OXYGEN OPTIONAL CARP
Psalm 77:14
"Thou art the God that doest wonders: thou hast declared thy strength among the people."
The long, cold winters of Scandinavia not only freeze the lakes, but pile so much snow on the lake ice that no light can penetrate to the cold, unfrozen water beneath. This means that the creatures below the ice can use up all the oxygen in the lake water.
As a result of the lack of oxygen, lactic acid builds up in the bodies of these creatures as they metabolize sugar to get energy. However, turtles can stand levels of lactic acid in their systems that would kill you or me, and they lower their heartbeat to 10 percent of normal. The Crucian carp, similar to a goldfish, takes a unique approach to this lack of oxygen. As the oxygen disappears, the carp slows its heartbeat. The fish then changes its entire metabolic chemistry to a process that can get energy from sugar without oxygen. This oxygen-free metabolism turns the lactic acid into ethanol, which the fish releases through its gills. The members of this carp family are the only vertebrates that can continue normal life without oxygen.
That God's wonders seem without number and often seem impossible tells us of God's unlimited creativity and His ability to do anything. His plan of salvation in which His Son, Jesus Christ, carried our sin on the cross makes us thankful for His creativity and wisdom.
I rejoice, dear Father, because Your great wisdom and power are used in love toward us. Amen.
Science News, 10/2/04, p. 213, S. Milius, "Beat Goes On." See also: http://www.crucians.org/
Psalm 77:14
"Thou art the God that doest wonders: thou hast declared thy strength among the people."
The long, cold winters of Scandinavia not only freeze the lakes, but pile so much snow on the lake ice that no light can penetrate to the cold, unfrozen water beneath. This means that the creatures below the ice can use up all the oxygen in the lake water.
As a result of the lack of oxygen, lactic acid builds up in the bodies of these creatures as they metabolize sugar to get energy. However, turtles can stand levels of lactic acid in their systems that would kill you or me, and they lower their heartbeat to 10 percent of normal. The Crucian carp, similar to a goldfish, takes a unique approach to this lack of oxygen. As the oxygen disappears, the carp slows its heartbeat. The fish then changes its entire metabolic chemistry to a process that can get energy from sugar without oxygen. This oxygen-free metabolism turns the lactic acid into ethanol, which the fish releases through its gills. The members of this carp family are the only vertebrates that can continue normal life without oxygen.
That God's wonders seem without number and often seem impossible tells us of God's unlimited creativity and His ability to do anything. His plan of salvation in which His Son, Jesus Christ, carried our sin on the cross makes us thankful for His creativity and wisdom.
I rejoice, dear Father, because Your great wisdom and power are used in love toward us. Amen.
Science News, 10/2/04, p. 213, S. Milius, "Beat Goes On." See also: http://www.crucians.org/
THE MONSTER WITH 24 ARMS
1 Peter 5:8
"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour..."
A real monster prowls the ocean floor from the Aleutian Islands to Southern California. It is a terror to even relatively large bottom dwellers. It eats many things, including hermit crabs, clams, sea cucumbers, sea urchins and even abalone. This monster goes by the seemingly innocent name of the Sunflower Star.
The Sunflower Star begins life as a microscopic larva, much like other sea stars. But as it grows, it surpasses anything that other sea stars can achieve. Its five arms become more arms as it grows until it finally has 24 arms. By this time it can be 39 inches across. But its size does not limit its speed. It uses 15,000 tube feet to move over 5 feet per minute. This is possible because, like other sea stars, the Sunflower Star's skeleton is made up of just a few pieces of skeletal mesh, making it more flexible. It is such a terror to other creatures that when they sense its approach they flee at surprising speed. Even the Northern Abalone, which normally moves sluggishly, flees in the hope that the Sunflower Star will not capture it.
The Bible urges vigilance on our part because our spiritual enemy is a monster who seeks to entrap us in sin. We can be thankful that Jesus Christ has provided both deliverance and protection from this monster.
Lord, I thank You that You have rescued me from the devil. Help me stay vigilant so I may resist his traps. Amen.
Royal British Columbia Museum, Victoria, British Columbia, "The Sunflower Star," http://www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca
1 Peter 5:8
"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour..."
A real monster prowls the ocean floor from the Aleutian Islands to Southern California. It is a terror to even relatively large bottom dwellers. It eats many things, including hermit crabs, clams, sea cucumbers, sea urchins and even abalone. This monster goes by the seemingly innocent name of the Sunflower Star.
The Sunflower Star begins life as a microscopic larva, much like other sea stars. But as it grows, it surpasses anything that other sea stars can achieve. Its five arms become more arms as it grows until it finally has 24 arms. By this time it can be 39 inches across. But its size does not limit its speed. It uses 15,000 tube feet to move over 5 feet per minute. This is possible because, like other sea stars, the Sunflower Star's skeleton is made up of just a few pieces of skeletal mesh, making it more flexible. It is such a terror to other creatures that when they sense its approach they flee at surprising speed. Even the Northern Abalone, which normally moves sluggishly, flees in the hope that the Sunflower Star will not capture it.
The Bible urges vigilance on our part because our spiritual enemy is a monster who seeks to entrap us in sin. We can be thankful that Jesus Christ has provided both deliverance and protection from this monster.
Lord, I thank You that You have rescued me from the devil. Help me stay vigilant so I may resist his traps. Amen.
Royal British Columbia Museum, Victoria, British Columbia, "The Sunflower Star," http://www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca
IT'S A WAR OUT THERE
Psalm 71:2
"Deliver me in thy righteousness, and cause me to escape: incline thine ear unto me, and save me."
The enemy prowls the night skies, searching. But its would-be victims may have sensitive sonar detectors, allowing them to flee before detection. If the prey is spotted on sonar, the prey has counter measures, even jamming the enemy's sonar.
No, this is not a scene from some modern battlefield. Rather, it is a description of things going on all around us. Many insects – including moths, beetles and katydids – have sensors that can detect a bat's sonar before they are spotted and targeted by the bat. When targeted, moths will either fold their wings and drop to the ground, or they will spiral upward erratically. The bat never knows what to expect. Other moths will send out high-pitched squeaks that some scientists think disrupt the bat's sonar.
While most fish cannot hear at the frequency of the dolphin's sonar, the American shad can. Lab tests have shown that the shad will move away from sounds that simulate foraging dolphins. If the sound becomes louder, the shad will form themselves into a tight ball at the opposite end of the tank, making any single fish less likely to be the dolphin's victim.
Our greatest enemies – sin and its results – are not so easily evaded. But thank God that we can flee to the wounds of Christ for forgiveness of our sin so we may know God's love.
I thank You, Father, that I can escape Your wrath for my sin through the innocent suffering of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Science News, 5/14/05, p. 315, "Biological Arms Race." See also: http://www.butterfly-conservation.org/text/347/moths_and_bat_predation.html
Psalm 71:2
"Deliver me in thy righteousness, and cause me to escape: incline thine ear unto me, and save me."
The enemy prowls the night skies, searching. But its would-be victims may have sensitive sonar detectors, allowing them to flee before detection. If the prey is spotted on sonar, the prey has counter measures, even jamming the enemy's sonar.
No, this is not a scene from some modern battlefield. Rather, it is a description of things going on all around us. Many insects – including moths, beetles and katydids – have sensors that can detect a bat's sonar before they are spotted and targeted by the bat. When targeted, moths will either fold their wings and drop to the ground, or they will spiral upward erratically. The bat never knows what to expect. Other moths will send out high-pitched squeaks that some scientists think disrupt the bat's sonar.
While most fish cannot hear at the frequency of the dolphin's sonar, the American shad can. Lab tests have shown that the shad will move away from sounds that simulate foraging dolphins. If the sound becomes louder, the shad will form themselves into a tight ball at the opposite end of the tank, making any single fish less likely to be the dolphin's victim.
Our greatest enemies – sin and its results – are not so easily evaded. But thank God that we can flee to the wounds of Christ for forgiveness of our sin so we may know God's love.
I thank You, Father, that I can escape Your wrath for my sin through the innocent suffering of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Science News, 5/14/05, p. 315, "Biological Arms Race." See also: http://www.butterfly-conservation.org/text/347/moths_and_bat_predation.html
MAN: THE MISSING YEARS
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."
According to the evolutionary timetable, mankind has been on Earth for about 100,000 years. Archeologists and Paleo-archeologists claim that 100,000 years ago the earliest true men began to bury their dead, often with flowers and other trinkets, suggesting that he was capable of abstract thought. Paintings on cave walls and ceilings show that early man was capable of creating exquisite art. Other excavations have yielded scale models, toys and jewelry. It is strange, then, that for these 95,000 years, man left no written record of himself.
We are also told that, according to the evolutionary timetable, that it was only about 5,000 years ago that man discovered agriculture. Why would it have taken at least 95,000 years for man to have discovered that when seeds are planted in the ground, they sprout and produce more food? The truth is, even the most lush jungle on Earth today cannot produce enough plant material to feed people. Anywhere you find people in the jungle, you will also find gardens to supplement their diet.
The answer to this mystery is simple. Those first 95,000 years never happened. The written record we have of man and our knowledge of his agriculture can be easily accounted for within a literal understanding of the biblical history. And the Bible tells us that Adam was the first to engage in agriculture.
Father, I thank You for the blessings of the fruit of the earth, and of the written word, especially the Bible. Amen.
Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Creationism, vol. 1, pp. 73-78, James O. Dritt, "Man's Earliest Beginnings: Discrepancies in Evolutionary Timetables."
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."
According to the evolutionary timetable, mankind has been on Earth for about 100,000 years. Archeologists and Paleo-archeologists claim that 100,000 years ago the earliest true men began to bury their dead, often with flowers and other trinkets, suggesting that he was capable of abstract thought. Paintings on cave walls and ceilings show that early man was capable of creating exquisite art. Other excavations have yielded scale models, toys and jewelry. It is strange, then, that for these 95,000 years, man left no written record of himself.
We are also told that, according to the evolutionary timetable, that it was only about 5,000 years ago that man discovered agriculture. Why would it have taken at least 95,000 years for man to have discovered that when seeds are planted in the ground, they sprout and produce more food? The truth is, even the most lush jungle on Earth today cannot produce enough plant material to feed people. Anywhere you find people in the jungle, you will also find gardens to supplement their diet.
The answer to this mystery is simple. Those first 95,000 years never happened. The written record we have of man and our knowledge of his agriculture can be easily accounted for within a literal understanding of the biblical history. And the Bible tells us that Adam was the first to engage in agriculture.
Father, I thank You for the blessings of the fruit of the earth, and of the written word, especially the Bible. Amen.
Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Creationism, vol. 1, pp. 73-78, James O. Dritt, "Man's Earliest Beginnings: Discrepancies in Evolutionary Timetables."
THE PROBLEM OF GENIUS
Genesis 1:26a
"And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness…"
The piano you hear in the background was being played by Matt Savage. He wrote the music and called this piece "Ladybug Bounce". Matt is an autistic boy, does piano concerts and was then just twelve years old.
How does evolution explain such extraordinary talent? Certainly it cannot be ascribed to "survival of the fittest" since musical or mathematical abilities are not related to survival. Textbooks based upon evolution generally remain silent about genius. However, when the question is considered from a biblical perspective, a reasonable explanation does present itself.
God created Adam and Eve and declared them to be "very good". That would mean perfect in every respect – perfect memory, perfect ability to concentrate and so on. Scripture further tell us of Adam's disobedience and Fall. We are the living members of his offspring and note the historical decline in Man's mental abilities. Now, is it just possible that these remarkable qualities exist in everyone's psyche or soul but are normally hidden or covered over? Occasionally, an individual is born, such as Matt Savage, where part of that covering is removed. Science cannot adequately explain these cases, but Creation Moments suggests that God occasionally removes some of the sin-stain on their soul so that a little of the original perfection is revealed to convey to the rest of us what the original creation was like.
Dear Lord, teach us to be sensitive to those You may be using to show us the original perfection of Your creation.
CD album "Cutting Loose" track #14. Other CD albums available from: Savage Records, P. O. Box 35, Francestown, NH 03043, www.savagerecords.com. See also: http://autisticsavant.blogspot.com/2007/05/matt-savage.html
Genesis 1:26a
"And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness…"
The piano you hear in the background was being played by Matt Savage. He wrote the music and called this piece "Ladybug Bounce". Matt is an autistic boy, does piano concerts and was then just twelve years old.
How does evolution explain such extraordinary talent? Certainly it cannot be ascribed to "survival of the fittest" since musical or mathematical abilities are not related to survival. Textbooks based upon evolution generally remain silent about genius. However, when the question is considered from a biblical perspective, a reasonable explanation does present itself.
God created Adam and Eve and declared them to be "very good". That would mean perfect in every respect – perfect memory, perfect ability to concentrate and so on. Scripture further tell us of Adam's disobedience and Fall. We are the living members of his offspring and note the historical decline in Man's mental abilities. Now, is it just possible that these remarkable qualities exist in everyone's psyche or soul but are normally hidden or covered over? Occasionally, an individual is born, such as Matt Savage, where part of that covering is removed. Science cannot adequately explain these cases, but Creation Moments suggests that God occasionally removes some of the sin-stain on their soul so that a little of the original perfection is revealed to convey to the rest of us what the original creation was like.
Dear Lord, teach us to be sensitive to those You may be using to show us the original perfection of Your creation.
CD album "Cutting Loose" track #14. Other CD albums available from: Savage Records, P. O. Box 35, Francestown, NH 03043, www.savagerecords.com. See also: http://autisticsavant.blogspot.com/2007/05/matt-savage.html
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