CREATION MOMENTS: 8.26.16

CHICKEN OR EGG – WHICH CAME FIRST?

Genesis 1:22

"And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth."
Which came first – the chicken or the egg? Well, I'm happy to report that this age-old dilemma has finally been solved. It was the chicken that came first – something that creationists have known all along. After all, the Bible tells us that God created every winged fowl and gave them the ability to reproduce after their kind.

Though atheistic evolutionists don't look for answers in the Bible, they have now come to the same conclusion as those of us who do take the Bible seriously. According to a news item in the U.K.'s DailyMail, "Researchers found that the formation of egg shells relies on a protein found only in a chicken's ovaries. Therefore, an egg can exist only if it has been inside a chicken."

The article adds that the OC-17 protein acts as a catalyst to speed up the development of the shell. This hard shell is essential to house the yolk and its protective fluids while the chick develops inside.

Professor John Harding, an evolutionist from Sheffield University's Department of Engineering Materials, predictably left God out of the picture when he said, "Nature has found innovative solutions that work for all kinds of problems in materials science and technology – we can learn a lot from them."

Professor Harding, the only reason why we find innovative solutions in nature for all kinds of problems is because nature itself reflects the creative genius of its Creator!

Heavenly Father, I pray that You will remind me of today's Creation Moment whenever the conversation I'm having turns to the question of which came first – the chicken or the egg? In Jesus' Name. Amen.

"They've cracked it at last! The chicken DID come before the egg," DailyMail,  7/14/10. Photo: Newly hatched chicks. Pixabay. (PD)

 

MEET KING KONG'S OPPOSITE!

1 Samuel 17:45

"Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied."
Probably one of my all-time-favorite movies is King Kong. I'm talking about the original black-and-white film made in 1933 and starring Faye Wray. But, of course, the real star of the movie was the "eighth wonder of the world" – the enormous and powerful King Kong.

Today, however, we'll be talking about a creature that's the exact opposite of the mighty Kong in three ways. First of all, it is a real creature that can be found all over the western Amazon Basin as well as in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia. Secondly, the creature is not an ape like the overgrown gorilla King Kong. It has a tail and is a true monkey.

And third, this creature – the pygmy marmoset – is the world's smallest monkey. Indeed, it is one of the world's smallest primates. When this creature is fully grown, its full body length – not counting its tail – is less than six inches.

Their Creator gave these tiny creatures everything they need to flourish, including special incisors to bite into trees and vines to eat the sap that comes out, and an even sharper intellect.

Like the pygmy marmoset, you might think of yourself as small and insignificant compared to others. But just as our Creator used a small boy to defeat a powerful giant with only a slingshot and a stone, so, too, can God use you to accomplish great things in the power of His might!

Heavenly Father, I know that You have used both the great and the small to accomplish great things. Lord, I pray that You will use me in whatever way You see fit. In Jesus' Name. Amen.

Wikipedia entry on the pygmy marmoset. Photo: Adult pygmy marmoset. Courtesy of Dan Faulkner. Flickr. (CC BY SA 2.0)

 

LOOKING FOR LIFE IN ALL THE WRONG PLACES

Jeremiah 29:13

"And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart."
Several years ago I read a short story about three friends sitting around a campfire discussing whether life on other planets would ever be found. Two of them believe in life on other planets, but one disagrees. He insists that God created life on their planet alone. As the conversation continues, one of them sees that the fire is dying out, so he stirs the smoldering embers with a stick he is holding in his third green tentacle!

Yes, I enjoy science-fiction stories! But as a creationist and Bible-believing Christian, I have my feet planted solidly on God's Word. Since the Bible does not teach that extraterrestrial life exists, neither do I.

Nevertheless, NASA recently announced they will be launching new space telescopes to look for planets capable of supporting life. According to ScienceNews, the first to be launched is NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, or TESS. The second is the James Webb Space Telescope.

"With their powers combined," ScienceNews said, "TESS and James Webb could identify nearby planets that are good candidates for life. These worlds will probably be quite different from Earth – they'll be a bit larger and orbit faint, red suns – but some researchers hope that a few will offer hints of alien biology. "

Creation Moments predicts they won't find what they are looking for. If scientists would only turn to searching for the Creator of life, they would find Him for sure!

Heavenly Father, I earnestly await the day when Your Son returns to the planet where He laid down His life on the cross as a sacrifice for my sins. In Jesus' Name. Amen.

Christopher Crockett, "New telescopes will search for signs of life on distant planets," ScienceNews, 4/19/16. "The Campfire," unpublished short story by Steven J. Schwartz. Image: Artist's conception of NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite. Courtesy of NASA. (PD)

 

TOPSY-TURVY, LEFTY-RIGHTY

Matthew 7:5

"Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye."
You probably remember being taught that the lenses in your eyes turn everything you see upside down on your retina. Your brain then turns these upside-down images right side up, and all is well with the world. But wait until you hear this!

Not only are the images on your retina upside down, they are also inverted from left to right. As scientist and engineer Werner Gitt tells us in his book The Wonder of Man, "Each half of the observer's brain receives information from only one half of the image…. The left side of the brain only observes the left half of the image" – which, I might add, is really the right half of what you are looking at.

But your brain needs to do something even more incredible than sort these images out. According to Dr. Gitt, the images are also distorted "because the region around … the fovea, where we see best … forms an image that is ten times as large as that of the peripheral area." So your brain not only turns each half the right way up, it also needs to remove the distortion. And it performs this task beautifully! Plus, the left and right images are fused together seamlessly and without any trace of a joint!

Though evolutionists get a kick out of criticizing God for His supposedly poor design of the human eye, it is actually evolutionists who aren't seeing straight!

Oh Lord, how can evolutionists who don't even believe You exist criticize You for what they claim to be poor design of the eye? They should really be thanking You for blessing them with the gift of sight! Amen.

Dr. Werner Gitt, The Wonder of Man, p. 17 (Christliche Literatur-Verbreitung e.V., 2nd English edition, 2003). Illustration: This image schematically represents optic pathways from each of the four quadrants of view for both eyes simultaneously. Courtesy of Ratznium. (CC BY 2.5)

CREATION MOMENTS: 8.19.16

THE ONE-AND-A-HALF-FEET ORCHID

Isaiah 40:7-8

"The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the LORD bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever."
The star orchid is an amazing flower that really shouldn't even exist. You see, its pollen is located at the bottom of a long and narrow spike – or spur – that extends behind the flower. That's also where the nectar is. So how long is that spur? The last part of the orchid's scientific name gives us the answer – a whopping one and a half feet!

That these orchids even exist means there must be a pollinator that can reach into that long spur. And indeed there is. Meet the hawk moth. The proboscis – or tongue – of this moth is over 10 inches long. By getting close enough to the orchid, the moth can reach the pollen with its long tongue.

When Charles Darwin received a specimen of the star orchid in 1862, he deduced that a pollinator with a tongue as long as the spur must exist. Though some people thought he was crazy, the orchid moth was discovered 41 years later. According to evolutionists, the hawk moth "proved Darwin's theory regarding co-evolution or how plants and pollinators can influence each other's evolution."

But we would ask these people, how could the orchid survive if it arrived on the scene long before the moth? And if the moth arrived first, why would it bother to evolve such a long tongue? No, there's a more reasonable answer. They arrived at about the same time, made for each other by their all-wise Creator.

Heavenly Father, the Bible compares us to flowers that are here for a short time and then fade away. But those who, through faith, put their trust in Your Son shall have eternal life! In Jesus' Name. Amen.

Amy Grant, "Christmas Star Orchids: Tips For Growing Star Orchid Plants," Gardening Know How, 2/2/15. Photo: Angraecum sesquipedale, the star orchid. Courtesy of Scott Zona. Flickr. (CC BY NC 2.0)

 

DO BIRDS TAKE A SABBATH REST?

Genesis 2:3

"And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made."
Myles Willard is an avid bird watcher, award-winning nature photographer and long-time friend of Creation Moments. Myles has given us hundreds of breathtaking nature photos, one of which accompanies the printed transcript of today's program at the Creation Moments website.

The reason I'm telling you about him today is because of an unexpected discovery he made while looking out the window of his home in Michigan. Each fall he meticulously tracks and logs the number of migrating warblers that stop by for a rest in the big cedar tree in his yard. After tracking the activity of over 1,500 warblers for 18 years, he was surprised to see a statistically significant dip in the number of birds stopping by that occurred on every seventh day!

Did these migrating birds have a built-in instinct that somehow made them follow the biblical principle of a Sabbath rest? We are not saying, of course, that the warblers were knowingly obeying God's fourth commandment. However, if God worked for six days and then rested on the seventh, why would it be hard to believe that God gave these birds a cycle of six days of work followed by a seventh day of rest?

According to the account given in the book Inspired Evidence: Only One Designer, "It would seem that Myles Willard, science teacher, nature photographer and bird watcher, has found and documented such a pattern."

Oh Lord, thank You for doing all the work necessary for our salvation so we can rest securely in the knowledge that – by grace through faith – we can have eternal life! Amen.

Myles Willard, The Rest Is History, monograph, 2008. Cited in Inspired Evidence: Only One Reality by Julie Von Vett and Bruce Malone, April 29 (Search for the Truth Publications, 2012). Photo: One of Myles Willard's superb photos. Used with permission.

 

IT'S A YOUNG WORLD AFTER ALL

John 17:15-17

"I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth."
A few years ago, evolutionists discovered what they called the world's oldest mites. These little critters were encased in amber and were said to be 230 million years old. And yet, the lead researcher said, "They're dead ringers for [modern] gall mites."

Commenting on this news story, Creation Moments Board Member Dr. Donald Clark said that a discovery like this does nothing to support evolution. "What it does support," he said, "is that God created life after its own kind not to change."

Dr. Clark added, "God allowed variation within a kind so there would be diversity but not life evolving from one kind to another. So it doesn't surprise the creationist that these mites show little to no change over time. That is what we would expect to see, based on God's Word."

He then observed, "If there is little to no change in the mites, perhaps the dating of the amber samples is off. Perhaps by a lot. God's Word indicates that the Earth and all of creation are 6,000 or so years old. So if these samples are only thousands of years old, would the evolutionist expect to see any change over such a short period of time? Probably not."

The friend of evolutionists is long ages … and the more time, the better. But fossilized mites that look just like modern mites teach us that the Earth is a young, young world after all.

Heavenly Father, even bugs encased in amber give silent testimony of a recent creation. Thank You that scientific evidences continue to pile up showing that our planet is young. In Jesus' Name. Amen.

WHY DID GOD GIVE US FINGERNAILS?

3 John 1:2

"Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth."
Why did God give us fingernails? So we can scratch our itches? To serve as hardhats for our sensitive fingertips? Or did our Creator give us fingernails as a diagnostic window into our bodies?

According to WebMD, the color of our nails can reveal a wide range of health issues, some of them quite serious. White fingernails, for instance, may indicate a liver disease like hepatitis. Yellowish, thickened and slow-growing nails may indicate emphysema or other lung ailment. Half-white and half-pink nails may alert doctors of kidney disease. Red nail beds may point to heart disease, while white nail beds may indicate anemia. Irregular red lines at the base of the nail may indicate lupus or connective tissue disease.

Physician Joshua Fox, spokesman for the American Academy of Dermatology, told WebMD that there is no need to run to the nearest cardiologist if your nail beds turn red. "It could very well be from nail polish," he said. The WebMD article adds, "Before assuming the worst, it's important to look at more common explanations, such as bruises, bleeding beneath the nail, and fungal infections. However, it's worthwhile to be vigilant about maintaining healthy fingernails so that you'll be alert to any potential problem."

Wasn't it good of our Creator to give us these ten tiny "windows" into the innermost workings of our bodies? God cares for us … from the top of our heads to the tips of our fingers!

Heavenly Father, thank You for giving me fingernails, and thank You also for physicians who can diagnose and treat diseases. In Jesus' Name. Amen.

UNBELIEVABLE MIGRATIONS

Mark 13:34

"For the Son of man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch."
If you have ever traveled to a distant city on vacation, you know how much planning you have to do before you leave. And, of course, you need to know where you are going and the route you must follow to get there. But the creatures we'll be talking about today know exactly how to get where they are going. In fact, they were born with an internal GPS system to show them the way.

In his book, Billions of Missing Links, Dr. Geoffrey Simmons devotes an entire chapter to the topic of migration. He begins by telling how baby loggerhead turtles migrate 8,000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean. But that's a short trip compared to the staggering 25,000 miles that arctic terns fly each year. That's like flying completely around the Earth at the equator!

As Dr. Simmons points out, "Every species seems to know how to prepare for the arduous trip far in advance, but no one knows how they acquire the capability." After describing all the preparations migrating birds must take care of, he writes: "One would think all these preparations had to have come as a whole package. There is way too much purposeful change for random mutations."

How true! And even though Dr. Simmons is not a creationist, we have come to the exact same conclusion – namely, that animal migrations could not have come about slowly by trial and error, as Darwinian theory would have us believe.

Oh Lord, though I may get lost while going on a long trip, Your creatures never seem to lose their way. You have boggled my mind once again! Amen.

Geoffrey Simmons, M.D., Billions of Missing Links, pp. 165-169 (Harvest House Publishers, 2007). Photo: Arctic tern. Courtesy of Malene Thyssen. (CC BY-SA 3.0)

 

SCIENCE TURNS TO GOD'S DESIGN FOR DATA STORAGE

Daniel 12:4

"But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased."
Do you remember when home computers used floppy disks? Magnetic floppies were replaced by optical discs, using laser technology, and now we depend on hard drives, flash drives and cloud drives for the storage and retrieval of digital data. But someday even our most advanced data-storage systems will give way to the latest and greatest advances in technology.

Well, that day may soon be upon us. Researchers from Microsoft and the University of Washington have developed a system that stores digital data using synthetic DNA. They report that it can store information millions of times more compactly than current archival technologies. In fact, they claim it can "shrink the space needed to store digital data that today would fill a Walmart supercenter down to the size of a sugar cube."

According to Luis Ceze, University of Washington associate professor of computer science and engineering, "Life has produced this fantastic molecule called DNA that efficiently stores all kinds of information about your genes and how a living system works. It's very, very compact and very durable. We're essentially repurposing it to store digital data – pictures, videos, documents – in a manageable way for hundreds or thousands of years."

Once again we see scientists refusing to give credit where credit is due. DNA, the most efficient data storage system ever, was not produced by "life", whatever that may mean. DNA was designed by our life-giving Creator – Jesus Christ.

Oh Lord, though the rapid advances in technology are impressive, nothing even begins to compare to what You designed during the six days of creation! Amen.

University of Washington, "Scientists store digital images in DNA, and retrieves them perfectly," ScienceDaily, 4/7/16. Photo: The early days of home computer data storage featured floppy disks like these. Courtesy of George Chernilevsky. (PD)

 

BAD DESIGN – A REALLY BAD ARGUMENT!

Psalm 139:14

"I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well."
On our previous program, we told you how evolutionists enjoy finding fault with what they consider to be bad designs in nature – particularly the poorly designed human body. They aren't using such arguments to critique evolution, of course. They are poking an accusing finger into the eye of God. If God is so smart, they taunt, why did He make so many mistakes?

As physician and Institute for Creation Research speaker Randy Guliuzza points out in the book Creation Basics and Beyond, it is evolutionists who are badly mistaken. Evolutionists, he writes, "are ignorant of the full function of the parts they criticize and are ignorant of principles governing design…. Claims that something is poorly designed are not equivalent to data-supported facts."

Dr. Guliuzza – a physician who knows the human body inside and out – also writes that evolutionists are "ignorant, from a design perspective, of the need to balance several competing interests." In fact, he adds, "design tradeoffs are actually a better indicator of intelligence behind a design."

But here's what I believe may be the best example of why the bad-design argument is a bad argument and just plain silly. The late evolutionary biologist George Williams once claimed that humans having two eyes was a bad design. "Is there a good functional reason for having two eyes? Why not one or three or some other number?"

This makes me wonder if Williams had ever heard about depth perception. Apparently not.

Heavenly Father, it's ironic that people who don't even believe You exist are so eager to criticize You! I pray that You will show them how foolish and illogical they are being. In Jesus' Name. Amen.

Randy Guliuzza, M.D., "The Mistakes in Evolutionary Arguments Against Life's Design," Creation Basics and Beyond, pp. 111-117 (Institute for Creation Research, 2013). Photo: Dr. Randy Guliuzza.

 

SLIGHTLY IMPERFECT SALE!

2 Corinthians 5:17

"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."
We've all seen advertisements from retail establishments selling merchandise they call "slightly imperfect". Well, if you listen to evolutionists, we humans are more than slightly imperfect. As one writer claims, "From our knees to our eyeballs, our bodies are full of hack solutions."

The writer goes on to list such supposed design flaws as a spine that was ideal when we walked on all fours but fails miserably once we stood upright. Other so-called evolutionary flaws include: meandering arteries, crowded teeth and a retina that's backwards.

But here's our favorite "flaw" of the bunch – a misplaced voice box. "To keep food out of the trachea," he writes, "a leaf-shaped flap called the epiglottis reflexively covers the opening to the larynx whenever you swallow. But sometimes, the epiglottis isn't fast enough. If you're talking and laughing while eating, food may … get lodged in your airway, causing you to choke." Want to hear his solution? Evolution should help us develop blowholes like whales and then move our voice box over there. Of course, he admits, we would lose our ability to talk!

While such "improved" designs from evolutionists are – at best – laughable, the Bible does tell us that we are, indeed, seriously flawed as a result of Adam's disobedience. Thankfully, though, God doesn't just destroy every flawed human being. He sent His flawless Son to take our many sins upon Himself and to pay the penalty that sinful people could never pay.

Heavenly Father, I know that I have no righteousness of my own. That's why I thank You for transferring Your Son's righteousness to my account and applying my unrighteousness to His! In Jesus' Name. Amen.

Chip Rowe, "Top 10 Design Flaws in the Human Body," Nautilus, 3/24/16. Photo: The larynx, with the epiglottis labeled as 3. Courtesy of Welleschik. (CC BY-SA 3.0)

 

CHANGING MINESTRONE SOUP INTO GARLIC BREAD

Genesis 1:11

"And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so."
Creationists and proponents of Intelligent Design don't agree on several matters, but we do share the same views on the utter impossibility of evolution to account for the existence of all living things. Recently we came across a wonderful explanation of how plants got here by way of evolution. It's from the book Billions of Missing Links, and it's so good, I just had to share it with you today.

Intelligent Design author Geoffrey Simmons writes: "The theory of evolution suggests that algae somehow arose from the primordial sea and then evolved into underwater plants, which eventually came ashore as flat plants to see more of the world or escape predators, changed to upright plants to see more of the sky, and then changed to wooded plants to see even more of the sky. Somehow they extracted carbon dioxide from a dismal ancient atmosphere that lacked oxygen and started producing oxygen for unclear reasons even though there were no animals around who used it."

Dr. Simmons adds that "this scenario through the millennia combines an incredible collection of coincidences", adding that "scores of intermediate steps – or links – are missing all along the line." He then concludes: "Changing minestrone soup into garlic bread with a change of atmosphere would be easier."

So how did plants really get here? According to the most reliable and authoritative text on this subject, God spoke them into existence on day three of Creation Week.

Heavenly Father, though evolutionists produce an endless number of books and articles about origins, not one of them reveals what really happened. Thank You for revealing the truth in the Bible! In Jesus' Name. Amen.

Geoffrey Simmons, M.D., Billions of Missing Links, p. 113 (Harvest House Publishers, 2007). Photo: Pixabay (PD).

 

THE REAL GOAL OF EVOLUTION

Romans 1:20

"For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:"
In their book A Closer Look at the Evidence, public school science teachers Richard and Tina Kleiss write that our conscience is an undeniable evidence of God's existence. Another evidence is the intricate design of nature. After all, the Bible tells us in the book of Romans that He makes Himself evident to everyone so that no one can claim that He does not exist.

And yet, many people do reject God's existence, basing their disbelief primarily on one thing – evolution. "If evolution is true," write the Kleisses, "there is no evidence for the existence of God from the observation of nature because the origin of everything can be explained by natural laws of science."

This is why these science educators conclude, "The real goal of evolution is removing any accountability to our Creator by denying the obvious evidence from creation that points to His existence." Yes, indeed, the evidence is so obvious, it can be seen by everyone who has not adopted the faith of evolution.

As the title of their book makes clear, Richard and Tina Kleiss invite readers to take a closer look at the evidence for God's hand in creation. This is also what Creation Moments invites you to do in our radio broadcasts and our Letting God Create Your Day books. When you look at the evidence all around you, God's fingerprints can be found all over the world He has created.

Heavenly Father, I pray that You will protect my loved ones from falling for the lie of evolution. Use me, Lord, to show them that You are indeed the Creator. In Jesus' Name. Amen.

Richard and Tina Kleiss, A Closer Look at the Evidence", March 1 (Search for the Truth Publications, 2004).

CREATION MOMENTS: 8.5.16

THE LIZARD THAT SNEEZES SALT

Leviticus 11:30

"And the ferret, and the chameleon, and the lizard, and the snail, and the mole."
In the arid desert regions of the southwestern United States lives a creature with so many astonishing abilities, it speaks loud and clear about God's hand in creation!

Chuckwallas are large lizards that eat desert plants loaded with salt – a diet that would kill most animals. But these lizards are equipped with special glands in their nostrils that remove salt from their bloodstream. When the glands have filled up with salt, the chuckwalla sneezes, shooting crystallized salt out of its nostrils!

Our Creator has also given them the ability to change the color of their skin. Of course, other lizards and sea creatures are able to do this to hide from predators. But chuckwallas change color for a different reason. To survive in desert regions that are freezing cold at night and blazing hot during the day, their skin is dark in color in the morning to quickly absorb the warming rays of the sun. Later in the day, their skin becomes much lighter to reflect the desert heat. How cool is that?

The chuckwalla's skin is also very loose and baggy. Here's why. When a predator approaches, the chuckwalla squeezes itself into a rocky crevice. It then swallows lots of air, blowing itself up like a balloon that's wedged so tightly in the rock, the predator can't pull it out.

Now, I ask you – how can mindless, purposeless evolution account for a creature with so many extraordinary abilities?

Heavenly Father, it's so easy to see Your Son's hand in the things He has created that it's hard to believe how anyone can be blind to it! I pray that their eyes will be opened by Your Holy Spirit! Amen.

DeWitt Steele, Science: Order and Reality, p. 138 (Beka Book Publications, 1980). Jobe Martin, The Evolution of a Creationist, pp. 249-250 (MMII Biblical Discipleship Publishers, 2004). Photo: Common chuckwalla. Courtesy of TimVickers. (PD)

 

THE MAGICAL HIGHWAY

Isaiah 40:3

"The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God."
On our previous broadcast, we told you about the complex molecular machine kinesin. As we mentioned, kinesins carry cargo from one part of the cell to another, walking along self-assembling highways called micro-tubules.

Today we're taking a closer look at those magical highways. Though physician Geoffrey Simmons is not a creationist, we wholeheartedly agree with this description in his book What Darwin Didn't Know: "Similar to a skyscraper with crisscrossing steel girders, the cell is supported by a skeleton of crisscrossing microfilaments and micro-tubules. Unlike a skyscraper, however, some of these structures are like movable scaffolding."

To give his readers a clearer picture of what is going on inside the cell, he writes: "Envision a building with changing stairwells and elevators to accommodate the changing business needs of the day. If the boss needs to check out the third floor, a stairwell will suddenly appear. If he needs to go to the basement, a chute will open up. Changes like these happen rather frequently within the cell, and the evidence indicates all the activity is purposeful."

To use our mailman analogy, microtubules are like sidewalks that assemble themselves just before the mailman gets to them. It really is a wonder to behold. Too bad that Charles Darwin never knew what really goes on inside the cell. If he had, perhaps he might have thrown his Origin of Species into the trash.

Oh Lord, as scientists learn more and more about the things You have made, the more convinced I am that man is nothing more than an ant trying to understand how a computer works. Amen.

Geoffrey Simmons, M.D., What Darwin Didn't Know, pp. 49-51 (Harvest House Publishers, 2004). Illustration: The molecular machine kinesin bound to a microtubule roadway. Courtesy of Kebes. (CC BY-SA 3.0)

 

THE MARCH OF THE ROBOT MAILMEN

1 Chronicles 16:24-25

"Declare his glory among the heathen; his marvellous works among all nations. For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised: he also is to be feared above all gods."
Imagine, if you will, a robot mailman carrying a huge sack of mail on its back, walking step-after-step on the sidewalk until it reaches its destination. You'd be pretty impressed with the robot's designer, right?

Well, such robot mailmen do exist, and you have trillions of them inside your body at this very moment. These robot mailmen are complex molecular machines called kinesin. As the Discovery Institute points out, kinesins "play a vital role in many cellular processes, not just transporting materials but also aiding cell replication."

Through computer animation, these marvelous machines come to life in a video that the Discovery Institute has posted on YouTube. As the narrator tells us, "Masterpieces of micro-engineering, kinesins are miniature machines that carry cargo from one part of the cell to another, walking along self-assembling highways called micro-tubules."

Let me add that these robot mailmen are fast. Their two feet can take as many as a hundred steps per second! Kinesins are strong, too, carrying cargo many times their own size. And if their roadway is blocked by other cellular components, "multiple motor proteins may be used to carry a single piece of cargo together, providing enough force to break free."

Not in billions or trillions of years could such wonders come about by accident! Only one explanation can satisfy those who haven't been blinded by evolutionary indoctrination. Kinesins, like all molecular machines, are the work of an extremely intelligent Creator and Designer!

Heavenly Father, how can evolutionists see such wonders inside the cell and not recognize that they were designed by Your Son? And yet, I know if it weren't for You opening my eyes,  I'd be walking in darkness, too. Amen.

Casey Luskin, "The Workhorse of the Cell: Kinesin" video from the Discovery Institute. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbycQf1TbM0. Illustration: Kinesin molecular machine hauling its cargo on a self-assembling micro-tubule highway. Used with permission of the Discovery Institute.

 

BACTERIA THAT MOVE LIKE "SPIDER-MAN"

Psalm 40:5

"Many, O LORD my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered."
On a previous Creation Moments broadcast, we told you about the microscopic flagellar motor that some bacteria use to move from place to place – much like an outboard motor propels a speedboat along the surface of a lake. Today, I'm going to tell you about a different kind of nanomachine that some bacteria use to get around.

Using a new imaging technique called electron cryo-tomography, CalTech researchers were able to study the type IVa pilus machine. Professor Grant Jensen wrote that this nanomachine "allows a bacterium to move through its environment in much the same way that Spider-Man travels between skyscrapers." As Dr. Jensen explains it, the bacterium assembles a long fiber that attaches to a surface like a grappling hook. When the bacterium retracts the fiber, the bacterium literally pulls itself forward.

The professor recognizes that such nanomachines are "huge complexes comprising many copies of a dozen or more unique proteins that carry out sophisticated functions." And yet, he is unwilling to admit that such a complex machine must have come from the mind of an extremely intelligent designer. Instead, the Caltech team assumes that "over millennia, these adaptable little organisms have evolved a variety of specialized mechanisms to move themselves through their particular environments."

Unlike evolutionists who assume that sophisticated machines just sort of evolved, creationists know it was the Creator who gave even lowly bacteria such incredibly complex machines to move around!

Oh Lord, I praise You for creating a universe that never ceases to fill me with awe and wonder! In Jesus' Name. Amen.

California Institute of Technology, "An up-close view of bacterial 'motors'." ScienceDaily, 3/29/16. Photo: This is an example of an electron cryo-tomograph. It does not show the type IVa pilus machine. Courtesy of Eikosi. (CC BY-SA 4.0)

 

WHAT DID THE FIRST LIVING CELL EAT?

Colossians 1:16

"For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:"
Not long ago, I was talking with another creationist about the impossibility of the first living cell coming into being through natural causes from non-living chemicals. I asked him, "Even if such a thing were possible, what would the first living cell eat?" Without missing a beat, my friend said: "Cellery?"

The two of us shared a good laugh together, but I can assure you that the origin of life is no laughing matter to evolutionists. Many evolutionists, in fact, prefer to sidestep the issue completely, asserting that evolution deals only with the origin of different species after that first living cell has somehow come into being.

But have you ever stopped to think about how that first living cell could have survived for even a millisecond? Unless its environment was perfectly suited to sustain that cell's life, it would have died in an instant. Unless the cell had necessary nutrients, it would likewise quickly perish. And unless it had the means to reproduce itself, that first living cell would be the last. Or, perhaps, hundreds of millions of years later, the second living cell would ooze out of a primordial soup of non-living chemicals … and once again die a millisecond later!

No, as the great scientist Louis Pasteur demonstrated in 1859, life comes only from life. Pasteur confirmed what the Bible tells us – that life on Earth came from the living God.

Heavenly Father, thank You for continuing to frustrate scientists who believe that life could have come about through natural causes. Reveal to them that life was created by Your Son. In Jesus' Name. Amen.

Photo: Louis Pasteur at work in his laboratory. (PD)