“California knows no bounds when it comes to radical LGBT activism. On Thursday, State Senator and Senate Judiciary Committee chair Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara) announced that only ‘gender neutral’ pronouns will be permitted during committee hearings. ‘Our first order of business is to approve the committee rules. I'd like to note--in respecting the fact that we are now a state recognizing the non-binary designation as a gender--he and she--we are now merging them so we are using what my grammar teacher would have had a heart attack over: we are using the phrase “they” and replacing other designations so it’s a gender neutral designation.’ ‘In the spirit of gender neutrality for the rules of this committee, we now designate the chair as “they,”’ Jackson corrected the record. As reported by The Daily Wire in 2017, California became the first state in the union to create a ‘non-binary’ option for legal documents and drivers licenses. The act allows California residents to select an ‘option x’ or ‘non-binary’ option on drivers licenses, birth certificates, marriage licenses, and other-state issued documents.”

“Democrat State Senator Announces Using ‘He/She’ Pronounces Will Be Banned,” The Daily Wire, Jan. 19, 2019

Job 12:7
“But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee:”

Almost everyone in the world today knows of the terrible disaster that struck the coasts of South East Asia. The North American news media gave daily body counts, reported human tragedy and inflicted damage … yet, as far as is known, none mentioned the animals.

However, Asian reports from the damaged areas comment not only on the ability of trees to withstand the devastating waves but the almost total absence of animal deaths. It appears that the animals, from flamingos to elephants, took off for the hills long before the humans. The Chinese have done extensive investigations on animals and earthquake detection but are at a loss to explain it. Chinese scientists simply conclude that animals have far greater sensitivity than the best of scientific instruments.

Reuters reported from Thailand that the elephants used in the tourist business at Khao Lak began to “cry” at 9 am, about the time of the quake. Some elephants broke their hefty chains, but they all raced away toward the jungle-clad hills, taking their surprised tourists and guides with them. Some people were even picked up by the elephants using their trunks. They all came to a point on high ground where the waves stopped just short of where they stood. Three thousand, eight hundred people died in that area. God is merciful to those sensitive enough to His warnings.

creationmoments.com/sermons/the-tsunami-and-the-animals-3/

The sad state of “evangelicalism” in America was highlighted in a recent survey by Ligonier Ministries. Interviewers asked a series of questions to 3,000 Americans who identify as evangelical. 49% agreed with the statement, “God accepts the worship of all religions, including Christianity, Judaism, and Islam.” 78% agreed that “most people are basically good by nature” and that “Jesus was the first being created by God” (“Christianity in Crisis,” BrownPublishings.com, Dec. 2018).

(Friday Church News Notes, January 25, 2019, www.wayoflife.org, [email protected], 866-295-4143)

​Psalm 19:1a, 4a

“The heavens declare the glory of God …. Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world.”

While the call of the cicada sounds like raucous chaos to us, researchers have only just learned that these amazing creatures have a complicated system of communication. Cicada beetles live underground for 13 to 17 years before emerging to live a few brief weeks to sing and mate before they die.

Immature cicadas feed off the fluids flowing through tree roots. One acre of ground can have as many as 400 pounds of immature cicadas beneath its surface. Once out of the ground, cicadas molt into their final adult form and, after a few days, are ready to begin mating. At this point, they have only four to six weeks to mate before they die. Males begin their call to find a suitable female. The male’s rasping call ends by slurring into a lower pitch. Then he listens. If a female is interested, she will make a click with her wings. The male responds and after several successful conversations, the male changes his style. If the female responds to this change with more clicks, the female will allow him to mate. Eggs are laid in the twigs. After they hatch, the hatchlings fall to the ground and begin burrowing to start the life cycle again.

While the racket made by cicadas sounds like random noise to us, it is a complex communication system that follows set rules. Complex systems of communication can only be the product of an intelligent Designer, the very Creator God Who is revealed in the Bible.

creationmoments.com/sermons/cicada-racket-is-designed-3/

Google, which owns YouTube, censors the search results for “abortion” so that hard-hitting anti-abortion videos no longer appear in the top ten. “An internal discussion thread leaked to Breitbart News reveals Google regularly intervenes in search results on its YouTube video platform--including a recent intervention that pushed pro-life videos out of the top ten search results for ‘abortion.’ The term ‘abortion’ was added to a ‘blacklist’ file for ‘controversial YouTube queries,’ which contains a list of search terms that the company considers sensitive” (“The Smoking Gun: Google manipulated search results,” Breitbart, Jan. 16, 2019). The videos were not removed, but they were made to appear lower in the list of results so that they would be seen by fewer people. A Google spokesperson admitted to the Daily Mail that this was done, but claimed that the videos in question contained “misinformation” or “graphic content.” “YouTube failed to explain how congressional testimony from Dr. Antony Levatino, a gynecologist and former abortion doctor--also disappeared from the top ten results--could be ‘misinformation.’ But perhaps the most obvious contradiction to YouTube’s comment is ‘Abortion: My Experience,’ a video that according to the Slate report, previously featured at around ninth in the search results. The video is a woman’s personal story of being pressured into an abortion by an allegedly abusive partner, and subsequently regretting the decision. The video doesn’t feature any graphic images. As it’s a personal story, it can’t be accused of ‘misinformation,’ either. It seems disappearing the stories of women who don’t have the correct abortion experience is now YouTube’s policy” (“YouTube admits it meddled with search results,” Breitbart, Jan. 17, 2019).

​(Friday Church News Notes, January 25, 2019, www.wayoflife.org, [email protected], 866-295-4143)

Matthew 19:6
“Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.”

The Bible teaches that marriage is one man and one woman, united into one flesh for life. Traditional morality has reflected this view. However, modern Western culture has viewed divorce as a freedom that should be available to everyone. The popular term “no‑fault divorce” attempts to give the impression that divorce has few consequences. Two recent studies, however, clearly show the real cost of divorce.

Researchers with the Oregon Social Learning Center studied the effects of divorce on adolescents. They examined the behavior of junior high and high school males. They found that boys from families where there had been a divorce were much more likely to experiment early with sex than boys whose parents had never divorced. Another study by a sociologist at the University of Wisconsin in Madison looked at the effects divorce has on young women. The study tracked the behavior of nearly 4,000 young women. He found that young women from divorced marriages were much more likely to have babies out of wedlock than those from families untouched by divorce. Both studies show that one cost of divorce is a casual attitude toward sex on the part of children of divorced parents.

When God gave us marriage in the Garden of Eden, He intended it to be a lifelong union. While divorce brings heartbreak to the adults involved, God also knew that children of a divorce would follow the example of their parents in taking the gift of sex too lightly.

creationmoments.com/sermons/another-cost-of-divorce-3/

Jeremiah 7:24
“But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward.”

Everyone knows the answer to the old question: Which is heavier, a pound of feathers or a pound of lead? Yet the first time most of us were asked, we wanted to answer that it was the pound of lead. Researchers may have discovered why we naturally think the pound of lead is heavier.

Canadian researchers used a size‑weight illusion that has been fooling people for over a century. It uses two boxes of identical weight, even though one is twice the size of the other. Subjects usually expect the larger box to be heavier, so they apply more effort to lift it. After lifting each box five or ten times, subjects learn to lift each box with the same effort. Nevertheless, they now believe that the smaller box is heavier. Researchers found that the knowledge of how hard to grip something and how much force is needed to lift it is processed in one part of the brain. But the estimation of an object’s weight is processed in a different part of the brain – that part of the brain that processes thoughts based on our expectations. While these two parts of the brain communicate, it appears they don’t share everything. The result is the illusion that the smaller box is heavier.

Our expectations color how we interpret the world around us. This is why scientists who believe in evolution often cannot see the clear evidence of the Creator. Because our perceptions are tainted by sin, we need the additional corrective of God’s revealed Word.

creationmoments.com/sermons/dont-be-fooled-by-the-illusions-of-the-sinful-world-3/

A missionary friend in a Latin American country wrote the following: “I have seen several young girls here with Facebook ‘friends’ who are men from other countries. I have counseled several and warned about this. They all replied that they get bombarded with ‘friend’ requests. I decided to do an experiment, and the results were very disturbing. I opened a fake Facebook account as a 17-year-old girl from this country. No photos, no likes, no friends, no links to anyone or anything. I used an unregistered new phone chip number (available here from cell phone companies for two dollars). Basically, it was a blank Facebook profile, so there was nothing that could ‘entice’ a stalker. I then waited with no activity on my part. After a month or so the account was bombarded by ‘friend’ requests. All were from Muslim men from Muslim countries. I found this highly disturbing because it shows that the algorithms of Facebook are programed to make a link between foreign Muslim men with young foolish girls in this country. And of course it is not difficult to see where that leads.”

(Friday Church News Notes, January 25, 2019, www.wayoflife.org, [email protected], 866-295-4143)

Genesis 2:20a
“And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field.”

For over a century, textbooks have used the Galapagos Island finches as an example of evolution in action. The facts are that the differences between these finches are less than the differences in the human population – and nobody claims that we are evolving! A lesser-known example of evolution in action was recently challenged in the scientific literature concerning certain hummingbirds found on the island of St. Lucia in the Caribbean. For a long time it was claimed that one species of hummingbird was diverging and becoming another species. However, it now turns out that the birds were nothing more than the male and the female of the same species! The male of the species has a relatively straight bill perfectly designed to allow efficient feeding of the nectar from the red and orange blooms of a flower related to the bird of paradise. The female bird, on the other hand, has a longer, sharply curved bill that is perfect for feeding on the green flowers of a different plant, also related to the bird of paradise.

Those who believe in evolution point to such differences and argue that it is the environment that has caused these differences to develop. The creationist would certainly agree but point out that those variations are strictly limited. Giving one of these variations another species name does not make it a different species and, thus, cannot be used as evidence for evolution in action. Again, to use the human example, humans come in different colors but no one now applies different names or claims that we are evolving.

creationmoments.com/sermons/how-to-set-a-scientist-humming-3/

The effectual preacher will treat his morning Bible study/prayer closet as the law of the Medes and Persians. D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones said, “I have felt always, and increasingly with the years, that one of the great rules for a preacher is to safeguard the mornings. Make an absolute rule of this. Try to develop a system whereby you are not available on the telephone in the morning; let your wife or anyone else take messages for you, and inform the people who are telephoning that you are not available. One literally has to fight for one’s life in this sense!” (Preaching and Preachers, pp. 166, 167). John Henry Jowett commented, “With all my heart I give this counsel: be as systematic as a businessman. Enter your study at an appointed hour, and let that hour be as early as the earliest of your businessmen goes to his warehouse or his office. I can see and hear my businessmen as they start off early to earn their daily bread. And shall their minister be behind them in his quest of the Bread of Life? Shall he crouch and loiter into the day, shamed by those he assumes to lead, and shall his indolence be obtrusive in the services of the sanctuary when ‘the hungry sheep look up and are not fed’? Let the minister, I say, be as businesslike as the businessman. Let him employ system and method, and let him be as scrupulously punctual in his private habits in the service of his Lord, as he would have to be in a government office in the service of his country. And to regularity let him add proportion. Let him estimate the comparative values of things. Let first things be put first, and let him give the freshness of his strength to matters of vital and primary concern. Gentlemen, all this will pay, and the payment will be made in sterling good” (The Preacher: His Life and Work).

​(Friday Church News Notes, January 18, 2019, www.wayoflife.org [email protected], 866-295-4143)

Facebook has provided wicked men an unprecedented forum for stalking women. It has reached epidemic proportions, and it is a global issue. According to a report in The Himalayan Times for Dec. 10, 2018, twenty Facebook stalking crimes are reported to the the Kathmandu Metropolitan Police’s Cyber Crime Unit every day. There are nearly one million Facebook users in this backwards country, a number which represents the large majority of the nation’s youth. An example of the social media stalking is a 17-year-old nursing student who was the target of attempted blackmail by a man who created five fake Facebook accounts in her name and posted obscene photos with morphed images of her face. He offered to take down the accounts if she would meet with him. Another young woman accepted a “friend” request from someone posing as a woman, but it turned out that it was a male stalker who tried to force her to send him obscene photos. When she refused, he created a fake Facebook account and posted vile photos using morphed images of her face. Nepal police inspector Lila Raj Dangi said that Facebook’s office in Hong Kong has turned down multiple requests for help in protecting these women and identifying the offenders. The global pop culture, with its fundamental principle of “live young and free,” has made young women exceedingly vulnerable to the malicious, duplicitous advances of wicked men. It has “liberated” young women from the close protective oversight of fathers, brothers, and husbands. Facebook doesn’t care two cents for these women. They are just dollar signs. It has been said that if a company doesn’t sell something (e.g., if it offers “free” services), it sells you, and no two companies have been more effective at commercializing its users than Facebook and Google. (Duckduckgo is an alternative to Google that doesn’t commercialize its users by collecting data. I’ve been using it for a few months and have found it to be a good search engine.)

(Friday Church News Notes, January 18, 2019, www.wayoflife.org, [email protected], 866-295-4143)

Psalm 27:1
The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid?”

Dutch researchers have concluded that you can indeed eat your way to a better mood. It’s not how much you eat, and in some cases the secret is what you don’t eat. But if you are easily frustrated and stressed, you may be able to avoid these moods.

Dutch researchers were investigating tryptophan, which the brain uses to make serotonin, a neurotransmitter that improves your mood. They prepared two chocolate drinks, one that contained a milk protein rich in tryptophan and another with casein, another milk protein. Volunteers who had been pre‑evaluated for their susceptibility for stress drank one or the other of these with breakfast and again later in the morning. At mid‑day, the volunteers spent 20 minutes at a computer doing math problems as loud industrial noise blared in the background. Researchers then evaluated each subject’s mood, pulse rate, stress hormones and brain serotonin levels. None of the subjects who had the tryptophan‑rich chocolate drink showed any stress factor, no matter how prone to stress they naturally were. Other research has shown that sugar or starch‑rich foods also raise serotonin in the brain. Researchers concluded that simple diet modifications that include tryptophan prior to expected times of stress can help the average person respond to stress. They also warn that meat protein blocks the brain’s absorption of tryptophan.

While we can cast all our fears and frustrations on the Lord, it is good to know that He has provided us with a way to better cope with nagging, daily stress.

creationmoments.com/sermons/eating-your-way-to-a-better-mood-3/

The following is excerpted from “California Church Enrages LGBT Community,” The Stream, Jan. 7, 2019:

“Protesters demonstrated against a church in northern California, demanding its pastor remove a church marquee message they believe is hateful toward the LGBT community. The marquee message, posted by Trinity Bible Presbyterian Church pastor Justin Hoke, reads ‘Bruce Jenner is still a man. Homosexuality is still sin. The culture may change. The Bible does not.’ The sign angered LGBT citizens of Siskiyou County, who gathered outside the church Sunday to demand the pastor take the message down and keep such beliefs within the church’s walls. Hoke, however, contended the sign was not hateful and that it expressed Biblical teaching about gender and sexuality. ‘… that’s very offensive to call that sign hateful,’ Hoke said. ‘There is no hate at all in that sign.’ ‘People are getting upset because we’re saying this is wrong, it’s always been wrong, it still is wrong according to our God,” Hoke added. ... Hoke said, in light of the protests, he plans to keep the sign up until the demonstrations stop. Kalayjian and other lead protesters accepted the challenge, however, saying they would protest outside the church every Sunday until the pastor removes the message.”

FOLLOW-UP: Pastor Hoke resigned the pastorate of Trinity Bible Presbyterian after members of the church threatened to leave. He said, “As of today, I am no longer the pastor of Trinity Bible Presbyterian Church. It was determined that it would be in the best interest of the local body for us to part ways. I would like to add this, I did not want to leave, I did not quit, and I was willing to stay.” He turned down offers of financial support, saying he didn’t want to “use this 5 minutes of fame as a chance to capitalize on the sympathy and good will of others.” He added, “The Lord has taken care of my needs. Please pray that God would open more doors for me to preach the gospel, that is all I want or need.”

(Friday Church News Notes, January 18, 2019, www.wayoflife.org, [email protected], 866-295-4143)

Psalm 7:10
“My defense is of God, which saveth the upright in heart.”

Siberian chipmunks are pretty low on the food chain. Everything from snakes to foxes seek out a chipmunk meal. However, Siberian chipmunks are very clever at using one of their enemies to defend themselves. If a Siberian chipmunk discovers a dead snake, it will be understandably careful in making sure that it is dead. Once it is certain, the chipmunk will chew on the dead snake’s skin. Then, in behavior naturalists call “self‑anointing,” the chipmunk applies the chewed snake skin to its coat. The chipmunks will also self‑anoint with snake urine and feces. Field studies showed that while the chipmunks ignore the carcasses of frogs, birds or lizards, they will self‑anoint in this way from four species of snake.

Further field observations explained the reason for this strange behavior. Snakes are less likely to eat an anointed chipmunk. The snake odor on the chipmunk may also deter other animals that feed on the chipmunks. The chipmunks’ defense strategy raises some difficult questions for those who believe that the living world is a product of chance. How could these chipmunks figure out that coating themselves with the skin of their mortal enemy would protect them from that enemy?

The task of developing this strategy and then overcoming its natural fear to approach that enemy, albeit dead, seems far too large for a chipmunk’s mind. However, it is a small and simple task for the Creator, Who made all things and taught the chipmunks to protect themselves. That same God protects us from that old serpent, the devil, through His Son, Jesus Christ.

creationmoments.com/sermons/those-clever-siberian-chipmunks-3/

Psalm 34:10
“The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the LORD shall not want any good thing.”

Evolutionists have little argument over the question of where oil comes from. In most cases, they would suppose that it came from organic matter – probably from dead plants and animals – several million years ago. Hydrocarbons are, after all, products of organic matter breaking down – and oil is made up of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons, which are compounds of carbon and hydrogen only.

However, organic materials are not the only source of hydrocarbons, especially the simple ones. Indeed, evidence for traces of hydrocarbons has been found in some meteorites. If this is true, then it could point to a possible non-organic mechanism for the formation of oil.

Other clues are available. For example, crude oil contains porphyrin – a class of compounds found in blood. Yet some crude oils (such as that from the North Sea) contain amounts of poisonous heavy metals, such as mercury, which would once again point towards a non-living model.n

Clearly, a creationist model does not have millions of years at its disposal. Perhaps, some have suggested, the pressure of sedimentary rock forming during the Flood could have “squeezed” the hydrocarbons out.

It is oil’s existence as a liquid that causes us to look for its origin. We are so evolutionized in our thinking that it is difficult to conceive of a non-fossil origin for oil. Yet, when we consider rocks like granite, we do not spend time considering how it was made – we suppose that God made it in the Creation Week. It is reasonable to suppose that petroleum could be a creation material, made during the first six days.

creationmoments.com/sermons/where-does-oil-come-from/

“The leading cause of death in 2018 around the world was abortions, according to LifeNews. The news site and data site Worldometers reported that 42 million abortions took place in the world in 2018. Officially, the 42 million abortions are not included in the total death count worldwide, which was 59 million for last year. With abortions counted, the death toll is 101 million from 2018, according to CBN News. Pro-life supporters are pushing President Donald Trump to defund Planned Parenthood. During his presidential campaign, he vowed to defund the organization. ‘It's very simple. Abortion is not health care,’ Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life, told CBN News last year in an interview. ‘Planned Parenthood is not an institution where women go to get a flu shot or a check-up. Planned Parenthood is an institution where women go when they feel like they have no other choice. When they have to choose to pay someone to kill the very life they helped to create.’”

​“Abortion kills 42 million,” Christian Headlines, Jan. 2, 2019

Job 40:15
“Behold now behemoth, which I made with thee; he eateth grass as an ox.”

Part of our problem in understanding dinosaurs is the fact that the term does not mean a great deal. In the 19th Century, as fossils were being discovered of large reptilian-type creatures, it was felt that an all-encompassing term would be needed with which to label them. That term was supplied by Sir Richard Owen, founder of London’s Natural History Museum. As many other fossils of extinct creatures were discovered, a word was needed for all such extinct animals – and the word Owen chose was dinosaur – terrible lizards.

As more dinosaur fossils were discovered, their discoverers exercised their rights to have their specimens named the way that they wanted. The problems arise when similar looking fossils are discovered. Are these different species? Are they simply young and old specimens of the same species? Given, also, that many dinosaur fossils are frankly incomplete, even comprising just a minority of necessary bones, the confusion and the possibility of duplications abound. It has been estimated, even by evolutionists, that less than half the named dinosaurs are, in fact, unique species.

For creationists, the most important unit of classification is not even the species, but the kind. God created animals to reproduce according to their kinds. A kind is a much broader term than a species.

Given the over-classification of dinosaurs, it is likely that there are only 50 kinds of dinosaurs in the world. Some are big, but some are very small, and the average size is that of a sheep. Therefore, it is likely that Noah was sent 100 creatures by God, that we would now call dinosaurs, along with the other animals.

Psalm 8:3-4
“When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; what is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?”

Observations of the orbit of Uranus showed that it was somewhat irregular, so astronomers began to surmise that there must be another planet out there whose gravitational field was affecting it. Mathematical calculations – in a pre-computer age – led Urbain Le Verrier to calculate its position in 1845, and, in the following year, Johann Gottfried Galle found it where Le Verrier had said it should be. At 2.8 billion miles from the Sun, Le Verrier’s discovery had vastly increased the known size of the Solar System.

Once again, a new planet was to illustrate the great creativity of our Creator. The 1989 flyby of Voyager 2 – so far, the only spacecraft mission to Neptune – was able to discern storms, somewhat like Jupiter’s Great Red Spot. However, observations, using the Hubble Space Telescope, have shown that these storms come and go. In one storm spot, wind speeds of up to 1,300 miles per hour were recorded – the strongest known in the Solar System.

It is of interest that the surface temperature of Neptune is similar to that of Uranus, even though it receives only 40% the sunlight that Uranus gets. This is because Neptune generates some of its own heat internally. In fact, Neptune radiates about 2.6 times the heat received from the Sun. As yet, it is not known what causes this heat.

Creationist Dr. Russell Humphreys was able to predict the magnetic properties of both Uranus and Neptune before Voyager had measured them. This was by using biblical dates and conditions. Humphreys’ measurements were fully consistent with biblical research, as we would expect.

creationmoments.com/sermons/neptune-in-darkness/

Psalm 8:3-4
“When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; what is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?”

Six planets were known from antiquity. In order of distance from the Sun, these are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. Saturn, at 887 million miles from the Sun, was the furthest object known in the Solar System, until, in 1781, when Uranus was discovered by William Herschel. Uranus is 1.78 billion miles from the Sun, so its discovery more or less doubled the known size of the Solar System. Its great distance has limited its exploration by unmanned spacecraft, so only Voyager 2 has achieved a near flyby in 1986.

However, this flyby, with the addition of observations from the Hubble Space Telescope, have pointed out a number of strange things about this anomalous planet. Like the other gas giants, Uranus has a magnetic field and its own system of moons, as well as the second best set of planetary rings in the Solar System. However, its polar axis is angled at 98° to the Solar System Normal, compared with 23.5° for the Earth. Not only that, but, viewed from above its North Pole, Uranus rotates clockwise; most other planets, including Earth, rotate counter-clockwise. Currently, 27 moons are known to orbit Uranus, all doing so in approximately the same plane as the planet’s equator and rings, with most of them orbiting in retrograde direction.

It is hard to see how the anomalous motions and inclinations could have come about if the Solar System were formed out of stellar dust, as evolutionary astrophysicists suggest. Since God is a God of infinite creativity, the direct creation of the Uranus system makes much more sense.

creationmoments.com/sermons/uranus-an-anomaly/

Psalm 19:1
“The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.”

If ever the outer reach of the Solar System becomes a tourist attraction, top billing will surely go to the planet Saturn. In some ways, it is not unique. It is a gas giant planet, rather like Jupiter and its smaller cousins, Uranus and Neptune. It has a system of rings around it – again, like Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune. But just as you might see a family of sisters that all resemble each other, but one is stunningly beautiful, the most gorgeous of the outer planets has to be Saturn. I find it remarkable that Genesis 1 merely reports, “He made the stars also”. Why does the verse not continue in parentheses, “In particular, God made that most wonderful of astronomical objects, the planet Saturn”?

Galileo was the first in modern times to see the rings of Saturn, in 1610. As a boy, I remember reading more detail that had been gleaned from powerful telescopes. Now, however, space probes have visited this giant world, the most well known of which was the Cassini Mission, launched in 1997, and deliberately crashed into Saturn in early 2018, with more than 20 years of successful photographs and data collection.

As a boy, I was very keen on astronomical facts, so I remember reading that Saturn had three rings. We now know that there are hundreds. Many of these rings are braided, and shepherded by tiny satellites or moons. The amount of structure is such that, today, astronomers estimate that the rings cannot be more than 100 million years old. They could, of course, be much younger than that – for instance, they could be 6,000 years old.

creationmoments.com/sermons/beautiful-saturn/

The charismatic movement has been spreading through the Southern Baptist Convention since the late 1980s and the pace is increasing with each decade. In April 1995, Charisma magazine reported that two professors at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (William Hendricks and Tim Webber) urged churches not to fear the charismatic movement. Hendricks, director of Southern’s doctoral studies, said, “We shouldn’t feel defensive or threatened by an alternative experience, perspective or insights about the Holy Spirit,” and warned that in fighting the charismatic movement “you could be fighting what is a legitimate experience of the Spirit.” In March 1999, a Charisma magazine report entitled “Shaking Southern Baptist Tradition” gave many examples of charismatic Southern Baptist congregations. At that time, Southern Baptist pastors Jack Taylor, Ron Phillips, and Gary Folds, embraced the unscriptural nonsense that occurred at the Toronto Airport Church in Ontario and Brownsville Assembly of God in Pensacola, Florida. This “revival” took the form of gibberish speakings, uncontrollable laughter, falling on the floor, rolling on the floor, barking like a dog, roaring like a lion, braying like a donkey, electric shocks, shakings, jerkings, and other bizarre experiences with no biblical support. Since then, Ron Phillips’ Fresh Oil & Wine Conferences at Central Baptist Church of Hixon, Tennessee, have promoted charismatic heresies. One of the speakers was Rodney Howard-Browne, the so-called “Holy Ghost Bartender.” Southern Baptist Pastor Dwain Miller of Second Baptist Church in El Dorado, Arkansas, prophesied that God would use Phillips “to bring renewal to the SBC’s 41,000 churches.” Phillips told the Tennessean newspaper that he first experienced speaking in tongues when he was sleeping! In 2008, Phillips counted 500 churches in his charismatic network (“Charismatic Southern Baptist Churches,” Baptist Standard, Oct. 30, 2008). James Robison, once a fiery Southern Baptist evangelist who preached against the theological liberalism of its schools and the worldliness of its churches, had a charismatic experience in 1979 and became a charismatic ecumenist who joins hands in fellowship and ministry with “Spirit baptized” Roman Catholics and praises Pope John Paul II as “one of the finest representatives of morality in this earth.” Bill Sharples resigned a Southern Baptist pastorate after accepting the tongues-speaking movement, but 25% of his meetings are in SBC churches and he claims that 15 to 20 percent of Southern Baptists that he meets are open to the charismatic movement. In November 2005, the Southern Baptist Foreign Mission Board voted to forbid missionaries to speak in tongues, but Jerry Rankin, the head of the board, said that he had spoken in a “private prayer language” for 30 years. What confusion! Speaking at a chapel service at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in 2006, Pastor Dwight McKissic, a trustee, told the students that he speaks in tongues in his “private prayer life” and has done so since 1981, when he was a seminary student (“Southwestern Trustee’s Sermon on Tongues Prompts Response,” Baptist Press, Aug. 30, 2006). In May 2015, the Southern Baptist International Mission Board reversed its former policy, now accepting missionaries who speak in “tongues” so long as they don’t become “disruptive” (“FAQs on Missionary Appointment Qualifications,” IMB Policy 200-1, IMB.org). One of the major bridges from the charismatic movement into Southern Baptist churches and homes is contemporary worship music. The 2008 Southern Baptist Hymnal contains a great many songs written by charismatics. About 75 of the top 100 contemporary worship songs are included. These songs are direct bridges to the one-world “church.” I don’t know of one prominent contemporary worship artist who is opposed in any practical sense to the charismatic movement and ecumenism, and that includes the Gettys. Because the SBC refuses to deal with this error consistently, the leaven will continue to spread. The Bible warns that “a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.” This is true for sin (1 Cor. 5:6) as well as for false doctrine (Gal. 5:9). And in a few years, someone will be writing about “tongues speaking” and other charismatic phenomena among Independent Baptists.

​(Friday Church News Notes, January 11, 2019, www.wayoflife.org, [email protected], 866-295-4143)

Psalm 19:1
“The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.”

When you consider statistics to do with the planet Jupiter, our minds begin to boggle!

As I got up early this morning, Jupiter was certainly the brightest object in the sky other than the Moon – Venus, usually the second brightest object, was not visible. As with all the planets, Jupiter does not generate its own light. Its light is reflected from the Sun, which, were you on the surface of Jupiter, would be over 480 million miles away. Of course, you would not be stood on the surface of Jupiter, for a number of reasons. 1. It is comprised of gas, so does not have a solid surface for you to stand on. 2. Its surface gravity is 2½ times that on the surface of the Earth. This means that you would be so heavy, your muscles would probably not be strong enough for you to move them easily.

When seen through a powerful telescope, we can see bands of gas clouds. One very unusual cloud – the Great Red Spot – appears to be an anticyclone storm and has been consistently observed for nearly 190 years – indeed, some have suggested that observations 350 years ago may be of the same storm. And to think that I used to complain about storms in Florida!

We do not know why God made such magnificent objects as this beautiful planet. But perhaps part of the reason was revealed in 1994, when comet Shoemaker-Levy was observed crashing into its surface. Perhaps, since the fall, Jupiter has been a sort of cosmic vacuum cleaner, protecting the Earth from large impacts.

creationmoments.com/sermons/giant-jupiter/