Birds Helping Birds

The Scuba Bug

The familiar little insect known as the water boatman is a marvel of engineering design. About an inch long, it swims on its back on the surface of the pond using two of its legs that are extra long and have little paddles on the end, just like the oars of a boat. Anyone who has tried swimming on his back knows how difficult it is to see where he is going, but not the water boatman. His eyes are especially placed for perfect sight while swimming on his back.As I mentioned, the boatman is an insect so of course does not have gills like a fish, yet he spends a lot of time underwater. How does he do this? Well, his Creator gave him the ability to breathe through his tail that he sticks out of the water, just like a snorkel tube. There are tiny hairs that keep the water out of this tube while he draws fresh air in to refill his air tanks for another dive. Those tiny hairs also tell the boatman whether a nearby movement in the water is something that would threaten him or something that might be good for lunch.Surely, the specialized features of this little insect could not have gradually developed by trial and error but are evidences of superb design and a master Designer.Romans 1:20"For from the creation of the world the invisible things of Him are clearly seen, being understood through the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse."Prayer: Dear Lord, even though the creation has been scarred and damaged by sin, its beauty and wonder is still marvelous to behold. For this, I thank You as I look forward to seeing the New Creation. In Jesus' Name. Amen.Ref: Bob Devine, Uncle Bob’s Animal Stories, (Moody Press, Chicago, IL). Image: Notonecta glauca (water-boatman) Germany, Regani, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.elsitiocristiano.com/donate/1232/29

Fly Genome Puzzles Evolutionary Scientists

Genes carry the biological information to make specific living things. Evolution says that simpler living things evolved first and more complex life evolved later. This would lead us to believe that more complex living things would have developed more genes. The creation approach suggests that each creature was designed with the genetic material necessary for its survival in its intended environment. As a result, the genetic complexity of living things would be related to the way it lives, not to its place in a supposed evolutionary hierarchy.Evolutionary scientists today are puzzled with the publication of the completed genome of the common fruit fly. The fruit fly has a nervous system, complex body plan and even an immune system and is the first animal to have its genome mapped. The puzzle arises with the discovery that the fruit fly has between 13,000 and 14,000 genes. The lowly roundworm, said by evolution to be among the first land creatures, should be genetically simple, yet it has over 18,000 genes. The genetic differences between the worm and the fly speak of design. The sightless worm relies on smell to make its living, so it has about 1,000 genes involved in its olfactory system. The sighted fly relies much less on smell and has less than 100 genes for detecting scents.This simply illustrates that truly scientific findings will never contradict the Bible by supporting evolution.Psalm 119:73"Thy hands have made me and fashioned me; give me understanding, that I may learn Thy commandments."Prayer: Dear Father, help me to keep my nervous system healthy through wholesome stimulation and thoughts so that it can always be a source of my thanksgiving to You in all things. In Jesus Name. Amen.Ref: Science News, pp. 382 383, "Fly Genome Creates a Buzz." Image: APHIS-Moore Air Base, Protection and Quarantine Science and Technology Insect Management and Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory, USDAgov, PD, Wikimedia Commons. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.elsitiocristiano.com/donate/1232/29

Is There Life on Other Planets?

In 1836, well-known English astronomer Sir John Herschel wrote a series of articles for the New York Sun reporting his discovery of life on the moon. He reported seeing buffalo, goats, cranes, and other animals. The Sun finally admitted that the whole thing had been a prank, and most of the public was amused.There is as much evidence for life on the moon or other planets today as there was in 1836. Moreover, as we explore the other planets of the solar system, the evidence grows that there is little hope that other life will be found in space. At a conference on extra-terrestrial life well-known astronomer, Dr. Robert Jastrow, remarked that the question was “essentially a religious controversy.”That the question of life in space is religious is an important insight in two ways: Recent advances in biochemistry have abundantly demonstrated that life could not have begun spontaneously from non-life on planet Earth. Evolutionists are putting their faith in the discovery of evidence that life began on some other planet. There is the further hope that with such a discovery this will be the final nail in the coffin of Christianity and proof of their own religion of evolution. What space exploration has taught so far confirms what the Bible implies, that planet Earth is a very special place specifically designed for life.Romans 8:22-23"For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body."Prayer: Dear Father, I thank You for making all the Earth so beautiful that even after the destruction by sin, the beauty around us naturally makes us think of You. Help me to add my words to that witness. In Jesus' Name. Amen.Ref: “Old Crow Bones and Radiocarbon Dating,” Creation Ex Nihilo. Image: The Inhabitants of the Moon, 1836, PD, Wikimedia Commons, changes made. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.elsitiocristiano.com/donate/1232/29

Can We Trust Those Carbon-14 Dates?

Many creation supporters are Christians that are also interested in ancient history and like to read about the latest archaeological discoveries. However, they are concerned when, say, some very ancient remains are carbon-14 dated at forty or even fifty thousand years old. According to the Bible, the Creation itself is no more than 10,000 years old, so how does the Bible-believing Christian handle this kind of information? To assure ourselves, we need to lift the cloak of secrecy about carbon-14 dating.Willard Libby developed the carbon-14 dating method in 1947. This was considered such a major breakthrough that he received the Nobel Prize a few years later. However, like every other method of measurement, the method itself had to be calibrated against things of historically dated and known age. Libby used wooden coffin lids and for the earliest dates was obliged to use historically dated material from Egypt. Libby reported in a footnote that the Egyptologist had confessed that Egyptian dating is “perhaps five centuries too old at five thousand years.” This one little foot-note reveals that if Egyptian dates were honestly brought forward by five hundred years, they would confirm the biblical Exodus. Secondly, any ages greater than about 5,000 years are beyond the range of historical calibration. The bottom line is that the carbon-14 method does have several serious and recognized problems beyond about 2,000 years.1 Corinthians 3:18“Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise.”Prayer: Heavenly Father, I thank You that You are patient with us, especially when we read of discoveries and begin to doubt Your Word. Continue to teach me and give me understanding. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.Image: Willard Frank Libby in Lab, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.elsitiocristiano.com/donate/1232/29

Scientists Distrust Dating Methods

Just how good are those Radiocarbon dates? When reporting an exciting archaeological discovery, popular science magazines tell the reader, for example, that some man-made artifact is 40,000 years old. A few years ago it was common to find tolerance figures such as plus or minus 1500 years attached to these ages. These tolerance figures effectively leave an impression of objective precision in the mind of the reader. Those tolerance figures are seldom used today.The Radiocarbon method was developed in 1948 and at that time was believed to be the ultimate answer to the archaeologists dating problems. The method has not lived up to its promise and today it is distrusted by the scientific community unless backed up by a second dating method. To give one example, when scientists Carbon-dated a mammoth bone hide-scraper discovered in the Yukon it was evident that man and mammoth lived at the same time but it Carbon-dated at 25 to 32 thousand years old. However, this put man on the North American Continent about twenty thousand years before humans were supposed to have arrived here! Eventually, a second test method using a nuclear accelerator was used and this dated the same piece of bone at only two thousand years!This example is common and Bible-believing Christians should not be concerned that Carbon dated ages will in any way disprove 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. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it."Prayer: Dear Lord Jesus Christ, You are the Word through Whom we were created made flesh for our salvation. You are the beating heart of Scriptural truth. Help us to see that, for Your sake, all of Scripture is trustworthy.Ref: “Old Crow Bones and Radiocarbon Dating,” Creation Ex Nihilo. Image: Jacques Cinq-Mars at Blue Caves dig, Yukon, Ruth M. Gotthardt, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.elsitiocristiano.com/donate/1232/29