Friday, September 23, 2016

CREATION MOMENTS: 9.23.16

FAST WATER, QUICK CANYONS

Genesis 8:3a

"And the waters returned from off the earth continually..."
Visitors to the Grand Canyon will recall the Park Rangers saying that it took millions of years for water to carve out the Canyon. We have looked at examples of rapid canyon formation in previous programs, and today we have one more example.

Back in 1926, a canal in the desert of Walla Walla, near Washington, became clogged with tumbleweeds. When heavier-than-normal spring rains occurred, water began to back up. So workers diverted the water to a ditch leading to a nearby creek. The old ditch was not large, six feet wide and never more than ten feet deep, but the large water flow – 80 cubic feet per second – began to carve out the ditch. The fast-moving water soon created what many have called a miniature Grand Canyon. Over six days, the water moved five million cubic feet of dirt and rock. The result is a canyon over a quarter of a mile long, 120 feet deep and 120 feet wide.

Canyons throughout the world have undoubtedly been formed by large volumes of water moving a large amount of rock in a short time. While none of these canyons are as large as the Grand Canyon, the return of waters to the ocean after the Genesis Flood provides more than enough power to carve a feature as large as the Grand Canyon.

I rejoice, dear Father, that You have judged my sins in Christ and have given me forgiveness. Amen.

Back to Genesis, 12: 2001, p. d, John D. Morris, "How Long Does It Take for a Canyon to Form?" Photo: Canyon walls in Coyote Gulch, a tributary of the Escalante River in Utah, US. (PD)
 
TICKLED LOCUSTS

Proverbs 30:27

"The locusts have no king, yet go they forth all of them by bands..."
Normally, the desert locusts mentioned in the Bible are shy and reclusive and are green in color. What turns them into the multi-colored army that sweeps across the land, eating every leaf in sight?

Even the book of Proverbs marvels at how locusts, without any leaders, behave like a destructive army. Yet they live most or all of their lives as grasshoppers. However, there are seven species of these locusts that now and again can become a destructive swarm. It happens when their population spikes, usually due to an abundance of food. But what triggers the change? Researchers put a rolling ball around in a cage to jostle a solitary locust. After a few hours the locust was ready to jostle fellow locusts. Then researchers next took a small paintbrush and began to tickle various parts of the insect. After long, tedious hours of locust tickling they found that simply touching a locust's hind leg made it ready to swarm. They concluded that when the locust population spikes, the insects begin to jostle each other, and that touching turns them into a destructive swarm.

One might conclude that when God wanted to punish people in Old Testament times with a plague of locusts, He simply blessed the locusts until they began to jostle against one another. Then they were ready to swarm at His bidding.

Lord, do not let me be plagued by my sin, for I believe that You have earned my forgiveness on the cross. Amen.

Science News, 3/31: 2001, p. 199, S. Milius, "Touching legs turns shy locusts gregarious." Photo: Desert locust. (PD)
 
SMART LEAVES

Job 36:5

"Behold, God is mighty, and despiseth not any: he is mighty in strength and wisdom."
As science learns more about the universe, some are suggesting that they see basic mathematical principles that underlie everything. This principle, which one scientist has called "cellular automata", might be at the root of everything from astronomy to zoology.

The leaves of plants have pores that let in carbon dioxide. However, if the pores open too far or remain open too long, the plant may lose too much water. How does a plant, that has no brain or nervous system, keep these factors in balance? Researchers had always thought that the pores work independently. However, close study has shown that patches of pores in a leaf open and close together. In fact, over several minutes, open and closed patches of pores move across a leaf in patterns. As scientists studied these patterns, they realized that the pattern they were looking at was what they call "distributed, emergent computation" or "cellular automata." The individual cells of the leaves are working with each other to perform complex large-scale computations. In short, the cells of plant leaves are working together as a computer, even though they lack a central processor.

While evolutionists would hope to explain this built-in intelligence by chance, it is difficult to get around the fact that intelligence is built into the creation. Such intelligence can only be ascribed to an intelligent source, our Creator.

Dear Father, I thank You for Your wisdom, and I pray that I may grow in wisdom, guided by Your Word. Amen.

Science News, 2/21 2004, pp. 123-124, Erica Klarreich, "Computation's New Leaf." Photo: Leaf structure. Courtesy of Zephyris. (CC-BY-SA 3.0)
 
HORNBILLS THAT UNDERSTAND MONKEY

Colossians 1:28

"Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus..."
With the exception of basic messages such as aggression, communication between two entirely different species has seldom been observed among animals in the wild. We know that many animals among the same species give each other specific warnings about an impending danger. However, scientists have never noted one species recognizing the specific warning given by a second species.

Diana monkeys on the Ivory Coast of Africa face two primary threats: leopards and crowned eagles. When one of these threats appears, the spotter gives a very specific bark-like call depending on the type of threat. Of course, the monkeys need to respond differently to each threat, whether it comes from the leopard below or the eagle above. So it helps them to know what they are facing. On the other hand, a bird named the yellow hornbill is threatened only by the crowned eagles. Researchers noted that these birds ignored the monkeys' warning about the leopards. But when the monkeys signaled danger from the eagle, the yellow hornbill took defensive measures. Researchers confirmed their observations using tape-recorded monkey calls. The researchers were amazed that these birds understood the monkey warnings in an intelligent manner.

Such intelligence comes from the Creator, Who has given the gift of such intelligence to His creatures in a way that provides for their survival. This shows His loving care for His creation.

Father, thank You for Your love, especially for Your forgiving love to me in Your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Science News, 3/20: 2004, p. 188, "Hornbills know which monkey calls to heed." Photo: Diana monkey at Cincinnati Zoo. Courtesy of Greg Hume. (CC-BY-SA 3.0)
 
FOSSIL INVENTORY: SURPRISES FOR SOME

Genesis 1:24

"And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so."
Everyone will remember those school textbook diagrams showing the ever-upward progression of living organisms, including man. We recall the horse series, found in textbooks and the museum displays showing the evolution of the horse – the first stage as a small mammal and, after several transitions, the modern horse. The claim that fossils in the rock layers show a progression from simple life in the lowest layers to the most complex life at the top accompanies these diagrams.

Recently, the journal Science, reported that paleobiologists who study these fossils reevaluated all the fossil-bearing rocks that have been found in the last 180 years. What was their reaction to the meaning of the fossil record after their new inventory? "We may have been misled for twenty years," said one scientist. Another commented, "For the first time, a large group of people is saying paleobiology has been making a mistake." Why are they reacting this way? They have had to conclude, on the basis of the fossil evidence, that there never was an ever-upward progression of complexity of life forms as they had expected. The species that are represented in the fossil record show no evidence of the classic evolutionary development traditionally found in school textbooks.

In short, the fossil record supports the biblical claim that all the kinds of animals appeared about the same time.

I thank You, Lord, for the great diversity and beauty You have created in the living world. Amen.

Creation, 9-11: 2001, p. 7, "Fossil re-count limits diversity." Visual: Horse series diagram promoting evolution. Courtesy of the Institute for Creation Research.
 
THE EARLY BUG GETS THE WATER

Job 38:26

"To cause it to rain on the earth, where no man is; on the wilderness, wherein there is no man...."
How do you get the water you need in a desert in which it almost never rains? We have often looked here at how God's designs in nature show us practical designs we may never think of. The water-hoarding beetle provides us with one more such example.

This particular beetle is found in southwestern Africa in the Namibian Desert where it almost never rains. Early in the morning, a fog settles over the desert. Any water that might condense out of it is quickly evaporated by the sun and daily winds that come later in the day. But the beetles are up early to collect the water from the fog on their backs. Their back shell has tiny bumps about a half millimeter in diameter. The tops of the bumps are covered with a material that attracts water. The valleys between the bumps are coated with a waxy material that repels water. So, when large-enough droplets of water collect on the bumps, they roll down into the waxy valleys, and down those valleys into the beetle's mouth. Researchers have duplicated the beetle's covering and found that such coverings will aid desert survival for man.

This design also teaches us that these beetles and all the other myriad living things in creation were not produced by mindless evolution, but by a loving, caring Creator.

Lord, we thank You for all Your good gifts in season, even the rain, but most of all we thank You for Your love. Amen.

nytimes.com/2001/11/06/science/06OBSE.html. Photo: Racing Stripe Darkling Beetle from the Namibian Desert. Courtesy of Hans Hillewaert. (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Friday, September 16, 2016

CREATION MOMENTS: 9.16.16

LOVING SNAKES

Job 26:13

"By his spirit he hath garnished the heavens; his hand hath formed the crooked serpent."
Mention snakes or other crawly reptiles, and people usually shy away. Typically, snakes have a reputation for being dangerous or, at best, completely unable to show affection. New research shows us that in many cases this isn't true at all.

A number of studies have now shown that at least some snakes take care of their young, have friends and even prefer to hang around with relatives. Mother pythons will stay coiled around their eggs for the two months they take to hatch, not even leaving them for food. Though she is cold-blooded, should the temperatures drop too low, she can generate muscle heat by shivering. A black-rattler mother will stay with her hatchlings for nine days. During that time, she can protect them from predators. The young snakes can barely see at all until they shed their skin at nine days, after which they set off on their own. Cage studies involving non-sibling and sibling rattlesnakes, showed that non-siblings distance themselves from each other. However, rattlesnakes that were siblings would touch each other frequently and often intertwined. Live-bearing skinks, found in Australia, are monogamous for life.

While evolution leads people to think of reptiles as primitive, here we see that their Creator, the God Who is love, blessed them with feelings for one another. This, too, is testimony of His loving nature.

Father, I thank You for Your gift of love through Jesus Christ. Help me show that same love to others. Amen.

Science News, 3/27: 2004, pp. 200-201, Susan Milius, "The Social Lives of Snakes." Photo: Black-headed python at Cameron Park Zoo. Courtesy of Dawson. (CC BY-SA 2.5)
 
 
THE POWER OF FAITH

2 Timothy 3:13

"But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived."
The history of science, supposedly supporting evolution, shows the power of expecting to find something, whether it exists or not.

Following the publication of Darwin's book in 1859, there was much speculation over the so-called primordial slime believed to be the origin of life. Ernst Haeckel predicted a whole family of creatures that would lead from the slime to the first one-celled organisms. It was thought that such creatures might exist at the bottom of the sea, and H.M.S. Challenger began taking samples of the sea bottom. Protoplasmic blobs were found in all the sample bottles. Scientists, eager to confirm Haeckel's prophetic words, proclaimed these as "life in the making," naming them Bathybius haeckeli. However, a few years later a chemist pointed out that the preserving agent used in the sample bottles was alcohol, and when sea water is added to alcohol, an amorphous precipitate of sulfate of lime is formed. It had nothing to do with life, but the embarrassment was never reported by the English press.

In truth, if you are convinced that there is no God, it will be very difficult for you to see any evidence of Him. And if you believe that witches can fly on brooms, you will find evidence for it. People did it for generations. Evolutionists continue today to find evidence for what they expect to be true.

Father, let the teaching of Your Word keep me from being deceived by the devil, the world and my own flesh. Amen.

Creation, 12/00-2: 2001, pp. 36-41, "Life from life...or not?" Photo: Bathybius haeckelii was a substance that British biologist Thomas Henry Huxley discovered in 1857. (PD)
 
REJOICE IN GOD'S GOODNESS

Proverbs 15:13

"A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance: but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken."
There are countless scientific studies designed to find out how diet, environment and our habits influence our health. These studies urged us to eat this, not eat that and generally give up bad habits.

Now a study of almost 3,000 people between ages 53 and 85 shows that depressed people in this age group are far more likely to die from heart disease than those who show no sign of depression. The study not only measured severe depression, which often requires its own medical care, but also people who reported feeling helpless, hopeless or apathetic. Study participants were also checked for any signs of coronary heart disease at the start of the study. Then they were tracked for four years. Those with even mild signs of depression died of coronary disease at a much higher rate than those who reported no signs of depression. This was even true for those who had no coronary disease at the beginning of the study. They also noted that the subject's weight, blood pressure, smoking and alcohol use had no bearing on the results.

Scripture reminds us to rejoice in the Lord and His salvation, but only a minority ever do. While severe depression may need medical care, that minority can attest to rarely feeling depressed when they remember what God has given us in His Son, Jesus Christ.

Father, fill me with the joy of the salvation I have through Your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Science News, 3. 31: 2001, p. 205, "Depression linked to heart deaths." Lithograph: A man diagnosed with melancholia and at a risk of suicide, 1837. (CC BY 4.0)
 
DINOSAUR BONES NOT ALWAYS FULLY FOSSILIZED

Genesis 1:24

"And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so."
Most listeners to these programs will at sometime have visited a museum to see the dinosaurs. Of course, the tangible remains consist of fossil skeletons and, if one is allowed to touch the bones, they are as hard as rock. Sometimes they are actually cement or plaster since they are copies. However, we are told that over the millions of years, the original bone had been replaced by minerals. Except for the millions of years, this is often true but not always. Fence posts, for example, have been found mineralized at one end and plain wood at the other.

In 1993, Science Research News reported graduate student Mary Schweitzer's reaction when examining a slice of 65-million year old T. rex bone from Montana using the electron microscope: "I got goose bumps … it was exactly like looking at a slice of modern bone … How could blood cells survive that long?" To compound the problem, strands of DNA were later identified within the blood.

What does this mean? Firstly, from the known rate at which the DNA structure breaks down under natural radioactivity, the cells were clearly less than 10,000 years old. Secondly, this is not an isolated case, and a major argument is now brewing behind the cloistered walls of academia.

This is further mounting evidence against the popular but godless doctrine of evolution.

Lord, Your Word is truth. Preserve me in Your truth. Amen.

Science Research News, Sept. 7, 1993, Vol. 261. Photo: Mary Schweitzer’s mobile laboratory in Bozeman, Montana. Courtesy of VladimĂ­r Socha. (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Friday, September 9, 2016

CREATION MOMENTS: 9.9.16

RUBE GOLDBERG FLUKES

Genesis 3:17b

"...cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life...."
The lancet fluke is a parasite that accomplishes its life cycle in a most complicated, Rube Goldberg, manner.

Mature lancet flukes live in cows and other grazing animals. Their eggs are spread in the manure left by the animal. Snails, which naturally eat the manure, eat the eggs. Once in the snail's intestines, the eggs hatch. The flukes make their way to the outside of the snail. Meanwhile, the irritated snail tries to get rid of the flukes by imprisoning them in balls of slime, which it leaves behind in the grass. A foraging ant is likely to find the ball, filled with hundreds of flukes. When the ant eats it, the flukes leave the ant's intestinal tract, finally settling as a cluster of nerves that control the ant's mandibles. The ant seems perfectly normal until the sun begins to set. Then the ant, under the control of the flukes, climbs a blade of grass, and the mandible clamps shut on the end. There the ant waits to be consumed by a grazer, where the lancet life cycle begins all over. Even stranger, if the ant isn't eaten by the time the sun returns, the ant returns to normal life, until the next sunset.

Although parasites are part of the curse of sin, the lancet fluke is still a testimony to God's incredible creativity.

Father, thank You for sending Your Son to reverse the curse of our sin with His death and resurrection. Amen.

Discover, 8: 2000, p. 80-85, "Do Parasites Rule the World?" Photo: Mature lancet flukes. Courtesy of Alan R. Walker. (CC BY-SA 3.0)
 
LIVING FOSSILS, EVOLUTION'S OOPS

Psalm 104:30

"Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created: and thou renewest the face of the earth."
Living fossils are creatures believed to be extinct and known only through the fossil record. The most famous living fossil is the Coelacanth. It is a fish, and textbooks claim it has been extinct for 70 million years according to the evolutionary timetable. Now we know that schools of them live in the Indian Ocean.

To make the claim that a creature is extinct is really only an opinion until the entire Earth has been searched and no living specimen found. Another example based upon opinion is the trilobite, said to typify the Cambrian period. Textbooks regard it as an index fossil, indicating that any rocks in which its fossil is found must therefore be Cambrian. The index fossil system was placed in serious question again when living trilobites were found. Other living fossils used to date rock layers are the Graptolites. They supposedly lived 300 million years ago, and so have been considered a reliable indicator of that age. We know now that they are still with us.

The point is not just the discovery of creatures thought to be long extinct. The point is that opinions based upon their fossils are the foundation for the millions of years essential for the doctrine of evolution. As Scripture says, the foolishness of God, Who made all these creatures, is greater than the wisdom of man.

Thank You, dear Father, for the truth of Your Word, for I cannot rely on the wisdom of man. Amen.

Back to Genesis, 11-2000, "The Profusion of Living Fossils." Photo: Preserved specimen of a coelacanth. Courtesy of Alberto Fernandez Fernandez. (CC BY-SA 3.0)
 
THE BEST SWIMMING WING

Genesis 1:21a

"And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind...."
An unusual example of a design in nature that runs counter to human common sense is found in the pectoral flippers of the humpback whale. The leading edge of these flippers, which one would intuitively expect to be smooth, actually sport evenly spaced bumps.

After all, airplanes, as well as birds, have sleek leading edges on their wings. These smooth edges would seem to be the most efficient at cutting through the air, which is a fluid, just like water. Puzzled about this, scientists recently made two models of the humpback's pectoral fins. One had a smooth edge, the other had the bumps that appear on real fins. These models were taken for testing in a wind tunnel. Not surprisingly, the smooth-edged fins performed like a standard wing. However, the humpback model did much better! It generated 8 percent more lift and a third less drag than the standard design. What's more, the bumpy wing could angle 40 percent more steeply into the air than the sleek model before it stalled. Since water, like air, is a fluid, these principles would apply to a real humpback fin, enabling humpbacks to be more nimble in the water.

This unusual design comes in handy for the humpback because they feed on fast-moving schools of nimble herring and sardines. Obviously, God gave them a special design to help them do this.

Father, I thank You that Your thoughts are not our thoughts. Help me to think more like You. Amen.

Scientific American, 8-2004, pp. 18-19, "Bumpy Flying." Photo: Humpback whale. Courtesy of NOAA. (PD)
 
THE TSUNAMI AND THE ANIMALS

Job 12:7

"But now ask the beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee;"
Almost everyone in the world today knows of the terrible disaster that struck the coasts of South East Asia. The North American news media gave daily body counts, reported human tragedy and inflicted damage yet, as far as is known, none mentioned the animals.

However, Asian reports from the damaged areas comment not only on the ability of trees to withstand the devastating waves but the almost total absence of animal deaths. It appears that the animals, from flamingoes to elephants, took off for the hills long before the humans. The Chinese have done extensive investigations on animals and earthquake detection but are at a loss to explain it. Chinese scientists simply conclude that animals have far greater sensitivity than the best of scientific instruments.

Reuters reported from Thailand that the elephants used in the tourist business at Khao Lak began to "cry" at 9 am, about the time of the quake. Some elephants broke their hefty chains, but they all raced away toward the jungle-clad hills, taking their surprised tourists and guides with them. Some people were even picked up by the elephants using their trunks. They all came to a point on high ground where the waves stopped just short of where they stood. Three thousand, eight hundred people died in that area. God is merciful to those sensitive enough to His warnings.

We thank you, Father, for teaching us by this example of our insensitivity to Your warning signs and Your mercy to the animals. Amen.

Reuters. Mark Bendeich, "Jumbos Save Tourists from Tsunami." January 03, 2005. Photo: Elephants in Thailand. Courtesy of Siebrand. (CC BY-SA 3.0)
 
 

Friday, September 2, 2016

CREATION MOMENTS: 9.2.16

TINY FLIES INSPIRE BIG ADVANCES IN HEARING AIDS

Proverbs 20:12

"The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, the LORD hath made even both of them."
Do you know how your ears help you pinpoint the location of whatever you are hearing? Two factors come into play. First, you hear the sound louder in the ear that is closer to whatever is producing the sound. And second, the sound arrives at the closer ear a little sooner than the other.

So how does the tiny Ormia ochracea fly pinpoint sounds? Her ears are so close together, the sound arrives at one ear just a millionth of a second before the other! As Dr. Jonathan Sarfati tells us in his book By Design, this was no problem at all for the One who designed the fly.

God gave the tiny fly a bridge – a flexible lever – that couples both eardrums together. According to Dr. Sarfati, "The resulting resonance effectively increases the time difference about 40 times, and the eardrum nearest the sound vibrates about 10 decibels higher … which is a big difference!" Thanks to this ingenious design, "the fly's mechanical and signal-processing technology is being used to improve hearing aids, which normally can't tell direction, and it could also be used to design miniature directional microphones."

Dr. Sarfati concludes, "Once more, the design in nature has taught top human designers some lessons." And yet, scientists continue to give credit to evolution "without the slightest explanation of how the mechanical structure and nervous coding system could arise by small mutations and natural selection."

Oh Lord, thank You for helping scientists learn from Your creation so they can, in turn, bring help to hurting people. In Jesus' Name. Amen.

Jonathan Sarfati, Ph.D., By Design: Evidence for nature's Intelligent Designer – the God of the Bible, pp. 42-43 (Creation Book Publishers, 2008). Photo: Female Ormia ochracea resting on a fingernail. Courtesy of Jpaur. (CC BY-SA 3.0)
 
THE AMAZING SEA CUCUMBER MAN!

Genesis 1:26a

"And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea…"
Here's an idea for those who create superhero comic books and movies. Introducing the amazing Sea Cucumber Man – able to turn his skin into a hardened shield that can stop bullets cold!

Actually, this isn't entirely a joke. Someday scientists may be able to develop a material that would allow soldiers to wear comfortable and flexible bulletproof vests that can harden instantaneously when they are in combat situations.

The idea for such a thing comes from the sea cucumber. According to the book Bulletproof Feathers, the sea cucumber can crawl between narrow spaces when the whiskers of its skin are soft, but "in defensive mode, surrounding cells release molecules that cause the whiskers to bind together, forming a rigid shield."

By mimicking one of God's amazing creatures, scientists have already developed a polymeric substance that works like the sea cucumber's skin. This substance has been used to develop adaptive microelectrodes for brain implants to help doctors treat Parkinson's disease, stroke and spinal cord injuries. As the book points out, the implant is stiff when inserted into the brain and then becomes soft once it interacts with brain fluids.

Unfortunately, the book's author gives credit to nature for inspiring such cutting-edge technology and not to the God who created the natural world. That's the problem with too many scientists nowadays. They copy what God has created, but then they fail to give credit where credit is due!

Oh Lord, thank You for Your creation that inspires scientists to develop new technologies that benefit mankind. Though scientists seldom praise You, I will never stop giving You praise! In Jesus' Name. Amen.

Robert Allen, editor. Bulletproof Feathers: How Science Uses Nature's Secrets to Design Cutting-Edge Technology," pp. 42-43 (University of Chicago Press, 2010). Photo: Giant sea cucumber from the Indo-Pacific tropics. Courtesy of Leonard Low. (CC BY 2.0)
 
WHO INVENTED THE PERIODIC TABLE?

Ephesians 6:4

"And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord."
I can still picture it in my mind – the large periodic table of the elements on the wall of my high school classroom. For those of you who don't remember it, the periodic table is a tabular arrangement of all the chemical elements, ordered by their number of protons, starting with hydrogen as number one. So who invented the table? You will find his name in the table itself. Element number 101 – Mendelevium – was named after Dmitri Mendeleev, the Russian chemist who first published the periodic table in 1869.

Back then, of course, there were far fewer known elements than the 117 elements we know about today. Interestingly enough, while he was putting the table together, he had to leave a number of gaps open for unknown elements he predicted would someday be discovered.

As Donald DeYoung points out in his book Pioneer Explorers of Intelligent Design, Mendeleev was raised by a devout Orthodox Christian mother who told him to "'patiently search divine and scientific truth.' … Mendeleev thus saw chemistry as a royal and godly pursuit."

Sad to say, however, Dmitri eventually turned away from his mother's faith and embraced a form of deism. Dmitri well illustrates the truth of the old saying: "God has no grandchildren." Christian parents, though it your responsibility to teach your children biblical truths, you must also remember that their salvation is out of your hands. It is ultimately a matter between them and God.

Oh Lord, I pray for the salvation of my loved ones. My greatest desire is that they would come to know You as their Lord and Savior! I will put my hope and trust in You. Amen.

Don B. DeYoung, Pioneer Explorers of Intelligent Design, p. 67 (BMH Books, 2006). Illustration: Modern periodic table of the elements. Courtesy of Sandbh. (CC BY-SA 4.0)
 
ARE WE LIVING IN A SIMULATION?

2 Timothy 2:23

"But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes."
If you had nothing better to do with your time, you might enjoy thinking about such things as: "How do I know that the whole world isn't just a figment of someone's imagination?" Or, "How do I know that the whole universe didn't suddenly pop into existence 20 minutes ago?"

According to an article in Tech Insider, "Most physicists and philosophers agree that it's impossible to prove definitively that we don't live in a simulation and that the universe is real."

No, I'm not making this up. And yes, these are questions that philosophers and evolutionists spend their time talking about. As a participant in the 2016 Isaac Asimov Memorial Debate at the American Museum of Natural History, Neil deGrasse Tyson and his fellow panelists discussed whether the universe is a simulation. If you saw the 1999 film The Matrix, you know what I'm talking about. Tyson said the likelihood of the universe being a simulation "may be very high," adding that "it is easy for me to imagine that everything in our lives is just the creation of some other entity for their entertainment."

What's this? Could Tyson be talking about God? As an evolutionist, this is something he would not do. Extraterrestrials maybe, but God never! While philosophers might enjoy such discussions, don't you prefer spending your time learning how the real universe works and giving praise to the God who created it?

Heavenly Father, there are so many foolish matters people waste their time on so they don't have to think about their sin and their need for salvation! Make them hungry for Your truth! in Jesus' Name. Amen.

Kevin Loria, "Neil deGrasse Tyson thinks there's a 'very high' chance the universe is just a simulation," Tech Insider, 4/21/16. Photo: Neil deGrasse Tyson speaking at the National Air and Space Museum in 2009. (PD)
 
EVOLUTION BEING TAUGHT AT SEMINARIES

Matthew 7:15

"Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves."
Several years ago, a Creation Moments staff member was discussing biblical creation with a well-known Bible teacher and Old Testament scholar. When this professor – whose name I will not disclose – began writing articles promoting theistic evolution for the BioLogos Foundation, he was asked to leave his teaching position at a conservative Christian seminary.

In the spirited e-mail exchange with Creation Moments, all the professor could do was insist that his views were not outside the realm of Christian orthodoxy. We replied that this did not mean his views are actually taught in the Word of God. In fact, we pointed out that church history is filled with false teachings from people who said their views were within the realm of Christian orthodoxy.

The professor was offended, so he quickly brought the e-mail exchange to an end. But his career did not come to an end. Within days of his departure from one seminary, he landed a teaching position at a different one. Tragically, his new seminary had been founded by a now-deceased defender of biblical creation and outspoken opponent of evolution.

I can only cringe when I think about what the students at this and many other seminaries are now being taught about evolution. Christian parents, before you send your child off to a Bible college or seminary, I urge you to find out what they are teaching about creation and evolution. You might be in for a big surprise.

Heavenly Father, I pray that You will help Your children discern truth from error so that we will not be influenced by those who are wolves in sheep's clothing. In Jesus' Name. Amen.

Private e-mail exchange on file at Creation Moments. Graphic: Pixabay. (PD)