2 Thessalonians 2:11
"And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:"

Evolutionists are rejoicing over a fossil jaw found in the Ledi-Geraru research area of Ethiopia. They say it pushes back evidence for early humans to 2.8 million years ago and predates all previously known fossils of mankind's lineage by about 400,000 years. The fossil which has caused such excitement consists only of the left side of a lower jaw and five teeth.

Research team member William Kimbel would have us believe that "the Ledi jaw helps narrow the evolutionary gap between Australopithecus and early Homo. It's an excellent case of a transitional fossil in a critical time period in human evolution."

But biochemist and creation scientist Dr. Donald Clark strongly disagrees. "You would think that they've got definitive proof that this is in the human line. It just amazes me that they can jump to conclusions based on very minimal evidence." Dr. Clark also said, "Everything that [the research team] would say about an ape or a chimp lower jaw bone … this particular specimen has. The jaw is U-shaped like an ape's would be. The teeth are very flat; they are not sharp and pointed like our teeth would be. The reason why they say [the fossil is in the human lineage] is because the flattened teeth are a little bit smaller than what you would find on a normal ape today. That, to me, is not definitive."

How true! If anything, this fossilized jaw only shows how weak the case for ape-to-human evolution really is.

Notes: "Discovery of 2.8-million-year-old jaw sheds light on early humans," ScienceDaily, 3/4/15.
Dr. Donald Clark interview on Broken Road Radio, 3/10/15. Photo: Courtesy of Brian A. Villmoare. (FAIR USE).
Creation Moments, Inc., P.O. Box 839, Foley, MN 56329 www.creationmoments.com

“Another word flung cheaply at those who stand for the integrity of the Bible, not only as a rule of faith, but practice, is the easy epithet: ‘Narrow.’ There are Christians, even in the pulpit, good enough and wanting to be faithful to their calling, who shiver whenever the word is uttered in their neighborhood. ... But as I recall the preaching of the Son of God, I find it was along the line of a NARROW positivism: It was he who said: ‘Narrow is the way that leadeth unto life.’ ... To raise a hue and cry against this as ‘divisive;’ to appeal to compromise for the sake of ‘brotherhood’ and ‘Christian charity’ and to talk about LOVE BEING MORE IMPORTANT IN THE CHURCH THAN CORRECTNESS OF DOCTRINE, IS EMOTIONAL WEAKNESS AND FALLACIOUS FOLLY. ... The word ‘toleration’ must be cut out of the church vocabulary. You cannot find it in the Bible. It is not a nice word. It is not to be found in good company. It is a word much used by middle-of-the-road men. It has in it, no matter how much dissimulated, the crawling, creeping movement of surrender. ... Why should the Church tolerate men who no longer tolerate the Bible as God gave it to us?”

Written in 1929 by I.M. Haldeman, A King’s Penknife, or, Why I am Opposed to Modernism:

Isaiah 34:15a
"There shall the great owl make her nest, and lay, and hatch, and gather under her shadow:"

What makes owls so good at catching prey as they fly through the night sky? Part of the credit obviously goes to their amazing eyes that are able to see with such clarity in low-light conditions. But owls also have another design feature that allows them to sneak up on their prey without being noticed. Owls, you see, were designed to fly in virtual silence.

The authors of the book Discovery of Design point out that owls have an uneven forward fringe on their wings. Unlike the sharp, well-defined edge on most birds, the uneven fringe decreases air turbulence and produces less noise. In addition, the feathers covering the owl's wings, body and legs are velvety soft. This helps to dampen and absorb the sound of rushing air.

Airplane designers are now exploring these features to create quieter military and commercial aircraft. Thanks to the owl, engineers are looking into a retractable brush-like fringe for airplane wings and a velvety coating on the landing gear.

In the book's introduction, the authors point out that inventors and design engineers frequently look to nature for inspiration. But as creationists, they emphasize that the designs found in nature are not the product of evolution. Rather, the designs were embedded in the material universe by supernatural acts of creation. The purpose of these designs was not only for the benefit of living things but also so they could be discovered and put to use for the welfare of mankind.

Notes: D. DeYoung and D. Hobbs, Discovery of Design: Searching Out the Creator's Secrets, pp. 9-10, 66-67 (Master Books, 2012). Creation Moments, Inc., P.O. Box 839, Foley, MN 56329 www.creationmoments.com

“And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration” (Rev. 17:6).

The Roman Catholic Church has murdered millions of believers. In the Netherlands alone, multitudes were tormented and destroyed. “The history of the Low Countries from this time is so full of martyrdoms, that it is like a gradual extermination of the population. ... The fires were now kindled all over the country, and edict following edict, with increasing severity, kept them burning. It was death to read a page of the scriptures; death to discuss any article of the faith; death to have in one’s possession any of the writings of Luther, Zwingle, or OEcolampadius; death to express a doubt respecting the efficacy of the sacraments, or the authority of the pope. In the year 1536, that good and faithful servant of the Lord, William Tyndale, was strangled and burnt at Vilvordi, near Brussels, for translating the New Testament into English, and printing it in 1535. ... About four hundred churches were plundered and defaced in a few days. ... The troops were ordered to be distributed over the distracted country, that the persecuting edicts might be enforced. The Protestants were reduced to great straits; many were put to death, and many fled the country ... In the year 1567 the cruel duke of Alva was sent into the Netherlands with an army of fifteen thousand Spaniards and Italians; and the Inquisition was to put forth all its energies. The wooden churches were pulled down, and, in some places the beams were formed into a great gallows on which to hang the minister and his flock. [These atrocities were] to be witnessed almost daily in the country for nearly forty years. ... In the year 1567 ‘the council of blood,’ as it was called, held its first sitting. ... Blood now flowed in torrents. ... A new edict was issued, affixing a heavy penalty upon all waggoners, carriers, and ship-masters, who should aid in the emigration of ‘heretics.’ They had resolved that none should escape. ... Upon the 19th of February 1568 a sentence of the Holy Office condemned all the inhabitants of the Netherlands to death as heretics. ... A proclamation of the king, dated ten days later, confirmed this decree of the inquisition, and ordered it to be carried into instant execution, without regard to age, sex, condition. This is probably the most concise death-warrant that was ever framed. Three millions of people--men, women, and children, were sentenced to the scaffold in three lines. Under this universal condemnation the reader will see the real spirit of popery, and what all had to expect who did not yield an absolute, though blind submission, to all her idolatries, and superstitions (Miller’s Church History, pp. 1002-1008).

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

Genesis 27:21
"And Isaac said unto Jacob, Come near, I pray thee, that I may feel thee, my son, whether thou be my very son Esau or not."

Criminals who have been linked to a crime through their fingerprints may not be happy that they were born with a unique pattern of "wrinkles" on their fingertips. But we can all be glad that God gave us fingerprints because they greatly improve our sense of touch.

Scientists in France performed a series of experiments with artificial fingertips made of rubber-like sensors. They then compared the sensitivity between these grooved artificial fingertips and a smooth skin-like material to see if the grooved fingertips made a difference in the sense of touch. What they discovered surprised them. The grooved fingertips produced vibrations up to 100 times stronger than the smooth material when sliding against a slightly rough surface.

The researchers concluded that these increased vibrations provide us with a greater ability to detect textures. When rubbing your fingers across a textured surface, your fingerprints amplify vibrations that stimulate the nerve endings in your skin. This then allows us to identify objects by touch.

Knowing that we need our sense of touch to work from every direction, our Creator designed our fingerprints to appear in elliptical swirls. This loop design ensures that some ridges are always brushing perpendicular to a surface, no matter the orientation of our fingertips.

Such research may help scientists design prosthetic hands with enhanced tactile feedback. Once again, when science copies designs found in living things, it is copying the designs put in living things by their Creator, whether they recognize that fact or not!

Notes: L. Zyga, "Why Do We Have Fingerprints?", PhysOrg, 4/4/09. "The Role of Fingerprints in the Coding of Tactile Information Probed with a Biomimetic Sensor." J. Scheibert, S. Leurent, A. Prevost, and G. Debregeas (13 March 2009) Science 323 (5920), 1503. DOI: 10.1126/science.1166467. Creation Moments, Inc., P.O. Box 839, Foley, MN 56329 www.creationmoments.com

Following is an excerpt from Charles Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening devotionals. Spurgeon’s zeal against “popery” is not found anywhere among prominent contemporary Christian musicians. “Since he was cursed who rebuilt Jericho, much more the man who labours to restore Popery among us. In our fathers’ days the gigantic walls of Popery fell by the power of their faith, the perseverance of their efforts, and the blast of their gospel trumpets; and now there are some who would rebuild that accursed system upon its old foundation. O Lord, be pleased to thwart their unrighteous endeavours, and pull down every stone which they build. It should be a serious business with us to be thoroughly purged of every error which may have a tendency to foster the spirit of Popery, and when we have made a clean sweep at home we should seek in every way to oppose its all too rapid spread abroad in the church and in the world. This last can be done in secret by fervent prayer, and in public by decided testimony. We must warn with judicious boldness those who are inclined towards the errors of Rome; we must instruct the young in gospel truth, and tell them of the black doings of Popery in the olden times. We must aid in spreading the light more thoroughly through the land, for priests, like owls, hate daylight. Are we doing all we can for Jesus and the gospel? If not, our negligence plays into the hands of the priestcraft. What are we doing to spread the Bible, which is the Pope's bane and poison? Are we casting abroad good, sound gospel writings? Luther once said, ‘The devil hates goose quills’ and, doubtless, he has good reason, for ready writers, by the Holy Spirit’s blessing, have done his kingdom much damage. If the thousands who will read this short word this night will do all they can to hinder the rebuilding of this accursed Jericho, the Lord’s glory shall speed among the sons of men. Reader, what can you do? What will you do?”

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

Matthew 24:35
"Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away."

How often have you seen people say that the Bible must be wrong because science disagrees with it? That attitude certainly isn't new. It was common in 1932 when Dr. Harry Rimmer wrote his classic book, The Harmony of Science and Scripture. Even back then, Bible skeptics were using science to test Scripture. But as Dr. Rimmer pointed out, when science has matured to the point of infallibility, then and only then could it be used to test Scripture.

To emphasize that point, he mentioned a list of fifty-one scientific facts published by the French Academy of Sciences in 1861, all of which contradicted some statement from Scripture. When Rimmer sat down to write his book some 70 years later, he noted that the Bible hadn't changed in all that time, but "the knowledge of science has so vastly increased that there is not a living man of science today who holds one of those fifty-one so-called facts that were at one time advanced in refutation of the inspiration of the Scripture."

The modern craze to test Scripture by science reverses the natural order, he said. "After twenty-five years of research on this subject, we are willing to admit that where science and the Bible are in utter harmony, that agreement establishes the certainty of that science."

To Dr. Rimmer, using science to test Scripture was like a seven-year-old boy telling a seventy-year-old man how to grow up. How right he was! You just don't use science to test Scripture!

Notes: Harry Rimmer, The Harmony of Science and Scripture, pp. 58-59 (Eerdmans Publishing, 22nd printing, 1973).
Creation Moments, Inc., P.O. Box 839, Foley, MN 56329 www.creationmoments.com

That Contemporary Christian Music is a jungle of end-time apostasy is documented irrefutably in the 550-page DIRECTORY OF CONTEMPORARY WORSHIP MUSICIANS, which we have made available as a free eBook at the Way of Life web site. When you look at the fact that CCM has an illicit relationship with the world, which the apostle John plainly stated is “not of God” (1 John 5:15-17), that CCM represents the charismatic movement in all of its dangerous heretical weirdness (e.g., gibberish speaking, spirit slaying, holy laughter, holy drunkenness, Word Faith name-it-and-claim-it, latter rain miracle revival, fourth dimension prayer, end-time prophets and apostles), that CCM is thoroughly ecumenical and closely affiliated with Rome, that most CCMers love Dietrich Bonhoeffer and C.S. Lewis and a galaxy of other rank heretics, that CCM is permeated with Roman Catholic contemplative prayer mysticism, that most CCMers love wretchedly corrupt “Bibles” such as The Message, and that large numbers of CCMers love The Shack and its idolatrous god -- it is obvious that we are dealing with “another spirit” rather than the Spirit of God who is the Spirit of Truth and Righteousness. It is easy to see that CCM has no place whatsoever in a Bible-believing church and home. God has commanded that His people “touch not the unclean thing” (2 Corinthians 6:17). The contemporary praise movement represents end-time Babylon, and God says, “Come out!” (Revelation 18:4). You say that you don’t believe that the contemporary praise music is end-time Babylon? If you are born again and love the truth and live by the absolute standard of God’s Word, I challenge you to download the Directory of Contemporary Worship Musicians and read through it carefully, asking God to show you the truth. Check the facts for yourself. All we ask of our readers is to “prove all things; hold fast that which is good.” But if you are one of those many preachers who admit to being ill-informed about contemporary music and yet aren’t interested in getting educated, there is no hope that you and your church will be protected from the onslaught of compromise and end-time apostasy.

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

On July 3-4, 2015, Darlene Zschech of Hillsong music joined hands with the pope at the Convocation of the Renewal of the Holy Spirit at the Vatican. On her Facebook page, Zschech said: “Honoured to be singing this week, with Andrea Bocelli, Don Moen, Noa [Israeli singer], with Pope Francis and thousands of worshippers gathering in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican. This is a celebration of unity and peace in the Renewal of the Holy Spirit. Amazing days for the Body of Christ.” The Catholic mass was celebrated at the event led by Cardinal Angelo Comastri. According to blasphemous Catholic dogma, the priest has the power to turn the bread into the actual body and blood of Jesus, and it is then worshiped in the form of the consecrated host. We wonder if Darlene addressed some of her enthusiastic worship to Rome’s Host-Jesus? Pope Francis praised the charismatic movement’s zeal for unity, and said that Christian unity is “rooted in a common baptism” (“Pope Greets Members of the Renewal,” July 4, 2015, FullyCatholic.com). According to Roman Catholic dogma, baptism is the new birth and the entrance into the Christian life which is then nurtured by the sacraments. It is a cursed “grace plus works” gospel (Galatians 1:8-9) which the Catholic Church in recent times has cleverly rebranded as “grace only.” Since she was already in Rome, we wonder if Darlene took some time to visit the Santa Maria Maggoire (Saint Mary Major) basilica to pray to the Queen of Heaven and to meditate on the statue of Mary hanging on the cross with Jesus just outside the church? Nothing is more effective at building the one-world “church” than the charismatic movement and its contemporary worship music.

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

Proverbs 20:12
"The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, the LORD hath made even both of them."

Did you know that the intermittent windshield wiper on your car was discovered in the blink of an eye? According to the book Inspired Evidence: Only One Reality, here's the story of how it came about.    

Drivers today take the intermittent windshield wiper for granted. After all, every car has them. But before 1969, drivers weren't so lucky. Their wipers had just two speeds – fast and slow. And most of the time, neither speed was exactly what the driver wanted.

Back in the early 1960s, Robert Kearns, an engineering professor at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan, was having trouble seeing as he was driving his car on a misty night. He had nearly been blinded on his wedding night a decade earlier when the cork from a bottle of champagne shot into his left eye. With his limited vision and the mist on his windshield, he started thinking about the human eye which has its own kind of wiper, the eyelid, that automatically closes and opens every few seconds.

In 1963, Kearns built his first intermittent wiper system using off-the-shelf electronic components. In his design, the interval between wipes was determined by the rate of current flow into a capacitor. When the charge in the capacitor reached a certain voltage, the capacitor was discharged, activating the wiper motor for one cycle. Ford incorporated intermittent wipers on the company's Mercury line, beginning with the 1969 models.

The intermittent windshield wiper – like many other practical inventions – was inspired by the designs God put into His creation.

Notes: J.V. Vette and B. Malone, Inspired Evidence: Only One Reality, June 24 (Search for the Truth Publications, 2011).
Creation Moments, Inc., P.O. Box 839, Foley, MN 56329 www.creationmoments.com

Recently I witnessed to two people while taking photographs of wildlife. One was a young man who had just graduated from high school. The other was a folk singer about my age who was performing for offerings at a pier near Seattle. When I mentioned my faith in Jesus Christ, both said they didn’t like religion. I replied, “I am not talking about religion; I’m talking about a personal relationship with the Creator through His Son.” The young man is from the Philippines, and I explained that men have corrupted the Bible’s gospel with human religion and tradition, and I gave the example of Roman Catholicism. I explained to him that the New Testament says nothing about masses and priests and infant baptisms and confirmations and prayers to Mary. That is vain religion. Salvation is not religion. It is to be born again through personal faith in Jesus Christ and then to walk with Him as Saviour, Lord, Father, and Friend. When I told him that I get to travel extensively and take photographs and teach and research and write books, he said that was his dream job. Many people have told me that. I urged him to read Psalm 37:4, because that verse describes the essence of the true Christian life. I am living my dream, because I surrendered my life to Christ and pursued Him; He has given me the right desires and then has fulfilled them. I urged this young man to surrender to Jesus Christ and to seek His will and never to be afraid of His will. “Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart” (Psa. 37:4).

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

Jeremiah 13:23
"Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil."

Many thousands of people have visited the Creation Moments website after seeing a photo we posted at the popular WorldNetDaily website. The photo shows a cow with spots on its hide that look exactly like a map of the world. We asked readers if they thought the map on the cow was just a lucky arrangement of spots or if the photo was the product of a Photoshop artist.

Obviously, everyone knows that the cow's spots were put there by a designer. But we asked evolutionists to answer this question: If you agree that the cow's spots were designed, why do you say that the actual cow was not designed? After all, a living, breathing cow is infinitely more complex than the arrangement of spots on its hide.

Evolutionists and atheists, of course, acknowledge that the pattern of the cow's spots was designed, but they will never admit that the cow itself was designed. That's because they are held captive by their faith built on the premise that there is no Designer. Though they can see the complexities of nature all around them, they say that everything was the result of mindless, natural processes.

And that's why Darwinists have a cow whenever they hear a Bible-believing Christian say that things which appear to be designed actually were designed! If they weren't so biased against God, they'd know that the cow's spots in the photo reveal the incredibly huge blind spot in their own minds.

Photo: Photoshop artist unknown. Creation Moments, Inc., P.O. Box 839, Foley, MN 56329 www.creationmoments.com

In ruling against a company that fired an employee for saying that homosexuality is sinful, a London employment tribunal says that Christians have a right to believe this. The tribunal ruled that Sarah Mbyui was wrongly discriminated against when she was fired for telling a lesbian co-worker that her lifestyle is condemned by the Bible. The co-worker instigated the discussion when she asked Miss Mbyui “whether she would be welcomed at church and whether God would approve of her civil partnership and allow her to marry in church” (“Woman fired for answering lesbian’s church question,” WorldNetDaily, June 10, 2015). The intolerant attitude against biblical Christianity that is leavening British society is evident in the fact that Mbyui’s company fired her. But in his ruling, Judge Broughton stated, “The issues in this case arose out of the claimant’s belief that homosexuality is a sin. Such a belief has effectively already been accepted by the higher courts … as capable of amounting to one that attracts the protection of the Equality Act 2010. It was a genuinely held belief that was more than an opinion or viewpoint and had attained a certain level of cogency, seriousness, cohesion and importance. It is a belief worthy of respect in a democratic society, is not incompatible with human dignity and is not in conflict with the fundamental rights of others.” As they say in Australia, “Good on you, Judge Broughton, for ruling honestly on the law.”

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

1 Samuel 17:22
"And David left his carriage in the hand of the keeper of the carriage, and ran into the army, and came and saluted his brethren."

Numerous Chinese legends refer to a mysterious carriage on which a mechanical rider rode. Its arm was outstretched and continuously pointed south no matter which way the carriage turned. How did it accomplish such a feat? If you're guessing that magnets had something to do with it, you'd be wrong. Actually, the south-pointing chariot was invented about 800 years before the first navigational use of a magnetic compass.

In the 1960s, Dr. Joseph Needham discovered that the carriage dated back to the third century AD. He also learned that the device did not use magnets. The carriage was actually a highly sophisticated automaton that has since been described as the world's "first cybernetic machine."

So how did the  figure know how to keep pointing south? It used a complex grouping of gears similar to the differential gears found in modern cars. This system of interconnected gears allows the wheels of a car turning a corner to move at different speeds, with the "outer" wheel traveling farther than the other. The arm of the figure on the carriage was aimed southward by hand at the start of a journey. After that, whenever the carriage turned, the mechanism automatically rotated the arm to keep it pointed to the south.

Over the years, we have told you about many such ancient devices, revealing that ancient man was much more intelligent than modern man gives them credit for. This should come as no surprise to those of us who believe the Bible.

Notes: P. James and N. Thorpe, Ancient Inventions, pp 140-142 (Ballantine Books, 1994). For more information, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South-pointing_chariot. Photo: Courtesy of Andy Dingley. (CC-BY-SA 3.0 Unported).
Creation Moments, Inc., P.O. Box 839, Foley, MN 56329 www.creationmoments.com

Alpha is an interdenominational evangelistic program that has grown phenomenally since its inception in the early 1990s. More than 18 million people have participated in the program in 169 countries, and its materials have been translated into 112 languages. It was birthed at the charismatic Holy Trinity Brompton Anglican church in London, England, and the developer, Nicky Gumbel, said that he experienced “massive electricity going through” his body in 1994 when the charismatic “revival” broke out at the parish. The May 2015 Alpha Leadership conference at Holy Trinity Brompton featured Catholic priest Raniero Cantalamessa (household preacher to the pope), Archbishop Justin Welby, and Cardinal Vincent Nichols. Female preacher Joyce Meyer also spoke. Nicky Gumbel opened the conference with a speech entitled “A Vision for a United Church,” saying: “Unity doesn’t mean we have to agree on everything--disagreement is healthy. ... I have come to love the Catholic Church--if God has given them the same Spirit, who are we to oppose God? ... The same Spirit lives in the Catholics, and the Orthodox, and the Pentecostals and the Protestants, even the Anglicans have the same Holy Spirit living within them. That’s what makes us one!” (“Letter to the Editor: Alpha Course Founder, Nicky Gumbel, Asks for Ecumenical Unity with Catholic Church,” Lighthouse Trails, May 28, 2015). Alpha is promoted by influential contemporary musicians such as Stuart Townend, Tim Hughes, Matt Redman, and Chris Tomlin, because Alpha and Contemporary Christian Music share the same enthusiasm for ecumenicism.

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

Luke 6:44
"For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes."

If you want to snack on fruit from a 10-story-high Grandidier's baobab tree, you'd better bring a very tall ladder. That's because there are no branches to climb until you get to near the very top of the tree. And you can forget about wrapping your arms and legs around the trunk. The baobab's  massive cylindrical trunks measure up to 10 feet across, and are quite smooth.

The Grandidier's baobob is probably the strangest and most magnificent of the eight species of baobab, and it is found nowhere else on earth than Madagascar. Lack of water can sometimes be a problem for plants in Madagascar, so the baobab overcomes this by storing water within the fibrous wood of the trunk. It is so effective at storing water, the tree's diameter actually fluctuates with rainfall. Though the tree trunks look solid, elephants know they can gouge into the wood with their tusks to enjoy a nice drink of water.

Other species of baobab tree – like the ones in Africa – look as if they were built upside down – with their roots at the top of the tree. African baobabs are also the fattest trees in the world. Some have a "waist size" of more than 165 feet, which is bigger around than their height. Baobabs can also grow to a great age – some are said to have been alive at the time of Christ.

Baobab trees look very different than any other trees on our planet and demonstrate that there is no end to the creativity of God.

Notes: "Overweight and Upside Down," 1000 Wonders of Nature, p. 243 (Readers Digest Assn., 2001). Adansonia grandidieri, Wikipedia. Grandidier’s baobab, http://www.arkive.org/grandidiers-baobab/adansonia-grandidieri/. Photo: Courtesy of Bernard Gagnon. (CC-BY-SA 3.0). Creation Moments, Inc., P.O. Box 839, Foley, MN 56329 www.creationmoments.com

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi led a massive yoga session in New Delhi on International Yoga Day, June 21, a day he has pushed for since coming to power last year. He sat in front of tens of thousands of other Indians posed in yoga positions and chanting “Om.” Yoga is one of India’s most successful exports, said to be a $27 billion industry in America. In a speech beforehand, Modi said, “This program is only about human welfare, about freeing the universe from stress and about spreading the message of love, peace, unity, and goodwill” (“Yoga Day,” ReligionNews.com, June 22, 2015). If that were true, India would be an entirely different country, for the birthplace of yoga is anything but filled with love, peace, unity, and goodwill! As for love and peace and unity, consider the way that Modi’s Hindu friends in the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) have treated Christians and Muslims in murderous rampages! Yoga is a Hindu concept of attuning oneself with one’s own godhood; and when tested by the Bible, it is found to be a dangerous spiritual practice that can connect the individual with demons masquerading as angels of light. Before I was saved in 1973, I was a member of the Self-Realization Fellowship Society, a Hindu organization based in Los Angeles, and I practiced meditation. I also practiced hypnotic techniques that are alleged to take one back to his past lives. We agree with Laurette Willis, who practiced yoga for 22 years before she came to the truth in Jesus Christ. She told the Religious News Service that yoga left her vulnerable to psychic influences that she believed to be demonic. She said, “Yoga led me down a false rosy path. It opened the door to 20 years of involvement in the New Age movement.”

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

Isaiah 53:2b
"He hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him."

Why in the world would engineers at Mercedes-Benz and DaimlerChrysler turn to a fish built like a box for inspiration on automotive design? After all, automakers want their vehicles to travel just as efficiently through air as sharks swim through water. But the boxfish is anything but streamlined.

The fact is – the cube-shaped boxfish slips through water with unparalleled efficiency. As the journal Science put it, "One look at the aptly named boxfish, and you might expect it to swim as well as a barn would fly." Creationist Donald DeYoung points out in his book Discovery of Design, "Observations show that the boxfish swims easily and safely, even in turbulent water. Self-correcting vortices of current develop around its body and effectively cancel out the buffeting forces of surging water."

DeYoung pointed out that though the automotive engineers had gone to the aquarium to design a car patterned after the sleek shark, the vehicles DaimlerChrysler ended up basing their automobile designs on was the boxfish. And it wasn't just the fish's shape that they copied. By patterning the door panels after the hexagonal skin pattern of the fish, the cars were found to excel in safety, comfort, maneuverability and environmental friendliness. The compact cars even boasted excellent gas mileage to as high as 70 miles per gallon!

Only our glorious Creator could have designed a clunky-looking fish that can help automobile designers develop safer and more fuel-efficient cars!

Notes: Discovery of Design, Donald DeYoung, pp. 74-75. Master Books, 2009. Photo: Courtesy of Bernd, posted to Flickr. (CC-BY-SA 2.0). Creation Moments, Inc., P.O. Box 839, Foley, MN 56329 www.creationmoments.com

Fantasy Sports, not long ago the province of a few die-hard fans, is now a multi-billion dollar a year industry that attracts more than 51 million American participants. Fantasy players spend an average of $465 a year on their fantasies, more than four times what it was just three years ago. Two leading fantasy companies, DraftKings and FanDuel, are worth an estimated $1 billion each. “In fantasy sports a participant creates his own team, selecting players from a real-world sports league like the NBA, National Football League, or England’s Premier League football. As real games are played, a fantasy team competes and is ranked against others based on the actual-game performance of its players” (“Like the real game, fantasy sports now worth billions,” AFP, Jun. 28, 2015). I don’t preach against sports in general, as there is some value to it at a certain level, but it is a dangerous thing that seems to easily capture the heart and become an idol. As for professional sports, there is no doubt that it is one of the chief gods of these end times. Professional sports are characterized by the lust of the flesh, the lusts of the eyes, and the pride of life, which is the exact definition we find in God’s Word of “the world” that we are not to love (1 John 2:15-17). There is a tremendous amount of misplaced enthusiasm, money, and time spent on the vanities of this life by those who profess the name of Christ.

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

The compromise at West Coast Baptist College and Lancaster Baptist Church is evidenced by the affiliations of its staff members, some of whom are comfortable straddling the fence between a fundamentalist and a contemporary position. This is dangerous, unscriptural bridge-building. Jim Schettler is an example. He was the pastor of the campus church at Pensacola Christian College for many years, then moved to California to pastor First Baptist Church of Santa Maria and to be the Vice President of Student Affairs at West Coast Baptist College. Pastor Schettler’s son, Ben, is founder of Ask or Think Ministries and a teen ministry called Pure Truth Conferences. He is also a member of and preaches at Olive Baptist Church in Pensacola, a rock & roll Southern Baptist congregation that uses modern versions (NIV, NASV, The Message) and despises “separatism.” Olive Baptist’s pastor, Ted Traylor, was First Vice-President of the SBC in 2000 and President of the SBC’s 2004 Pastors’ Conference. Olive Baptist rocked out in both services on June 28 with the Jason Lovins Band. At his blog, Ben Schettler currently recommends a book by John Piper’s son, Barnabas, that glorifies doubt, which is an emerging principle, as we have documented in What Is the Emerging Church? [See “Glorifying Doubt” under the Emerging Church section of the Articles Database at www.wayoflife.org.] West Coast’s Jim Schettler is partnering with Ben in ministry. He is a prominent speaker at Ben’s conferences, most recently in April 2015 in Cincinnati. Rand Hummel, director of the Wilds of New England, is also a speaker at Ben’s conferences. We believe that a man should love his son no matter what he believes and should show it and seek to win his heart to the truth, but fellowship with a son on a personal basis is one thing, while joining hands in ministry with a son committed to the contemporary, anti-separatist, rock & roll SBC philosophy is an entirely different one. Many Lancaster members and West Coast students will walk across the bridges that are being built by its teachers and staff members. (See also “Next Generation Rocking at Lancaster Baptist Church,” Apr. 23, 2015.) Following are sites that document the things stated in this report:
- www.puretruthmovement.com/speakers
- www.facebook.com/puretruthconference
- www.wcbc.edu/welcome-dr-jim-schettler

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

John 8:44a
"Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning…"

Who do you think was the greatest mass murderer the world has ever seen? Adolf Hitler? Not even close. According to Creation Moments Board Chairman Mark Cadwallader, the greatest mass murderer was China's Mao Tse Tung. During his political reign, Mao was responsible for murdering 77 million people while enforcing his "Great Leap Forward", and he "purged" millions more during what he called "The Cultural Revolution".

Interestingly, Mao is reported to have said the following: "Chinese socialism is founded upon Darwin and the theory of evolution." Now, who's the runner-up to Mao? No, it's still not Hitler. The second greatest mass murderer was Joseph Stalin, who similarly saw the value of evolution to his plans for a collectivist state. He used purges, starvation and prison camps to force people out of their own property and into acceptance of the ideology where God is replaced by government. He was responsible for the murder of up to 40 million people.

The presumption that evolution is a scientific fact, disproving God and validating the philosophy of "might makes right", has justified terrible atrocities in the post-Darwin twentieth century.

Darwinism isn't just responsible for the physical death of millions, it has led to the spiritual death of many millions of people who prefer to live in a universe where God does not exist. Thankfully, God is opening the eyes of many to the truth found in the pages of the Bible – that we are not the product of evolution but were created by God.

Notes: "Who Is the Greatest Mass Murderer of All Time?", Mark Cadwallader, 7/24/13. Photo: (CC-BY-SA 2.0).
Creation Moments, Inc., P.O. Box 839, Foley, MN 56329 www.creationmoments.com

"An evangelical pastor in Northern Ireland is under fire and will be prosecuted after calling Islam ‘satanic’ and claiming that its doctrine was ‘spawned in hell’ during a controversial 2014 sermon that streamed over the Internet. Pastor James McConnell, 78, of Whitewell Metropolitan Tabernacle in Belfast, Northern Ireland, made his comments--which included calling Islam ‘heathen’--in a sermon delivered last May, the BBC reported. ... ‘Now, people say there are good Muslims in Britain. That may be so, but I don’t trust them.’ McConnell continued, ‘Islam’s ideas about God, about humanity, about salvation are vastly different from the teaching of the holy scriptures. Islam is heathen. Islam is satanic. Islam is a doctrine spawned in hell.’ He initially defended his comments, but relented and apologized for offending anyone after a public outcry; the police were subsequently called to investigate him for a potential hate crime. McConnell, who is accused of violating the law, reportedly denied the issuance of an ‘informed warning,’ which is not a conviction, though it stays on a person’s criminal record for the period of one year. Accepting the informed warning, though, would have prevented the pastor from being prosecuted in court. A representative for the Public Prosecution Service in North Ireland told the BBC that McConnell had violated the Communications Act 2003 and that his offence was ‘one of sending, or causing to be sent, by means of a public electronic communications network, a message or other matter that was grossly offensive.’ But McConnell--who retired from Whitewell Metropolitan Tabernacle following the controversy--isn’t backing down, proclaiming in an interview that he is ‘not going to be gagged.’ ‘The police tried to shut me up and tell me what to preach. It’s ridiculous. I believe in freedom of speech. I’m going to keep on preaching the gospel,’ he said, according to the Guardian. ‘I have nothing against Muslims, I have never hated Muslims, I have never hated anyone. But I am against what Muslims believe.’ McConnell continued, ‘They have the right to say what they believe in and I have a right to say what I believe.’”

 “Islam is a doctrine spawned in hell,” The Blaze, June 19, 2015

Psalm 94:9
"He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? he that formed the eye, shall he not see?"

A listener sent us a link to an article at the National Geographic website on little-known facts about the eyes of animals. Though National Geographic treats evolution as fact, no mention was made that God created the eyes of these animals, but we are sure that our listeners will be quick to give credit where credit is due!

When asked which creature has the most eyes, the magazine replied that the world record holder is a type of mollusk called chiton. This ocean dweller has thousands of eyes embedded in shells on their backs. Most scallop species also have up to hundreds of eyes, as do giant clams. What's more, certain types of tubeworms called sabellids and serpulids have hundreds of small, compound eyes on their feeling appendages.

When asked which animal has the most advanced vision system, the article gave the nod to another underwater creature – the mantis shrimp. Their stalked eyes have three separate regions, and they are even able to see ultraviolet and circularly polarized light. Compared to our own three photoreceptors, mantis shrimp have up to sixteen! The crustaceans may use their photoreceptors to recognize colors right in the eye, rather than processing them in the brain, as we do.

Notes: L. Langley, "Ask Your Weird Animal Questions: Animal Eyes", National Geographic, 7/14/14. Photo: Courtesy of Magnus Manske. (CC-BY-SA 3.0). Creation Moments, Inc., P.O. Box 839, Foley, MN 56329 www.creationmoments.com

In a corporate note to its employees, the Goldman Sachs investment banking firm warns that they must “help create an environment for open and honest dialogue.” This so-called open dialogue requires inclusive language and frowns upon descriptors such as “wife,” which should be replaced with “partner” (“Goldman Sachs Tells Employees ‘Wife’ Insults Gays and Transgenders,” Breitbart, Jun. 21, 2015). The corporate document also tells employees to “explore your personal beliefs, increase your awareness about issues impacting the gay community, include LGBT issues in your everyday life, attend events that celebrate diversity and inclusion, and speak out against hurtful comments.” In truth, an “open dialogue” gives liberty for the airing of all sides of an issue. There is nothing open or free about the homosexual agenda.

(Friday Church News Notes, June 26, 2015, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143)

Deuteronomy 32:11
"As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings:"

The foundation of evolution is so weak, the flight feather of a bird can send it crumbling to the ground. Perhaps no one is better equipped to speak on the amazing design of flight feathers than Dr. Stuart Burgess, the engineer who designed the solar array deployment system on the  European Space Agency's earth observation satellite. In addition to his engineering work at Bristol University, he is the author of Hallmarks of Design: Evidence of Purposeful Design and Beauty in Nature.

In this book he points out that the flight feather is a masterpiece of design and is one of the most efficient structures known to man. The hooks and barbules of a feather are arranged so that they prevent air from passing through them when the wing is pushing downwards, but they allow air to pass through them when the wing is being pulled upwards. This feature, he writes, enables the bird to maximize the efficiency of flapping by only allowing the wing to push down on the air.

While evolutionists admit that the feather is an amazing structure, they insist that it evolved by a long series of genetic mistakes. But Dr. Burgess makes it clear that this is just impossible. The interlocking barbs and barbules must all be in place simultaneously for the feather to function.

To borrow a phrase from the Intelligent Design folks, the feather is irreducibly complex. All it takes is a single feather to show that the theory of evolution is a theory that just won't fly.

Notes: S. Burgess, Hallmarks of Design, pp. 38-39 (Day One Publications, 2002). Photo: Courtesy of Hoodedwarbler12. (CC-BY-SA 3.0). Creation Moments, Inc., P.O. Box 839, Foley, MN 56329 www.creationmoments.com