“The Spanish Supreme Court has ruled that a political refugee should be deported because his criticism of Islam poses ‘a danger to the security of Spain.’ The May 30 ruling, which upholds an earlier decision by a lower court to revoke the refugee status of a Pakistani ex-Muslim named Imran Firasat, showcases how the fear of Muslim rage continues to threaten the exercise of free speech in Europe. Firasat obtained political asylum in Spain in October 2006 because of death threats against him in both Pakistan and Indonesia for leaving the Islamic faith and marrying a non-Muslim. Spanish authorities, however, took measures to deport Firasat in December 2012, after he released a one-hour amateur film entitled, ‘The Innocent Prophet: The Life of Mohammed from a Different Point of View.’ The movie, which was posted on YouTube, purports to raise awareness of the dangers of Islam to Western Civilization. The film shows images of the Muslim terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York, on double-decker buses in London and on commuter trains in Madrid. The movie, which features many passages from the Koran that threaten violence against non-Muslims, promises to answer the question: ‘Was Mohammed an inspired prophet of God, or was he a madman driven by his own demons, thus producing a religion of violence and tyranny?’”

(“Spain to Deport Pakistini,” Gatestone Institute, June 6, 2014)

Job 28:16
"It [wisdom] cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir, with the precious onyx, or the sapphire."

Because half of the radioactive carbon-14 in anything decays to nonradioactive material in 5,730 years, things that are supposedly millions of years old cannot possibly have any. At least that's what evolutionary scientists always thought.

On the other hand, scientists who believe in a young creation realized that nothing that has carbon in it should be too old to date. So they decided to see what results they would get dating coal and oil, which are supposed to be tens to hundreds of millions of years old.

Ten coal samples that were supposedly 34 to 311 million years old were tested. All 10 samples contained traces of carbon-14. Then they tested diamonds, which are supposed to be at least a billion years old. Again, they found carbon-14 in every sample tested. Keep in mind that they found carbon-14 in every coal, oil and diamond sample they tested. Evolutionary theory says that not one of these samples could possibly have carbon-14! Clearly, evolutionary claims about the ancient ages of these substances have scientifically and conclusively been proven wrong.

Scripture says that wisdom is more precious than even the most precious gems. Scripture also tells us that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. True fear of the Lord is engendered by His love to us in Christ Jesus.

Notes: Answers, 7-9/06, pp. 22-24, Don DeYoung, "Raising the Bar on Creation Research."
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“In the wake of the so-called Trojan Horse inquiry into Islamic extremism in schools in Birmingham, Sharia expert, Sam Solomon, co-founder of Christian Concern, says that the Ofsted [the UK Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills] investigation rings a ‘warning bell’ about the strategic aim that drives Islam--the imposition of sharia throughout British society. Sam Solomon lectures on Islamic affairs to international audiences and is an adviser to governments including American, British and European politicians. He converted to Christianity after reading the New Testament. In a detailed analysis of the lessons to be learned from the alleged ‘plot’ to apply sharia in Birmingham schools, Sam warns that Britain must safeguard its value system against an on-going plan by Islamists to subjugate the British way of life to sharia. He writes that ‘we cannot allow a dual-system to prevail--legal, political, economic--which discriminates and subjugates one to another’ and urges UK authorities to gain a better understanding of the real intentions that lie behind ‘the socio-political ideology that is Islam.’”

(“Sharia Expert Warns of Threat,” ChristianConcern.com, June 13, 2014)

Psalm 69:34
"Let the heaven and earth praise Him, the seas, and everything that moveth therein."

Engineers who design vehicles to move through fluids face a quandary. A torpedo-shaped vehicle can move quickly and efficiently through a fluid like water, but it is difficult to maneuver precisely or get to hover. A boxier vehicle can be designed to hover and move with more precision but lacks speed and efficiency.

Engineers at the University of Colorado at Boulder have now solved that problem. For their solution they went to the design found in jellyfish and squid. These creatures move through the water very efficiently by expelling water in a vortex ring. So the engineers experimented with various designs until they had small but efficient vortex ring generators. Then they tested them on small vehicles. One of their designs was used to successfully parallel park an unmanned underwater vehicle. This design is expected to be used in much more than underwater vehicles. Engineers also envision tiny capsules equipped with tiny vortex jets cruising through the digestive tract to find or treat diseases.

As ingenious as this design is, this design really gives glory to its original Designer – God. This glory is not just in God's original design of jellyfish and squid but His design of the human brain, which can understand and copy His designs.

Notes: http://www.colorado.edu/news/cgi-bin/print.cgi?year=2006&id=428.
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An Australian judge has said that incest may no longer be taboo. Judge Garry Neilson of New South Wales said that as homosexuality was once regarded as unnatural but is now widely accepted, so incest should also now be accepted (“Australian Judge Says,” The Telegraph, London, July 10, 2014). He said that though incest could lead to abnormalities in the offspring, this “was increasingly irrelevant because of the availability of contraception and abortion.” There is no surprise here. If homosexuality is accepted as natural and acceptable, there can be no clear lines drawn against any sort of sexual activity. The acceptance of homosexuality ultimately destroys the very concept of sexual morality and marriage.

(Friday Church News Notes, July 25, 2014, www.wayoflife.org, [email protected], 866-295-4143)

Exodus 4:15b
"... and I will be with thy mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what ye shall do."

Behavioral researchers define teaching very specifically. First, of course, a teacher must have pupils. Then the teacher must be less efficient in doing whatever he is doing than he normally would be if he were alone, as a means of showing the pupils how to do the task. And finally, the pupils must learn the task more quickly than they would on their own.

By that definition, humans, of course, are teachers. Among animals, only a species of ant meets this definition of teaching. But now researchers from the University of Cambridge in England say that meerkats also qualify as teachers. They found that experienced hunters will take young, inexperienced pups with them when they hunt. They will let the youngsters watch them as they catch prey. Of course, when they catch some small prey, the youngsters will vocally beg for a handout. However, only 35 percent of those handouts are served to the youngsters dead. The rest of the time they have to learn how to subdue the caught prey themselves. On the other hand, older, more experienced pups received already-killed handouts only 10 percent of the time. Further tests involving live and dead prey show that those given live prey could learn to subdue it in only three days.

Despite the researchers' presupposition that teaching evolved, God is still the One that teaches the teachers.

Notes: Science News, 7/15/06, p. 36, S. Milius, "Live Prey for Dummies."
Photo: Courtesy of Ashleigh Thompson. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.
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“The Islamic State group has threatened Christians in the Iraqi city of Mosul with death if they do not convert to Islam or pay a tax, Al Jazeera has learned. The Sunni rebel group issued the orders in a letter after Friday prayers. The document obtained by Al Jazeera, states that the order was issued after Christian leaders failed to attend a meeting called by the group. In response, the group says in the letter that Christians must either; convert to Islam, pay a tax on non-Muslims known as jiziya, or give up their possessions and leave the city. Failure to do so would result in a death penalty, ‘as a last resort.’ Mosul, Iraq's second largest city was overrun by the Islamic State group and allied rebel groups last month. ... Before the attack, Mosul's Christian community was estimated at 3,000. Many are believed to have already fled the city as part of an exodus of up to one-third of the population. Those who fled reported that churches and Christian-owned shops in the city were smashed. ... The Islamic State, formerly known as ISIL, has issued similar demands in areas it control in Syria, and has posted pictures of Christians being crucified for disobeying orders in Raqqa.”

(“Christians Get Islamic State’s Warning,” Al Jazeera, Jul. 19, 2014)

Genesis 12:1
"Now the Lord had said unto Abraham, 'Get thee out of thy country ... unto a land that I will shew thee."

It was a moonless night over England. A specially designed radar picks up something that has never been seen before.

The radar is picking up silver Y moths as they migrate south for the winter. What has never been seen before is evidence that the moths actually navigate very precisely. It doesn't seem to matter whether the stars or moon are out or whether it is a cloudy, moonless night. This, scientists say, is the first evidence of a compass in night-migrating insects.

The special radar, which can track individual moths at altitudes of 500 to 4,000 feet, revealed how precise their navigating skills are. The moths only fly on nights when they can proceed south-southwest. If the wind is blowing in that direction, the moths need to make no course corrections. If the wind is blowing within 20 degrees of south-southwest the moths will very precisely modify their flight direction so that their overall progress is south-southwest. If the wind is more than 20 degrees off the desired direction, the moths don't fly.

Scientists believe that the moths winter somewhere in North Africa. Nocturnal moths that must migrate great distances under only select conditions require very special abilities. But just as God could lead Abram to a land he did not know, He can lead moths thousands of miles through the darkness.

Notes: Science News, 4/5/08, p. 212, Susan Milius, "Night Flights."
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“President Barack Obama plans to sign on Monday an executive order that protects lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender workers from discrimination by federal contractors, the White House said. There is no new exemption for religious organizations. The order bars federal contractors from discriminating against their employees based on sexual orientation or gender identity, and protects federal employees from discrimination based on their gender identity. The move comes after the failure of the White House to have the Employment Non-Discrimination Act passed in Congress, and amid increasing calls by LGBT groups for a measure bypassing legislative approval. The White House says the order will affect 24,000 companies and 8 million employees.”

(“Obama to Sign Executive Order,” Christian Post, July 19, 2014)

In a recent interview, Rowan Williams, former Archbishop of Canterbury, said that he practices a combination of Buddhist/Catholic/Orthodox meditation practices. Each morning he repeats the same prayer while performing breathing exercises. Called the “Jesus Prayer,” it consists of the vain repetition of the words, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy upon me, a sinner.” He said that “exposure to and engagement with the Buddhist world in particular has made me aware of practices not unlike the ‘Jesus Prayer’ and introduced me to disciplines that further enforce the stillness and physical focus that the prayer entails” (“Rowan Williams: How Buddhism Helps Me Pray,” The Telegraph, London, July 2, 2014). He says the practice helps him detach himself from “distracted, wandering images and thoughts.” Practicing mental imagining techniques, he pictures the human body as a cave through which his breath passes. He says that practitioners of these techniques can achieve “advanced states” and become aware of an “unbroken inner light.” Unscriptural contemplative practices such as the Jesus Prayer, visualizing prayer, breath prayer, and centering prayer are exceedingly dangerous. Many who practice these things end up believing in a pagan concept of God such as pantheism (God is everything) and panentheism (God is in everything). Through these practices people typically become increasingly ecumenical and interfaith in thinking. Contemplative prayer is a major building block of the end-time, one-world “church.” For more on this see the book Contemplative Mysticism which is available in print and eBook editions from Way of Life Literature.

(Friday Church News Notes, July 25, 2014, www.wayoflife.org, [email protected], 866-295-4143)

“‘But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God...’ 1 Corinthians 2:14. This explains why the Bible remains to a great degree a closed book to the most educated but unconverted man, while it is an open book to the most ignorant believers. This explains why a man may be educated and trained and hold all the theological degrees that all of the theological seminaries in the world can bestow upon him, and yet be utterly blind to the great spiritual revelations of the Word of God, while a poor, uneducated believer will see truths and revelations of infinite depth and glory in this Book of books”


(M.R. DeHaan, M.D., The Tabernacle, 1955).

Judges 9:53
"And a certain woman cast a piece of a millstone upon Abimelech's head, and all to brake his skull."

In the book of Judges we read of how "a certain woman" gave the Philistine leader Abimelech a skull fracture when she threw a millstone on him from a tower. Some biblical scholars concluded that no woman could lift a millstone to throw it. Besides, what would a millstone be doing at the top of a tower?

However, archaeologists easily answered these questions. First, the large round stones, often powered by a donkey, weren't invented until a thousand years later. The type of millstone in use at the time of this incident was a round, loaf-shaped stone that weighed between four and seven pounds. Archaeologists have found many of them in the Holy Land. It was used to grind flour in a stone base at a time when every household ground their own flour every day. This job was often done on a roof, in the cool breeze, under an awning.

To test the story, archaeologists in Israel assembled the type of stones that would have been used and a watermelon. They used a magic marker to give the melon a face and named it Abimelech. Then, with the help of several women volunteers, they tossed their stones from an ancient two-story tower. Abimelech did not survive.

Whether the Bible is talking about salvation or history, we know we can trust it as God's Word.

Notes: Biblical Archaeology Review, 1-2/02, pp. 34-37, 62, Denise Dick Herr and Mary Petrina Boyd, "A Watermelon Named Abimelech."
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“Britain’s Daily Express, in an investigation into the so-called ‘Trojan Horse’ plot in some Birmingham schools, claimed that Muslim-only trips to Saudi Arabia paid for with public funds and broadcasts of the call to prayer were revealed in reports into Islamist infiltration of schools. The paper also stated that a visiting preacher allegedly said: ‘Give victory to all the Mujahideen all over the world. Oh Allah, prepare us for the jihad.’ It also claimed that Inspectors found that girls and boys had been segregated and heard that Christmas trees and celebrations were stopped while Muslim festivals went ahead. ‘The shocking examples were cited by Ofsted and Education Funding Agency inspectors following investigations into Birmingham’s “Trojan Horse” schools,’ added the story. Chief inspector of schools for England Sir Michael Wilshaw said ‘a culture of fear and intimidation has taken grip,’ and head teachers had been ‘marginalized or forced out of their jobs’ in an ‘organized campaign to target certain schools.’ Britain’s Daily Mirror has just released another disturbing story, this one about young British Muslims now fighting with ISIS in Syria. According to its story, ‘A shocking video nasty appeared online today showing armed British fanatics preaching terror and trying to promote jihad to Muslim worshippers back in the UK. The men urged would-be fighters to quit western lifestyles and join ISIS--the fastest-growing militant group in the world.’  ... One brags about the ‘honor and happiness’ of joining jihad, adding: ‘Soon we will go Iraq, Jordan, and Lebanon. We recognize no borders.’”

(A report by ChristianConcern.com republished from Assist News Service, June 20, 2014)

Genesis 11:8
"So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city."

Mitochondria generate energy inside each of your cells. They have their own DNA, which is passed directly from mother to child. This fact and the known rate at which mitochondrial DNA mutates has led to some conclusions which would be expected by those who accept the biblical history of mankind.

Both creationists and evolutionists who study mitochondrial DNA are agreed on several conclusions. They agree that at some time in the past there was a single dispersal of humankind. They also agree that there are three mitochondrial DNA lines represented in all of mankind. (Evolutionists, however, would not connect these three lines to Noah's three sons' wives.)

Both are also agreed that the dispersal of the human population happened fairly recently in the Middle East. The pattern indicates that this dispersal from a common place led to small, related groups or clans moving into new territory. Creationist researchers, seeing a parallel between the agreed-upon scientific conclusions and biblical history, have explored the evidence further.

Human mitochondrial DNA mutates at a known rate. Based on this known rate, the human genome is very young – much younger than evolutionary theory says it should be. It is only thousands of years old.

Notes: Acts/Facts, 5/08, p. 6, Larry Vardiman, "Mitochondrial DNA and a Recent Human Origin."
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“Citing rampant Islamic anti-semitism and poor economic prospects, more than 5,000 French Jews are set to depart their homeland for the hopes of a better future in Israel. France, trailing Israel and the United States, has the world’s third-largest population of Jewish people, with an estimated 500,000 of its citizens espousing the Jewish faith. Newly minted Israeli citizen Laurie Levy told The Washington Post she could not be happier with her newfound home in Israel after leaving France in 2013. She said that for the first time, she feels safe wearing her Star of David around her neck. ‘Life is beautiful here. You work. You go to the beach. You see your friends. You’re not afraid. The irony is that I am more concerned about them than they are about me,’ she said. French Jews often cite concerns with the rise of Islamist ideologies along with anti-semitic sentiments spewed by individuals who support nationalist institutions such as the National Front party. ‘They are finding themselves between the extreme right of Europe and the radical Islam of Europe,’ said Ariel Kandel, who runs the Jewish Agency for Israel. Tiffany Nizard told The New York Times that the last straw for her was when four people were killed in an anti-Semitic attack at the Jewish museum in Brussels. She said that she was beaten and harassed by Muslim gangs, called a ‘dirty Jew,’ and was also discriminated against in the job market. ‘I love France, and this is my country, but I am disgusted now. In Israel there is an army that will protect us. Here, I can no longer see a future for my children,’ she said. Countless horrific anti-Semitic acts have occurred in France over the past few years.”

(“Jews Leaving France in Droves,” Breitbart.com, June 21, 2014)

Psalm 9:1
"I will praise Thee, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will shew forth all Thy marvelous works."

Brine shrimp and water bears are tiny animals that are able to basically freeze dry into a state of suspended animation and then return to active life. Scientists have learned that they do this by replacing the water in their cells with a sugar called trehalose.

The larvae of a fly native to Africa makes its living eating organic material that settles at the bottom of puddles. During periods of drought, the larvae replace the water in their cells with trehalose. The sugar acts just like other sugars, solidifying into a glasslike state. In this state, the sugar acts to stabilize the larvae's tissues. The larvae can remain in this state for up to 17 years and still come back to life when water is again available.

Scientists would like to learn more about this ability. Their hope is to apply such knowledge to preserving blood for transfusion in a dry form. They may also learn how to preserve organs for transplant. As part of their research, they have sent dry larvae to the International Space Station. They want to see if the larvae can be revived after they have been exposed to space outside the space station.

Not only are the wonders that God has created marvelous, but we can learn from them for our own betterment.

Notes: Science News, 3/29/08, p. 197, Davide Castelvecchi, "Live Another Day."
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“Poll Shows Nazarene Scholars Embracing Evolution,” Around the World with Ken Ham, June 24, 2014: “In results published last month on the BioLogos website, it was revealed that the majority of Nazarene college and university professors believe in an old earth and human evolution. The poll, which was shaped by Nazarene researchers and conducted by the Nazarenes Exploring Evolution project, was given to scholars at Nazarene educational institutions. ... The results of the poll given to scholars revealed that the compromise on Genesis in so-called Christian colleges, universities, and seminaries has run rampant. Overwhelmingly, scholars at Nazarene institutions believe that the Bible does not require a belief in a young earth (nearly 95%), that the Bible is compatible with evolutionary ideas (82%), that science has established that the world is billions of years old (nearly 86%), that human evolution is true (67%), and that the Nazarene church should consider theistic evolution as a valid alternative to biblical creation (87%).”

(Friday Church News Notes, July 18, 2014, www.wayoflife.org, [email protected], 866-295-4143)

John 7:35b
"…will He go unto the dispersed among the Gentiles, and teach the Gentiles?"

What languages did Jesus speak during His ministry on Earth? Of course He spoke Aramaic, since that was the common language of the people He taught. When He read from Isaiah in the synagogue in Nazareth, He would have read it in Hebrew. But did Jesus also speak Greek?

Greek was in common use in Israel in the first century. Greek inscriptions are frequently found in Jewish graves from the period. This is evidence that many Jews knew the Greek language. Some scholars point to some of the terms in Jesus' recorded sayings that have Greek origins; however, their arguments are not universally accepted.

But Jesus did grow up in Nazareth, which is in "Galilee of the Gentiles," where Greek as well as Aramaic would have been spoken. Nazareth was only an hour's walk from Sepphoris, where one would have to speak Greek to do business. As scholars point out, Jesus was educated and as a carpenter, He was a skilled artisan. He would have to speak Greek to deal with customers. At one point His disciples wondered whether He would go to teach the Gentiles, a task that would require Greek.

Language is a gift of God. It is through this gift that God gives us the greater gift of His saving Gospel which assures us of the forgiveness of sins through Jesus Christ.

Notes: Biblical Archaeology Review, 9-10/92, pp. 58-63, Joseph A. Fitzmyer, "Did Jesus Speak Greek?"
Photo: "Mona Lisa of the Galilee", ancient mosaic in Sepphoris. Courtesy of Tomisti. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
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Alcoholic beverages are a great evil and curse in modern society. Consider the automobile wrecks, the ruined health and early graves, the adulteries, the lewdness, the divorces, the neglected children, the sexual abuse, the abused wives, the waste of money, the gambling, the blasphemy. Look at the beer and liquor ads, how they invariably flaunt sensuality and irresponsibility. In January 2005 the Royal College of Physicians in England warned that Britain is suffering from an epidemic of alcohol-related problems that is fueling violence and illness throughout the country (The Telegraph, Jan. 3, 2005). The same problem is evident throughout the world. According to an April 2010 report, vodka consumption in Russia is an epidemic. The average Russian drinks from 15 to 18 liters of hard liquor annually, which reduces the average life expectancy by a decade. In 2014, the World Health Organization reported that 3.3 million people die each year because of alcohol. That’s more than die of AIDS, tuberculosis, and violence combined. “Including drunk driving, alcohol-induced violence and abuse, and a multitude of diseases and disorders, alcohol causes one in 20 deaths globally every year.” That’s one death every 10 seconds. Another study found that alcohol use is responsible for 1 in 10 deaths among working-age adults. That adds up to 88,000 deaths between 2006 and 2010, and the lives of those who died were shortened by about 30 years (“Drinking behind 1 in 10 deaths of working-age adults,” USA Today, June 26, 2014). God’s Word says, “Abstain from all appearance of evil” (1 Thess. 5:22), and if anything has the appearance of evil today, it is alcoholic beverages.

(Friday Church News Notes, July 18, 2014, www.wayoflife.org, [email protected], 866-295-4143)

Matthew 6:19
"Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal."

The metamorphosis of a caterpillar into a moth or butterfly completely restructures the creature internally and externally. Scientists at Georgetown University in Washington D.C. wondered whether that included the caterpillar's brain as well.

To find out, they placed tobacco hornworm caterpillars inside a hollow tube shaped like a Y. Scientists then put a bad-smelling gas in one of the arms of the Y. When a caterpillar went down that arm of the tube it received a mild shock. Since the caterpillars go through several molts, researchers performed the experiment on caterpillars at various stages of their moltings.

They found that caterpillars that underwent the experience before their fifth and final molt did not remember their experience with the gas after metamorphosis. However, 77 percent of those caterpillars that encountered the gas and experienced a shock after their final molt remembered their dislike of the gas after metamorphosis. Scientists point out that caterpillars, moths and butterflies are not social creatures. This means they have more need for memory because there is no division of labor among them.

Just because the Bible associates moths with decay doesn't mean that God didn't provide them with all they need to live successful lives. To God, no creature is unimportant.

Notes: Science News, 3/22/08, p. 189, Rachel Ehrenberg, "Moths' Memories."
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“Nearly two years after the highly-publicized discovery of the elusive ‘God Particle,’ scientists have determined that the current Big Bang model cannot account for the existence of the universe. ... However, in a major setback to the secular Big Bang theory, scientists with King’s College in London announced this month that Higgs boson physics cannot account for the universe’s existence. ... ‘What [the scientists] found was bad news for, well, everything,’ LiveScience reports. ‘The newborn universe should have experienced an intense jittering in the energy field, known as quantum fluctuation. Those jitters, in turn, could have disrupted the Higgs field, in essence rolling the entire system into a much lower energy state that would make the collapse of the universe inevitable.’ ... Dr. Danny Faulkner, an astronomer with Answers in Genesis, says the Big Bang theory has repeatedly conflicted with observational evidence. ... Likewise, Drs. Jake Hebert and Jason Lisle with the Institute for Creation Research propose that a belief in God--not the Big Bang theory--is ultimately foundational for understanding the universe’s existence. ... ‘The fact that such physics is possible or even meaningful would only make sense in a created universe that is controlled by the mind of God anyway. The study of how God upholds the universe today is the very essence of science.’”

(“Bad News,” Christian News Network, June 24, 2014)

“The mutation of CCM (contemporary Christian music) is widening with such force and velocity that its aggressive intimidation for acceptance has pressed itself within the sacred precincts of Fundamental churches. This has happened to such a degree that my dear father believes the ‘war against CCM has basically been lost in Fundamentalism.’ Unless the preachers (pastors) stand up and clean out the contemporary songs from both choir and congregation, all will be over for the spiritual soundness of our churches. Once the contemporary taste is in the heart, the return to a more excellent way will never be desired. Has the Fundamentalist movement lost the battle against CCM?”




(Preface to the Third Printing of Confronting Contemporary Christian Music by H.T. Spence of Foundations Bible College)

The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has been busy this summer making all of the wrong decisions. It voted yes on “same-sex marriage,” yes on divesting its stock in companies whose products are used by Israel (to protest Israeli policies toward Palestinians), and no on denouncing the practice of killing babies born alive during botched abortion procedures. The following motion was presented to the assembly and rejected: “Direct the Moderator of the General Assembly and the Stated Clerk to issue statements that denounce the practice of killing babies born live following an abortion procedure, such as was revealed in the Dr. Kermit Gosnell clinic in Philadelphia.” The National Review observes, “Peter Singer believes that unwanted infants can be killed in the same manner as they can be aborted. Apparently, so does the Presbyterian Church, USA” (Presbyterians OK with Killing Born Babies,” National Review, June 24, 2014).

(Friday Church News Notes, July 18, 2014, www.wayoflife.org, [email protected], 866-295-4143)

Psalm 118:8
"It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man."

Radioactive carbon, carbon-14, accumulates in all living things when alive. Once they die, half of any given amount of carbon-14 in a once-living thing decays to non-radioactive carbon in 5,730 years. Thus, by measuring the amount of carbon-14 left in a once-living thing, scientists can get a rough idea of when it died. It can be used to date things that are only thousands of years old, not millions.

In Colorado there is a formation caused by volcanic activity in the distant past out of which much gold has been mined. Evolutionists date the last volcanic activity at this formation at 27 million inflated years ago. When the eruption took place, it apparently engulfed a forest. As a result, many pieces of carbonized wood are found sealed in the hard rock. Working from deep within a mine, researchers drilled down even further, looking for an uncontaminated piece of carbonized wood. They hit their target over 3,000 feet from the actual surface. They found several fragments which were decontaminated as a precaution. After four separate carbon datings and corrections were worked out, they turned out to be about 4,300 years old.

Clearly the wood can not be millions of years younger than the lava around it. Evolutionary claims of great age for the creation have scientific problems as well as contradicting the Bible.

Notes: Acts & Facts, 1/08, pp. 10-13, Andrew A. Snelling, "Radiocarbon in 'Ancient' Fossil Wood."
Photo: Creation scientist Andrew Snelling performing geological research. Fair Use: Publicity photo by the Institute for Creation Research.
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Matthew 6:26a
"Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them."

A cat crouching at a mouse hole is already hunting. Until now, no animal has ever been observed actually planning for the future.

Recent studies of western scrub jays have now shown undeniable planning behavior by the jays. To see if the jays engaged in true planning, individual jays were moved into a special cage in the lab. It had a main room with two side rooms. A jay would be moved into one or the other of the side rooms every morning. One side room never offered food for the first two hours the bird was in it, while the other consistently offered food. After each bird learned this pattern, they were allowed into the main room in the evening to eat their fill. All of the eight test subjects also provided the no-breakfast side cage with generous caches of extra food, clearly in anticipation of the morning. In a second test, different food supplies were available in each side cage. When they were allowed to freely cache, they cached supplies of the missing food in each side room, again clearly anticipating the next morning.

God has provided for His creatures' needs by giving them the abilities they need to make their living. That includes giving seemingly advanced abilities to creatures that are supposedly far less evolved than we are.

Notes: Science News, 2/24/07, p. 117, S. Milius, "Bird Plans."
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