Ruth 4:16
"And Naomi took the child, and laid it in her bosom, and became nurse unto it."

If you're a parent, you undoubtedly remember being awakened by your little angel crying in the middle of the night. Sometimes it's dad who gets out of bed to see what's wrong. But more often, it's mom who gets up to breastfeed her baby. But now a Harvard scientist tells us that the baby who demands a nighttime meal has a more sinister reason. The child is trying to prevent siblings from being born.

Does that make sense to you? It does to evolutionary biologist David Haig. Writing in Evolution, Medicine and Public Health, he suggested that if its parents had another baby, this would mean having to share mom and dad. So babies are "programmed" to do everything they can to keep this from happening. In our past, Haig proposed, babies who cried to be nursed at night had a survival edge.

Oh really? If the baby is trying to prevent mom and dad from having more babies, doesn't this go against the parents' "evolutionary" drive to bear the greatest number of children to benefit the species?

Evolutionists who dream up such theories are rewarded with appearances on Fox News. They also arouse the interest of other scientists and see their papers published in respected scientific journals. But most of all, they are praised for suggesting once again that everything in our world rests upon the foundation of evolution. Thankfully, Bible-believing scientists have a far different foundation – the Lord Jesus Christ!

Notes: "Babies cry at night to prevent siblings, scientist suggests," Science News, L. Sanders, 4/22/14. "Troubled sleep Night waking, breastfeeding and parent–offspring conflict," D. Haig, Evolution, Medicine and Public Health, Volume 2014, Issue 1, pp. 32-39. Creation Moments, Inc., P.O. Box 839, Foley, MN 56329 www.creationmoments.com

“Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing: for they shall see eye to eye, when the LORD shall bring again Zion” (Isaiah 52:8). In the resurrection, the prophets of old, from Abel to John, will rise and stand together to witness the fulfillment of their prophecies. For the first time in earth’s history, they will “see eye to eye.” W.E. Vine comments: “The ‘watchmen’ in verse 8, who ‘lift up the voice together,’ rejoicing with singing, are the prophets (Isaiah being one), like those who look out into the distance as from a watch tower. ... These faithful watchers, who saw future events from afar, are described in 1 Peter 1:10-12 (c. Is. 21:8, 11 and Hab. 2:1-3). The day is coming when they will ‘see, eye to eye,’ when Jehovah returns... They will see the Lord restoring Zion, as vividly as one person is to another when he looks straight into his eyes. No wonder they will join in a chorus of praise. Those who foretold these things apart from one another during the course of many centuries will, in one great company and in bodily presence, utter their joy before Him who has been the great Subject of these prophecies.”

(Friday Church News Notes, April 24, 2015, www.wayoflife.org, [email protected], 866-295-4143)

1 John 4:6
"We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error."

If there is an unwritten law in the field of science, it is this: Thou shalt not discover anything that even suggests that evolution could be wrong. And a second unwritten law is like unto it: If you do discover anything that undermines evolution, keep it to yourself.

A scientist was fired from his job at California State University, Northridge, after discovering fossil evidence that supports a young earth and then publishing his findings. While at a dig at Hell Creek formation in Montana, scientist Mark Armitage came upon the largest triceratops horn ever unearthed at the site. When he examined the horn under a high-powered microscope, he was shocked to see soft tissue. This discovery stunned other scientists because it indicated that dinosaurs roamed the earth only thousands of years ago rather than 60 million years ago.

In Armitage's wrongful termination and religious discrimination lawsuit, court documents revealed that a university official challenged his motives by shouting at him, "We are not going to tolerate your religion in this department!" Armitage joins a growing number of scientists and educators who have lost their jobs for challenging the sacred cow of evolution. Many institutions of higher learning are no longer interested in pursuing the evidence wherever it may lead. They only care about evidence that leads them straight to their foregone conclusion that evolution is a fact.

Creationists need not fear any new scientific discovery because nothing can successfully contradict the Word of God!

Notes: "University Silences Scientist After Dinosaur Discovery", 7-23-14. Pacific Justice Institute is a non-profit legal organization dedicated to defending religious, parental, and other constitutional rights.
Creation Moments, Inc., P.O. Box 839, Foley, MN 56329 www.creationmoments.com

“With billions depending on the world’s iconic search engine for virtually every tidbit of information under the sun, Google is looking to take it one step further with its new ‘truth-seeking algorithm’ that will rank sites by what it considers to be truth. Many are concerned with the massive Internet information storehouse’s newest endeavor, especially with the left-leaning political bent it has demonstrated over the years. ... The significant alterations Google is making to its ‘PageRank’ project are geared to make it the ultimate assessor of truth around the globe. It will reportedly be changing over from its current system that ranks all pages according to search results, which are derived from the number of other websites that are linked to the particular page. ‘Google has come up with a new truth-seeking algorithm [that] draws on Google’s Knowledge Vault--a collection of 2.8 billion facts [sic] drawn from the Internet,’ reports CNN Money. ... ‘By checking pages against that database, and cross-referencing related facts, the research team believes the algorithm could assign each page a truth score. Pages with a high proportion of false claims would be bumped down in the search results.’ ... ‘This is potentially very dangerous,’ Media Research Center vice president of business and culture Dan Gainor expressed to LifeSiteNews. ‘I know right now Google is just studying this idea, but the power Google has to impact results and determine what it considers to be absolute truth is 1984-ish.’ ... ‘In the first place, Google has a history of supporting the redefinition of marriage and the erosion of the traditional family,’ LifeSiteNews points out. ‘The tech giant came out against the Defense of Marriage Act in 2011 and, the following year, launched an international campaign to spread a homosexual agenda in countries it deemed “homophobic,” including Poland and Singapore.’ Showing many that Google’s truth will be geared toward its own political worldview, it has also been noted that the California-based technology giant is anything but a neutral bystander when it comes to the most heated social issues of our time.”

“The ‘all-knowing’ Google now the discerner of truth?” OneNewsNow.com, Mar. 27, 2015

Psalm 111:4
"He hath made his wonderful works to be remembered: the LORD is gracious and full of compassion."

Birds and insects that take nectar from a flower without picking up any pollen are known as nectar robbers. Now, you'd probably think that nectar robbers would be harmful to plants and trees, but the desert teak tree couldn't survive without a nectar robber – the purple sunbird.

In order to reproduce, this tree needs birds to pollinate its flowers. But since a tree cannot reproduce with its own pollen, it needs birds to fly from flower to flower and from one tree to another. Anything that encourages the pollinating birds to fly farther away helps out the teak trees.

That's where the purple thief comes in. Researchers at the University of Delhi discovered that the sunbird visits the flowers one hour before the pollinating birds arrive. The purple sunbird has a long, sharp beak that pierces the base of the flower to feed, so it doesn't pick up any pollen. It does, however, empty the flower of about 60 percent of its nectar, leaving relatively little for the pollinators. This means that the pollinators will have to travel to more flowers and trees to get enough food, spreading pollen wherever they stop for a meal.

The researchers noted that "the robber plays a constructive and crucial role in the reproductive performance of a threatened tree species." How right they are. And this unusual but crucial dining arrangement shows once again what an ingenious God we serve!

Notes: "These trees don't mind getting robbed", Science News, 7-25-14.
Photo: Courtesy of J.M.Garg. 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

“‘Blessed Be, Aho, and Amen,’ aren't the words members of the Iowa House of Representatives are accustomed to hear at the closing of the invocation marking the House’s opening ceremonies, but that’s just what happened yesterday when a Wiccan priestess delivered the prayer. ‘We call this morning to God, Goddess, Universe, that which is greater than ourselves to be here with us today,’ said Deborah Maynard, who delivered the first prayer by a Wiccan in the assembly. ... A number of Christian lawmakers didn't attend the opening ceremony to protest the priestess’ historic invocation. Others, like State Rep. Rob Taylor (R-Iowa), turned their backs during the priestess’ prayer. ... The peculiar ending to the witch’s prayer seems to be a weird hodgepodge of religions and cultures. ‘Blessed Be’ is a neopagan Wiccan greeting that means ‘you wish good and positive’ things upon the person greeted. ‘Aho’ is a Native American word that means ‘thank you’ and ‘Amen’ means ‘So be it’ and is used by Christians traditionally at the end of prayers.”

“Blessed Be, Aho, and Amen,” MRCtv.org, April 10, 2015

Psalm 45:8
"All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, out of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad."

What animal is the world's best smeller? Scientists now think it's the African bush elephant. As we've mentioned on previous Creation Moments programs, elephants possess a versatile trunk that can toss logs, grasp food, spray water and even pick up branches to use as tools. But new research reported in Genome Research and Science News has found that these magnificent creatures carry about 2,000 genes for olfactory receptors. That's about five times more olfactory genes than we have. It's also a lot more than renowned sniffers like rats, which have only 1,200 olfactory receptor genes. Dogs have even fewer – about 800.

Just how well can an African bush elephant smell? They are actually able to distinguish between the Maasai, an ethnic Kenyan group that hunts elephants, from the Kamba, who are farmers. Smelling the difference between these two groups causes the elephant to respond accordingly.

As can be expected, the research team attributed the elephant's superior sense of smell to evolution. They said that the original smell-sensing gene duplicated in elephants as mammal species diverged from one another.

But we see no evidence whatsoever that the elephant's sense of smell has anything to do with evolution. A far more reasonable explanation is that they were given this gift by their Creator who knew exactly what they would need to survive. Yes, that same Creator who has given us what we need to survive the punishment that we deserve when Jesus was crucified!

Notes: Y. Niimura, A. Matsui, and K. Touhara. Extreme expansion of the olfactory receptor gene repertoire in African elephants and evolutionary dynamics of orthologous gene groups in 13 placental mammals. Genome Research. Published online: July 22, 2014. doi: 10.1101/gr.169532.113. "Elephant's big nose wins most sensitive sniffer," Science News, 7-22-14.
Photo: Courtesy of Ikiwaner. Licensed under the GNU Free Documentation 1.2 License.
Creation Moments, Inc., P.O. Box 839, Foley, MN 56329 www.creationmoments.com

“A Christian missionary is fighting for her life after being shot in the head in Karachi, Pakistan, in an apparent terrorist attack. Fifty-five-year-old Debra Lobo was hit twice when four men fired shots from motorbikes as she was leaving work. Lobo has lived in Pakistan for 30 years and is married with two children. She serves as vice principal of Jinnah Medical and Dental College. Lobo has been hospitalized with two bullet wounds, one in the chin and one in the arm. According to police, ‘The initial investigation suggests that this was a pre-planned terrorist attack and was made over the lady because of her national identity.’ The gunmen, who escaped, left a leaflet in her car with her name on it saying they had targeted her because she was American. According to The Guardian, the English version of the leaflet read: ‘Oh crusaders, we are the lions of Dualat al Islamia, the falcons of the caliph. Today we killed this Kansas lady Lobo, we shall lie and wait and ambush you and kill you wherever you may be and confine and besiege you in America and then God willing ... we will burn America.’ The gunmen claim in the leaflet the attack was revenge for the death of five militant suspects who were killed the day before.”

“Terrorists Shoot,” Charisma, Apr. 17, 2015

This week at least 28 professing Christians were murdered by Muslim jihadists. Muslim refugees traveling from Libya to Italy across the Mediterranean threw 12 Christians overboard and left them to drown (“Italian Police: Libyan Muslims Threw Christians Overboard,” Breitbart, Apr. 16, 2015). ISIS beheaded 15 Christians by the sea shore and shot another 15 in the desert (“You Will Not Have Safety Until You Accept Islam,” Christian News Network, Apr. 19, 2015). In Pakistan, a 14-year-old Christian boy was burned to death. He was asked by two masked men if he was a Christian, and when he replied that he was, they doused him with kerosene and set him on fire (“Burned Christian Boy Dies,” Voice of the Persecuted, Apr. 18, 2015). We understand that these poor victims were probably Christian in name only rather than by regeneration, but the fact remains that they were targeted as Christians by Muslims who have a burning hatred for the Jesus Christ of Scripture, the Son of God who died on the cross to save men from their sin. In its video of the slaughter of the 30 Christians, ISIS said, “To the nation of the cross, we are now back again. ... You will not have safety even in your dreams, until you accept Islam. Our battle is a battle between faith and blasphemy, between truth and falsehood.” This video followed another one in February documenting the beheading of 21 Egyptian Orthodox Coptics.

(Friday Church News Notes, April 24, 2015, www.wayoflife.org, [email protected], 866-295-4143)

Ten top medical doctors have called upon Columbia University to remove Mehmet Oz (“Dr. Oz”) from its faculty. Oz is vice chairman and professor of surgery, but in spite of his impressive credentials, he is a promoter of quackery. The open letter, issued by a group of doctors led by Henry Miller of Stanford University, says that Oz has “misled and endangered” the public and has “manifested an egregious lack of integrity by promoting quack treatments and cures in the interest of personal financial gain” (“Physicians Demand Removal of ‘Dr. Oz,’”Fox News, Apr. 17, 2015). Last year, a U.S. Senate panel accused Oz of endorsing products that are medically unsound and making claims that are not substantiated by fact. Mehmet Oz, together with Daniel Amen and Mark Hyman, have been highly promoted by Rick Warren in spite of their New Age principles. The three men created Warren’s Daniel Plan. Oz is not only a promoter of quack diets; he is a follower of Emanuel Swedenborg, who entertained spirit guides and was deeply involved with Eastern mysticism (“Special Report,” Lighthouse Trails, Jan. 11, 2011). Oz also promotes Reiki, an occultic practice that allegedly channels “universal healing energy.” Amen teaches Eastern meditation, promotes Reiki, and deals in pop psychology and self-help. Amen’s The Brain in Love and Making a Good Brain Great promote Hindu-style meditation through the vain repetition of the alleged primal sounds. Mark Hyman promotes meditation based on Buddhist principles. He claims that “diseases don’t exist; their symptoms are related to effects” (“Rick Warren’s Celebrity Health Plan Draws Thousands,” The Orange County Register, Jan. 16, 2011). To say that disease doesn’t exist apart from human causes is New Age nonsense. While it is true that diet and exercise can affect one’s health, all diseases are not the result of lifestyle. We are fallen sinners who live in a sin-cursed world, and disease and death are realities that affect every individual regardless of his lifestyle. In the book The Bible and Diet, we warn that the alternative health care field is permeated with New Age philosophy. A friend observed that health food stores are New Age chapels. Beware! Although we know that it is wise and godly to take care of one’s body, the Bible doesn't have very much to say about it. What the Bible does have a lot to say about is spiritual health and separation from paganism! “Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table, and of the table of devils” (1 Corinthians 10:21).

(Friday Church News Notes, April 24, 2015, www.wayoflife.org, [email protected], 866-295-4143)

Proverbs 14:25
"A true witness delivereth souls: but a deceitful witness speaketh lies."

In light of their expectation to find life on other planets, the news story I'm going to tell you about today must have been sheer torture for the Science News magazine to report.

Here's what they wrote: "Two planets considered among the most promising for life outside the solar system don't exist.... The signals embedded in starlight that were attributed to the planets may instead have been caused by the changing magnetic activity of their star, Gliese 581."

Scientists say that the error reinforces the need for "meticulous analyses to separate planets' signals from those generated by spots and flares on stars." Stéphane Udry, an astronomer at the University of Geneva, agrees: "This is a big warning concerning the interpretation of [small] signals as being planets."

In light of these "vanishing" planets, one has to wonder how many other planets are, in fact, non-existent. Could many or most of the millions of planets that are now thought to be hospitable to life be nothing but spots and flares on stars?

Scientists pride themselves on correcting their errors, and this is a good example of that. But when we think of all of the so-called evidences for evolution still in school textbooks, it is abundantly clear that scientists still have much to learn about the errors they stubbornly refuse to correct. Creationists can rejoice that, unlike science textbooks, there is one book that never needs to be corrected or updated – the Bible!

Notes: "Exoplanets once trumpeted as life-friendly may not exist", Science News, 7-3-14. Magazine issue: August 9, 2014.
Photo: Digital Sky Survey / ESO. Courtesy of Lars Lindberg Christensen. 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

Psalm 86:9-10
"All nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee, O Lord; and shall glorify thy name. For thou art great, and doest wondrous things: thou art God alone."

Also known as the water ouzel, the dipper is a small bird so named because of its characteristic dipping or bobbing motion when perched beside the water of fast-flowing rivers.

As author Douglas Sharp notes in Revolution Against Evolution, the dipper "not only flies in the air, but swims underwater with his wings. He also strolls on the bottom of the stream, overturning rocks with his beak and toes to feed on various water creatures. Air sacs provide buoyancy, enabling him to rise to the surface. He 'blows his tanks' to submerge. Since he does not have webbed feet, he uses his wings as underwater oars."

The author then asks evolutionists: "How many eons of diving school did this bird endure before he mastered the delicate balance of the air and water environments? These unique air sacs will either work, or they won't. These functions would have to be perfected before our skinny-dipping friend would ever discover the juicy morsels on the bottom of the stream."

Wikipedia, which is certainly no friend to biblical creation, mentions two more design features. The dipper's eyes have well-developed focus muscles that can change the curvature of the lens to enhance underwater vision. Dippers also have nasal flaps to prevent water from entering their nostrils. What did they do before evolution produced those flaps? Choke to death?

Obviously, evolutionists cannot account for this little dipper's many design features, but creationists can!

Notes: Revolution Against Evolution, 2013, Douglas Sharp, p. 49. Third edition. Decapolis Books.
Photo: Courtesy of Andrew2606. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.
Creation Moments, Inc., P.O. Box 839, Foley, MN 56329 www.creationmoments.com

Friends in Christ, please make the upcoming Supreme Court decision a matter of much prayer. We are glad for the boldness of these attorneys. The following is excerpted from “Attorneys Warn,” Christian News Net, Apr. 11, 2015: “A legal brief recently submitted to the U.S. Supreme Court warns that forcing states to recognize same-sex ‘marriage’ could bring God’s judgment upon the nation. As previously reported, in January, in light of contrasting appeals court decisions, the nine justices agreed to take up a case that would determine whether or not the U.S. Constitution provides states the right to ban same-sex nuptials. The case is set for oral argument this month with a decision in June. ‘This case before this Court is this nation’s tower of Babel. At issue is whether we as a people are going to continue to conform the institution of marriage to the one created and established by God, or instead will reform the most sacred of human institutions into something else chosen by an elite set of jurists,’ reads the amicus brief, filed by the U.S. Justice Foundation of Ramona, Calif. and the law offices of William Olsen of Vienna, Va. Several other Christian attorneys joined in the submission, including Kerry Morgan of Pentuik, Couvreur & Kobiljak P.C. in Wyandotte, Mich., James Clymer of Clymer Conrad, P.C. in Lancaster, Pa. and J. Mark Brewer of Brewer & Pritchard, P.C. in Houston, Texas. In addition to warning that requiring states to recognize same-sex arrangements would continue to have detrimental ramifications for Christian business owners, churches and society in general, the attorneys spoke of the spiritual consequences for such a decision. ‘The Holy Scriptures reveal that God created mankind, male and female, in the image of God,’ the attorneys declare, pointing to Genesis 1:27 and Matthew 19:4-6. ‘Homosexual sex and homosexual marriage are a repudiation of God’s created order.’ ‘Should the court require the states and the people to “ritualize” sodomite behavior by government issuance of a state marriage license, it could bring God’s judgment on the nation,’ they warn, pointing to Leviticus 18:22 and 24-30. ‘Holy Scripture attests that homosexual behavior and other sexual perversions violate the law of the land, and when the land is “defiled,” the people have been cast out of their homes.’”

(Friday Church News Notes, April 17, 2015, www.wayoflife.org, [email protected], 866-295-4143)

Romans 5:8
"But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."

When this fish is taken out of the water, its face almost looks like a very sad person. In 2013 it was voted the "World's Ugliest Animal". What is this creature that was adopted as the mascot of the Ugly Animal Preservation Society? It's the appropriately named blobfish.

Photos of the ugly blobfish have been making the rounds on the Internet. And yet, even the blobfish has beauty when you consider that it was designed to function perfectly in its environment.

Blobfish inhabit the deep waters off the coasts of Australia, Tasmania and New Zealand. If you wanted to see one in its natural habitat, you would have to dive to a depth of between 2,000 and 3,900 feet where the pressure is several dozen times higher than at sea level. The pressure is no problem for the blobfish, though. Its jelly-like body is slightly less dense than water, allowing it to float effortlessly just above the sea floor.

Blobfish don't have much muscle for swimming, but they don't need it. They simply swallow edible matter that floats into their mouth. Sadly, they are an endangered species because of fishing trawlers dragging their nets on the seafloor.

Yes, the blobfish is far from attractive. But it serves as a reminder that sinful human beings are unattractive in the sight of God. And yet, while we were still sinners, God sent His Son to die for us and to exchange His righteousness for our sins, making us acceptable in God's sight. What a Savior!

Notes: "So you think you've had a bad day? Spare a thought for the world's most miserable-looking fish, which is now in danger of being wiped out," Mail Online, 1-26-10.
Photo: Courtesy of Kids Discover Magazine.
Creation Moments, Inc., P.O. Box 839, Foley, MN 56329 www.creationmoments.com

Isaiah 31:5
"As birds flying, so will the LORD of hosts defend Jerusalem; defending also he will deliver it; and passing over he will preserve it."

A new species of dinosaur has been found. Scientists are calling Changyuraptor yangi the biggest feathered dinosaur ever discovered. Here at Creation Moments, however, we're calling it a feathered bird. Dinosaur-to-bird evolution is nothing more than a flight of fancy.

Naturally, USA Today, BBC News and many other news outlets are calling it a four-winged dinosaur. Changyuraptor yangi, they say, is a new species of dinosaur that offers "clues to the origin of flight – and the transition from feathered dinosaurs to birds." Research scientists also say that "the new fossil possesses the longest known feathers for any non-avian dinosaur."

Non-avian? No, we're still calling them birds, and here's why. For one thing, dinosaurs and other reptiles have scales, which are folds in their skin. Birds, on the other hand, have feathers which grow out of follicles. Scales and feathers are completely different. No known fossils, in fact, provide evidence of a transition from scales to feathers.

Furthermore, for a dinosaur to evolve into a bird, it would need to develop hollow bones, and it would need to gain powerful flight muscles and develop a new heart with four chambers rather than three.

So, too, do we need a new heart to understand the things of God. We don't evolve our old heart into a new one. Our new heart comes to us through the work of the Holy Spirit.

Notes: "Scientists discover largest four-winged dinosaur to date", USA Today, 7/15/14.
"Four-winged dinosaur is 'biggest ever'", BBC News Science & Environment, 7/16/14.
"A new raptorial dinosaur with exceptionally long feathering provides insights into dromaeosaurid flight performance," Nature Communications, 7/15/14.
Illustration: Courtesy of Stephanie Abramowicz, Dinosaur Institute, NHM. Used for educational purposes under U.S. fair use doctrine.
Creation Moments, Inc., P.O. Box 839, Foley, MN 56329 www.creationmoments.com

Hillsong’s worldly cool, non-judgmental brand of Christianity is evident in the life of former Disney star Vanessa Hudgens. She credits Hillsong for strengthening her “own personal relationship with Jesus” (“Vanessa Hudgens Credits Hillsong,” New York Times, Mar. 29, 2015). Hudgens also credits her live-in boyfriend, actor Austin Butler, with helping to restore her Christian faith (she grew up Catholic). She “loves Jesus,” but she also lives with a man to whom she is not married and uses New Age and pagan forms of “spirituality” such as crystals and dreamcatchers. She says, “I’m a definite hippie. I’m literally my happiest self when I’m dancing half naked on a grass field listening to Led Zeppelin.” Hillsong Christianity is a major sign of the times, and Bible-believing churches that are adapting contemporary worship are building bridges to this dangerous world. “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” (2 Timothy 4:3-4).

(Friday Church News Notes, April 17, 2015, www.wayoflife.org, [email protected], 866-295-4143)

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."

The next time you enjoy a vanilla ice cream cone, keep in mind that vanilla wouldn't even exist if evolution were true. Evolutionists don't have a blooming idea about the origin of a special symbiotic relationship between a particular flower and a very special bee.

You see, vanilla comes from the vanilla planifolia plant which develops into the Mexican vanilla orchid. Unlike most orchids, this one blooms only one morning each year. The orchid also has a hood-like membrane that covers the part that produces pollen. These two facts make pollination almost impossible.

But the God who created this plant also created the Mexican Melipona Bee – the only insect that knows how to pollinate the orchid. After landing on the flower, the bee lifts up the hood, collects the pollen and then flies off to another flower. Once pollinated, the orchid produces a vanilla bean. If not pollinated within eight to twelve hours, the flower wilts and drops from the mother vine.

Without the Mexican Melipona Bee, you wouldn't be able to enjoy any of the delicious foods made with vanilla extract. So we would ask evolutionists – which came first: the orchid or the bee? And how did the bee learn to pollinate the vanilla orchid?

At best, evolutionists can only offer guesses. But creationists know that the bee and the flower are a match made in heaven. They enjoy a symbiotic relationship so that each can survive ... and so we can enjoy the fruit of their labor!

Notes: "Vanilla Ice Cream Defies Evolution." B. Petrillo, 1/28/14.
bioweb.uwlax.edu/bio203/s2009/ruud_kirs/Life%20History%20-%20Reproduction.htm.
Illustration: Courtesy of B.navez. 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

One of the great magnets at the heart of the one-world church today, one of the things drawing all brands of “Christians” together, is social work. It’s the old social gospel revised, and it excites everyone from Nashville to Rome. It’s as big a uniting factor as contemporary music, contemplative prayer, and the modern (“pick your favorite”) Bible versions. The evangelicals and the emerging churchers think of themselves as great change makers. Being dispensationally confused, they think they can change the world. They talk about “mission,” referring to social justice work, more than “missions,” referring to “traditional” missionary gospel-church planting. An example is CATALYST, a community of “influencers, storytellers, innovators, cultural architects, and social entrepreneurs in our generation” that exists “to create change makers through training, resources, and gatherings that unify, equip, and challenge our community to engage and impact their world for good.” (I wonder why we don’t read about any of those things in the book of Acts?) CATALYST was founded in 1999 by John Maxwell, Andy Stanley, and other “thought leaders.” The April 16-17 conference in Irvine, California, includes a “change maker panel featuring a conversation on how the church is partnering with community agencies in LA to create holistic change.” They boast of the “ability to reach across denominations,” which is the one-world “church” element. They say they love doctrine, but they don’t, really, because a zeal for biblical doctrine would get in the way of their agenda. In reality, they are pragmatists who have replaced the program given by Christ to the apostles with their own (Matthew 28:18-20; Mark 16:15; Luke 24:44-48; Acts 1:8).  The interesting thing is that the rise of the contemporary evangelical change makers over the past 20 years has coincided with a dramatic reduction in the influence of Christianity on society. When the prominent type of “evangelical” Christianity was a more “fundamentalist” type, the influence on society was greater, even though the emphasis was on gospel preaching, separated Christian living, and doctrinal purity rather than social work. (This is not to say that there is no social aspect to the gospel; we are talking about emphasis and program.) The change makers, with their worldly music and pragmatic principles and “good time Charlie” philosophy, have proven to be powerless to bring real change.

(Friday Church News Notes, April 17, 2015, www.wayoflife.org, [email protected], 866-295-4143)

Since Mel Gibson’s blockbuster The Passion of the Christ and the History Channel’s The Bible, Hollywood has seen the light that “faith based” themes can rake in serious bucks from America’s shallow and oh-so-gullible Christians. The latest effort is Warner Brothers’ Apostle Paul, starring Hugh Jackman, who will also produce the movie along with Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. Jackman, who has starred in the R-rated X-Men and Wolverine, renounced his Christian father’s faith in Christ for transcendental meditation. The view he described to Parade magazine in 2009 is probably the mainstream faith today in North America. He said: “I just find the evangelical church too, well, restrictive. But the School of Practical Philosophy is non-confrontational. We believe there are many forms of scripture. What is true is true and will never change, whether it’s in the Bible or in Shakespeare. It’s about oneness. Its basic philosophy is that if the Buddha and Krishna and Jesus were all at a dinner table together, they wouldn't be arguing. There is an essential truth. And we are limitless” (Parade, April 27, 2009). In other words, TM lets the movie star live as he pleases and be his own god. That might work at some level in this life, but every individual knows in his deepest conscience that there is a holy Creator God to whom he is accountable, and no one can escape the accounting. “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). Salvation is available, but it is only through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ.

(Friday Church News Notes, April 17, 2015, www.wayoflife.org, [email protected], 866-295-4143)

Matt Maher, a Roman Catholic contemporary worship musician, describes himself as a “musical missionary.” His goal is to bridge Protestantism and Catholicism. Christianity Today, which has never seen an ecumenical bridge it didn't appreciate, says “Maher is bringing his music--and a dream of unity into the Protestant church” (“Common Bonds,” CT, Oct. 27, 2009). Maher says that touring with people like Michael W. Smith is producing ecumenical unity because people come to the concerts and find themselves standing beside a priest or nun, and they learn that “we’re all in this family together.” Now Maher is widening his ecumenical circle to include the gullible world of Southern Gospel. A few months ago he explained on YouTube the story behind his 2014 song “Because He Lives.” He says that he wanted to write a new edition of Bill Gaither’s 1974 song by that title and collaborated with his friend Chris Tomlin, a popular contemporary worship musician. Deciding that they wanted to use some lines from Gaither’s song, they contacted him. Maher says, “We went to Mr. Gaither and asked him if it would be OK if we incorporated elements from his song and he agreed. So what we have is this song which is a collective result of a lot of people’s effort. And I think that’s always been a big part of my ministry, which is trying to unify the church and to bring all of these different voices from different streams together, so this song just continues that mission. I hope it blesses your congregation” (“Behind the Song ‘Because He Lives,’ Matt Maher, YouTube, Nov. 4, 2014). In 1990, the Gaithers performed at the Indianapolis ’90 ecumenical conference where half of the attendees were Roman Catholics, and a Roman Catholic mass was held every morning. Those who are adapting contemporary worship music are building bridges to the one-world church, and nothing could be more spiritually dangerous. (For more about Matt Maher, Bill Gaither, and Chris Tomlin see The Directory of Contemporary Worship Musicians, available in print and a free eBook edition, www.wayoflife.org.)

(Friday Church News Notes, April 17, 2015, www.wayoflife.org, [email protected], 866-295-4143)

Psalm 90:12
"So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom."

The great scientist James Clerk Maxwell, a contemporary of Charles Darwin, was certainly no friend of Darwin's theory of evolution. Even so, the staunchest evolutionists today would agree that Maxwell was a scientist of gigantic proportions, ranking right up there with celebrated scientists like Sir Isaac Newton.

In a previously aired Creation Moments broadcast, we told you that Maxwell believed that Jesus Christ is the Savior who came to deliver humanity from the results of sin. We also mentioned that a writing of his, found after his death, stated that the motivation for his work was that God had created all things just as Genesis says. And since God created humans in His image, scientific study is a fit activity for one's lifework.

But Maxwell's heart for God is expressed most clearly in a prayer he wrote that was found in his notes after he died in 1879 at the young age of 48. The rest of today's broadcast is in Maxwell's own words:

"Almighty God, Who hast created man in Thine own image, and made him a living soul that he might seek after Thee, and have dominion over Thy creatures, teach us to study the works of Thy hands, that we may subdue the earth to our use, and strengthen the reason for Thy service; so to receive Thy blessed Word, that we may believe on Him Whom Thou hast sent, to give us the knowledge of salvation and the remission of our sins. All of which we ask in the name of the same Jesus Christ, our Lord."

Notes: Cited in E.L. Williams and G. Mulfinger, Physical Science for Christian Schools, Bob Jones University Press, Greenville, South Carolina, 1974, p. 487.
Photo: Courtesy of Kim Traynor. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
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In this day when business in America seems to be all about money and when there is crookedness in both high and low places, it is refreshing to think of businessmen who have put God first. James Cash Penny (1875-1971), founder of the J.C. Penny stores, is an example. His father, a Baptist pastor, died when James was a teenager, but not before he was instilled with biblical principles of living. When the young James got a job with a grocer, he bragged one night at supper to his mother and father about how “foxy” his employer was in selling low quality coffee for the price of expensive coffee. Even though jobs were rare in that small town, James’ father told him to quit. Though he was dying of tuberculosis and they needed the money, the preacher would rather that his son be unemployed than associated with a crooked businessman. At first the J.C. Penny stores were called Golden Rule, because he was “dedicated to following the Golden Rule as a basic commercial principle.” The Golden Rule refers to Christ’s principle of “thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” Penny offered quality products at fair prices and treated the customers with respect. He kept the profit margin small. He tested every policy by asking if it was “right and just?” He made his managers part owners of the stores in order to share the wealth. Yet though he was Christian in name, he didn't come to saving faith until he was older. He had become embittered at churches in his youth when his father was fired for wanting to start a Sunday School. (Primitive Baptists officially hold to extreme sovereign election and often do not believe in gospel missions.) After experiencing a financial crash during America’s Great Depression, Penny’s health broke, physically and emotionally, and he ended up in a sanitarium. There he attended a Christian meeting and saw that he had been trusting his good works rather than God’s grace in Christ. Through the words of the hymn “God Will Take Care of You” and Christ’s invitation in Matthew 11:28-30, J.C. Penny was converted. He recalled, “I can’t explain it. I can only call it a miracle. I felt as if I had been instantly lifted out of the darkness of a dungeon into a warm, brilliant sunlight. I felt as if I had been transported from hell to paradise. I felt the power of God as I had never felt it before. From that day to this, my life has been free from worry. The most dramatic and glorious 20 minutes of my life were those I spent in that chapel that morning.” Penny gave millions of dollars to Christian charities. He said he would rather be known as a Christian than a merchant. In an advertisement he said: “Business is therefore as much religious as it is secular. If we follow the admonition to love God, and our neighbors as ourselves, it will lead us to understand that, first of all, success is a matter of the spirit.” This is the attitude that will permeate Christ’s coming kingdom, and it is the attitude that should permeate the lives of those who belong to Christ in this present world.

(Friday Church News Notes, April 10, 2015, www.wayoflife.org, [email protected], 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 most people look at a photo of the Goniurellia tridens fruit fly, they think it must have been created by a talented Photoshop artist. No, this fly with images of ant-like insects on its wings is no accident of nature. The images were put there by a Master Designer.

Dr. Brigitte Howarth, the fly specialist at Zayed University in the UAE who first discovered G tridens, said that the image on the wing is absolutely perfect. A closer examination of the transparent wings of Goniurellia tridens reveals a piece of evolutionary art. Each wing carries a precisely detailed image of an ant-like insect, complete with six legs, two antennae, a head, thorax and tapered abdomen. When threatened, the fly flashes its wings to give the appearance of ants walking back and forth. This confuses the predator, allowing the fly to escape.

As expected, the story and pictures of G tridens were soon flying all over the Internet. Evolutionists rejoiced, claiming that the fruit fly was a beautiful example of natural selection. But we have to point out that there is no evidence whatsoever to support that claim. As usual, evolutionists simply assume that evolution is true. What they fail to do is show how those images of ants got on the fly's wings.

Creationists don't need to provide a step-by-step explanation of how these extraordinary wings developed. The fact is, the design is in their genes! God designed them that way!

Notes: "Fruit fly with the wings of beauty", A. Zacharias, TheNational, 6/28/13.
Creation Moments, Inc., P.O. Box 839, Foley, MN 56329 www.creationmoments.com

“The commander of the Basij militia of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said that ‘erasing Israel off the map’ is ‘nonnegotiable,’ according to an Israel Radio report Tuesday. Militia chief Mohammad Reza Naqdi also threatened Saudi Arabia, saying that the offensive it is leading in Yemen ‘will have a fate like the fate of Saddam Hussein.’ Naqdi’s comments were made public as Iran and six world powers prepared Tuesday to issue a general statement agreeing to continue nuclear negotiations in a new phase aimed at reaching a comprehensive accord by the end of June.”

“Iran Militia Chief,” The Times of Israel, May 31, 2015

Job 37:14
"Hearken unto this, O Job: stand still, and consider the wondrous works of God."

Humans, birds and seals are all known to navigate by the stars. But now, the lowly dung beetle could be the first example of an insect being a stargazer. These lowly insects appear to use the stars of the Milky Way to know where they are going. Most humans can't even accomplish that!

Dung beetles, you see, like to move in straight lines. When they come across a pile of droppings, they make a small ball of dung and start pushing it away to a safe distance where they can dine alone, far away from their hungry neighbors. If they didn't know how to push it in a straight line, they would run the risk of circling back to the original pile of droppings and having to fight off other dung beetles.

Dr. Marie Dacke of Lund University in Sweden had previously shown that dung beetles were able to travel in a straight line by taking cues from the Sun, the Moon, and even the pattern of polarized light formed around these light sources. But it was their capacity to maintain course even on clear, moonless nights that led to the new discovery.

Evolution, of course, is powerless to explain how the dung beetle can navigate by the stars – something that most people can't do without the help of technology. God has given them a set of instructions – or instincts – that enable them to survive. If God cares so much for the lowly dung beetle, just think about how much more He cares for You!

Notes: "Dung Beetles Use the Milky Way for Orientation", ScienceDirect, February 2013, pp. 298-300.
"Dung beetles guided by Milky Way", BBC News.
Photo: Courtesy of Rafael Brix. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Generic license.
Creation Moments, Inc., P.O. Box 839, Foley, MN 56329 www.creationmoments.com