"There are those who, while attracting the attentions of men, are unaware of how forcefully their immodest apparel stimulates fiery passions within the opposite sex. An immodestly dressed woman may think a man is simply admiring her--and she likes to be admired--but often there is much more going on within him. Because a man's passions are triggered more easily, the sight of a woman's nakedness or the curves of her body have a seductive effect on his heart and flesh. A good comparison was made in Reflections of Feminine Modesty that will help explain this truth. 'If a nice-looking man were constantly coming up to you and stroking your arms or your neck or your shoulders and gently touching you, how would that affect you? Sensually! That is the same effect a woman has on a man when he sees her wearing a short skirt, a tight or low cut, see-through, or sleeveless blouse, or a pair of pants.' Though a woman may not realize the degree that her immodest dress affects men, she certainly knows that her behavior attracts a great interest, and she knows furthermore that it is a sexual interest. ... When a woman cares more about being noticed than the well-being of others, she is desperately lacking the love of God in her heart. Charity seeketh not her own. It vaunteth not itself (1 Corinthians 13:4-6). God has not given us liberty to dress any way we please. 'For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another' (Galatians 5:13). When we love the Lord as we should, our clothing will not be selected in order to attract attention to ourselves. When we love mankind as God loves them, we will desire to have a godly influence on them."

(Modesty a Matter of the Heart by Kathy Murray, 2005, [email protected])

Americans remember JFK 50 years after assassination;
Visitors lay flowers at JFK's eternal flame;
Sophisticated criminals hit same intersection in Johannesburg;
Kansas park building giant water slide.

50 years since JFK assassination;
FCC may allow cellphone calls on planes;
Supermarket roof collapse in Latvia;
Xbox One on sale.

Bertha Benz, the wife of Karl Benz, one of the inventors of the automobile, backed her husband's work with her fortune, but in the 1880s, the climate in Germany was against the "horseless carriage." The Kaiser loved horses and said that replacing them with a machine was not only foolish but unpatriotic. Karl built a one-horse-power open carriage automobile, but he was too timid to unveil his invention in public. On Aug. 12, 1888, Bertha took the car on the first road trip, a 65 mile, 12-hour journey. She drove to her sister's house to prove that cars could be a viable means of transportation. On the way, she noticed that Karl's wooden brake didn't work very well, so she stopped at a shoemaker and had him nail some leather on the wood to improve the braking system, thus inventing the brake pad.

(Friday Church News Notes, November 15, 2013, www.wayoflife.org, [email protected], 866-295-4143)

Colossians 4:6
“Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.”

Evolutionists claim that human intelligence began to develop when early man invented language. Genesis tells us that human language began when Adam named the animals. Names – that is, nouns – are the first requirement for language, but this must be preceded by intelligence. Creationists have always viewed both language and intelligence as gifts from God.

New research disproves the old evolutionary idea. Of course, we use language to test human intelligence using, say, a series of cards. Researchers at Columbia University did something similar with rhesus macaques. They sat the monkeys in front of computers with touch screens. The screens showed seven photographs that were not in sequential order. After learning how to place the photographs in order, the monkeys did just that for a banana pellet. This task involves both memory and logic. The monkeys quickly became good at ordering the photos. As they were shown new pictures, they showed that they could apply what they had learned to new problems. What’s more, they learned the task as quickly as a control group made up of college students!

Since the monkeys in this experiment don’t use language and they clearly possess memory and logic, language cannot be the source of our intelligence. A better explanation is that both language and intelligence are the gifts of God, given us by the Word Who created us.

Notes: Discover, 6/03, p. 13, Jocelyn Selim, “The Smart, Speechless Types.”
Photo: Courtesy of Einar Fredriksen. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.
Creation Moments, Inc., P.O. Box 839, Foley, MN 56329 www.creationmoments.com

Senate Democrats succeed in vote to curb filibusters;
President Obama reacts to the vote;
Jumbo jet that landed at the wrong airport lifts off;
The new Monty Python tour takes off.

Deadly flood in Bolivia;
Five shot in Houston, 3 dead;
US Congresswoman mugged;
Hydrogen car.

Actor Ethan Hawke claims that fidelity in marriage is a childish view. In an interview with the magazine "Mr. Porter," Hawke said: "People have such a childish view of monogamy and fidelity. ‘He's cheated so he's bad, she's cheated so she's bad,’ as opposed to a recognition that our species is not monogamous. To act all indignant, that your world has been rocked because your lover wasn't faithful to you, is a little bit like acting rocked that your hair went grey" ("The Look: Mr. Ethan Hawk," Mr. Porter, Nov. 5, 2013). Hawke's first marriage ended in the midst of allegations of immorality, and he is currently married to the former nanny of his children. In fact, Mr. Hawk, fidelity to one's mate is not childish; it is very adult. It is evidence of moral character as opposed to selfishness. It is a mark of honesty as opposed to deception. It is obedience to God's laws. A man who cheats on his wife is a liar and a covenant breaker and should not be trusted. Nothing has done more to create a global attitude of moral relativism and to destroy the divine institution of holy matrimony than the Western pop entertainment culture.

(Friday Church News Notes, November 15, 2013, www.wayoflife.org [email protected], 866-295-4143)

Solomon 2:12
“The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land....”

The largest flower in the world is a bright red-orange color and, according to its DNA, is related to the poinsettia. That relationship might make you suspect that the world’s largest flower would be beautiful. But you probably wouldn’t want the flower, called the rafflesia, growing in your garden.

The largest of this species has flower buds the size of a basketball. When it opens, the flower is three feet across. Its petals not only look like big slabs of meat but the flower smells like rotting meat. The result is a rather ugly flower that you wouldn’t want around. That bad smell attracts the carrion-eating insects that pollinate it. The flower looks so strange that when they were first discovered, scientists debated whether they were flowering plants or fungi. If this is not all strange enough, rafflesias have no true roots or leaves. They make their living as parasites growing on other plants. This makes them so difficult to grow that only four botanical gardens in the world have done it successfully.

The rafflesia’s beauty lies not in its appearance, but in its amazing design features. Little about its design seems to be helpful for survival, as evidenced by how difficult it is to grow. This fact, of course, works against evolution’s claim that the living things we see are the survivors of the fittest. 

Notes: Science News, 1/13/07, p. 21, S. Milius, “Biggest Bloom.”
Photo: Rafflesia Sumatra, commonly called the “corpse flower.” Courtesy of Ma Suska. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.
Creation Moments, Inc., P.O. Box 839, Foley, MN 56329 www.creationmoments.com

Obama lays wreath at JFK grave;
Oprah, Bill Clinton get Medal of Freedom;
Murdoch and wife finalize divorce;
Lion cubs born on Gaza Strip.

Attacks in Iraq,
Violence in Egypt,
Florida plane crash,
JFK remembered.

Police say son of VA state senator may have stabbed his father;
Mall roof collapse kills two in South Africa;
Gettysburg Address honored 150 years later;
New Thanksgiving Day parade floats revealed.

In the influential 1968 book The Population Bomb , Paul Ehrlich made the following claim based on the pop science of his day: "The battle to feed all of humanity is over. In the 1970s and 1980s hundreds of millions of people will starve to death in spite of any crash programs embarked upon now." In fact, since Ehrlich's book was published, maize and cereal production has risen more than 300% in Asia, more than 280% in Africa, more than 250% in South America. In the U.S., food production has risen even as the number of acres under cultivation has decreased. In the meantime, the population has increased only 90%. As Bret Stephens observes, "But whatever the reason, the world isn't likely to be getting any hungrier. Quite the opposite: Purely natural (as opposed to man-made) famines are becoming unknown. As the Irish economist Cormac O Grada noted in a 2010 paper, 'in global terms, the margin over subsistence is now much wider than it was a generation ago. This also holds for former famine zones such as India and Bangladesh, whereas China, once "the land of famine," nowadays faces a growing problem of childhood obesity.' Only in Africa is food scarcity still an issue, but even there recent food crises in Malawi and Niger did not result in major loss of life. What does hurt people is bad public policy. Exhibit A is the U.S. ethanol mandate--justified in part as a response to global warming--which diverted the corn crop to fuel production and sent global food prices soaring in 2008. Exhibit B is the cult of organic farming and knee-jerk opposition to GMOs, which risk depriving farmers in poor countries of high-yield, nutrient-rich crops. Exhibit C was the effort to ban DDT without adequate substitutes to stop the spread of malaria, which kills nearly 900,000 people, mostly children, in sub-Saharan Africa alone with each passing year. The list goes on and on. Environmentalists tend to have conveniently short memories, especially when it comes to their own mistakes" ("Does Environmentalism Cause Amnesia, "The Wall Street Journal, Nov. 6, 2013).

(Friday Church News Notes, November 15, 2013, www.wayoflife.org [email protected], 866-295-4143)

Psalm 9:1b
“I will praise thee, O LORD, with my whole heart; I will shew forth all thy marvellous works.”

Try using superglue in wet conditions, and you’ll find that the glue is not so super. Even epoxy doesn’t work well in water. Scientists finally decided to turn to the lowly mussel to learn how to make better glues for use in wet environments.

Mussels manufacture their glue under water, yet the glue can withstand the force of a thousand pounds per square inch. Mussel glue will even stick to Teflon! The mussel begins by making the glue in two parts, each part made by a separate gland. One gland produces proteins that are like resin. The other gland makes the hardeners. When these are mixed, they harden into a strand in only a couple of minutes. The mussel will make many of these strands as it fastens itself to a rock. As more of these strands are made, they begin to cross-link with one another, greatly adding to the strength of the bond. The mussel makes between five and ten different kinds of protein strands, carefully limiting the cross-linking to produce the greatest strength. Without this mix, the bond would be brittle and easily break.

God’s creation is marvelously designed. His designs are still teaching us how to do even simple things better. The theory of evolution depends upon random chance events that, even if believable, can teach us nothing.



Notes: Discover, 2/03, pp. 22-23, Alan Burdick, “Cement on the Half Shell.”
Photo: Marine blue mussel. Courtesy of Rainer Zenz. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
Creation Moments, Inc., P.O. Box 839, Foley, MN 56329 www.creationmoments.com

Explosions rock Iranian Embassy in Lebanon;
Clean-up underway in Midwest after tornadoes;
George Zimmerman accused of assaulting girlfriend;
Dow Jones hits record.

"A change in our climate is taking place very sensibly. ... [Snowfall has become] less frequent and less deep. [Rivers that once] seldom failed to freeze over in the course of the winter, scarcely ever do so now. ... This change has produced an unfortunate fluctuation between heat and cold, in the spring of the year, which is very fatal to fruits"



(Jefferson, "Notes on the States of Virginia," 1785)

Psalm 33:20
“Our soul waiteth for the LORD: he is our help and our shield.”

Certain plants release aromatics known as pheromones when attacked. By this means they communicate to others of its species or even to animals. These discoveries led more researchers to enter this field, and a great deal is now known about what can only be called plant communication.

Researchers report that this plant communication is more widespread than thought. In fact, they suspect that it is almost universal among plants. What’s more, plants not only communicate with their own species, but with other plants and even with animals. Some, like the wild tobacco, even know not to communicate when the intended recipient of the message is not around. It does not emit its anti-caterpillar scent until night time when nocturnal moths are liable to be around to lay eggs on them. Should the moths lay eggs on the plants, the plant will signal to an all-purpose insect ally to eat the eggs. That same ally will also eat other insect pests that harm the plant. Scientists say that not only are the plants’ messages specific, it appears that an individual plant will vary its message based on its experience.

That plants even communicate with other species is a wonder that cannot be explained by chance mutations. That their messages are so specific bespeaks the intelligence of their Creator.

Notes: Discover, 4/02, pp. 46-51, Sharman Apt Russel, “Talking Plants.”
Photo: Courtesy of Daniel Schwen. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
Creation Moments, Inc., P.O. Box 839, Foley, MN 56329 www.creationmoments.com

Supreme Court rejects plea to look at NSA;
Princeton may approve meningitis vaccine;
Toronto trying to strip mayor of powers;
Robotic explorer on way to Mars.

"A plan to stop the swearing of oaths on the Bible in courts in England and Wales has been rejected by magistrates. The Magistrate's Association recently debated a motion to stop witnesses and defendants from swearing on the Bible, but voted against it. The plan was proposed by Ian Abrahams, a Bristol magistrate. Abrahams would have replaced 'I swear by Almighty God [to tell] the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth,' with a promise to 'very sincerely tell the truth.'"


(Christian News Network, Oct. 24, 2013)

Genesis 7:11b
“... the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.”

How long does it take for large mineral formations to form? While evolutionists say millions of years, creationists assume that most of the rock formations we see formed relatively quickly as the waters of the Genesis flood receded.

In 1903, someone pounded an iron pipe into the ground in what is today Hot Springs State Park. The mineral-rich water beneath the ground immediately began flowing out of the pipe. As the warm mineral water evaporated, the minerals that were left behind deposited as travertine. Within just a few years, there was a mound of travertine as high as the pipe and tapering to the ground. Today, the water has stopped flowing. What remains today is a mound of minerals sheeted in pastel curtains over 20 feet high and more than 15 feet across.

The Bible’s description of the fountains of the deep being broken up at the beginning of the Genesis flood suggests huge hot water geysers. Much of that water would undoubtedly have been like the mineral-rich waters of today’s hot springs. This mineral water then mixed with the sediment created by the violence of the flood. As the sediment finally settled out and the waters dried up, the remaining minerals would help quickly bind the sediment together into the sedimentary rock layers we commonly see today. Those long evolutionary ages would be unnecessary.

Notes: Creation, 9-11/05, p. 56, Tas Walker, “A Monstrous Mound of ... Minerals!”
Photo: Courtesy of Brocken Inaglory. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported, 2.5 Generic license.
Creation Moments, Inc., P.O. Box 839, Foley, MN 56329 www.creationmoments.com

"While European leaders are busy expressing public indignation over reports of American espionage operations in the European Union, the European Parliament is quietly considering a proposal that calls for the direct surveillance of any EU citizen suspected of being 'intolerant.' Critics say the measure--which seeks to force the national governments of all 28 EU member states to establish 'special administrative units' to monitor any individual or group expressing views that the self-appointed guardians of European multiculturalism deem to be 'intolerant'--represents an unparalleled threat to free speech in a Europe where citizens are already regularly punished for expressing the 'wrong' opinions, especially about Islam. ... After five years of lobbying in Europe's halls of power, the European Council on Tolerance and Reconciliation (ECTR) proposal appears to be making headway, as evidenced by the European Parliament's recent decision to give the group a prominent 45-minute time slot to present its proposal to the Civil Liberties committee on September 17. Also known as the 'Model Statute for Tolerance,' the ECTR's proposal was presented as part of the EU's ongoing work towards a new 'Equal Treatment Directive' (ETD) that would vastly expand the scope of discrimination to all sectors of life in both the public and private spheres. ... According to European Dignity Watch, a civil rights watchdog based in Brussels, 'The principles of freedom of contract and the freedom to live according to one's personal moral views are in danger of being superseded by a newly developed concept of "equality." ... It is about governmental control of social behavior of citizens. These tendencies begin to give the impression of long-passed totalitarian ideas and constitute an unprecedented attack on citizens' rights. ... Faith-based groups and schools, adherents of a particular religion or even just parents who want to teach their children certain moral values would all be put under general suspicion of being intolerant,' according to European Dignity Watch."

("EU Proposal," Gatestone Institute, Oct. 28, 2013)

Six dead in Afghan bombing;
Typhoon evacuees arrive in Manila;
NYC mayor-elect says he's `cleared the air' with NYPD;
NASA readies "Maven" for journey to Mars.

An Associated Press report dated Nov. 10, 2013, titled "Atheist 'Mega-Churches' Take Root across US, World," has been republished widely, but it is grossly misleading. First, there are only dozens of these atheist gatherings, and the largest have attracted one-time crowds in the hundreds. Thus they aren't "mega" by any standard. For a church to be called a "megachurch" it must have 2,000 or more in average weekly attendance. (There are 1,300 of megachurches in the U.S.) No regular atheist gathering comes close to that. And there is no evidence that these "atheist churches" will prove to be viable over any significant period of time. The "atheist church" movement, founded by two British comedians, is attempting to attract atheists to religious-like services to sing pop songs, laugh at stand-up comedy routines, and listen to "inspirational talks." It sounds like the emerging church, except atheists sing hymns to no one and preach a gospel of nothingness.

(Friday Church News Notes, November 15, 2013, www.wayoflife.org [email protected], 866-295-4143)