American History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

American History - Essay Example As one of the most consequential social movements in recent times, this research paper will explore the emergence of the U.S. Civil Rights movement and argue that without this movement, Barack Obama would not be president today. Seeking to address the emergence of the U.S. Civil Rights Movement, this research paper will explore a variety of questions and provide an in-depth theoretical analysis of the early stages of this important social movement. Why did the U.S. Civil Rights Movement emerge when it did? What factors account for the emergence of boycotts as a technique of protest? Was the U.S. Civil Rights Movement a spontaneous reaction to decades of oppression or was it organized and led by key leaders and organizations? These questions and many more will be explored in this comprehensive analysis of the US Civil Rights movement. This essay refers to Unit IV (1946-1976) and aims to provide a thorough and comprehensive analysis of one of the most important movements of the twentieth century, namely the US Civil Rights Movement. Social movements have historically been agents for social change and any analysis of a movement must account for its emergence. At the outset of the Civil Rights Movement, various campaigns were a response to the systematic discrimination which plagued the southern United States in the middle half of the twentieth century. This movement brought the plight of southern African-Americans to the forefront of the American consciousness and its successes can largely be measured in the legislative and normative changes which were a direct result of specific campaigns. As a whole, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as well as the Supreme Court decision in 1956 striking down Alabama’s segregation laws, are substantive examples of the successes this movement has achieved in the political realms. Normatively speaking, black politicians in the southern United States

Consumer Behavior Essay Example for Free

Consumer Behavior Essay Consumer behavior is an attempt to understand predict human actions in the buying role. It has assumed growing importance under market-oriented or customer oriented marketing planning management. Consumer behavior is defined as â€Å"all psychological, social physical behavior of potential customers as they become aware of, evaluate, purchase, consume, tell others about product services†. * Each element in this definition is important. * Consumer behavior involves both individual (psychological) processes group (social processes). * Consumer behavior is reflected from awareness right through post-purchase evaluation indicating satisfaction or non-satisfaction, from purchases * Consumer behavior includes communication, purchasing consumption behavior * Consumer behavior is basically social in nature. Hence social environment plays an important role in shaping buyer behavior. * Consumer behavior includes both consumer business buyer behavior In consumer behavior we consider not only why, how, what people buy but other factors such as where , how often, and under what conditions the purchase is made. An understanding of the buyer behavior is essential in marketing planning programmes. In the final analysis buyer behavior is one of the most important keys to successful marketing. MAJOR FACTORS INFLUENCING BUYER BEHAVIOUR CULTURAL FACTORS Cultural factors exert the broadest and deepest influence on consumer behavior. The roles played by the buyers culture, sub culture and social class are particularly important. * CULTURE- Culture is the most fundamental determinant of a person’s wants and behavior. The growing child acquires a set of values, perceptions, preferences, and behavior through his or her family or other key institutions. * SUB-CULTURE- Sub-culture includes nationalities, religions, racial groups, and geographical regions. Many sub-cultures make up important market segments, and marketers often design marketing programs tailored to their needs. * SOCIAL CLASS- Social classes are relatively homogenous and enduring divisions in a society, which are hierarchically ordered and whose members share similar values, interests, and behavior. Social classes do not reflect income alone but also other indicators such as occupation, education, and area of residence. SOCIAL FACTORS * REFERNCE GROUPS- A Person’s reference groups consist of all the groups that have a direct or indirect influence on the person’s attitudes or behavior. Groups having direct influence on a person are called membership groups. * FAMILY- The family is the most important consumer buying organization in society, and has been researched extensively. Family members constitute the most influential primary reference group. * ROLE AND STATUSES- A person’s position in each group that he participates throughout his life –family, clubs, and organizations can be defined in terms of role and status. A role consist of activities that a person is expected to perform. Each role carries a status. Marketers are aware of the status symbol potential of products and brands. PERSONAL FACTORS A buyer’s decisions are also influenced by personal characteristics. These include the buyer’s age stage in the life cycle, occupation, economic circumstances, lifestyle, personality self concept. * AGE STAGE IN THE LIFE CYCLE- People buy different goods services over their lifetime. They eat baby food in the early years, most foods in the growing mature years special diets in the later years. People’s taste in clothes, furniture recreation is also age related. * OCCUPATION- A person’s occupation also influences his or her consumption pattern. Marketers try to identify the occupational groups that have above – average interest in their products and services. A company can even specialize its products for certain occupational groups. * ECONOMIC CIRCUMCTANCES- Product choices are greatly affected by one’s economic circumstances. Economic stability consist of their spend able income (its level, stability and time pattern), saving and asse ts (including the percentage that is liquid), debts, borrowing power, attitude toward spending versus saving. * LIFESTYLE- People coming from the same subculture, social class occupation may lead quite different lifestyles. A person’s lifestyles the person’s pattern of living in the world as expressed in the persons activities, interests opinions. * PERSONALITY AND SELF-CONCEPT- Each person has a distinct personality that influences his or her buying behavior. By personality, we mean a person’s distinguishing psychological characteristics that lead to relatively consistent and enduring responses to his or her environment. Personality can be a useful variable in analyzing consumer behavior, provided that personality type can be classified accurately and that strong correlations exist between certain personality types and product or brand choices. PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS A person’s buying choices are influenced by four major psychological factors-motivations, perception, learning, beliefs and attitudes. * MOTIVATION- A person has many needs at any given time. A need becomes motive when it is aroused to a sufficient level of intensity. Motivational researchers hold that each product is capable of arousing a unique set of motive in consumers. * LEARNING- When people act they learn. Learning involves changes in an individual’s behavior arising from experience. Learning theory teaches marketers that they can build up demand for a product by associating it with strong drives, using motivating cues and providing positive reinforcement. * PERCEPTION- Perception is the process by which an individual selects, organizes, interprets information inputs to create a meaningful picture of the world. A motivated person is ready to act. How the motivated person actually acts is influenced by his or her perception of the situation. * BELIEFS ATTITUDES- A belief is a descriptive thought that a person holds about something. Through doing learning, people acquire beliefs attitudes. These in turn influence their buying behavior. Particularly important to global marketers is the fact that buyers often hold distinct disbeliefs about brands or products based on their country of origin. An attitude is person’s enduring favorable or unfavorable evaluations, emotional feelings, and action tendencies towards some object or idea. People have attitude toward almost everything: religion, politics, clothes, music, food, and so on. Attitude put them into a frame of mind of liking or disliking an object, moving toward or away from it.

China Fertilizer Industry Overview Economics Essay

China Fertilizer Industry Overview Economics Essay The worldwide fertilizer demand has rebounded in 2010 after witnessing a slowdown in FY09 and FY08 and the recovery is expected to sustain till 2014 based on the International fertilizer industry Association (IFA) estimates. The overall fertilizer demand in FY09/10 rose 3.7% to 162.5Mt as compared to 156.7Mt in FY08/09. The demand for N (nitrogen), P (Phosphorus) and K (Potassium) fertilizers in FY09 surged 1.9%, 4.5% and 18% respectively mainly driven by the Asian followed by the American markets. The overall fertilizer demand in FY10/11 is expected to increase 4.8% to 170 Mt and reach 188.3 Mt in 2014/15 driven by the economic recovery and positive agricultural market conditions. The demand for the N, P and K fertilizers are expected to increase 1.9%, 4.5% and 18%, respectively In FY10/11. Source: IFA, RODM research China fertilizer industry overview China is the largest consumer and producer of fertilizers in the world, contributing 31.4% and 29.1% of the global consumption and production respectively in FY07 based on the International fertilizer association statistics. According to china statistical year book, the country s fertilizer consumption in FY08 rose 2.6% to 52.4Mt as compared to 51.1mt in 2007 and grew at a CAGR of 3% for the period 2000-2008. This was mainly due to population increase in china, growth in compound fertilizers and increasing production of organic agriculture. Henan is the major consumer for fertilizers that accounts 11.5% of total consumption of fertilizer in china followed by the Shandong, Jiangsu and Hubei which contributed 9.1%, 6.5% and 6.3% of overall fertilizer consumption in FY08. Source: China statistical yearbook, RODM research Compound fertilizer industry in china Compound fertilizer comprises of at least two nutrients among nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium and includes both organic and inorganic fertilizers. Based on the china statistical year book, the consumption of compound fertilizer industry have grown at a CAGR of 6.9% as compared to the 0.3%, 1.3% and 4.7% of Nitrogenous, Phosphate and potassium fertilizers respectively over a period of 1998-2008, indicating the increasing adoption of compound fertilizers by farmers as compared to the straight fertilizers. Based on PRlog.org, the Chinese compound market scale reached CNY 200 billion in FY09 and has around 4,500 compound fertilizer producers mainly situated in Shandong, Jiangsu, Hubei and Sichuan etc. The production of Chinese compound fertilizers reached around 50 million tons in FY09. The compound fertilizer manufacture industry increased 39% to CNY 23.60 billion in FY09 as compared to FY08.However, compound fertilizer consumption still accounts for less than 30% of the total consum ption, which is far below the 50-80% average in developed countries. This is due to the fact that compound fertilizers are relatively new in the Chinese market and farmers are only gradually adopting these over the more conventional varieties. The current fertilizer formulations has conformity degree of less than 3% and most of the producers make their formulations based on the economy and raw material prices rather than soil and crop demands. However with the rising environmental concerns, developing Chinese agricultural specialization and growing demand for high end cash crops and organic foods, the farmers are imposing higher requirements on compound fertilizers. Hence the demand for high end compound fertilizers, especially Chinese ternary compound (3 nutrients) fertilizers is expected to drive the overall compound fertilizers growth in the coming years. Source: China statistical yearbook, RODM research Organic Fertilizer industry With the rising environmental concerns, declining arable land, cultivation of high end crops, government thrust for organic production and demand for green foods, the adoption of organic fertilizer industry in China have been gaining momentum and is expected to witness rapid growth for the upcoming years. But the organic agriculture industry in china is very low as compared to the developed countries. In 2006, organic compound fertilizer in China accounted for 27% of the total fertilizer consumption, which about half of the 50% is registered in developed countries. However, organic fertilizer consumption in the country is expected to grow at a CAGR of more than 30%, according to industry sources. Also, the government has identified the enhanced performance given by these fertilizers which would help them to reach their goals of increasing rural farm production and income while decreasing water pollution. According to the industry sources, the Chinese green fertilizer industry is highly fragmented with around 2,000 manufacturers with no distinguished players in the industry. The small and large regional players contribute 80% of the market share followed by the large regional and International players contributing 9% and 8% of the market share respectively. The small and large regional manufacturers have an edge of competitive prices and knowledge of local markets as compared to the International markets. On the flip side, the international manufacturers produce high quality products, good research and development capabilities and players with good financials can acquire regional players in a bid to sustain growth and increase their market share. The large national manufacturers have a competitive edge over the small and large regional manufacturers as well as international players in terms of their brand presence and wide distribution network along with providing quality products at competitive prices and having good understanding over the markets. To keep in line with the growth and economic conditions, the green fertilizer industry in china is expected to witness consolidation in the near future. Growth drivers for Organic fertilizer industry Rising environmental concerns Chinese agriculture has been growing rapidly on a limited area with heavy inputs of fertilizers since 1980s. The rates of fertilizers adopted in some regions of china are extremely high as compared to the developed countries like North America and Europe. The worldwide average fertilizer consumption per hectare in 1997 was 94 kilograms while US average was 111 kg per hectare. But china exceeded both world average and US average and used 271 kg of fertilizer per hectare of cultivated land, based on the industry sources (hafengevergreen.com).According to the industry sources, the pH levels of the soil in 2000-2008 as against 1980s have declined 0.13 while the pH for cash crops declined on an average 0.3. Since china feeds around 22% of the world s population with just 10% of arable land, protecting china s polluted and artificially fertilized soil remains a major concern to the government. Moreover, the population in china is expected to increase to 800 900 million by 2020, based on t he Beijing International Institute for City Development which would decrease the arable area for cultivation. Hence decreasing china s arable land and the need to increase the crop yield for domestic consumption have led the farmers to adopt high quality fertilizer products. Also with increasing environmental concerns, the government has been encouraging the production of organic agriculture for export and domestic consumption. Accordingly, the demand for the organic fertilizers have been growing as they increase organic matter content in the soil along with the major and minor organic nutrients. Growth in greening of china s food During the last few years, the demand for the green foods have been increasing on the back of growing concerns of environment and rising disposable income in china. Based on the industry sources, the cultivation of green food has increased from 2.14 million hectares to 10 million hectares while the output surged from 6.3 to 72 million tons over a period of 1997 to 2007.Also based on the Ministry of Agriculture 90% of China s agricultural exports are eco-food, i.e. either Hazard Free, Green or Organic foods. The export value increased to US~$2 Billion in 2006 from ~$70 Million in 1997. But china s exports have accounted less than 1% of the global organic market and .08% of the locally sold organic market. Although high production costs and prices has been limiting the usage of organic fertilizers in the domestic market, we believe that the government initiatives in the form of subsidies, recent food safety scandals, growing demand for reliable and healthy food in the domestic and inte rnational market, pollution concerns and rising disposable income would strongly drive the green fertilizer industry in the near future. The government has been encouraging both exports and imports of organic products and expects to achieve 10% of the organic crop production by 2010. Growth in green food over a decade Source: John Paull, Australian National University, RODM research Decreasing arable area for cultivation China is the largest agriculture producer in the world with only 15% of the cultivated area. China need to support 20% of the world s population and has just 10% of the total arable land in the world. Moreover the arable land has declined at a CAGR of .4% from 133mha to 121.7mha, over the period 1988-2008. To prevent further decline, the government have set the critical mark of arable land to be maintained at 120mha by 2020. According to the industry sources, the population in china is expected to increase from 47% to 75% over the next three decades which mounts the pressure of producing increased yield per area to feed the growing population. Thus the demand for the organic fertilizers is expected to witness rapid growth in the compound fertilizer segment. Source: China statistical yearbook, RODM research China policies/initiatives Subsidy The fertilizers market play a key input for the Chinese agricultural sector and hence is one of the main sectors to be addressed by the government to achieve its food sufficiency objective. The fertilizer subsidies in China are mainly for supporting the development of China s agriculture and food security. Hence we believe that most of the subsidy policies might be continued for the short term. The comprehensive subsidy on fuel and fertilizer for grain farmers in 2007 surged 120 % to $3.6 billion (RMB 27.6 billion) as compared to the last year. This program was started to partially compensate farmers for price increases in fuel, fertilizer, and other agricultural inputs in 2006. Based on the Ministry of Finance (MOF), the comprehensive subsidy reached at an average of about U.S. $14.5 per farm household in 2007 and the fuel and fertilizer subsidies are estimated to reach RMB 72.01 billion by 2009. The Chinese government gave bank loan interests subsidy from 2004 to those qualified fertilizers distributors who hold the fertilizer storage during the winter season wherein the total volume is about 5-8million mt and the interests subsidy is about RMB300million to RMB500million($43.9 million to $73.3 million )every year. Also the government gave a direct subsidy of RMB100/mt to both domestic and imported DAP which was around 6.7million mt and about RMB670million subsidy in 2004.The government gave an electricity subsidy for small and large nitrogen fertilizer producers in December 2003 which is around RMB6.3 billion every year. Also the transportation of fertilizer has been subsidized by RMB5.0 billion every year. Tariffs The MOF and NDRC (National Development and Reform Commission) have jointly announced the Notification of Fertilizer Price Formation Mechanism Reform on January 24, 2009. The main purpose of this notification is: Removal of current tariff restriction on domestic fertilizer prices Removal of fertilizer price restrictions Implementing preferential policies for fertilizer production Applying measures through import and export regulation, reserve control and transportation parameters to maintain the fertilizer market To improve agricultural subsidies for the industry Increase monitoring, supervision, and inspection on market pricing To make efforts on program organization and implementation The State Council Tariff Committee had imposed a 100 % special export duty on fertilizer and related material exports during April 20 and September 30, 2008 which affected 32 tariff lines including phosphoric acid, ammonia, nitrogen, phosphate, potash, and compound fertilizer. Based on MOF, the runaway in exports were due to strain in domestic supply which lead to surge in price as demand began to decrease due to spring planting. Hence the tariff was increased so as to control the rising prices along with providing plentiful grain harvest for the year. China has evolved from being a net importer of phosphate fertilizer to being a net exporter over the last decade and has been directly affected the US phosphate fertilizer industry as it used to supply 95% of China s phosphate imports. Pricing trend in china Chinese fertilizer prices have witnessed heavy volatility over the last decade mainly due to uneven production levels in fertilizers, the government s need to keep sufficient production to meet domestic market demand and rising international fertilizer prices. According to USDA, the market price for nitrogen fertilizer surged from $280 to $405/MT during 2007 and reached a high of $452 during April 2008. This was mainly due to imbalance between low supply and rising demand on the world market. Also the tariff restrictions imposed on Chinese fertilizer producers and the demand for fertilizers to produce biofuels in the United States, Brazil, and Europe has led to the increase in price. However due to the slowdown in the world economy and reluctance of Chinese farmers to pay high prices which were two to three times higher than the prices of early 2007, the price for fertilizer fell drastically to $247 at the end of 2008. VAT policies The NPK compound fertilizers, MAP, Urea and DAP have been on a VAT holiday from 1994; January 1, 1998; July 01, 2005; and January 1, 2008 respectively. China had stopped importing urea from 1997 and the government has given 50%-100% VAT refund to the urea exporters before March, 2004. The government stopped the tax refund policy and began to impose export tax to urea and DAP from March 16, 2004. Prior to 2002, the government has given VAT holiday policy to imported phosphoric acid for supporting the players like Sino-Arab Chemical Fertilizer Co. Ltd who were consuming imported PA for phosphate compound fertilizers production. The government gave VAT holiday policy for imported sulfur from May 20, 2008 and most of the imported fertilizers and related raw materials were given very low import custom taxes which are all below 4%. Export/Import initiatives for fertilizers Chinese government set new policies on the exported fertilizers during Nov. 14, 2008. To set export base price for the off-season and to reduce the export tariff from 125%~185% to 10%~110% till December 31, 2009; The export tariff for Urea, MAP and DAP would be 110% (35% basic+75% special) during mid-season and 10% during off-season since December 1, 2008 The base prices for DAP, MAP and Urea are RMB4000/mt; RMB3700/mt and RMB2300/mt respectively During the off-season, if Urea, DAP and MAP prices are lower than the base prices, the export tariff would be 10%, otherwise the export tariff would be calculated by the formula: [(1.1-base price/export price) 100)] Source: IFA, RODM research The customs tariff committee of China have cancelled the special export tariffs (50-75%) in Jun-09 on 27 products, that include phosphate rock (apatite), yellow phosphorus, synthetic ammonia, phosphoric acid, ammonium chloride, triple superphosphate (TSP), sodium nitrate and double nutrients to help local fertilizer manufacturers clear excess inventory build-up. Import Tariff Rate Quota Products Quota level (000 metric tons) In-quota imports (000 metric tons) State-trading share (%) In-quota MFN tariff rate (%) Out-of-quota MFN tariff rate (%) Urea 3,300 90 4 50 NPK 3,450 65 4 50 Diammonium phosphate 6,900 65 4 50 Source: USTR, RODM Research The Chinese government controls exports of major raw material inputs for fertilizers like coking coal which provides competitive edge to Chinese manufacturers and exporters over the foreign manufacturers and exporters in the chemical fertilizer industries. The price of coke in China was around $472/mt, while the global price of coke was $740/mt. Although China produces 336mmt of coke, contributing 60% of the global production, it has an export quota of only 12mmt and an export duty of 40%.

musical influences Essay -- essays research papers

Music has been used for many different things throughout history. It is said that music influences a person’s brain, and by doing so, has an effect on overall behavior or activity of a person. Many Indian tribes across North America used percussion instruments (drums) to contact the spirits of their ancestors. During the Renaissance period, during many parties held by royalty, â€Å"classical† music was played to keep a happy atmosphere about the ballroom. In the next few paragraphs, we’ll look at how today’s society blames Metal Music for many behavioral disorders amongst the youth. Musical preferences are as diverse as the people who listen to them. Different types of music have different reputations; heavy metal music is often labeled as "negative," yet others find it a harmless form of music. It is my belief that music may have some sort of effect on the listener, but nothing serious and nothing damaging. The behavior of a person is purely their own, whether it be caused from their parents telling them no or a kid they hate at school spoke with them; however, this is by no means the musicians’ faults. Like other types of music, such as jazz, blues, and even rap, the distinct style of heavy metal music can be grouped into three main sections. One popular style of heavy metal is death metal. Death metal has a darker sound and more surreal style than other forms of heavy metal. The music itself is fast, heavy, and loud, usually with a classical twist thrown in. The images that death metal portrays are death, doom, destruction, suicide, sex, and drugs. Some people may see these images as harmful or having a negative effect on the listener. Another form of heavy metal music is speed metal. Speed metal has a more upbeat sound than death metal and isn’t as â€Å"depressing.† It’s fast paced and has a hard impact, the lead guitar following a seemingly impossible rhythm. This is in contrast to death metal, which emphasizes rhythm guitar. The last type of metal music being thrash metal. The name refers to both the thrashing sound of the music and the flailing movement of its listeners. The sound is extremely loud and has the same tone and style of speed metal. These styles however, attract certain â€Å"types† of people. The majority of people who... ...s behavior being caused from the music they listen to. Could we not point the finger at today’s rap industry? At least in the world of metal music, most things they endorse are fantasy and rarely seen to be realistic. In rap, children are listening to plain vocals about rape, drug use, and prostitution, among other â€Å"immoral† things. Should we not take a look at today’s most popular musical influence instead of attacking the men â€Å"out of the norm,†? I might also point out that while I did relate metal music with depression, I didn’t directly connect any of it. I did, however, say that a certain person was attracted to a certain type of music. Could the person be the depressed one, their inner emotions causing whatever it is that makes them act as they do, but not the music itself? Also, music might be looked at as an outlet for today’s angry and energized teen. Without this outlet of stress and complete angst, maybe the suicide rate would increase, or the school shootings number would go up? Teens will continue to listen to such music that their parents loathe, nothing will change that; this may be looked at as a good thing from my point of view. musical influences Essay -- essays research papers Music has been used for many different things throughout history. It is said that music influences a person’s brain, and by doing so, has an effect on overall behavior or activity of a person. Many Indian tribes across North America used percussion instruments (drums) to contact the spirits of their ancestors. During the Renaissance period, during many parties held by royalty, â€Å"classical† music was played to keep a happy atmosphere about the ballroom. In the next few paragraphs, we’ll look at how today’s society blames Metal Music for many behavioral disorders amongst the youth. Musical preferences are as diverse as the people who listen to them. Different types of music have different reputations; heavy metal music is often labeled as "negative," yet others find it a harmless form of music. It is my belief that music may have some sort of effect on the listener, but nothing serious and nothing damaging. The behavior of a person is purely their own, whether it be caused from their parents telling them no or a kid they hate at school spoke with them; however, this is by no means the musicians’ faults. Like other types of music, such as jazz, blues, and even rap, the distinct style of heavy metal music can be grouped into three main sections. One popular style of heavy metal is death metal. Death metal has a darker sound and more surreal style than other forms of heavy metal. The music itself is fast, heavy, and loud, usually with a classical twist thrown in. The images that death metal portrays are death, doom, destruction, suicide, sex, and drugs. Some people may see these images as harmful or having a negative effect on the listener. Another form of heavy metal music is speed metal. Speed metal has a more upbeat sound than death metal and isn’t as â€Å"depressing.† It’s fast paced and has a hard impact, the lead guitar following a seemingly impossible rhythm. This is in contrast to death metal, which emphasizes rhythm guitar. The last type of metal music being thrash metal. The name refers to both the thrashing sound of the music and the flailing movement of its listeners. The sound is extremely loud and has the same tone and style of speed metal. These styles however, attract certain â€Å"types† of people. The majority of people who... ...s behavior being caused from the music they listen to. Could we not point the finger at today’s rap industry? At least in the world of metal music, most things they endorse are fantasy and rarely seen to be realistic. In rap, children are listening to plain vocals about rape, drug use, and prostitution, among other â€Å"immoral† things. Should we not take a look at today’s most popular musical influence instead of attacking the men â€Å"out of the norm,†? I might also point out that while I did relate metal music with depression, I didn’t directly connect any of it. I did, however, say that a certain person was attracted to a certain type of music. Could the person be the depressed one, their inner emotions causing whatever it is that makes them act as they do, but not the music itself? Also, music might be looked at as an outlet for today’s angry and energized teen. Without this outlet of stress and complete angst, maybe the suicide rate would increase, or the school shootings number would go up? Teens will continue to listen to such music that their parents loathe, nothing will change that; this may be looked at as a good thing from my point of view.

Biblical Worldview Essay

Introduction In Romans we learn so many aspects of Christian’s life. It tells us how we as Christian’s should view the natural world, our identity and our relationship with others, our culture, and civilization. There is so much more we could learn from this book. In Romans 1-8 we will find that the information in it is so much that we will not get the full meaning of all the things it is saying unless we look deeper into it. Romans 1-8 takes us from our total inability to walk in good works, to God’s faithfulness in justifying, sanctifying, and glorifying us by our faith through God’s grace. The Natural World We all know that God through his own words formed the natural world. God spoke the universe and everything that existence in it. As Christian’s we should know this because as believers, we believe the bible is a revelation of God and that it is not just a book written by human hands. Paul writes in Romans 1:20-21 â€Å"For since the creation of the world his invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by things that made, even in his eternal power and God head, so that they are without excuse, 21- because although they knew God, they did not glorify him as God nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened†. God made everything and he is showing those that disrespect him in his face with their sin himself so that when they know that there is a God and he created everything. Human Identity Our human Identity of who we as a mankind is that we all were made in God’s image. God created us equally, but he also gives us the free will to choose to serve him or not. In Psalm 8:5 it says â€Å"For you have made him a little lower than the angels; and you have crowned him with glory and honor.† And in Genesis 2:15 â€Å"Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to tend and keep it.† We have many things that are wrong with us that we can’t fix, so we need Jesus to justify, sanctify, and glorify us. We need all three those that we can be connected to Christ, live life, server  him and when we die we will get to enjoy eternal heaven with him, and have everlasting life. Human Relationship In Romans 12:8 it says â€Å"he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he shows mercy, with cheerfulness.† What that verse is saying to all Christians is that our ethic is based all on love. We as humans know that relationships very confusing and are hardest part of life. We all have a sin against own bodies and souls, but it is a sin that is against others who were created in God’s image. If you are going to steal from your neighbor you might as well steal from God. We were all created in his image and we need to love and respect others just like we would God. Culture Paul says in Romans 11 that God will save some in Israel because most of them were elect by the Patriarchs. Romans 12 says as Christians we are to live as a living sacrifice to Christ, while doing all these thing in love and showing our love to others through service. We as believers are to be humble and serve others with joy, as believers we are to work with others to Christ’s redemptive work. Christ is merciful, righteous, sovereign, and just God. He wants us to love another like he loves the world. Conclusion â€Å"No power in the sky above or in the earth below- indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord Romans 8:39.† It’s so refreshing to know that I can always count on God to love me. Even when I’m unable to love myself God will. It is a wonderful feeling to know that I can have a relationship with God, where and whatever I do, or say or think will never make him not love me. God will always love and be with me no matter what. God wants us to live for him. He also wants us to lead others to him. References New King James Version Bible (NJKB)

Critical Essay by Juda Smith Essay

I think the nether grave is the best story, because it’s very relatable. Majority of kids get bullied and or go through a bad time at least once in their life, so they either find ways to escape it or lie to people about how â€Å"good† their life is so nobody knows how bad it actually it. People connect more with things they can relate too. Fact. But, ‘†A Sound of Thunder† is a better story that can be classified as science fiction because it has something to do with time travel, dinosaurs, and history. â€Å"A Sound of Thunder† fits into the science fiction category because it’s based on time travel, dinosaurs ruling the Earth, and staying on the correct path so he doesn’t â€Å"change the course of history†. Those are all science related things so that’s the science part. It’s fiction because its fact but science related. No one can go back in time or change the course of history that’s where the fict ion comes into play. In the story â€Å"nether grave† it’s harder to classify it as science fiction, because it’s not like it has something to do with time travel or dinosaurs, but it does have to do with gaming and leaving behind his own life to be a jaguar in a video game life. It does have to with people and how their life effects their life decisions which is science. It’s fiction because people can’t trade in their bad life to be in a video game. In the story â€Å"A Sound of Thunder† he uses sensory imagery, which uses very descriptive words to evoke images of sight, sounds, feelings, touch, and smells. In the first line, the protagonist swallows and they tell us about the â€Å"muscles around his mouth† and he waves his hand, while in the background there comes a â€Å"sound like a gigantic bonfire.† In the story the nethergrave it was hard to tell you were in another world because of the lack of detail. They didn’t give you a time period too, so there isn’t really to relate to besides the fact that it’s about a boy who uses his computer to hide and lie about his life. The theme in the story â€Å"A sound of thunder† you have to stay on the correct path in life or it will go all wrong. The plans you thought you had will change and everything will be challenging and hard. In the stor y the â€Å"Nether grave†, the theme of the story I believe it is when you feel like your life is bad, don’t go on trying to hide what’s going on. I think the first story has the best theme â€Å"A sound of thunder† because it is true. If you don’t stay on the correct paths of life and associate yourself with good people, your life and plans  can all change. You can’t have the both of best worlds.

Parables Of The Bible Essays - Gospel Of John, Apocalypticists

Parables Of The Bible Essays - Gospel Of John, Apocalypticists Parables Of The Bible PARABLES OF THE BIBLE : Lazarus, come forth! When God wrote the Bible He wrote to us from His point of view. However, when we read things, we have a tendency to look at what we read through rose colored glasses. If we take off those glasses and look at things through God's eyes instead, we may see things we really don't like about ourselves. We are corpses, that's what God Himself call us in Eph 2:5, 5:14, and Col 2:13. These are some of the many verses that address our spiritual estate before salvation. God demands we look at the whole Bible in this light and when we do, He then shows us more. Lazarus in Jn 11:1-44 is God's spiritual explanation, a parable, of you and me before salvation and then God's salvation comes. He was dead, he stunk, how much more descriptive does God have to make it, he was a rotting corpse! He could not see, he could not hear, he could not walk, nor think nor speak, nor move on his own, yet Jesus calls him by name and he simply comes forth as he was commanded to do. God then describes a little bit more about Lazarus' death. He was bound with grave clothes. In the literal account of the raising of Lazarus, this is what he was buried in. But it's the spiritual account that teaches us what God sees. Take off those rose colored glasses and look at the account as God wants us to see it, not as we prefer, seeing only a physical miracle performed by God and not looking at the miracle of salvation that this parable teaches us. He didn't have on Christ's robe of righteousness, he wore his own sinful estate (Zec 3:3-5). Once we are saved, God gives us a change of clothes/heart (Eze 36:26) and we now wear Christ's robe of righteousness (Isa 61:10) not our old filthy clothes/sins (Zec 3:4). Loose him. Same word loose used in Mt 16:19; 18:18. He was now freed from the bondage of Satan Lu 13:16. The people were more concerned about his physical death, Jesus spoke about his spiritual death and rebirth in this chapter. He literally raised the dead but it pointed to the spiritual. Not to be funny but Jesus didn't say, Lazarus, open one eye and listen to what I'm offering you. The parable here is one of complete death, no life within at all. Therefore no response. The wicked cannot change on their own Jer 13:23. God choose Lazarus' physical death to show us what He sees inside us when He looks. The point is very straightforward, complete death, no life at all. If you are unsaved, God is telling you that there is not hing you can do on your own to save yourself nor help with your salvation, while unsaved, you don't even know you are as a dead man. God must do everything, including choosing you for salvation. The Gospel call goes out to all mankind, repent. Yet God knows full well that no one will, therefore He did all the work involved with our salvation. This is very fair, no one will be able to say, you never called me to repentance, He did but they would not repent. Ps 19:1-3 all mankind knows, Rom 2:14, 15 all of us know, it is written in our hearts, but our hearts are now wicked, Jer 17:9. No one will have an excuse on Judgment Day. God calls us to Himself. He has already determined who is saved and only those are made alive, they get called and like Lazarus cannot resist, we have no say in our salvation. Looking again at Lazarus, we should now see ourself in his place, we too are dead. What can you do to respond to God when He calls? Nothing. If, as God tells us in Rom 3:11, no one seeks God, we certainly cannot come to Him to start with. (The use of the number 4 in the Lazarus parable; 4 days; points to the universality of the situation, north, east, south, west. Rev 5:9, kindred, tongue, people, nation. Psalm 107:2, God calls His redeemed from all lands,