Daily Devotion: Genesis Chapter 5 and 6. Ancestry and Super Heroes

 

Daily Devotion:  Genesis Chapters 5, 6

 Ancestry and Super Heroes

 In today's reading Chapter 5 starts off with something that many tend to overlook when reading the Bible, genealogy.  We do the same thing in life, well at least most of us do until we get older. We tend to not focus on, be concerned about or search out our own history. Thankfully in today's world we are seeing some changes in that due to things like ancestry dot com and DNA research.  Prior to my wife's death, early on in her diagnosis with Pancreatic Cancer, I decided to invest in a detailed DNA test and research into our Ancestry.

 We learned fascinating things.  It was like her 10th great grandmother who was a passenger on the Mayflower, and my 10th great grandfather was the pilot of the Mayflower. The fact that our relatives likely knew each other was a fascinating thing to us. There were other things, like one of Mary Jane's grandfathers, being John Sterling whom Sterling Castle was named after where Mary Queen of Scotts was christened and King Richard the 3rd or 4th being one of my grandfathers and Henry the 8th being a distant relative as well. Ancestry while interesting is a part of defining who we are and where we come from.  A fascinating part of Jesus ancestry shows that not only King David was a part of his lineage, but so was Adam and Eve.

 While there is a lot who will debate the story of Adam and Eve and the history there, I find it fascinating and them being a part of the listed genealogy of Jesus is meaningful to me on various levels.

 Another thing that stuck out to me in today's reading is the Nephilim who were supernatural beings who bred with women on earth, and them being described essentially as "super heroes."  Personally I am fascinated and would like to know a lot more about these beings and their offspring as we just don't have that much written about them in the Bible. Anyone knowing of other reliable texts that may tell more about them, I would like to know as this is one of those things that keeps the Bible, for me, far from being a boring read.  Of course I like reading The Contemporary English Version when reading because of the easy to understand translation and the way it was translated. That said, wouldn't you like to know more about this species of creature? Is it angels, is it something else and how were they like super heroes?

The rest of Chapter 6 starts to get into the story of Noah. We see how far human kind has progressed, or regressed in the time frame from the point of creation to the point of Noah.  We see again, just like we saw earlier, God will only take so much before he acts. He is tired of what humankind has become and even contemplates the total destruction of the earth except for one who was faithful, Noah. How faithful are we in today's world to loving and serving God and others?  How many times will God show through scripture that he will only put up with so much?  Of course we know some of what is coming next and in the future, but until then, keep enjoying the read and thoughts.

 To read these chapters click on the following link:

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+5%2C+6&version=CEV 

 
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Marvel's The Ultimate Avengers Movie Collection

Some speculate that cartoons and animation is the same thing, unfortunately, because of the perceptions some may have they are reluctant to purchase, or rent animated movies. One audience that is not quite as picky on this is the fans of Comic Book Animation. Over the last number of years there has been some wonderful animation, with theatrical style story that has come to the homes of many who enjoy these genera. Hoping to tap in on the mania that is soon to come about with the theatrical release of The Avengers, Marvel Comics has released three of their movies as a set titled, The Ultimate Avengers Movie Collection. This set includes three previously released movies, all feature length. The movies titled Ultimate Avengers, Ultimate Avengers 2 and a bonus movie titled Next Avengers; Heroes of Tomorrow are worth watching and quite enjoyable. With the exception of the later movie, all of the movies are based on previous stories from the Marvel Universe with a variety of Marvel characters. The later movie, Next Avengers; Heroes of Tomorrow is a new story that takes place involving the children of The Avengers after the majority of them have died or moved on.

One of the things I appreciated about these three movies and this particular boxed set is the attention to detail. The animation while using some CGI is largely hand drawn and exceptional in quality. The editing, direction and especially sound and story are also exceptional. Marvel can be proud of the product they have put out here. If viewers give it a chance, they will be quite pleased with the three movies and the low pricing for those movies on a 2 DVD set, with one of them being a front and back DVD.

All three movies have some origins concepts that are worth while for fans of especially Captain America, Thor and The Black Panther. In these and other characters, one of the things we see Marvel do is some character development. It helps lend to the stories and fans of The Avengers will appreciate the range of character development that takes place.

One of the things about the Marvel Characters, and many within these stories I especially appreciated is the struggle of being human and thus being challenged with taking on their respective responsibilities and roles to save the world. This struggle of being human is true in the various characters on screen but especially true in one of my favorite characters of all time, Captain America. We see his struggle with who he is and what he is to become after years of being frozen in ice. He has lost almost all he has ever loved and the world as he knows it no longer exists. One of the things the movies, specifically Ultimate Avengers does is has him figure out that there are still things to love, people to appreciate and a life to live. He is reminded of this by his love for his country and the relationships he is developing. We see similar stories take place with Bruce Banner AKA as The Hulk. One of the things these movies do is they don’t present what many will consider a cleaned up comic book story. There is death, mayhem, and destruction. There is also the struggle with human emotions and the attempt to try and be something others want. The concept of individuality and the struggle to remain true to the individual self is exemplified in each of these stories. The exception is The Next Avengers; Heroes of Tomorrow. Here we see the struggle of finding self but we see it through the eyes of children who have either lost loved ones or felt abandoned by their loved ones.

One of the things that resonated with me through these movies is the reality that the emotions expressed on screen are emotions all people go through at some point in their lives. There is a reality that even the heroes of our lives express emotion. It resembles in some ways the person of Jesus Christ. While many put him up on a pedestal, which he deserves, they forget about his humanity, his own emotions where we can see in the Bible his expressions of joy, sadness, even weeping, and ultimately his anger. The heroes in these movies are reminders that it is okay to be emotional. If our heroes or even our God’s and recipients of our worship can be emotional, so can we. I appreciated that in these movies we see grown men, who also happen to be heroes, cry and show emotion. We also see the importance of being there for each other, supporting each other in times of need. These are lessons well worth being reminded of and Marvel has done an excellent job of doing so in this set of movies.

One of the things I must mention is something I suspect comic book fans, especially Marvel fans, and others will appreciate. One of the things I love about DVD’s is the special features. Fans of special features like me will love this set, especially the special features in the Ultimate Avengers. Marvel understands the concept of giving their fans a little more and here, they have gone above and beyond, they don’t just give a little more; they give a lot more. The purchase price of this set is worth it, just for the special features. There are excellent ‘Making Of’ features, deleted scenes, gag reels, and much, much more.

I am fortunate; I get advance copies to review. This one was so good I have since been looking in stores to purchase other Marvel works. If the rest of the Marvel Universe videos are half as good as these, then I will support them even if I have to, purchase their products. I suspect others will be pleased set just as I have been. This is a set of movies I will watch several more times and will be glad to do it not just for the quality of the product, but the lessons and reminders I will get in the process.

To see the video posted below, click on the video, if the video doesn’t appear or appears in distorted form, click on the following link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fX9aiDpW03A

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