People around the world celebrate the New Year,
Colorado prepares for the legalization of marijuana,
Obama's health benefits take effect tomorrow,
The Australasian researchers wait to be rescued.

Town urged to evacuate after train wreck;
Russia boosts security after bombings;
Hospital told to keep brain dead girl breathing;
New Year's Eve.

There is another issue that should be raised pertaining to Duck Dynasty's Phil Robertson's firing by A&E, and that is the fact that the Robertsons, of their own free will, signed a business contract with a company that is owned by the Hearst Corporation and Disney. These are godless companies that have done a lot of harm to the moral and spiritual fabric of society. Hearst owns, among other things, 29 television stations, Cosmopolitan magazine, Seventeen, O (Oprah's magazine), and some of the most liberal newspapers in America, including the San Francisco Chronicle and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Hearst Books publishes the best-selling Cosmo's Kama Sutra which promises "steamy illustrations" and "a sex position of the day." Surely the following commandment applies to the believer's affiliation with such people: "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? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty" (2 Corinthians 6:14-18). For a Christian to form a business partnership with an unbeliever is disobedience to this command. Further, in the process of entering this business partnership, the Robertsons probably signed a "morals clause" in which "they promised to, among other things, avoid anything that would embarrass or bring shame to A&E or the brand." The Los Angeles Times reports that "such clauses are standard in the entertainment and sports industries" ("A&E Warned Phil Robertson about Speaking out too Much," LA Times, Dec. 20, 2013). If they did sign such a clause, they were agreeing to abide by A&E's rules.

(Friday Church News Notes, December 27, 2013, www.wayoflife.org [email protected], 866-295-4143)

Luke 14:28-30
“For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish.”

Can ants count? It seems so! When a scout ant finds an item of food too big to carry, but especially good, the scout will return to the nest to get help. Scientists have discovered that ants apparently size up the task ahead so that they can return with just sufficient help.

One scientist cut a dead grasshopper into three pieces. The second piece was twice as big as the first, and the third was twice as big the second. He then left the pieces in different locations where ants could find them. He watched as each was discovered by a scout, inspected, and each scout returned to the nest for help. When the scout returned with help, the scientist counted the number of ants working at each piece of grasshopper. The smallest piece had 28 ants and the piece that was twice its size had 44 ants working on it, almost twice as many as the smallest piece. And how many ants do you think were working on the piece that was twice the size of the second? If you doubled that 44 to 88 you would be within one of being right – yes, there were 89 ants working to return the biggest piece to the nest!

The ants were carrying out the biblical principal to “count the cost of the project before you begin it.”

Photo: Courtesy of PHGCOM. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 Generic license.
Creation Moments, Inc., P.O. Box 839, Foley, MN 56329 www.creationmoments.com

Second Russia explosion;
Five NFL coaches fired;
Michael Schumacher critical;
Australian sharks "tweeting" to alert swimmers.

Bank robbery suspect previously arrested for threatening President;
Bus bomb in Russia;
Brain dead girl faces deadline;
New England snow storm.

Duck Dynasty is the highest-rated reality series in cable television history. It highlights the lives of a self-described "redneck" Louisiana family who own the multi-million dollar hunting-accessories company Duck Commander, which was built on a popular duck call device the founder invented in 1972. It is a true life "rags to riches" story. Duck Dynasty began airing on A&E in March 2012 and the wildly popular program has become a multi-million dollar brand with its own line of camo clothing, t-shirts, iPhone games, birthday cards, bobbleheads, blankets, Segways, recliners, sunglasses, headphones, cookbooks, you name it--1,200 items altogether! Duck Dynasty merchandise sales have reached $400 million, with about half of that sold in Walmart stores. Universal Music teamed up with A&E to produce a holiday music album entitled Duck the Halls, Hallmark has Duck Dynasty greeting cards, and the 2014 Duck Dynasty cruise is already sold out. Duck Dynasty has been A&E's most financially successful venture. The heroes of Duck Dynasty present themselves as backwoods rednecks, but family patriot Phil Robertson has a masters' degree in education and his son Willie has a business degree.
   Unlike most television fare today, there is "no cussing, no meanness," and the family represents conservative, patriotic American values. In his autobiography, Phil Robertson says, "Our founding fathers started this country and built it on God and His Word, and this country sure would be a better place to live and raise our children if we still followed their ideals and beliefs," to which we say a hearty Amen. The unlikely stars--Phil and his sons, their wives, and other relatives--are outspoken Christians. They are strong in their beliefs. 
   The problem--a very serious problem according to God's Word--is that their gospel is the false baptismal regeneration gospel of the Church of Christ. Phil and his oldest son Al are elders at White's Ferry Church of Christ in West Monroe, Louisiana. They add baptism to the gospel, believing that water baptism places the candidate "into Christ" ("Jase Robertson Baptizes 'Duck Dynasty' Fan," The Christian Chronicle, March 2013). Phil told The Christian Chronicle that he and his sons Alan and Jase preach the same message of faith, repentance AND BAPTISM wherever they're invited. Speaking to Harding University student body on Nov. 28, 2012, Willie Robertson told of how that he baptized a sports star "into the Lord." They also believe that a born-again child of God can lose his salvation, which means that they don't really understand the gospel. This is not a light matter. The apostle Paul said that a false gospel is cursed of God, and the gospel that Paul summarized in 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 has no baptism.
   Of lesser importance, but still an issue that should not be ignored if we want to be faithful to God in all matters, is this: The Robertsons despise the Scripture which says that even nature itself teaches that it is a shame for a man to have long hair (1 Corinthians 11:14). This is the verse that the Spirit of God used to convict me to cut my long hair 40 years ago even though I thought it looked good. On my cross-country hitchhiking trips before I was saved in 1973, I thought my success was due to the fact that I "looked like Jesus"! I was deceived then, but I thank God for the light of God's Word to shine godly wisdom into every area of life.

(Friday Church News Notes, December 27, 2013, www.wayoflife.org [email protected], 866-295-4143)

Psalm 26:6-7
“I will wash mine hands in innocency: so will I compass thine altar, 0 LORD: That I may publish with the voice of thanksgiving, and tell of all thy wondrous works.”

One might expect that the ape would turn out to be the best animal communicator. But evolution’s expectations about language, and a link between man and apes, proves to be wrong.

The bee has the most complex and detailed functional language among the animals. Let’s say that a bee has located a particularly good source of nectar and returns to the hive to tell its friends where it is. Our bee dances a figure eight, with the cross points at the center of the eight giving the direction of the nectar in relation to the sun. As the bee dances on the wall of the honeycomb, the position of the sun is always down. If the bee moves up the comb wall at 17 degrees to the left of vertical, it means the honey is 17 degrees to the left of the sun. This communication even works on cloudy days, since bees can see the ultraviolet light that penetrates the clouds. Distance is communicated by the speed of the dance.

Neither man’s languages, nor the bees’ language evolved – they were given by God. Why else would the bee indicate direction relative to the sun in the same way that human beings do? That the bee is the best communicator in the animal world, and not the apes, helps to show that language cannot be explained by evolution.

Photo: Courtesy of Fir0002. Licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2.
Creation Moments, Inc., P.O. Box 839, Foley, MN 56329 www.creationmoments.com

The brouhaha surrounding Duck Dynasty star Phil Robertson's statement about homosexuality is a reminder that freedom of speech is dead in America at a very important level. Robertson, the 67-year-old patriarch of A&E's wildly popular television program, expressed his personal views in a conversation with entertainment magazine GQ that appears in the January 2014 edition and was first reported last week. Robertson said that homosexuality is unnatural and sinful and that it morphs into other things. "Start with homosexual behavior and just morph out from there. Bestiality, sleeping around with this woman and that woman and that woman and those men." Robertson paraphrased 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 as follows: "Don't be deceived. Neither the adulterers, the idolaters, the male prostitutes, the homosexual offenders, the greedy, the drunkards, the slanderers, the swindlers--they won't inherit the kingdom of God. Don't deceive yourself. It's not right." 
   Predictably, homosexual rights groups went berserk, charging Robertson with hate and ignorance. Assuming a ridiculous stance of righteous indignation, GLADD exclaimed that Robertson's remarks were "some of the vilest and most extreme statements uttered against LGBT people in a mainstream publication." GLADD (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) seeks to "shape the media narrative" and "change the culture." 
   A&E immediately issued a statement condemning Robertson's remarks and putting Robertson "under hiatus from filming indefinitely." 
   I am glad for Robertson's outspokenness and I am glad that his family is standing with him against the blatant discrimination ("Duck Dynasty Family Stands by Suspended Patriarch," CNN, Dec. 20, 2013). More power to them. Millions of Americans believe exactly what Robertson believes, and at least a couple million of them have risen up and stated their support for Robertson on sites such as Twitter and Facebook since his firing by A&E.
   The problem is that this doesn't change anything of substance. Just as with the Chick-Fil-A brouhaha earlier this year, this type of private speech is currently allowed by the speech Nazis (only because they can't yet stop it). The massive support that was shown for Chick-fil-A didn't change anything, and the support for Duck Dynasty won't change anything of substance. What is not currently allowed is for public figures and anyone in the employ of the government to speak out against homosexuality by calling it sinful and saying that it is under God's judgment and comparing it to other moral perversions. Many have been fired and otherwise disciplined for this. 
   That is the freedom that has already been lost, and it is a great loss, and it is only the first step. Homosexual activists have demonstrated that they are seeking to silence all publicly-stated opposition to their "lifestyle," and they will not settle for anything less. They are winning significant battles toward this objective and unless there is a massive spiritual revival in the churches, they will eventually win the war (in this present place and time, though not in eternity).
   America is no longer the land of the free and the home of the brave (some shining exceptions notwithstanding). And it is not the fault of GLADD. Radical homosexual rights organizations represent a relatively few people with a loud voice. Why can a few dictate what can or cannot be said in public places? Why are the courts siding with the few against the U.S. Constitution?
   The fault lies at the door of America's compromising, worldly, and apostate churches. The removal of liberty and the replacement of bravery with cowardice are judgments of God. The same thing happened in Israel of old. The prophets were the source of the "profaneness" that had "gone forth into all the land" (Jeremiah 23:15). You won't hear the fear of God and repentance and holiness and separation and warnings of God's judgment thundered from the pulpits of the more than 1,300 "megachurches" in America. And the vast majority of the smaller churches are no better. In the midst of times that call for affliction, mourning, and weeping, they are partying (James 4:4-9). As a result, children are our oppressors and women rule over us (Isaiah 3:12) and two can put ten thousand to flight (Deut. 32:30). When God's people refuse to hearken to His voice and instead follow their own hearts' lust and walk after their own counsel, He removes His blessing and "the haters of the Lord" become their oppressors (Psalm 81:11-15).
   It's all very sad and disturbing, but the Bible says this present wicked world is passing away (1 John 2:15-17). It will soon be but a faded dream. My business is not to fret because of evildoers (Psalm 37:1). My business is to fulfill the Great Commission of gospel preaching to every nation and the planting of sound Bible churches while it is still day, and that is exactly what we are doing. The hour is very late, friends, are you ready for the Lord's return.

(Friday Church News Notes, December 27, 2013, www.wayoflife.org [email protected], 866-295-4143)

Extended benefits for unemployed ending;
Train fire kills dozens in India;
Ice blocks rescue ship in Antarctica;
Visitors say "good riddance to 2013" in Times Square.

Geneticists have discovered a second language code hiding with DNA that overthrows 40 years of scientific assumptions. "Since the genetic code was deciphered in the 1960s, scientists have assumed it was used exclusively to write information about proteins, but University of Washington scientists say they've discovered genomes use the genetic code to write two separate 'languages.' One, long understood, describes how proteins are made, while the other instructs the cell on how genes are controlled. One language is written on top of the other, which is why the second language remained hidden for so long, a university release said Thursday" ("Scientists Find Second," Breitbart.com, Dec. 12, 2013). Professor John Stamatoyannopoulos of the University of Washington says: "These new findings highlight that DNA is an incredibly powerful information storage device, which nature has fully exploited in unexpected ways." That is an amazing statement. How could blind "nature" have created a language code so incredibly complex that it has taken thousands of top-flight modern scientists, decades to figure out its mere rudiments? The very existence of DNA is evidence for a Creator for those who are not willfully blind.

(Friday Church News Notes, December 20, 2013, www.wayoflife.org [email protected], 866-295-4143)

Conn. school shooting documents released;
Legality of NSA phone surveillance program upheld;
Police investigate La. shooting rampage;
New design for New Year's Eve ball.

More power outages;
Explosion in Lebanon;
South Sudan fighting;
Multiple killing in Louisiana.

"The president of Israel recently expressed support for homosexual 'marriage' as a controversial tax break for homosexual parents stalls in Israeli's legislature. Shimon Peres has held numerous positions in the Israeli government, including Minister of Foreign Affairs and Prime Minister. Since 2007, Peres, who is now 90 years old, has served as Israel's president, which is largely a ceremonial role. Earlier this month, Peres made a state visit to Mexico, during which he was interviewed by Ynet News--an Israeli news website. When asked about the topic of homosexual 'marriage,' Peres said that he is supportive of those who identify as homosexual. 'Even a person who is a homosexual is a human being, and he has rights,' Peres stated. 'We have no power to take away [their] rights.’... Peres' comments come at a time when the Israeli legislature is considering a law that would extend tax breaks for homosexual partners who have children. Currently, Israel recognizes same-sex 'marriages' from other countries, but does not recognize domestic homosexual unions, since marriage is recognized as a strictly religious act in Israel."



("Israeli President Expresses Support," Christian News Network, Dec. 8, 2013)

Hebrews 3:4
“For every house is builded by some man; but he that built all things is God.”

An adult’s liver is about the size of a football and weighs about three pounds, making it the body’s largest internal organ. Tucked neatly beneath the ribs, your liver performs more than 500 different tasks. It is a vital link between your heart, lungs and digestive system.

Inside the liver is a bewildering array of microscopic veins in which each drop of blood is processed. Here, blood conditions are constantly monitored to make sure everything is up to standard. If more of certain substances are needed in the blood, they are supplied. Useless chemicals are broken down into useful chemicals. Proteins are made in the liver, blood-clotting factors are corrected, hormone balances are maintained, and poisons are neutralized. If substances are needed to fight an infection, they are produced and added to the blood.

The liver also stores vitamins and minerals and prepares itself to provide your body with quick energy when you need it. In addition, the liver makes bile, which is essential for digestion.

Structures like the liver have caused many evolutionists to abandon the idea that life is a result of millions of years of accidents. The liver is just too well designed and integrated into the body to have been produced by purposelessness and mindlessness. Surely it makes more sense to acknowledge a supremely wise Creator Who loves His Creation, including you and me.

Notes: “The Liver: The Body’s Refinery” Discover, April 1984, p. 80.
Photo: Courtesy of Dr. I-Chen Tsai. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Creation Moments, Inc., P.O. Box 839, Foley, MN 56329 www.creationmoments.com

American hostage pleas to Obama;
Amazon offers refunds to customers for delays;
Thailand protests lead to violence;
Furniture made from airplane parts becomes high end art.

The following was written as a description of England in about 1861, a year or two after the publication of Darwin's On the Origin of Species: "What with the oppositions of science falsely so called, on the one hand, and superstitious indulgence of human traditions and fancies on the other, truth is well nigh fallen in the street. Yes, the time is come when those who will cleave to the Bible, and nothing else, must be content to take the place of fools in the estimation of men around them; or to be accounted mad" (Henry Soltau, The Tabernacle, c. 1861).








(Friday Church News Notes, December 20, 2013, www.wayoflife.org, [email protected], 866-295-4143)

Proverbs 30:28
“The spider taketh hold with her hands, and is in king’s palaces.”

About 10 percent of the 35,000 known species of spiders spin the familiar orb-shaped web. These amazing sticky silk constructions may be a few inches or even a yard across.

The first step in building an orb web is to cast out the highest horizontal silk line in the planned construction. Once both ends are anchored, the spider then pulls another strand below the anchor line into a “y” shape, then drops down while creating another silk strand to complete the leg of the “y”. Other anchor lines may be attached from the center of the “y” to solid objects before the familiar spiral of the orb-web is started. Despite all of this work, most spiders take their webs down, eating the silk as they go, every day before the sun comes up. One question that nearly everyone asks, and scientists cannot even answer, is why don’t spiders get caught in their own sticky webs?

Scientists who believe in evolution have come to the conclusion that since so many different kinds of spiders build orb webs, the knowledge and ability to do so must have evolved many times. But we think it would be absolutely amazing if it even evolved only once!

Proverbs 30:28 refers to the spider’s wisdom and skill, despite its small size. But we have to ask: Who taught the spider in the first place?

Photo: Courtesy of Rustedstrings. 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

Christmas outages across US;
Flooding hits England on Christmas;
President Obama's Christmas Day advice;
Europeans takes a polar plunge.

Pope's Christmas Message;
US Soldiers celebrate Christmas;
Court rules teen is brain dead;
Cabbie finds $300K.

"Israel Today, 1 November 2013 reported that 'a group of prominent Israeli rabbis issued a call for earnest prayers against the division of the land of Israel, as currently being negotiated by Israeli, American and Palestinian officials. ... They called on all faithful Jews to recite additional prayers pertaining to the continued unity of the land of Israel under Jewish sovereignty.' Reciting prayers will not help, for no man comes to the Father except through the Son whom the rabbis reject. Reciting prayers is vain repetition. God gave the whole land to Israel but He took them out of the land and scattered them among the nations because of their sin. They have been blinded and will continue so until they acknowledge their Saviour and King, Jesus Christ. That day will come early in the Tribulation. This does not mean that the Gentiles can claim the land, for the land really belongs to God. Joel wrote: 'I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there ... for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and PARTED MY LAND' (Joel 3:2). ... The Palestinians have no rights to the land, and Israel cannot possess it all until she repents. The time will come when the rabbis will urge true repentance as indicated in Joel 2:12-17. The growing Islamic threat will bring an invasion led by Russia in the first half of the Tribulation and Joel's prophecy will be fulfilled. Only then will all the land be theirs."

(John Ecob, Herald of Hope, December 2013)

Proverbs 8:12a, 22, 30-31a
“I wisdom dwell with prudence…The Lord possessed me in the beginning of His way, before his works of old…Then I was by him, as one brought up with him: and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him; rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth…”

The amazing structure of the honeycomb has fascinated scientists for thousands of years. In the third century, the astronomer and geometer, Pappus of Alexandria, became the first to offer an explanation for why the honeycomb has a hexagonal shape.

Pappus explained that only three shapes could serve as candidates for a honeycomb cell – the triangle, the square and the hexagon. Any other shape would leave wasteful open spaces between each cell. Pappus noted that the hexagon holds more honey in the same space than either a square or a triangle. It also takes less wax to build, and the shared sides of the hexagonal cells cut wax usage even further.

But it was not until the development of modern calculus that scientists could fully appreciate the shape of the caps at the end of the honeycomb cells. Each cell is capped with a pyramid composed of three rhombuses. Complex mathematics shows that this shape, too, requires the least amount of wax for construction and that it allows honeycomb cells to be butted up against each other without wasting space.

Modern scientists who accept evolution talk about the design of the honeycomb as a great accomplishment by bees. But the more sensible conclusion is obvious. The twelve-sided prism, that is, six sides plus two ends of the honeycomb, is magnificent testimony to the mathematical wisdom of the Creator Himself!

Photo: Courtesy of Waugsberg. Licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2.
Creation Moments, Inc., P.O. Box 839, Foley, MN 56329 www.creationmoments.com

Egypt bomb aftermath;
Space walkers install new pump;
Stores lure last-minute shoppers;
Santa shot with pellet gun.

Same-sex weddings in Utah;
Explosion in Egypt;
Deep freeze for Upper Midwest, Northern New England;
Last game at Candlestick Park.