THE SEA SLUGS' BORROWED DEFENSE
Job 12:7a, 8b
"But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee.and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee:"
Of all the creatures which walk, crawl, creep or grow on Earth, which one invented the organ transplant? I'll give you one hint, it wasn't the human being.
Actually, several creatures perform organ transplants, and the inventor must be God because mindless natural forces could never have worked out the amazing transplants we see in our world.
Sea slugs feed mainly on sea anemones. Sea anemones have stinging cells which, upon the slightest touch, explode, sending a poisoned dart into the intruder. None of this seems to phase the sea slug, who will tear up the anemone and eat it without exploding even one of the stinging cells. The stinging cells do not even explode in the slug's stomach, nor amazingly, are they digested.
The sea slug's stomach has narrow channels which lead from the stomach to small pouches in the fluffy spurs on its sides. These channels have moving hairs which sweep the stinging cells out of the stomach, up the channels and to the pouches where they are arranged and stored so that the sea slug can use them for defense. Should a fish try to nip the sea slug, he would be stung by the very stinging cells which had once protected the anemone.
Science tells us that things must have causes. It is hardly scientific to credit an organ transplant, which is more complex and elegant than anything we could devise, to blind natural principles. The Bible has a better and more logical answer!
Lord, You are the Designer and builder of the creation - even the fish can tell us that. But humans, including me, are the only creatures in the entire creation who can tell others about Your love. Use me Lord! Amen.
Photo: The cephalaspidean sea slug Chelidonura varians. Courtesy of Steve Childs. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.
Job 12:7a, 8b
"But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee.and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee:"
Of all the creatures which walk, crawl, creep or grow on Earth, which one invented the organ transplant? I'll give you one hint, it wasn't the human being.
Actually, several creatures perform organ transplants, and the inventor must be God because mindless natural forces could never have worked out the amazing transplants we see in our world.
Sea slugs feed mainly on sea anemones. Sea anemones have stinging cells which, upon the slightest touch, explode, sending a poisoned dart into the intruder. None of this seems to phase the sea slug, who will tear up the anemone and eat it without exploding even one of the stinging cells. The stinging cells do not even explode in the slug's stomach, nor amazingly, are they digested.
The sea slug's stomach has narrow channels which lead from the stomach to small pouches in the fluffy spurs on its sides. These channels have moving hairs which sweep the stinging cells out of the stomach, up the channels and to the pouches where they are arranged and stored so that the sea slug can use them for defense. Should a fish try to nip the sea slug, he would be stung by the very stinging cells which had once protected the anemone.
Science tells us that things must have causes. It is hardly scientific to credit an organ transplant, which is more complex and elegant than anything we could devise, to blind natural principles. The Bible has a better and more logical answer!
Lord, You are the Designer and builder of the creation - even the fish can tell us that. But humans, including me, are the only creatures in the entire creation who can tell others about Your love. Use me Lord! Amen.
Photo: The cephalaspidean sea slug Chelidonura varians. Courtesy of Steve Childs. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.
ANTS WHO GARDEN
Genesis 2:15
"And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it."
Farming and gardening are said by evolutionists to be very advanced activities. They say that primitive humans did not do these things, and that gardening developed only recently in human history. But if there is a Creator, we would expect that He would have taught many kinds of creatures to care for plants or even trees.
Guess what? There are even ants who garden. There is a particular type of fierce ant that cares for the South American bull's horn acacia tree. While the ants don't need the tree for their survival, they do eat portions of it. But they never eat enough to cause damage to the tree. In fact, the ants protect their tree - they snip off vines or other growth that comes too close to the tree, maintaining plenty of growing room for their tree. The ants are aggressive enough to keep other insects or even birds or larger animals away from their tree.
In studying this amazing relationship, researchers have removed the ants from some of these trees. Within two to fifteen months, the tree is dead. Without the ants' care, animals eat off all the leaves and surrounding plants overrun it.
Who taught these ants to be gardeners? How could two so very different kinds of life develop such a close relationship? This results in a great mystery for evolution. Without ants you couldn't evolve the tree, and without the tree, the ants couldn't learn to care for it. You can't get around it. Both were created fully formed, and the Creator taught the ants how to care for the tree.
Father, I see for myself that Your Word is true as I look around the world that You have made. I ask that You would show me what You want me to do in bearing witness to the truth of the forgiveness of sins, which is ours through Your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Genesis 2:15
"And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it."
Farming and gardening are said by evolutionists to be very advanced activities. They say that primitive humans did not do these things, and that gardening developed only recently in human history. But if there is a Creator, we would expect that He would have taught many kinds of creatures to care for plants or even trees.
Guess what? There are even ants who garden. There is a particular type of fierce ant that cares for the South American bull's horn acacia tree. While the ants don't need the tree for their survival, they do eat portions of it. But they never eat enough to cause damage to the tree. In fact, the ants protect their tree - they snip off vines or other growth that comes too close to the tree, maintaining plenty of growing room for their tree. The ants are aggressive enough to keep other insects or even birds or larger animals away from their tree.
In studying this amazing relationship, researchers have removed the ants from some of these trees. Within two to fifteen months, the tree is dead. Without the ants' care, animals eat off all the leaves and surrounding plants overrun it.
Who taught these ants to be gardeners? How could two so very different kinds of life develop such a close relationship? This results in a great mystery for evolution. Without ants you couldn't evolve the tree, and without the tree, the ants couldn't learn to care for it. You can't get around it. Both were created fully formed, and the Creator taught the ants how to care for the tree.
Father, I see for myself that Your Word is true as I look around the world that You have made. I ask that You would show me what You want me to do in bearing witness to the truth of the forgiveness of sins, which is ours through Your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.
THE MOST IMPROBABLE HONEYBEE
Psalm 113:5-6
"Who is like unto the LORD our God, who dwelleth on high, Who humbleth himself to behold the things that are in heaven, and in the earth!"
One reason many scientists reject evolution is that it's impossible to explain even the simplest of the incredible designs we find in creation as the work of a mindless, impersonal force. Imagine the challenge of explaining the many specialized features of the honeybee as the work of no one!
The honeybee has compound eyes that enable it to navigate by the sun even on cloudy days because it has a built in polarized light filter. The honeybee's antennae contain both their sense of smell and sense of touch. For this reason they must be carefully cleaned. So the honeybees have special grooves in their front legs that are perfectly designed to clean them.
The honeybees also have hairs on their body to collect pollen and baskets on their rear legs to carry it. And they have special glands for producing, shaping and cleaning off wax. When one returns home with news of a good pollen source, the honeybee has a language that it can use to tell the others about it!
Not only is the honeybee a huge collection of special features united together, but they also live in a hive that unites thousands of individuals so that they all work together like a single organism! It simply goes against everything we know from science to suppose that millions of years of unplanned accidents could design and build the honeybee!
I thank You, Lord, that some who are called by Your Name work in the sciences. I ask You to protect them and make them bold in their witness to the truth. I know that for You, Who so wondrously made the honeybee, this is an easy task if Your people are willing to serve You above all things. Amen.
Photo: Hive of honeybees. Courtesy of Bksimonb. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
Psalm 113:5-6
"Who is like unto the LORD our God, who dwelleth on high, Who humbleth himself to behold the things that are in heaven, and in the earth!"
One reason many scientists reject evolution is that it's impossible to explain even the simplest of the incredible designs we find in creation as the work of a mindless, impersonal force. Imagine the challenge of explaining the many specialized features of the honeybee as the work of no one!
The honeybee has compound eyes that enable it to navigate by the sun even on cloudy days because it has a built in polarized light filter. The honeybee's antennae contain both their sense of smell and sense of touch. For this reason they must be carefully cleaned. So the honeybees have special grooves in their front legs that are perfectly designed to clean them.
The honeybees also have hairs on their body to collect pollen and baskets on their rear legs to carry it. And they have special glands for producing, shaping and cleaning off wax. When one returns home with news of a good pollen source, the honeybee has a language that it can use to tell the others about it!
Not only is the honeybee a huge collection of special features united together, but they also live in a hive that unites thousands of individuals so that they all work together like a single organism! It simply goes against everything we know from science to suppose that millions of years of unplanned accidents could design and build the honeybee!
I thank You, Lord, that some who are called by Your Name work in the sciences. I ask You to protect them and make them bold in their witness to the truth. I know that for You, Who so wondrously made the honeybee, this is an easy task if Your people are willing to serve You above all things. Amen.
Photo: Hive of honeybees. Courtesy of Bksimonb. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
THE CYANIDE DEFENSE
John 12:32
"And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me."
Wouldn't it be amazing if a creature developed a chemical defense that is deadly to practically every other creature but itself - especially if that defense meant exposing itself and its enemy to deadly cyanide?
Yet there is a species of millipede called Apheloria that does just this. Apheloria has, on each segment of its body, special glands that produce the chemical needed for defense. When the millipede is attacked by an enemy, it mixes this chemical with a catalyst. The result is a chemical that is a mild irritant plus hydrogen cyanide gas - the same lethal chemical used in the gas chamber. In this defense, the millipede as well as his enemies are engulfed in a cloud of deadly cyanide gas. His attacker dies, but the millipede simply walks away unharmed.
This truly amazing defense clearly has a purpose. Even more amazing, if evolution is right, the millipede developed this remarkable defense quite accidentally, and at the same time he became immune to deadly cyanide gas! This defense is completely unlikely to develop without a planner. The millipede's immunity to cyanide makes sense if there was a planner, and it makes no sense at all if there wasn't.
God's fingerprints are all over the creation as He seeks to draw us all to Himself.
Dear Father, I thank You that You are a loving God. I confess that there are times when You have sought to draw me closer, and I would not. For Jesus' sake, forgive me, and make Your drawing my greatest desire. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
Photo: Millipede Apheloria virginiensi. Courtesy of Bob Walker. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
John 12:32
"And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me."
Wouldn't it be amazing if a creature developed a chemical defense that is deadly to practically every other creature but itself - especially if that defense meant exposing itself and its enemy to deadly cyanide?
Yet there is a species of millipede called Apheloria that does just this. Apheloria has, on each segment of its body, special glands that produce the chemical needed for defense. When the millipede is attacked by an enemy, it mixes this chemical with a catalyst. The result is a chemical that is a mild irritant plus hydrogen cyanide gas - the same lethal chemical used in the gas chamber. In this defense, the millipede as well as his enemies are engulfed in a cloud of deadly cyanide gas. His attacker dies, but the millipede simply walks away unharmed.
This truly amazing defense clearly has a purpose. Even more amazing, if evolution is right, the millipede developed this remarkable defense quite accidentally, and at the same time he became immune to deadly cyanide gas! This defense is completely unlikely to develop without a planner. The millipede's immunity to cyanide makes sense if there was a planner, and it makes no sense at all if there wasn't.
God's fingerprints are all over the creation as He seeks to draw us all to Himself.
Dear Father, I thank You that You are a loving God. I confess that there are times when You have sought to draw me closer, and I would not. For Jesus' sake, forgive me, and make Your drawing my greatest desire. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
Photo: Millipede Apheloria virginiensi. Courtesy of Bob Walker. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
THE COWBOY LASSO MOLD
Ezekiel 18:23
"Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord God: and not that he should return from his ways, and live?"
Did you know that there is a mold that captures and eats animals? Those scientists who reject evolution in favor of creation often stress that there are no simple forms of life. Each kind of life is both specialized and very complex. While evolutionary scientists try to arrange living things from simple to complex, creation scientists ask them to let us know when they finally find a "simple" form of life.
At first glance, mold would seem to be a simple form of life. It doesn't sing, dance or write plays. But neither do a lot of people. However, mold - like every other life form - is still perfectly suited for its needs.
Several forms of mold actually capture and eat animals - in this case, a small worm known as a nematode. Some molds grow sticky knobs that trap the worms. But one, known as the "cowboy lasso" mold, grows tiny loops or lassos. Should an unwary worm try to crawl through the loop, the loop swells shut, strangling the nematode. The worm is then digested at the mold's leisure. This is much too complex and specialized for a "simple mold" to have engineered. It is too filled with purpose to be the result of purposeless natural laws.
God does not operate without purpose - not when He created mold, nor when He deals with us. His most earnest desire is for a relationship with you and me through Jesus Christ.
I thank You Father, that while there is no simple form of life, the way back to You through the forgiveness of sins in Your Son Jesus Christ is simple and already accomplished for us. Help me to better appreciate both Your complexity and Your simplicity. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
Photo: Low-temperature scanning electron micrograph of soybean cyst nematode and its egg.
Ezekiel 18:23
"Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord God: and not that he should return from his ways, and live?"
Did you know that there is a mold that captures and eats animals? Those scientists who reject evolution in favor of creation often stress that there are no simple forms of life. Each kind of life is both specialized and very complex. While evolutionary scientists try to arrange living things from simple to complex, creation scientists ask them to let us know when they finally find a "simple" form of life.
At first glance, mold would seem to be a simple form of life. It doesn't sing, dance or write plays. But neither do a lot of people. However, mold - like every other life form - is still perfectly suited for its needs.
Several forms of mold actually capture and eat animals - in this case, a small worm known as a nematode. Some molds grow sticky knobs that trap the worms. But one, known as the "cowboy lasso" mold, grows tiny loops or lassos. Should an unwary worm try to crawl through the loop, the loop swells shut, strangling the nematode. The worm is then digested at the mold's leisure. This is much too complex and specialized for a "simple mold" to have engineered. It is too filled with purpose to be the result of purposeless natural laws.
God does not operate without purpose - not when He created mold, nor when He deals with us. His most earnest desire is for a relationship with you and me through Jesus Christ.
I thank You Father, that while there is no simple form of life, the way back to You through the forgiveness of sins in Your Son Jesus Christ is simple and already accomplished for us. Help me to better appreciate both Your complexity and Your simplicity. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
Photo: Low-temperature scanning electron micrograph of soybean cyst nematode and its egg.
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