Creation Moments on Oneplace.com

There seems to be no end to the variety and wisdom of design in the creation. Most interesting are those creatures that share important traits and yet are nothing like each other. The whale is one example, it is constructed like a fish but is really a mammal. The sphinx moth is another such creature.While definitely a moth, it behaves in every way like a hummingbird and feeds on the nectar inside tobacco blooms. As a normal moth the sphinx could never reach the nectar in these deep-throated blooms, but it has a special tongue like a hummingbird. The moth hovers over the flower while inserting its long tongue into the flower. Its tongue, which is actually longer than the rest of its body, has two grooved halves, which, when fitted together, create what amounts to a long straw to draw out nectar. If the two halves don't fit perfectly, the moth would starve to death.Obviously, the tongue of the first sphinx moth had to be fully-formed! As it hovers, the sphinx moth actually rivals the hummingbirds' 50 wing beats per second with its own wing beat of 25 to 45 times per second!The wonderfully varied patterns in creation do not speak of relationships forged by millions of years of evolution. Rather, they speak of creative relationships, carefully designed by one all-wise Creator!Psalm 92:5-6"O Lord, how great are thy works! and thy thoughts are very deep. A brutish man knoweth not; neither doth a fool understand this.”Prayer: Dear Lord Jesus Christ through Whom all things were made, I pray that I may always be led to give You praise and thanksgiving for all Your wonderful works before men. Amen.REF.: Treat Davidson, “Moths That Behave Like Hummingbirds,” National Geographic. Image: Sphinx moth and buddleja flower, Envato. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1232/29?v=20251111

Years ago, Dr. Francis Hitching gave us his book The Neck of the Giraffe, and in this, he writes that Darwinism is in a lot of trouble. He laments, and I'm using his own words, that evolution “has not, contrary to general belief, and despite very great efforts, been proven.”Hitching points out that fossils do not show any history of evolutionary development. He says, creatures “come into the fossil record seemingly from nowhere – mysteriously, suddenly, fully formed and in a most un-Darwinian way.” He admits that the systematic gaps in the fossil record will never be filled with evolutionary ancestors and that it can no longer be claimed that someday scientists will find the missing creatures. He confesses that in the history of life, plants and animals must be treated as though they came into existence fully formed – in the forms we know today. Hitching also notes other problems and complains that science has no idea how the genetic code could have formed without a Creator, while mutations cannot explain the supposed changes of evolution.Hitching insists that there can be no debate that evolution actually took place. After all, he says, we are here and that is proof enough. But his statements are an honest and bottom-line admission that the theory of evolution has no support from the scientific facts.Psalm 104:30-31"Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created: and thou renewest the face of the earth. The glory of the Lord shall endure for ever: the Lord shall rejoice in his works.”Prayer: Lord God, Your Hand is not hidden even from those who do not want to see it because Your glory is so great. For this I thank You and I pray that Your Hand may be even more evident in my life. In Jesus' Name.REF.: Francis Hitching. “Was Darwin Wrong?” Life. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1232/29?v=20251111

Creation Moments has often talked about the social activities of bees and we tend to think that all bees live together in large colonies or hives. In fact, not all of them do. Like people, bees can actually be found in a variety of social relationships, including those who live most of their lives alone.Some female bees of a species that live underground build their homes next to another female. They often connect their separate underground homes with a tunnel so they can visit each other. Sometimes they even lay their eggs near each other and raise their young together. Often one female will babysit both sets of young while the other goes out for groceries.The almost universal need for companionship among living things should tell us something about the One Who created them. Our need for companionship should tell us that this is something that our Creator values, too. In fact, the message throughout the Bible is that He made mankind so He would have someone to love.Is He your Number One companion in your life? Do you know His love for you through His Son, Jesus Christ? Whether you don't know Him at all, or whether you would like to know Him better, most Christians can attest to the fact that He really does speak to you through the pages of the Bible.Proverbs 17:17"A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.”Prayer: Dear Father, although You have made me for the purpose of having a loving relationship with You, I confess that at times I have withdrawn my love from You. Forgive me for Jesus' sake, and help me to make You my Number One companion. Amen. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1232/29?v=20251111

When a clothing manufacturer selects a high-quality fabric, he is usually concerned enough to make sure that good workmanship goes into the final product. In a similar way, the fabric of the creation tells us a lot about its Creator. Mathematics, more than anything else, reflects the fabric of the creation.Many scientists today are puzzled by the fact that the material world they study can be accurately described in mathematical equations. The falling of a stone or a feather, even the colors of a rainbow, all correspond to mathematical formulae. Even chaos has a mathematical description. One Nobel physicist was moved to write a paper entitled, “The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics in the Natural Sciences.”Because mathematics so precisely describes reality, we can send a space probe billions of miles, on perfect target. Mathematics allow us to receive the pictures it returns to Earth using a transmitter no more powerful than a five-watt light bulb. As one science writer put it, scientists use mathematics as a wonderful gift but they have no idea why it works so well.Of course, creation scientists don't wonder why math works. They know that the creation is the work of an orderly and wise Creator Who was pleased with His final product. The precision of mathematics reflects the excellent quality of His fine workmanship.Genesis 1:31"And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.”Prayer: Dear Father, I praise You because You have truly, done all things well. Help me to be a better witness to Your excellent workmanship to those around me. In Jesus' Name. Amen. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1232/29?v=20251111

One might expect that the ape would turn out to be the best animal communicator. But evolution's expectations about language and a link between man and apes, proves to be wrong.The bee has the most complex and detailed functional language among the animals. Let's say that a bee has located a particularly good source of nectar and returns to the hive to tell its friends where it is. Our bee dances a figure eight, with the cross points at the center of the eight giving the direction of the nectar in relation to the sun. As the bee dances on the wall of the honeycomb, the position of the sun is always down. If the bee moves up the comb wall at 17 degrees to the left of vertical, it means the honey is 17 degrees to the left of the sun. This communication even works on cloudy days, since bees can see the ultraviolet light that penetrates the clouds. Distance is communicated by the speed of the dance.Neither man's languages, nor the bees' language evolved -- they were given by God. Why else would the bee indicate direction relative to the sun in the same way that human beings do? That the bee is the best communicator in the animal world, and not the apes, helps to show that language cannot be explained by evolution.Psalm 26:6-7"I will wash mine hands in innocency: so will I compass thine altar, O Lord: That I may publish with the voice of thanksgiving, and tell of all thy wondrous works.”Prayer: Dear Father in heaven, I am filled with wonder and rejoicing when I hear about all of the wonderful things You have created and how You have provided for all Your creatures. But never let me forget to rejoice in Your salvation. In Jesus' Name. Amen. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1232/29?v=20251111

About ten percent of the 35 thousand known species of spiders spin the familiar orb-shaped web. These amazing sticky silk constructions may be a few inches or even a yard across.The first step in building an orb web is to cast out the highest horizontal silk line in the planned construction. Once both ends are anchored, the spider then pulls another strand below the anchor line into a “y” shape, and then drops down while creating another silk strand to complete the leg of the “y”. Other anchor lines may be attached from the center of the “y” to solid objects before the familiar spiral of the orb-web is started. Despite all of this work, most spiders take their webs down, eating the silk as they go, every day before the sun comes up. One question that nearly everyone asks, and scientists cannot even answer is, why don't spiders get caught in their own sticky webs?Scientists who believe in evolution have come to the conclusion that since so many different kinds of spiders build orb webs, the knowledge and ability to do so must have evolved many times. But we think it would be absolutely amazing if it even evolved only once!Proverbs 30:28 refers to the spider's wisdom and skill, despite its small size. But we have to ask: Who taught the spider in the first place?Proverbs 30:28"The spider taketh hold with her hands, and is in kings' palaces.”Prayer: Dear heavenly Father, even the amazing spider shows forth Your wisdom and skill. Give me better sight so that I may more often see and appreciate Your wonderful works. In Jesus' Name. Amen. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1232/29?v=20251111

The sea is the last, most unexplored frontier left on Earth and one of the most widespread modern myths about the sea is that life began there.In 1903, A. B. Macallam said that there was a causal relationship between the salinity of the sea and the salt content of human blood plasma. This was said to be a direct reflection of our ancient emergence from the sea. Years later, after students had been well rehearsed in this nonsense, the scientific establishment officially refuted the theory. But textbooks still tell us that life began in the sea.The salt contents of seawater and blood are not that similar, but even if they were it has nothing to do with evolution. You see, there are salts in the earth and these find their way to the sea via the rivers. Those salts in the earth also find their way into our bodies via the food chain and are necessary for all life. So both seawater and blood are water-based solutions and all water-based solutions must follow the same chemical principles. Blood is forced, by simple chemistry, to be somewhat similar to any other water-based salt solutions.Life did not begin in the primordial sea. The Bible tells us that God created life from the dust of the ground, the original source of the salt.Psalm 146:5-6"Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God: Which made heaven, and earth, the sea, and all that therein is: which keepeth truth for ever:”Prayer: Dear Lord Jesus Christ, I thank You that it is through You that I, and all living things, were made, and not through the impersonal, unloving sea. Enable me to communicate this truth in our troubled world. Amen.REF.: Steve Olson, “Why is the Sea Constant?” November, Science. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1232/29?v=20251111

How long does it take to make a fossil? Most people think that it takes a long time and that's partly because we have been repeatedly told that fossils are millions of years old.But experience - which is, after all, what science is all about -- shows that it is not unusual for things to become stone very quickly under the proper conditions. The process of fossilization, where minerals replace the original material, is illustrated very nicely by a miner's hat. A miner lost his hat in a mine in Australia, it was found 50 years later, completely turned to limestone. The hat is now in a mining museum in Tasmania. Even more dramatic is the bowler hat that was buried in a volcanic eruption in 1886 in New Zealand. When it was excavated - only 20 years later - it had been completely turned to stone. Just think for a moment, if these were not modern artifacts but say a fish, they might have been declared to be millions of years old!Many, if not most, fossils were produced during the great flood of Noah's time when plants and animals were quickly covered by sediment and water. They bear witness to God's judgment of sin. And those fossil hats put into question the idea that we are the product of millions of years of evolution!Luke 19:40"And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.”Prayer: Dear Lord Jesus Christ, it is true that even the rocks bear witness to You as the Creating Word. I pray that this may not be true because Your people do not bear witness to You today. Help me to be a better witness for You. Amen.REF.: John Mackay B.Sc., “Fossil Bolts and Fossil Hats,” Creation Ex Nihilo. Image: Knaresborough, Mother Shipton Trail- John Wayne's petrified hat in the museum by Michael Garlick, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons, changes made. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1232/29?v=20251111

When God made fish and told them to be fruitful and multiply, He gave some of them very special abilities so that they could do this. Some 23 families of fish actually change from females to males or from males to females, to help their species reproduce.This ability to change sex, as do tropical fish, produces some amusing behavior. Clownfish are particularly popular among fish hobbyists, who might find that top female fish they recently purchased has become another male! Often, the wrasse family spawn on large coral reefs, dominated by stronger, territorial males who chase the weaker males away from the reef. But often the smaller males will take on the appearance of a female. Under this disguise, they join the line of females that are waiting to spawn with the dominant male. While in line, these pretenders encourage the ladies in waiting to spawn with them, rather than with the large dominant male.This biological clowning poses a couple of problems for believers in evolution. For one thing, it encourages the very opposite of reproduction of the strongest and best. And there are so many different kinds of fish that change sex that evolutionists have decided that they must have evolved several times.Of course, we know that the natural ability to change sex came from an imaginative Creator.Genesis 1:21-22"And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.”Prayer: Dear Father, I took in wonder and awe at the beauty and imagination You expressed so freely in Your work of creation. Help me to never cease glorifying You as my gracious and wonderful God! Amen.REF.: Robert Warne, “Metamorphosis”.  To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1232/29?v=20251111

Today, we want to tell you more about the Cheetah. From a human standpoint, Daniel would have been a whole lot safer if he had been thrown into a den of cheetahs rather than a den of lions.The truth is, cheetahs are the least aggressive of the big cats and offer virtually no threat to man at all. In their native Africa, bushmen actually chase cheetahs away from their kills and steal the fruit of the cheetah's hard-won labor. Man has been taming cheetahs and leading them on leashes for thousands of years.Recently, a naturalist returned a hand-raised cheetah to the African wilds. The naturalist had to train the cheetah to hunt, just as its mother would have done. In the process, the cheetah repeatedly chased antelopes to its human friend, and waited to see what it was supposed to do with them. The cheetah is a unique variation on the cat theme that shows how God's creativity can take many forms. When we study His creation, we are wise if we remember that, compared to God, we have hardly any imagination. Therefore, we could never decide what could be and what could not be.As we learn about the world that God has created, we do best when we study what God has done, without letting our ideas of what is possible and impossible cloud our thinking.Daniel 6:27"He delivereth and rescueth, and he worketh signs and wonders in heaven and in earth, who hath delivered Daniel from the power of the lions.”Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, I thank You that You have given us Your sure Word, especially that I might know the truth of Jesus Christ which leads to salvation. In His Name. Amen.REF.: Hope Ryden, “The Swift and the Savage,” Science Digest. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1232/29?v=20251111

Did you know that the phrase “according to its kind” appears ten times in the first chapter of Genesis? Not only is the fact that plants and animals reproduce according to their kind an important principle in the Bible, it is central to modern agriculture and husbandry. What's more, there is no evidence in the fossil record that any creature ever existed that was in the process of changing from one kind into another. While many different kinds of plants and animals have become extinct, modern forms are found in the most ancient rocks.This fact was highlighted for us again when scientists announced the discovery of a fossil bug that they said was 15 million years older than any insect ever found before. Of course, we know that those are highly inflated evolutionary years. But the discovery of the insect will lead evolutionists to revise their story of how insects evolved. And they are not just going to have to allow that bugs have been around for more of the Earth's history than they thought. The scientists also noted that the insect they found was remarkably like modern-day silverfish. In other words, insects were well established long before evolutionists ever thought they had evolved!This is just one more example of a scientific discovery clearly showing that every living thing reproduces after its own kind. Furthermore, those kinds have been the same since the beginning.Genesis 1:24"And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.”Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, I thank You that You have given us Your sure Word, especially that I might know the truth of Jesus Christ which leads to salvation. In His Name. Amen.REF.: Star Tribune. Image: Lepidotrix drawing, Silvestri F, PD, Wikimedia Commons. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1232/29?v=20251111

Skeptics are forever trying to find errors in the Bible so that they can discredit it as God's Word. When a faithful Bible scholar discovers some puzzle in Scripture, he never assumes that he has found an error. He assumes that he doesn't have all the information necessary to resolve the question.As believers would expect, every so-called puzzle that has been resolved has been resolved in favor of the accuracy of the Bible. In each of these cases, those who said that they had discovered an error in the Bible were proven wrong.One of the more interesting puzzles that was finally solved concerned Luke's account of Christ's birth. Was Quirinius really governor of Syria when Christ was born in 4 B.C.? Scholars knew that he was governor in 6 A.D. But there was no evidence that he had governed Syria in 4 B.C. Some 19th-century scholars wrote that Luke must have made a mistake with the date of the census, since Quirinius wasn't governor when Christ was born. Then, in 1912, an inscription was discovered that was dated to around 10 B.C. It said that Quirinius was governor in Syria and Cilicia around that time. In other words, Quirinius ruled the area as governor at least twice, including when Christ was born.As God's Word, Scripture's accuracy can be trusted. Nothing has ever disproved the truth of anything in the Bible. The Bible can be trusted even when it talks about historical events. That's true even when the Bible talks about the history of the creation of the world.Luke 2:1-2"And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)”Prayer: I thank You, Lord, that Your Word has been preserved for us in the Bible. I thank You that Your Word is completely trustworthy. I thank You that Your certain Word assures me that You fully carried the burden of my sin on the cross so that I could be forgiven. Amen.REF.: Jackson, Wayne. "Calm confidence in the Scriptures." Reasoning from Revelation. Image: Meister der Kahriye-Cami-Kirche (Mary and Joseph register as part of the Census of Quirinius) Istanbul, Chora Church, PD, Wikimedia Commons. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1232/29?v=20251111

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.Acts 17:29"Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device.”Prayer: 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.REF.: L. Davis. "Waspish Son-Killers and Sex-Switchers." Science News, Vol. 129. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1232/29?v=20251111

The fossil record shows us examples of God's great creativity in designing living things. It also shows that life appeared suddenly on earth, in finished form. The fossil record shows us that earth originally had a much greater variety of life. Finally, the fossil record doesn't show any evidence of creatures evolving from one type into another.Paleontologists have been looking for fossils of unusual creatures in some of the oldest rocks that have fossils in them. In other words, these rocks in British Columbia have evidences of some of the earliest forms of life. These layers show the rich variety of life that once existed on earth. Paleontologists have found a much greater variety of arrow worms and jellyfish than live today. But even in the earliest layers, the worms and the jellyfish are fully formed.In addition, paleontologists have found some startling creatures. One foot and a half long creature had a circular mouth with radiating teeth and claws. Another looks like a tiny, inch long dragon. Scientists describe it as looking like the cameo of a stegosaurus. Perhaps the most unusual creature was named "Santa Claws" by one paleontologist. It has five pairs of claws attached to its head, two flaps on the side, and a tail like a beaver.Paleontologists and Christians who believe the biblical record of creation don't dispute the facts about fossils. We object to interpretations of the fossils that needlessly contradict Scripture.Psalm 18:30" As for God, his way is perfect: the word of the Lord is tried: he is a buckler to all those that trust in him.”Prayer: Dear heavenly Father, even in death, brought about by man's sin, these creatures glorify You and bear witness to Your act of creation. Strengthen my faith so that I may not be intimidated by claims that contradict Your Word. In Jesus' Name. Amen.REF.: Weisburd, Stefi. "New creatures from the Cambrian." Science News, v. 128. Image: Burgess shale scale, Matt Martyniuk (Dinoguy2), CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1232/29?v=20251111

Parables are a good way to teach. Jesus often used parables to teach a lesson. Parables can even be a good way to teach science. However, parables cannot be used to establish scientific fact.Unfortunately, Charles Darwin frequently used parables as part of his scientific method. Many modern evolutionists continue that tradition. Let's look at an example. Those who believe in evolution have tried to find an explanation for why some birds have luxurious, bright plumage. Does the peacock really need those brilliant tail feathers? Well, say evolutionists, females prefer the males with the most beautiful plumage. So, the brightest males had more babies. Evolutionists call this sexual selection.What does the story prove? It doesn't prove anything in the scientific sense. It doesn't explain where the colors came from in the first place. It doesn't explain why females prefer showy males. Nor does it explain where peacocks originally came from. And it doesn't explain why some birds have very drab colors. The biggest problem with this explanation is that it simply begs the question. You see, many evolutionists admit that they have no good explanation for how sexual reproduction evolved in the first place.So the evolutionists' story for how the peacock came to have such bright feathers is just a story--not scientific proof. And when it comes to stories, I prefer the stories reported in the Bible, because they have our Creator's own personal guarantee of truth.2 Timothy 4:3-4"For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.”Prayer: I pray, dear Father, that You would give me a clear-thinking, critical mind informed by Your Word. Help me use these abilities to clearly see the errors of the world's thinking and better appreciate Your wisdom. In Jesus' Name. Amen.REF.: "The Sight that Made Darwin Sick!" Riginal View, No. 8. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1232/29?v=20251111

The environment naturally produces hazardous waste without human help. Ashes from a wood fire can contain enough naturally occurring radioactivity to merit a hazardous waste classification. Uranium and other radioactive elements occur naturally in the environment and can be dissolved in ground water. Chloro fluorocarbons, manufactured for refrigeration, are also spewed from volcanoes. Also called CFCs, these chemicals are thought by some scientists to degrade the earth's ozone layer. The fact is, nature produces more hazardous waste than does man.Since hazardous waste is a natural part of the creation, one might expect a well-designed creation to have the ability to process hazardous materials into harmless substances. Science is beginning to discover how the Creator has designed the creation to deal with this problem.Scientists have learned how several bacteria decontaminate water that carries dissolved uranium. One species of bacterium combines the phosphate in the water with the uranium to make uranium phosphate crystals. These crystals are stored harmlessly in the bacterium. Another species uses enzymes to make uranium ore that then settles harmlessly out of the water. Another species has been discovered that breaks down CFCs.The creation is indeed well designed. In fact, the Creator's solutions to hazardous waste will help us learn how to clean up the messes we make.Job 12:7-8"But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee: Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee: and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee.”Prayer: I thank You, dear Lord, both for the wisdom and the love which You have designed the creation. Help modern science to learn more about Your solutions to hazardous waste so that we may take better care of the creation You have lent to us for temporary use during our lives. Amen.REF.: "Chemistry of uranium eating microbes." Science News, v. 142. Image: Microscope view of Bacillus subtilis, Korinna, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1232/29?v=20251111

Did you know that you have three eyes? In fact, someday your third eye may provide spare parts that might be necessary to repair the two eyes you normally think about.Scientists have known for more than a century that the western fence lizard has a third eye. Its third eye can be seen as a white spot on the top of its forehead. While this third eye is an extension of the pineal gland, it has a retina, lens, and cornea. While this third eye is unable to focus light, it does sense light. Pineal eyes are also found in other lizards, frogs, and lampreys, but not in mammals. Since human beings are supposed to be evolutionarily closer to mammals, scientists did not expect to find the third eye in human beings.When medical researchers investigating the human pineal gland compared their findings with eye researchers, they were astonished. Both the pineal and the retina make melatonin, an important chemical in our daily rhythm that also affects mood. Your pineal also makes a number of proteins that were thought to be made only by the eye that are necessary for processing light. And like the pineal, the eye also serves as one of the body's time-keeping mechanisms. There are so many similarities between the eye and the pineal in humans that scientists hope to one day use a person's pineal as a source of genetic spare parts to treat some eye diseases!That scientific advance might have already been made if scientists had long ago given up their belief in evolution.Proverbs 26:12"Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit? there is more hope of a fool than of him.”Prayer: I am truly fearfully and wonderfully made, dear Lord! I thank You for the wonders You have designed and placed within me. But most of all, I thank You for Your Holy Spirit, Who has convinced me of the forgiveness of my sin by grace, through faith in Your innocent suffering and death on the cross. Amen.REF.: Julie Ann Miller. "Eye to (Third) Eye." Science News, Vol. 128. Image: Pineal gland in red, Life Science Databases(LSDB)., CC BY-SA 2.1 JP, Wikimedia Commons. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1232/29?v=20251111

Our moon is moving away from the earth at the rate of four centimeters per year. That might not seem like much. But that rate of movement away from the earth presents problems for those who believe the earth and moon have been around for 4.5 billion years.At the rate the moon is receding, it would have been so close to earth only 1.5 to 2 billion years ago that tidal friction would have melted earth's surface rocks. Mathematical fiddlings help a little, but not enough. By mathematically increasing the rate of earth's spin over supposed "billions" of years, and figuring in a factor for assumed different tidal rates, one can inch the earth moon relationship back to about 4 billion years.Evolutionary scientists believe the problem can be solved to keep their 4.5 billion years of evolutionary history intact. But, they admit that the assumptions being tried need investigation, since the matter is far from solved. In other words, evolutionists admit they have a problem making the earth moon relationship fit into their long age history.The mathematical models rule out the theory that the moon was formed billions of years ago from the same dust cloud that supposedly formed the earth. Also ruled out is the theory that the moon was captured by the earth's gravity. Only one explanation seems to satisfy the data--that the moon was formed relatively recently, orbiting the earth from the time of its creation.Psalm 148:3"Praise ye him, sun and moon: praise him, all ye stars of light.”Prayer: I thank You, dear Father in heaven, that Your Word to us in the Bible is true and can be trusted. With the creation I will bear witness to You as Creator, and with my mouth I will tell others of the salvation in Christ. In Jesus' Name. Amen.REF.: Dye, Brad. "The moon revisited." Creation Science Dialogue. Kerr, Richard A. "Where was the moon eons ago?" Science, v. 221. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1232/29?v=20251111

Two rocks float through silent space, unaware that they will soon cause a scientific debate millions of miles away on earth. On earth these two small asteroids added together may weigh only a few hundred pounds. The conclusions that can be drawn from them, however, might be weighty enough to overthrow a powerful theory.That summarizes the status of a scientific debate over patterns in which meteorites fall. Evolutionary theory says that when those two asteroids smash together in space, the resulting chunks will separate during the millions of years before they ever strike earth. As a result, meteor falls cannot possibly follow a pattern. However, a pattern has now been discovered.Researchers from Purdue University and the State University of New York say they have discovered that 17 meteorites that struck the earth in May between 1855 and 1895 form a broad line that extends for several thousand kilometers. Because the earth revolves, however, the line is mathematical rather than geographical. The meteorites are classified as H chondrites. When scientists analyzed 13 of the stones, they found that each had similar amounts of rare trace elements not found in 45 other H chondrite meteorites. The other meteorites did not fall into the geographic line researchers had discovered.The findings strongly suggest that these stones had not been drifting through space long enough to separate before they hit the earth. If the solar system is billions of years old, there is virtually no chance of the stones remaining together. This fact suggests a young age for the solar system.Psalm 19:1"The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.”Prayer: Lord, the many wonders in the heavens do more than inspire our awe. They also bear testimony to the truth of Your Holy Word, what You have made, and our need to be restored to our Creator by grace through faith in Your innocent suffering and death for us on the cross. Amen.REF.: Cowen, R. "Meteorites: to stream or not to stream?" Science News, v. 142. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1232/29?v=20251111

Can your ear talk to you? New research seems to show that your ear actually generates sound that echoes whatever you hear.Startled scientists are making new discoveries that appear to show that we have hearing aids built into our ears. Yes, our ears do produce sounds. When sound hits the eardrums, the vibrations move bones within the ear, causing a bone called the stapes to vibrate. These vibrations are translated to pneumatic pressure within the cochlea. The oscillating pressure is picked up by tiny inner hairs in the cochlea that vibrate with the sound. These vibrations generate an electrical signal that is sent to the brain.Researchers have learned that outer hair cells within the cochlea respond to the incoming signals by generating audible sounds that can be picked up by tiny microphones. The sounds are generated as the hairs dance up and down in time with the incoming sound, just like the cone of a loudspeaker. The effect is that the ear echoes the incoming sound a few thousandths of a second after it enters the ear. The echo generated within the cochlea is not necessary for hearing. However, scientists suspect that this feedback system helps people smoothly hear sounds that range from soft to loud. Some scientists have voiced their skepticism about these astonishing findings.Our ability to hear sound is much more elegant in design than scientists ever expected. The technically precise details of the ear's design discredit all claims that the ear could have evolved.James 1:22"But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.”Prayer: Lord, let my voice praise You for all the great things You have done. Let me always be glad to hear Your Word and, assured of Your forgiving grace, put it into practice in my life. Amen.REF.: Malcolm M. Browne. "Let's Hear it from the Ears." The Plain Dealer. Image: Schematic overview of inner ear, van der Valk, W.H., Steinhart, M.R., Zhang, J. et al., CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons, image cropped from original. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1232/29?v=20251111

It was only a few years ago that excited supporters of the big bang theory for the origin of the universe announced that their theory had apparently been proven. Now their unverified conclusions are being seriously questioned on several fronts.Even as it was being announced that the big bang theory was proven, verification was being made on other results showing that the big bang theory is probably wrong. William G. Tifft of the University of Arizona had been looking at lists of red shifts from distant galaxies. On a graph, he plotted the red shifts corrected for the effects of the earth's motion. If the red shifts from these objects are the result of their speeding away from earth, their red shifts should be evenly spread over the known range of shifts. Tifft found that they're not. The red shifts are clumped into patterns. The intervals are about 72 kilometers per second, with some half that value and some one-third of that value. Astronomers from the Royal Observatory in Edinburgh verified his results.A second study by Tifft has shown that galaxy red shifts measured from earth have changed in just a few years! This change is completely unexpected by proponents of the big bang theory. The change is large enough that Tifft expects to be able to test the rate at which these changes take place within only a few years! One suggestion is that red shifts may be some sort of decay phenomenon rather than expansion of the universe.How could human beings expect to understand a universe created by the Author of Scripture when they reject Scripture itself?Isaiah 55:8"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.”Prayer: I thank You, dear Lord, for the revelation of Your Word of salvation in Scripture. I pray that I may never presume to understand something before I know and believe what You have said about it in Your inerrant Word. Amen.Image: High redshift galaxy candidates in the Hubble Ultra Deep Field 2012, NASA, ESA, R. Ellis (Caltech), and the HUDF 2012 Team, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1232/29?v=20251111

Some frogs are regular little drug factories. Their skins produce a wide range of powerful alkaloids, a large family of chemicals usually produced by plants. Familiar alkaloids include quinine, caffeine and morphine. Different alkaloids have different effects, usually on the nervous system.The poison-arrow frog may be the most famous alkaloid-producing frog. South American natives simply rub their arrows or darts on the frog's back. One species of this frog contains enough poison to kill about 100 people! Another frog, native to Ecuador, produces an anesthetic more powerful than morphine. South American natives rub another frog on their wounds. Researchers discovered that the frog's skin makes a powerful antiseptic. Yet another frog alkaloid will change the colors on parrot feathers. Some of the alkaloids produced by frogs are so complex that it takes years of study, using modern science's most sophisticated equipment, to discover the active chemical.Researchers in this field are only beginning to learn about the alkaloids produced by frogs. They have yet to research a frog that natives claim to use to heighten their senses for the hunt. What puzzles scientists who believe in evolution is that the frogs' exotic skin chemistries don't follow the patterns they anticipated based upon expected evolutionary relationships.This means that these frogs have one more exciting purpose. They provide evidence against evolution and for the Creator.Matthew 13:22"'Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.'”Prayer: I thank You, Lord, that You have included chemicals in the creation that can help us treat our medical problems. I ask that I would not become so concerned with earthly cares and worries that I forget about my spiritual needs - which are fully supplies by You. Amen.REF.: Pennisi, Elizabeth. "Pharming frogs." Science News, v. 142. Image: Phantasmal poison frog, Envato. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1232/29?v=20251111

In previous “Creation Moments” features we've talked about wasps that control crop pests. Natural controls—such as these wasps—show the Creator's hand in designing the creation. New facts about how wasps control pests make our Creator's hand even more evident.There are several thousand species of wasps that lay their eggs inside crop pests or use the pests for food. These wasps have become a popular form of natural pest control among farmers and gardeners.Researchers have now discovered that the wasps do more than simply feed on the pests or use them as food for their young. Typically, the wasps will inject their eggs into worm-like pest larvae. It has been discovered that the wasp eggs are coated with a virus that holds the pest larvae in the immature stage until the developing young wasps have no more need of the egg. The virus appears to move to an organ inside the pest larva and affects the insect's immune system. It also acts on the larva's endocrine system to take away the larva's appetite. So the pest larva destroys less crop, and being starved for food, fails to develop into an adult. This gives the wasp eggs plenty of time to develop into young wasps who will finish off the pest.Researchers are still trying to discover exactly how the virus's carefully orchestrated attack strategy works. Clearly, no creature nor the creation itself invented this strategy. It could only have been conceived and built by a Master Biochemist and Physician!Job 36:5"Behold, God is mighty, but despises no one; He is mighty in strength of understanding.”Prayer: I thank You, Lord, that You have built into Your creation natural ways to control creatures that can become unwanted pests. Help us to learn more about the natural controls You have made so that we will be better able to feed a growing population. And with that food, let Your people bring others Your saving Word. Amen.REF.: Raloff, Janet. "Virus allows wasps to kill crop pests." Science News, v. 128. Image: Red monomachidae wasp (parasitoid), João P. Burini, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1232/29?v=20251111

The Earth's magnetic field makes compasses work so that Boy Scouts don't get lost in the woods and ships arrive at the correct port. It actually moves over time. This means that navigators periodically need updated information on the position of the pole for their charts.Many people have the idea that the Earth's magnetic field moves very slowly. The Earth's magnetic field actually offers some of the clearest evidences that the Earth is young. Geophysicists recently reported that the north magnetic pole has moved 800 kilometers northwest of where it was in 1904. That's a much faster rate of movement than many people imagined. Its speed and direction of movement are about what was expected by geophysicists, however. They also report that the magnetic pole has moved as much as 80 kilometers in one day.Measurements taken over the last 150 years show that the Earth's magnetic field is decaying. When Christ walked the hills of Palestine, the magnetic field was twice as powerful as it is today.The Earth is much more dynamic and changeable than most people, including many scientists, think. These rapid changes in the position of the magnetic pole and the rapid decay of the magnetic field offer evidence that the Earth is much younger than many people think. One of the world's best known experts has shown that the decaying magnetic field means that the Earth could not be much older than the Bible's genealogies indicate.Job 26:7" He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing.”Prayer: Lord, the blessings of modern travel rely on Your gift of to us of the Earth's magnetic field. I also thank You for the beauty of the northern and southern lights that is created by the magnetic field. Amen.REF.: "News of Magnetic Poles." Science News, Vol. 128. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1232/29?v=20251111

A debate about the definition of “species” may remove Homo erectus from the human evolutionary tree.Traditional evolutionists theorize that Homo habilis evolved into Homo erectus, who evolved into Homo sapiens. Some evolutionists now want to reclassify Homo erectus as a primitive form of Homo sapiens. Those who don't want to abolish the Homo erectus classification have been supporting their position by emphasizing the differences between Homo erectus and Homo sapiens. Homo erectus has a considerably smaller brain than Homo sapiens. These creatures also had larger teeth and heavier limb bones. Scientists who want to keep the classification conclude that Homo erectus' characteristics are quite distinct from Homo sapiens'. Those who want to reclassify Homo erectus as Homo sapiens want to blur the differences that we generally use to discern between humans and apes. We need to ask, if evolutionists cannot define a species, how do they know when a new one evolves?How different is Homo erectus? Dubois, who discovered the first fossils that are today recognized as Homo erectus, finally concluded that the fossils were only the remains of a large gibbon. Dubois had promoted the fossils as those of “ape men” for decades, before reversing his position.The Bible leaves no room for so-called ape-men. Today's human beings are not improved ape-men, nor was Jesus Christ, Who became a man to carry our sins so that we might be forgiven and restored to God.Genesis 1:26"Then God said, 'Let us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.'”Prayer: I thank You, dear Lord, that You became human to carry my sin on the cross. I thank You that evolution is not true and that You originally made us distinct from the animals so that we could have a relationship with You. Amen.REF.: Bower, Bruce. "Erectus unhinged." Science News, v. 141. Image: Turkana Boy (Homo erectus), Cicero Moraes, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1232/29?v=20251111

Though they are only insects, stick insects seem to have an amazing knowledge of their surroundings. They are geniuses at using their predators' weaknesses for their own protection.Stick insects are leaf eaters. Many of them look like little twigs. The longest insect in the world is a walking stick from Borneo that reaches a length of 13 inches. A tropical stick is as thick as a finger and the same color as the bamboo on which it is often found. It also has swollen ridges that make it look even more like bamboo. Other types have leafy flaps that match the leaves of the plants they frequent. Some stick insects go even further. They lay eggs that look exactly like the seeds of the plant on which they feed. A stick that's found in New Mexico glues its eggs to grass stems. The position and shape of the long-pointed eggs exactly mimic the seeds of that species of grass.While they don't fly, some sticks have brightly colored wings that they can rapidly unfurl. They use this ability to startle away nervous birds who might want to investigate them for lunch. Sticks will often sway with the breeze to make their illusion more effective. Some sticks will sit motionless for hours. Some birds understand this and will closely examine non-moving twigs. Sticks will often refuse to move even when being carried away by a bird. This tactic has fooled many birds into thinking it really was a twig and releasing it.Stick insects are clearly not the result of mindless chance. Their intelligence was created by the Creator of the universe.Isaiah 40:28"Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.”Prayer: Dear Lord, I can never thank You enough that You are the Creator and in charge of the universe. Many in our world do not know this and live in hopelessness. Help us to reach them on their hopelessness with Your good news. Amen.REF.: Sivinski, John. "When is a stick not a stick?" Natural History. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1232/29?v=20251111

We have previously reported on research that shows that human beings are born with a natural language ability. We are not only born with a hunger to learn language, we are also born with certain expectations about what language is. This fact can only serve as a witness to the Creator and His genius.Now research into how infants respond to music has shown that we are also born with a readiness to learn the basics of what music should sound like. Western major and minor scales follow a certain mathematical pattern. However, the Javanese pelog scale is based on much more complex mathematical relationships. Those who have grown up with Western musical patterns find that music written in the pelog system sounds weird to their ears. When does this sense that tells us that certain mathematical patterns of notes don't fit together develop?To find out, researchers tested adults and six-month-olds. Adults can easily identify notes that don't seem to fit in a string. The infants had been trained to look at a speaker when a note was not in tune. When they were right, they were rewarded by watching the actions of an animated toy. Infants that had been trained in both Western and pelog scales did better at identifying mistuned pelog notes that untrained adults.Music is a gift of God. We find music used and referred to from early in Genesis to the end of the Book of Revelation. The greatest use we can make of music is in praise of our Creator.Ephesians 5:19-20"Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;”Prayer: I thank You, Lord, for the gift of music. It makes our hearts glad and gives us yet another way to witness to You and worship You. Help Your people always make use of music. Amen.REF.: "Infants tune in to the sounds of music." Science News, v. 138. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1232/29?v=20251111

What color is the scarlet gilia? Well, that depends on where and when it's blooming. Despite its name, the scarlet gilia can be red, pink, and even white.Near sea level, the flowers remain red all season. This is because the flower is pollinated throughout the summer by hummingbirds who are drawn to the red flowers. At higher elevations, the hummingbirds leave as summer moves into August. As they leave, the plants change their red flowers to pink and later, white flowers.The higher elevation plants change over to white flowers because they have a new pollinator. As the hummingbird population decreases, hawkmoths take over. During this transition, the flower produces pink blossoms as it invites both of its pollinators. Once the hummingbirds are gone, the hawkmoth takes over. The hawkmoths pollinate at night so they prefer white flowers, which are easier to see in the dark. Scientists were amazed by the fact that the color changes take place exactly when pollination shifts from hummingbird to moth. As one startled scientist put it, these plants cannot be considered passive in their environment.Who taught the scarlet gilia when and how to change the color of its flowers? Who taught it that hummingbirds will be attracted to red flowers? Or that hawkmoths will be attracted to white flowers? The scarlet gilia may be clever, but only our all-wise Creator could have given this knowledge and ability to the plant.Matthew 6:28-29"And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these."Prayer: Dear Father, I thank You that the wisdom with which You designed the creation is therefore all to see. As I strive against the world's denial of Your intimate involvement in Your creation, help me to see more clearly that the creation is Yours and that it glorifies You. In Jesus' Name. Amen.REF.: Bennett, D. D. Scarlet gilia: Flowering Chameleon. Science News. Image: Skyrocket Gilia (Ipomopsis aggregata), CanyonlandsNPS, PD, Wikimedia Commons. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1232/29?v=20251111

Modern sophisticated laboratories have produced many specialized materials with amazing qualities. Yet many creatures make ceramic materials that are stronger and tougher. If a crack starts in a piece of our ceramic, over time it grows. The same crack will not grow in ceramic made by the oyster.Human and animal bodies custom-form teeth for a variety of purposes. When science makes such materials it uses heat, chemicals and high pressure. One scientist noted that it would take experts in five or six scientific disciplines to figure out how living things form these materials.Scientists have been trying to learn how creatures that make stony materials do it. Most of what they have learned has left them astonished at the quality of the materials, even if they have learned little about the process. They believe that special cells in the body use proteins and other large molecules to form non-organic molecules into stony materials. It appears that many creatures can control the formation of crystals. For example, in the abalone shell, crystals and glue are stacked in brick and mortar fashion in such a way that they become stronger under pressure. At the same time the structure allows them to be formed into intricate shapes.Our best human efforts cannot match God's gifts. Our best human behavior cannot make us good enough for God. Only the forgiveness of sins that comes by grace through faith in Christ can do that.Ephesians 2:8-9"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast."Prayer: Our dear heavenly Father, I thank You that You have sent Your Son Jesus Christ to work out my salvation. I thank You for Your forgiving grace that assures me of the forgiveness of my sins and Your love. In Jesus' Name. Amen.REF.: Pennisi, Elizabeth. "Natureworks: making minerals the biological way." Science News, v. 141. Image: Closeup of paua abalone shell, Envato. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1232/29?v=20251111

It is always as dark as night 2,000 feet beneath the ocean's surface. Yet a rich variety of life thrives in the darkness. The strategies for life far beneath the waves are remarkable and unique.Even in the deep ocean, predator searches for prey and prey tries to escape predator. The permanent darkness and buoyant water allow for unusually creative strategies in this rhythm of life. Some creatures try to hide in the darkness. Others use light to lure prey close to them. Some creatures even squirt luminescent clouds into the water to make predators think that they are where they're not.Perhaps the most creative is a species of jellyfish. When a potential predator comes close to the jellyfish, the jellyfish turns off the lights in its bell-shaped body. Then switching off the lights in its tentacles, the jellyfish scoots away as fast as it can. If the predator wasn't fooled and continues the chase, the jellyfish switches to plan B. It turns on the blue light in its body and the white lights in its tentacles. When the attacker is very close, the jellyfish turns off the light in its body and takes off, detaching its still-glowing tentacles. The tentacles continue to writhe in the water, distracting the predator.According to evolution theory, jellyfish are among the most primitive multicelled animals. In this clever survival strategy, we see that jellyfish are neither simple nor primitive. They are a true credit to the Creator's handiwork!I Corinthians 10:13“There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”Prayer: Father, nothing You have made fails to declare Your glory. Help me do a better job of glorifying You so that more people may be invited to Your forgiving grace in Jesus Christ. In His Name. Amen.REF.: Discover. Images: Atolla wyvillei jellyfish (Operation Deep Scope 2004), NOAA Ocean Explorer from USA, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1232/29?v=20251111

New fossil discoveries in China are being greeted by evolutionists as among the most spectacular of the century. The fossils, say evolutionists, represent some of the earliest multicelled creatures. Evolutionists are publicizing these fossils as evidence for evolution. It's not difficult, however, to see how these fossils support creation rather than evolution.Evolutionists admit the fossils show that the first multicelled creatures have appeared suddenly. This confirms creationist claims that life appeared suddenly and without evolutionary ancestors.These "first" multicelled creatures were complex and complete. There were no fossils with partially developed eyes or other organs. They include trilobites that had some of the most complex eye structures of any creature that ever lived. There are also fossils of shrimp-like creatures and creatures with hard shells. Some of the animals were over two feet long. Now that's a big jump when you remember that the previous step was a single-celled algae!There are no evolutionary missing links. The evolutionists said that the creatures all belong to groups that still exist. This means that science has now documented the history of some kinds of creatures alive today right back to the very first record of multicelled life. In other words, these creatures never evolved! Also of interest is how evolutionists explain the size of this fossil deposit, which is miles across. One evolutionist said, "A violent storm probably stirred up the sea bottom and the mud settled over a large area..."Exodus 31:17“It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.”Prayer: Dear Father in heaven, I do not understand how You could have designed and so quickly created the millions of kinds of living things that You did. Help me to believe Your Word, even when my poor, sinful, created mind cannot understand how wonderful You are. In Jesus' Name. Amen.REF.: Wilford, John Noble. "Fast Evolutionary Jump Led to Complex Life, Study Says." Star Tribune, Wednesday. Image: Chengjiang biota collage, Dwergenpaartje Cédric Aria, Fangchen Zhao, Han Zeng, Jin Guo, Maoyan ZhuSmith, Degan ShuYujing Li, Mark Williams, Thomas H. P. Harvey, Fan Wei, Yang Zhao, Jin Guo, Sarah Gabbott, Tom Fletcher, Xianguang Hou, Peiyun Cong, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1232/29?v=20251111

In Deuteronomy 27:2-8 we read of how Moses instructed Joshua to build an altar on Mt. Ebal after the Israelites had entered the Promised Land. There, the people were to sacrifice and give thanks to the Lord.Bible critics have generally been skeptical of the Bible's early history of Israel's conquest of Canaan. Over the years, however, a growing number of discoveries have supported the Bible's account of the earliest history of the Israelites. Perhaps one of the most dramatic recent discoveries is the altar Joshua apparently built on Mt. Ebal after Israel entered Canaan.The ruins of the altar are laid out in a rectangle that measures 25 by 30 feet. The walls of the nine-foot-high structure of uncut stones and rocks are filled with ash, dirt, stones, and bones. Over 4,000 bones were found in the fill, all of them bones of the sacrificial animals called for in Moses' law. Evident, too, is the ramp up to the altar that was used by the priests, as stipulated by Exodus. One discovery at the site seems to tie everything together. It is an Egyptian scarab that was probably among the spoils the Bible says Israel took with them from Egypt.Bible-believing Christians don't need this proof to accept the Bible. But it is exciting to identify and learn more about such a historic place as the Mt. Ebal altar.Joshua 8:30“Then Joshua built an altar unto the Lord God of Israel in mount Ebal…”Prayer: Dear Father in heaven, I know that Your Word is trustworthy. But I thank You that You have provided this additional witness to the integrity of Your Word for those who doubt. Let them, too, come to know Your grace in Christ. Amen.REF.: Machlin, Milt. "Joshua and the Archaologist." Reader's Digest. Image: Joshua's Altar, Hoshvilim, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1232/29?v=20251111

Ouch! You've just gotten a paper cut on your finger. What's the first thing you do? If you're like most people, you'll probably put your finger in your mouth. If you think about it, you probably have no idea why you put your finger into your mouth. Actually, when a dog licks its wounds or when you put your paper cut-ravaged finger in your mouth, you are beginning medical treatment.Medical science is only just learning what God knew when He built this reaction into us. The saliva of mammals and human beings contains Epidermal growth factor. Studies show that when epidermal growth factor is applied to wounds, healing takes place much faster. Epidermal growth factor increases the number of cells available to grow new skin over a wound. It also encourages capillaries to form near the wound to increase blood supply. Epidermal growth factor doubles the amount of new DNA at the wound site. Finally, it increases the amount of collagen in the wound to give the new tissue the strength to close up and remain closed.Researchers have little idea how epidermal growth factor works. They are still researching this powerful medicine that's found in our saliva.Only our wise and loving Creator could have provided us with this convenient and powerful medical treatment. Only He could have built into us the natural reaction of putting an injured finger into our mouth. Like so much else in the creation, this blessing is too well designed to be nothing more than a series of unrelated coincidences.Nehemiah 9:6“Thou, even thou, art Lord alone; thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth, and all things that are therein, the seas, and all that is therein, and thou preservest them all; and the host of heaven worshippeth thee.”Prayer: Dear Father, our pagan world talks about chance and coincidence. But I learn in Your Word that there is no such thing. Cleanse my thinking and speech of this pagan influence so that I may better witness Your truth. In Jesus' Name. Amen.REF.: "An Aid to Healing that Simply Can't be Licked." Discover. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1232/29?v=20251111

The monarch caterpillar feeds on milkweed. Milkweed manufactures a powerful toxin that can, in most cases, stop the heart of any creature who eats enough of it. The monarch caterpillar itself is unharmed by this poison. In fact, the caterpillar stores the poison in its body, and this poison remains even after the caterpillar has turned into a butterfly.Evolutionary scientists thought that the viceroy evolved to mimic or look like the monarch to fool birds into thinking that it, too, was toxic. The evolutionary story was that viceroys must really be good to eat, since they evolved from the tasty admiral butterflies. This evolutionary thinking remained untested until a few years ago, basically because scientists often consider it improper to question evolutionary claims. But, the tests using the wingless bodies of six different kinds of butterflies, including viceroys, proved that viceroys are indeed toxic to birds. Birds avoid the viceroy because it manufactures its own toxins. In fact, research has shown that the viceroy is, on average, even more poisonous than the monarch!Evolution is bad science. In this example, we see how evolution led to generations of misunderstanding about how God protects the viceroy butterfly.John 3:12“If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?”Prayer: Lord, where the truth of Your Word is rejected, ignorance about even Your creation soon follows. I pray that the darkness and ignorance caused by evolution would be reduced through the bold witness to the truth by Your people. Amen.REF.: Walker, Tim. "Butterflies and Bad Taste." Science News, Vol. 139. Image: Viceroy Butterfly, PiccoloNamek, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1232/29?v=20251111

The year 1816 was called the “year without a summer.” Weather records and newspaper clippings offer us a record of the unusual weather that struck all over the earth in 1816.A Vermont newspaper reported that on June 6, it began to snow and hail at 10:00 in the morning and continued until evening. In mid-July, the corn crop in Maine was almost completely destroyed by frost. In late August, the remaining corn crop, as far south as Massachusetts, was frozen out along with other crops.This bizarre story actually begins a year before, in 1815, in Indonesia. That's when Mt. Tambora began to erupt with such violence that some of the explosions could be heard 1,000 miles away. In the end, Tambora had blown over 25 cubic miles of debris into the atmosphere. This dust blocked enough of the sun's light to virtually cancel the following summer all over the earth.However, the lesson for us is that huge, earth-changing catastrophes are a normal part of our planet's history. It might take normal processes 500 years to create a layer of sediment six inches thick. However, a flood, volcanic eruption or hurricane can create the same layer in only a few hours. Just think how far off evolutionary dating is when this happens. We know from experience that things don't just continue for thousands of years without some catastrophe taking place.Genesis 7:11“In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.”Prayer: Dear Father in heaven, the violence and power of an earthquake or volcanic eruption reminds us how helpless we truly are. Increase my conviction that my life always rests in Your loving hands so that the violence of nature does not have to remind me. In Jesus' Name. Amen.REF.: Stommel, Henry, and Elizabeth Stommel. The year without a summer. Scientific American. Image: Mt Tambora Indonesia, Jialiang Gao, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1232/29?v=20251111

Scientists have known for some time that hummingbirds prefer bright-colored flowers. On the other hand, all of us know that white is most easily seen at night. That means that moths that pollinate flowers will more easily find white flowers. The question is, what is a flower to do when it is pollinated by hummingbirds during part of its flowering season and by night-flying moths later in its flowering season?That's the problem faced by a flowering plant called the gilia. Hummingbirds arrive to pollinate the flowers in mid-July. However, they leave in late August as the weather cools. Also in late August, the night-flying hawk moth arrives to begin pollinating the flower. This arrangement continues until late September. To attract both hummingbirds and moths during its long flowering season, the gilia provides bright red flowers, favored by the hummingbirds, until late August. Then it offers white flowers to attract the hawk moths.Evolutionary scientists call this an example of evolutionary strategy. Think about that for a moment. How would a flower know what color it is? How would it know which colors are preferred by hummingbirds and which are preferred by moths? A flower could no more decide to change its color than you or I can decide to grow an inch taller.Both logic and science say that the gilia's special features are intelligently designed by a truly gifted engineer. Why not, then, recognize the work of our all-wise Creator for what it is!Matthew 6:27“Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?”Prayer: I confess, dear heavenly Father, that I worry too much. I know that You are in charge of the universe and I am not. Forgive my worry for the sake of Your Son, my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and strengthen my trust in You. Amen.REF.: Plants change colors to lure pollinators. Science Digest. Image: 257-24 A male Broad-tailed Hummingbird visits scarlet gilia, David W. Inouye, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons. + Ipomopsis aggregata, Eric Watts, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1232/29?v=20251111

Many of us have heard the old legend about why Christopher Columbus was told he could not sail too far west. According to the legend, Columbus was repeatedly told that he could not sail west to India because the earth was flat. If he sailed too far, he would fall off the edge. That story was a piece of fiction cooked up by Washington Irving in the 1830s.Only one writer can be found in Western history who believed the earth was flat—that writer was Lactantius in the third century AD. All the others, for example, Pythagoras, still noted today for his mathematical proofs, simply assumed the earth was spherical. Two hundred years later the Greek mathematician Eratosthenes, also assuming that the earth was round, calculated that the earth was 25,000 miles in circumference. He was off by only 200 miles. A century later, using Eratosthenes' figure for the earth's diameter, Hipparchus calculated that the moon was 240,000 miles away from the earth. He was off by only 100 miles—less than half a percent!Nor does the Bible teach that the earth is flat. Isaiah 40:22 tells us how God looks down on the inhabitants of a round earth. Job 26:7 talks about the earth floating in space, hung on nothing.Today, we have exposed two myths. One is the myth that most people used to think the earth was flat. The other myth is that the Bible is not accurate when it describes the same creation that modern science talks about.Isaiah 40:22“It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in:”Prayer: I thank You, Lord, that Your Word is trustworthy. Human words are often in error or deliberate deceptions. Help me to seek a higher standard of truth, honesty and godliness in all my words, so that I may be more like You. Amen.REF.: Lemonick, Michael D. Measuring the earth. Science Digest. Image: Movement of the moon and sun (re: flat earth theory), Towarzysz Przewodniczący, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1232/29?v=20251111

An adult human liver is about the size of a small football. It weighs about three pounds, making it the body's largest internal organ. Tucked neatly beneath the ribs, your liver performs more than 500 different tasks. It is a vital link between your heart, lungs, and digestive system.Inside the liver is a bewildering array of microscopic veins in which each drop of blood is processed. Here, blood conditions are constantly monitored to make sure that its chemistry meets strict standards. If more of some substances are needed in the blood, they are supplied. Useless chemicals are broken down into useful chemicals. Your liver makes proteins, and corrects blood clotting factors. Your liver also sees to it that hormone balances are maintained and that poisons are neutralized. If substances are needed to fight an infection, your liver makes them and adds them to the bloodstream. Your liver also stores vitamins and minerals and prepares itself to provide your body with quick energy when you need it. In addition, the liver makes bile, which is essential for digestion.Structures like the liver have caused many evolutionists to abandon the idea that life is a result of millions of years of accidents. The liver is just too well-designed and integrated into the body to have been produced by purposelessness and mindlessness. As Scripture says, truly God has formed our inward parts!Psalm 139:13“For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother's womb.”Prayer: I thank You, dear Father, that I am so fearfully and wonderfully made. Help me to take good care of the wondrous body You have given me and grant me good health. In Jesus' Name. Amen.REF.: The liver: the body's refinery. Discover. Image: Liver location, BruceBlaus, WikiJournal of Medicine, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons, changes made. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1232/29?v=20251111

The amazing structure of the honeycomb has fascinated scientists for thousands of years. In the third century, the astronomer and geometer Pappus of Alexandria became the first to offer an explanation for why the honeycomb has a hexagonal shape.Pappus explained that only three shapes could serve as candidates for a honeycomb cell—the triangle, the square, and the hexagon. Any other shape would leave wasteful open spaces between the cells. Pappus noted that the hexagon holds more honey in the same space than either a square or a triangle. It also takes less wax to build, and the shared sides of the hexagonal cells reduce wax usage even further.It was not until the development of modern calculus that scientists could fully appreciate the shape of the caps at the end of the honeycomb cells. Each cell is capped with a pyramid composed of three rhombuses. Complex mathematics shows that this shape, too, requires the least amount of wax for construction. It also allows honeycomb cells to be butted up against each other without wasting space.Modern scientists who accept evolution talk about the design of the honeycomb as a great accomplishment by the bees. However, the more sensible conclusion is obvious. The ten-sided prism of the honeycomb cap is a magnificent testimony to the mathematical wisdom of the Creator Himself!Job 11:7-9“Canst thou by searching find out God? canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection? It is as high as heaven; what canst thou do? deeper than hell; what canst thou know? The measure thereof is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea.”Prayer: Only You, Lord, could have invented mathematics and then taught it to the bees! Your wide generosity to all creatures enriches and blesses our lives even more. Amen.REF.: The mathematics of the honeycomb. Science Digest. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1232/29?v=20251111

How old did the earth look five years after the creation? Geologists tell us that it takes hundreds of thousands of years to wear down new rock into sand and soil and for the sea to cut a beach. If this were true, one would not expect to see beaches or soil on an earth that was only five years old. Or would we?Off the coast of Iceland, over 300 feet below the surface of the ocean, hot volcanic rock began to seep into the cold ocean water in 1963. By 1967, over half a cubic mile of new, hot rock had formed a brand new island where there had once been only ocean. This new island was named Surtsey.The following summer, scientists arrived on the island to study it. They found that a basalt cliff on the beach had been eroded over 300 feet inland by the sea in less than five years. They found that several parts of the island already had terraced beaches up to 300 feet wide. On the north side of the island, they found that newly formed sand had formed a sand bar that extended almost 1,000 feet out from the original island.If geologists had not known that Surtsey was less than five years old, they would have guessed that the island was thousands or even hundreds of thousands of years old. After all, many geologists, rejecting the biblical account of a young creation, have used features such as sand beaches to try to prove that the earth is millions of years old!Psalm 44:1“I thank You, Lord, for the record of Your deeds that has been preserved for our learning in the Bible. I thank You for the sacrifices of those who preserved it and for those who gave their lives for its truth. Help me to live a life worthy of the great gift of Your saving Word. Amen.”Prayer: I thank You, Lord, for those scientists who work to honor You. Bless them and keep them under your protection as they work in a field that is generally hostile to your Truth. Amen.REF.: Normann, J.O. Trends in post-volcanic development of Surtsey Island. Surtsey Research Progress Report V (Reykjavik: Surtsey Research Society). Image: Surtsey Island, Brian Gratwicke, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1232/29?v=20251111

The discovery of tiny pollen grains in rock shows just how inflated the billions of years claimed by evolutionists really are. This discovery, by a creation scientist, has turned those pollen grains into tiny time bombs that continue to damage the theory of evolution.In 1964, Dr. Clifford Burdick devised a new, better way to collect pollen samples, and he used this method to gather samples in the Grand Canyon. These pollen samples, when viewed under the microscope, allow scientists to identify what kinds of trees they came from. The Hakatai Shale, dated by evolutionists at 600 million years old, was among the layers Dr. Burdick examined for pollen. According to evolutionary dating, this layer would not have contained pollen from conifer trees. Conifers supposedly hadn't yet evolved. When conifer pollen was discovered in the samples, evolutionists quickly claimed that they were modern pollen grains that had contaminated the sample.The problem with the evolutionists' explanation is that pollen is resistant to staining. Yet this pollen was stained with red from the shale itself. It must have been there a long time. The experiment was repeated in 1970. Not only were grains of conifer pollen again found, but pollen from oak trees and evidence of other flowering plants were found as well.The discovery of these pollen grains offers scientific evidence that evolution's time scale and story of history is wrong. The evidence does support the accuracy of the Bible that tells us that all life began during the first week of the earth's history some few thousand years ago.Colossians 1:16“For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:”Prayer: I thank You, Lord, for those scientists who work to honor You. Bless them and keep them under your protection as they work in a field that is generally hostile to your Truth. Amen.Ref: Wieland, C., Fossil pollen in Grand Canyon overturns plant evolution, Creation. Image: Grand Canyon Supergroup Bass and Hakatai Transition, Grand Canyon National Park, PD, Wikimedia Commons + Conifer branch. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1232/29?v=20251111

It occurred to scientists only about 30 years ago that insect pests might be controlled through hormones. If, for example, a hormone that prevented a destructive insect from reaching maturity was applied to a crop, the interrupted life cycle of the insect might prevent damage to the crop. Yet the hormone would be a safe, natural substance.However, scientists found that synthesizing such hormones was much more difficult than they thought. Several years into the research, Japanese scientists discovered that certain plants were already making these hormones for self-defense. In fact, many of the plants were manufacturing what they called “super-hormones.” “Super-hormones” are hormones that work in far lower concentrations than the juvenile hormones made by the insects themselves. These juvenile hormones prevent insects from reaching their adult, and usually most destructive, stage. Among those plants that make juvenile insect hormones are ferns and certain evergreens.One result of this research is the development of a mosquito juvenile hormone. This hormone can be time-released from briquettes in swamps, preventing mosquito wigglers from ever maturing to their flying, biting, adult stage.Again, the incredible design and balance that could only have been built into the world by a wise Creator are evident in the creation. How else could plants have gained such skill in animal chemistry?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.”Prayer: Dear Lord, guide our thinking so that we may discover the wisdom You built into the created world. Help us to learn how You have made things so that we may find nondestructive ways to control pests. Ultimately, help me and all Christians to tell those around us about the greatest wisdom of God, which is found in the Gospel of salvation. Amen. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1232/29?v=20251111

Every day, all over the earth, plants engage in chemical warfare against insects and animals that would eat them. When this drama is described by evolutionary scientists, they usually talk about plants as though the plants were skilled chemists who developed their abilities on their own.For example, the leaves of the oak tree contain tannins. Tannins form complexes with proteins so that, when eaten, they have little nutritional value. An evolutionary account of how this arrangement came about describes how the trees supposedly developed this strategy for self-defense. Stories like this make one wonder how oak trees gained so much knowledge about animal digestion and chemistry. Some species of milkweed and dogbane produce powerful muscle relaxants that can be fatal to humans.One might picture, in the far distant past, white-smocked milkweeds working in the chemistry lab. Other “doctor” milk-weeds are feeding various concoctions to humans in cages to test their responses. When one tries to account for this without a Creator, the picture can become silly.The Bible provides an answer that makes a great deal more sense. In Job 38 and 39, the Lord—the Creator—asks Job about dozens of aspects of the creation. In His questioning, He asks Job about the source of the knowledge and abilities found in living things. The answer, of course, is that the creating God, and no one else, designed, built, and taught the creation. Other answers simply can't satisfy.Job 38:4“Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding.”Prayer: Father, remind me that You are the source of all true knowledge and wisdom in the world, especially when I am tempted to follow human wisdom. In Jesus' Name. Amen. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1232/29?v=20251111