WARMING TO AN OLD CLIMATE
Genesis 2:6
“But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.”
It was the largest bird that ever lived. It stood 10-12 feet tall and could easily outrun a horse. Being a meat-eater, this fossil bird, which has been nicknamed “terror bird,” possibly did chase horses and bring them down with its sharp talons. The only thing that limited this creature’s terrible abilities was its inability to fly.
“Terror bird,” existed in a world that also included other large birds – one had a wingspread of 17 feet! In the warm climate of long ago, ferns towered 150 feet tall, huge alligators, marsupials and a strange mix of other creatures hid within the forest of fig and sequoia. Where would one find such a place? Of all places, Antarctica! Yes, it was a long time ago, although not as long ago as evolutionists claim. The location of these fossil creatures indicate that the Earth was once much warmer. Similar fossil remains have also been found in Siberia, Alaska and the Arctic.
It sounds as if a tropical forest is being described when Genesis talks about mist rising from the ground, watering the plants. If the Earth really is warming up, maybe it’s just now returning to normal. This is certainly not something that the ancients in the Near East would have made up – offering further evidence of God’s authorship of Scripture!
Dear Lord Jesus Christ, You are the Word made Flesh for my salvation, for which I thank You. Draw me closer to Yourself through Your Word of Scripture so that I may be even closer to You. Amen.
Walter Sullivan. “Fossil ‘Terror Bird’ Offers Clues to Evolution.” New York Times, Jan. 31, 1989, p. C11. Photo: Skeleton of the terror bird Titanis walleri at the Florida Museum of Natural History. Courtesy of Amanda (Flickr). Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.
Genesis 2:6
“But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.”
It was the largest bird that ever lived. It stood 10-12 feet tall and could easily outrun a horse. Being a meat-eater, this fossil bird, which has been nicknamed “terror bird,” possibly did chase horses and bring them down with its sharp talons. The only thing that limited this creature’s terrible abilities was its inability to fly.
“Terror bird,” existed in a world that also included other large birds – one had a wingspread of 17 feet! In the warm climate of long ago, ferns towered 150 feet tall, huge alligators, marsupials and a strange mix of other creatures hid within the forest of fig and sequoia. Where would one find such a place? Of all places, Antarctica! Yes, it was a long time ago, although not as long ago as evolutionists claim. The location of these fossil creatures indicate that the Earth was once much warmer. Similar fossil remains have also been found in Siberia, Alaska and the Arctic.
It sounds as if a tropical forest is being described when Genesis talks about mist rising from the ground, watering the plants. If the Earth really is warming up, maybe it’s just now returning to normal. This is certainly not something that the ancients in the Near East would have made up – offering further evidence of God’s authorship of Scripture!
Dear Lord Jesus Christ, You are the Word made Flesh for my salvation, for which I thank You. Draw me closer to Yourself through Your Word of Scripture so that I may be even closer to You. Amen.
Walter Sullivan. “Fossil ‘Terror Bird’ Offers Clues to Evolution.” New York Times, Jan. 31, 1989, p. C11. Photo: Skeleton of the terror bird Titanis walleri at the Florida Museum of Natural History. Courtesy of Amanda (Flickr). Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.
A DAY AT THE FLEA CIRCUS
1 Samuel 26:20b
“...for the king of Israel is come out to seek a flea, as when one doth hunt a partridge in the mountains.”
When King Saul pursued David to kill him, David compared himself to a flea by asking whether the king had come out with soldiers to kill a flea. But just because a flea is small, it doesn’t mean that God treated it as unimportant when He designed it.
The flea, has an ability to jump many times its own length and is a miniature marvel of engineering. If you see a flea jump – and that’s not easy to do – you will wonder whether the flea is actually powered by springs! The amazing truth is that the flea is powered by tiny springs. When it jumps, the flea actually releases more than five-and-a-half times as much energy as the most perfect muscle tissue can generate! The flea is able to do this using normal muscle output because he has small pads of natural protein rubber called resilin in his legs. As he slowly depresses the pads, he stores the energy which will be released in his next leap in one-seventh of the time he took to store it!
To our Creator, nothing and no one is unimportant. This is because He is, by nature, a loving and caring Creator. Do you know His love? Do you know that He seeks a personal relationship with you through what Jesus Christ did for you on the cross?
Dear Father in heaven, it was Your Son, my Savior Jesus Christ, Who taught me to call You “Father.” Help Me not to take Your love for granted, but always to thank You for Your love for me. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
Photo: Scanning electron microscope (SEM) depiction of a flea.
1 Samuel 26:20b
“...for the king of Israel is come out to seek a flea, as when one doth hunt a partridge in the mountains.”
When King Saul pursued David to kill him, David compared himself to a flea by asking whether the king had come out with soldiers to kill a flea. But just because a flea is small, it doesn’t mean that God treated it as unimportant when He designed it.
The flea, has an ability to jump many times its own length and is a miniature marvel of engineering. If you see a flea jump – and that’s not easy to do – you will wonder whether the flea is actually powered by springs! The amazing truth is that the flea is powered by tiny springs. When it jumps, the flea actually releases more than five-and-a-half times as much energy as the most perfect muscle tissue can generate! The flea is able to do this using normal muscle output because he has small pads of natural protein rubber called resilin in his legs. As he slowly depresses the pads, he stores the energy which will be released in his next leap in one-seventh of the time he took to store it!
To our Creator, nothing and no one is unimportant. This is because He is, by nature, a loving and caring Creator. Do you know His love? Do you know that He seeks a personal relationship with you through what Jesus Christ did for you on the cross?
Dear Father in heaven, it was Your Son, my Savior Jesus Christ, Who taught me to call You “Father.” Help Me not to take Your love for granted, but always to thank You for Your love for me. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
Photo: Scanning electron microscope (SEM) depiction of a flea.
YOUNG FISH LEARN NEW TRICKS
Proverbs 1:8-9
“My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother: For they [shall be] an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck.”
Isn’t it true that when we are very young we think our parents know everything? Then, when we become teenagers, we decide that our parents know virtually nothing. Finally, when we become parents ourselves, we discover how wise our parents really were! Learning and wisdom are supposed to be products of human evolution and for this reason textbooks usually speak of instinct when referring to animals. But do animal parents teach their children, and do they learn?
Biologist Robert R. Warner of the University of California showed that even adult fish teach their offspring the facts of life. Warner’s study involved moving fish called wrasses around to various reefs where they prefer to mate. He discovered that if there were no other wrasses at the reef, the young wrasses would establish their own mating sites. But if there were already adult wrasses at the reef, the young wrasses would share the mating sites that were taught to them by the established adults. In other words, the adults taught their traditional mating sites to the next generation!
The Creation teaches us that the intelligence of a creature has nothing to do with its supposed place in the evolutionary ladder. Even fish teach their young. This teaches us that it is a natural part of God’s plan that we learn from the experience of those who are older than ourselves.
Heavenly Father, I have so much to learn, not only from those around me, but also from You. Help me to desire what You have to teach me in Your Word and to be an eager student. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
Photo: Wrasse. Courtesy of National Marine Sanctuaries. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.
Proverbs 1:8-9
“My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother: For they [shall be] an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck.”
Isn’t it true that when we are very young we think our parents know everything? Then, when we become teenagers, we decide that our parents know virtually nothing. Finally, when we become parents ourselves, we discover how wise our parents really were! Learning and wisdom are supposed to be products of human evolution and for this reason textbooks usually speak of instinct when referring to animals. But do animal parents teach their children, and do they learn?
Biologist Robert R. Warner of the University of California showed that even adult fish teach their offspring the facts of life. Warner’s study involved moving fish called wrasses around to various reefs where they prefer to mate. He discovered that if there were no other wrasses at the reef, the young wrasses would establish their own mating sites. But if there were already adult wrasses at the reef, the young wrasses would share the mating sites that were taught to them by the established adults. In other words, the adults taught their traditional mating sites to the next generation!
The Creation teaches us that the intelligence of a creature has nothing to do with its supposed place in the evolutionary ladder. Even fish teach their young. This teaches us that it is a natural part of God’s plan that we learn from the experience of those who are older than ourselves.
Heavenly Father, I have so much to learn, not only from those around me, but also from You. Help me to desire what You have to teach me in Your Word and to be an eager student. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
Photo: Wrasse. Courtesy of National Marine Sanctuaries. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.
THE HELPFUL HONEYGUIDE
Job 35:10-11
“But none saith, Where [is] God my maker, who giveth songs in the night; who teacheth us more than the beasts of the earth, and maketh us wiser than the fowls of heaven?”
It has long been known that an African bird known as the honeyguide leads badgers to bees’ nests, where the badger tears the nest apart to eat the honey. The badger always leaves more than enough for the honeyguide.
Now it has been learned that the honeyguide has a similar relationship with the Boran people of Kenya. When the bird has found a bees’ nest, it will alert the Boran, bidding them to follow it to the honey site. On the other hand, if the Boran want to know where honey is, they know how to whistle and call for a honeyguide.
The honeyguide also calls to the people so that they know which way to go. When the Boran reach the honey, they always make sure that they leave some for the honeyguide. Researchers also reported that they saw honeyguides scouting out bees’ nests at night so that they had good sites to lead the Boran to the next day.
While the honeyguide does get its reward of honey in return for its help, the intelligence of the honeyguide in establishing these relationships with human beings is impressive. But while the honeyguide can help teach us that the creation is the work of an intelligent Creator, it cannot teach us how to have a relationship with Him. For that we must go to the Bible.
Dear Lord, all things were made through You, and for that we give thanks to You. Open the eyes of those who do not know You so that they might see Your hand in creation, and so be led to find Your love in Scripture. Amen.
“Honey Hunters Follow Bird to Reach Bees.” Science News, vol. 135, p. 172. Photo: Lesser honeyguide in Mapungubwe.. Courtesy of Derek Keats. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.
Job 35:10-11
“But none saith, Where [is] God my maker, who giveth songs in the night; who teacheth us more than the beasts of the earth, and maketh us wiser than the fowls of heaven?”
It has long been known that an African bird known as the honeyguide leads badgers to bees’ nests, where the badger tears the nest apart to eat the honey. The badger always leaves more than enough for the honeyguide.
Now it has been learned that the honeyguide has a similar relationship with the Boran people of Kenya. When the bird has found a bees’ nest, it will alert the Boran, bidding them to follow it to the honey site. On the other hand, if the Boran want to know where honey is, they know how to whistle and call for a honeyguide.
The honeyguide also calls to the people so that they know which way to go. When the Boran reach the honey, they always make sure that they leave some for the honeyguide. Researchers also reported that they saw honeyguides scouting out bees’ nests at night so that they had good sites to lead the Boran to the next day.
While the honeyguide does get its reward of honey in return for its help, the intelligence of the honeyguide in establishing these relationships with human beings is impressive. But while the honeyguide can help teach us that the creation is the work of an intelligent Creator, it cannot teach us how to have a relationship with Him. For that we must go to the Bible.
Dear Lord, all things were made through You, and for that we give thanks to You. Open the eyes of those who do not know You so that they might see Your hand in creation, and so be led to find Your love in Scripture. Amen.
“Honey Hunters Follow Bird to Reach Bees.” Science News, vol. 135, p. 172. Photo: Lesser honeyguide in Mapungubwe.. Courtesy of Derek Keats. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.
FROZEN TURTLES
Job 38:28-29
“Hath the rain a father? or who hath begotten the drops of dew? Out of whose womb came the ice? and the hoary frost of heaven, who hath gendered it?”
Reptiles are cold-blooded and like to live in warm places. However, there are exceptions to every rule. Turtles are reptiles but live in places like the northern United States where temperatures drop far below freezing.
Some creatures hibernate while others burrow deeply into the ground to survive the cold winters, but research has shown that at least some turtles actually freeze during the winter. Studies on the painted turtle, common in the northern United States, show that this species can survive being frozen. The turtles can actually be in water that freezes solid. As long as less than about 54 percent of the water in their bodies freezes solid, they can thaw out and survive quite nicely. How does the turtle get away with this?
First of all, blood sugar levels in the turtles nearly triple when they are frozen, and there is a sharp increase in certain amino acids which act as antifreeze. In addition, glycerol, another antifreeze, triples. Researchers point out that while these changes supply some answers, they don’t completely explain the turtle’s survival.
Scientists are trying to find out just how painted turtles live through being frozen. They hope to learn how to preserve human organs longer for later transplantation. In effect, they are trying to find out how God enables the painted turtle to survive freezing so they can copy His method.
Heavenly Father, I stand in amazement at the way in which You have created such a variety of creatures and provided for them. Help me to understand that You care for me even more than them. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
“These Turtles Freeze, But that’s Okay.” Science News, vol. 134, p. 382.
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