Hebrews 12:1
“Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us…”

What makes something right or wrong? Are things that are sometimes wrong always wrong? Most writers and commentators, even most preachers today, have problems with the question of right and wrong. That seems amazing since only a generation or two ago few people had any problems at all with the issue of right and wrong. About the only act that seems to be universally accepted as wrong today is to claim that there is an absolute standard of morality!

How did things change so fast? That’s not hard to answer. When people accepted that they were made by a Creator, they accepted one important consequence of that fact – the Creator owns us lock, stock and barrel and therefore has every right to hold us accountable for our actions. Many people understood that God was determined to steer us from the wrong and urge us toward the right because the wrong hurts us while the right provides us with a sense of fulfillment. So, life cannot be full when the Creator is not included.

When evolutionists convinced much of the population that this personal Creator was a myth, people began to reason that without a Creator, right and wrong were up for grabs – morality was not absolute. And that is just what the first architects of evolution said would happen if evolution was adopted!



Photo: Illustration of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, where ethical decisions are said to be made. Courtesy of Patrick J. Lynch, medical illustrator. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.
Creation Moments, Inc., P.O. Box 839, Foley, MN 56329 www.creationmoments.com

“As Poor Richard says, ‘Creditors have better memories than debtors; creditors are superstitious sect, great observers of set days and times.’ The day comes round before you are aware, and the demand is made before you are able to satisfy it; or, if you bear your debt in mind, the term which at first seemed so long, will, as it lessens, appear extremely short: Time will seem to have added wings to his heels as well as his shoulders.”


(Benjamin Franklin, The Way to Wealth, 1758)

Matthew 3:9
“And think not to say to within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.”

Did you know that according to one standard method of dating, the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. was built before the time of Christ?

Anyone who has ever visited a cave has heard the claim that the stalactites growing in the cave take, on the average, a full century to grow only one inch. Cave visitors stand in awe as they view stalactites and stalagmites up to 40 feet tall. The hundreds of thousands of years of Earth’s history begin to become a reality before their eyes. But the question is, does it really take a century to grow one inch of stalactite?

When the Lincoln Memorial was built during the 1930s, the engineers sank steel cylinders into the bedrock to anchor the monument. The base of the memorial is set high above ground, leaving a cavernous basement beneath the floor. Rainwater seeping through the marble floor has formed stalactites up to five feet long on the basement ceiling! This growth is an inch per year, not per century!

In a very real sense, the stalactites in the basement of the Lincoln Memorial are rocks that carry the testimony of God against the naturalistic, long-age stories of evolution. Isn't it only right that we who know His love in Christ should tell others of His Creation as given to us in Scripture?

Notes: “Leaking Marble.” Gems and Mineral Merchandiser, March 1983, p. 6.
Photo: Courtesy of Erich Robert Joli Weber. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
Creation Moments, Inc., P.O. Box 839, Foley, MN 56329 www.creationmoments.com

According to a report released earlier this week, the U.S. abortion rate in 2011 hit the lowest level since 1973 (“Abortion Incidence and Service Availability in the United States, 2011,” Guttmacher Institute). The number declined from an estimated 1.21 million in 2008 to 1.1 million in 2011. What these statistics do not reveal, though, is the number of abortions caused by the widely-used morning-after pill which is available over the counter (without a prescription) to women 17 and older. Also called Emergency Contraception (EC), there are two types: Preven (ethinyl estradiol and levonorgestrel) and Plan B (levonorgestrel). Though there is controversy over whether these pills cause the death of a fertilized egg, the drugs.com web site says that both types can “inhibit implantation (attachment of a fertilized egg to the uterus).” That is an abortion of a fertilized egg which would grow into a living human being except it is not allowed to implant in the mother’s womb. Proponents of emergency contraception argue that the medication prevents “pregnancy” and thereby reduces the need for induced abortion, but they define “pregnancy” as “implantation of a fertilized egg in the lining of a woman's uterus.” This is a verbal smoke screen. The relevant fact for the Bible-believing Christian is that a new life is created when a fertilized egg becomes a human embryo. A report in early 2013 said that the number of women in the U.S. using the morning-after pill has risen dramatically in the last decade. A survey by the Centers for Disease Control found that 11 percent of women had used them, but that was two years ago and usage was increasing rapidly. Donna Harrison of the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists says the following about Preven, “It kills embryos. And it kills embryos before they implant, and it kills embryos after they implant” (“Morning-After Pills,” NPR, Jan. 21, 2013). Abortion statistics apparently do include those caused by the Abortion Pill (RU-486, mifepristone) which can be taken up to several weeks after pregnancy and kills the unborn infant.

(Friday Church News Notes, February 7, 2014, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143)

Romans 11:33-36
“O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgements, and his ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor? or who hath first given to him and it shall be recompensed unto him? For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.”

Their crystalline world might seem like another planet as they swim past monolithic crystals larger than themselves and down channels lined with nearly clear, often form-fitted boulders. But this exotic world is not on another planet. It may be below your feet.

While the wet sand of the beach may sometimes appear to be completely lifeless, it is literally saturated with life. Under a microscope, you would see countless creatures, some of them so small that they can actually swim in the small amounts of water between grains of sand. There might be tiny sand fleas which were washed ashore, appearing as giants next to the single-celled dinoflagellates which swim freely between the grains. The microscope can also show tiny marine worms and crustaceans of unimagined shapes navigating channels that may be smaller than a human hair. And even if you were to take dry sand from high above the water line and add water, you would soon find it teeming with the same kind of life.

Man’s sin has caused untold destruction of the perfect form of God’s creation. However, that original creation was so vibrant and wonderful that even the present shadow of what God originally made is saturated with life and beauty. While even our best science cannot hope to create anything like this, who among us creatures could even imagine creating such wonders!

Notes: William H. Amos. “The Living Sand.” National Geographic, Vol. 127, No. 6, pp. 828-833.
Photo: At night, bioluminescent dinoflagellates can give water the appearance of sparkling light. Courtesy of Hans Hillewaert. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
Creation Moments, Inc., P.O. Box 839, Foley, MN 56329 www.creationmoments.com

In 2000, a report in British newspaper The Independent said that snow will soon be a thing of the past. The article began by saying, “Snow is starting to disappear from our lives,” and ended with the words, “The chances are certainly now stacked against the sort of heavy snowfall in cities that inspired ... the 19th century poet Laureate Robert Bridges, who wrote in ‘London Snow’ of it, ‘stealthily and perpetually settling and loosely lying” (“Snowballs are now just a thing of the past,” The Independent, March 20, 2000). The newspaper quoted David Parker of the Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research who said that ultimately British children could have only virtual experience of snow, claiming that in 20 years time snow “will probably cause chaos” because of its rarity. That was 14 years ago. Since then, the planet has been getting colder and severe winters are back in many places, including the United States and Great Britain. Of course, that doesn't disprove man-made global warming, because it appears that NOTHING can disprove man-made global warming! If it is warm, it is global warming. If it is cold, it is global warming. If there are hurricanes or no hurricanes, polar ice melt or record polar ice--it’s all man-made global warming. As the late Reverend Ike used to say about his lucky coin (which was inscribed with “good luck” on one side and “blessing” on the other), “You can’t lose with the stuff I use.” Al Gore and friends are the Rev. Ikes of global warming.

(Friday Church News Notes, February 7, 2014, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143)

Romans 1:20
“For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse.”

When he was 17, medical student John Eccles began asking questions about the nature of man, what is thought, and what is the meaning of life? Fifty years later, after he had become one of the world’s greatest experts on the human brain, had become Sir John Eccles and had received the Nobel Prize, he felt free enough to speak out about his studies.

Sir John made it perfectly clear that the purely materialistic and evolutionary definition of man simply isn't supported by science. He pointed out that his research has helped us describe in great detail what happens in the brain, nerves and muscles when you decide to move your finger. But, he says, there is no material event that describes how this complex sequence of actions gets started. Man, he concludes, is more than tissue. Man has a non-material mind. He thinks scientists who say that man can be fully explained by materialistic principles are spreading a modern form of superstition. He adds, “Their beliefs are worn out, they lead us nowhere. Materialism gives you a hopeless, empty life, one without values.”

Sir John concluded, “Each of us is a unique, conscious being, a divine creation…it is the only view consistent with all the evidence.”

Notes: Jennifer Boeth. “A Scientific God.” Dallas Times Herald, Feb. 3, 1983, pp. 1,8.
Photo: Courtesy of John Curtin School of Medical Research, Australian National University. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.
Creation Moments, Inc., P.O. Box 839, Foley, MN 56329 www.creationmoments.com

The Grammys last week illustrate the root of America’s problem, which is the apostasy and spiritual compromise in the churches. Hollywood is filthy, but Hollywood is not the root problem. The Democratic and Republican political parties aren't the root problem. Nashville isn't the root problem. The White House isn't the root problem. The self-serving officers on the Joint Chiefs of Staff aren't the root problem. America no longer fears God and is mute before the vilest sin because the vast majority of churches no longer preach the fear of God. Every preacher and every Christian in the country with even a flicker of Bible-believing faith should have denounced this filth from the pulpit and by every means at his or her disposal, and in this day and time the means are significant. The Bible says that if we hear cursing and do not condemn it we hate our own souls (Proverbs 29:24). There are a few voices, but overall the silence is deafening. In fact, multitudes of “Christians” watched the filth on television and the web and others were present for the blasphemous performances. Some even accepted awards from that sorry outfit and expressed gratitude. What folly! Does it please and glorify God for His people to accept rewards from those who hate Him? The film/music industry has represented a godless crowd going back even to the silent movie days. In those days there were enough churches pushing against them that they had to watch their mouths, keep their clothes on, and hide their ungodliness in a closet. The churches in general were more salty then, and that salt was a preservative for society at large. As churches have lost their spiritual power, the society has gotten progressively more wicked. Many smart, conservative people have identified the multitude of problems that exist today at every strata of American government, industry, and society, but they can’t fix the problems. We have brave soldiers with amazing training and equipment, but they can’t even fix the military itself. We have some wise people in politics and in high levels of business and industry, but they can’t fix the problems. We have well informed passionate people in Tea Parties and conservative news outlets. But it’s as if their hands are tied. It’s as if they can only rail against the night. It is as if America is under a curse. Bingo! This is not a problem that can be solved by anyone or anything other than the churches. Are you praying for America every day, my Christian friend, or is it business as usual even as the enemy as it the gate? “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14).

(Friday Church News Notes, February 7, 2014, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143)

CCM singer Natalie Grant, who was nominated for two Grammy awards last week, refused to reprove the wickedness of the awards ceremony. Though she left the Grammys early, she refused to say that this was a protest against the immodest dress, the immoral dance, the cursing, the homosexual “weddings,” and the openly occultic rock performance. Grant told the press, “I’ve judged no one. I hate no one. And I believe that every person has been created in the image of God. I will never stand on a street corner and wave a sign, I won’t use my platform to engage in political arguments that will only divide and not unite. I will continue to pray that my life will be my message. I do have my own personal convictions that I live by, and I will continue to work out my own salvation with fear and trembling before the Lord” (“Mandisa Wary of Grammys’ ‘Allure of Pleasure,’” Baptist Press, Jan. 29, 2014). I quote this in whole, because it is such a clear statement of the Christian rock philosophy. We don’t judge; we don’t warn; we don’t preach; we don’t divide; we just live our Christian lives as a witness. This philosophy is rank heresy. It is apostasy. It is spiritually destructive. It is a fundamental building stone of the one-world church. It is the fulfillment of Paul’s prophecy in 2 Timothy 4:3-4 of a lustful Christianity. The CCM lifestyle and philosophy is not following in the footsteps of Jesus Christ, who warned frequently about the danger of hell fire--eight times in the Gospel of Matthew alone (Mat. 5:22; 7:19; 13:40, 42, 50; 18:8, 9; 25:41). Jesus preached against sin in the strongest terms, even in the Sermon on the Mount. Consider these words from Christ, which are most emphatically judgmental and most highly offensive to the reprobate: “Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell” (Mat. 5:27-29). As for divisiveness, Christ said emphatically that He came to divide. “Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division” (Luke 12:51). In this age, the gospel is to be preached to every nation and each individual must take his stand for or against the One who claims to be ONLY way, truth, and life. Nothing could be more divisive. Christian rockers have an ongoing audience with the filthy world of entertainment for the very reason that they aren't Christ-like.

(Friday Church News Notes, February 7, 2014, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143)

Contemporary music singer Mandisa did not attend the Grammy awards ceremony last week (though she won the award for best contemporary Christian music album) because of the negative impact such places have had on her spiritual life. On her Facebook page she admitted that she has been harmed by her involvement with the world. “Both times I have gone to the Grammys I have witnessed performances I wish I could erase from my memory, and yes, I fast forwarded through several performances this year; but my reason is not because of them, it’s because of me. ... I have fallen prey to the alluring pull of flesh, pride, and selfish desires quite a bit recently” (“Mandisa Wary of Grammys’ ‘Allure of Pleasure,’” Baptist Press, Jan. 29, 2014). She stayed home to try to renew her mind rather than place herself in an environment that celebrates things that she considers “risky.” She identified these as “the allure of pleasure, the passion to have things and the pompous sense of superiority.” In addition to its normal overflowing quota of moral filth, this year’s Grammys featured a mass homosexual “wedding” and an occultic rock performance (“Dark Horse” by Katy Perry). Risky, indeed! Having made a wise decision to stay away from this filth on this particular occasion, it is obvious that Mandisa doesn't understand Biblical separation. She is an unrepentant lover of the world’s music and immodest clothing; she remains open to the possibility of attending future Grammy awards; and she wrongly cites Jesus as the example of being a friend of sinners in such contexts. The Lord Jesus is most definitely a friend of sinners. He laid down His life for sinners. But Jesus didn't party with sinners. He loved sinners, but He was always “undefiled, separate from sinners” (Heb. 7:26). Unlike the typical CCM artist, Jesus warned about God’s judgment on sinners, demanded repentance, and preached eternal hellfire, which will put a stop to any worldly party, as well as getting the preacher disinvited to all future parties! After I was saved at age 23 from a rock & roll lifestyle, I spent a lot of time witnessing to my former hippy buddies. I went to their houses and met them in restaurants and talked with them privately, but I had enough sense even as a young believer to stay away from their parties. Being a friend of sinners doesn't mean attending a rock concert, a bar, or a Hollywood orgy. Don’t be deceived. Contemporary Christian rockers, no matter how sincere, aren't following in the footsteps of Christ and Paul. They are following in the footsteps of Lot and Demas. “And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them” (Ephesians 5:11). “Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners” (1 Corinthians 15:33).

(Friday Church News Notes, February 7, 2014, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143)

Genesis 3:23
“Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.”

School textbooks continue to claim that man is the only animal to use tools. Of course, speaking this way not only identifies man as merely another animal but also completely ignores the fact that man was made in the image of God and, thus, has moral responsibilities. However, using this “man the tool-user” argument to support evolution has been quietly shot down as science continues to discover a growing number of animal tool-users.

One of the latest creatures to be added to the list is the Egyptian vulture. About the size of a raven, the Egyptian vulture loves to eat the eggs of other birds. However, to get at the contents of the egg, the bird searches for a suitable stone to drop on the egg and break it open. While these stones are usually just large enough to do the job, the vultures have been recorded dropping stones that weigh over a pound. They hit their target about 50 percent of the time.

The fact that there are animals that use tools shows that this evolutionary definition of man totally fails to describe what we really are. Tool-using is not some evolutionary development. According to the Bible, when Adam and Eve were sent out of the Garden of Eden, they were given the task of tilling the ground, showing that man was a tool-user from the beginning.

Photo: Egyptian vulture. Courtesy of Kousik Nandy. Licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2.
Creation Moments, Inc., P.O. Box 839, Foley, MN 56329 www.creationmoments.com

"It is not sympathy with sin that is needed. Sin is not to be spared or condoned. We might as well nurse a viper and not expect to be bitten as to crave sympathy for our sin. Sin is not a misfortune or an infirmity; it is that abominable thing which God hates, which murdered Christ. It would, if allowed, cast God from His throne and put Satan there. Oh, may God deepen in our hearts the abhorrence of disobedience to Him, which is sin."

(Samuel Ridout, Lectures on the Tabernacle)

Job 9:10
“Which doeth great things past finding out; yea, and wonders without number.”

Did you ever stand up a little too quickly and get dizzy? It can happen because by standing, you may have temporarily lowered the blood pressure in your brain. Can you imagine what might happen when the giraffe swings its head from the ground to a treetop?

The giraffe’s heart and the rest of its cardiovascular system is very different from ours and most other creatures. The giraffe’s heart pumps at twice the pressure expected for a creature of its size in order to get the blood all the way up that long neck. However, since the giraffe’s brain is very sensitive to high blood pressure, there is a special structure that has been called the “wonder net” where the blood supply enters its brain.

Even if the giraffe quickly drops its head from treetop to ground level, the wonder net keeps the blood pressure in its head exactly where it should be. Furthermore, to prevent used blood from draining back into its brain when he lowers its head, the giraffe has a special set of one-way check valves in its neck.

When we talk about our Creator, we need not be afraid that some people will think we are talking about worthless things. Truly, the wonders that the Creator has made are great and worthy to be told to people far and wide!

Photo: Courtesy of Steve Garvie. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.
Creation Moments, Inc., P.O. Box 839, Foley, MN 56329 www.creationmoments.com

"Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R-Mo.), speaking at the 40th annual March for Life on the National Mall on Wednesday, said more Americans were killed through abortion than died in the Revolutionary War, Civil War, World War I, World War II, Korean War, Vietnam and Gulf War combined. 'Think about it--in 2008, more children from abortion than Americans died in the Revolutionary War, Civil War, World War I, World War II, Korean, Vietnam and Gulf War combined. This must stop!' said Hartzler, one of several House members who attended the pro-life rally, marking the 41st anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion. In 2008, there were 825,564 abortions reported to the Centers for Disease Control. According to a Congressional Research Service Report for Congress, compiled by sources at the Department of Defense and updated in 2005, there were 4,435 U.S. military personnel killed in the Revolutionary War, 116,516 in World War I, 405,399 in World War II, 36,574 in the Korean War, 58,209 in Vietnam, and 382 in the Persian Gulf War. That's a total of 621,515 deaths from all seven wars combined. 'If lives had not been taken, perhaps we would have had a cure for cancer now or some other medical breakthrough,' said Hartzler."

​("Rep. Hartzler," CNSNews, Jan. 23, 2014)

Isaiah 28:5
“In that day shall the LORD of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty, unto the residue of his people.”

In 1835, when scientists first saw Peru’s most unusual hummingbird, they were so overcome with its beauty that they gave it the name “Marvellous”.

This little bird treats the eye to iridescent green, yellow, orange, and purple feathers. But its most unusual feature is its tail. While most birds have eight to twelve tail feathers, the Marvellous hummingbird has only four. Two of these are long, pointed, thorn-like feathers that don’t seem to help much in flying or landing. The other two feathers are truly marvellous. They are six inches long, three times the length of the bird’s two-inch body. On the end of these two long narrow feathers are large feather fans that nearly equal the surface area of its wings.

Astonishingly, the Marvellous hummingbird has complete control of these feathers. At rest, the bird perches with these two feathers hanging down an inch or so from its body, and then crossing them until they are horizontal. In flight and landing, they provide remarkable maneuverability. During mating, the hummingbird moves them as semaphores. Interestingly enough, evolutionists admit that they are stumped as to why these unusual feathers should have evolved.

One look at our creation clearly shows that our Creator appreciates beauty. But even the beautiful Marvellous hummingbird is but a poor and cloudy hint of the beauty of our Creator Himself.

Notes: Crawford H. Greenewalt. “The Marvellous Hummingbird Rediscovered.” National Geographic, Vol. 130, No. 1, pp.. 98-101.
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The village of Larumba in Nepal is prospering after it banned alcohol and tobacco two decades ago. Nepal's Limbu and Rai tribes are noted for their alcohol consumption as well as their indolence, disharmony, and generally poor character. They are known as "matwali," which means "alcohol drinkers." But the citizens of Larumba determined to rid themselves of their ruinous habits. The village followed the leadership of their most famous son, Mahaguru Falgunanda Lingden, who campaigned against alcohol and cigarettes a century ago. The result is described as follows in a recent newspaper article: "The ban on alcohol and smoking changed the lifestyle of local people marred by acute shortage of food and constant discord amongst each other and helped them curb domestic violence. ... Kehar Singh Yonghang, chairperson of the Kirat Chotlung Maangena Service Committee, said the village would never have prospered without getting rid of the habit. ... The ban is not just limited to the villagers and applies to outsiders visiting the area" (Kathmandu Post, Jan. 24, 2014). Alcohol is one of the blights of society. The acts of violence, marital disharmony, broken homes, ruined friendships, automobile crashes, adulteries, fornications, and other evils that have resulted from alcohol consumption cannot be counted. The Hindu citizens of Larumba are wiser than the emergent preachers who promote "moderate drinking." "Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise" (Proverbs 20:1).

(Friday Church News Notes, January 31, 2014, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143)

When two doves were released from the papal window at the Vatican as a sign of world peace, they were attacked by hostile birds. The release of the doves accompanied Pope Francis' appeal for peace in the Ukraine, but the peace doves were attacked by a decidedly non-peace-loving seagull and crow ("Birds Attack," The Times of Israel, Jan. 26, 2014). The outcome is uncertain as the doves were still under assault as they flew away from St. Peter's Square. This reminds us that this world has no peace because of man's sin--sin that has affected the entire creation--and there will be no peace until man is at peace with God. The pope's sermons can't bring peace. United Nations proclamations can't bring peace. New Age meditation can't bring peace. Beatlesque "give peace a chance" mystical feelings can't bring peace. The efforts of philanthropic billionaires can't bring peace. Colorado marijuana highs can't bring peace. Those who sing "give peace a chance" don't have peace even in their own hearts and homes. Peace will come when Christ, the Prince of Peace, establishes His holy kingdom in this world.  Only then will the lion lie down with the lamb and the nations beat their swords into plows. Today the world rejects Christ the Saviour. But when the "man of sin" comes on the scene as a great peacemaker and problem solver, he will be received with open arms. "For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape" (1 Thessalonians 5:3).

(Friday Church News Notes, January 31, 2014, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143)

Psalm 92:5-6
“O LORD, how great are thy works! and thy thoughts are very deep. A brutish man knoweth not; neither doth a fool understand this.”

There seems to be no end to the variety and wisdom of design in the creation. Most interesting are those creatures that share important traits and yet are nothing like each other. The whale is one example; it is constructed like a fish but is really a mammal.

The sphinx moth is another such creature. While definitely a moth, it behaves in every way like a hummingbird and feeds on the nectar inside tobacco blooms. As a normal moth, the sphinx could never reach the nectar in these deep-throated blooms, but it has a special tongue like a hummingbird. The moth hovers over the flower while inserting its long tongue into the flower. Its tongue, which is actually longer than the rest of its body, has two grooved halves, which, when fitted together, create what amounts to a long straw to draw out nectar. If the two halves didn’t fit perfectly, the moth would starve to death.

Obviously, the tongue of the first sphinx moth had to be fully formed. As it hovers, the sphinx moth actually rivals the hummingbirds’ 50 wing beats per second with its own wing beat of 25 to 45 times per second!

The wonderfully varied patterns in creation do not speak of relationships forged by millions of years of evolution. Rather, they speak of creative relationships, carefully designed by one all-wise Creator!

Notes: Treat Davidson. “Like Hummingbirds.” National Geographic, Vol. 127, No. 6.
Photo: The hummingbird hawk moth or the white-lined sphinx hovers in midair while it feeds on nectar from flowers. Courtesy of IronChris. Licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2.
Creation Moments, Inc., P.O. Box 839, Foley, MN 56329 www.creationmoments.com

The God revealed in the Bible is nothing like the foolish gods of pagan mythology. The gods of the Gilgamesh myth are spiteful, immoral, selfish, petty, competitive, fickle, impatient, weak, cowardly, and deceitful. The chief god Ea instructs Utnapishtim to lie to his fellow men by giving them the impression that the gods are going to bless them instead of destroy them. When the storm comes, the gods are so frightened that they flee to heaven and cower like dogs, crouching outside the door of the god Anu, and the goddess Ishtar shrieks like a woman in childbirth. After the flood, the god Enlil is furious because some of the men escaped destruction. By contrast, the creator God of Scripture is almighty, all-wise, holy, just, compassionate, merciful, longsuffering. He is the same yesterday and today. He speaks only truth. His promises are irrevocable. He is man's lawgiver and judge, and as Creator He has every right to be man's judge. But He is also the Saviour. He Himself purchased salvation for sinners by His own suffering on the cross, and He wants all men to be saved. The Gilgamesh Epic is mainly about Gilgamesh's search for immortality. He sought for it by every means, but it eluded him. The Bible is also about man's search for immortality, and it, too, says that man cannot find immortality through his own efforts. Happily, the story doesn't end there. The Bible tell us that salvation was purchased by God for man and is offered to man as a gift of His grace. Jesus Christ rose from the dead to prove that this is no pagan myth. "For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time" (1 Timothy 2:3-6). Man's unbelief does not change the truth of the Bible. Even if the entire world disbelieved, it would change nothing. In fact, the widespread unbelief in our day is evidence that the Bible is true. Jesus Christ warned that His return will be preceded by the same type of conditions that existed before Noah's Flood. "And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all" (Luke 17:26-27).

(Friday Church News Notes, January 31, 2014, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143)

Ever since the discovery of the Babylonian Gilgamish Epic in the 19th century, skeptics have attempted to use ancient pagan flood accounts to discredit the Bible. Yet like every other attempt to disprove Scripture, this one is found to have feet of clay. The first Gilgamish tablet was found in the 1850s by Henry Layard in the ruins of Nineveh and translated in 1872 by George Smith at the British Museum. It purports to be the account that Utnapishtim told Gilgamesh of how he survived the flood and gained eternal life. Several versions of the story have since been discovered. In contrast to the Bible's majestic account, the Gilgamesh Epic is a ridiculous pagan myth on its very face. Its pagan gods are weak, competitive, and deceptive. Just as ridiculous, the Gilgamesh ark is a cube 200 feet square, which would have been incredibly unstable even on a calm sea! More recently, Irving Finkel of the British Museum has translated another ancient pagan flood account, and this one describes a circular ark as large as a football field made of a wood frame walled in with ROPE. Now that would be a stable ship for an ocean voyage through the worst weather this world has ever seen! Finkel observes that there were circular boats known as coracles that were used on rivers, which is true, but a river craft is not an ocean-going craft, to say the least. By contrast, the ark described in Genesis was 450 feet long by 75 feet wide by 30 feet high, similar to the proportion of modern sea-going vessels such as oil tankers and cargo containers. Finkel's tablet is of unknown origin or "provenance." He got it from "a man whose father acquired it in the Middle East after World War II" ("British Museum: Prototype of Noah's Ark Was Round," The Times of Israel, Jan. 24, 2014). Thus no one knows where it came from, who wrote it, or when it was written. Finkel's claim that it is 4,000 years old is a mere guess. Yet this tablet and its silly story, with no solid history older than World War II, is used in an attempt to overthrow the Old Testament which was attested by Jesus Christ, the Son of God, as divinely inspired. Don't be deceived by willfully blind skeptics. The British Museum has been proven wrong many times (e.g., the Piltdown Man hoax), but the Bible has never been proven wrong. "Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts" (2 Pet. 3:3).

(Friday Church News Notes, January 31, 2014, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143)