THE GOD OF HISTORY
Psalm 90:4
"For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night."
The calendar year has not always started on January 1. There was a time in Christian history when the calendar began on March 25. Nevertheless, when we come to the end of one year and begin the next, most people have a time of celebration and reflection.
At a personal level, some will decide that the year just ending was better than most; for others, it was a year they would rather forget. Then at a global level, when we see and hear of unending wars and famines and new diseases spreading worldwide, some will ask, "If there is a God, where is He?" Others will turn the situation around and ask, "What kind of God permits all this to happen?"
The real problem here is that the God of this kind of thinking is far too small. This is the little man-made God who set the universe going millions of years ago and then retired to let it all evolve. No, according to Scripture, the real God is the Creator and Sustainer of the Universe and everything on this Earth. He is totally in charge of every detail of history. No war or pestilence happens without His permission. But He is also the God Who loves every one of us, and these are often the methods He uses to urge His people to draw closer to Him.
Heavenly Father, I thank You for all Your blessings to me this past year. I ask that You would help me from now on to be more aware of Your desire for a closer relationship with me through Jesus Christ. Amen.
Photo: A calendar from the Petaluma and Santa Rosa Railroad, California. Courtesy of Visitor7. (CC-SA-3.0)
Psalm 90:4
"For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night."
The calendar year has not always started on January 1. There was a time in Christian history when the calendar began on March 25. Nevertheless, when we come to the end of one year and begin the next, most people have a time of celebration and reflection.
At a personal level, some will decide that the year just ending was better than most; for others, it was a year they would rather forget. Then at a global level, when we see and hear of unending wars and famines and new diseases spreading worldwide, some will ask, "If there is a God, where is He?" Others will turn the situation around and ask, "What kind of God permits all this to happen?"
The real problem here is that the God of this kind of thinking is far too small. This is the little man-made God who set the universe going millions of years ago and then retired to let it all evolve. No, according to Scripture, the real God is the Creator and Sustainer of the Universe and everything on this Earth. He is totally in charge of every detail of history. No war or pestilence happens without His permission. But He is also the God Who loves every one of us, and these are often the methods He uses to urge His people to draw closer to Him.
Heavenly Father, I thank You for all Your blessings to me this past year. I ask that You would help me from now on to be more aware of Your desire for a closer relationship with me through Jesus Christ. Amen.
Photo: A calendar from the Petaluma and Santa Rosa Railroad, California. Courtesy of Visitor7. (CC-SA-3.0)
ARE ALL DINOSAURS EXTINCT?
Romans 8:20-21
"For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God."
Dinosaurs are one of the most popular subjects among grade schoolers these days. These fascinating and awe-inspiring creatures seem distant and unreal to our modern world. Because of this, dinosaurs are often seen as proof of the idea that we live in an evolutionary world.
But are dinosaurs really extinct? Many species of dinosaurs have been discovered and classified over the years. Most of the reptiles we think of as "dinosaurs" belonged to the Archosauria or "ruling reptile" subclass. However, at least 21 species and seven subspecies of Archosauria continue to live to this day, though some of them are endangered species. The largest living group of Archosauria is the crocodiles. Most crocodiles grow to be larger than the average extinct dinosaur, which averaged about the size of a horse. Marine crocodiles found off the northern coast of Australia grow to over thirty feet in length - an accomplishment unmatched by most dinosaurs. Crocodiles help us to learn to see the extinct dinosaurs as part of God's incredible creativity rather than as symbols of an ever-changing, ever-evolving world.
But this doesn't mean that change, especially improvement, is a myth. Our Creator wants far more for us than we can achieve for ourselves. That is why He has given us His Word of salvation in Jesus Christ! In Christ is found true and worthy improvement.
Dear Lord Jesus Christ, my faith and trust is in You and You alone. Grant me Your instruction through Your Word that I may not only have life, but so that I may become more like You. Amen.
Photo: Nile crocodile. Courtesy of Leigh Bedford. The God of History
Romans 8:20-21
"For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God."
Dinosaurs are one of the most popular subjects among grade schoolers these days. These fascinating and awe-inspiring creatures seem distant and unreal to our modern world. Because of this, dinosaurs are often seen as proof of the idea that we live in an evolutionary world.
But are dinosaurs really extinct? Many species of dinosaurs have been discovered and classified over the years. Most of the reptiles we think of as "dinosaurs" belonged to the Archosauria or "ruling reptile" subclass. However, at least 21 species and seven subspecies of Archosauria continue to live to this day, though some of them are endangered species. The largest living group of Archosauria is the crocodiles. Most crocodiles grow to be larger than the average extinct dinosaur, which averaged about the size of a horse. Marine crocodiles found off the northern coast of Australia grow to over thirty feet in length - an accomplishment unmatched by most dinosaurs. Crocodiles help us to learn to see the extinct dinosaurs as part of God's incredible creativity rather than as symbols of an ever-changing, ever-evolving world.
But this doesn't mean that change, especially improvement, is a myth. Our Creator wants far more for us than we can achieve for ourselves. That is why He has given us His Word of salvation in Jesus Christ! In Christ is found true and worthy improvement.
Dear Lord Jesus Christ, my faith and trust is in You and You alone. Grant me Your instruction through Your Word that I may not only have life, but so that I may become more like You. Amen.
Photo: Nile crocodile. Courtesy of Leigh Bedford. The God of History
THE PLANT THAT BREATHES THROUGH A SNORKEL
Genesis 1:11
"And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so."
Plants need oxygen, and those that live on the land breathe through their leaves. Other plants are designed to live and breathe under water. However, when a land plant is submerged in water, it can drown, just like one of us.
Rice is actually a land plant that draws its oxygen from the air; yet, most of the plant must be submerged in water for it to survive. It can grow this way in water as deep as fifteen feet. In flood-prone areas, rice has been known to grow as much as a foot per day in order to keep its topmost leaves out of the water. The reason that rice plants don't drown brings us to another of the Creator's clever designs.
The rice plant draws air in through its leaves, as well as through a sheath of air that surrounds its submerged stalk. Rice gives off one carbon dioxide molecule for every oxygen molecule it consumes. But because carbon dioxide dissolves more quickly in water than does oxygen, a vacuum is created within the plant, pulling in still more air.
It appears that God has created so many different forms of life that there are almost no conditions on Earth where something couldn't live. That itself is a witness that He, and not the forces of evolution, is responsible for creating all living things.
Lord, there is no scientist or anyone else who can even hope to compete with You in skill or knowledge. Help me to be a witness to this fact in a world that desires to deny that You are Creator, and thus remain ignorant of its need for forgiveness through Your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Photo: Oryza sativa or Asian rice. Courtesy of Jeevan Jose. (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Genesis 1:11
"And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so."
Plants need oxygen, and those that live on the land breathe through their leaves. Other plants are designed to live and breathe under water. However, when a land plant is submerged in water, it can drown, just like one of us.
Rice is actually a land plant that draws its oxygen from the air; yet, most of the plant must be submerged in water for it to survive. It can grow this way in water as deep as fifteen feet. In flood-prone areas, rice has been known to grow as much as a foot per day in order to keep its topmost leaves out of the water. The reason that rice plants don't drown brings us to another of the Creator's clever designs.
The rice plant draws air in through its leaves, as well as through a sheath of air that surrounds its submerged stalk. Rice gives off one carbon dioxide molecule for every oxygen molecule it consumes. But because carbon dioxide dissolves more quickly in water than does oxygen, a vacuum is created within the plant, pulling in still more air.
It appears that God has created so many different forms of life that there are almost no conditions on Earth where something couldn't live. That itself is a witness that He, and not the forces of evolution, is responsible for creating all living things.
Lord, there is no scientist or anyone else who can even hope to compete with You in skill or knowledge. Help me to be a witness to this fact in a world that desires to deny that You are Creator, and thus remain ignorant of its need for forgiveness through Your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Photo: Oryza sativa or Asian rice. Courtesy of Jeevan Jose. (CC BY-SA 4.0)
DOLLY, THE CLONE
Genesis 1:28
"And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth."
In the Spring of 1997, a lamb named Dolly was born to become famous as the world's first genetically identical copy of an adult female sheep. In other words, she was a clone. Eventually, Dolly developed lung cancer and was put to death in February 2003.
Cloning is not a human invention. The Creator Himself included this way of reproduction among many plants and insects. Man has been making use of this process for hundreds of years to propagate, say, the most disease-resistant wheat or the best-tasting apples. In other words, each generation of wheat or apples are an identical copy of the good one before it. However, cloned plants are one thing, but Dolly was the first mammal to be artificially cloned, and this has caused concern, not only among Christians but also among many scientists and politicians.
The doctrine of evolution teaches that mankind evolved from the animal kingdom. With the success of Dolly, the concern is that mankind is next in line for cloning experiments. Every set of identical human twins are actually clones, so there is no need to artificially clone for psychological studies; these have already been done. There were actually 276 living but defective embryos produced before the success of Dolly. The ultimate concern is how many living but defective human embryos will have to be destroyed before the experiments are successful?
Heavenly Father, You have created all living things in marvelous ways and human beings in Your own image. Please have mercy on those who would be presumptuous enough to attempt to reproduce human beings in their own image. Amen.
Photo: Dolly, stuffed. Courtesy of Toni Barros. (CC-SA-2.0)
Genesis 1:28
"And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth."
In the Spring of 1997, a lamb named Dolly was born to become famous as the world's first genetically identical copy of an adult female sheep. In other words, she was a clone. Eventually, Dolly developed lung cancer and was put to death in February 2003.
Cloning is not a human invention. The Creator Himself included this way of reproduction among many plants and insects. Man has been making use of this process for hundreds of years to propagate, say, the most disease-resistant wheat or the best-tasting apples. In other words, each generation of wheat or apples are an identical copy of the good one before it. However, cloned plants are one thing, but Dolly was the first mammal to be artificially cloned, and this has caused concern, not only among Christians but also among many scientists and politicians.
The doctrine of evolution teaches that mankind evolved from the animal kingdom. With the success of Dolly, the concern is that mankind is next in line for cloning experiments. Every set of identical human twins are actually clones, so there is no need to artificially clone for psychological studies; these have already been done. There were actually 276 living but defective embryos produced before the success of Dolly. The ultimate concern is how many living but defective human embryos will have to be destroyed before the experiments are successful?
Heavenly Father, You have created all living things in marvelous ways and human beings in Your own image. Please have mercy on those who would be presumptuous enough to attempt to reproduce human beings in their own image. Amen.
Photo: Dolly, stuffed. Courtesy of Toni Barros. (CC-SA-2.0)
CANADA'S FOSSIL FOREST
Ecclesiastes 11:3
"If the clouds be full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth: and if the tree fall toward the south, or toward the north, in the place where the tree falleth, there it shall be."
Axel Heiberg Island in Northern Canada is the closest point of land to the North Pole. The landscape is completely barren today, but long ago a dense forest of large meta-sequoia trees grew there. At that time, the climate must have been like Florida today. The stumps of these "fossil trees" have not mineralized and are still wood - that is, cellulose. They are claimed to be 45 million years old.
Researchers at Johns Hopkins University studied the hydrogen and oxygen isotopes of the cellulose. These lightweight isotopes are normally quickly lost by evaporation from dead wood, but to their surprise, the researchers discovered an unusually high content. This means that their rate of evaporation was extremely low. In other words, not only did the trees grow in a humid climate, but this climate continued a long time after the trees were destroyed. Further, cellulose is quickly broken down by bacterial action if exposed to air so that the trees were buried rapidly, deeply and a lot more recently than 45 million years ago.
Creation Moments happened to be present when a sample of this wood was used to calibrate the equipment at a well-known Carbon 14 dating laboratory. Believing the wood to be 45 million years old, it should contain no Carbon 14 but, in fact, it did and dated at only 41 thousand years!
Heavenly Father, You have given us so much evidence for a recent creation and Your sustaining hand upon it. Please open the eyes of those who would willfully ignore these signs. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
New Scientist, May 24, 2003, p. 24. Photo: Satellite photo montage of Axel Heilberg Island. (PD)
Ecclesiastes 11:3
"If the clouds be full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth: and if the tree fall toward the south, or toward the north, in the place where the tree falleth, there it shall be."
Axel Heiberg Island in Northern Canada is the closest point of land to the North Pole. The landscape is completely barren today, but long ago a dense forest of large meta-sequoia trees grew there. At that time, the climate must have been like Florida today. The stumps of these "fossil trees" have not mineralized and are still wood - that is, cellulose. They are claimed to be 45 million years old.
Researchers at Johns Hopkins University studied the hydrogen and oxygen isotopes of the cellulose. These lightweight isotopes are normally quickly lost by evaporation from dead wood, but to their surprise, the researchers discovered an unusually high content. This means that their rate of evaporation was extremely low. In other words, not only did the trees grow in a humid climate, but this climate continued a long time after the trees were destroyed. Further, cellulose is quickly broken down by bacterial action if exposed to air so that the trees were buried rapidly, deeply and a lot more recently than 45 million years ago.
Creation Moments happened to be present when a sample of this wood was used to calibrate the equipment at a well-known Carbon 14 dating laboratory. Believing the wood to be 45 million years old, it should contain no Carbon 14 but, in fact, it did and dated at only 41 thousand years!
Heavenly Father, You have given us so much evidence for a recent creation and Your sustaining hand upon it. Please open the eyes of those who would willfully ignore these signs. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
New Scientist, May 24, 2003, p. 24. Photo: Satellite photo montage of Axel Heilberg Island. (PD)
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