YOUR FAIL-SAFE HEART
Psalm 75:1
"Unto thee, O God, do we give thanks, [unto thee] do we give thanks: for [that] thy name is near thy wondrous works declare."
Your heart will beat some 100,000 times today. That's over 36 million heartbeats a year and over 2.5 billion times in a 70-year life span.
A healthy heart ticks along, producing beat after beat, whether we are awake or asleep. If we become more active, the heart increases its beating to meet the increasing needs of the rest of our body. Doctors tell us that it's amazing how few of these beats are faulty. They say that it's perfectly normal for even a healthy heart to produce an occasional irregular heart beat. Sometimes an irregular heartbeat is noticeable, but most often it's not. Doctors say that when your heart seems to skip a beat, it has really only beat prematurely. The premature beat leaves a pause before the next regular beat, making it feel as if your heart skipped a beat.
The clockwork precision of the heart's continuing beats is controlled by a built-in pacemaker. The pacemaker, called the sinus node, is a group of cells in the heart's upper right chamber. However, research has shown that every cell in the heart is able to send the electrical signal needed to produce a heart beat if the sinus node fails. Using highly complex computer models, medical researchers have only begun to understand within the past few years, the electrical action within the heart.
The human heart is much more than a pump, as once believed. It is also a computer and regulator. Every beat of this wondrously designed biological machine glorifies the Creator Who made it!
I thank You, Lord, that You have so wonderfully designed the heart. I join my mind with my voice in praising and thanking You with my whole heart. Remind me of Your often silent but important blessings when my thankfulness grows cold. Amen.
"Offbeat." Fairview Healthwise, p. 7. I. Peterson. 1983. "A Computer's Heart: Simulating the Heart's Electrical System." Science News, Mar. 19, p. 183. Photo: Low-magnification micrograph of sinus node (center). Courtesy of Nephron - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Nephron.
Psalm 75:1
"Unto thee, O God, do we give thanks, [unto thee] do we give thanks: for [that] thy name is near thy wondrous works declare."
Your heart will beat some 100,000 times today. That's over 36 million heartbeats a year and over 2.5 billion times in a 70-year life span.
A healthy heart ticks along, producing beat after beat, whether we are awake or asleep. If we become more active, the heart increases its beating to meet the increasing needs of the rest of our body. Doctors tell us that it's amazing how few of these beats are faulty. They say that it's perfectly normal for even a healthy heart to produce an occasional irregular heart beat. Sometimes an irregular heartbeat is noticeable, but most often it's not. Doctors say that when your heart seems to skip a beat, it has really only beat prematurely. The premature beat leaves a pause before the next regular beat, making it feel as if your heart skipped a beat.
The clockwork precision of the heart's continuing beats is controlled by a built-in pacemaker. The pacemaker, called the sinus node, is a group of cells in the heart's upper right chamber. However, research has shown that every cell in the heart is able to send the electrical signal needed to produce a heart beat if the sinus node fails. Using highly complex computer models, medical researchers have only begun to understand within the past few years, the electrical action within the heart.
The human heart is much more than a pump, as once believed. It is also a computer and regulator. Every beat of this wondrously designed biological machine glorifies the Creator Who made it!
I thank You, Lord, that You have so wonderfully designed the heart. I join my mind with my voice in praising and thanking You with my whole heart. Remind me of Your often silent but important blessings when my thankfulness grows cold. Amen.
"Offbeat." Fairview Healthwise, p. 7. I. Peterson. 1983. "A Computer's Heart: Simulating the Heart's Electrical System." Science News, Mar. 19, p. 183. Photo: Low-magnification micrograph of sinus node (center). Courtesy of Nephron - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Nephron.
DESTRUCTION FROM SPACE?
Luke 21:27-28
"And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh."
We hear many claims that all life on Earth could someday be wiped out in a catastrophic collision with a giant asteroid.
According to Arthur Humphrey, immediate past president of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, the Earth has just missed several catastrophic collisions with asteroids in recent times. He said that in 1989 and 1991, two asteroids missed the Earth by only a few hundred thousand miles. Humphrey estimates that there are about 11,000 large asteroids that cross our orbit.
He suggests that scientists map all the asteroids that cross Earth orbit, giving us a chance to divert any that might threaten the Earth. The estimated cost of the project is $20 million.
The world is a terrifying place to those who think that our future lies in the hands of chance. But consider the design of our solar system. The Earth is just at the right distance from the sun for us. If we were one percent closer or further, there would be no life on Earth. Our sun is a remarkably stable star. If it were like many stars, its energy could fry us one day and leave us to freeze the next. These remarkable relationships are not a product of chance. They are the evidence of our Creator's loving design. And He has told us that human beings will be on Earth to greet Him when He returns.
Dear Heavenly Father, I trust Your constant and loving provision and protection. Help me to see that when I am filled with the fear of some danger in the creation, I have been seduced by the pagan belief in chance that surrounds me. Forgive me for my fear, for Jesus' sake. Amen.
Arthur E. Humphrey. 1991. "The Squeaky Wheel." AICHE. Dec., p. 12. K. M. Reese. 1992. "The Hazard of Asteroids." C & EN, Feb. 3, p. 68. Photo: NASA simulation of Asteroid 2012 DA 14 as it heads toward Earth. The close-call occurred 2/15/13.
Luke 21:27-28
"And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh."
We hear many claims that all life on Earth could someday be wiped out in a catastrophic collision with a giant asteroid.
According to Arthur Humphrey, immediate past president of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, the Earth has just missed several catastrophic collisions with asteroids in recent times. He said that in 1989 and 1991, two asteroids missed the Earth by only a few hundred thousand miles. Humphrey estimates that there are about 11,000 large asteroids that cross our orbit.
He suggests that scientists map all the asteroids that cross Earth orbit, giving us a chance to divert any that might threaten the Earth. The estimated cost of the project is $20 million.
The world is a terrifying place to those who think that our future lies in the hands of chance. But consider the design of our solar system. The Earth is just at the right distance from the sun for us. If we were one percent closer or further, there would be no life on Earth. Our sun is a remarkably stable star. If it were like many stars, its energy could fry us one day and leave us to freeze the next. These remarkable relationships are not a product of chance. They are the evidence of our Creator's loving design. And He has told us that human beings will be on Earth to greet Him when He returns.
Dear Heavenly Father, I trust Your constant and loving provision and protection. Help me to see that when I am filled with the fear of some danger in the creation, I have been seduced by the pagan belief in chance that surrounds me. Forgive me for my fear, for Jesus' sake. Amen.
Arthur E. Humphrey. 1991. "The Squeaky Wheel." AICHE. Dec., p. 12. K. M. Reese. 1992. "The Hazard of Asteroids." C & EN, Feb. 3, p. 68. Photo: NASA simulation of Asteroid 2012 DA 14 as it heads toward Earth. The close-call occurred 2/15/13.
DESTRUCTION FROM SPACE?
Luke 21:27-28
"And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh."
We hear many claims that all life on Earth could someday be wiped out in a catastrophic collision with a giant asteroid.
According to Arthur Humphrey, immediate past president of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, the Earth has just missed several catastrophic collisions with asteroids in recent times. He said that in 1989 and 1991, two asteroids missed the Earth by only a few hundred thousand miles. Humphrey estimates that there are about 11,000 large asteroids that cross our orbit.
He suggests that scientists map all the asteroids that cross Earth orbit, giving us a chance to divert any that might threaten the Earth. The estimated cost of the project is $20 million.
The world is a terrifying place to those who think that our future lies in the hands of chance. But consider the design of our solar system. The Earth is just at the right distance from the sun for us. If we were one percent closer or further, there would be no life on Earth. Our sun is a remarkably stable star. If it were like many stars, its energy could fry us one day and leave us to freeze the next. These remarkable relationships are not a product of chance. They are the evidence of our Creator's loving design. And He has told us that human beings will be on Earth to greet Him when He returns.
Dear Heavenly Father, I trust Your constant and loving provision and protection. Help me to see that when I am filled with the fear of some danger in the creation, I have been seduced by the pagan belief in chance that surrounds me. Forgive me for my fear, for Jesus' sake. Amen.
Arthur E. Humphrey. 1991. "The Squeaky Wheel." AICHE. Dec., p. 12. K. M. Reese. 1992. "The Hazard of Asteroids." C & EN, Feb. 3, p. 68. Photo: NASA simulation of Asteroid 2012 DA 14 as it heads toward Earth. The close-call occurred 2/15/13.
Luke 21:27-28
"And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh."
We hear many claims that all life on Earth could someday be wiped out in a catastrophic collision with a giant asteroid.
According to Arthur Humphrey, immediate past president of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, the Earth has just missed several catastrophic collisions with asteroids in recent times. He said that in 1989 and 1991, two asteroids missed the Earth by only a few hundred thousand miles. Humphrey estimates that there are about 11,000 large asteroids that cross our orbit.
He suggests that scientists map all the asteroids that cross Earth orbit, giving us a chance to divert any that might threaten the Earth. The estimated cost of the project is $20 million.
The world is a terrifying place to those who think that our future lies in the hands of chance. But consider the design of our solar system. The Earth is just at the right distance from the sun for us. If we were one percent closer or further, there would be no life on Earth. Our sun is a remarkably stable star. If it were like many stars, its energy could fry us one day and leave us to freeze the next. These remarkable relationships are not a product of chance. They are the evidence of our Creator's loving design. And He has told us that human beings will be on Earth to greet Him when He returns.
Dear Heavenly Father, I trust Your constant and loving provision and protection. Help me to see that when I am filled with the fear of some danger in the creation, I have been seduced by the pagan belief in chance that surrounds me. Forgive me for my fear, for Jesus' sake. Amen.
Arthur E. Humphrey. 1991. "The Squeaky Wheel." AICHE. Dec., p. 12. K. M. Reese. 1992. "The Hazard of Asteroids." C & EN, Feb. 3, p. 68. Photo: NASA simulation of Asteroid 2012 DA 14 as it heads toward Earth. The close-call occurred 2/15/13.
AN AMAZING AUSTRALIAN FROG
Mark 10:32a
"And they were in the way going up to Jerusalem; and Jesus went before them: and they were amazed; and as they followed, they were afraid."
A rare Australian aquatic frog has one of the most amazing systems for rearing its young to be found in the animal kingdom. If any other creature tried the same method, the result would be fatal to its young.
The frog is a species of Australian frog so rare that it only has a Latin name. Once the eggs are laid and fertilized, the female swallows the eggs. Sometimes she waits until they begin to develop. However, once the young are in her stomach, she forgoes eating for eight weeks. After eight weeks, the young, developed frogs emerge from her mouth.
Why aren't the young frogs digested in the mother's stomach? Once the offspring are in her stomach, they begin to release fine threads of chemicals from their mouths. Among these chemicals is one that causes the mother's stomach to stop manufacturing acid. In other words, the tiny young frogs change the mother's stomach from an organ for digestion into a comfortable, protected nursery. Scientists were amazed at the frog's system since no other creature in nature is able to do this.
The Bible often notes that when Jesus Christ walked this Earth in bodily form, He frequently amazed people. Sometimes He used a miracle to astonish them. Sometimes it was His teaching that astounded them. Here we see that through His work as Creator, He can still amaze even the most hardened unbelievers with His work. You can learn more about why He is so amazing in the pages of the Bible.
Lord, I recommit myself to regular reading and study of the Bible. Through Your Word, strengthen my faith and help me to be filled with amazement over Your great love for me through the forgiveness of my sins. Amen.
"Tadpole Role in Gastric Pregnancy." Science News, Vol. 123, p. 350. Photo: The more common White's tree frog, found throughout much of Australia.
Mark 10:32a
"And they were in the way going up to Jerusalem; and Jesus went before them: and they were amazed; and as they followed, they were afraid."
A rare Australian aquatic frog has one of the most amazing systems for rearing its young to be found in the animal kingdom. If any other creature tried the same method, the result would be fatal to its young.
The frog is a species of Australian frog so rare that it only has a Latin name. Once the eggs are laid and fertilized, the female swallows the eggs. Sometimes she waits until they begin to develop. However, once the young are in her stomach, she forgoes eating for eight weeks. After eight weeks, the young, developed frogs emerge from her mouth.
Why aren't the young frogs digested in the mother's stomach? Once the offspring are in her stomach, they begin to release fine threads of chemicals from their mouths. Among these chemicals is one that causes the mother's stomach to stop manufacturing acid. In other words, the tiny young frogs change the mother's stomach from an organ for digestion into a comfortable, protected nursery. Scientists were amazed at the frog's system since no other creature in nature is able to do this.
The Bible often notes that when Jesus Christ walked this Earth in bodily form, He frequently amazed people. Sometimes He used a miracle to astonish them. Sometimes it was His teaching that astounded them. Here we see that through His work as Creator, He can still amaze even the most hardened unbelievers with His work. You can learn more about why He is so amazing in the pages of the Bible.
Lord, I recommit myself to regular reading and study of the Bible. Through Your Word, strengthen my faith and help me to be filled with amazement over Your great love for me through the forgiveness of my sins. Amen.
"Tadpole Role in Gastric Pregnancy." Science News, Vol. 123, p. 350. Photo: The more common White's tree frog, found throughout much of Australia.
ANOTHER MIRACLE OF SIGHT
Psalm 94:8-9
"Understand, ye brutish among the people: and [ye] fools, when will ye be wise? He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? he that formed the eye, shall he not see?"
The eye is a chemical and technological wonder. It would take thousands of carefully directed mutations for an eyeless creature to develop sight. And since a partial eye doesn't provide sight, each of these thousands of mutations would offer no advantage to the creature.
The fact is, of course, that mutations don't happen this way. All the true mutations we know about have harmed rather than helped the creature with the mutation. This fact places the thought of thousands of positive mutations in a row outside the realm of scientifically reasonable consideration. In addition, neither living nor known fossil animals show any evidence of gradual development of eyes. Therefore, the most reasonable scientific conclusion is that there is a Creator Who designed and created the eye.
The lens of the eye is a marvel of chemistry. It is made up of a concentration of protein molecules inside water-lined cells. When scientists learned this, they were amazed. Protein molecules in water are not transparent, as the lens must be. After more research, they discovered God's secret. The high concentration of protein molecules in the lens of the eye causes the proteins to pack together something like the molecules of window glass. As a result, the normally opaque protein solution in the lens becomes transparent.
The eye does more damage to ideas about origins that leave out God than almost any other feature of the creation because it allows us to see the Creator's fingerprints all around us!
I thank You, dear Lord, for the gift of sight by faith that allows me to see the clear evidences of Your handiwork all around me. Teach me to show others, whose sight may not be so clear, that You are not only our Creator, but our Savior. Amen.
I. Peterson. 1983. "Why the Eye Lens is Transparent." Science News, April 16.
Psalm 94:8-9
"Understand, ye brutish among the people: and [ye] fools, when will ye be wise? He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? he that formed the eye, shall he not see?"
The eye is a chemical and technological wonder. It would take thousands of carefully directed mutations for an eyeless creature to develop sight. And since a partial eye doesn't provide sight, each of these thousands of mutations would offer no advantage to the creature.
The fact is, of course, that mutations don't happen this way. All the true mutations we know about have harmed rather than helped the creature with the mutation. This fact places the thought of thousands of positive mutations in a row outside the realm of scientifically reasonable consideration. In addition, neither living nor known fossil animals show any evidence of gradual development of eyes. Therefore, the most reasonable scientific conclusion is that there is a Creator Who designed and created the eye.
The lens of the eye is a marvel of chemistry. It is made up of a concentration of protein molecules inside water-lined cells. When scientists learned this, they were amazed. Protein molecules in water are not transparent, as the lens must be. After more research, they discovered God's secret. The high concentration of protein molecules in the lens of the eye causes the proteins to pack together something like the molecules of window glass. As a result, the normally opaque protein solution in the lens becomes transparent.
The eye does more damage to ideas about origins that leave out God than almost any other feature of the creation because it allows us to see the Creator's fingerprints all around us!
I thank You, dear Lord, for the gift of sight by faith that allows me to see the clear evidences of Your handiwork all around me. Teach me to show others, whose sight may not be so clear, that You are not only our Creator, but our Savior. Amen.
I. Peterson. 1983. "Why the Eye Lens is Transparent." Science News, April 16.
FLIPPERPITHICUS
Psalm 92:5-6
"O LORD, how great are thy works! [and] thy thoughts are very deep. A brutish man knoweth not; neither doth a fool understand this."
Creation Scientists have often complained that evolutionists seem unscientifically eager to turn any ancient fossil into proof of human evolution. In the past, bones from pigs, monkeys, alligators, horses and even an elephant have been "reconstructed" into missing links between humans and ape-like creatures.
While these examples are all old, evolutionists continue to be over-enthusiastic about using animal bones to make human-like creatures. A more recent example caused the respected magazine, Science News, to note that even some evolutionists have begun to discuss "anthropologists' over-zealous pursuit of human ancestry."
In 1979, a bone discovered in northern Africa was described as a hominoid clavicle. In plain English, the bone was said to be the collarbone of a creature that was an ape becoming man. Its discoverer said that the bone indicated that its owner had possibly even walked upright, like modern humans. As in most of these claims, its discoverer said that it was the oldest evidence yet for the evolution of modern man. Others studied the fossil bone over the next few years. They came to the conclusion that it was, in fact, the rib bone from a Pacific white-sided dolphin. One scientist jokingly nicknamed the creature "flipperpithicus" - meaning the dolphin ape.
We need to take care that we don't become over-impressed by the conclusions of scientists with lots of letters behind their names. When it comes to supporting evolution, many scientists are driven more by their desire to prove evolution than by any facts.
Father in heaven, strengthen my faith so that I know what I believe and why I believe, so that I may not be intimidated by the claims unbelievers make against the truth of Your Word. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
W. Herbert. "Hominids Bear Up, Become Porpoiseful." Science News, Vol. 123, p. 246. Photo: An imaginative reconstruction of Java Man, considering that it's based on only a skullcap, femur and a few teeth.
Psalm 92:5-6
"O LORD, how great are thy works! [and] thy thoughts are very deep. A brutish man knoweth not; neither doth a fool understand this."
Creation Scientists have often complained that evolutionists seem unscientifically eager to turn any ancient fossil into proof of human evolution. In the past, bones from pigs, monkeys, alligators, horses and even an elephant have been "reconstructed" into missing links between humans and ape-like creatures.
While these examples are all old, evolutionists continue to be over-enthusiastic about using animal bones to make human-like creatures. A more recent example caused the respected magazine, Science News, to note that even some evolutionists have begun to discuss "anthropologists' over-zealous pursuit of human ancestry."
In 1979, a bone discovered in northern Africa was described as a hominoid clavicle. In plain English, the bone was said to be the collarbone of a creature that was an ape becoming man. Its discoverer said that the bone indicated that its owner had possibly even walked upright, like modern humans. As in most of these claims, its discoverer said that it was the oldest evidence yet for the evolution of modern man. Others studied the fossil bone over the next few years. They came to the conclusion that it was, in fact, the rib bone from a Pacific white-sided dolphin. One scientist jokingly nicknamed the creature "flipperpithicus" - meaning the dolphin ape.
We need to take care that we don't become over-impressed by the conclusions of scientists with lots of letters behind their names. When it comes to supporting evolution, many scientists are driven more by their desire to prove evolution than by any facts.
Father in heaven, strengthen my faith so that I know what I believe and why I believe, so that I may not be intimidated by the claims unbelievers make against the truth of Your Word. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
W. Herbert. "Hominids Bear Up, Become Porpoiseful." Science News, Vol. 123, p. 246. Photo: An imaginative reconstruction of Java Man, considering that it's based on only a skullcap, femur and a few teeth.
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