options.

Sometimes in life, we feel uncomfortable. In fact, this is common. Are you willing to accept your discomforts? Perhaps at an interview you feel misplaced. Are you willing to accept this discomfort and find a way to deliver a good speech to impress the interviewer. Alternatively, are you willing to allow negative energies cost you the job.

Do you accept?

Do you accept the things you cannot change? Do you accept the things you have control over? Do you accept other people regardless of how these people act? Do you accept you for who you are? Do you accept the changes that life brings your way?  Acceptance is your key to happiness. When you can learn to accept the good with the bad, you can learn how to live happier and improve your personal life. If you cannot accept however, well, reread this article again.

How Culture Influences Genetics

 I was furthering my education on culture and communication today by doing some reading.  I came across some interesting information about a topic called Dual Inheritance Theory.  The theory goes that culture affects us biologically.  We have genetic ancestors as we all know, but we also have cultural ancestors.  Both culture and genetics make up who we are.

Dual Inheritance Theory provides obvious examples of the influence of culture on genetics.  One example is the cultural influence of relying heavily on technology having the genetic influence of making our bones and muscles weaker. Another example is the cultural influence of moving from a hunter gatherer society to consuming fast food and becoming a microwave society having the genetic influence of the widespread problem of obesity.

Another example of the influence of culture over genetics provided by Dual Inheritance Theory is the cultural influence of changes in diet have on the genetic influence of changes to the digestive system. For example the genetic traits of having flat teeth to chew with, rather than sharp teeth to kill animals with and tear flesh apart, and still being able to digest meat: this has helped humans with the cultural influence of us evolving from a vegan diet to one that includes meat.  As we evolved from being plant eaters in Eden, to meat eaters after the fall of man; this cultural influence had a genetic influence.

The Bell Curve written in 1994 by psychologist Richard Hernstein and political scientist Charles Murray, argues that human intelligence is influenced by environmental cultural influences and inherited genetic influences.  The findings of this thesis is that some cultures are more are more genetically superior to others.  This is because some cultures have a higher level of education and therefore, enjoy a higher socio-economic status than others.

To conclude, Dual Inheritance Theory proves that there is an influence of culture on genetics. Cultural influences on behaviour have genetic influences on the physiology of humans and other species.

How to Clean your Diamonds

Through our day to day movements our diamonds get smudged and soiled.  Even when we are not wearing them, they collect dust.  Lotions, soaps, our natural skin oils, can cause film and grime on diamonds and inhibit their brilliance.
 
Want to keep that Brilliance and Shine?
 
Diamonds require cleaning so that maximum amounts of light can refract fiery brilliance.  Remember that all it takes is a few minutes and a little care to keep that diamond as fiery as the day you first saw it.

You can use an small soft brush such as an eyebrow or lip stick brush and soap and water to clean your jewelry.  Simply make a bowl of warm sudsy water with a mild detergent and place your pieces in the mixture.  Then brush the diamonds with the soft bristles of the brush while they are in the suds.  You will need to make certain that you rinse them clear of the suds after cleaning them.  You can use a small kitchen strainer such as a tea strainer to contain them while rinsing under warm water.  Use a lint free cloth, or a jewelry polish cloth to pat them dry.

If your diamonds are in need of a stronger cleansing, you may want to soak them for 30 minutes in a solution of half and half water and ammonia.  Once they have soaked for 30 minutes, remove them and gently brush the mountings with a small brush.  Then replace \the pieces to the solution and swish them around in the mixture before removing them to rinse and pat dry.  

If you find your self too busy to be mixing soaps and ammonias, many department
stores sell liquid jewelry cleaners.  Most are kits, with everything you need included.  You need to read the labels to determine the one that is right for your diamonds and other jewelry. Read the complete directions and follow all the precautions.

And if you find yourself more the “high-tech type”, even in your diamond cleaning routine, there are multiple ultrasonic cleansers on the market.  These machines use high-frequency to create a cleaning motion.  All machines are not the same, so please read
the instructions before using.

Only you can choose the cleaning method right for you.   But, it is essential to keep your jewelry clean to keep it brilliant and sparkling.  Between cleaning, try not to touchyour clean diamonds with your fingers or handle your jewelry by its edges. This will
help maintain its shine and brilliance for longer periods.

5 Useful Tips on Trout Fishing

In fishing, trout are one of the favorite “fishing friends” of most anglers. These crafty fish are abundant anywhere. The native habitat of these crafty fish depends on the type of trout.
For brook trout, the native habitat includes the territory from Labrador westward to the Saskatchewan, while the rainbow trout is a native of the Pacific slope from Alaska to California.
On the other hand, brown trout has found its way into the waters of every state in the United States except Florida, Arkansas, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma, and Texas. It has been reported in the waters of some of these states, but according to conservation officials, no authentic reports have been received. It is also found in many parts of Canada.

In trout fishing, there are some factors that need to be considered in order to have a successful catch.

1. For trout fishing, the leader should not be greased. It will not sink far enough to cause any difficulty when picking the line and lure from the water, but if it is allowed to float; it will cast a shadow on the bottom of the stream which may scare the trout.

2. The trout is one of the fishes that are usually secured through the use of the dry fly. For trout, the current as well as the pools should be fished. It may sometimes be a bit difficult to keep the fly from sinking or dragging because of the various conditions of the current, but this is a matter that the angler will have to figure out for himself.

3. It is not good practice when fishing for trout to fish directly upstream so the flies, line, and leader will float directly over fish. The fisherman should make the cast from one side of the stream so the fly will only float over the fish.

4. It is important to make the first cast the best. A feeding trout will usually strike the first lure presented if it is cast so that it will float over his private domain. The angler should never fail to fish the lower end of the pool first even if the trout are rising in the middle or upper end.

5. Trout are sometimes very moody or selective and will try the patience of any angler; hence, possibly a fly with less hackle will do the trick or it may be necessary to use a spent-wing fly or a fan wing.

Indeed, catching trout fishes can be lots of fun. The anglers just have to remember these tips in order to have a happy catch.