CREATION MOMENTS: 2.19.22

These lovable-looking animals are popular in zoos. Unlike giant pandas, they are quite easy to look after in zoos, and their cute ginger-and-white faces are very appealing to the public. Like giant pandas, they eat mostly bamboo. I have kept comparing them to the animal with which they share a name – the giant panda. But the classification of red pandas has been fraught with difficulty. At one time, evolutionists thought that all pandas were part of the same family – hence their names. However, when giant pandas were reclassified as part of the bear family, this left red pandas out in the cold. There were some who wanted to classify the red panda along with the bears, but others thought it was a raccoon due to the similarity of their tails. Nowadays, evolutionists have classified the red panda in a family all of its own. Creationist biologists agree and refer to the Ailuridae baramin (or created kind). Red pandas have sharp claws and a powerful bite. Some evolutionists have supposed that this is because the near-vegetarian red pandas must have evolved from a carnivorous animal. In fact, there is no evidence to support the evolution of red pandas. Their claws are essential for climbing trees, and their powerful bite is necessary in order to eat bamboo. God designed the red panda just the way He wanted to. ------------------------ Staying with some family members in Kentucky, I was delighted one dark evening to see little flashes of light in the air, low over the garden lawn. Although I was too far away to see the insects concerned, these must have been fireflies. Fireflies are not actually flies – they are beetles. Their light-producing organs are in their abdomens. Most species use these bioluminescent displays for courtship. The bioluminescence is caused by a type of luciferin molecule, commonly called firefly luciferin. The name has nothing to do with evil! It comes from the Latin word for light. Firefly luciferin reacts with oxygen, and the reaction is catalyzed by an enzyme, luciferase, as well as the presence of magnesium ions and adenosine triphosphate – the energy-giving molecule ATP. Luciferin first forms another highly tensed molecule called a dioxetane, which releases CO2 to form a ketone. The ketone is in a highly excited electronic state, so it “relaxes” back to normal state by releasing energy. This energy is at exactly the right frequency to be in the visible light range. The fireflies in Kentucky emitted yellow light. If one were an evolutionist, one would have to wonder – what would have been the evolutionary advantage for the beetle to produce luciferase if there was no luciferin, or vice versa? We have a lot more work to do to investigate the chemistry of the process, but we still marvel at the wonder of God’s design for these insects. ------------------------- In a previous Creation Moment, we talked about the Perseverance Mars 2020 mission, which included a helicopter named Ingenuity. Another technology demonstration taken with Perseverance is an instrument for collecting oxygen. The atmosphere on Mars is very thin; its surface pressure is only 1% of Earth’s atmosphere. Of this tenuous Martian atmosphere, 95.3% is carbon dioxide, which is only a trace gas on Earth. There is 2.6% nitrogen and 1.9% argon, with trace amounts of water vapor, oxygen, carbon monoxide, hydrogen and noble gases. Despite the rarity of oxygen, NASA engineers believe that their equipment can extract oxygen in sufficient quantities to make human exploration of Mars possible. Which brings us to the subject of life. Previous missions – and indeed photographs – have provided evidence that there was once water on Mars. Even Perseverance’s landing site – the Jezero Crater – appears surrounded by dried water channels. But water and atmospheric carbon dioxide do not make life. Says one NASA scientist, “If we found a microbe that arose on the next planet over, if lightning struck twice in this one corner of the solar system, it would suggest that our whole universe could have life on lots and lots of planets and it’s not just us alone in the dark night.” But his “lightning” did not strike once. Chemicals in lifeforms are not produced by mixtures or even simple reactions. They contain codes and information which could only have been put there by the Creator God of the Bible. ---------------------- The headline “Scientist Sees Planets with Very Large Telescope” might not excite the imagination until you realize that the Very Large Telescope, or VLT, is actually a thing! It is a huge reflecting telescope, built by the European Southern Observatory in the desert in Chile. It is actually comprised of four telescopes, each of which has a primary hyperbolic mirror about 27 feet across. The result is that the instrument can “see” objects millions of times fainter than those detected by the human eye. Recently, the VLT was pointed at a star rejoicing in the name TYC 8998-760-1, about 300 light years away. It was already known, from calculations, that the star had two planets orbiting it. So the VLT was able to take a magnificent photograph of the stellar system, clearly showing these planets. Both planets are gas giants. The one closer to the star is 14 times more massive than Jupiter, while the other is six times bigger. The planets are 160 and 320 times further from their star than the Earth is from the Sun, compared with just five and ten times the Earth-Sun distance for Jupiter and Saturn. The article describing the photo inevitably speculates on the supposed “evolution” of these planets and whether or not there may be others with evolved life. Creationists will not waste time on such idle speculation but rejoice that even more of the heavens that declare God’s glory have now been revealed. ------------------------- In any discussion on the veracity of a moral point relying on the Bible, an unbeliever is likely to retort, “Well, you shouldn’t be wearing mixed fabrics! The Bible condemns that!” Ask them where the Bible teaches this, and they are unlikely to be able to tell you. Two passages spring to mind. One is Leviticus 19:19: “nor shall you wear a garment of cloth made of two kinds of material.” Does this refer to mixing cotton with rayon, for example? Another passage is: “You shall not wear cloth of wool and linen mixed together.” Is this more specific command different? Almost certainly not. Wool, from sheep or goats, and linen, from flax fibers, were almost certainly the only fabrics that the Israelites knew. But these passages are not from the moral law. The passages do not condemn the mixing of fabrics for everyone. In Exodus 28:6, God gave an instruction for Aaronic priests to wear an ephod “of gold, of blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and of fine twined linen, skillfully worked.” The dyed yarns would have to be of wool, so we have a mixed fiber garment. Now we understand the Levitical rule not to wear mixed materials. Such garments were for the priests, and, therefore, the rule separated priests from other people. Jesus is our High Priest. Therefore, no priestly garments are required. Just as God commanded Peter to eat what had previously been considered unclean, we are to confess: “What God has made clean, do not call common.” --------------------- Ray Bradbury’s classic 1952 short story “A Sound of Thunder” featured a company called Time Safaris Inc. They took clients back in time to the date evolutionists believe dinosaurs roamed the Earth. They find a dinosaur which is about to die, then allow the clients to shoot it. During one safari, a character slips off the force-field pathway and, unknowingly, treads on a butterfly, killing it. On return to the present, they discover that the present is different from the present they left. Evolution has proceeded by a very different route because of the death of that butterfly. As a teenager, brought up to believe evolution, the story seemed plausible to me. Evolution would surely multiply such errors. But researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory have suggested that quantum physics gives a different answer – that the proceeding evolution would correct itself and little overall change would occur. Bradbury’s story led to the coining of the term “the butterfly effect”. The Los Alamos researchers suggest there is no butterfly effect. Who has it right? The answer is, of course, neither. For so many other reasons, we know that Darwinian evolution, requiring increased new information, is impossible. So Bradbury’s short story was based on a false premise. But so was the Los Alamos research. Their computer model, however sophisticated, is a designed environment and can therefore never simulate random processes. Meanwhile, the revelation of God’s word in Scripture stands as the only true key to the past. ------------------------ It has always been my contention, in the sermons and presentations which I give, that talk about human evolution can be dangerous. Why so? The first problem in the discussion is the equivocal way in which evolutionists use the term evolution. In a linguistic sense, it can simply mean change. So, it could be noted that characteristics of one population of humans has changed over time. This could be described linguistically as evolution. But it is not biological evolution. To a biologist, Darwinian evolution must involve mutations which produce new and better genetic information, which, over time and natural selection, will improve the population. Such novel genetic information is not, in practice, actually seen, but this does not seem to stop biologists referring to the evolution of human beings in an unfortunate manner. Evolutionary articles are wont to describe changes in skin pigmentation as evolution. Describing such changes as “evolution” can be risky because it can easily lead to discussion of which skin pigmentation is “better” and more highly evolved. One can see how such discussion can lead to racist conclusions. Such problems do not exist in a biblical context, where we see, as a foundation to anthropology, that all human beings are descended from one man, Adam, and are therefore of one race. So the different levels of pigmentation that God has given to us can be seen as glorious and reasons to praise Him for His goodness. -Over a decade ago, British geneticist Dr. Steve Jones, of University College, London, opined that human evolution had ceased. He stated that there are three factors influencing evolution: natural selection, mutation and random change. Jones attributed the end of evolution to men becoming fathers much later in life than earlier centuries and, therefore, having a shorter reproductive period. This, he claimed, led to less deleterious mutations being removed from the population. Referring to the same three factors, researchers at New York’s Columbia University have reached the opposite conclusion. They state that human evolution continues apace. Lead researcher Dr. Hakhamanesh Mostafavi said, “If a genetic variant influences survival, its frequency should change with the age of the surviving individuals”, suggesting that harmful variants should be less common in older populations, if that deleterious mutation has led to more deaths. His team suggests that “parents surviving into old age in good health can care for their children and grandchildren, increasing the later generations’ chances of surviving and reproducing.” We should first note that such survival and selection of genetic traits is not evolution. Deleterious mutations are removed by natural selection, but any new mutation is likely to be deleterious to survival in the short term. Besides, none of this involves the creation of new genetic information, so this is not evolution. God made human beings with the genetic abilities to weed out harmful mutations. Positive generational care – a biblical concept – was God’s idea, not the result of random chance. ------------------------ In the previous Creation Moment, we saw that two recent studies were published, in an attempt to date the so-called Big Bang. These two studies differed wildly in their conclusions. Both studies could not be correct – but they could both be wrong. In fact, the Bible does not allow for the so-called quantum event known as the Big Bang – a universe coming into existence all by itself. The Bible shows that everything there is was created by God. The studies relied on two different properties of the imaginary Big Bang scenario. One is the Hubble Constant, which relates the expansion of the universe to the red shift of light from distant objects. The Bible speaks of an expansion of the universe because the Hebrew word for firmament or expanse in Genesis 1 is raqia – referring to the stretching of a substance like metal. But this mostly happened in the Creation Week and was not necessarily constant at that time. The other property is the Cosmic Microwave Background, which is an even temperature everywhere at all points of interstellar space. If the universe were 14 billion years old, energy could not have traveled more than twice this – 28 billion light years. However, the universe is much bigger than this. So neither CMB nor Hubble can explain the universe. But the Bible can! God made both the matter and the energy of the universe. He stretched it and put the physical laws in place which help us to understand it. ------------------------ As I am writing these Creation Moments, two new scientific studies have emerged by cosmologists attempting to calculate the date of the Big Bang. The problem is that the two studies do not agree. One study, led by Stony Brook University, has confirmed the traditional value of 13.8 billion years. Another study, led by the University of Oregon, prefers 12.6 billion years – a difference of nearly 10%. The Stony Brook team has analyzed the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB), which they assume to be the afterglow of the Big Bang. They claim that they are “restoring the ‘baby photo’ of the universe to its original condition, eliminating the wear and tear of time and space that distorted the image”. Their aging calculation requires a value for the Hubble Constant of 67.6 kilometers per second per megaparsec. A parsec is about 3.3 light years. The Hubble Constant is basically referring to the expansion of the universe. However, the Oregon study has calculated a Hubble Constant of 75.1 kilometers per second per megaparsec. Given that the Hubble Constant is indeed supposed to be a constant, this huge difference is of great significance. Even without understanding the numbers, it is obvious that both studies cannot be correct. But they could both be wrong, and they both make unsubstantiated assumptions about past events. Our next Creation Moment will show that both CMB and the Hubble Constant are better understood by assuming that the Bible is true. --------------------- We have long known that the community within a honeybee hive divides the labor among specialized workers. There are scouts who search for food. Nurses tend the young. Some bees specialized in cleaning. There are even undertaker bees who remove and dispose of dead members of the hive. Scientists have now discovered that honeybee colonies also have brigades of specialized “soldiers.” These bees often seem to be sitting around, not doing much. In fact, they have only one duty—attack large intruders. It appears that these bees are fed and cared for by the hive members while they wait for the alarm. Should a raccoon, bear or human threaten the hive, thousands of soldier bees swarm around the enemy and sting. Soldiers have been well-known members of ant and termite colonies. However, up to now, they have never been confirmed in honeybee hives. The universal need for soldiers for protection among social insects reminds us that some things are universal in this world. These soldiers are not responsible for a bear’s attack on the hive. Nor are human soldiers who follow just war principles responsible for human war. Humanity’s greed and lack of love for others cannot be abolished by getting rid of armies. Rather, greed, theft and the need for protection remind us that we are not what God intended us to be. The solution lies not in denying reality, but in returning to our Creator through the forgiveness of our sins as made possible by Jesus Christ. Prayer: Father, I must confess that even as I love You and agree that Your will is good, I still sin. Forgive me for the sake of the innocent suffering and death of Your Son Jesus Christ. May His goodness, and not my own, always be my assurance of Your love. ----------------------------- How many different scents do you think your nose is able to smell? The answer is about 10,000. How does your nose tell the difference between a rose and a skunk? Until only recently, scientists really weren’t sure. Now we know that humans and mammals detect smells by using at least 1,000 different genes. These genes are located in every cell in your body, but they are active only in your nose. This discovery, say scientists, gives them their first insight into how smell works. Before this, said one scientist, “We had almost no knowledge of the olfactory system and this really opens up the molecular study of smell in a very fascinating way.” They say that each of the different genes seems designed to respond to a small group of odors. As each group of genes does its part, the entire system is able to recognize everything we can smell. These genes pass signals from the nerve cells in the nose to a small region of the brain called the olfactory bulb. Now that smell genes are identified, researchers say they can begin to understand how odors are detected and how the brain interprets those signals. Our sense of smell relies on a very elegant and sophisticated system. Imagine, 1,000 genes lie at the heart of that system. Each one of those genes is information—a programmed code that is designed to make sense of what we smell. Information, programming and decoding are all terms that assume that we have a highly intelligent Creator who designed our sense of smell! --------------------------- Mastodons were distant relatives of the elephant. Modern science says that one of the main parts of their diet was conifer needles. Supposedly they died out at the end of the Ice Age because conifers became scarce as the world warmed. Now the discovery of the last meal of one mastodon calls this theory into question. Living bacteria have been found in a mastodon that died during the Ice Age. The bugs were found in the remains of a mastodon’s last meal, preserved with a skeleton that was discovered while preparing a golf course in Ohio. Scientists think the bacteria normally lived inside the mastodon, working as part of the mastodon’s digestive process. What scientists discovered about the mastodons’ diet could upset some theories about what drove them to extinction. The scientists said the four-ton mastodon had spent its last day eating a salad of swamp grass, moss and leaves, a bit of seed, and a garnish of water lily. What was left of these plants, as well as the bacteria, were separated from a mass of reddish-brown matter found near the mastodon’s ribs and vertebrae. Scientists who believe in evolution claim that the animal died 11,000 years ago. But how sure can we be about that? After all, evolutionary scientists were wrong about the mastodon’s diet. As a result, their theories about why mastodons became extinct seem to be wrong. The facts that the bacteria were still alive and the stomach contents were not fully decayed tells us that this evolutionary date, too, is greatly exaggerated. ------------------------------------ Could the giant flying fox be a primate? In the 18th century, scientists weren’t quite sure what to do with bats. Some wanted to classify them as primates, while others thought they should have their own category. Since 1780, all 950 known species of bats have been classified in their own category. The bat order is divided into microbats and megabats. Microbats have an average wingspan of less than a foot. Megabats are larger. The giant flying fox has a wingspan of six feet! The evolutionary link between microbats and megabats is dissolving as scientists learn more about them. Although megabats and microbats are very clearly bats, they are constructed in importantly different ways. Microbats rely mainly on echo-location to navigate. Megabats have very large eyes, so that they can see like owls in low light. The nerves that connect the eyes of microbats to the brain cross. As a result, the image from the right eye goes to the left brain and the left eye feeds its image to the right brain. However, megabats are wired with both eyes feeding into both sides of the brain. This arrangement is otherwise unique to primates If bats evolved, these new findings mean that bats must have evolved at least twice! It also means that some bats evolved from monkey-like creatures! It makes far more sense to admire God’s unlimited creativity. We can logically reason that God gave His larger bats eyesight like that of a monkey, because their needs are similar. ---------------------- The Bible itself tells us that the first five books of the Bible were written by Moses. Jesus Himself calls Moses the author of the first five books of the Bible over a dozen times. Unfortunately, liberal biblical scholarship has rejected these claims. These scholars have tried to teach Christians that the first five books of the Bible were written over many generations and finally finished only five centuries before Christ’s birth Now an amazing new discovery is forcing these scholars to change their teaching and has helped to scientifically confirm what Jesus said. Archaeologists have discovered two tiny silver scrolls on which are carved important passages from Moses. The scrolls, once used as amulets, were found in the ruins of early sixth or seventh century B.C. Jerusalem. Each scroll was made of thin silver foil, no thicker than tissue paper. One of the scrolls was an inch wide and an inch and one-half long. Scientists studying the fine engraving under a microscope found what appears to be the text of a priestly blessing from the Book of Numbers. They noted that it was remarkable that the blessing is identical to modern texts, showing that the text has been accurately preserved longer than they ever imagined. True faith doesn’t require the support of science. However, we are right to expect that true science will never do less than support the Bible when they are both speaking about the same subject. Prayer: It grieves me, Lord, that so few today understand that the truth of Scripture is important because all of Scripture speaks of You. ---------------------------- This group of fish is collectively called the angler fish. The front dorsal spine in the female angler is located on her head. It is much longer than any of the other dorsal fins and has a fleshy bait on the end. When hungry, she sits very still and dangles the bait in front of her mouth. It doesn’t take long before something swims up to investigate this bait as its possible lunch. But before it can think about taking a sample, the angler has turned the tables and eaten her own lunch. Of course this system wouldn’t work very well in the pitch darkness one mile below the surface of the ocean without one other special provision. Like many other fish at such depths, the angler is able to generate her own light. In her case, only the bait lights up, so she stays invisible to her victims. The chemical method she uses to create the light is nearly 100% efficient! In His imaginative creativity, God was pleased to place creatures a mile below the surface of the sea. Yet in His mercy He has provided them with everything they need to make their living there. Likewise, you may not know why God has placed you into a particular situation right now. If He so cares for the creatures a mile below the waves, how much more does He care for You. And He has even included a light for you in His Son Jesus Christ! ------------------------------ A revolutionary design in metal-cutting blades is changing the metal-working industry. These blades don’t cut like a knife. Instead, the blade is fixed in one position while the metal to be shaped spins on a lathe. This new-style blade stays sharp six times longer than the old blade design. And where titanium used to make the old-style cutting blades dull almost the second they were used, the new blades last up to 30 minutes. This wonderful new blade was developed by two engineers who got the original idea from a rat. You see, rats’ teeth always have a sharp edge. Engineers learned that this is because their teeth are hard on one side and soft on the other. So as they wear, they always keep a sharp edge. Using this principle for metal-cutting has lowered costs and increased productivity, since the blades don’t have to be changed as often. Beginning in Job 39 God humbles Job with several chapters of questions about the wise designs found in the animal kingdom. God’s message is, “Job, if you think you’re so smart, who created all of this with such wisdom?” Even rats’ teeth are created with such wisdom that, once we learned the principle, our technology was greatly improved. In view of this, it doesn’t seem at all scientific to say that there is no Creator! -------------------------------