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Delali Dzirasa, third from left, on stage at the Baltimore Innovation Awards. Photo by Stephen Babcock.

The understanding of offering has been established throughout Scripture-and the people giving the offering during Jesus’ time (Mark 12), were well aware of the scriptural mandates for it.  This call for offering comes from passages like Deuteronomy 14:2, where the Lord speaks about how the Israelites were to live as God’s chosen people - “For you are a people holy to the Lord your God, and the Lord has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.”

As we see in these passages, the reason we give offering, is first of all for it to be a time where we are declaring that we are a people holy to the Lord-that we are His treasured possessions.  So, foremost, what we are offering before the Lord is ourselves.

As we come up for offering, what we are declaring before the Lord is “I am one of your Holy people in this land of sin and suffering.  I am your treasured possession! I belong to your Holy people!” Consider this, offering time is for us to present ourselves-as God’s treasured (most precious) possession, and we offer ourselves to Him!

Therefore, offering is really not about giving of money, rather through the time of offering, we come to know who we are!  That is the grace we are to receive, where the Lord says to us “You belong to me!  You are my treasured possession!” In a world where we are told to offer ourselves to this job, or to this person, or to this cause, or to our children-we are saying, no!  We offer ourselves to the Lord alone!

What power or ambition is calling for you to offer your life, concerns, passion towards?  Today as you pray and worship, offer your life to the Lord alone, for we are His Holy People, His treasured possessions!  Also, read through Deuteronomy 14, and consider God’s call for us to live as His set-apart people.

-GK

UMBC大学房子位于郊区环境优美，全部全新的装修。

-距离UMBC大学走路只需要10分钟
-开车3分钟
-社区非常安全友好
-距离药房小卖铺，公交车站，各种餐馆步行5分钟

每层都有浴。每间房提供家具。充足的停车位并且附加车道最多可以容纳5辆轿车。

租金为每月$500-600美金包括水电煤气高速网络（具体价钱根据选择的房间决定）

如果你有兴趣可以回复邮件给我!简单介绍你的情况，问题，你的电话，你想什么时间来看房，何时入住。

限制: 不可以聚会(其他房客喜静）。不对狗过敏（我有柴犬）

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Each day, consumers use a broad range of personal care products, including antibacterial soaps, shampoos and conditioners, perfumes, cosmetics, and deodorants. In a recent article in The Conversation, Lee Blaney, assistant professor of chemical, biochemical and environmental engineering, describes how personal care products can negatively affect the environment and the health of animals and humans, and how his research is working to limit those harmful impacts.

Blaney explains that personal care products, as well as medications, make it into sewer systems after being flushed down toilets, sinks, or shower drains, eventually reaching wastewater treatment plants. Unfortunately, “[t]hese plants are not designed to treat the thousands of specialty chemicals in pharmaceuticals and personal care products,” Blaney notes. “Many of the active and inactive ingredients present in these products pass through our wastewater treatment plants and ultimately end up in rivers, streams or oceans.”

How does this occur? “Typical wastewater treatment plants are designed to treat multiple pollutants, including organic carbon from human and food waste; nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus; and pathogenic bacteria and viruses that cause disease,” he writes. “They are not equipped to handle the many ingredients of concern that are present in personal care products.”

To reduce the impact these products have, Blaney says that the improvement of wastewater treatment technologies is crucial, as the chemicals in personal care products may threaten the health of people and aquatic animals, even when found at low concentrations. One approach Blaney suggests is more carefully testing and regulating the ingredients in personal care products to minimize their toxicity, as well as developing safer options than products currently available.

UMBC researchers across a range of STEM and social science fields are also working to reduce pollution in waterways by improving mechanisms to prevent pollutants that are already in the ecosystem from spreading through a watershed. For example, Matt Baker, professor of geography and environmental systems (GES), conducts research to better understand how direct runoff from agriculture and urban areas affects waterways. His work has demonstrated that thickly vegetated zones along the banks of rivers and streams, called “riparian buffers,” can significantly reduce the amount of pollution that enters these waterways and ends up in the Bay.

Chris Swan, professor of GES, is leading work that would reduce urban stormwater runoff in Baltimore City, which often finds its way to Chesapeake Bay. His research seeks to green vacant lots with native plants, whose roots will absorb some city pollutants. The research asks complex ecological questions, too, about how urbanization and climate change may affect the concept of “native species,” and engages communities in maintaining revived green areas.

Blaney, Baker, and Swan are just a few of the many UMBC faculty focused on challenges related to the intricate relationships people have with their environments. True of other challenges as well, Blaney says a “multi-pronged approach” will help today’s scientists, policymakers, and innovators to “continue to improve our quality of life without harming the environment.”

Read “There’s a new generation of water pollutants in your medicine cabinet” in The Conversation.

Header image: The UMBC Library Pond. Photo by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC.