I truly believe Gap Theory was dreamed up to squeeze millions of years, cave men, and dinosaurs into the Bible. Job clearly references dinosaurs, and most every culture globally has an oral and/or visual record of dragons.
Are you fortunate enough to live among trees? The Word of God is replete with references to trees – in the histories and prophecies. I often think of the old adage – “he can’t see the forest for the trees,” when faced with the obstinate refusal of sinners to see the sin that they are mired in. As they are in the midst of it – they fail to see how immense sin truly is. The Lord made all trees and plants on the third day of creation – and He made them very, very good. . . not just good for food, shelter, clothing, and outright beauty. . .but good for our souls.
Trees Really Are ‘Pleasant to the Sight’
by Brian Thomas, M.S. *
Genesis 2:9 records one of the Lord’s original intentions for creating trees, saying, “Out of the ground the LORD God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” A new study has quantified just how pleasant to the sight trees can be, inadvertently confirming the truthfulness of this ancient biblical passage.
Professor William Sullivan and lecturer Bin Jiang of the University of Illinois’ department of landscape architecture measured stress levels in participants who watched six-minute-long 3D panoramic videos of neighborhoods. The amount of tree canopy coverage in the various neighborhoods ranged from 2 to 62 percent.1
The researchers used three tactics to gauge stress: measuring salivary cortisol levels, detecting skin conductance, and conducting self-reports. Adrenal glands secrete cortisol hormone in response to stress, and sweaty skin—another response to stress—conducts electricity more efficiently than dry skin.
Their analysis revealed that those participants exposed to 62 percent tree coverage experienced a 60 percent reduction in stress.
Their results also showed that 41 percent of participants showed no change in stress levels when only a quarter or less of the neighborhood canopies had trees. However, according to University of Illinois news, “when the percentage of tree canopy increased to 36 percent, more than 90 percent of viewers reported feeling calm or relaxed while watching the videos.”1
These findings support the idea that urban planners and landscape architects who incorporate green spaces into their plans could help foster a healthier, calmer populace.
How could the calming sense of pleasure that comes from looking at trees have evolved? Did it somehow help mankind out-compete some ancient and unfeeling animals from which we supposedly emerged?
Rather, God built trees to meet humanity’s God-given ability to appreciate them and thus their Maker. What better disposition from which to appreciate the Lord than one of simple pleasure? Viewed from a biblical perspective, the positive effect of merely looking at tree canopies confirms the words of Genesis that God made certain trees—not just the tree of the knowledge of good and evil—to be pleasant to the eyes.
* Mr. Thomas is Science Writer at the Institute for Creation Research.
Deuteronomy 20:18-20
18 That they teach you not to do after all their abominations, which they have done unto their gods; so should ye sin against the Lord your God.
19 When thou shalt besiege a city a long time, in making war against it to take it, thou shalt not destroy the trees thereof by forcing an axe against them: for thou mayest eat of them, and thou shalt not cut them down (for the tree of the field is man’s life) to employ them in the siege:
20 Only the trees which thou knowest that they be not trees for meat, thou shalt destroy and cut them down; and thou shalt build bulwarks against the city that maketh war with thee, until it be subdued.
Revelation 22:1-3
22 And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.
2 In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
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
Please enjoy this lovely rendition of Joyce Kilmer’s/Oscar Rasbach’s “Trees,” sung by Bob McGrath, in classical Irish tenor style...
The next time you are outside, stop and take a whiff of the oxygen and fragrance that trees provide. Really pause, and look up at their branches moving in the wind. Thank our Creator for giving us such beautiful, wonderful things, things that we so often overlook in our busy lives.
The prevailing trend is to put animals on the same level as man – making continual referrals to our “closest relative” – the chimpanzee. We see many well produced, heart-tugging, and expensive commercials for the Humane Society, or the ASPCA. All the while, crisis pregnancy centers struggle to keep their doors open, and private property owners are forced to surrender everything to an endangered animal.
Man is not an animal, man is God’s jewel of Creation
God. . .breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul. Genesis 2: 7
Man is special to God
God said, Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness: and let them have dominion . . .upon the earth. Genesis 1: 26
Man is positionally important to God
Thou wast precious in My sight. . .and I have loved thee. . .Even every one that is called by My name: for I have created him for My glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him. Isaiah 43: 4, 7
Our God is a Triune God
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is One Lord. . .Deuteronomy 6: 4
Man was created a triune being
I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Thessalonians 5: 23
The New Age Religion seeks to spread the blasphemy, that not only is man one with nature – but God is also one with everything.
“Swami Vivekkananda, a Hindu guru widely thought of in America, taught that because the Mother-Goddess Kali is all, all in one, and all is cyclical, God is both good and evil:
‘Who can say that God does not manifest Himself as Evil as well as Good? But only the Hindu dares to worship him in the evil. . .How few have dared to worship death, or Kali? Let us worship death!’
Likewise, Lucifer is said to be neither evil nor good. He simply is. Formerly a destroyer, Lucifer now becomes a god – perhaps the God – chosen to shepherd mankind into the brightness of a New Age.
He is the Shiva and Kali of the New Age.” (Dark Secrets of the New Age,p. 87, Texe Marrs)
When young boys and girls are told repeatedly in school that the human embryo is no different than a chicken embryo in the early days of development – this sets the stage for abortion later on. After all – we eat chickens – don’t we?
14 I will praise Thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are Thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. 15 My substance was not hid from Thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. 16 Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in Thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them. Psalm 139: 14-16
If you – or someone you know – is faced with an unplanned pregnancy – think about this one thing. . .ending the life that is growing, will not solve anything. Please, choose the miracle of life. Choose God’s way, not Satan’s way. God loves you so much, and you are so precious to Him, that He gave His life, so that you could live – you and your unborn child.
There are lovely and caring women, just waiting to help you, at crisis pregnancy centers all over America. Just look in the yellow pages. You will not be judged, you will be loved. You – and your child.
As is so often the case – scientists are studying God’s Creation- and applying it to modern technology. Until recently – it was a mystery, just how geckos were able to cling so easily to even the smoothest surfaces, and still be able to maneuver around on the same surface. But now – the fascinating truth is discovered!
Even though gecko toe pads adhere strongly to almost any surface, they can peel off of those surfaces quickly. That’s because the pads have tiny hair-like projections made from the tough protein keratin that can only be seen at incredibly strong magnification. If the geckos’ feet and tiny keratin fibers got dirty, that sticky interaction wouldn’t work, making them instantly vulnerable to predators.
In an effort to find out how geckos keep their feet clean, researchers based at the University of Akron (UA) found that phospholipids, which are special kinds of thin oils, are manufactured and excreted to keep the keratin hairs clean and serve as the temporary contact adhesive between geckos’ toes and the surface on which they’re walking. (Brian Thomas, M.S.)
Scientists have already taken advantage of the phospholipids, and are synthesizing adhesives with great potential for formerly unheard of applications.
For by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by Him, and for Him.
Colossians 1: 16
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.
One way researchers are finding out is by studying coprolites, or fossilized dinosaur dung. And as it turns out, some dinosaurs ate rice plants. But if flowering plants like rice did not evolve until millions of years after dinosaurs lived—as evolution maintains—how could dinosaurs have eaten them?
Some coprolites contain phytoliths, which are uniquely shaped microscopic crystals manufactured by various plant tissues. Most phytoliths are made of silicon dioxide, the same chemical that comprises sand. Scientists examining these tiny grains can often discern from which plant they came.
For example, in 2005, researchers found phytoliths from grass, palm trees, conifers, and other flowering plants in (probably sauropod) dinosaur coprolites from India.1 “It was very unexpected….We will have to rewrite our understanding of its evolution….We may have to add grass to the dioramas of dinosaurs we see in museums,” palaeobotanist Caroline Strömberg told Nature News at the time.2
Recently, Strömberg and two of her co-authors from the 2005 study described coprolite-encased phytoliths that are so similar to those made by certain modern rice plants that those found in dinosaur rocks “can be assigned to the rice tribe, Oryzeae, of grass subfamily Ehrhartoideae.”3 They collected these samples from the same Indian rock layers, the Lameta Formation, that contained their 2005 finds.
This find joins others that have shown that rice, grass, palm trees, and conifers from dinosaur rocks were essentially the same as their living counterparts. It’s as though millions of years of plant evolution never occurred.
The Lameta formation includes sedimentary layers interbedded with volcanic rock layers. It is huge, covering a large area of India.4 The Flood described in the book of Genesis is the best explanation for this scale of upheaval, showing that the fossils found there resulted from the Flood.
Thus, these coprolites show that rice plants existed before the Flood. Either rice had diversified from an originally created grass that was common to many other grasses, like wheat and bamboo, or God created rice grasses separately from other grass kinds. Studies show that rice grasses do not hybridize with other grasses.5 These dinosaur-eaten phytoliths add weight to the idea that rice was a distinct creation from the beginning.
According to Scripture, God created all the grasses, plants, and grazing mammals, along with any grazing dinosaurs like sauropods, by the sixth day of the creation week. As far as what the fossils have shown, Scripture is right.
15 Behold now behemoth, which I made with thee; he eateth grass as an ox. 16 Lo now, his strength is in his loins, and his force is in the navel of his belly. 17 He moveth his tail like a cedar: the sinews of his stones are wrapped together. 18 His bones are as strong pieces of brass; his bones are like bars of iron. 19 He is the chief of the ways of God: He that made him can make His sword to approach unto him. 20 Surely the mountains bring him forth food, where all the beasts of the field play. 21 He lieth under the shady trees, in the covert of the reed, and fens. 22 The shady trees cover him with their shadow; the willows of the brook compass him about. 23 Behold, he drinketh up a river, and hasteth not: he trusteth that he can draw up Jordan into his mouth. 24 He taketh it with his eyes: his nose pierceth through snares. Job 40: 15-24
There is no such thing as a “simple” life form. . .
Genesis 1:25
“And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that [it was] good.”
According to the Bible, God created the land-living insects, and that would include the bees, on day six of creation. This was just three days after He created the flowering plants. According to evolution, bees evolved from a simpler insect after the pollen-bearing plants had developed. The specialized bee and its complex social structure was thought to have taken a long time to evolve.
Creationists, who believe the time line of events laid out in Scripture and reject inflated evolutionary years, were not surprised when a bee was found preserved in amber which evolutionists said was many millions of years older than the oldest known bee. The almost perfectly preserved bee is like modern bees and can even be identified as a worker. Not only does this show that bees, with all their superb specializations, were around much earlier than ever thought by evolutionists, it also shows that they were around for some time before this specimen lived. In fact, the evolutionist who reported the findings admitted that there is a real problem explaining how bees could have developed nearly at the same time as pollen-bearing plants.
As creationists, we have no such problem. Bees were created, fully formed, only a few days after pollen-bearing plants. Science has shown us once again that the biblical history makes more sense than the evolutionary story of history.
We all know it’s a tough world out there in the wild for little animals. I was delighted to find out this fascinating discovery about California ground squirrels. It seems they have surprising defense against rattle snakes.
When an adult ground squirrel finds a rattlesnake, it begins to taunt the snake. The squirrel dashes into striking range, whips its tail about, bites the snake’s tail and kicks sand on it. While a rattlesnake can strike with lightening speed, the little ground squirrel is even faster and well able to dart out of the way. Even if it was bitten, the venom wouldn’t kill it since these squirrels have proteins in their blood that detoxify the poison. Frustrated snakes have been known to simply retreat when faced with this treatment.
Researchers have learned that the squirrels’ bag of tricks is even deeper. Rattlesnakes can see heat as infrared light. When the ground squirrel is taunting the rattlesnake, it sends additional blood to its tail, causing it to heat up, producing a very obvious infrared image for the snake, further confusing it. Interestingly enough, when the ground squirrel taunts a gopher snake, which cannot detect the infrared, it does not heat its tail. {Creation Moments}
Looks like an evolutionary conundrum. How could a small creature, develop these defenses before being eaten? Considering the speed with which a rattlesnake can strike, there would hardly be enough time to make “adjustments.” Time to develop poison- neutralizing proteins in the blood, and the ability to turn on and off the heat in the tail. Nope. The perpetual fall-back of evolutionary biologists – “time, time, and more time” just won’t play here. There just isn’t enough time.
Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh: is there anything too hard for Me?
It has long been believed that hummingbirds existed only in the New World. But, recently, fossils of hummingbirds were found in a clay pit in Germany.
Scientists have now discovered two hummingbird fossils in a clay pit in southwestern Germany. These tiny fossils are remarkable in many ways. Until now, evolutionists claimed the earliest hummingbird fossils to be one million years old. The new fossils are said to be 30 to 34 million years old. While we would not agree with the evolutionary dating, we would expect the hummingbird fossils in Europe or Asia to predate those in the New World. Even more interesting is that the fossils suggest that these older birds are fully functional hummingbirds. Their wing bones are like those of modern hummingbirds, which suggest that they could hover and fly backward just like the hummingbirds we know today. Their beaks were twice as long as their skulls, suggesting that they drank nectar just like modern hummingbirds. In other words, there is no sign of any evolutionary development, another fact we would expect.
While the evidence for the history of hummingbirds is what we would expect, we do not need scientific evidence to uphold scriptural truth. We have God’s Word on it.
Creation Moments
PO Box 839
Foley, MN 56329
All things were made by Him;
and without Him was not any thing made that was made.
It was as recent as 120 years ago, that the ill and dying, were “bled,” to effect a cure. George Washington, regarded by many, as the greatest president the United States ever had, was bled to death.
There can be scarcely a doubt that the treatment of his last illness by the doctors was little short of murder. Although he had been bled once already, after they took charge of the case they prescribed “two pretty copious bleedings,” and finally a third, “when about 32 ounces of blood were drawn,” or the equivalent of a quart. Of the three doctors, one disapproved of this treatment, and a second wrote, only a few days after Washington’s death, to the third, “you must remember” Dr. Dick “was averse to bleeding the General, and I have often thought that if we had acted according to his suggestion when he said, ‘he needs all his strength— bleeding will diminish it,’ and taken no more blood from him, our good friend might have been alive now. But we were governed by the best light we had; we thought we were right, and so we are justified.”
We now know, that blood is the source of life, and that healthy blood is an absolute necessity to transport nutrients, and oxygen to every cell in the body. The Bible made the scientific statement 3,500 years ago – in Leviticus 17: 11, while scientists have really only begun to understand the significance of blood in the past 100 years. Only very recently, scientists have discovered two new blood types! See here.
The blood . . .
– carries on all the different body processees
– absorbs oxygen from the air, and carries it throughout the body
– collects Co2 and waste
– collects digested food from cilia in the intestines and distributes it
– grows new cells, bones, flesh, hair and nails
– sustains all organs
– repairs wounds, grows new flesh
– fights disease
If blood flow is cut off from the brain for only a few minutes, the brain is harmed to such an extent, that should the victim survive, there is permanent brain damage.
O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called. . .1 Timothy 6:20
Creationists, who believe the time line of events laid out in Scripture and reject inflated evolutionary years, were not surprised when a bee was found preserved in amber which evolutionists said was many millions of years older than the oldest known bee. The almost perfectly preserved bee is like modern bees and can even be identified as a worker. Not only does this show that bees, with all their superb specializations, were around much earlier than ever thought by evolutionists, it also shows that they were around for some time before this specimen lived. In fact, the evolutionist who reported the findings admitted that there is a real problem explaining how bees could have developed nearly at the same time as pollen-bearing plants.
The Vine Vigil 
