The Mark of Cain - What Was It?

Cursed is the Ground for Your Sake, Cain

Man came from the ground, and from the ground would come the food that he would eat. It was the ground that Cain was so taken with and so proud of. He was insistent upon being recognized for his husbandry. The ground was already cursed for Adam's sake and because of Adam's sin. Now, because of Cain's sin against the human race, against God, and against the ground, the ground would no longer yield to him. He lost his beloved vocation and was cursed to become a wanderer. It was a situation where the race had not had time to harden and where there was no peer group for Cain to run to and find consolation. One might have thought that Cain would have come clean, but he did not. Cain was not repentant. He complained to God: "This is too much--I don't deserve this. It is unreasonable!" That is what Cain was saying. It was no humble admission that this judgment was indeed heavy but he had deserved it. Cain was being defiant. "This is greater than I can bear. I cannot stand this. What are you trying to do to me? First you reject me and now you are disowning me and taking away my means of a living." The truth is that God was very gracious here. He could have slain Cain, even as He did the sons of Judah, Achan, Agag, and others. Cain had killed his brother for no reason. Abel was one of God's dearest servants in the history of the world. Yet God did not require Cain's life on the spot. He drove him out and Cain complained. "I am a fugitive and a vagabond. Anyone who finds me will kill me."

God's judgment was very generous. He could have reacted: "So what if the people that find you kill you? What do you think you deserve?" But God deals in mercy and grace, even with men like Cain. He extended his life, gave him the opportunity to think it over, and to repent. There is no indication that Cain ever did that but one thing is certain--he could have. Solomon said that a live dog is better off than a dead lion because as long as a man is alive, there is hope.

Everyone, Finding Me, Will Kill Me

Cain was worried, now that he was a murderer and an alien from his family and from God, that he would be a marked and a hunted man. Who was Cain worried about? Well, remember that there were a whole lot of people in the world before Adam died at the age of 930 years and they were all closely related to Abel. They would despise Cain for what He did to Abel. Cain did well to be worried about being chased down and killed.

God again was gracious and put a mark on Cain. What was that mark? There is an old view that He turned him black. Is that right? No, of course it is not true! That is as ridiculous a claim as has ever come from those who call themselves Christians. What is supposed to have happened to Cain's black race when Noah, who was a descendent of Seth, was the only one that was left on the ark?

So, What Was It?

What was the mark? I do not know what it was and I aspire to say that no one knows. The Bible does not say and it does not give any hint. Preoccupation with the question is diversionary from the reason for the information about the mark. The point is that the mercy of God is protecting Cain against being the object of every vengeful brother and nephew who would come along in the next eight hundred years of the life of Adam and Eve, hear this infuriating story, and go looking for Cain to avenge Abel. Cain could be found in the land of Nod because he was found by the sister who would become his wife. It would certainly not be hard for God to devise a sign or an appearance that would keep away those who would kill him. It might have been nearly anything from cherubim with a flaming sword, to a fierce appearance, to a loathsome disease. But it would be impossible for me to guess, and so I leave it there.

©Daniel Earl Cripe, December 26, 2008

I have 29 books on most of the New Testament and all of Genesis published on amazon.com Kindle page. This text can be read on Mac, PC, iPhone, iPad, blackberry, all Kindle devices, and a few others. Covers, Titles, and a short piece about the book can be viewed prior to purchase. All information and needed software is available at the amazon site. To access, go to amazon.com, pull down "Kindle page" with the drop down arrow in the left hand text box and put my name, Earl Cripe, in the right hand text box.

Earl Cripe, Ph.D
http://www.godspointofview.com

Sweet 16th Birthday Party Ideas

Is there any party more delightful than sweet 16? If you're stuck for 16th birthday party ideas, then you need to sit back and start counting! It's easy enough if you remember that a sweet 16 party is all about that magic number. How many sweet sixteen balloons do you buy? Sixteen, of course!

Turning 16 can be the perfect time for an all-girls party or for a co-ed gathering. No matter what you choose to do, talk with your sweet 16 birthday girl first for her ideas. She might be hoping for a good old fashioned slumber party or something a bit more elegant that announces she is approaching adulthood.

Sweet Party Ideas

Ideas for an informal 16th party can take advantage of the classic teen foods like pizza, ice cream sundaes, sub sandwiches, nachos, and lots of soda. When thinking about a more "sweet" party, consider sixteen delicate and tiny birthday cakes surrounding one floral arrangement. Another idea is to keep the guest list to sixteen friends.

Need more ideas?

How about a party where the guest of honor opens sixteen mystery boxes to find one final gift tucked inside? Or a cluster of small items like sixteen favorite candy bars, sixteen colors of nail polish, sixteen gift certificates to favorite fast food restaurants or sixteen movie tickets?

What about invitations for your sweet 16 party?

Invitations to your party could be presented on candy bar wrappers for the chocolate fiend. For mystery, you could send out a small key enclosed in each of the sixteen invitations. Once your guests arrive, let them try their luck at opening a small chest which contains sixteen special prizes. Keep in mind that often the most creative and appreciated items are the least expensive!

John Lenaghan writes about party planning and other tips for the Party Ideas 4u website, where he provides valuable tips and advice about Halloween party ideas, birthday party ideas and other party planning topics.

How To Make Paper Mache Bowls

I love to make decorative paper mache bowls from newspaper and use tissue paper as the top layers. I know that a lot of people turn this paper mache process into a big and involved project by making paper mache pulp in their blenders. My motto is keep it simple and my results have been very satisfying.

First, I choose a bowl with the form I love. I have a big pottery salad bowl that I'm especially fond of. O.K., the bowl is picked for the form.

Turn it upside down and 'grease' it with petroleum jelly or anything (even Crisco) to keep the paper from sticking to the bowl. It's a good idea to place it on a board or tray to catch drips and also to make it portable as the paper mache bowl needs to dry thoroughly. Tear newspaper into small pieces. You are going to need lots of paper pieces to complete this paper mache bowl. I have used wallpaper paste to adhere the paper to the form. The dry wallpaper paste is easy and cheap because a tablespoon of paste makes alot of glue after it is mixed with water.

ModgePodge thinned out with water works very well I have also used Elmers glue thinned with water. All we are doing here is bonding the wet paper together and smoothing it with the paint brush. Cover the greased form with the newspaper bits one at a time adhering them with the 'glue'. Use a small paint brush to apply the glue or paste.

After the first layer is complete, go on to the second layer and then the third, etc. After a few layers, let the paper mache bowl dry before adding more layers of paper to the paper mache bowl. The more layers you add, the more substantial the bowl will be. Let the bowl dry completely. I let it dry for several days. Take it off the form.

When the paper mache bowl is completed, you have a couple of options:

Paint it inside and out, to complement your decor or add a few layers of tissue paper. Acrylic paint is available in small bottles and works very well on paper. Let your imagination guide you to a masterpiece! I like to use three colors and white tissue, also torn into small pieces, and layered until the newspaper does not show through. The different colors randomly layered, form new colors and shades. Pay attention to the rim of the bowl so it is neat...fold the pieces of tissue over the rim to make a smooth edge.

Hint: save all that tissue paper you receive in gift bags. Use tissue scraps to cover boxes or anything else that catches your fancy.

As a final step, spray the paper mache bowl with a sealer. There are many spray sealers available in craft stores and even Walm art. Making paper mache bowls is a great way to recycle some of the some of the paper that accumulates in our homes. You can use paper mache bowls as the basket for a gift basket, a fruit bowl or to hold potpourri....

I found this gallery of paper mache projects you might enjoy..

http://pitterpaint.blogspot.com/

Body Painting Art - Nude Female and Male Body Painting

In fact we are fond of painting our bodies since prehistoric times. In past we were used to paint our bodies with materials like natural dyes, paints and pigments. In some cases we used ash, and clay, too.

The markings that the people make on their bodies are thought to have magical powers with which one could ward off evil spirits or the tribal enemies. Such was the thinking in past. The painting of bodies was also coined with celebrating of auspicious occasions like New Year or a dance party. Same practice can still observed in the indigenous populations of the countries like New Zealand, Australia, the Pacific Islands, and certain parts of Africa.

In India the women and men are fond of using Henna. It is a colour extracted from a plant of Henna; it is also known as Mehandi.  This type of body painting with Henna has been a fashion in India and the Middle East since many years. People paint their hands and legs and other parts of body with Henna during auspicious ceremonies like weddings. The use of henna or Mehandi has become popular in the Western countries, too, since last two decades.

The art of body painting is not a new phenomenon in the countries of South America, too. People here have been using indigenous materials to paint their body and body parts. They use wet charcoal and other materials available in the local surrounding. In some parts of America, a material known as Huito is used to paint the bodies and faces. Huito is a black dye, and it takes weeks to fade away.

For reading similar articles and seeing the images of the paintings of nude females, you can visit the following links.

FEMALE BATHERS

MODERN FEMALE PAINTINGS

The article sent is original one, and I am not connected with any person or company attached with publishing business. I write the articles using what I have read in various newspapers and websites freely available to the public. Apart from doing literary writing - I am a writer, a novelist - I try to see how a particular event would and could affect people living in its immediate surround.

Truth About Texas Chainsaw Massacre - What Really Happened

It is bizarre but many people from all over the world truly believe that the Texas chainsaw Massacre happened in real life. In actuality it is an urban legend. The truth about Texas Chainsaw Massacre is that is was inspired by not based on the real life story.

"The Texas Chain Saw Massacre" is an independent low-budget horror movie which was filmed in 1974. Tobe Hooper and Kim Henkel wrote, directed, and produced the film which starred Marilyn Burns, Gunnar Hansen, Teri McMinn, William Vail, Edwin Neal, and Paul A. Partain. The plot is very simple. A group of friends go on a back roads road trip in Texas and become detoured and become tragic victims to a family of sadistic cannibals which includes the infamous chainsaw-wielding maniac "Leatherface."

Tobe used the story of real-life murderer Ed Gein to create the "Leatherface" character. Ed Gein also inspired many other fictional stories and movies including Halloween, Psycho, Silence of the Lambs and the movie Ed Gein.

Ed Gein was from Wisconsin and is suspected of several murders which took place between 1954 and 1957. He never used a chainsaw in the killing of his victims. He murdered two women by shooting them. He later beheaded his victims and gutted them like a hunter would gut a deer and used some of their body parts as clothing and for furniture and created masks from the skin of his victims.

The truth about Texas chainsaw Massacre is that one of the similarities to the movie and the real Ed Gein is the house. As in real life the house in the film contained similar horrific content to that found in Ed Gein's home such as body parts, skulls, bodies hanging from a meat hook and a vest made from human skin. The police even found a human heart cooking on the stove in Gein's house which suggests he engaged in cannibalism much like the characters in the movie.

Like the character "Leatherface" Gein was suspected in many murders. Gein was only convicted of two murders despite a mountain of evidence gathered from his house. Eventually Ed Gein put in a mental institution where he died of heart failure in 1984. It was later discovered that Gein was severely damaged by a very strict and religious upbringing by his extremely domineering and controlling mother.

The truth about Texas Chain Saw Massacre can be found online at various websites, from DVD's, in books and from some of the actors in the movie and from writer/director Tobe Hopper himself who continues to tell people that his movie came from his imagination and is a work of fiction. Still there continues to be doubters who swear the movie is based on a true story.

"The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" is often said to be one of the greatest horror films of all time and has been the influence for many horror films and it appears its truth and fiction will continue to be disputed by people from all over the world.

Wendy Pan is an accomplished niche website developer and author. To learn more about truth about texas chainsaw massacre [http://chainsawsandsafety.info/truth-about-texas-chainsaw-massacre-what-really-happened], please visit Chainsaws and Safety [http://chainsawsandsafety.info] for current articles and discussions.