ARE YOU SUPERSTITIOUS?
1 Timothy 4:7
"But refuse profane and old wives' fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness."
Are you superstitious? A Harris poll conducted early in 2014 found that: 21 percent of Americans believe that knocking on wood prevents bad luck; 20 percent wouldn't dream of walking under a ladder; 14 percent believe it's unlucky to open an umbrella indoors; and 12 percent think the number 13 is unlucky. In fact, 14 percent of Americans said they believe Friday the 13th is an unlucky day.
Why are people superstitious? For the most part, superstition is caused by fear of bad luck and insecurity in the future, writes Benjamin Radford, LiveScience Bad Science columnist. But as you're about to hear, superstitions are not just foolish, they can be quite dangerous.
In May, a man fainted while driving through a tunnel near Portland, Oregon. This caused a head-on collision that sent four people to the hospital. The driver said he had lost consciousness while holding his breath. According to CarMax, the auto sales giant, "Holding your breath while driving though a tunnel is [America's] favorite driving superstition."
Christians, don't be superstitious. You have nothing to gain by being superstitious. Some people would even say that superstition is just another word for idolatry. As believers, we should not put our faith in objects like rabbits' feet or in manmade rituals like holding our breath in a tunnel. We should put our faith only in the one true God who is sovereign over all His creation.
Heavenly Father, I place my trust in You and You alone. Though superstitions appear harmless on the surface, I know deep down that they do not bring glory and honor to You. Amen.
http://www.livescience.com/46132-superstition-leads-to-car-crash.html. "Breath-Holding Superstition May Have Caused Car Crash", LiveScience, B. Radford, 6-5-14. Photo: Interstate I-93 Tunnel in Boston. Courtesy of Rene Schwietzke. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.
1 Timothy 4:7
"But refuse profane and old wives' fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness."
Are you superstitious? A Harris poll conducted early in 2014 found that: 21 percent of Americans believe that knocking on wood prevents bad luck; 20 percent wouldn't dream of walking under a ladder; 14 percent believe it's unlucky to open an umbrella indoors; and 12 percent think the number 13 is unlucky. In fact, 14 percent of Americans said they believe Friday the 13th is an unlucky day.
Why are people superstitious? For the most part, superstition is caused by fear of bad luck and insecurity in the future, writes Benjamin Radford, LiveScience Bad Science columnist. But as you're about to hear, superstitions are not just foolish, they can be quite dangerous.
In May, a man fainted while driving through a tunnel near Portland, Oregon. This caused a head-on collision that sent four people to the hospital. The driver said he had lost consciousness while holding his breath. According to CarMax, the auto sales giant, "Holding your breath while driving though a tunnel is [America's] favorite driving superstition."
Christians, don't be superstitious. You have nothing to gain by being superstitious. Some people would even say that superstition is just another word for idolatry. As believers, we should not put our faith in objects like rabbits' feet or in manmade rituals like holding our breath in a tunnel. We should put our faith only in the one true God who is sovereign over all His creation.
Heavenly Father, I place my trust in You and You alone. Though superstitions appear harmless on the surface, I know deep down that they do not bring glory and honor to You. Amen.
http://www.livescience.com/46132-superstition-leads-to-car-crash.html. "Breath-Holding Superstition May Have Caused Car Crash", LiveScience, B. Radford, 6-5-14. Photo: Interstate I-93 Tunnel in Boston. Courtesy of Rene Schwietzke. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.
DISPOSABLE DIAPERS FOR ROBINS
Luke 9:58
"And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head."
Parents, wouldn't it be nice if you didn't have to deal with dirty diapers during the early years of your child's life? And think of the money you would save! Too bad your little angel isn't more like a little robin.
Some birds, including the familiar robin, have it all figured out. You see, just seconds after a young robin has eaten, he eliminates waste into what can best be described as a white disposable diaper. All the parents have to do is pick it up and fly off with it, leaving the nest neat and clean.
This disposable diaper is called the fecal sac. It is made of thick, strong mucus that the parent can pick up and dispose of without puncturing it with its sharp beak. Robins will usually drop the sac twenty to fifty yards away before returning to the nest with another meal for its chicks. Once the young robin has matured enough to leave its nest, it no longer produces the fecal sac. Instead, its droppings are disposed of most often on your car's windshield.
Now, just imagine what a robin's nest would look like if their Creator hadn't come up with this ingenious plan. Without this disposable diaper, the nest would quickly become unsuitable for life. So the next time you find an abandoned robin's nest, take a peek inside. The only reason it's so clean is because God provided the robin with a disposable diaper service!
Heavenly Father, the more I learn about Your creation - even the robin and its young - the more I am filled with praise for You! Amen.
http://www.learner.org/jnorth/tm/spring/FecalSacs.html. "Disposable Diapers for Birds: The Scoop on Poop", Journey North. Photo: Robin removing a fecal sac from its nest. © 2014, Steve Creek. Used with permission. http://stevecreek.com/a-robin-removing-fecal-sac/.
Luke 9:58
"And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head."
Parents, wouldn't it be nice if you didn't have to deal with dirty diapers during the early years of your child's life? And think of the money you would save! Too bad your little angel isn't more like a little robin.
Some birds, including the familiar robin, have it all figured out. You see, just seconds after a young robin has eaten, he eliminates waste into what can best be described as a white disposable diaper. All the parents have to do is pick it up and fly off with it, leaving the nest neat and clean.
This disposable diaper is called the fecal sac. It is made of thick, strong mucus that the parent can pick up and dispose of without puncturing it with its sharp beak. Robins will usually drop the sac twenty to fifty yards away before returning to the nest with another meal for its chicks. Once the young robin has matured enough to leave its nest, it no longer produces the fecal sac. Instead, its droppings are disposed of most often on your car's windshield.
Now, just imagine what a robin's nest would look like if their Creator hadn't come up with this ingenious plan. Without this disposable diaper, the nest would quickly become unsuitable for life. So the next time you find an abandoned robin's nest, take a peek inside. The only reason it's so clean is because God provided the robin with a disposable diaper service!
Heavenly Father, the more I learn about Your creation - even the robin and its young - the more I am filled with praise for You! Amen.
http://www.learner.org/jnorth/tm/spring/FecalSacs.html. "Disposable Diapers for Birds: The Scoop on Poop", Journey North. Photo: Robin removing a fecal sac from its nest. © 2014, Steve Creek. Used with permission. http://stevecreek.com/a-robin-removing-fecal-sac/.
YOUR POTATO CHIP BAG IS LISTENING
Ecclesiastes 2:11
"Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun."
If you're concerned about maintaining your privacy in a world that is bent on snooping into every aspect of your life, you may not like what scientists are working on now. Researchers at MIT, Microsoft, and Adobe have developed a computer algorithm that is able to reconstruct an audio signal by analyzing the small vibrations of objects depicted in video. In other words, your potato chip bag is recording your words.
According to ScienceNews, the researchers were able to recover intelligible speech from the vibrations of a potato-chip bag that they filmed through soundproof glass from fifteen feet away. They were also able to extract audio signals from videos of aluminum foil and the surface of a glass of water. In fact, they could even recreate sounds that were filmed on the leaves of a potted plant.
Alexei Efros, an associate professor of computer science at the University of California, Berkeley, could hardly contain his excitement: "We're scientists," he said, "and sometimes we watch these movies, like James Bond, and we think, this is totally out of some Hollywood thriller. You know that the killer has admitted his guilt because there's surveillance footage of his potato chip bag vibrating."
Creation Moments can't help but be impressed by the ingenuity of scientists who develop surprising new technologies. After all, man's ingenuity points to the awesome genius of God - the One who created man in the first place!
Heavenly Father, thank You for giving mankind intelligence, ingenuity and the hunger to learn about the universe You created. I pray that more scientists will develop an interest in You and not just Your creation. Amen.
"Extracting audio from visual information: Algorithm recovers speech from vibrations of a potato-chip bag filmed through soundproof glass", ScienceDaily, 8-4-14. Source: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2014/08/04/mit-researchers-can-listen-to-your-conversation-by-watching-your-potato-chip-bag/. Photo credit: Christine Daniloff/MIT.
Ecclesiastes 2:11
"Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun."
If you're concerned about maintaining your privacy in a world that is bent on snooping into every aspect of your life, you may not like what scientists are working on now. Researchers at MIT, Microsoft, and Adobe have developed a computer algorithm that is able to reconstruct an audio signal by analyzing the small vibrations of objects depicted in video. In other words, your potato chip bag is recording your words.
According to ScienceNews, the researchers were able to recover intelligible speech from the vibrations of a potato-chip bag that they filmed through soundproof glass from fifteen feet away. They were also able to extract audio signals from videos of aluminum foil and the surface of a glass of water. In fact, they could even recreate sounds that were filmed on the leaves of a potted plant.
Alexei Efros, an associate professor of computer science at the University of California, Berkeley, could hardly contain his excitement: "We're scientists," he said, "and sometimes we watch these movies, like James Bond, and we think, this is totally out of some Hollywood thriller. You know that the killer has admitted his guilt because there's surveillance footage of his potato chip bag vibrating."
Creation Moments can't help but be impressed by the ingenuity of scientists who develop surprising new technologies. After all, man's ingenuity points to the awesome genius of God - the One who created man in the first place!
Heavenly Father, thank You for giving mankind intelligence, ingenuity and the hunger to learn about the universe You created. I pray that more scientists will develop an interest in You and not just Your creation. Amen.
"Extracting audio from visual information: Algorithm recovers speech from vibrations of a potato-chip bag filmed through soundproof glass", ScienceDaily, 8-4-14. Source: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2014/08/04/mit-researchers-can-listen-to-your-conversation-by-watching-your-potato-chip-bag/. Photo credit: Christine Daniloff/MIT.
A KNOTTY SOLUTION
Romans 5:6
"For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly."
"That's a knotty problem!" This figure of speech is used to describe a problem that's complex and difficult to solve - filled with knots, so to speak. Today, we're going to talk about a knotty solution that God has given to a fish that's been called the most disgusting creature in the sea.
The hagfish has a rather nauseating form of self-defense. As soon as a predator disturbs it, the little creature instantaneously releases slime into the water. This slime quickly clogs the predator's mouth and gills, causing it to beat a hasty retreat. The microfibrous slime absorbs water, creating a huge amount of the gooey stuff. In fact, a hagfish can fill a large home aquarium with slime within a matter of seconds.
But the slime isn't healthy for the hagfish either. What is he going to do to keep from clogging his own gills? His Creator has given this creature the ability to literally tie itself into an overhand knot by curling its own body around itself. The fish then manipulates the knot toward its other end, scraping the slime off its body.
The knotty solution that God has given to the hagfish can't begin to compare to the solution that God has given us to escape from the knotty problem of sin. We don't have the ability to rid ourselves of the sin that clings to us like the slime on a hagfish. That's why God removes the penalty and power of sin when we put our faith in Jesus.
Heavenly Father, thank You for sending Your Son into the world as the one and only solution to the knotty problem of sin. Amen.
http://www.seasky.org/deep-sea/atlantic-hagfish.html. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrPvMMkQkk0. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bb2EOP3ohnE.
Photo: Hagfish. (PD)
Romans 5:6
"For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly."
"That's a knotty problem!" This figure of speech is used to describe a problem that's complex and difficult to solve - filled with knots, so to speak. Today, we're going to talk about a knotty solution that God has given to a fish that's been called the most disgusting creature in the sea.
The hagfish has a rather nauseating form of self-defense. As soon as a predator disturbs it, the little creature instantaneously releases slime into the water. This slime quickly clogs the predator's mouth and gills, causing it to beat a hasty retreat. The microfibrous slime absorbs water, creating a huge amount of the gooey stuff. In fact, a hagfish can fill a large home aquarium with slime within a matter of seconds.
But the slime isn't healthy for the hagfish either. What is he going to do to keep from clogging his own gills? His Creator has given this creature the ability to literally tie itself into an overhand knot by curling its own body around itself. The fish then manipulates the knot toward its other end, scraping the slime off its body.
The knotty solution that God has given to the hagfish can't begin to compare to the solution that God has given us to escape from the knotty problem of sin. We don't have the ability to rid ourselves of the sin that clings to us like the slime on a hagfish. That's why God removes the penalty and power of sin when we put our faith in Jesus.
Heavenly Father, thank You for sending Your Son into the world as the one and only solution to the knotty problem of sin. Amen.
http://www.seasky.org/deep-sea/atlantic-hagfish.html. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrPvMMkQkk0. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bb2EOP3ohnE.
Photo: Hagfish. (PD)
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