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October 2016 Articles

Just Rambling October 2016
• Faith Like a Pumpkin Plant 
NCBA Takes Stand Against HSUS Attempt to Weaken Beef Checkoff
Proposed Estate Tax Regulations Threaten Family Businesses
Senate Report Highlights EPA Enforcement of WOTUS Rule
Experts offer advice on choosing replacement beef heifers
Orchard care enhances pecan production Writer: Johnny Morgan
Flooding damage to agriculture now estimated at $277 million
USDA Designates 11 Parishes in Louisiana as Primary Natural
Entice birds to your landscape
Lawns require fall care, too
Utilize the Opportunity to Extend the Grazing Season
EPA Violated Personal Privacy of Farmers, Ranchers
Statement by Zippy Duvall, President, American Farm Bureau Federation, Regarding
Statement by Zippy Duvall, President, American Farm Bureau
American Farm Bureau Urges Caution on Ag Mergers
Strain Elected President of National Agricultural Organization
Strain Statement on Updated Crop Damage Estimates
S. Fish and Wildlife Service Takes Steps to Address ESA
NRCS and US Forest Service Win Awards fromThe Longleaf Alliance
Beef cattle, forage field day set for Oct. 20 in Alexandria

(21 articles found)

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Faith Like a Pumpkin Plant 

Faith Like a Pumpkin Plant
It’s finally October, which means it’s finally Fall! Fall brings many of my favorite things such as hunting season, football, cool days, coffee, and PUMPKINS! I’ve always had a sort of fetish for pumpkins, so this year my husband and I decided to plant some at our house. As we’ve been watering and caring for our pumpkin plants, it made me think of how a pumpkin plant can be related to our spiritual life.
When we first become Christians, it’s because we heard about Jesus or saw the Christ-like actions of another that made us want a part of Christianity. Therefore, someone planted a seed within us. This is the same way that I love pumpkins and how they look and so Randy and I planted some pumpkin seeds. Just like our pumpkin plants soon begin to develop roots as they receive water and care, we as Christians begin to become more rooted in our faith as we study our Bible more, pray, and attend church. After the roots have developed underground, the pumpkin plant breaks the surface and begins to grow and run in all directions. The plant will be a rich, green color and small yellow flowers will appear on the plant. These flowers and bees must develop a relationship where the flowers share their sweet nectar with the bees and the bees pollinate the flowers (with pollen they’re carrying from other places). Only after this happens, will the pumpkin plant begin to bear beautiful fruit. This sequence of events in the life of a pumpkin plant, once again, directly relates back to our Christian life. Once we become rooted in our faith in our heart, we start to grow in other ways as Christians. We start to exhibit visible signs of our Christianity, such as our regular attendance at church, our love and kindness to others, or bowing to pray before meals. Soon, we may come to form relationship with people who desperately need to leave the burdens they’ve been carrying and drink the sweet nectar of the Gospel. Only after this step, do we actually bear beautiful fruit of newly redeemed souls. As I thought of this comparison between pumpkin plants and Christianity, I couldn't help but be convicted. You see, no matter how lush and strong the pumpkin plants themselves look, if they never exchange nectar and pollen with the bees, they will never produce beautiful fruit, I had to think of how true that is in our Christian lives. If we never share the sweet Gospel of Jesus and let another exchange their burdens for that Gospel, then we will never be fruitful as Christians. It’s sad to think of how many of us, myself included, look like those lush, green pumpkin plants on the outside in the way we nurture our faith and yet, we’re not bearing fruit for Jesus. We have to earnestly seek out those relationships, earnestly seek to share Jesus with a lost and dying world. Jesus warns us as Christians that “The axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore, every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire” (Matthew 3:10). This shows us that we have been COMMANDED to bear fruit, to share the Gospel. We find in John 15:5 that it is impossible for us to bear this fruit without Jesus, for He says, “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing”. So we must step up our of the shadows and bolding declare the Gospel as our LORD has commanded us. We can be encouraged though, by knowing that we don’t ever have to be alone in our walk of faith or in our endeavor to share the Gospel, for Jesus tell us, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20). It’s a comfort to know that Jesus is always with us. We can, and we must, bear beautiful fruit, just like mine and Randy’s lush, green pumpkin plants are starting to do. There’s so many people in this world who need Jesus and they’re just waiting for someone to share Him with them. So I’ll leave us all with these scriptures: “How then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!’” (Romans 10:14-15) Let’s get busy bringing the good news of Jesus! Dana Alexander

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