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)
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)
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.
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)
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)
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)
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