Creation Moments on Oneplace.com

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

We have often pointed out the many plants and animals that are interrelated. Their lives depend upon one another. Very often, they are interrelated in such a way that creation offers the only reasonable explanation for their special features. Evolution can call on “lucky coincidence” just so many times to explain these relationships. It makes far more sense to say that all living things were carefully planned and designed by an all-wise Master designer.One interesting example is found in the moth family Noctuidae. This family of moths has special organs that detect the ultrasonic sounds made by the bats who eat them. A “lucky coincidence”? The problem with the evolutionary explanation is that this moth is dated by evolutionists to 75 million years ago. (Remember, these are evolutionists' years, not real years.) This is back during the time of dinosaurs, when there weren't supposed to be any bats. According to evolution, bats didn't arrive on the scene until 55 million years after the Noctuidae moth. One wonders whether mindless evolution could see into the future. Or perhaps evolution was able to make moths with an ability to hear bats that would not exist for the supposed tens of millions of years! Neither explanation sounds very scientific!It makes a good deal more sense to throw out the millions of years of inflated evolutionary time. We can view the unique design of the Noctuidae moth as a sign from an all-knowing Creator that all living things were made by Him. Only an intelligent, personal Creator can account for the complex, overall plan that we see in the created relationships between vastly different creatures.Psalm 39:11“When thou with rebukes dost correct man for iniquity, thou makest his beauty to consume away like a moth: surely every man is vanity. Selah.”Prayer: Father, the scope and complexity of the interrelationships in nature show how poor our most complex projects truly are. Help me to keep my life in perspective so that my dependency is always on You. In Jesus' Name. Amen.Image: Dinosaurs in forest + Noctuidae, LiCheng Shih, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons, changes made. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1232/29?v=20251111

How long does it take to petrify wood? Scientists who believe in those millions and billions of years that evolutionists are always talking about have never tested the answer to this question. They simply assumed that it must take hundreds or thousands of years to petrify wood. It wasn't until the 1970s that scientists bothered to explore this question.Bone, wood, and other once-living materials become petrified when silica replaces the original organic material. It has always been assumed that silica is not very active at temperatures below the boiling point of water. And for the same reason, silica rock formations were thought to take thousands of years to form.In the early 1970s, a paper was published showing that silica crystals could be grown in backyard conditions in only three years! This means that wood or bone can turn into stone within a few years. It also means that rock formations once thought to take thousands of years to form could have been formed in a relatively short time. All that's needed are silica and water.Here is an example of how belief in evolution has retarded science. If no one had ever questioned the long ages claimed by evolution, we would still be ignorant about how silica works in nature around us. This research also helps uphold the Bible's claims that the Earth and life have only been around for thousands, not millions, of years. The truth of God's Word remains unchallenged!1 Corinthians 10:4“And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.”Prayer: Dear Lord Jesus Christ, I thank You that Your Word to us can be trusted. Man's word can mislead, for men are easily misled. Help me to apply Your Word to my life so that I may be led by You and not by human error. Amen.REF.: Chittick, Donald E. The Controversy. Multnomah Press. Image: Lizard perched on petrified tree, Envato. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1232/29?v=20251111

Today, it is considered scholarly to reject the Bible's account of a worldwide flood. Some try to compromise by saying that the flood recorded in the Bible was only a local event. The problem with these scholarly claims is that there were too many witnesses who disagree with them.We can test these scholars' claims. If the Bible's account of a worldwide flood is true, it was witnessed by every person on earth. The story of this event would have been passed down to their descendants and spread across the whole face of the earth.Researchers have catalogued some 270 stories of an ancient, destructive flood in various cultures around the world. A large majority of these stories have been shown to predate any Christian influence. As one would expect, details differ after such a long time. What's remarkable, though, is that where the details of these stories agree with the Bible, they also tend to agree with each other. For example, the ancient Greek flood hero was told to build and stock an ark because the god Zeus wished to destroy humanity. The Aztec story of a universal flood says it took place 1,716 years after the creation of the world—almost the same as the Bible's date! The Babylonian flood story shares seven major details with the Bible's account. Similar stories are found around the world, including Australia, India, Scandinavia, and China.The universality of the flood stories and their similarity to the Bible cannot be explained unless they are based on an event that actually took place.2 Peter 3:5-6“For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:”Prayer: Dear Father in heaven, I thank You that Your Word is sure and true and that it has been accurately preserved to our day. Help me to live Your Word in my life and tell others about the wonderful things You have done. In Jesus' Name. Amen.REF.: Roth, Ariel A. Flood stories—can they be ignored? Origins, v. 17. Image: Manabozho in the flood, R. C. Armour, PD, via Wikimedia Commons. + British Museum Flood Tablet (from the Epic of Gilgamesh), Photograph by Mike Peel, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. + Manu and Saptarishi, PD, Wikimedia Commons. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1232/29?v=20251111

The world is a frightening place without God. This alarm can be seen today in fears that modern people often confuse with science.Years ago, stories of gloom and doom about a greenhouse heating of the earth were starting to fill the media. We at Creation Moments looked at the scientific basis for these claims. We wanted to know if the greenhouse warming of the earth was a true threat or just another fear of a godless people. We then published the conclusion that the thin and conflicting evidence for greenhouse warming most likely came from the heat island effect of growing cities around some of the temperature-measuring sites.Knowing the elegance with which God designed everything in creation, creationists suspected that God probably designed the earth with built-in thermostats that help keep it from warming up too much. When the Pacific Ocean warms more than normal, it sends increasing amounts of water vapor into the air. If heating continues, the water vapor will actually cause the heating to increase until vapor is forced higher into the atmosphere, creating icy cirrus clouds. These clouds reflect enough incoming sunlight to shut down the temperature increase and return things to normal.We are called to be good stewards of the earth. We can be good stewards in joyful service, freed from the fears that afflict those who don't know God.Jeremiah 10:2“Thus saith the Lord, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them.”Prayer: Dear Father, it is very easy for us to pick up the fears of those around us who don't know Your personal love and care. Forgive me when I, too, have shared the fears of the unbelieving world and strengthen my faith. In Jesus' Name. Amen.REF.: Clouds keep ocean temperatures down. Science News, v. 139. Image: Stratocumulus clouds over pacific ocean, ISS Expedition 34 CrewImage Science & Analysis Laboratory, NASA Johnson Space Center, Derivative work including grading, lens profile correction and noise removal, Julian Herzog, PD, Wikimedia Commons. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1232/29?v=20251111

Many textbooks tell young people today that birds are modified reptiles. Suppose, they say, that millions of years ago the scales on some reptiles began to fray along the edges. In time, they say, the frayed scales turned into feathers and birds were born.The elegance and beauty of the feather make this story hard to believe. Can sticking a feather on a lizard produce a peacock? The bird's feather is only a small part of the complete flying system of the bird. Even with very careful planning and redesigning, a reptile doesn't have what it takes.A bird needs massive breast muscles for flight. In some birds, 30% of the body weight of the bird is breast muscle. By comparison, in humans, breast muscles are only about 1% of body weight. A bird also needs an extremely high metabolism and blood pressure to deliver the energy those muscles need for flight. Birds have a higher metabolism than any other creature; they also have the necessary high blood pressure. Finally, as is well known, birds need light skeletons. The man-o'-war has a wingspan of seven feet. But its entire skeleton weighs only a few ounces—less than its feathers!Even the most clever rebuilding of a reptile cannot produce a bird. In fact, birds have very little in common with reptiles. The entire being of the bird, from body to brain, has been specially designed for flight by a Creator who clearly knows everything there is to know about flight.Job 39:26“Doth the hawk fly by thy wisdom, and stretch her wings toward the south?”Prayer: Dear Father in heaven, the beauty, grace, and huge variety of birds You have created are some of the most beautiful creatures on earth. As I thank You for them, fill me with new wonder over the wonderful work of Your hands. Amen.REF.: Vandeman, George. The miracle of flight. Signs of the Times.  To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1232/29?v=20251111

Spider silk begins as a liquid protein made by silk glands on the spider's abdomen. Spiders make many kinds of silk for different uses. As the liquid silk is forced through the spider's spinnerets, it begins to dry. The spinnerets pull and stretch the silk, creating just the right kind of silk for the spider's use. Though the result seems thin and weak to us, ounce for ounce, spider silk is stronger than steel.Web-building spiders make two types of silk for their traps. The basic structure of the web is made of strong, nonsticky silk. Then the spider adds a sticky, elastic silk to trap its prey. Some webs are irregular, others are flat and sheet-like, while still others are shaped like funnels. All of us have admired the beautiful orb web.However, spiders also have many other ways in which they use their silk. The ogre-faced spider makes a net that it throws around its intended victim. The European water spider builds its web underwater. It stores its air supply in the web. The lasso spider twirls a single strand of silk over its head. A tiny drop of sticky silk at the end of the lasso captures its prey when the lasso is thrown. Probably the most creative use of silk is by the young of some species. When they hatch, they produce long loops of silk that catch the wind and send them floating off to new places.The spider's skill in producing and using silk had to come from Someone wiser and more clever than the spider. Clearly, the spider has been well-equipped and instructed by its Creator.Romans 11:33“O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!”Prayer: Father, I thank You for the intelligence and wisdom You have so freely given to Your creatures. Help me to treasure, most of all, Your wisdom in the work of Jesus Christ for my salvation so that my life, too, may glorify You. In Jesus' Name. Amen.REF.: Pinkston, William S., Jr. BIOLOGY for Christian Schools. Greenville, SC: Bob Jones University Press. Image: 257-11 Pardosa spp ballooning, WanderingMogwai, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons + Ballooning spider, Cho M, Neubauer P, Fahrenson C, Rechenberg I (2018), CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikipedia Commons. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1232/29?v=20251111

How many different scents do you think your nose is able to smell? The answer is about 10,000. How does your nose tell the difference between a rose and a skunk? Until only recently, scientists really weren't sure.Now we know that humans and mammals detect smells by using at least 1,000 different genes. These genes are located in every cell in your body, but they are active only in your nose. This discovery, say scientists, gives them their first insight into how smell works. Before this, said one scientist, “We had almost no knowledge of the olfactory system and this really opens up the molecular study of smell in a very fascinating way.”They say that each of the different genes seems designed to respond to a small group of odors. As each group of genes does its part, the entire system is able to recognize everything we can smell. These genes pass signals from the nerve cells in the nose to a small region of the brain called the olfactory bulb. Now that smell genes are identified, researchers say they can begin to understand how odors are detected and how the brain interprets those signals.Our sense of smell relies on a very elegant and sophisticated system. Imagine, 1,000 genes lie at the heart of that system. Each one of those genes is information—a programmed code that is designed to make sense of what we smell. Information, programming and decoding are all terms that assume that we have a highly intelligent Creator who designed our sense of smell!Genesis 27:27“And he came near, and kissed him: and he smelled the smell of his raiment, and blessed him, and said, See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which the Lord hath blessed:”Prayer: Dear Father in heaven, I thank You for my ability to detect scents. As scientists continue to learn how You have designed our sense of smell, cause them to recognize Your genius and so be drawn to the cross of Jesus Christ. Amen.REF.: Scientists find genes that let nose make scents of what it smells. Minneapolis Star-Tribune. Image: Head Olfactory Nerve Labeled, Patrick J. Lynch, medical illustrator, CC BY 2.5, Wikimedia Commons, background replaced. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1232/29?v=20251111

Mastodons were distant relatives of the elephant. Modern science says that one of the main parts of their diet was conifer needles. Supposedly, they died out at the end of the Ice Age because conifers became scarce as the world warmed.Now the discovery of the last meal of one mastodon calls this theory into question. Living bacteria have been found in a mastodon that died during the Ice Age. The bugs were found in the remains of a mastodon's last meal, preserved with a skeleton that was discovered while preparing a golf course in Ohio. Scientists think the bacteria normally lived inside the mastodon, working as part of the mastodon's digestive process.What scientists discovered about the mastodons' diet could upset some theories about what drove them to extinction. The scientists said the four-ton mastodon had spent its last day eating a salad of swamp grass, moss, and leaves, a bit of seed, and a garnish of water lily. What was left of these plants, as well as the bacteria, were separated from a mass of reddish-brown matter found near the mastodon's ribs and vertebrae.Scientists who believe in evolution claim that the animal died 11,000 years ago. But how sure can we be about that? After all, evolutionary scientists were wrong about the mastodon's diet. As a result, their theories about why mastodons became extinct seem to be wrong. The facts that the bacteria were still alive and the stomach contents were not fully decayed tell us that this evolutionary date, too, is greatly exaggerated.Joshua 24:15“…but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”Prayer: Dear Lord, so many people prefer to reject Your Word and then do their own speculating about things You have clearly revealed to us. I ask that through Your Holy Spirit, You would help me not to speculate where Your Word has spoken so clearly. Amen.Image: Mastodon excavation, Burning Tree Golf Course, Ohio, James St. John, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1232/29?v=20251111

Could the giant flying fox be a primate? In the 18th century, scientists weren't quite sure what to do with bats. Some wanted to classify them as primates, while others thought they should have their own category. Since 1780, all 950 known species of bats have been classified in their own category. The bat order is divided into microbats and megabats. Microbats have an average wingspan of less than a foot. Megabats are larger. The giant flying fox has a wingspan of six feet!The evolutionary link between microbats and megabats is dissolving as scientists learn more about them. Although megabats and microbats are very clearly bats, they are constructed in importantly different ways. Microbats rely mainly on echolocation to navigate. Megabats have very large eyes, so that they can see like owls in low light. The nerves that connect the eyes of microbats to the brain cross. As a result, the image from the right eye goes to the left brain, and the left eye feeds its image to the right brain. However, megabats are wired with both eyes feeding into both sides of the brain. This arrangement is otherwise unique to primates!If bats evolved, these new findings mean that bats must have evolved at least twice! It also means that some bats evolved from monkey-like creatures!It makes far more sense to admire God's unlimited creativity. We can logically reason that God gave His larger bats eyesight like that of a monkey, because their needs are similar.1 Corinthians 2:9-10“But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.”Prayer: Dear Father, I thank You that what You have made is so pleasing to the mind and to the eye. I ask that our growing scientific knowledge would continue to make it more difficult to deny You. In Jesus' Name. Amen.REF.: The eyes have it: megabats are primates. Discover. Image: Grey headed flying fox, Andrew Mercer (www.baldwhiteguy.co.nz), CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1232/29?v=20251111

A revolutionary design in metal-cutting blades has changed the metal-working industry. These blades don't cut like a knife. Instead, the blade is fixed in one position while the metal to be shaped spins on a lathe. This new-style blade stays sharp six times longer than the old blade design. And where titanium used to make the old-style cutting blades dull almost the second they were used, the new blades last up to 30 minutes.This wonderful new blade was developed by two engineers who got the original idea from a rat. You see, rats' teeth always have a sharp edge. Engineers learned that this is because their teeth are hard on one side and soft on the other. So as they wear, they always keep a sharp edge. Using this principle for metal-cutting has lowered costs and increased productivity, since the blades don't have to be changed as often.Beginning in Job 39, God humbles Job with several chapters of questions about the wise designs found in the animal kingdom. God's message is, “Job, if you think you're so smart, who created all of this with such wisdom?”Even rats' teeth are created with such wisdom that, once we learned the principle, our technology was greatly improved. In view of this, it doesn't seem at all scientific to say that there is no Creator!Job 38:4“Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding.”Prayer: Dear Father, help me not to think that I am wiser or smarter than I really am. Help me to seek Your wisdom and knowledge in Your Word, which is as high as heaven and as real as the creation. In Jesus' Name. Amen.REF.: Self-sharpening blade has edge. Science Digest. Image: White domesticated rat, Envato + Rat teeth (overgrown), Alexey Krasavin, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1232/29?v=20251111

Many cultures around the world have legends about creation and a great Flood that have been handed down from generations in the distant past. Most of these creation and Flood stories support the biblical story of creation and the Flood.The Wallam Olum is the story of creation and the history of the Delaware Indians. It predates the coming of white people or Christianity to North America. The Delaware creation legend reveals an all-powerful creator who began by creating an earth without dry land, and the heavens, including the sun, moon, and stars. After dividing the waters from the land, he made all living things, including the first mother. This world was full of joy and had no sorrow until the snake brought wickedness. It concludes by saying that all this happened beyond the great ocean.The Delaware story of the Flood begins with the world filled with evil because of the activity of the evil snake. While the Delaware legend blames the Flood on the snake, a few were saved through the Flood at an island called “Nana,” a name very similar to Noah.While the Wallam Olum is not Genesis, the similarities with Genesis are too many and too exact to be accidental. Similar legends from all over the globe have the same or similar details that they, too, share with Genesis. This can only be explained by the fact that the Bible is accurate in describing how all cultures have shared this common history together.Acts 17:26“And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;”Prayer: Dear Father in heaven, fill me and all believers with a greater concern and spirit of sacrifice to do what is needed to bring the good news of salvation to those who are without it. For Jesus' sake. Amen.REF: Branscome, Gary R. The Delaware Indians and the Creator. Bible-Science Newsletter. Image: Left: Leni Lenape Indians print 1702 HSP, Thomas Campanius Holm, PD, Wikimedia Commons. Right: Excerpt from Walam Olum. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1232/29?v=20251111

Some people talk to their plants. But what do you say to a bacterium? Evidently, the soybean plant knows just what to say to make bacteria its close friend and helper.Symbiosis means a relationship between two different creatures in which they both help each other. Plants need nitrogen for healthy growth. However, while there is more than enough nitrogen in the air, plants normally can't make use of that nitrogen. Legumes, like soybeans, link up with bacteria that are able to take nitrogen from the air and turn it into a form of nitrogen that plants, including the soybean, can use. In return, the plant creates a nice home for the bacteria in nodes in its roots and provides the bacteria with food.The bacteria need a great deal of oxygen and energy to fix nitrogen into the soil. The oxygen is supplied by heme. If that name reminds you of the hemoglobin that carries oxygen in blood, you're on the right track. That's why the heme in the nodules turns them reddish. Who makes the heme, the soybean, or the bacteria? When alone, neither creature has any heme. Researchers have learned that the plant performs the first part of the chemistry needed to make heme and the bacterium finishes the job. The plant and the bacterium actually communicate chemically with each other so that production goes smoothly!Communication between such different creatures, allowing them to perform sophisticated chemistry to improve both of their lives, shows how inadequate evolution is to explain life. This arrangement surely glorifies the Creator!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: Dear Father, without Your communication to me in Your Word, my life would be without the cleansing benefits of my Lord and Savior's blood. I thank You that my salvation is without my effort, which could never be enough. Amen.REF: Pennisi, E. Intimate chemistry of a symbiotic odd couple. Science News. Image: Root Nodule (Electron microscope image of a cross section through a soybean. Bacteria Bradyrhizobium japonicum symbiosis), Louisa Howard, Dartmouth Electron Microscope Facility, PD, Wikimedia Commons. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1232/29?v=20251111

Contrary to what the theory of evolution says, the history of life found in the fossil record does not show simpler kinds of living things gradually becoming more complex. Nor does the fossil record show a few kinds of life gradually becoming more kinds of life. The fossil record doesn't even show one example of either of these claims that are universally accepted by evolutionists.Life appears suddenly in the fossil record. And the living things found in the earliest rocks are completely developed and well equipped for life. Trilobites had fully formed eyes that were apparently more sophisticated than many creatures today. They appear without ancestors.According to evolution, one of the greatest steps forward by living things was the development of skeletons. The first evolutionary step toward skeletons started with the development of calcium shells by marine creatures. Yet the fossil record shows that creatures with calcium shells simply appear fully formed, as do creatures with internal skeletons. One question that troubles evolutionists is why creatures suddenly decided they needed skeletons. Incidentally, the astonishing variety of creatures in the oldest rocks shows a greater variety than is alive today.Of course, the sudden appearance of fully formed, well-equipped life agrees nicely with the Bible's claim that all life was created fully formed by God. When the evidence from science agrees so well with the Bible, those who insist on evolution do so only by faith—a faith that is against the Bible.Exodus 20:11“For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day…”Prayer: Dear Lord, in their pride people rage against Your truth. Use me as Your instrument to make the testimony of Your truth more clearly heard so that fewer are lost to a false faith. Amen.REF: When life got hard. Science News, v. 138. Image: Trilobites Schizochroal Eye, Tomleetaiwan, PD, Wikimedia Commons, circled. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1232/29?v=20251111

Do your eyes ever play tricks on you? Our eyes regularly play tricks on us with the help of our brains.Repeated research has shown that the images we see are not exactly what our eyes see. Our eyes and brains work together to construct the images we call sight. It's not that our eyes are out to hoodwink us. Most of the time, our eyes are working to help us. Working together, our brain and eyes add logical details to the images we see. Each of us has a blind spot in our vision because there are no vision cells where the optic nerve is. Instead of showing us a spot of nothing at the blind point in our field of vision, our brain invents an image from surrounding details. Your brain pulls the same trick on you when you proofread your completed manuscript. While others can still find typos, you may not. Your brain knows what you are saying, and so it automatically shows you a repaired version, making many of your typing errors invisible.Your pupils can reveal your thoughts. Studies show that when seeing unpleasant scenes, the pupils retract. Pleasant or interesting scenes cause the pupils to open wider.Charles Darwin wrote, “To suppose that the eye, with all of its inimitable contrivances for adjusting the focus to different distances, for admitting different amounts of light, and for correction of spherical and chromatic aberration, could have been formed by natural selection, seems, I freely confess, absurd in the highest possible degree.” We don't often agree with Charles Darwin, but this time we do!Psalm 139:14“I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.”Prayer: Dear Father, I thank You that the excellence of Your work in making us is so noteworthy that even those who want to deny You cannot easily do it. Teach me how to use this to lead others to Christ. In His Name. Amen.REF: McCutcheon, M. The Compass in Your Nose… Los Angeles: Jeremy P. Tarcher. Image: Blind spot test, RWhitwam, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1232/29?v=20251111