DESKTOP MANUFACTURING
Genesis 11:6
"And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do."
We live in a day and age when God has allowed men and women more freedom than He has allowed previous generations. That freedom can be used for worse evil than the world has ever known, or it can be used for more good than the world has ever known. Christians will make the difference.
Several generations after the Flood, the people of the Earth were united into one people and one language. They had grown proud and had rejected God's command to disperse and repopulate the Earth. In Genesis 11:6, God notes that as one people with one language, they would be able to accomplish anything they wanted. The problem was that they would be led to trust in themselves instead of God!
We were reminded of this point when we read about some of the startling changes currently taking place in technology. Today we can use a computer to design an artificial hip joint, a gear or an engine exhaust assembly in three dimensions. The part can be designed in New York. Through a phone line, the computer can command a robot in California to fashion a plastic model of the image. That plastic model then becomes the basis for the mold that will form the product. In other words, we can literally fax a solid object anywhere we want. This isn't science fiction – it's already happening.
Despite its traditional divisions, today's world is united into one technological people and language. Will it be for good or for evil? Only God's people, scripturally informed and profoundly committed to God's will, can make the difference.
I thank You, dear Father, for the blessings that we enjoy because of modern technology. I especially thank You for the ways in which Your people have used that technology to bring the saving Gospel to more of the world's people. Help us to be Your instruments to use these gifts for good rather than evil. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
Allman, William F. 1992. "The ultimate widget." U.S. News & World Report, July 20. p. 55.
Genesis 11:6
"And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do."
We live in a day and age when God has allowed men and women more freedom than He has allowed previous generations. That freedom can be used for worse evil than the world has ever known, or it can be used for more good than the world has ever known. Christians will make the difference.
Several generations after the Flood, the people of the Earth were united into one people and one language. They had grown proud and had rejected God's command to disperse and repopulate the Earth. In Genesis 11:6, God notes that as one people with one language, they would be able to accomplish anything they wanted. The problem was that they would be led to trust in themselves instead of God!
We were reminded of this point when we read about some of the startling changes currently taking place in technology. Today we can use a computer to design an artificial hip joint, a gear or an engine exhaust assembly in three dimensions. The part can be designed in New York. Through a phone line, the computer can command a robot in California to fashion a plastic model of the image. That plastic model then becomes the basis for the mold that will form the product. In other words, we can literally fax a solid object anywhere we want. This isn't science fiction – it's already happening.
Despite its traditional divisions, today's world is united into one technological people and language. Will it be for good or for evil? Only God's people, scripturally informed and profoundly committed to God's will, can make the difference.
I thank You, dear Father, for the blessings that we enjoy because of modern technology. I especially thank You for the ways in which Your people have used that technology to bring the saving Gospel to more of the world's people. Help us to be Your instruments to use these gifts for good rather than evil. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
Allman, William F. 1992. "The ultimate widget." U.S. News & World Report, July 20. p. 55.
THE WANDERING COMPASS
Job 26:7
"He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing."
The Earth's magnetic field makes compasses work so that Boy Scouts don't get lost in the woods and ships arrive at the correct port. It actually moves over time. This means that navigators periodically need updated information on the position of the pole for their charts.
Many people have the idea that the Earth's magnetic field moves very slowly. However, the Earth's magnetic field offers some of the clearest evidences that the Earth is young. Geophysicists recently reported that the north magnetic pole has moved 800 kilometers northwest of where it was in 1904. That's a much faster rate of movement than many people imagined. However, its speed and direction of movement are about what was expected by geophysicists. They also report that the magnetic pole has moved as much as 80 kilometers in one day.
Measurements taken over the last 150 years show that the Earth's magnetic field is decaying. When Christ walked the hills of Palestine, the magnetic field was twice as powerful as it is today.
The Earth is much more dynamic and changeable than most people, including many scientists, think. These rapid changes in the position of the magnetic pole and the rapid decay of the magnetic field offer evidence that the Earth is much younger than many people think. One of the world's best known experts has shown that the decaying magnetic field means that the Earth could not be much older than the Bible's genealogies indicate.
Lord, the blessings of modern travel rely on Your gift to us of the Earth's magnetic field. I also thank You for the beauty of the northern and southern lights that is created by the magnetic field. Amen.
Job 26:7
"He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing."
The Earth's magnetic field makes compasses work so that Boy Scouts don't get lost in the woods and ships arrive at the correct port. It actually moves over time. This means that navigators periodically need updated information on the position of the pole for their charts.
Many people have the idea that the Earth's magnetic field moves very slowly. However, the Earth's magnetic field offers some of the clearest evidences that the Earth is young. Geophysicists recently reported that the north magnetic pole has moved 800 kilometers northwest of where it was in 1904. That's a much faster rate of movement than many people imagined. However, its speed and direction of movement are about what was expected by geophysicists. They also report that the magnetic pole has moved as much as 80 kilometers in one day.
Measurements taken over the last 150 years show that the Earth's magnetic field is decaying. When Christ walked the hills of Palestine, the magnetic field was twice as powerful as it is today.
The Earth is much more dynamic and changeable than most people, including many scientists, think. These rapid changes in the position of the magnetic pole and the rapid decay of the magnetic field offer evidence that the Earth is much younger than many people think. One of the world's best known experts has shown that the decaying magnetic field means that the Earth could not be much older than the Bible's genealogies indicate.
Lord, the blessings of modern travel rely on Your gift to us of the Earth's magnetic field. I also thank You for the beauty of the northern and southern lights that is created by the magnetic field. Amen.
SMARTER THAN THEY THOUGHT
Ephesians 6:4
"And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord."
Traditional approaches to early childhood development have relied heavily on the claims of those who don't believe in the Creator. As a result, these approaches see human beings as simply another animal. Along with this, they usually think that humans are born into the world as a blank slate with no knowledge. As a result, the traditional view has assumed that everything an infant does is based on instinct.
Few have ever tested these beliefs scientifically. Since the viewpoint agrees with evolution, theorists figured they must be correct. At the same time, many Christians simply accepted the claims because they thought they had been tested and proved scientifically.
Evolutionary thinking led Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget to say that infants are not able to imitate facial gestures until they are about a year old. He further said that infants are not able to imitate actions they have seen before until they are 18 months to two years old. It wasn't until the last few years that these claims were tested. Researchers found that infants were much smarter than they ever imagined. Infants only 72 hours old – in one case, only 42 minutes old – will imitate someone sticking out his or her tongue. Infants as young as 14 months will imitate actions they saw the day before.
Researchers concluded that infants are born with eagerness and ability to begin to learn from adults. This simple truth makes our example as Christians important to even the youngest child.
Help me, Lord, to be a good example to everyone around me, especially the youngest children. Help me to identify and rid myself of ideas about very young children that may have been influenced by the unbelieving world and to think of children more in the way that You do. Amen.
Miller, Julie Ann. 1985. "Born smart: imitation of life." Science News, v. 127, June 15. p. 376. Photo: Jean Piaget. (PD)
Ephesians 6:4
"And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord."
Traditional approaches to early childhood development have relied heavily on the claims of those who don't believe in the Creator. As a result, these approaches see human beings as simply another animal. Along with this, they usually think that humans are born into the world as a blank slate with no knowledge. As a result, the traditional view has assumed that everything an infant does is based on instinct.
Few have ever tested these beliefs scientifically. Since the viewpoint agrees with evolution, theorists figured they must be correct. At the same time, many Christians simply accepted the claims because they thought they had been tested and proved scientifically.
Evolutionary thinking led Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget to say that infants are not able to imitate facial gestures until they are about a year old. He further said that infants are not able to imitate actions they have seen before until they are 18 months to two years old. It wasn't until the last few years that these claims were tested. Researchers found that infants were much smarter than they ever imagined. Infants only 72 hours old – in one case, only 42 minutes old – will imitate someone sticking out his or her tongue. Infants as young as 14 months will imitate actions they saw the day before.
Researchers concluded that infants are born with eagerness and ability to begin to learn from adults. This simple truth makes our example as Christians important to even the youngest child.
Help me, Lord, to be a good example to everyone around me, especially the youngest children. Help me to identify and rid myself of ideas about very young children that may have been influenced by the unbelieving world and to think of children more in the way that You do. Amen.
Miller, Julie Ann. 1985. "Born smart: imitation of life." Science News, v. 127, June 15. p. 376. Photo: Jean Piaget. (PD)
THE SPINY POSTAGE STAMP
Genesis 1:21
"And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good."
After more than a century of digging Earth's hills, valleys and plains, paleontologists have uncovered and catalogued more than a billion fossils. Evidence has been found of many plants and animals that are extinct today. However, no evidence has ever been found showing new plants or animals developing.
The new creatures discovered for the first time in the fossil record usually fit into a known phylum. Recently, however, paleontologists working in northern Greenland announced their discovery of a strange, extinct creature. The five-and-a-half-inch-long creature was so strange that it does not seem to fit into any known phylum. Paleontologists have given the fellow the name "Grasper" because it has a pair of appendages sticking out the front that may have been used to grasp things. The body has been described as being shaped something like a spiny postage stamp. It had gill-like flaps along each side and bumps along the back. Grasper also had a set of spines sticking out from its back. Only one complete skeleton of the creature has been discovered, but scientists have about 50 partial skeletons.
Paleontologists also report a number of other strange animals at the site that do not fit into any phylum. One looks like a swimming vacuum cleaner.
The fossil record offers us some surprising examples of God's creativity. The fossil record doesn't offer any evidence that the creatures alive today developed from other creatures.
Father in heaven, give Your people understanding and help us not to fear what we might learn from new knowledge, but help us learn how to sort true knowledge from interpretations offered by those who reject Your truth. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
Monastersky, Ronald. 1992. "Evolutionary oddball surfaces in Greenland." Science News, v. 142, July 11. p. 22. Photo: Silicified (replaced with silica) fossils from the Road Canyon Formation (Middle Permian of Texas). Courtesy of Wilson44691. (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Genesis 1:21
"And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good."
After more than a century of digging Earth's hills, valleys and plains, paleontologists have uncovered and catalogued more than a billion fossils. Evidence has been found of many plants and animals that are extinct today. However, no evidence has ever been found showing new plants or animals developing.
The new creatures discovered for the first time in the fossil record usually fit into a known phylum. Recently, however, paleontologists working in northern Greenland announced their discovery of a strange, extinct creature. The five-and-a-half-inch-long creature was so strange that it does not seem to fit into any known phylum. Paleontologists have given the fellow the name "Grasper" because it has a pair of appendages sticking out the front that may have been used to grasp things. The body has been described as being shaped something like a spiny postage stamp. It had gill-like flaps along each side and bumps along the back. Grasper also had a set of spines sticking out from its back. Only one complete skeleton of the creature has been discovered, but scientists have about 50 partial skeletons.
Paleontologists also report a number of other strange animals at the site that do not fit into any phylum. One looks like a swimming vacuum cleaner.
The fossil record offers us some surprising examples of God's creativity. The fossil record doesn't offer any evidence that the creatures alive today developed from other creatures.
Father in heaven, give Your people understanding and help us not to fear what we might learn from new knowledge, but help us learn how to sort true knowledge from interpretations offered by those who reject Your truth. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
Monastersky, Ronald. 1992. "Evolutionary oddball surfaces in Greenland." Science News, v. 142, July 11. p. 22. Photo: Silicified (replaced with silica) fossils from the Road Canyon Formation (Middle Permian of Texas). Courtesy of Wilson44691. (CC BY-SA 3.0)
HARD-WORKING VIRUS
Philippians 1:22-24
"But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose I wot not. For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better: Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you."
When it was introduced, some people thought that it was against God's will. After all, since the human body was made in God's image, it is wrong to put something into the human body that was made from a cow. An artist of the day even drew a cartoon showing people receiving the vaccine that was made from a cow. It showed cows emerging from the leg of someone who had been vaccinated. The vaccine was smallpox vaccine, and the year was 1796.
The first smallpox vaccine worked, and still works, very nicely. It has eradicated smallpox. The weakened virus used in the vaccine is called vaccina, and it is still hard at work today.
Viruses do their damage by fooling the cell into letting it latch on. It then takes over, using its genetic information and the cell's machinery to turn out its own proteins to make more viruses. The effect on us is the disease characteristics of the infecting virus. However, vaccina is weakened, so the body's immune system can kill it without allowing the disease to develop. The body remembers that immune response and fights the disease more successfully the next time it shows up. Modern genetic engineers are adding the disease-causing genes of many viruses to the vaccina virus. In animal tests, the new vaccina virus has prevented malaria, hepatitis B. herpes simplex, rabies and other diseases.
Of course, the image of God does not refer to the physical form of the human body. Vaccines have been a great blessing, saving the lives of many so that they, too, might serve God.
Dear Father, I thank You for the blessings that we enjoy because of vaccines. At the same time, do not let us forget that our greatest need for rescue is not from diseases of the body, but from sin – a rescue You have provided through the forgiveness of sins, won for us by Christ. In His Name. Amen.
Miller, Julie Ann. 1985. "A vaccine for all seasons." Science News, v. 127, June 15. p. 379. Photo: Smallpox virus. (PD)
Philippians 1:22-24
"But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose I wot not. For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better: Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you."
When it was introduced, some people thought that it was against God's will. After all, since the human body was made in God's image, it is wrong to put something into the human body that was made from a cow. An artist of the day even drew a cartoon showing people receiving the vaccine that was made from a cow. It showed cows emerging from the leg of someone who had been vaccinated. The vaccine was smallpox vaccine, and the year was 1796.
The first smallpox vaccine worked, and still works, very nicely. It has eradicated smallpox. The weakened virus used in the vaccine is called vaccina, and it is still hard at work today.
Viruses do their damage by fooling the cell into letting it latch on. It then takes over, using its genetic information and the cell's machinery to turn out its own proteins to make more viruses. The effect on us is the disease characteristics of the infecting virus. However, vaccina is weakened, so the body's immune system can kill it without allowing the disease to develop. The body remembers that immune response and fights the disease more successfully the next time it shows up. Modern genetic engineers are adding the disease-causing genes of many viruses to the vaccina virus. In animal tests, the new vaccina virus has prevented malaria, hepatitis B. herpes simplex, rabies and other diseases.
Of course, the image of God does not refer to the physical form of the human body. Vaccines have been a great blessing, saving the lives of many so that they, too, might serve God.
Dear Father, I thank You for the blessings that we enjoy because of vaccines. At the same time, do not let us forget that our greatest need for rescue is not from diseases of the body, but from sin – a rescue You have provided through the forgiveness of sins, won for us by Christ. In His Name. Amen.
Miller, Julie Ann. 1985. "A vaccine for all seasons." Science News, v. 127, June 15. p. 379. Photo: Smallpox virus. (PD)
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