AN ALGA THAT FLEXES ITS MUSCLES
Job 10:8a
"Your hands have made me and fashioned me, and intricate unity…"
A strange alga that has muscle like tissue illustrates that there are no simple life forms. Protein muscle fibers, say evolutionists, are a later and more advanced development in living things. Yet, these scientists also claim that alga are among the first of the living things to have evolved.
The Mougeotia alga contains a structure that performs photosynthesis. This structure is shaped like a flat disc. Researchers found that, depending on the brightness and direction of the light, this structure is turned to control the rate at which photosynthesis takes place. Further study indicates that the structure is actually turned by protein fibers that expand and contract just like our muscles to keep everything under control!
Here we have two very different structures working together. The disc like structure that carries out photosynthesis could not function very well at all without the "muscle" fiber. If the muscle fiber were to evolve without the disc like structure to control, the fiber would be useless.
The individual parts of all living things work together like the individual instruments in an orchestra. They're useless without each other. This example shows that individual structures in living things could not have evolved gradually and individually over long periods of time. They were created to work together in close harmony!
Dear Father, only You could have kept track of all the details which were necessary to build the wonderful creation in which we live. Help me to remember Your attention to detail and Your love for me when I am tempted to think that some difficulty is too minor to bring to You. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
Wagner, C., W. Haupt, and A. Laux. 1972. "Reversible inhibition of chloroplast movement by cytocholasin B in the green alga mougeotia." Science, v. 176. p. 808.
Job 10:8a
"Your hands have made me and fashioned me, and intricate unity…"
A strange alga that has muscle like tissue illustrates that there are no simple life forms. Protein muscle fibers, say evolutionists, are a later and more advanced development in living things. Yet, these scientists also claim that alga are among the first of the living things to have evolved.
The Mougeotia alga contains a structure that performs photosynthesis. This structure is shaped like a flat disc. Researchers found that, depending on the brightness and direction of the light, this structure is turned to control the rate at which photosynthesis takes place. Further study indicates that the structure is actually turned by protein fibers that expand and contract just like our muscles to keep everything under control!
Here we have two very different structures working together. The disc like structure that carries out photosynthesis could not function very well at all without the "muscle" fiber. If the muscle fiber were to evolve without the disc like structure to control, the fiber would be useless.
The individual parts of all living things work together like the individual instruments in an orchestra. They're useless without each other. This example shows that individual structures in living things could not have evolved gradually and individually over long periods of time. They were created to work together in close harmony!
Dear Father, only You could have kept track of all the details which were necessary to build the wonderful creation in which we live. Help me to remember Your attention to detail and Your love for me when I am tempted to think that some difficulty is too minor to bring to You. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
Wagner, C., W. Haupt, and A. Laux. 1972. "Reversible inhibition of chloroplast movement by cytocholasin B in the green alga mougeotia." Science, v. 176. p. 808.
A DESERT TRAVELERS FRIEND
Isaiah 41:19-20
"I will plant in the wilderness the cedar and the acacia tree, the myrtle and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the cypress tree and the pine and the box tree together, that they may see and know, and consider and understand together, that the hand of the LORD has done this, and the Holy One of Israel has created it."
What two things are most important to someone lost in the desert? Why, a compass and, of course, some water. If you are lost in the desert and find a compass barrel cactus, you have both in this amazing plant.
There are many true stories told about people who were lost in the desert and dying of thirst until they found the compass barrel cactus. Some of them expected to find an actual barrel of water inside the cactus when they cut it open. What they found instead was a couple of quarts of water stored in the inner flesh of the plant. It is enough water to save someone's life, but it has a bitter flavor. Your thirst has to be real before you'll put up with the taste!
Where does all that water come from in the desert? The cactus has long, sharp protective spines. The spines end in a bend toward the ground. They are so designed that they catch the dew and deliver it, drop by drop, to the ground around the plant. There, shallow roots quickly take up the water for storage. The compass barrel cactus also gives directions to the traveler. The cactus produces a light sensitive chemical that makes it grow more rapidly on the side that gets the least sun. The result is that the cactus grows leaning toward the south.
The compass barrel cactus is more than just a compass for those who are lost in the desert, it also bears witness by pointing to a wise Creator who, we learn from the Bible, provides forgiveness of sins, salvation and spiritual direction through Jesus Christ.
Heavenly Father, this world is a spiritual desert. I thank You that You have not left me to wander alone. I ask that You would show me those who are wandering unguided, that I may show them Your guidance. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
WASPS DO THE BIOLOGICALLY IMPOSSIBLE
Acts 17:29
"Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man's devising."
When it comes to wasps, you can just forget everything you learned about sexual reproduction in Biology 101. There are male and female wasps. But that has very little to do with wasp reproduction.
For starters, male wasps can only reproduce female offspring. After mating, the female wasp stores the male's seed in a sac in her reproductive tract. It will only be used when the female lays her eggs on the pupa of a fly, and then only if she wants daughters. The female can control how many of her offspring will be female and how many will be male. She can squeeze the sac to fertilize an egg when it is laid. That egg will produce a female. If she decides not to fertilize the egg, it will develop into a male.
As scientists have studied this unusual system of reproduction, they have found that the story becomes even stranger. Some females produce only male offspring. Further research shows that this is due to factors inherited through the male line. The mystery is that there is no male line. Males can only produce females. Even worse, for those who believe that wasps evolved instead of being created by God, this system offers so many disadvantages to the wasp that it should never have evolved.
While the wasp is at a disadvantage in this arrangement, God has arranged things so that the wasp can survive. That survival appears to serve another of God's purposes. It challenges those who think that there is no Creator and God of the universe.
I thank You, Lord, that You care for the universe and its creatures. I also thank You that You desire a relationship with us so much that You use what You have made as a witness to Yourself. And I thank You that You cared so much for me that You gave Your life on the cross so that my sins could be forgiven. Amen.
AN ANTARCTIC FOREST
Romans 8:38-39
"For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
As we learn more about the history of our planet, it's becoming increasingly obvious that the Earth has had many faces over its history. Remains of tropical forests have been found within 400 miles of the North Pole. Dinosaurs once lived in the tropical lushness of Alaska. At one time, you could even walk to Australia from Asia.
It's also been known for some time that the great Antarctic continent was once much warmer than it is today. However, only recently have we learned that the frozen wastelands of Antarctica were forested hills not very long ago. In the 1980s, the remains of a forest were discovered along the Transarctic Mountains. The forest stretched over an area of 1,300 kilometers. When the Antarctic forest was growing, the mountainous area looked like the fjords of Chile and Norway. Scientists have continued looking for evidences of the animals that might have lived in the forest.
How long ago did the forest grow where there is now only ice and snow? Scientists have found wood from the forest. It's not very fossilized. In fact, it still floats and it can be burned. Scientists who typically assign great ages to the Earth say that the evidence now says that the changes that took place in Antarctica happened much more rapidly than they once thought.
Our Earth is dynamic, changing much more rapidly than most ever thought. That is, unless one has believed the catastrophic history of the Earth recorded in the Bible.
Father in heaven, I thank You for reminding us that no matter what happens, You are in charge and looking out for the welfare of Your people. Keep reminding me of this, especially when things seem out of control. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
MATHEMATICAL INFANTS
Romans 12:1
"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service."
Does a five-month-old infant know that three is more than two? Impressive new evidence strongly supports the idea that infants have natural mathematical reasoning skills.
Researchers relied on the fact that babies tend to look longer at something new or unexpected than they do at something they have recently seen. Infants were allowed to look at either one or two Mickey Mouse dolls. Then, researchers put a screen in front of the dolls. With the babies watching, they would sometimes place another doll next to the first or second doll behind the screen. Sometimes another, hidden, researcher would hide one of the dolls. Then the screen was removed.
When the screen was removed, the infant might see the same number of dolls as before, one more, or one less. Researchers found that if the same number of dolls that the infant had seen before were still present when the screen was removed, the infant quickly lost interest. However, if there was an additional doll, or one less doll, the infants spent more time looking at them. They could clearly tell that the number had changed. Other research has shown that infants can also tell when the number of beats on a drum is the same as the number of objects they are being shown.
God has built many skills and talents into us. Other research shows that infants also have language and music abilities at a surprisingly young age. That these intellectual skills are natural to us is another evidence against the evolutionary explanation for man.
I thank You, dear heavenly Father, for all the talents and abilities You have given me. Help me to more fully develop and use them in service to You. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
Isaiah 41:19-20
"I will plant in the wilderness the cedar and the acacia tree, the myrtle and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the cypress tree and the pine and the box tree together, that they may see and know, and consider and understand together, that the hand of the LORD has done this, and the Holy One of Israel has created it."
What two things are most important to someone lost in the desert? Why, a compass and, of course, some water. If you are lost in the desert and find a compass barrel cactus, you have both in this amazing plant.
There are many true stories told about people who were lost in the desert and dying of thirst until they found the compass barrel cactus. Some of them expected to find an actual barrel of water inside the cactus when they cut it open. What they found instead was a couple of quarts of water stored in the inner flesh of the plant. It is enough water to save someone's life, but it has a bitter flavor. Your thirst has to be real before you'll put up with the taste!
Where does all that water come from in the desert? The cactus has long, sharp protective spines. The spines end in a bend toward the ground. They are so designed that they catch the dew and deliver it, drop by drop, to the ground around the plant. There, shallow roots quickly take up the water for storage. The compass barrel cactus also gives directions to the traveler. The cactus produces a light sensitive chemical that makes it grow more rapidly on the side that gets the least sun. The result is that the cactus grows leaning toward the south.
The compass barrel cactus is more than just a compass for those who are lost in the desert, it also bears witness by pointing to a wise Creator who, we learn from the Bible, provides forgiveness of sins, salvation and spiritual direction through Jesus Christ.
Heavenly Father, this world is a spiritual desert. I thank You that You have not left me to wander alone. I ask that You would show me those who are wandering unguided, that I may show them Your guidance. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
WASPS DO THE BIOLOGICALLY IMPOSSIBLE
Acts 17:29
"Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man's devising."
When it comes to wasps, you can just forget everything you learned about sexual reproduction in Biology 101. There are male and female wasps. But that has very little to do with wasp reproduction.
For starters, male wasps can only reproduce female offspring. After mating, the female wasp stores the male's seed in a sac in her reproductive tract. It will only be used when the female lays her eggs on the pupa of a fly, and then only if she wants daughters. The female can control how many of her offspring will be female and how many will be male. She can squeeze the sac to fertilize an egg when it is laid. That egg will produce a female. If she decides not to fertilize the egg, it will develop into a male.
As scientists have studied this unusual system of reproduction, they have found that the story becomes even stranger. Some females produce only male offspring. Further research shows that this is due to factors inherited through the male line. The mystery is that there is no male line. Males can only produce females. Even worse, for those who believe that wasps evolved instead of being created by God, this system offers so many disadvantages to the wasp that it should never have evolved.
While the wasp is at a disadvantage in this arrangement, God has arranged things so that the wasp can survive. That survival appears to serve another of God's purposes. It challenges those who think that there is no Creator and God of the universe.
I thank You, Lord, that You care for the universe and its creatures. I also thank You that You desire a relationship with us so much that You use what You have made as a witness to Yourself. And I thank You that You cared so much for me that You gave Your life on the cross so that my sins could be forgiven. Amen.
AN ANTARCTIC FOREST
Romans 8:38-39
"For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
As we learn more about the history of our planet, it's becoming increasingly obvious that the Earth has had many faces over its history. Remains of tropical forests have been found within 400 miles of the North Pole. Dinosaurs once lived in the tropical lushness of Alaska. At one time, you could even walk to Australia from Asia.
It's also been known for some time that the great Antarctic continent was once much warmer than it is today. However, only recently have we learned that the frozen wastelands of Antarctica were forested hills not very long ago. In the 1980s, the remains of a forest were discovered along the Transarctic Mountains. The forest stretched over an area of 1,300 kilometers. When the Antarctic forest was growing, the mountainous area looked like the fjords of Chile and Norway. Scientists have continued looking for evidences of the animals that might have lived in the forest.
How long ago did the forest grow where there is now only ice and snow? Scientists have found wood from the forest. It's not very fossilized. In fact, it still floats and it can be burned. Scientists who typically assign great ages to the Earth say that the evidence now says that the changes that took place in Antarctica happened much more rapidly than they once thought.
Our Earth is dynamic, changing much more rapidly than most ever thought. That is, unless one has believed the catastrophic history of the Earth recorded in the Bible.
Father in heaven, I thank You for reminding us that no matter what happens, You are in charge and looking out for the welfare of Your people. Keep reminding me of this, especially when things seem out of control. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
MATHEMATICAL INFANTS
Romans 12:1
"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service."
Does a five-month-old infant know that three is more than two? Impressive new evidence strongly supports the idea that infants have natural mathematical reasoning skills.
Researchers relied on the fact that babies tend to look longer at something new or unexpected than they do at something they have recently seen. Infants were allowed to look at either one or two Mickey Mouse dolls. Then, researchers put a screen in front of the dolls. With the babies watching, they would sometimes place another doll next to the first or second doll behind the screen. Sometimes another, hidden, researcher would hide one of the dolls. Then the screen was removed.
When the screen was removed, the infant might see the same number of dolls as before, one more, or one less. Researchers found that if the same number of dolls that the infant had seen before were still present when the screen was removed, the infant quickly lost interest. However, if there was an additional doll, or one less doll, the infants spent more time looking at them. They could clearly tell that the number had changed. Other research has shown that infants can also tell when the number of beats on a drum is the same as the number of objects they are being shown.
God has built many skills and talents into us. Other research shows that infants also have language and music abilities at a surprisingly young age. That these intellectual skills are natural to us is another evidence against the evolutionary explanation for man.
I thank You, dear heavenly Father, for all the talents and abilities You have given me. Help me to more fully develop and use them in service to You. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
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