Romans 1:20
“For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:”
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   It has often seemed to me that many processes in science seem to occur in order to minimize differences or minimize changes. One such process is osmosis.
   Osmosis is a process that occurs when two solutions of different concentrations are separated by a semi-permeable membrane. For example, an experiment can be set up where a weak salt solution is separated from a strong salt solution by a film of acetate. The acetate film is impermeable to the ions of the salt compound but permeable to water molecules. So water molecules travel across the membrane from the weaker solution to the stronger solution in an attempt to make both solutions the same concentration. This attempt does not fully succeed, as the pressure produced by the now-greater volume on the strong solution side pushes back against the membrane. This is the effect known as osmotic pressure. This process is very important in biological systems, where cell membranes are usually semi-permeable and the selective movement of water molecules and ions needs to be controlled by the body.
   Osmosis is also often used industrially, and even domestically. Many homes have water purification systems fitted which rely on reverse osmosis. In reverse osmosis, pressure is applied to force the water molecules back in the opposite direction through the membrane. In this way, salt ions and other impurities are removed and a more-purified water is obtained.
   It is always of interest when natural processes are imitated by our technology. God has made ideal designs, and it behooves us to copy them to make technological improvements.

www.creationmoments.com/sermons/osmosis/

Psalm 92:5-6
“O Lord, how great are thy works! and thy thoughts are very deep. A brutish man knoweth not; neither doth a fool understand this.”
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   Researchers in the 1950s and ’60s established that the octopus is quite intelligent and can learn different visual patterns. Octopi have very large brains with large areas reserved for storing information. New research has shown that they are even more intelligent than earlier studies revealed. These findings run counter to evolutionary theory, which says that intelligence evolves in social species to help them deal with social relationships. The octopus is not a social animal and operates alone.
   Unlike other animals, octopi use a variety of strategies to solve the same problem. They can use their eight powerful arms to open clams, or they can drill through the shell and inject a fast-acting poison. In the laboratory, octopi kept in isolation were given a floating plastic bottle. The bored octopuses quickly devised a variety of games to play with the bottle – a sure sign of intelligence.
   The Creator gave the octopus the ability to learn a lot so it could cope with its unusual way of life. Octopi begin life as tiny plankton that drift with the ocean currents. When they finally settle to the bottom, they may find themselves in any of the many habitats provided by the ocean and face any variety of predators and food sources. Thus, their Creator designed them with the ability to learn how to adapt to a large variety of habitats and situations.

www.creationmoments.com/sermons/the-mystery-of-octopus-intelligence-3/

Genesis 43:11
“And their father Israel said unto them, If it must be so now, do this; take of the best fruits in the land in your vessels, and carry down the man a present, a little balm, and a little honey, spices, and myrrh, nuts, and almonds:”
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   New research is revealing the health benefits of eating nuts. While eating peanuts has been shown to reduce heart disease risks by lowering triglycerides, tree nuts offer many more benefits.
   People often worry about the fat in nuts. However, most of that fat is the good kind that protects hearts, while at the same time satisfying the body’s need for fat. The result is that nut eaters can lose weight and keep it off. In one Canadian study, those trying to lose weight while satisfying their fat needs with nuts lost an average of nine pounds over 18 months. Over the same trial period, those trying to lose weight with a low-fat diet actually gained an average of six pounds. Another study showed that people who ate two ounces of nuts four or five times a week lowered their risk of heart attack by 50 percent. Yet another study showed that women who ate only five ounces of nuts per week were one-third less likely to have a heart attack than those who ate nuts infrequently. Several studies have shown that almonds, macadamia nuts, or walnuts lowered high cholesterol by ten percent. Other studies have shown that nut eating can lower the risk of prostate cancer by 30 percent and may lower the risk of colon and stomach cancers.
   Nuts are a great gift from God and truly are among the best fruits of the land. Chance would not have evolved all these health benefits in a food clearly designed for us to eat. A loving Creator made them for our good.

www.creationmoments.com/sermons/get-the-scoop-on-nuts-2/

In March 2017, we published “A Plea to the Clark Family” about the contemporary direction of the music and philosophy of the Clarks of Solid Rock Baptist Church in Berlin, New Jersey. The plea was public, because their music and ministry is public and influential far beyond their local church. The Clark Family music used to be a simple bluegrass-tinged style, but it is moving far beyond that, and a drift like this has no bottom. We have seen it time and time again. I see this progression everywhere among those who love Southern Gospel. Important lines are being erased. One reason is that even a little Southern Gospel creates an appetite for jazzed-up rhythms and sensual vocal styles (e.g., scooping, sliding, breathiness, improvisation, vocal rasping). Another reason is that the vast majority of Southern Gospel singers have moved into the “progressive/contemporary” sphere, probably because that is where the real money and prestige is, and even the most conservative people are being influenced by the contemporary Southern Gospel crowd because they are letting the guard down and aren’t being careful enough about biblical separation. After listening to many examples of the Clark Family music, it became obvious that they are performing a lot of music from the world of contemporary Southern Gospel. They are building bridges to contemporary people the likes of Brian Free, Ricky Free, Jeremy Johnson, Joel Lindsay, Tony Wood, Mike Schultz, Jody McBrayer, and Billy and Cynthia Foote. There isn’t any serious difference between the world of contemporary worship music represented by the Newsboys and Chris Tomlin and Hillsong and the world of contemporary Southern Gospel represented by Brian Free, etc. It is all fleshly music that gets people emotionally addicted to the world’s music. And like all addictions, it is never satisfied. Further, the world of contemporary Southern Gospel is as ecumenical as the world of CCM. All of the people in contemporary Southern Gospel hold a “judge not, loosen up and don’t be so strict” philosophy of Christianity. Contemporary Southern Gospel yokes church people into association with the likes of the Gaithers and the National Quartet Convention, and a more radically ecumenical crowd does not exist. They preach a “let’s all get together and not judge” message. Recently Travis Clark teamed up with Mark Rasmussen, a graduate of West Coast Baptist College and a former prominent member of the Lancaster Baptist Church (Lancaster, California) music program, to produce a Christian rock song called “Chain Breaker.” The video is found below.

(Friday Church News Notes, September 21, 2018, www.wayoflife.org, [email protected], 866-295-4143)

Proverbs 2:6
“For the Lord giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.”

   John Stevens Henslow was a highly respected scientist of the 19th century. He taught both botany and mineralogy at England’s Cambridge University. In addition to being a scientist and professor, he was also a devout Christian and ordained into the Anglican clergy.
   Charles Darwin was an undergraduate at Cambridge, studying for the ministry. However, after his first year of study he found he had no interest in religion. Because of his enthusiasm for his subjects, John Henslow was one of the most popular professors at Cambridge. That probably contributed to the friendship Charles Darwin developed with him. Darwin’s friendship with Henslow was also an opportunity to see living Christianity in action. However, while Darwin learned a great deal about botany from Henslow, he rejected Henslow’s Christian faith. In 1831, when Darwin received his B.A. degree, Henslow recommended Darwin be an unpaid naturalist on the H. M. S. Beagle. It was during that five-year voyage on the Beagle that Darwin began to formalize his theory of evolution. Darwin’s book “Origin of the Species” was finalized and published almost 30 years after the voyage. The aging Henslow publicly expressed his opposition to Darwin’s theory, stating that, “Darwin attempts more than is granted to man….”
   Henslow was only one of many outstanding 19th century scientists who rejected Darwin’s theory. He understood that anyone who promotes so-called knowledge that contradicts Scripture dangerously places himself above God.

www.creationmoments.com/sermons/another-19th-century-creationist-3/

Romans 11:34
“For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor?”
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   All the textbooks inform us that the speed of light is about 186,000 miles per second. This is the absolute speed limit of the universe, according to Einstein’s theory of relativity, we have always been told. Should anything travel faster than that, Einstein’s theory falls.
   While the certainty of the speed of light as an absolute limit has provided comfort for many, new research may point to a universe that is stranger than we can imagine. It all began when an Italian researcher showed that microwaves could travel through the air at speeds slightly faster than light. Then an American researcher decided to see what would happen to the speed of light in a special chamber. He built a clear chamber filled with cesium gas. When a pulse of light was sent through it, the light went through the chamber at 300 times the speed of light. This is so fast that the main pulse of light exited the chamber before it went in! This strange effect is a result of the unique wave action of light. For this reason, researchers say that Einstein’s theory remains viable. Still, this finding has led to a debate among physicists over whether a message could be sent faster than the speed of light into the past.
   This research should remind us that the universe is the creation of an unlimited, almighty God. While scientific research can bring many benefits, it cannot be too dogmatic about its interpretation of the universe. Only the Bible, which is the very Word of the unlimited, almighty God, offers absolute knowledge.

www.creationmoments.com/sermons/speed-of-light-reveals-the-unlimited-mind-of-god-3/

Proverbs 18:14
“The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity; but a wounded spirit who can bear?”
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   When bees are threatened by some diseases or predators, they act like sick children – they get a fever. More specifically, they give their nest a fever, sometimes raising its temperature to levels nearly fatal to themselves.
   Bees are cold-blooded, but they can generate heat by flexing their flight muscles while holding their wings still. It has long been known that bees can generate temperatures as high as 96.8° (F) to keep the nursery nice and cozy. Researchers have found that this ability is used to cure a sick hive. One of the more dangerous threats to the bees’ nest is the chalkboard fungus. Researchers noticed that bees raised the temperature of the nursery when threatened with the fungus. They then tested the effect of the temperature increase by introducing chalkboard fungus spores into three experimental hives. Even before the larvae showed symptoms of infection, bees raised the temperature in all three hives. While several larvae mummified in one hive, no larvae in the other two hives showed infection. Other researchers have also found that bees use the same strategy on giant hornets. The bees cannot sting through the hornet’s tough armor. So, when invaded, bees raise the hive’s temperature to over 116°(F). That’s enough to kill the hornet, but one degree hotter would be fatal to the bees.
   God has given His creatures important abilities to gain and keep physical health. But when it comes to spiritual health, we must rely completely on what God’s Son, Jesus Christ, has done to give us that spiritual health.

www.creationmoments.com/sermons/bees-have-a-hot-line-of-defense-3/

Hurricane Florence, which made landfall in North Carolina on September 14, had dumped 18 trillion gallons of water by September 16. “That’s enough to fill the Chesapeake Bay or cover the entire state of Texas with nearly 4 inches of water” (“Florence aftermath,” FoxNews, Sep. 16, 2018). In April 2018, 50 inches of rain fell in a 24 hour period on the Hawaiian island of Kauai. In January 1966, 1.825 meters (6 feet or 71.8 inches) of rain fell in 24 hours in Foc-Foc, La Réunion, an island in the southern Indian Ocean. That was equal to 7.5 tons of rain per acre. These were localized storms of brief endurance. The flood of Noah’s day involved the breaking up of the fountains of the deep and a global deluge of rainfall for 40 days and nights straight (Ge. 7:11-12). Two excellent books on the global flood are In the Beginning: Compelling Evidence for Creation and the Flood by Walt Brown and Earth’s Catastrophic Past by Andrew Snelling. These men have Ph.D.s in the earth sciences.

(Friday Church News Notes, September 21, 2018, www.wayoflife.org, [email protected], 866-295-4143)

1 Peter 4:19
“Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.”
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   Siberia’s Lake Baikal provides many mysteries for those who believe that naturalistic evolution can account for today’s biological world. Many of the unique plants and animals that call this fresh water lake home are similar to those found only hundreds of miles away in marine environments.
   Lake Baikal is the deepest lake in the world – 5,371 feet deep at its deepest point. Located in central Siberia, the lake has a huge variety of life. It boasts 1,550 varieties of animals and 1,085 varieties of plants. Of these, over 1,000 species are found nowhere else on earth. Seals are among the animals you would not expect to find in a freshwater environment nearly 500 miles from the sea. Lake Baikal also supports other sea creatures you would not expect to find in a freshwater lake. Hydrothermal vents were recently discovered in the depths of the north end of the lake. These are the only known hydrothermal vents in any freshwater lake. Like their marine cousins, these vents support a rich variety of sponges, transparent shrimp, bacterial mats and fish. Again, some of these creatures are found nowhere else on earth.
   The questions posed by the plants and animals of Lake Baikal are troublesome for evolutionists. How did so many marine species successfully evolve to thrive in fresh water? Why are so many of these unique to a lake that is so much like an inland ocean? Did evolution know that Lake Baikal was the most ocean-like lake in the world? The plants and animals are better accounted for by the creative powers of the Creator of all that exists.

www.creationmoments.com/sermons/worlds-most-unusual-lake-challenges-evolution-3/

Luke 12:55
“And when ye see the south wind blow, ye say, There will be heat; and it cometh to pass..”

   Man has always be fascinated with the weather. Some of the effects of weather on health are obvious. Death rates rise in areas experiencing extreme heat waves or severe air pollution. Researchers also agree that too little sunlight can result in depression in many people. And a 1997 study by the University of Massachusetts Medical School found a correlation between falling barometric pressure and the onset of labor.
   The most dramatic weather link, however, involves geomagnetic storms. These are caused when storms on the sun compress or decompress the Earth’s magnetic field. Researchers noticed increased numbers of babies suddenly dying in their sleep during geomagnetic storms. This is known as crib-death. It was known that crib-death victims had low levels of melatonin before they died. Melatonin controls the amount of nitrous oxide, an essential compound for breathing, present in our blood. Researchers theorized that the magnetic effects of a geomagnetic storm could decrease melatonin levels during sleep and therefore result in breathing problems. They tested this theory by subjecting baby rats to low intensity magnetic fields. The baby rats did indeed show a decrease in melatonin before they stopped breathing. This evidence indicates that geomagnetic storms are likely to trigger crib-deaths or SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome). It is hoped, this research will come up with a way to prevent these tragic deaths.
   Although the perfect world that God created was ruined by sin, we are told that He will one day redeem it.

www.creationmoments.com/sermons/can-storms-on-the-sun-kill-here-on-earth-3/

Revelation 22:3
“And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him:”

   There are some pastors and teachers who tell me that it does not matter what we believe about Genesis. It does not matter if there were really six 24-hour days, or millions of years. It does not matter if there was death before Adam’s sin. It does not matter if Adam were not a real person, but an allegory.
   These are often people who tell me that they believe the Bible to be true. But, somehow, my literalist “interpretation” offends them – even though I do not give an interpretation of Genesis; I simply read what it says and believe it.
   The same pastors will not have the same problem with the New Heavens and the New Earth that God will one day provide. Whatever your eschatology, few people expect the New Heavens and New Earth to emerge after millions of years of evolution. They expect that God will make these places probably in an instant.
   They believe that the idea of a world without death in Genesis is a myth. Yet, they quote Revelation 21:4 that there will be no more death. How can they expect a new place with literally no death if the deathless paradise at the beginning of time were just a myth.
   Revelation 22:3 tells us that in the world to come there will be no more curse. These pastors expect this to be literally true, yet they do not believe in an earthly paradise in Genesis 1 in which there was no curse until Adam sinned.
   But all these issues fall into place when we choose to believe God’s word.

www.creationmoments.com/sermons/the-new-creation/

Romans 1:25
“Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.”
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   Alfred Russel Wallace very nearly pipped Darwin at the post as the pioneer of evolution by natural selection.
   Darwin had procrastinated with publication for many, many years. In June 1858, Darwin was to receive a letter from Wallace whose consequences would reverberate through history. The exact date in June that Darwin received this letter is the subject of controversy.
   Darwin maintained that he received the letter on June 18, 1858, ten days after he had written to Joseph Hooker, giving him the full content of his theory. Wallace’s letter outlined his theory of evolution, and Darwin was horrified to find out their ideas were the same. Following this, two of Darwin’s friends arranged for Darwin to present his ideas at the Linnean Society, and Wallace’s paper would be read at the same meeting.
   But Wallace had mailed two letters from Malay on the same day. One, addressed to a relative of his, arrived on June 3rd. There are some science historians who have suggested that Darwin also got his letter on June 3, quickly wrote his findings into a paper, informed Hooker as an alibi, then claimed Wallace’s letter had arrived on the 18th. If this is true, Darwin had performed the biggest example of scientific plagiarism in history. Yet, even Darwin’s own autobiography admits that he frequently told the most whopping great lies.
   We have no idea whether this allegation is true or not. But what is true is what God has told us in the Bible about the real origin of all life.

www.creationmoments.com/sermons/a-race-for-evolution/

Job 38:4
“Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding.”

   Everybody knows that the modern theory of evolution was described in detail by Charles Darwin in his famous work, The Origin of Species, published in 1859. What is not so well-known is that Darwin was very nearly beaten to the punch by another evolutionist, Alfred Russel Wallace.
   In the late 1850s, Wallace was on location in what is now Malaysia, where he was collecting specimens to sell to collectors in order to raise money. He was also writing about his discoveries and his thoughts. It was during this time that he developed his concept of the separation of fauna in the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) into Eurasian in the West and Australasian in the East. The separation between these areas has become known as the Wallace Line.
   From 1856 through 1858, Wallace wrote Darwin a couple of times, and the actual “discovery” of evolution by natural selection with modification was originally credited jointly to Darwin and Wallace – though Darwin was given the pre-eminence, mostly because he was a Victorian Gentleman, whereas Wallace was of more modest upbringing.
   Indeed, there is a great contrast between these two evolutionists. Darwin was largely supported by his father’s money. Wallace had to travel and collect specimens to make money. Darwin had all the advantages of privileged education. Wallace was mostly self-educated. Darwin was, of secular views, practically an atheist. Wallace was a spiritualist and believed that his theory had come to him through familiar spirits.
   It should not, however, surprise us that neither Darwin nor Wallace gave any glory to God for their ideas. Both men’s ideas contradict the word of God.

www.creationmoments.com/sermons/the-other-evolutionist

Ecclesiastes 3:20-21
“All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again. Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?”

   Social Darwinism, taken to the extreme, can manifest in cruel ways. It can be seen as opposed to helping the disabled or the poor, arguing that many such people are less fit to survive than the main populace. If one views certain people groups as more or less highly evolved, it can also lead to the justification of racist ideas.
   In response, some evolutionists have joined the criticism of Social Darwinism. They have argued that Darwinism is a scientific principle and that it is not necessary, or even desirable, to apply Darwinism as a social practice. Popular atheist and evolutionist Richard Dawkins has said: “What we need is a truly anti-Darwinian society. Anti-Darwinian in the sense that we don’t wish to live in a society where the weakest go to the wall, where the strongest suppress the weak, and even kill the weak.”
   The problem with a denial of Social Darwinism by Darwinists is that Darwin was a Social Darwinist. In his critical biography of Charles Darwin, A.N. Wilson has pointed out that Darwin was as much influenced by Malthus as by Lyell.
   It was Thomas Malthus who argued that increased resources and care for the poor would lead to a burdensome increase in population, thus wiping out the benefits. This supposed population problem is therefore known as the Malthusian Catastrophe. Malthus’s opposition to care for the poor was to influence Darwin’s views on the mechanism of animal evolution.
   It is no mistake that God created mankind in complete contrast to the way he created animals. This separate creation emphasizes our unique status before Him.

www.creationmoments.com/sermons/darwin-and-malthus/

Genesis 18:14
“Is any thing too hard for the LORD? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.”
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   There are a number of myths surrounding Darwin and his theory of evolution. One abiding myth suggests that Darwin only came to the view that the Earth was millions of years old as a result of what he saw on the coastline of South America and in the Galapagos Islands when he was on his famous voyage on the Beagle. In fact, Darwin was already familiar with, and convinced of, deep time before he set off on the voyage.
   Darwin had been interested in the radical new deep-time geology being taught in Edinburgh during his year in the Scottish capital learning medicine. He probably spent more time learning the deep-time ideas of James Hutton than on medicine, and, as he did not like anatomy, he dropped out. Hutton’s ideas were developed by Charles Lyell, and Darwin took volume one of Lyell’s geological tome on the Beagle with him. Volume two had not yet been published, so he arranged for it to be sent on to him, and it arrived while the ship was in the vicinity of the River Plate. So, when Darwin reached the west coast of South America and the Galapagos, he was already fully convinced of old-earth timescales, and it was natural that these ideas informed his developing theory of evolution.
   In one sense, it can be said that evolution requires deep time. The single changes proposed by Darwinism would have to be so numerous that time would be required for the processes. However, we can also point out that if a process is impossible today, then it remains impossible, however many millions of years it has.

www.creationmoments.com/sermons/darwins-deep-time/