Iran nuclear talks in Switzerland; Philippines hurricane; Obama apology; Jimmy Carter's grandson runs for Governor. "For the LORD loveth judgment, and forsaketh not his saints; they are preserved for ever: but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off" (Psalm 37:28). This is a most wonderful promise. Everyone has been forsaken in this world on some occasion or other, but the Lord will NOT forsake His saints. Even our dearest relations and closest friends, even our pastors and spiritual teachers, cannot be counted on to be with us at all times and to help us in all things, to bear our burdens, to care for us in every circumstance. They have their own lives and problems to deal with, and they are mere frail fallen creatures like ourselves. This is why the Bible says blessed is the man that trusts in the Lord, but cursed is the man that trusts in man (Jeremiah 17:5, 7). Those who trust in man will be disappointed. They will be offended and bitter, because their trust is in something other than the blessed God Himself. This is the essence of idolatry. When God is in the right place in a person's life, everything falls into its proper place. (Friday Church News Notes, November 1, 2013, www.wayoflife.org [email protected], 866-295-4143) Psalm 136:4 “To him who alone doeth great wonders: for his mercy endureth for ever.” A new bacterium that grows at depths of over 8,000 feet below the ocean’s surface has been discovered. This discovery wouldn’t normally be very noteworthy except for the fact that none of the sun’s light reaches that depth, yet the bacterium makes its living through photosynthesis. The emerald green organism was discovered off the Mexican coast in the Pacific Ocean. Named GSB1, the bacterium is what is classified as a green sulfur bacterium. These organisms thrive in a low oxygen, high sulfur environment. Those are the conditions found in deep-sea hydrothermal vents known as black smokers. These vents spew sulfur-rich, low oxygen hot water as hot as 750 degrees F. Just as a hot stove burner emits a small amount of light, water this hot also emits a small amount of visible light. Most of the light is infrared, which cannot be used for photosynthesis. The visible portion of the light is so dim that it cannot be seen except through night goggles. Yet the bacterium manages to perform photosynthesis in this very dim glow. This is the only known organism that performs photosynthesis without sunlight. We are still learning about the wonders of God’s unlimited creativity. However, His greatest wonder is His love, which led Him to send His only Son, Jesus Christ, to redeem us from sin, death and the devil. Notes: Science News, 6/25/05, pp. 405-406, N. Moreira, “Grow in the Dark.” Creation Moments, Inc., P.O. Box 839, Foley, MN 56329 www.creationmoments.com Twitter takes off on first day of trading; Government to ban all trans fats; Scientists say Yassar Arafat was poisoned; Olympic torch in space. In an interview with the Associated Press, Hollywood actor Alec Baldwin called the movie industry a "fetid septic tank" ("Baldwin," Breitbart.com, Oct. 23, 2013). That is doubtless the truth, spoken by an insider, and it is true in regard to the lives of the directors and actors as well as to the content of the films. We will go farther and say that the movie industry stinks in the nostrils of a thrice holy God. It has polluted the entire earth with its fetid material, but a day of accounting is coming. "Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty. The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day. For the day of the LORD of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low" (Isaiah 2:10-12). (Friday Church News Notes, November 1, 2013, www.wayoflife.org [email protected], 866-295-4143) Psalm 82:3 “Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy.” Domesticated honeybees in China are preyed upon by a native wasp. A single wasp can wipe out a nest of 6,000 bees before carrying off the larvae to feed its own young. The wasp does this by stationing itself at the entrance to the nest and killing the guards one by one as they come out to defend the hive. However, the Chinese honeybees are not defenseless. If enough of them can get to a wasp, they will literally coat the wasp. Research shows that they are doing something even more effective than stinging it. They are cooking the wasp to death. Bees generate heat by shivering their flight muscles. Both European and Chinese honeybees use this strategy to heat their nest when it gets cold. Researchers found that a wasp, fully encased in honeybees, will be heated to 113 degrees F in five minutes, enough to kill the wasp. European and Asian honeybees can stand temperatures over 120 degrees. However, the Asian bees must muster half again as many bees to cook the wasp. In God’s foreknowledge, He knew that man’s eventual sin would affect the entire creation. So He gave the creatures of His creation the ability to defend themselves. Likewise, He protects us from sin, death and the devil through the forgiveness of sins that is ours through Jesus Christ. Notes: Science News, 9/24/05, p. 197, S. Milius, “Balls of Fire.” Photo: Courtesy of Charles Lam. 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 Protests over Mideast peace talks; Health care website needed hundreds of fixes; Big changes in store for the GED; Russian fireball shows meteor risk may be bigger. "The discovery of a fossilized mosquito has led some scientists to question the presumed age of ancient fossils and rock layers. The National Academy of Sciences recently published a journal article written by a team of five American and European scientists. The 5-page paper details the recent discovery of a well-preserved, fossilized mosquito in northwestern Montana's Kishenehn Formation. Remarkably, the fossil appears to contain traces of preserved blood ... The blood-engorged mosquito was discovered in shale sediment which many geologists claim is 46 million years old. ... But even many scientists are stunned that the blood could have survived over such an immense period of time. ... Brian Thomas, science writer for the Institute for Creation Research (ICR), says the mosquito blood could not have possibly survived for nearly 50 million years. He told Christian News Network that scientists estimate specimens' ages by correlating the fossils to data listed on standardized geologic charts. ... Thomas says that the rock-dating methods used in these situations are 'notoriously unreliable,' since they often return 'vastly inflated' age estimates. He noted that a journal article written by geologist Steven Austin detailed that one volcanic rock formed at Mt. St. Helens in 1986 was assigned an age of nearly 3 million years. 'The recent report of genuine [blood] ... inside the Kishenehn Formation's mosquito fossil assigns its age using similarly circular reasoning,' Thomas continued. '[The discovery team] asserts that the fossil is 46 million years old because the Kishenehn Formation is supposedly that old ... And where do they learn the Formation is that old? Because the corresponding fossils on the geologic chart indicate such an age.' Thomas told Christian News Network that 'there is no scientific evidence that heme groups can last, under any circumstances of preservation, for even one million, let alone many millions of years.' 'Ultimately,' Thomas concluded, 'the millions of years dogma, bereft of genuine scientific substance, serves as the ultimate authority for geologists who wish to keep their jobs in a secularized discipline.'" ("Unprecedented Blood-filled Mosquito Fossil," Christian News Network , Oct. 21, 2013) Mark 4:22 “For there is nothing hid, which shall not be manifested; neither is any thing kept secret, but that it should come abroad.” Airport security is a major concern these days. There are many ways for those who don’t have good intentions to hide things beneath their clothes. Now, thanks to a design they borrowed from our Creator God, scientists have come up with a way to make that virtually impossible, The new security device is called Tadar and uses harmless high frequency waves to create images on a screen. The high frequency waves have a wavelength of only 3 millimeters. These waves reflect from anything that is blocking a person’s natural radiation. This means that anything hidden under someone’s clothing will be seen on the Tadar’s screen. The screen itself provides ten 3-dimensional images per second. Tadar can see anything from a metal gun to plastic explosives since any object will obstruct some of the body’s natural radiation. Tadar is also not invasive and can pick up objects hidden behind clothing up to 160 feet away. Tadar is named after the Brazilian bat, Tadarida brasiliensis, which uses the same high frequency pulses to find its prey. The more sophisticated our technology becomes, the more obvious it becomes that the living things around us are not the product of chance. But while science can show us the hand of the Creator, only Scripture tells us of His love for us by sending His Son to save us. Notes: Photonics Spectra, 12/05, p. 172, “Bat Patrol.” Creation Moments, Inc., P.O. Box 839, Foley, MN 56329 www.creationmoments.com Election day to determine major races across the country; President Obama appeals for immigration reform; Toronto mayor admits to smoking crack cocaine; India launches its first spacecraft bound for Mars. NJ Mall gunman dead; Virginia, New Jersey electing governors; Armed men in Denver middle school; Russia readies Olympic torch space flight. There are only 25 Jews left in Calcutta, India (now called Kolkata, the pre-British name). That is down from the 5,000 that lived there prior to the 1950s. The first Jew came to Calcutta in 1798, and thousands more followed in the 19th century. Called "Baghdadi Jews; most were from Syria and present-day Iraq ("The last Jews of Kolkata," The New York Times, Oct. 24, 2013). They thrived during British rule, exporting silk and indigo and "playing a pivotal role in the opium trade." But since the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948, most have gone. They have gone to America and England, but they have also immigrated to Israel. The seats of Calcutta's once-bustling Magan David Synagogue are empty, and it is guarded by Rabul Khan, a Muslim guard who inherited the job from his father. He said, "Whether Jews come or not, we will still be here to watch over this place for them." They might as well sell that property, because the Jews will never have need of it again. "The last Jews of Calcutta" is a major prophetic sign of the times. Where are the Jews going? They are going home. "So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone. And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them" (Ezekiel 37:7-8). (Friday Church News Notes, November 1, 2013, www.wayoflife.org, [email protected], 866-295-4143) Psalm 5:3 “My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.” The concave-eared torrent frog of China sings like a bird with a wide assortment of whistles and chirps. They live where streams and rivers splash down rocky mountainsides. Researchers got a surprise when they were studying sonograms of the frog’s singing that they had recorded on equipment used to study bats. The sonograms revealed strong signals above 20 kilohertz, and way above human hearing range. So scientists wondered, can the frogs hear such ultrasonic signals? To find out, they went to the frogs’ habitat with equipment designed to record and play the full range of their songs. They then played the ultrasonic songs they had recorded. One of the native male frogs quickly responded. To verify that the frogs could actually hear the ultrasonic calls, researchers then placed electrodes into the portion of the frog’s brain that processes hearing. Sure enough, the frog was hearing the ultrasonic calls. Further testing showed that the frogs can hear sounds as high-pitched as 34 kilohertz. They then realized that this makes perfect sense. The water splashing over the rocks in their habitat creates a lot of white noise, so the frogs need to communicate in sound frequencies well above that of the surrounding white noise. This unique design reminds us that God cares for all of His creatures and has fully prepared each kind for survival. Notes: Science News, 3/18/06, pp. 165-166, S. Milius, “Can You Hear Me Now?” Photo: Courtesy of L. Shyamal. 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 Johnson & Johnson to pay $2.2 billion settlement; Family of accused LAX shooter expresses sympathy to victims; Morsi on trial; World Series "shave off" for charity. Morsi on trial; LAX shooting update; Birmingham airport evacuated; Texans' coach collapses. Southern Baptist Seminary President Speaks to Mormons about Joining Forces against Secularism11/4/2013
Al Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Convention's flagship seminary, spoke to a Mormon audience at Brigham Young University on October 21. He stated that he does not accept Mormon doctrine and that he was there as one "committed to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to the ancient and eternal Trinitarian faith of the Christian church." But he also said that he believes that Mormons and Christians should stand together against the onslaught of secularism. His presence at a Mormon forum was exhibit A for this type of unity. He said many good things, such as, "The conflict of liberties we are now experiencing is unprecedented and ominous. Forced to choose between erotic liberty and religious liberty, many Americans would clearly sacrifice freedom of religion. How long will it be until many becomes most?" (Albert Mohler Speaks at Brigham Young University," Courier-Journal, Louisville, Kentucky, Oct. 22, 2013). And, "Heterosexuals did a very good job of undermining marriage before same-sex couples arrived with their demands. The marriage crisis is a moral crisis and it did not start with same-sex marriage, nor will it end there. Once marriage can mean anything other than a heterosexual union, it can and must mean everything. It is just a matter of time" (Mohler at Brigham Young).Those are brilliant statements. He knows what is happening and sees what is coming, but he understands neither the root cause nor the solution. As for the root cause, it is the apostasy and compromise of the churches, and his own Southern Baptist Convention has as much guilt in this as any. He proposes a poisonous solution to heal the disease. It doesn't matter how reasonable it might seem for moralists of all stripes to join forces against secularism, God forbids His people to do that. "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols?" (2 Cor. 6:14-15). Where do we see the apostles joining forces with moralistic pagans against the ills of the Roman Empire? When did Paul try to form an alliance with morality-loving Jews and the Galatian heretics against Caesar worship and Diana orgies? Conservative evangelicals today are facing two ways, just like their hero Billy Graham. They say some good things; they speak some truth out of one side of the mouth, but they contradict it out of the other. They seemingly have a face toward truth, but they have another face toward error. It is light mixed with darkness. It is confusion, and this type of compromise results in vast spiritual blind spots. Modern evangelical waters, even the most "conservative," are dangerous waters. (Friday Church News Notes, November 1, 2013, www.wayoflife.org [email protected], 866-295-4143) Genesis 1:20a “And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life ....” The brown ghost knifefish, popular in many aquariums, generates a weak electric signal that it uses for navigation and communication. The electric field they generate is too weak to stun prey. However, the electric organs that run along the sides of their bodies can pick up any changes in the field when the field encounters something with a conductivity that is different than water. The communication aspects of the field are even more amazing. Male knifefish have been recorded singing to females by modulating their electric field. Researchers report that the males will sing like this for hours at night. However, when two knifefish who are hostile to one another encounter each other, they will raise the frequency of their electric field to jam their rival’s signal. Researchers confirmed their conclusion that the knifefish were attempting to jam an enemy’s signal by using a dummy knifefish. They rigged the dummy to generate signals that mimicked a knifefish. Then they placed two male knifefish in the tank with it. The two males were rivals to the dummy, and both male knifefish quickly raised their frequencies to jam the rival’s signal. Some people believe that mindless evolution gave the knifefish the ability to generate and control electric fields for communication as well as the ability to receive those signals. That credit clearly belongs to God! Notes: Science News, 11/19/05, pp. 324-325, S. Milius, “Tszzzzzt!” Photo: Courtesy of Derek Ramsey. Licensed under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2. Creation Moments, Inc., P.O. Box 839, Foley, MN 56329 www.creationmoments.com Keith Getty and Stuart Townend, who have co-written popular "modern hymns" that are used in every kind of church from Roman Catholic to fundamental Baptist, have one foot in the world even as they write about a holy God. In a July 2013 interview Getty mentioned immoral rocker Sting and homosexual rocker Elton John in a positive light, with not a hint of warning. The interview was with Dan Wooding of Assist Ministries and was broadcast on Frontpage Radio from Nashville. Townend shamelessly lists as musical influences rockers such as Eminem and Bernie Taupin. As Jeff Royal comments, "Townend has no warning for the musical influences he lists. Taupin for example, co-wrote many songs for homosexual Elton John and was a reason for his success. Rapper Eminem has done untold harm to youth and yet no warning whatsoever." The Gettys list the Beatles as a major musical influence, and in his 2013 studio album Monument to Mercy, Townend "tips his hat to the influence of Paul McCartney and the Beatles." No rock group has had a greater anti-God influence on modern society than the Beatles. The Beatles have shaken their fist at Almighty God and His holy laws since the day they formed their band. To promote anti-God secular rockers in any sense whatsoever is to be a participant in their wickedness and to make oneself an enemy of God. "Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God" (James 4:4). "And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them" (Ephesians 5:11). Any bridge that Bible-believing churches build to Townend and Getty is a bridge beyond to the world of secular rock which they love and recommend and to the one-world "church" they represent. Yet at least eight Getty/Townend songs are included in Majesty Music's Rejoice Hymns. Twenty-nine of their songs are featured in Hymns Modern and Ancient, published by Heart Publications, a ministry of Steve Pettit Evangelistic Association and compiled by Fred Coleman who heads up Bob Jones University's Department of Church Music. Both Crown Baptist College and West Coast Baptist College, the two largest independent Baptist Bible colleges, perform Getty material in their services. (Friday Church News Notes, November 1, 2013, www.wayoflife.org, [email protected], 866-295-4143) The osprey is a magnificent fish-eating raptor that is found on every continent except Antarctica. A full grown bird is about 24 inches in length with a six-foot wing span and weighs between two to four pounds. With its amazing eyes, this bird of prey can see a fish swimming underwater from 130 feet in the air. Like the bald eagle, the osprey's eyes face forward, giving it binocular vision and great depth perception. Its sharp eyes correct for the refraction caused by the bending of the light in the water. When it sights a target, it hovers, folds its wings and dives feet first with its talons ready to grab the prey. Its outer toes are reversible, allowing it to grasp its prey with two talons in front and two behind or three talons in front and one behind, and its feet have backwards-facing scales which act as barbs to help grip the slippery fish. The osprey's nostrils are closable to keep out water during dives, and it has a membrane that covers the eye and acts as a contact lens when it is under water. When flying with its catch, it carries the fish head-forward to reduce wind resistance. The birds usually mate for life, building a large nest that is renovated each season. The male provides the nest-building materials for the female to do the actual construction, and the male brings food to the nest while the female incubates the eggs. A pair of nesting birds and their chicks will eat six pounds of fish per day. Most ospreys migrate for the winter, with European ospreys wintering in Africa and American and Canadian ospreys wintering in Florida, California, and South America. They travel an average of 160 miles per day during migration. (Friday Church News Notes, October 25, 2013, www.wayoflife.org, [email protected], 866-295-4143) Gunman opens fire at Los Angeles International Airport; Texas game wardens rescue young mother and son from rising floods; Mexicans observe Day of the Dead; Officials prepare for New York City Marathon. Food stamp benefits shrink; Obama meets Iraqi PM; Marijuana tax on Colorado ballot; Healthcare.gov looks for new faces. On October 13, Pope Benedict consecrated the world to "the immaculate heart of Mary." He did this most idolatrous and blasphemous act during mass in St. Peter's square. Mary is the mother of Jesus and she is held in honor as such, but she is not immaculate and she cannot hear and answer prayer. She has absolutely nothing to do with salvation. There is only one Propitiator, Mediator, Advocate, and Intercessor, and that is Jesus Christ. Where are the voices of prominent Baptists and "evangelicals" such as Rick Warren and Charles Stanley and leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention and Calvary Chapels and Nazarenes and Mennonites, et al. , that are lifted against this blasphemy? The deafening silence is evidence of the apostasy of the times. (Friday Church News Notes, October 25, 2013, www.wayoflife.org, [email protected], 866-295-4143) Job 8:13-14 “So are the paths of all that forget God; and the hypocrite’s hope shall perish: Whose hope shall be cut off, and whose trust shall be a spider’s web.” Scientists recently examined a well-preserved spider web encased in amber. It is the oldest example of a spider web in existence and was declared to be 110 million years old. The researchers were eager to find out what the specimen might teach them about spider evolution. The web consisted of 26 strands of silk preserved in the amber while the pattern of the web appeared to be just like that of the modern orb-weaving spider. Three insects that were held by the web when it was encased in amber were also preserved. Interestingly, these three insects – a wasp, a fly and a mite – are the same three insects that are most often caught by modern orb spiders. Today’s orb spiders place drops of glue along their web to capture their insects. The composition of the ancient glue and the modern glue were the same; however, it turned out that the ancient spider had applied the glue in a slightly different way from its modern cousin. From this small detail the researchers tried to spin an evolutionary tale about this spider. Mankind the world over uses different techniques to achieve the same purpose. The fact remains that the ancient spider’s web design and way of making a living were identical to that of modern spiders. There was certainly no evidence of evolution here. Notes: Science News, 6/24/06, p. 390, S. Perkins, “Sticky Subjects.” Photo: Golden orb-weaving spider. Courtesy of Kenneth Holley. Creation Moments, Inc., P.O. Box 839, Foley, MN 56329 www.creationmoments.com |
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