“Despite more than nine out of 10 Americans agreeing Jesus was a historical figure, what they believe about Him diverges widely, according to a newly released survey from the Barna Research Group, a nonprofit organization that has been analyzing cultural trends related to religious belief since 1984. The survey of more than 4,000 U.S. adults online and by phone suggests Americans are conflicted about the central figure of Christianity and have failed to successfully pass on their faith to succeeding generations. ... But when the divinity of Jesus is asserted, only 56 percent of Americans agreed. Among Elders--those born before 1946--62 percent said Jesus was God, but among Millennials, the number dropped to 48 percent. ... Those rejecting Jesus as God said He was just another spiritual figure, comparable to Muhammad or Buddha. With the question of divinity in play, it is perhaps no surprise a majority--52 percent--of Americans said Jesus was a sinner like other people while living on Earth. ... Once again, Millennials showed the greatest departure from orthodoxy with 56 percent saying Jesus sinned.”

“Most Americans Now Say Jesus Actually a Sinner,” WorldNetDaily, Apr. 2, 2015

Isaiah 40:22
"It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in:"

If we can learn anything from science, it's this – the scientific facts of today won't necessarily be the facts of tomorrow. The simple truth is that a scientific fact that is no longer a fact was never a fact to begin with!

Take, for example, the so-called scientific fact of the expanding universe. We've all been told that this is a scientific fact, a relic of the Big Bang that explains the red shift of stars as they speed away from us. But now, a team of astrophysicists from Lawrenceville Plasma Physics are calling that well-known fact into question.

According to Sci-News.com, the results of their tests "are consistent with what would be expected from ordinary geometry if the Universe was not expanding, and are in contradiction with the drastic dimming of surface brightness predicted by the expanding universe hypothesis." In other words, this "new evidence, based on detailed measurements of the size and brightness of hundreds of galaxies, indicates that the universe is not expanding after all."

We'll let scientists battle it out over whether the universe is expanding. Their views are bound to change anyway. But those of us who know that the Bible never needs correction can be certain of one thing – that God stretched out the heavens during Creation Week.

Notes: Eric J. Lerner et al. UV surface brightness of galaxies from the local Universe to z ~ 5. Int. J. Mod. Phys. D, published online May 02, 2014; doi: 10.1142/S0218271814500588. "Universe Is Not Expanding After All", Sci-News.com. 5/23/14.
Photo: Courtesy of NASA.
Creation Moments, Inc., P.O. Box 839, Foley, MN 56329 www.creationmoments.com

Genesis 7:11
"In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened."

Evolutionists and atheists like to think they've got Bible-believing creationists stumped when they ask, "If a worldwide flood really happened, where did all the water go? If Noah's flood covered the mountaintops, what happened to all that water?"

Creationists have often responded by saying that the water ended up in the deep ocean trenches like the Mariana trench in the western Pacific. The trench is so deep, the world's tallest mountains could be submerged without breaking the ocean's surface!

But another answer was suggested by the recent discovery of a vast reservoir of water that's three times larger than all of the world's oceans combined! As reported in NewScientist, "The water is hidden inside a blue rock called ringwoodite that lies 700 kilometres – that's 434 miles – underground in the mantle, the layer of hot rock between Earth's surface and its core."

According to researcher Steven Jacobsen of Northwestern University, "It's good evidence the Earth's water came from within." This statement by a secular scientist agrees with the Bible when it says that in addition to the rain, the "fountains of the great deep" were broken up.

This could also explain where all the water went after the flood subsided. It suggests that the waters of the flood ended up in the sponge-like ringwoodite that's buried beneath the entire United States and possibly the whole world. Christians never need to fear the charges brought against the Bible by atheists and evolutionists.

Notes: "Massive 'ocean' discovered towards Earth's core", A. Coghlan, NewScientist, 6/12/14.
Science 13 June 2014: Vol. 344 no. 6189 pp. 1265-1268 DOI: 10.1126/science.1253358.
Photo: Courtesy of Jasperox. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.
Creation Moments, Inc., P.O. Box 839, Foley, MN 56329 www.creationmoments.com

Robert Schuller (1926-2015), founder of the Crystal Cathedral and the Hour of Power television broadcast, died last week at age 88. Few men have had more influence on “evangelicalism” in this generation. In his popular book Self-Esteem: The New Reformation, Schuller called for the creation of a new kind of Christianity: one that believes in the universalistic Fatherhood of God and the divinity of man, one that is positive and non-judgmental, one that worships a New Age self-esteem Christ, one that denies the necessity of Christ’s blood atonement, one in which salvation is to be reconciled with one’s own goodness, one that believes in the essential truth in all religions. These heresies spread far and wide during Schuller’s lifetime. He was one of the most popular religious television personalities in America for decades, with his Hour of Power program viewed by 20 million people in 180 countries at its peak. His books sold by the millions. His self-esteem Christianity has been adopted by multitudes of people who believe they are Christians and attend churches, but in reality they worship a false christ and follow a false gospel. Schuller was one of the fathers of the megachurch movement as well as of the emerging church. Schuller was endorsed by a wide range of Christian leaders such as Billy Graham, James Dobson, R.C. Sproul, W.A. Criswell, Tony Campolo, Bill Bright, Bill Hybels, Jack Hayford, John Wimber, Lee Strobel, Charles Colson, and Rick Warren. Schuller built the Crystal Cathedral in 1980, a 2,800-seat megachurch sanctuary with 10,000 panes of glass. In 2011, the Crystal Cathedral was sold to the Roman Catholic Church and became a Catholic cathedral.

(Friday Church News Notes, April 10, 2015, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143)

Southern Baptists, Catholics, Pentecostals, and emergents are praising the latest work of the New Age entertainer Roma Downey. Those who praise Downey’s newest production, A.D. The Bible Continues, include Ronnie Floyd, President of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), Ed Stetzer of the SBC’s LifeWay Research, George Wood, General Superintendent of the Assemblies of God, Catholic Cardinal Donald Wuerl, Joel Osteen, T.D. Jakes, Andy Stanley, Max Lucado, Perry Noble, and Rick Warren. The praise from these men is effusive and lacking any warning about Downey’s apostasy. For example, Stetzer says, “In ‘A.D.’, Mark and Roma have masterfully brought together the text and context, bringing the story alive in a fresh, new way--showing the true promise and peril of the early church situation. ‘A.D.’ is amazing television, and a gift to the church.” Roma Downey is the Roman Catholic co-creator with husband Mark Burnett of the History Channel’s popular The Bible miniseries and The Son of God movie. She calls Pope Francis “a new pope of hope” (“Roma Downey,” Christian Post, April 4, 2013). She says, “I have prayed to Mary and loved her my whole life” (“The Bible: An Epic Mini-Series,” Catholiclane.com, Feb. 28, 2013). She promotes the use of the rosary as a meditation practice by which she prays to Mary as the Queen of Heaven and the Mother of God. The Catholic Mary is sinless and can hear and answer the prayers of every petitioner, thus having the divine attributes of mediatorship, omnipresence, and omnipotence. But Roma Downey’s heresies exceed those pertaining to Rome’s papacy, sacramental gospel, and communion with a demon masquerading as Mary. Roma graduated from the University of Santa Monica with a graduate degree in Spiritual Psychology, which is described at the school’s web site as “the study and practice of the art and science of human evolution in consciousness.” The benefits of Spiritual Psychology include “experiencing enhanced spiritual awareness through knowing yourself as a Divine Being” and “learning to relate to yourself with greater compassion and awareness of yourself as a Divine Being having a human experience.” Why would any Bible-believing Christian recommend movies produced by a New Ager without the loudest and most fervent qualification, at the very least? “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?” (2 Cor. 6:14).

(Friday Church News Notes, April 10, 2015, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143)

In its ongoing effort to prepare for the Third Temple, the Temple Institute has reenacted the Passover. Called “a drill,” it was performed by “priests in training.” The reenactment video narrator says: “Jerusalem is already rebuilt. All that is left for us is to make every effort toward the renewal of the divine service and the fulfillment of the divine destiny of the people of Israel. This is what the Passover Seder is really all about. This is the real Passover Seder. May we merit to bring the Passover offering this year in the rebuilt Jerusalem. Blessings for a happy and kosher Passover from the Temple Institute in Jerusalem.” This is both exciting and sad. It is exciting because it is such a dramatic sign of the times and the imminent Rapture, but it is sad because it reflects the spiritual blindness in which Israel still dwells. The real Passover is Jesus Christ, the one identified by John the Baptist as “the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29), and there will be no peace for Israel until she recognizes this reality.

(Friday Church News Notes, April 10, 2015, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143)

(Temple Institute video - www.ritmeyer.com) 

Deuteronomy 6:6-7a
"And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children..."

Only four in 10 Americans believe God created the Earth and anatomically modern humans less than 10,000 years ago. That's the bad news, according to the latest Gallup poll. Even worse is the finding that half of Americans now believe that humans evolved over millions of years, though most of these people say that God guided the process.

"Religious, less educated, and older respondents were likelier to espouse a young Earth creationist view – that life was created some 6,000 to 10,000 years ago," according to the Gallup Values and Beliefs Survey. Though the percentage of people who believe in creationism has changed little over the decades, the percentage of people who believe humans evolved without God has more than doubled.

And college only makes things worse. While 57 percent of students who received just a high-school education are creationists, only 25 percent of those with a college degree believe in creation. Evolution's stranglehold on the minds of young people should be a grave concern for all Christians.

But there's good news to report. To the credit of some churches, more than two-thirds of those who attend weekly religious services believe in a young Earth, compared with just 23 percent of those who never go to church. We would venture to say that this is due in part to churches that give their youth a solid foundation in the Bible and the truth of biblical creation. Is your church one of them?

Notes: "4 in 10 Americans Believe God Created Earth 10,000 Years Ago", Tia Ghose, LiveScience, 6/6/14.
Creation Moments, Inc., P.O. Box 839, Foley, MN 56329 www.creationmoments.com

Dramatic progress has been made in making prosthetic limbs that can grasp objects, but now researchers have successfully tested a prosthetic hand that can perceive touch. Dustin Tyler and his colleagues at the Louis Stokes Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Cleveland, Ohio, have “found a way of transmitting long-term, realistic tactile sensations, such as the feel of a cotton wool ball, to two people who lost hands in industrial accidents” (“Prosthetic hand recreates feeling of cotton bud touch,”New Scientist, Oct. 15, 2014). The breakthrough was achieved by a very complex process involving connecting the prosthesis with human nerves by electrodes and a machine that provides a stream of electrical pulses. In spite of the fact that this is a very impressive feat of scientific engineering, it is a clumsy replacement for the real human hand. It is obvious that both the prosthesis and the human hand were designed and that one was designed by a vastly superior Engineer.



(Friday Church News Notes, April 3, 2015, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143)

Genesis 1:1
"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth."

After three months of number crunching, using 8,000 computers running in parallel, scientists say they have been able to build a model of our "evolving universe" in a computer simulation.

The simulated universe is called Illustris. It not only shows what the universe looks like now. It shows what it looked like in the past. Discovery.com notes that the simulation "only uses equations from theories constructed from decades (even centuries) of astronomical observations and allowed to evolve with time. The result," they said, "is nothing short of breathtaking and it can be hard to distinguish the model from real observations."

Even so, the scientists behind Illustris admit there are "anomalies in the simulation that don't match our observations." This should come as no surprise to creationists. After all, how could a computer simulation based on "equations from theories" match what we find in the real universe? How sad that these scientists spend so much time trying to show how the universe began without God. God's fingerprints can be clearly seen all over the creation – especially in the stars, nebulae and galaxies He created on the fourth day of Creation Week.

If scientists spent some of their time searching the Scriptures rather than the starry skies, they might develop an even better simulation. In fact, they might even discover the One who created the universe and died so that they might have everlasting life.

Notes: "Mind-Blowing Computer Simulation Recreates Our Universe", Discovery News, 5/7/14. Ian O'Neill.
Photo: Used for educational purposes under the Fair Use provisions.
Creation Moments, Inc., P.O. Box 839, Foley, MN 56329 www.creationmoments.com

“Indiana has come under fire for a bill signed Thursday by Gov. Mike Pence (R) that would allow businesses to refuse service for religious reasons. The NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) has voiced its concern ahead of Final Four in Indianapolis next week, there are calls to boycott the state, and Miley Cyrus has even weighed in, calling Pence a name that we can’t reprint on this family Web site in an Instagram post. But Indiana is actually soon to be just one of 20 states with a version of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, or RFRA, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. ... Forty percent of U.S. states have something similar to Indiana, as does the federal government.”

NOTE FROM BRO. CLOUD: The U.S. Constitution already has a “religious freedom” law, but it has been ignored by activist judges for the sake of social engineering and promoting moral license. 

“19 states that have ‘religious freedom’ laws like Indiana’s,” Washington Post, Mar. 27, 2015
(Friday Church News Notes, April 3, 2015, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143)

Proverbs 22:6
"Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it."

In his book, The Blind Watchmaker, evolutionary evangelist Richard Dawkins famously declared: "Biology is the study of complicated things that give the appearance of having been designed for a purpose." Yes, seeing design in nature is so natural, so common-sensical that even young children innately know that nature is filled with purposeful design.

Of course, evolutionists can't sit back and let common sense persuade children to reject evolution. So Boston University psychologist Deborah Kelemen and her team set out to prove it's possible with Darwinian storytelling to make children believe in natural selection rather than a Creator God. After giving children (ages 5-8) picture books that illustrated an example of natural selection, many of the children agreed with evolution.

Even The Wall Street Journal was pleased: "These results do suggest that simple story books like these could be powerful intellectual tools. The secret may be to reach children with the right theory before the wrong one is too firmly in place." The study, they said, "also suggests that we should teach children the theory of natural selection while they are still in kindergarten instead of waiting, as we do now, until they are teenagers."

The success of this study leads us to conclude that it will be used against you and your children in the future. That's why you need to take a very active role in your children's education. Review their textbooks. Ask questions. Attend school board meetings. And if things get too bad, consider alternatives to public education.

Notes: "Young Children Can Be Taught Basic Natural Selection Using a Picture-Storybook Intervention", Psychological Science April 2014 25: 893-902, first published on February 6, 2014.
"See Jane Evolve: Picture Books Explain Darwin," The Wall Street Journal, 4/18/14.
Photo: Used for educational purposes under the Fair Use provisions.
Creation Moments, Inc., P.O. Box 839, Foley, MN 56329 www.creationmoments.com

Ron Reagan, son of the late President Ronald Reagan, says that religion is a “delusion” and claims that he is not afraid of hell. In an ad for the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF), he concluded with the words, “Ron Reagan, lifelong atheist, not afraid of burning in hell” (“Son of President Reagan,” blog.godreports.com, Mar. 23, 2015). In an interview with the Los Angeles Times last year, Ron said that it’s “a very dangerous thing” to teach children that the earth is 6,000 years old. He and Bill Nye are following the same pied piper, both claiming they would rather go to hell than believe in God. They say that God doesn't exist, and the Bible says they are fools. “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good” (Psalm 14:1). Time will tell who is right. Ron says that creationism is not scientific, but a great many Ph.D. scientists who have examined both sides of the debate are convinced that the scientific evidence is on the side of creationism and “intelligent design.” For example, John Cimbala, Ph.D. in aeronautics from California Institute of Technology, says, “My college years at Penn State were spent as an atheist, or at best as an agnostic. Fortunately, and by the grace of God, I began to read articles and listen to tapes about scientific evidence for creation. Over a period of a couple of years, it became apparent to me that the theory of evolution has no legitimate factual evidence and that scientific data from the fossil record, geology, etc. could be better explained by a recent creation, followed by a global flood” (In Six Days: Why Fifty Scientists Choose to Believe in Creation, pp. 200-201). President Reagan’s other son, Mike, is a Roman Catholic who believes in God. (See Scientists Who Believe the Bible, available in print and as a free eBook from www.wayoflife.org. This contains the testimonies of 91 scientists and inventors of the 20th and 21st centuries who believe in a literal six-day creation.)

(Friday Church News Notes, April 3, 2015, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143)

Zechariah 6:6
"The black horses which are therein go forth into the north country; and the white go forth after them; and the grisled go forth toward the south country."

Are zebras white with black stripes or are they black with white stripes? If you're thinking that zebras just have a coat of two colors and that they don't have a "background" color at all, think again. Embryologists tell us that the zebra's background color is black and that their stripes and bellies are white additions.

But scientists are now trying to find out why zebras have stripes at all. The best they can tell, the stripes may make zebras less appetizing to large biting flies that often carry fatal diseases. Using painted horses, Swedish scientists found that zebra stripes disrupt light patterns that tsetse flies and horseflies use to find food and water.

One of the authors of the study, evolutionary ecologist Susanne Åkesson, said the study is being used to show that the zebra's stripes are a result of evolution and natural selection.

As we've seen so many times before, she will not see this as an example of an ingenious design by a Master Designer. Evolutionists are taught to believe in no design and no designer. Creationists, on the other hand, accept what common sense tells us. We can't help but see a most magnificent design in what God has created.

Since the Bible has not been proved wrong about anything, we can know for certain that zebras were painted, as it were, by an Artist who cares for all His creatures – especially us!

Notes: Prothero D.R, Schoch R. M (2003). Horns, Tusks, and Flippers: The Evolution of Hoofed Mammals. Johns Hopkins University Press. "Mystery of Zebra's Stripes Finally Solved?", Science, J.L. Lee, 2/9/12.
Photo: Used for educational purposes under the Fair Use provisions.
Creation Moments, Inc., P.O. Box 839, Foley, MN 56329 www.creationmoments.com

“A Christian street preacher has been convicted of a Public Order offence for using the wrong Bible verse in a public conversation with a man who identifies as homosexual. But the preacher was acquitted of two other Public Order charges. District Judge Shamim Ahmed Qureshi found that Michael Overd, who regularly preaches on the streets of Taunton, could have pointed to Leviticus 18:22 which describes homosexual practice as an ‘abomination’, but that reference to Leviticus 20:13 was inappropriate because the chapter refers to the death penalty. Mr. Overd points out that in his use of Leviticus 20 he never referred to the death penalty. ‘I am being punished for words that never passed my lips,’ he commented. ... ‘I am amazed that the judge sees it as his role to dictate which parts of the Bible can and can’t be preached. I did not quote the full text of Leviticus 20 or make reference to the death penalty, but the judge is telling me that I should use other parts of the Bible. This is not free speech but censorship. The judge is redacting the Bible. I have been ordered to pay compensation for causing “emotional pain” to someone who approached me aggressively demanding to debate the issue. There was no harm, injury or theft, just a simple disagreement over theology which I have now been fined for. My motivation for preaching the gospel is my love for Jesus Christ and my deep concern for people who do not know His great love and are heading towards an eternity separated from God.” ... Judge Qureshi imposed a fine of £200 ($300) on Mr. Overd and told him to pay a total of £1,200 ($1800) in costs and compensation.” [Judge Qureshi, who according to a 2009 article in The Brief, chronicling the rise of Shariah law in Britain, serves with the Muslim Arbitration Tribunal, the overseer of the nation’s Shariah courts.]

“Judge Censors Bible for Public Preaching,” Christian Concern, Mar. 24, 2015

Genesis 1:27
"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them."

Over the years, Creation Moments has been introducing you to animals that are superior to humans when it comes to such things as eyesight, hearing and the ability to survive in conditions that are too hot or cold for us humans. But now, some scientists in Australia are saying that animals are smarter than us, too!

According to University of Adelaide experts in evolutionary biology, "Humans have been deceiving themselves for thousands of years that they're smarter than the rest of the animal kingdom, despite growing evidence to the contrary." The scientists have even written a book called The Dynamic Human that says that some animals may actually be brighter than we are.

According to Professor Maciej Henneberg, a professor of anthropological and comparative anatomy, "The animal world is much more complex than we give it credit for. Animals offer different kinds of intelligences which have been underrated due to humans' fixation on language and technology."

No, Professor Henneberg, creationists do not underrate the intelligence of animals. We have always known that God created each animal with gifts, abilities and the necessary intelligence to survive. What truly separates humans from the animals is not intelligence but the fact that God made us in His image. As it says in Genesis 2:7, "And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul."

Notes: www.adelaide.edu.au/news/news67182.html.
"Human Intelligence Isn't Superior To That Of Other Animals, Researchers Say", The Huffington Post, D. Mosbergen, 12/12/13.
Photo: Common chimps are smart enough to use tools to get food. But does that make them as smart as humans?
Creation Moments, Inc., P.O. Box 839, Foley, MN 56329 www.creationmoments.com

“A coalition of 34,000 black churches has cut its ties with Presbyterian Church USA (PCUSA) in the wake of its recent vote to approve same-sex marriage. In a statement at Charisma News, Rev. Anthony Evans, president of the National Black Church Initiative (NBCI), wrote that PCUSA’s ‘arbitrary change of Holy Scripture is a flagrantly pretentious and illegitimate maneuver by a body that has no authority whatsoever to alter holy text.’ ... In 2012, Bishop Janice Hollis, head of the Covenant International Fellowship, joined Rev. Bill Owens, president of the Coalition of African-American Pastors (CAAP), at a press conference to condemn President Obama’s support of same-sex marriage. ... Owens and his group have called for the impeachment of Attorney General Eric Holder on the basis that he violated his oath of office by ‘attempting to impose same-sex “marriage” throughout the nation.’ CAAP was also highly critical of Obama’s comparison of the same-sex marriage movement to that for civil rights during the president’s remarks at the 50th anniversary of the ‘Bloody Sunday’ march in Selma, Alabama. ‘President Obama is a disgrace to the black community,’ Owens said. ‘He is rewriting history. We didn't suffer and die for gay marriage. We marched for opportunity, equality, justice, freedom from oppression. We are the true heirs of the civil rights movement. We have a new movement to reclaim the real civil rights movement. The LGBT community hijacked our movement, a movement they know nothing about.’ ... Last week, Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore, who recently instructed Alabama’s state probate judges not to issue same-sex marriage licenses according to a federal court’s ruling, joined CAAP and other conservative leaders to defend the Texas constitutional ban against same-sex marriage. Moore and CAAP have also called for U.S. Supreme Court Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Elena Kagan to recluse themselves from the same-sex marriage case that is currently before the high court, since both justices have officiated at same-sex weddings and, according to Owens, have demonstrated ‘lack of impartiality.’”

“34K Black and Latino Churches Cut Ties,” Breitbart.com, Mar. 29, 2015

A large percentage of Contemporary Christian Music artists worship a rock & roll party Christ. The Eternal Jam Machine, which collaborated with Crystal Nicole in the newly released “I’m All Yours,” is built on the concept that heaven will be an everlasting rock party. Their first song, “Dancing in Heaven,” was advertised as follows: “God hereby invites you to the biggest welcome home party the world has ever known, with DJ Jesus in heaven. ... Eyes have not seen and ears have not heard a party like this before.” The party-dude Jesus is not the Jesus we see in Scripture. Jesus is indeed a friend of sinners. He came to seek and to save that which was lost, but Jesus is not worldly cool in any sense. Jesus’ disciples are not rock party dudes. There is no evidence that Jesus’ close friends Mary, Martha, and Lazarus were rock party people. When they were with Jesus, it wasn't party time; it was time to be discipled (Luke 10:39). The Jesus we see in Scripture warned all men to repent and “go and sin no more” and spent a lot of time describing the horrors of hell and warning men in the sharpest language not to go there, which would put a halt to any worldly party (Luke 13:5; Mk. 9:43-48)! Rob Williams of the Eternal Jam Machine describes the philosophy as follows: “Just because you are a Christian does not mean that your life has to be boring as though everything cool about you should be held back or denied. The truth is that your life should be the complete opposite of boring. God has a desire for his children to know that they are made in HIS image which means you ARE cool. God created cool and He gave each of us gifts to use and not to keep hidden for ourselves. God’s ‘cool’ is limitless and as His children we can inherit the character of God. He wants us to have fun and celebrate life in relationship with HIM, our Creator” (“Vision behind Eternal Jam Machine,” eternaljammachine.com). We don’t see this in the New Testament, not in the life of Christ in the Gospels, nor in the book of Acts, nor in the Epistles. While the Christian life is anything but boring, it doesn't have any element of “cool,” which is a concept derived from the world’s pop culture. Jesus never hosted a dance party for the disciples. The disciples didn't celebrate Christ’s resurrection with a dance party. They didn't have a dance party in the upper room while waiting for the coming of the Spirit. They didn't celebrate Pentecost with a dance party. What we see in Scripture is the call to walk as pilgrims in a fallen world filled with spiritual and moral danger, to separate from the evil things of the world (1 John 2:15-17), to avoid being a friend of the world which is called spiritual adultery (Jam. 4:4), to avoid even the appearance of evil (1 Th. 5:22), to have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness (Ephesians 5:11), to live a life of self-denial (Mat. 16:24), etc. At the heart of the battle about music in the churches is the very character of God.

(Friday Church News Notes, April 3, 2015, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143)

Researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Switzerland have found that the bacteria that cause cholera spear neighboring cells with a kind of poison-tipped spike (“Cholera bacteria spear their prey,” Live Science, Jan. 1, 2015). After spearing their prey, Vibrio cholerae release proteins that dissolve the cellular membrane, thus bursting the cell and releasing the DNA which the bacterium absorbs. The warfare that is going on throughout the creation is the result of man’s sin against God. The good creation was plunged into confusion. “... the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now” (Romans 8:22). Redemption and restoration is the subject of the book that is in the hand of the One sitting on the throne in Revelation 4-5. “And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals” (Rev. 5:1). In these chapters of Revelation, we see the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, having won the right to sit on David’s throne, victoriously taking the book containing God’s program for the establishment of God’s kingdom on earth, preparing to open it and bring the events to pass. The book sealed with the seven seals contains the events we find recorded in Revelation 6-20. It contains God’s program for judging the world and overthrowing the devil and putting Christ on the throne of the world forever. It is the fulfillment of all Messianic prophecies.

(Friday Church News Notes, March 27, 2015, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143)

Isaiah 64:8
"But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand."

Have you seen those animated films featuring characters made out of clay? Well, scientists at Cornell University have now published a study in which they claim that clay could have helped real life arise spontaneously from non-life millions of years ago. Scientists refer to this as abiogenesis. But Creation Moments says it's just as likely that one of those animated clay characters could suddenly come to life.

The Cornell researchers claimed that clay was a key ingredient when life spontaneously emerged from non-life in earth's early years. In other words, forget what Louis Pasteur accomplished in his experiments that proved life doesn't arise spontaneously from non-life. According to Cornell professor Dan Luo, "We propose that in early geological history, clay hydrogel provided a confinement function for biomolecules and biochemical reactions."

Not all scientists, however, agree with such speculations. For instance, Dr. Kevin Anderson, a research microbiologist with a Ph.D. in microbiology, said that despite the Cornell report, "there is not a shred of evidence that life can form spontaneously under any conditions."

Evolutionary biologists frequently attempt to break scientific laws – in this case, the law of biogenesis that states that life only comes from life. Let us remind evolutionists that biogenesis is not just a good idea, it's the law!

Notes: "Evolutionists Claim Clay Caused Life to Spontaneously Emerge From Non-Life," Christian News, 11/11/13.
Photo: Used for educational purposes under the Fair Use provisions.
Creation Moments, Inc., P.O. Box 839, Foley, MN 56329 www.creationmoments.com

“The Presbyterian Church has formally recognized gay marriage and will allow same-sex weddings. The Church approved a new definition of marriage, which includes ‘commitment between two people.’ The definition was approved last year by the General Assembly, but needed approval from a majority of the 171 regional districts. The 86th vote was cast Tuesday night. The new definition reads: ‘Marriage involves a unique commitment between two people, traditionally a man and a woman, to love and support each other for the rest of their lives.’”

“Presbyterian Church Formally Approves,” Christian Headlines, Mar. 18, 2015

2 Corinthians 4:6
"For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ."

If you think that light-emitting diode bulbs are bright, wait until you see what scientists are developing – an LED that's much brighter than the bulbs we're already using. And we can thank one of God's most delightful creatures – the firefly – for lighting the path to these brighter bulbs!

An international team of researchers at the University of Namur in Belgium recently examined Photuris fireflies under a scanning electron microscope to see if they could identify the structures that produce the light. After identifying seven structures as candidates for increasing the brightness, computer simulations helped them determine it was the "misfit scales on the light-emitting organ's surface that boosted its brightness."

The multiple abrupt edges – much like the shingles on a roof – were seen to scatter light rays to increase the amount of light that escapes the firefly's glowing lantern. When a second team of scientists put this to the test by etching a similar shingle-like pattern on existing LED bulbs, they found it boosted the bulb's light output by 55 percent.

We don't know when these bulbs will be available to consumers. Perhaps they'll be on store shelves by the time you hear this. But we do know that these brighter LEDs didn't come about by accident. They were designed by scientists and engineers who knew where to look for answers. After all, engineers know a good design when they see it!          

Notes: "Fireflies Inspire Brighter Lights," M. Hoff, Discover, 6/2/14.
Photo: Courtesy of Optics Express. Used for educational purposes under the Fair Use provisions.
Creation Moments, Inc., P.O. Box 839, Foley, MN 56329 www.creationmoments.com

Two major “evangelical” churches in California have changed their views of homosexuality. Last year, Ken Wilson of the Vineyard Church in Ann Arbor said that Jesus gave him “a strong nudge” to write a letter to his congregation entitled “An Evangelical Pastor’s Path to Embracing People who are Gay, Lesbian, and Transgender into the Company of Jesus.” He claims that he no longer believes that the Bible forbids “sexual relations between those of the same gender” (“Minister Claims,” Christian News Network, Apr. 20, 2014). The Jesus that Wilson is dealing with is obviously not the Jesus of the Bible, who taught that marriage is for one man and one woman (Mat. 19:4-6). This month, Fred Harrell of City Church in San Francisco, which is associated with the Reformed Church in America, announced, “We will no longer discriminate based on sexual orientation and demand lifelong celibacy as a precondition for joining” (“Megachurch Leader Drops Celibacy Requirement for ‘Gay Members’--as Long as Sex Is in ‘Marriage,’” Christian News Network, Mar. 28, 2015).

(Friday Church News Notes, March 27, 2015, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143)

Galatians 5:13
"For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another."

Humans aren't the only ones who use sign language, a recent study has found. Two types of fish are now known to use gestures to help them capture prey. Both the grouper and coral trout hunt cooperatively with other kinds of aquatic sea life. And they pull this off with sign language.

Though grouper are very fast in the open water, they are much too big to pursue prey that swim into small areas. But that's not a problem for the giant moray eel. Their slim bodies make it easy to crawl into small holes. So when the grouper's prey flees to an area it can't reach, the grouper points to it by rotating its body so that its head faces downward and then shakes its head back and forth in the direction of the potential meal.

Similarly, coral trout make gestures like the grouper's headstand signal to show their octopus hunting buddies the location of the prey. For the octopus, fitting into tight spaces is no problem.

We humans are often unable to accomplish a task by ourselves. If we are wise, we will ask others for help. And when others turn to us for help, we should do the same. God didn't make us all alike. We need one another within the body of Christ. Use the gifts God has given you to be of service to others. And remain in fellowship with fellow believers so you can build up one another in Christ.

Notes: "Fish Use 'Sign Language' to Help Hunting Buddies," Discovery News, 4/9/13.
Photo: Courtesy of Richard Ling. 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