Nov 11 is Veterans Day -- Is your flag flying?

Veterans Day is an annual American holiday in which we honor military veterans, of which there are, according to Wikipedia, 24.9 million in the US.

Initially it was called Armistice Day or Remembrance Day because it was in remembrance of the signing of the Armistice that ended World War 1.

World War I formally ended at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918.

Later, Congress amended the act re this holiday to include ALL veterans of ALL wars in which the US was involved.

But whatever the name, Veteran’s Day, Armistice Day, or Remembrance Day, or whatever the war, we are in awe of and thankful for the sacrifices of the veterans who have given their lives, were wounded, or were fortunate enough to survive and return to their homes and families.

Flying the Flag is one way of letting them know that we appreciate their sacrifices.

To read more about Veteran’s day, HERE’S THE LINK

Joseph era coins found in Egypt !!

Hmmmm. This is interesting. Apparently some coins have been found that seem to relate to the Biblical time of Joseph when he was in Egypt.

You surely recall the Biblical recounting of the dream of the Egyptian Pharaoh -- the dream about the seven fat cows, the 7 lean cows, etc. And, Joseph interpreted the dream ...

Well, some of the coins have pictures of this very event. Amazing.

To read more about these coins, HERE’S THE LINK.

And for some additional information, HERE’S THE LINK

20 Awesome Photos !

Well, the last few days have been kinda ‘heavy’ in the concepts presented so today let’s take a lighter approach.

But, still, the topic of Creation is in the background.

How is that? you ask.

Well, today’s blog entry is photographic. We will be looking at 20 prize winning entries in the Landscape Photographer of the Year 2009 Collection.

As you look at these beautiful pictures, once again we are reminded that there is a Creator who caused our earth to have such beauty. These 20 pictures capture some of that created beauty.

So, with that said, sit back, click, and enjoy these beautiful photographs. HERE’S THE LINK.

Still pondering Evolution as being possible?

Hmmm. Possibly even after reading the short article yesterday, which addressed several fallacies of evolution, you are still thinking, “But, Couldn’t God have used evolution? ...”

Indeed, one of my good friends continues to make this statement to me even after literal hours of discussion.

So since you (or a friend) might still be thinking that God COULD have used evolution to create even though there is nothing in the Bible that says God created in that way, here is another article that will help you answer that question. HERE’S THE LINK.

Should a Christian believe in Evolution?

I have had many discussions with Christians on this topic. Perhaps you have also.

Amazingly even some ‘old’ old friends who are Christians think it is ‘ok’ to believe in evolution. They do not see any problem or contradictions in saying that the first chapters of Genesis are not valid history even though the Bible records the events as being true history.

But, is it really ok to say the first 6 or so Chapters of Genesis are not true history and that God did not create the world and everything in it the way the Bible teaches?

Obviously there some serious theological problems that need to be addressed if a Christian accepts the theory of evolution and millions, billions, or whatever time span is currently proposed (since it keeps changing).

This short article (yesterday we had a long article to read so I tried to find a shorter one for today), succinctly addresses several of the fallacies that must be resolved if a Christian believes in evolution.

Whether you believe in evolution or not, this is a very good, timely, and short ‘must read’ article. HERE’S THE LINK.

How do fossils form?

Doubtless you have heard repeatedly that it takes a lonnnnnng time for a fossil to form, perhaps millions of years.

But, is that correct? Can the ‘evolutionary world view glasses folks’ show us any experiments or tests to prove that it takes a lonnnnnng time? Well, actually they can’t. First of all, who lives long enough to complete the test.

But, folks wearing the ‘young earth glasses’ are beginning to do experiments and tests to try to determine how fossils form and how long it really takes.

This is the type of research that we need to be showing to our kids in their Biology and Chemistry classes and even, gasp, in Sunday Schools! If they were made aware of the current research such as in the article we will link to today, they will be much less likely to swallow the evolutionary concept hook, line, and sinker as they are currently doing.

This article is 'kinda' technical, but you are smart readers and can handle it. It is not THAT technical. I do wish it had more pictures, but, oh well, you can’t have everything I guess.

Anyway, a lot of reallllllly good information is presented and includes an experiment that can be done in a Chemistry class. So, you teachers and homeschoolers pay special attention. This might be something you will want to do.

But, whether you do the experiment at the end of the article or not, this is a very good explanation of how and why fossils form. You DO need to know this information. So, HERE’S THE LINK.

Is there some truth to Dragon Myths?

In countries all around the world, one can readily find pictures, stories, and legends which depict dragons. China should immediately come to mind as an example. Who has not seen the colorful depictions of dragons in their various celebrations and especially in New Year festivities.

Were the dragons seen in China, many European countries, Australia and elsewhere all just ‘thought up’ by accident?

Or, is it possible that folks in the not so distant past had actually seen real dragons (known to us today as Dinosaurs)? Hmmm.

Did dragons (dinosaurs) live millions and millions of years ago in the dim remote past? Or, were dragons (dinosaurs) created by God during Creation week, and then after the 2 dragons on the ark left the ark, continued to populate the earth, though in lesser numbers than previously?

Well, to help you ponder those thoughts, I found a couple of articles that might add some insight as to WHEN dragons (dinosaurs) might have lived.

And for those of you wondering why I keep putting ‘dinosaurs’ in parentheses, it is because the name dinosaur was coined in 1841 by Sir Richard Owen. Before that time, they were known in history and legends as dragons.

Anyway, enough of ‘giving away the plot’ in the articles. So, to read the first article from ICR, HERE’S THE LINK

And to read an even more fascinating article about Dragons that John Calvin might have seen or known about (Yes, THE John Calvin !!) HERE’S THE LINK

Pretty Scary

What is scary, you ask? Is this a reference to Halloween? Or Something else?

Well, actually, it is to ‘something else’.

Specifically, I am referring to some of the many towers and glass observation decks that are springing up around the world.

Doubtless you have seen, heard of, or even ‘experienced’ some of these scary heights and their views.

There is even a glass observation balcony, called the ‘Skywalk’, over a part of the Grand Canyon! It is not included, for some strange reason, in this article but it should have been. Since it wasn’t, I found a picture of it on the net and used it for our ‘lead picture’ today. Wow!

Anyway, back to the topic at hand -- in addition to the Grand Canyon Skywalk, there are several other views that can make you gasp. To see some of them, HERE’S THE LINK.

World's Largest Cruise Ship !!!

And it is bigger than the ships in this picture. So keep reading!

If you have ever taken a cruise, you have ‘opinions’ in that you either loved it or never want to cruise again.

Personally I think cruise ships are fun, especially because of alllllll the food that is available every few hours, even during the night.

Of course, if you eat all those meals, you are going to need some exercise.

Well, this new cruise ship, The Oasis of the Seas, will certainly give you a lot of exercise options.

Would you believe it has an ice rink, a small golf course, 4 swimming pools, volleyball and basketball courts, theme parks, a courtyard the size of a football field (though I don’t think any football games are scheduled), and more.

This is unbelievable ! It has 2,700 cabins, is about 20 stories high, and is much larger than the Queen Mary II shown in the above illustration. In fact it is said to be 5 times larger than the Titanic (hmmmm, now that might not be a good comparison). But, I think this 5 times number refers to volume and not necessarily the length.

Now some of you at this point are wondering how this compares to Noah’s Ark. Good question.

According to Genesis 6:15—“And this is how you shall make it: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits."

So, you now ask, how long is a cubit? Well, it depends on which cubit you are considering. There is a standard cubit (of about 20 inches) and a royal cubit (of about 25 inches). The cubit used in the drawing to illustrate today’s blog entry was 20.4 inches, and based on that, Noah’s Ark was about 510 feet long.

Compare that with this new cruise ship which is reported to be 1,181 feet long.

Anyway, to read more about this new cruise ship, and to view the slide show of 25 pictures, HERE’S THE LINK

And if you would like to read a very excellent article about Noah’s Ark, which did not have a golf course, ice rink, etc. but did have some very important and significant features, HERE’S A LINK

World View Conferences

From time to time we have featured articles, features, etc. from the Christian World View Network website and Ministry.

Hopefully you have investigated them further by clicking on some of the links that were on the pages we referenced. If so, you have noticed that they definitely have on a specific pair of “World View Glasses”.

And their “World View Glasses” are excellent ! They are clearly in focus and are ‘right on’.

Perhaps you are also aware that they have conferences and 'Code Blue Rallies' around the country. These are, believe it or not, FREE and really should be attended by everyone!

Recently I had the privilege of attending one of these conferences. And it was ‘beyond excellent’ !!! WOW! I wish you could have been there.

There are only a few Worldview Weekend conferences remaining in 2009. Here's the list:

Conference----------------------------- Date

Conway, Arkansas -------- Saturday night, November 7, 2009
Memphis Code Blue Rally--- Sunday Night, November 8, 2009
Pensacola, Florida-------- Saturday Night, November 14, 2009
Orlando, Florida, ---------Sunday Night, November 15, 2009
Peoria, IL ------------------Friday Night, November 20, 2009
Moline, IL -----------------Saturday Night, November 21, 2009
Rockford, IL --------------Sunday Night, November 22, 2009

If you are able to attend one of these, please do ! Change your schedule, go visit friends in the city where it is being held (if it's not in your town or nearby), etc., but do whatever you can to attend!

You do have to register to attend (so they will know how many to expect and will find a location of the proper size for the crowd.) But, as I said before, it is FREE.

To register for one of these conferences, HERE’S THE LINK

And to learn more about the WorldVIew Ministry, HERE’S THE LINK

Daylight Savings Time ENDS today!

Yes, it has happened again. It is "Fall Back Time" (you know the old saying “Spring Forward and Fall Back"). So it’s time to do all that ‘clock changing’ routine again. And what a hassle that is.

Indeed, for days after these time change events, I keep finding more clocks and things that have to be adjusted.

And even worse, I have a digital wristwatch, given to me by two nephews. Only one tiny problem. It is so complicated that I don’t know how to change the time. And they live far far away. So how is it going to be changed?

I guess I will have to do as I did a few weeks ago while on a vacation in a time zone 6 hours different from where the watch is set and normally ‘lives’. Of course, that meant that every time I wanted to know what time it was, I had to subtract 6. Fortunately that lasted only a few weeks.

But, wow, now that the Daylight savings time is changing, this probably means I am going to have to ‘calculate’ what time it is every time I look at my watch for the next several months. (Or maybe I can take it to a store -- or find a kid on the street-- and see if they will change it for me.)

Anyway, that is not the ‘only’ objection that a lot of us ‘old folks’ have to DST. The biggest objection, at least to me, is that DARK happens tooooooo early in the winter.

Oh well, ‘nuff of this rambling. You probably know how to change your digital watches and maybe you don’t care when it gets dark or light.

But, if you would like to know the ‘history’ of Daylight Savings time and why we are doing all these changes, well, HERE’S THE LINK.

October 31

Which (pun intended although the spelling is different) do you think of when you see this date on the calendar? Halloween? or the Reformation?

Probably you think of Halloween but are you aware that it was on Oct 31, 1517, when Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses on the door of the Wittenberg Church and thus began what is now known as the Protestant Reformation?

Likely your children, grandchildren, neighbors, or whomever are ‘celebrating’ the Halloween aspect of this date by either ‘trick or treating’ or having some kind of Church event which is semi-incorporating an observance of the witches halloween, either calling it a ‘fall festival’ or some other ‘innocent’ sounding name.

Additionally, many folks decorate their yards and houses with goblins, ghosts, pumpkins, etc. But, should they or you even celebrate Halloween at all?

There are many excellent articles and resources that explain why observance of Halloween is NOT a good thing. You can find some of them HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE.

So, rather than celebrating Halloween, how about thinking about the Reformation and the positive results that came from it. Your Church might even want to have a “Reformation Party” or event with videos, talks, dramas, whatever, telling about what happened and why.

One of the reasons our Churches are in the mess they are in today is because folks do NOT know about the Reformation, what it accomplished, why it is important, and what will result if we abandon what it accomplished.

So, forget celebrating Halloween and begin to think about the Reformation when you see Oct 31 roll around on your calendar.

To read the 95 Theses in Martin Luther’s own words, HERE’S THE LINK

And to read about the Reformation that resulted from the 95 Theses (in more detail than you ever imagined), check out this article at Wikipedia. HERE’S THE LINK.

10 ways to spot an E-mail scam

Increasingly people are being targeted by E-mail scams.

Hopefully you already know about these scams and are avoiding them like the plague.

But, just in case you haven’t heard of these particular scams or are tempted to let your guard down, a recent article on the net will hopefully help you to be alert and safe.

As our culture continues to change from a God-fearing society to one where ‘anything goes’, scams like these and others will continue to proliferate.

And when changes such as we discovered recently that the word SIN has been deleted from a Dictionary for Children -- well, with changes like that, it is no wonder that people feel no remorse when they try to scam people. They figure it is ‘ok’ so ‘why not’.

And, since it looks like email and other scams will only continue to increase, I thought this article might be of benefit to you and your friends.

One can’t be too careful these days. We now have to do much more than just lock our doors to houses and cars. We need to also know how to ‘lock our computer doors’.

So, with that said, HERE’S THE LINK.

10 Questions to ask about Design

Yesterday we saw another example of God being the “Intelligent Designer” in that Ears on Butterfly wings just can not happen by accident. There has to be a reason and a design for such complex structures.

So, since we are thinking about YHWH, (God, the verrrrrry Intelligent Designer / Creator), I thought you would be interested in this article from a recent Worldview Weekend email from Worldview times.

Written by William A. Dembski & Sean McDowell it has many excellent points. The complete title is “10 Questions to ask your Biology Teacher about Intelligent Design”

But, even if you are no longer in school so can’t ask your Biology teacher, this is still an article that is worth reading.

Why? Because you will surely find these questions useful in discussions with friends, perfect strangers, around the water cooler at work, or where ever the occasion might arise to discuss Intelligent Design by The Creator God vs. the theory of Evolution that says all these things just happened by chance.

But, even if you don’t have friends or if you are retired and don’t go to work any more, you will still want to ponder these thoughts yourself.

So without further ado, HERE’S THE LINK

Tiny ears found on butterfly’s wings !

WOW !!! Who would have thought?
Tiny ears on butterfly wings!?! Astounding!

An article on the MSNBC website tells about this and has some interesting pictures.

But, as you read, think and ask yourself, "Could this be an ‘evolutionary accident’? Or, does this once again show that there is a Designer behind this and the innumerable other amazing things we have been finding in nature?" Hmmmmm.

I vote for ‘Designer’ (and, specifically, The Creator God of the Universe).

To read this very interesting article, HERE’S THE LINK

No more SIN !!!

Yes, it is true. Sin is gone!

Well, at least in a dictionary for children in England it is. You can look and look for it and even use your magnifying glass, but you will not find it in this dictionary.

But, in God’s vocabulary, you can be sure that it is not gone and never will be.

What am I talking about? Well, an article published 06 Dec 2008 by Julie Henry in the online Telegraph.co.uk website explains that “Words associated with Christianity, the monarchy and British history have been dropped from a leading dictionary for children."

Apparently, the publishers of this Children’s dictionary have removed several words from the lexicon for children. Among the excluded words are SIN and DEVIL.

Astounding!

Actually you need to read two article to get the whole story.

The first article gives the overview and lists several of the words that were deleted.

The second article actually lists the words SIN and DEVIL along with several others that have been expelled from the lexicon of words they think young folks need to know. In addition to SIN and the DEVIL having been taken out. several other religious words have been removed including abbey, aisle, altar, bishop, chapel, christen, disciple, minister, monastery, monk, jun, nunnery, parish, pew, psalm, pulpit, saint, sin, devil, vicar.

Why is this important? Well, of course, you have already gasped and correctly answered this question. I can hear you now as you say:

“Wow, if children are never introduced to these words (sin, devil, psalm, saint, etc.) and since they hardly ever darken the door of the Churches any more and even if they do, since most Churches are now avoiding those words so that folks won’t ‘feel bad’, how are they ever going to hear the gospel or even know that they need to hear it? “

Obviously, things are getting bleaker and darker and much faster than one would have ever thought.

And, lest you think I am kidding. Here are the two articles. Read them, weep, and begin to pray and witness.

For Article 1, HERE’S THE LINK
For Article 2, HERE’S THE LINK

GeoCities bites the dust !!!

GeoCities is closing Oct 26 2009 !!!

Wow! Now this is sad. Today GeoCities became another piece of Nostalgia.

What is GeoCities? you young folks ask.

By the way, you ‘young folks’ need to start studying your history. Ameila, GeoCities, etc. There is a LOT that you need to know. Some of you have never even used dial up ! And the idea of 2.4 modems instead of the 56 K they ended with before going to high speed internet is surely unbelievable to you. And then let’s talk about rotary phones and .... But I digress.

Back to GeoCities. The reason this is sad is that my very first website was on GeoCities -- way back in 1997. Actually I had 2 sites on GeoCities. They are gone now. Poof. Just like the Compuserve Classic Sites went POOF a few months ago. That was more of a disaster to me since the Cserve sites went poof and I had no warning. Sigh. But you have heard that story so will not replay it here.

Anyway. Back in those early days of GeoCities you had to use html code to make your site. That is markedly different (and more difficult) than the way it is done now since most webpages now use WYSIWYG coding. Oh well, this is just one more thing the ‘young folks’ will never know they missed along with the rotary phones, no tv, etc.

Anyway, I saw an article on the web recently that said Oct 26 is the end date of GeoCities. And, with it goes the end of another era. Even though my early sites on GeoCities are now gone, the memories of those early days of ‘high adventure’ of being on the web remain in my list of ‘fond memories’. So this is a sad day.

But, whether you had a site on GeoCities or not, you do need to read the article about its passing. This is truly the end of another era. HERE’S THE LINK

Amelia Earhart

A recent article on the Discovery News website suggests that Amelia Earhart’s final resting place may have finally been found.

Who is Amelia Earhart and why is this interesting, you ask?

Well, you younger folks may not have heard about Amelia Earhart but she was an early aviatrix (female pilot) who disappeared while flying over the Pacific Ocean in 1937.

Many ‘theories’ have been advanced through the years as to how and why she and her co-pilot disappeared while attempting to fly around the world in one of the flying adventures in those early years of aviation.

I have long heard of Ameila Earhart and of her flying prowess and once even landed on a grass field in Mississippi where my aviation instructor showed me an engine, rusted and with weeds growing in and around it. It was leaning against an old weathered, weed covered, wooden shack. He said that this had been an engine in one of her early planes. I don’t know if that was true or not but the thought that it might be really impressed me so I have continued to follow the stories of her mysterious disappearance.

There have been similar ‘finds’ and articles in the past but so far all have seemingly been questionable or inconclusive. Still, I perk up when another article that might solve the mystery is published.

It is, of course, still inconclusive that the actual site has been found but there are some interesting clues and findings reported in this article. Could this be the place?

Anyway, seeing and reading this article, once again captivated my interest in ‘what ever happened to Amelia’.

You will find it interesting, too. HERE’S THE LINK.

Disposophobia

Disposophobia! Do you have it? Do you know anyone with it?

The Collyer brothers had it (though when I heard about them years ago, I thought their name was spelled Collier. Sigh. Oh well. Anyway, they had it. Big time.

What is ‘Disposophobia’?

Well, there are a lot of ‘phobias’ out there and, yes, that was a new term to me. But, I think I know several folks who have it. Hmmm. Isn’t that what folks always say when they are or have the ‘problem’ and not the ‘others’ for whom they are ‘seeking help’? Oh, well, whatever.

Anyway, to read about Disposophobia’ and to read about other famous folks who have had it, HERE’S THE LINK.

The World’s longest golf course !!

WOW. Now this is a lonnnnnng course.

Lots of folks love golf and play it avidly either in ‘real life’ or on computer games.

My Father taught me how to play the ‘real life’ version and I loved it. I even had my own set of clubs eons ago. They would probably be museum items today if they still existed. However they were sold years ago in a garage sale. Sigh.

Anyway, Golf today in ‘real life’ is way too expensive a game imho. So, I have to settle with golf games on the computer or the WII or some such device.

But, for those of you who are avid fans of ‘real life’ golf, well, you are NOT going to believe this course. It is billed as the World’s longest golf course and I am sure that that is true.

How long is it you ask?

How about 850 MILES !

Yes, you read that correctly.

To learn more about this astounding course and where it is located, HERE’S THE LINK (pun intended!)

You are driving on which side of the road???

Awhile back we had a blog entry about Samoa switching from driving on the right side of the road to driving on the left.

They declared a day for the switch to driving on the left after years and years of driving on the right.

We wondered at the time how that would work out.

Well, here is an update on that ‘switch’ along with a very interesting explanation (or so they say) of how and why countries decide which side of the road to use.

HERE’S THE LINK

The Western Wall Tunnel Tour

Yesterday, on the blog, we visited by Web Cam the Western Wall of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

And doubtless some of you have already found and viewed several of the other interesting features on that aish.com website with the web cam.


Specifically, I am thinking about the link to the Western Wall Tunnel Tour.

When I visited Jerusalem a lonnnnng time ago (when dinosaurs roamed the earth ... just kidding, it was not quite that long ago), the tunnels were known to exist but were not open to tourists. So, I was able to see the Western Wall and the entrance to the tunnels. But, alas, was not able to enter them.

Now, the tunnels are open and visitors can view them and walk through them. I have seen brief videos of folks going through portions of the tunnels but never have seen a complete walk through with explanations of what one is seeing.

However, on the aish.com website, there is a wonderful little tour which, though it is not a video tour, is excellent. It has many pictures and detailed explanations.

It is almost like being there in person but in some ways better because you didn’t have to take the long expensive plane trip, didn’t have to walk walk walk, do get to linger and look at the pictures without being hurried on by those behind you, and you will learn a lot by leisurely reading the explanations provided.

So, whether you are a Pastor, SS teacher, Bible Study leader, or ‘just’ an interested layperson, I think you will find this very interesting. HERE’S THE LINK

Western Wall Web Cam

Web Cams have always been a fun feature of the internet for me. I really enjoy looking at web cam real time pictures of volcanoes, traffic, City views, ski slopes, etc.

So, when I come across a web cam, I ‘perk up’ and check it out.

Well, imagine my joy when I discovered that there is a website that has a Web Cam that shows the Western Wall in Jerusalem, Israel.

For several years I have from time to time gone to that site to see ‘what’s going on’.

Day and night the camera is showing folks at the wall, walking, praying, etc. Of course more are there during the day. But even in the wee hours of the night you will usually find at least a few people praying at the Western Wall.

Someday, perhaps, this camera will show the Two Witnesses, spoken of in the Book of Revelation, at this location. Who knows.

But, in the meantime, should you be interested in visiting the Western Wall as you sit at your computer, HERE’S THE LINK

Your Cornflakes may look ‘different’ soon.

Why?

Well, because I found this article that says Kellogg may use a laser to burn its Kellogg logo on the flakes !!!

Can this be true? Is this a hoax? I guess only time will tell. But, if one day you look at your bowl of cornflakes and you see logos on they flakes .... welllllll.

Anyway, IF this is true (and I sure haven’t seen any of these in person yet), then they claim there is a reason for this strangeness.

It seems, or so the article says, they are having problems with cornflakes and cornfakes. And, they hope this will help distinguish the real from the fake.

Things just keep getting “weirder and weirder.” Sigh. Anyway, HERE’S THE LINK

Dan Brown

Dan Brown, who authored several books including: ‘Da Vinci Code’ , ‘Angels and Demons’, and ‘The Lost Symbol’.... in an interview... explains how he used to be ‘religious' but walked away ...

This is still another affirmation of the correctness of the the Ken Ham and Britt Beemer book, “Already Gone”

Here is the ‘smoking gun’ paragraph in the interview:

"Are you religious?
“I was raised Episcopalian, and I was very religious as a kid. Then, in eighth or ninth grade, I studied astronomy, cosmology, and the origins of the universe. I remember saying to a minister, "I don't get it. I read a book that said there was an explosion known as the Big Bang, but here it says God created heaven and Earth and the animals in seven days. Which is right?" Unfortunately, the response I got was, "Nice boys don't ask that question." A light went off, and I said, "The Bible doesn't make sense. Science makes much more sense to me." And I just gravitated away from religion.

Then the interviewer asked:

Where are you now?
“The irony is that I've really come full circle. The more science I studied, the more I saw that physics becomes metaphysics and numbers become imaginary numbers. The farther you go into science, the mushier the ground gets. You start to say, "Oh, there is an order and a spiritual aspect to science."

Wellllll he hasn’t really come full circle or he’d be a Christian. But he is beginning to understand that there is a lot of ‘religion’ in science.

Bottom line: Young people ARE leaving the Church and the faith early in life, just as was so clearly documented in the book by Ham and Beemer, ‘Already Gone’.

And, it is not just the lives of those individuals such as Dan Brown that are being changed and lost by their departure. Worse, many of those who left the faith are now impacting countless numbers of folks with their erroneous teachings, books, movies, etc., as is the case with Dan Brown’s novels.

This is not an isolated matter and it is not something to gloss over and hope things will change. It is extremely serious and many will spend eternity in hell if this is not corrected NOW.

There are answers !!

Yes, There are answers to the questions posed by Dan Brown then and by the youth today when they see a discrepancy between what they hear in Science classes and what they are NOT taught in Sermons, Sunday School, Youth Programs, etc!

Dan Brown could have been given answers that would have enabled him to believe the Bible.

Answers in Genesis, Institute for Creation Research, and many other Creation Based Ministries exist and have answers and are actively doing research to discover even more answers. They have PhD’s on their staffs, publish magazines, journals, videos, books, articles, etc. with answers!

Our youth need to hear these speakers, see these videos, be told about the books ...

Pastors, Sunday School teachers, Youth Directors, Church and Department Directors, and others who teach or lead children and young folks must pray about what they are teaching (or not teaching) and then changes must be made in the SS lessons, sermons, youth programs, etc.

If this is not done and not done soon, there will be innumerable souls lost forever to Hell that could have and should have been saved for an eternity in Heaven.

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If you are interested in reading the article with the complete interview with Dan Brown (though I certainly do NOT recommend that you read his books), HERE’S THE LINK.

Facebook has 30,000 + servers !

WOW!

Of course, this entry might be considered somewhat ‘off topic’ for this blog but it was such an interesting and astounding number that I wanted to share it with you.

Probably many of you reading this are on Facebook and have posted pictures and etc. and therefore are using these servers.

So, this article about the servers should be of interest.

The internet is truly an amazing thing. And, I expect that there are other companies with this many or more servers. For example, what would be the number for google? Actually, I think there is a link in the article that answers that question.

Anyway, to read more about the servers at Facebook and what they do HERE’S THE LINK.

The Gap Theory

Recently on the Worldview Times site, there was an article by David Reagan which addresses the Gap Theory.

Seems he had been unfairly accused of believing it.

The article was his response and explains not only that he is not an advocate of that theory but he clearly and succinctly explains the Gap theory and another theory (The Day Age Theory). Both are equally untenable and he explains why.

I think you will find this article most interesting and informative. HERE’S THE LINK

Grand Canyon Raft trips

A rafting trip in the Grand canyon needs to be planned well in advance because it fills up fast. That is why you are getting this ‘vacation suggestion’ now.

And the suggestion is that AIG has 3 Grand Canyon Rafting trips planned for 2010. They are of different lengths, have different foci of emphasis, and different leaders but all will be excellent.

And the best part is that each will be a “Biblical World View Glasses” trip so you will get the true story of the Canyon.

The highly knowledgeable guides explain how the layers were really formed and how the canyon was carved. (Hint, it was not carved a drop at a time and the layers were not formed over millions and millions of years).

Having personally experienced 2 whitewater rafting trips through the canyon with interesting hikes, beautiful waterfalls, fantastic meals, breath taking rapids, and sleeping under the stars, I can attest that these trips are exciting, life changing, and will never be forgotten. This will always rank among your “favorite trips” when you look back on all your lifetime adventures.

Yes, a rafting trip through the Grand Canyon is awesome, educational, and fun fun fun.

And the picture for the blog today is one I took on the second trip!

I could go on and on raving about how wonderful a rafting trip through the Grand Canyon is (and showing you all my pictures) but that would take days.

So, instead, read all about the 3 AIG trips for 2010 and seriously consider doing one of them. You will not regret it. HERE’S THE LINK

The Jesus Film

Doubtless you have heard about this movie. It was produced by Campus Crusade many years ago, is based on the Gospel of Luke, and has been translated into numerous languages.

Available in film, DVD, and audio tape formats, it has been seen by billions and uncountable souls have been saved while or after watching it.

It is now available online and can be seen and heard in a ‘zillion’ languages (including English, of course) at the Jesus Film website.

The English version is about 128 minutes long and is exceptionally well done.

If you have not yet seen this film, you should. It is a must see.

Of course,as with most online videos, even when viewing with a high speed connection, you will want to pause it for several minutes initially and give it time to load ahead of you so you won’t have the start stop start stop scenario. So, give it a few minutes head start in loading and then sit back, relax, and watch this outstanding film in the language of your choice. HERE’S THE LINK

There is also a Children’s version which is about 62 minutes long and also available in many languages. To view it, HERE’S THE LINK

God is NOT the Creator ???

Of course we know that atheists and many evolutionists believe this but now there is a “respected Old Testament Scholar” who is proposing that “God is not the Creator” and who “believes the Bible has been wrongly translated for thousands of years.”

This ‘expert’ has decided that the word ‘bara’ in Genesis 1:1 does not mean what traditionally it has been interpreted to mean.

Specifically, Prof Van Wolde said: “she eventually concluded the Hebrew verb "bara", which is used in the first sentence of the book of Genesis, does not mean "to create" but to "spatially separate".

Therefore, she says, “The first sentence should now read "in the beginning God separated the Heaven and the Earth"

And, she further said: "It meant to say that God did create humans and animals, but not the Earth itself."

Is your blood boiling yet? Is your hair standing on end? Mine is!

Indeed, it looks like things are rapidly ramping up to try to further convince folks that God did not do what the Bible says He did.

And it continues. There is more. It gets worse.

You need to read this article so you can be aware of the error, distortion, and apostasy that is occurring in this day and age. It just keeps getting worse and worse.

HERE’S THE LINK !

Meet ‘Ardi’

‘Ardi’ is the latest candidate by the ‘Secular Evolutionary Worldview Glasses’ folks to support their belief in evolution.

Ardipithecus ramidus, affectionately known as ‘Ardi’ by the researchers, was found in Ethiopia in the early 1990s but we are only hearing about it now. Hmmm.

But, ‘Ardi’ (the supposedly 4,4 milion year old ) fossil does NOT prove evolution.

Several recent articles on the net tell about the ‘find’ of ‘Ardi’. For example, this one speaks glowingly of ‘Ardi’ (glowingly if you have on ‘Secular Evolutionary Worldview Glasses’.) HERE’S THE LINK

Another article from ABC news (which also was written by an author wearing ‘Secular Evolutionary Worldview Glasses’) was a little more ‘tolerant’ of the thought that this might not be the smoking gun after all, and quoted several Creationist scholars including David Menton, Ph.D, John Morris, Ph.D. and others. HERE’S THE LINK for that article.

And, yes, this is all very interesting. But what do the experts in the camp wearing the ‘Biblical Worldview Glasses’ have to say, you ask.

Well, a very interesting article on the AIG website discusses ‘Ardi’ and is a must read. Even if you do not read the 2 links referenced above, you do need to read this one from AIG.

Note: The web page on the AIG site, in addition to the discussion about ‘Ardi’, has several other interesting responses to other recent news items. The first article is about ‘Ardi’ but you will probably want to read the other news items as well.

So, with that said, HERE’S THE LINK
.

Brain waives surge moments before death !

Recently I read a very interesting article on the net about Brain waves surging just before the death of an individual

As stated in the article: “Doctors at George Washington University Medical Faculty Associates recorded brain activity of people dying from critical illnesses, such as cancer or heart attacks. ...

"Moments before death, the patients experienced a burst in brain wave activity, with the spikes occurring at the same time before death and at comparable intensity and duration. ...

“At first, doctors thought the electrical surges picked up by electroencephalographs were caused by other machines or cell phones in the rooms of dying patients,...”

But it turns out that cell phones and other electrical devices in the room were NOT the cause.

Hmmmm. So what caused these surges?

To read this most interesting and thought provoking article and to consider what the cause of these brain surges might be might be, HERE’S THE LINK

A true football story

It is Saturday and all around the country people are watching football on their TVs and listening on their radios. And, last night, the “friday night lights” folks watched their high school teams play.

And, yes, football is about winning. But, there is more to it than that. There are still folks who play this game who are not ‘cut throat’ and see more in the game than just running up the score.

This story was on yahoo on Sept 25, 2009. And, Yes, It is another ‘tear jerker’ but one that you will be glad you have read even though you will likely use several kleenexes (sp?) in the process.

So, without further ado, HERE’S THE LINK.

Amazing Wildlife Photos

Yesterday we saw a collection of 50+ beautiful Nature Photos. Well, today, let’s continue.

This time we will see several photos of wildlife. There are only 5 pictures in this series, but Wow, they are great!

HERE’S THE LINK

Top 50+ most beautiful nature pictures

Since a picture is worth 1000 words, this blog entry today will let its words be mainly in the beautiful pictures you will see when you click on the link.

And, as you view them, once again put on your ‘world view glasses’ and consider IF this beauty could have happened by chance OR if there is a Creator Who designed these amazing animals, plants, etc.

Ok, ready? Then, HERE’S THE LINK.

Junk DNA is not ‘Junk’

I am getting sick and tired of the many secular news articles repeatedly saying that there is DNA that is ‘junk’ and, therefore, useless. This is just not true.

The so-called ‘Junk DNA’ is NOT ‘junk. It has many uses and purposes, some of which we know and some awaits discovery but it has a use.

In 2003 I attended a conference in which “Junk DNA” was discussed and information was presented which showed that there is definite purpose for the so-called ‘junk DNA’.

A video of this conference session is available for purchase from Answers In Genesis. To see a short sample of this video, HERE’S THE LINK. (When you get to this page, click on the box that says: “Sample Media - watch sample video”.)

And to read about ‘junk DNA’, though I warn you, your head will spin and probably pop as you read this technical article, HERE’S THE LINK.

And to see another really great video sample about ‘Junk DNA’, (again click on the “Sample Media- View sample video” when you get to the page), HERE’S THE LINK

Bottom line, as I said, I am sick and tired of hearing the folks with the ‘evolutionary world view glasses’ repeating over and over that there is ‘junk DNA’ that has no purpose. God, who made DNA, does not make junk! And everything that God made or makes has a purpose.

Nietzsche was Wrong !

Yesterday on the blog, we considered Nietzsche’s famous concept that “God is Dead.”

Tragically, Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) now knows that he was very very wrong.

God is not dead but is very much alive.

If you want to know more about the very complex life of Friedrich Nietzsche and the influences that caused him to go off track (hint, yes there is a Darwin connection along with many other things), HERE’S A LINK. It is a long article but very interesting.

Attention World! God is NOT Dead !

Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) is perhaps best known for the statement in his book, The Gay Science. In that book, written in 1882, the character known as The Madman stated, “"God is dead! God remains dead! And we have killed him!"

The Time Magazine cover is that of the April 8, 1966 issue and shows that in 1966, the influence of Nietzsche still continued and had additional proponents making the same types of statements as ‘The Madman’ or variations on the theme.

I remember that time (mid 20th century) and the magazine (alas, that shows my age) as many were discussing this concept in 1966 and the years before and after. Sadly, even today such thoughts are still bandied around.

So the question lingers in many people’s minds, even today. And that question is: Is God Dead?

A really good article discusses this. I think you will find it very interesting and helpful. HERE’S THE LINK

Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot / Booths)

As you know, there are 7 Major Feast (Festival) events which the Jews observe each year. Three are in the Spring and Four are in the Fall.

The Feast / Festival of Tabernacles is one of the 4 major Fall feasts.

Sukkot (aka Feast of Tabernacles / Booths) begins today. This feast / festival lasts for a week so the actual dates this year are Oct 3-10 (or 2-9 since the Jewish day begins at sundown).

Here are 4 links to tell you more about this Feast: HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE

Ant Colony ! WOW.

You are not going to believe this video !

Doubtless you have seen ant hills and ants scurrying around in your yard or in a park or wherever.

And you have been told in school that they build big underground colonies.

And you have probably seen those cute narrow little glass 'houses' where you can watch ants build their little paths and rooms.

Well, indeed they do build colonies and paths and rooms but much bigger than those cute little glass houses. Indeed, their efforts are much more extensive than I had ever imagined.

Now I understand why trying to get rid of the ants in the yard has been a loosing battle.

And when you see this amazing video, you will know why also. Hmmmmm. Interesting that this all just evolved with no design or designer in the picture. NOT!

Anyway, check out this 3 minute 16 second YouTube video. You will be amazed. HERE’S THE LINK

Successful predictions by creationists

As noted on the Answers in Genesis Website recently,

“For many years, creation researchers have been studying the biblical record and the world around us to understand the history that God’s Word records.

While some of their theories have been discarded as new data came to light, other predictions have been powerfully confirmed.”

To read about a few (and there are many more) of the predictions that have been successfully predicted by Creationists and the tests that confirmed them, HERE’S THE LINK.

Living Fossils

If you have been paying attention to the news lately, you have doubtless seen several articles mentioning ‘living fossils’ as if they are something really rare.

Well, believe it or not, there are many more ‘living fossils’ than even these articles are suggesting.

One such ‘living fossil’ is the Coelacanth, a fish that, based on evolutionary world view glasses, lived 70 million years ago. The 'old earthers' say this because fossils of these fish are found in rocks which they date to that period of time.

But, guess what!? Coelacanths have been found LIVING in the Indian Ocean today ! And they look just like the fossils in the rocks! Hmmmm. No significant change in their appearance. No new fins, no legs, etc. Hmmmm.

This is especially interesting to me because several years ago while visiting a museum in California, I saw one of these living fossils. It was no longer living but. like the first one that had been found in 1938, it had been caught, killed, and mounted. Wow. Was that an eye opener to me. I, then, really understood the significance of ‘living fossils’. This was one more ‘nail in the coffin’ for me that the evolutionary world view glasses needed to be ‘refocused’ (or better still, discarded.)

To read about this ‘living fossil’, the Coelacanth, and many more living fossils that are known to exist alive today, as viewed through the ‘young earth’ world view glasses HERE’S THE LINK

Is there a Literal Hell???

While visiting in Hawaii recently, I hoped to fly over and look into the Kilauea Volcano on the Big Island. But, alas, all helicopters and other flights were grounded because of dangerously high sulfer dioxide levels. Sigh.

Interestingly on Sept 17, 2009, it had a summit explosion. To view a brief video (about 20 seconds) of that explosion, HERE’S THE LINK. But after you look at the video, return to this page, because there is more to today’s entry.

Ok, I see that you are back. Great! And, Wow, what a video!

Viewing that video and later hoping to fly over the Volcano and feel the heat arising from the crater, (as folks who have done that say happens), of course, I was reminded of Hell.

Doubtless you have heard or been involved in discussions about hell. Is it real? Is it literal? Who goes there? Why? etc. etc etc.

Well, thinking about all of this, I contemplated writing an article to post here and on our webpage discussing these things but, while surfing the net, I found an article that says what I would have wanted to say.

So, rather than reinvent the wheel, and to find out what the Bible and Jesus say about Hell, HERE’S THE LINK.

360 degree panorama of the Milky Way

Wow. Now this is really ‘cool’. It is a 360-Degree Panorama of the Milky Way with a 55 second YouTube video.

The picture on the left is a view of the Milky Way Galaxy from the top. The panorama and the 55 second video will be from the side. I just put this top view here to help orient you to the configuration of this Galaxy.

The 55 second video is ‘kinda’ like flying through space. Well, perhaps not that dramatic. But, still, it is pretty amazing.

Again, seeing the stars in just one galaxy -- our galaxy, the Milky Way galaxy is so awesome.

And to think, this is is just one galaxy. And there are ‘zillions’ out there. (No one knows really how many.)

Anyway, knew you would want to see this. So, HERE’S THE LINK

Cremation - Is it Christian or Pagan?

As you have probably noticed, more and more folks are being cremated these days. They give various reasons for why they are doing this.

Some say it is because it is less expensive than the traditional Christian burial, as indeed it is. Others are doing it because it is the ‘in’ thing to do.

But, is doing the ‘in’ thing or the ‘less expensive’ thing the right thing?

The question that all Christians should be asking themselves is: “Is Cremation a Christian or a Pagan practice?” In other words, what does God think about Cremation?

Recently I ran across a very good article ‘out there in internet land’ which looks into what the Bible has to say on the subject and will help us answer this question. HERE’S THE LINK

Xray from dog that ate 15 pacifiers

You may think this is nutz. But, I just couldn’t let this one pass (pun intended) without telling you about it.

Believe it or not, a dog ate 15 Pacifiers! Who knows where he got them or why he ate them. But, apparently he did.

Now, those of you who are ‘medically inclined’ know the old canard about the little child who ate some pennies, nickels, dimes, or whatever small change you want to mention. And the comment by the attending Doctor, unless the coin is too big to pass through the ileo-cecal valve region, is usually “well, we will just wait for a little change’.

Har dee har har.

Anyway. This dog really did eat the pacifiers. Unfortunately, they didn’t wait for a ‘little change’. This dog had to have surgery.

If you want to see the X-ray and the dog (and I am SURE you do) then HERE’S THE LINK.

Volcanoes Erupting as seen from Space

We have surely all seen pictures of Volcanoes erupting. But, usually we see them from ground level, though hopefully at a safe distance.

Recently, while surfing that vast library in the ether, sky, or (wherever it is), called the internet, I came across some fantastic pictures of Erupting Volcanoes on Earth as seen from Space.

Surely you will want to view them also. (Give them a few seconds to load, it is worth the wait).

And now, without further ‘ado’, HERE’S THE LINK

How can I know if I am Saved? A self test.

Since everyone will sooner or later ‘meet their maker,’ The Lord God, it would be a good idea to be sure that you are meeting Him as one of His Children and not as one destined for eternity in Hell.

So, the question you need to ask yourself now, before it is too late, and before you find to your dismay that you are not saved and are at the Great White Throne of Judgment is: “Am I really Saved?

If you are not saved, your eternity is more horrible than you could ever imagine.

So it would be wise to stop NOW and consider the question: "How can I know for sure that I am saved?"

This excellent self-test and article about Salvation was written by a Pastor. I don’t know him but the information is ‘right on.’

You would be very wise to read the article and take the self test. HERE’S THE LINK.

Stunning views of Glaciers from Space

Wow. These really are stunning pictures!

As you can tell, views from space of the earth, planets, galaxies, or whatever are fascinating to me and hence I keep finding and posting them. I hope you are just as intrigued by them because here is another set of amazing pictures.

This time we are treated to the appearance of 13 famous glaciers as seen from space. Beautiful !

You will have to click on each photo (or number at the bottom of the text) for the next one to load, but it is worth the short wait.

HERE’S THE LINK

Another interesting find in the Orkneys

Some of the readers of this blog have been to the Orkneys so this is being posted with them in mind but it is also of importance to all the happy blog readers.

What is it this time? Well, it seems that a a carving has been found that reportedly has what appears to be human eyes and eyebrows.

Specifically ,“A remote Neolithic burial mound on an Orkney island may contain carvings of human eyes and eyebrows, it has been revealed. The stone is inside the Holm of Papa Westray tomb.”

Finding anything in this area of this age (perhaps 5000 years old) is important and, of course, it is. But, what is really important is the age of the find.

The ‘finders’ are thinking that this is really strange for ‘backwards’ folks of those days.

But, those of us with the ‘young earth glasses’ can see (pun intended) a possible different interpretation - which is that these folks were not backwards and illiterate but were likely folks or descendants of folks who had been dispersed hither and yon at the time of the Tower of Babel incident.

Anyway, thought you would be interested in reading about this latest archaeological discovery in the Orkneys of Scotland. So, HERE’S THE LINK.

Woman dies at 99, leaves behind 1400 descendants!

Hmmmm 1400 descendants in 99 years! And, she and her husband only had 11 children (seven sons and four daughters).

Extrapolating from that, I wonder how many could have been on earth at the time of the flood.

You will recall that the life span before the flood was much longer than 99 years. For example, Adam died at age 930 and Methuselah (the oldest man) at 969.

Therefore, some believe the population of the earth at the time of the flood was close to what we are seeing today. Hmmm. Interesting. And something to ponder.

Anyway, to read the short article about this woman with 1400 descendants, HERE’S THE LINK

Imagine No Religion

You may or may not have seen this billboard. As of Sept. 09, it has gone up in at least 18 states and 28 cities.

Sponsored by the Freedom from Religion Foundation, the largest association of atheists and agnostics, its theme is based on the John Lennon song, “Imagine No Religion.”

The premise of the song and the folks posting the billboards is that if we had no religion we would have no wars, etc.

So what should be the response to this billboard?

Well, a wonderful response has been written by the folks at the K-House. To read it and thereby be prepared for an ‘answer’ when / if it goes up in your area or if someone poses this question to you, HERE’S THE LINK.

Space Butterfly and more!

Another astounding Hubble Picture has appeared on the internet.

Those of you who are familiar with our webpage BibleStudies.Net know that we are ‘into’ butterflies and have one as a logo on the webpage. So, when we saw this Hubble picture, it really caught our attention.

And, actually, the Space Butterfly is just one of 12 pictures from the Hubble telescope that are posted in the article.

These photos are stunning and I never cease to be amazed at the vastness and beauty of the cosmos that God has created! To think this happened by chance is ludicrous.

These photos take a short time to load even with a high speed connection, because they are big, so be patient. It is wellllllll worth the slight wait.

To see the Space Butterfly and 11 more awesome pictures, HERE’S THE LINK

The Degenerating Human Race

An interesting article in the K-house eNews landed in my email inbox the other day.

K-House eNews? What is this all about?

Well, perhaps you have heard of Chuck Missler. His ministry is known as Koinonia House (now you know why they call it K-house). Anyway, he and his ministry stay on top of many topics from world events to important Christian issues such as the one in this article.

But, enough of this background information, back to the article itself, and why it is being posted today.

As stated in the article: “Many people have a view of evolution as a progressive, upward movement toward perfection. Evolution, they feel, means that everything is getting better over time. Serious evolutionists would disagree with that interpretation. Instead, they see evolution as simply the process by which organisms become better adapted to their environments, whether or not that adaption looks like a step upward. An organism can be considered improved in the sense that it is more fit to live in a specific environment, but evolution isn't really about getting better; it's about surviving.

Even using that stricter understanding of evolution, though, it can be argued that life on earth, and especially the human race, is not evolving at all. In fact, some people argue that the human race is devolving, that we're degenerating in a variety of ways and are consequently losing the ability to survive. ... “

Sound interesting? Yes. And this is a reallllly good article and one you need to read. So, without further ado, HERE’S THE LINK.

Meet the Elements

Wow. This is cute. And educational.

Oh, oh, shouldn’t have said ‘educational’ because folks often shun ‘educational’ things thinking they will be boring.

But this is not boring and is realllllly cute.

Want to know about the elements and the periodic table and listen to a catchy song while looking at the cute graphics?

Then watch this 3 minute 47 second video on YouTube. HERE’S THE LINK.

Pink Grasshopper !!

Wow ! Pink Grasshoppers ! Who would have ever thought !

When I first saw the headline and clicked through to read the article, I was sure that this would be a hoax or a photo-shopped picture or something odd like that.

But, no, this is real.

There really are Pink Grasshoppers and one has recently been found in England.

Want to know more? Then HERE’S THE LINK

Worldwide Traditions of Primordial Paradise

As you know, many folks and especially those with the long ages worldview glasses like to pooh pooh the thought that the early Chapters of Genesis is true history.

But, Genesis is not the only source of accounts of early early beginnings.

There are many accounts in vastly different and seemingly unrelated cultures around the globe that have eerily similar parallels.

How can this be? How can traditions be so similar in accounts from Greece, Sumaria, Mesopotamia, Egypt, China, Africa, Iceland, India, Australia, and the Americas, to name but just a few.

In these and numerous other cultures, there are ancient traditions and stories telling of a primordial paradise with original perfect type societies but which for one reason or another fell into sin, were punished by a god or gods, have flood stories, and etc. etc. etc.

Alas, our ‘experts’ today totally reject the idea that these varied cultural histories can be pointing back to a single common true series of events as recorded in Genesis.

Instead they want to attribute all these traditions to myths that just arose by chance in all the various cultures but with no common ground.

If you are wondering abut real reason for these similar but varied accounts, then do I have good news for you. There is a short but very clear and important article on the ICR Website that discusses this. HERE’S THE LINK

9/11 2001 as seen from space

Hmmm. Sure wish I had seen this article earlier so it could have been posted on 9 11 but I guess the old adage ‘better late than never’ will have to apply.

And likely / surely /perhaps these pictures have already been on the net several times, but this is the first time I have seen them.

What is it this time, you ask?

Well, there is a website with several very amazing pictures of the smoke plumes, etc. from the twin towers as seen from space!

HERE’S THE LINK

Dinosaur foot prints found in Swiss Alps

Recently a very short but most interesting article about a very unusual find was posted on the internet.

What was it? Well.....

It seems that Dinosaur footprints have been found on a Swiss mountain!

Hmmmm. How can this be??

Dinosaurs in the ALPS ! The Alps with all that snow and ice !

To read about this find and to consider what this means, CLICK HERE

The 8th graded test

Ok all you ‘educated folks’ out there, here’s something to think about as you follow your favorite college teams this weekend.

You have likely heard that there has been a ‘dumbing down’ in our educational system. But you probably don’t believe it.

Rather, if the truth be known, we tend to think that we, our peers, and even the players on our favorite teams are all very smart and ‘know it all’.

Well, perhaps this test, which was a typical test for 8th Graders in the US a little over 100 years ago, will give us an idea of where we have gone (or not gone) educationally in the past 100 years.

So, get a pencil and some paper, put on your thinking cap, and HERE’S THE LINK

Racing Car powered by Chocolate !!!

Oh, Wow! Now this will get the attention of you ‘chocolate-o-holics’ out there.

On Oct 17, 2009 this racing (Formula 3) car will make its debut race using “biodiesel fuel made from a mixture of chocolate waste” (what? there is any wasted chocolate in the world? Surely not.) “and alcohol made from leftover wine.”

Hmmm. Can you imagine the smell the exhaust will produce?

And, will the drivers trailing this car get woozy from the exhaust? Hmmm.

Another interesting thing about this car is that the “steering wheel is made from ‘carrot fibre’ ... extracted from the residue from a carrot soup factory.”

I kid you not. So to read about this and to discover even more interesting things about this car, HERE’S THE LINK.

Why would they do this ???

Beginning Monday morning, Sept 7, drivers in Samoa (the American Samoa in the South Pacific) will switch from driving on the right side of the road to driving on the Left side !!!

WOW ! What are they thinking ???? Having been in countries where they drive on the left, I can attest, this is reallllllly different and really takes some getting used to!

And to think that everyone is going to have to get used to it at the same time. I shudder to think of what might happen.

Anyway and as they used to say when newspapers reported big events, “Read all about it” !

So to do that, HERE’S THE LINK

This is soooooo stoooopid !!!!

Humans ‘evolved’ to believe in God... This is the concept of a recent ‘study’ by ‘researchers’ who are studying brains.

As stated in the title of this blog post, this is soooooo stoopid. What will ‘they’ think of next.

Well, one of the 'ideas' they thought of before this ‘next’ included the idea of Richard Dawkins that “religious beliefs result from poor education and childhood ‘indoctrination’”.

Also stoooooopid.

Bottom line: Dawkins’ idea, this new ‘theory’ about evolving to believe in God, and the numerous other equally silly reasons to say there is no God just do not hold water.

Some folks will do or say (or ‘research’ about) anything to refuse to admit that there is a God.

Why? Because, if they admit to there being a God (and there is), then they would have to answer to Him. And they definitely do not want to do that. They would much rather live life by “doing it my way”, as the old song goes.

Of course, when their ‘my way’ life ends, they will discover (too late) that they were wrong and that there is a God and that they do have to answer to Him after all !!!

Anyway, I thought you would like to read the lastest stooooopid ‘scholarly reason’ to say there is no God. So, HERE’S THE LINK

10 Technologies (Biomimetics) from the Animal Kingdom

There is a really interesting article about technological inventions called ‘Biomimetics’.

According to the article: “People have been lifting ideas from Mother Nature for decades. Velcro was inspired by the hooked barbs of thistle, and the first highway reflectors were made to mimic cat eyes. But today, the science of copying nature, a field known as biomimetics, is a billion-dollar industry. Here are some of our favorite technologies that came in from the wild."

These are verrrrry interesting and truly amazing.

But, my question is, “how did these amazing things that are seen in the animal kingdom and nature just ‘happen by chance’ (evolution) when we, very smart people, didn’t think of or invent such things on our own”?

With man’s brilliant mind, we should have ‘figured this out’ long before random ‘chance’ did.

Alas, we didn’t figure these things out independently, but, instead, we observe these so-called ‘random chance evolutionary accidents’ and then try to copy them. Hmmmm???? What is wrong with this picture?

I don’t know about you, but these amazing innovations and creations (not our ‘reverse-engineered’ ones, but the original ones in animals and nature) just cause me to appreciate and praise our Creator God more and more!

Anyway, to read about these amazing animals, creations, and innovations that GOD (not ‘mother nature’ and not evolution) made and the ways we are copying their exquisite designs into our ife today, HERE’S THE LINK.

Question of the Day

You have probably heard this before but for some reason it has been bouncing around in my head for the past few days. It was even in my dreams recently. So I thought I would let it bounce around in your head or dreams, too.

So here is the Question --

What do John the Baptist, Winnie the Pooh and Smokey the Bear have in common?

Give up? Or to check your answer and see a couple more 'funny things' as a bonus? Then CLICK HERE.

Morning and Evening Devotions

C. H. Spurgeon wrote a devotional classic titled “Morning and Evening Devotions.”

If you are not familiar with it, you should be. This is definitely a book you want in your library, and not just ‘on the shelf’ but to read daily -- in the Morning and in the Evening as the title suggests.

He usually takes a verse or two or three from Scripture and then writes devotional and / or explanatory thoughts building on the verse or verses.

To read an example of one of the brief but profound entries, this one based on John 17:22, "And the glory which Thou gavest me I have given them." CLICK HERE.

Robot Chefs !

Well, this is another “Now, I’ve heard everything” thing.

And this time the ‘unusual’ is happening in, of all places, China !
Yes, In China.

Seems that there is a restaurant in Nanning, China which prepares dishes created by two robot chefs.

“The restaurant, appropriately named "I Robot," has hundreds of recipes stored in computers that control the robots' movements. "Our robot chefs are more efficient and hygienic. And they don't complain," boasted the restaurant's manager.”

One would think that with allllll the people in China, they would not have to resort to Robots. But then, you don’t have to pay workman’s comp, Social Security Taxes, etc. for a robot. Hmmm. Do they have those taxes in China? Probably not. So, why are they doing this? Who knows. Maybe for the novelty of it all.

While looking into this, I discovered that the restaurant in China is not the only place that is ‘employing’ (is that the correct word? Probably not.) Robot Chefs. There are several other restaurants using them in Japan and other places.

I sure wish I had a Robot Chef!

Anyway, this certainly is an interesting concept. HERE’S THE LINK

Providence Training Center Updates

For those of you who have been following and praying for the Providence Training Center in Kenya, you will be happy to know that there is now a Blog site to provide you with updates re what is ‘happening’.

So, from time to time, be sure to check it out to see the latest news items, updates, and prayer requests.

HERE’S THE LINK

‘Deeper Conference’ in Atlanta

For those of you in the Atlanta area, there is going to be what looks like a very good Conference in a few days from now that you should try to attend.

Speakers include several folks that we have featured on this blog. They include Ray Comfort, Ravi Zacharias, Kirk Cameron, and more. This will be your chance to hear them in person.

The conference is scheduled for Sept 11-12 (Fri and Saturday)

Yes, alas, this will interfere with the Saturday SEC Football games. So I guess we will see what is really important. Or you can set your recorders.

Anyway to read more about this conference, HERE’S THE LINK

And to go to the webpage for more details (topics, registration, etc) HERE’S THE LINK

Taking Care of FiFi

Well, surely now I have heard everything. Surfing the net is such fun. It is like wandering through the largest library in the world. You never know what you will see on the next shelf.

And this time, what I found in the big library in the internet sky is realllllly different.

What is it?

Well, believe it or not, it is a web site that tells about Pet care after the rapture by Atheists !

Seems that they have come up with a ‘plan’ to take care of FiFi or whatever your pet’s name is. Their premise (as stated on their website) is: “You've committed your life to Jesus. You know you're saved. But when the Rapture comes what's to become of your loving pets who are left behind? Eternal Earth-Bound Pets takes that burden off your mind. “

And, indeed they will, for $110 for 10 years of ‘insurance.’ If the rapture does not occur in 10 years, then I guess you will have to sign up again.

And yes, this is a thoughtful and helpful enterprise they have concocted. But, I do not plan to ‘sign up’. Instead, I intend to pray that they, too, will be saved and join the group in the rapture and escape the eternal horrors of hell.

But, 'nuff of this pontificating. I know you want to read about this for yourself, so HERE’S THE LINK.

The Voyage that shook the World

150 Years Ago, the Book, Descent of Man by Charles Darwin, was published and many celebrations of this event on TV, etc. are being observed this year by those who support and teach the theory of evolution.

But, there are also many events, meetings, conferences, and films being produced this year to question and rebut the theory of evolution.

One of these movies is “The Voyage that Shook the World”, a new film produced by Creation Ministries International and Fathom Media.

I have not yet seen this film but have read reviews about it and, based on those reviews, it is definitely a MUST SEE movie. So, I plan to see it the first chance I get whether in a theater, church, or on DVD and encourage you to do the same.

It will be available on DVD at Amazon.com for the pre-order price of $20.45 (normally $22.98) with release date of Oct 6, 2009.

In the meantime, some churches and theaters are showing it so you might want to check around in your area to see if there is a showing. If there is none, ask your church to book a showing for the folks in your town or city.

To Read a review of the movie HERE’S THE LINK

And to see a Trailer of the film HERE’S THE LINK

Dog Story

Well, Email has ‘struck again’ -- this time with a real 'tear jerker' of a story about a man and his dog.

Yes, I know I should not have told you it was a ‘tear jerker’ but you knew it would be, because most Dog stories are, for one reason or another.

But this is not a bad tear jerker. You will be glad you read it.

So Get out your kleenex and HERE’S THE LINK.

The Anatomy of a Molecule !

Have you seen this? The picture in the upper left of today’s entry shows the first close up view of a single molecule!

We are talking reallllllly small. How small ? Well.....

This molecule is 1.4 nanometers long. That is wayyyyyyy smaller than the period at the end of this sentence. It is so small that it took a special microscope called an ‘atomic force’ microscope to image it.

Hmmm. I remember when the electron microscope was the cutting edge of science. Well, that has been way surpassed by this new imaging device.

Anyway, back to this molecule. It is an organic molecule called Pentacene and consists of 22 carbon atoms and 14 hydrogen atoms. And, those of you who took Chemistry in school will readily appreciate the hexagon shape that carbon rings form. Wow, imagine that, our Chemistry books had the correct shape.

But even more thrilling to me is the beauty and symmetry of this molecule. It SHOUTS design. This could not have happened by chance and is more evidence of the intricate detail in the structures made by our Creator God!

To read more and to see a short video about this amazing image HERE’S THE LINK.

Did Dinosaurs Survive The Flood?

What about Dinosaurs? Were they on the Ark of Noah?

And, if so, (and, yes, they were) where are they now?

Why don’t we see Dinosaurs today, at least in zoos like we see lions and tigers and bears and etc.?

Well, these are good questions.

And for a brief but excellent explanation of what happened to the dinosaurs, HERE’S THE LINK.

4000 year old grave uncovered near Perth

And while we are looking into recent discoveries of old old things (see yesterday’s entry re. the findings near Londonderry, for example), here is another interesting ‘find’.

A grave of what is thought to be a “Bronze Age hero” has been found in a field 10 miles south of Perth, Scotland.

Wow! Isn’t it interesting that more and more Archaeological Digs are uncovering evidence of old civilizations with interesting and sometimes rather technical artifacts such as bronze daggers with gold trimmings, etc.

But, I don’t want to give away all the details of this find, so, without further ado, HERE’S THE LINK.

5000 year old sites found

Do you recall reading or hearing about an old old town in Northern Ireland called Londonderry? Well, it is now called Derry. So, if you are thinking the name “Derry’ has a familiar ring to it, you are correct.

And, having been to the City of LondonDerry, this really caught my attention.

What has happened now? Well,

“Archaeologists have unearthed eight neolithic sites in Derry, some more than 5,000 years old, ...



“The exciting discoveries were made during work on the new Maydown dual carriageway and include a pair of well-preserved 5,000 years-old Neolithic houses and 4,000 years-old Bronze Age burial places known as 'ring-ditches'...."

Wow, it looks like another location of those who left sometime after the flood and / or at the tower of Babel dispersion era has been found.

History gets more and more exciting with every Archaeological dig. HERE’S THE LINK.

Tubular Clouds !

Wow, this is an interesting odd thing of nature -- Tubular Clouds !

Tubular Clouds, also referred to as Morning Glory Clouds and Roll Clouds, are seen in many locations around the world but they are especially well known in Australia where they happen every year.

According to one article I read they occur in the Spring. Alas, another said every Fall! But whether fall or spring, apparently they occur annually in Australia, especially in the area of Burketown, Queensland..)

Sometimes they are observed to be 600 miles in length and they have been tracked at speeds up to 35 mph.

Seemingly the cause of these is still not known. But they are real and very unusual.

To Read more, HERE’S THE LINK

Out of Nothing .... Everything ?

Out of Nothing .... Everything ?

Hmmm. Well, Ray Comfort has done it again. What?

Well, he has once again pointed out
the absurdity of the Atheist’s belief system which is that there is no Creator God and that everything came from nothing.

Boggles the mind if you ask me.

Anyway, Check out this article which was originally posted on the WorldView Times (WorldView Weekend) web site.
HERE’S THE LINK

8 More things a Burglar won't tell you

Well, I hope you found yesterday’s ‘helpful warnings’ from our ‘friendly burglars’ interesting, informative, and indeed helpful.

And I assume that you have been waiting with ‘bated breath’ so to speak for the next set of helpful hints.

So, without further ado and to read 8 More things a Burglar won’t tell you CLICK HERE

13 Things a Burglar Won't tell you

While perusing the Sept issue of Reader’s Digest (scaning through it before passing it on to my Sister in Law who loves to read it,) I came across a very interesting and helpful article.

Actually it is 2 articles. So, one will be posted today and Part 2 tomorrow.

Both are full of helpful hints. You probably know a lot of them, if you are the careful and cautious ‘type’ but the interesting thing about these hints is that, according to the article, these were provided by ‘real burglars’. Hmm.

Anyway, with that by way of background, to read Part 1 titled 13 Things a Burglar won’t tell you CLICK HERE

Glowing ‘bomber worms’

So you are going to tell me this also just happened by ‘chance’ (evolution)?

What am I talking about this time?

Well, according to an article on BBC News, “A group of glowing worms has been found dwelling in the deep ocean, some of which release body parts as tiny "bombs" to ward off predators.”

This is amazing! Who would have thought that creatures deep deep in the oceans would be so advanced by chance !

But, rather than me waxing eloquent about these deep sea creatures, you need to read about them so HERE’S THE LINK.

Parley’s History of the World is NOT Revisionist History

Recently I watched a DVD which taught, among other things, about the effects of Revisionist History on a person’s world view. As one example, It told what is currently in the History Textbooks concerning the Mayflower Compact. (The speaker held up the Textbook his daughter was using as an example).

In that typical current History textbook, according to the video I was watching, this is what the students are now reading when they study the Mayflower Compact:

We whose names are underwritten, the loyal subjects of our dread Sovereign Lord King James, by the Grace of God of Great Britain, France and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, etc.
Having undertaken, a Voyage to plant the First Colony in the Northern Parts of Virginia, ...

(he did not quote the rest of the Mayflower Compact on his Power point presentation so I assume it was unchanged)...

But what the Mayflower compact really stated is, (and I am highlighting in RED the words that were deleted from the Current typical Textbook):

In the name of God, Amen. We whose names are underwritten, the loyal subjects of our dread Sovereign Lord King James, by the Grace of God of Great Britain, France and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, etc. Having undertaken, for the Glory of God and advancement of the Christian Faith and Honour of our King and Country, a Voyage to plant the First Colony in the Northern Parts of Virginia, ...

(again I am leaving out the rest of the Mayflower compact since he was emphasizing the fact that the deleted parts were so key in understanding why the Pilgrims came to America.)

This is an example of ‘Revisionist History’. Not many words were left out but they were very significant words. Students who read this abbreviated, edited, revised version of history will have no clue or understanding why the USA was founded and the underlying principles.

So, what to do?

Well, for one thing, read history books that have not revised history. Of course, this is easier said than done. But, if you are wanting to know about the history of the world, without any revisionist bias, then, do I have the book for you.

It is Parley’s History of the World and is now my all time favorite history book.

Alas, it is not the book I used when studying History. Revisionism was already in vogue when I went through school. But, I always wondered why my parents and grandparents knew so much more history than even my history teachers. Well, it was not because my parents were 5000 years old, but, because they had studied this textbook.

I discovered this book by accident a few years ago. But, wow! When I found it and read it, my eyes were opened. And, if you read it, yours will, too. This is definitely a ‘must read’ book.

Yeah, Yeah, I can hear you now saying “I don’t like history!” Well, I didn’t either UNTIL I read this book !!!

I could go on and on about this book. And, actually, I did. So, to read more about this book and why you need to get and read it, CLICK HERE

Did Mozart die of Strep throat?

While listing to a piece by Mozart on a Classical Music Station on the radio while surfing the net, I came across this interesting article about how / why Mozart died. Talk about serendipity.

Anyway, having always been interested in knowing the age and the cause of death of an individual, I clicked through to read the article.

Who knows if this was the real cause or not, but it sounds plausible. Even more tragic, however, (especially to the music world), is that he was only 35 when he died!

So, just in case you are interested, HERE’S THE LINK

And, I found an even better article in that it has even more details. So if you want to know even more, and you really should read both articles, then HERE’S ANOTHER LINK

Neolithic Cathedral..... unearthed in Orkney Dig

Another amazing archaeological find has been unearthed in the Orkneys. This time it is a Neolithic Cathedral.

The article at the Times Online site says “The dig site at Ness of Brodgar has been described as potentially as important as Skara Brae. Worshippers would have been led through a passage to a chamber at the heart of the building”

Hmmmm. Interesting.

But, this article caught my attention for several reasons, not the least of which is that I have been to both the Ring / Circle of Brodgar and Skara Brae. What a great trip it was, another awesome family adventure and most memorable!

The ‘old earthers’ will ultimately place the building of these structures in the very distant past or else they will say that these structures were built by ‘primitive’ folks.

In reality, these were most likely erected by people traversing the earth looking for new places to settle after the Flood of Noah and after the Tower of Babel dispersion. Looking at these archaeological finds from that perspective makes these extremely interesting.

Oh, I would like to ‘wax eloquent’ on the topic. But, for the sake of space and time, will not and will just let you read the article, remembering that it is not written from the Biblical perspective.

So HERE’S THE LINK

Dogs or Children?

Aren’t you glad that you come to this blog daily? You never know what you will find.

You ARE coming daily, aren’t you?

Anyway, the second ‘entry’ for today is a hoot and was sent to me by a friend. It is another hysterically funny email. And, again, it is just toooooo good to not share with you.

The question posed in the email is --

Which would you rather have, a Dog? or Children?

And for the answer HERE’S THE LINK

Amazing Grace

You have surely sung the hymn, Amazing Grace, many many times (IF you are older than 35 or 40.) But, alas, If you are younger, you may not have even heard it since you have been busy singing those ‘ditties’ in church that I refer to as “7 - 11“ songs ..... i.e. 7 words 11 times.

But whether you have sung this hymn a zillion times or if you have never even heard it, this movie is for you and is one I highly recommend. (And you know by now that there are few movies that I recommend, much less ‘highly recommend’)

It is based on a true story and tells the background to and the results of this most favorite hymn of many people. John Newton, who wrote the hymn and William Wilberforce are two folks you will be meeting when you get to heaven. After you see this movie, you will want to visit and chat with them for quite a while and thank them for letting the Lord work through them in such a powerful way.

It is not a new release (was released in 2007) though I didn’t see it till just a few months ago when visiting with friends and we viewed it as a borrowed DVD.

And, speaking of DVD, since it is not a new release, you can likely rent it from one of the chains or borrow it from your local library. But, if you opt to purchase it, you will be glad to have it in your library.

But whether you purchase, rent, or check it out from your local library, this is a ‘must see’ movie.

To read a review about the movie, Amazing Grace, HERE’S THE LINK.

The Sound of the Shofar (Ram’s Horn)

On the Mark Biltz website (El Shaddai Ministries) is an amazing 2 minute 29 second recording from You Tube of The sound of the Shofar.

Mark Biltz placed this recording on his website because he is promoting a “Feast of Trumpets Wave 2009”. He likens this to the wave that we see at sporting events, but, in this instance, the wave will be related to time zones as the day of the Feast of Trumpets / Day of Trumpets / Yom Teruah / Rosh Hashanah begins.

You will recall that a ‘day’ on the Jewish calendar begins at sundown. This year Yom Teruah / Feast of Trumpets / Day of Trumpets / Rosh Hashanah will begin at sundown on the evening of September 18, one month from today.

During Yom Teruah many many blowings (I have heard the number 100 but don’t hold me to that) of the Shofar occur, the last of which is a lonnnnnnnng blast which some Biblical Scholars believe refers to “The last trumpet” mentioned by Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:52

“51Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 53For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. 55O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? 56The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. 57But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” KJV

This shofar is played by Rabbi Jonathan Ginsburg. You will notice that, as the various names of the sound/blast to be played are called out, Rabbi Ginsburg sounds the named call on the Shofar.

If you listen closely to the names of the sound to be played, you will notice that the name of the last long blast that is sounded is the name of the last blast that is sounded on the day of the Feast of Trumpets. Hmmmm. Very Interesting. Is this the sound of the last trumpet that Paul mentioned???

Anyway, I thought you would like to hear this so HERE’S THE LINK.

And if you want to know more about the Jewish Holiday of Rosh Hashanah/ Feast of Trumpets / Yom Teruah / Day of Trumpets CLICK HERE

Skidboot, the world's smartest dog

While we are on the topic of pets --there is a wonderful video about the world’s smartest dog.... Skidboot...... (well, maybe the world’s second smartest dog since you probably think your pet is the smartest).

Anyway, Skidboot, the world’s smartest dog, is truly amazing.

You might have seen him on tv or in person. But, if not, you can watch this 8 minute 30 second You Tube video. HERE’S THE LINK

Notice on the Refrigerator to Dogs and Cats

Well, it has happened again. What?

Why, another funny email that is just too good to read and delete. This time it is about dogs and cats -- our pets.

And, since almost everyone has, has had, or wish they had a pet, you will surely find this as funny as I did.

Of course, my pet is perfect (as is yours) and never does any of these things. But still this is really funny.

So, with thanks to my friend, a new grandmother, and who has cats, HERE’S THE LINK.

Bartholomew Lives His Testimony

It is mid August and the start of the College football season is almost here and those of us who are fans are eagerly anticipating the new season.

You are probably wondering why in the world on this Bible Studies Net blog I am mentioning college football....

Well, let me explain.

Since it is ‘that time of the year’, I was checking my favorite sports sites and while surfing, I came across an amazing article about a former U Tennessee football player who is not your typical College or Pro Football player. By that, I mean this guy is apparently really sold out for the Lord! Wow!

His name is Will Bartholomew and he is a former Tennessee fullback from Nashville who played during UT’s heyday and on the 1998 National Championship team.

What he did then and what he is doing now is most unusual in today’s world.

Whether you are a football fan or not, you will be blessed by this article and I think you will agree that it is very appropriate for this blog. HERE’S THE LINK.

Walking away from God / Turning your Back on God

Was there a time in your past when you felt really close to God but now God seems distant?

Are you no longer seeking His advice and wisdom in your relationships, educational choices, career decisions, family decisions, social and ‘entertainment’ activities, and the myriad of other daily actions and choices you are making?

Are you ‘mad’ at God for some reason or another and, therefore, have walked away from Him and immersed yourself in the world’s activities, choices, desires, and beliefs?

Would you like to once again enjoy fellowship with God but you think that it is impossible?

And, even if you don’t want to enjoy fellowship with God again and don’t want to have anything to ever do with Him in the future, have you considered the ultimate consequences which result from walking away from God?

To read a very short but really great article by Charles Stanley about this, HERE’S THE LINK

Does the Bible say anything about Astronomy?

We have had several posts recently that mentioned various astronomical subjects such as Mars, comets, etc. But, these have been articles from the secular press even though we often made Biblical references or comments about them.

So, the thought might have crossed your mind: “Does the Bible say anything about Astronomy?”

Well, yes, it does. It says a lot of things about Astronomy.

This short article by Dr. Jason Lisle, who is an Astronomer and has a PhD in the field, gives us a wonderful glimpse into some of the things related to astronomy that are in the Bible. I think you will find it very interesting. HERE’S THE LINK

Amazing 3D Murals painted on walls

Well, we have had several days of ‘serious’ topics. So, today, let’s have some fun.

A few days ago, I happened across an article about an artist who does amazing 3D drawings on the sides of buildings. Having always been fascinated by drawings on buildings, this caught my attention.

There is a historical drawing on a wall in the town where I was born (long long ago when dinosaurs roamed the earth) but it is not a 3D drawing.

There are also a lot of wonderful drawings on the waterfront wall in Paducah, Ky. which are also worth a trip to view. But they are not 3D either.

And, yes, there are other drawings on walls in other towns and cities.

But, these drawings, which are in 3D, are truly amazing. They look sooooo real. I knew you would want to see them, too, so HERE’S THE LINK.

The second most important event in the Bible

For a couple of days we have talked about Mars. And, yesterday, in that article about Mars’ magnetic field or lack thereof, I mentioned the Flood of Noah.

Well, that brings us to a good lead in for today’s blog post?

How so? You ask?

Glad you asked. And for one answer (with which I agree, unlike yesterday’s article when I had some questions) there is a very interesting article about the Second Most important event in the Bible.

I thought it was very interesting and thought provoking. So without further ado, HERE’S THE LINK.

Mars magnetic field is missing???

Yes, Yes, I know you just saw this image yesterday. But, it is appropriate to today's post. Let me explain.

But, first let me give you a caveat because as a friend of mine used to say: “I don’t understand anything I know about that!”

And, this is so true re this article which says that Mars is missing its Magnetic Field.

Well, Not being an astronomer, I don’t know if this is a true statement or even how they know that the magnetic field is missing.

But, I wonder it was ‘lost’ (if it is gone) by the method proposed in the article, especially since they say that this happened a half a billion years ago. (How do they know that?)

And, if this was the mechanism, i.e. that comet impacts can really do this, and maybe they can - then, it is more likely that it happened about 4-5000 years ago when there were probably a lot of impacts (as per the scars on moon, mars, etc.) which may have occurred during the year of Noah's flood.

That is just my ‘idea’ so don’t get upset.

But, if they can have an “I suppose”, why can’t you and I also have some ideas. After all, they were not there and neither was I. And I do have a lot of ‘out of the box’ ideas on topics such as this. So, don’t get me started ... (but I wish you would as these are very interesting topics).

And I also have great doubts concerning what they say in the article about how the field formed in the first place, since this is also a lot of supposition from the long ages evolutionary worldview.

So, bottom line, this article probably wouldn’t ‘hold water’ (much less a 'magnetic field') if evaluated correctly (i.e. from God’s, instead of man’s, point of view).

But, since we were thinking about Mars in yesterday’s blog posting, I thought you might find this interesting. So to read this article, HERE'S THE LINK.

The Annual August Mars Email Hoax

It is that time of the year, i.e. August, and though I have not yet seen this email this year, I have seen it in the past. And you probably have seen it also.

But, the BBC website is anticipating the email and alerting folks that it is time for it to make its rounds again so we will not be duped into standing outside with the biting bugs looking at the sky hoping to see a reallllly big Mars.

They recently wrote: “Every August e-mails circulate which suggest we are about to have a close encounter with Mars. The e-mails are a hoax, but they say something about our fascination with the Red Planet. The e-mail seems to promise something truly remarkable. It often starts: "The Red Planet is about to be spectacular." It ends with the screaming caps: "NO ONE ALIVE TODAY WILL EVER SEE THIS AGAIN." The message tells of Mars being close to the earth on 27 August, close enough to be as big as the moon with the naked eye.”

Well, yes, this is a hoax. So, even though there are a lot of real events including eclipses and other amazing things happening in the sky these days, apparently Mars being the size of the moon is not one of them.

To read the rest of the article, HERE’S THE LINK

Aesop’s fable may be true

I first read this on Yahoo news but it is also on the BBC website. So this must be realllllly big news. Well, maybe not.

But it is more evidence of the detail God put into His created beings. Of course, these two articles will not say or even intimate that God had anything to do with this because we all ‘know’ that birds just evolved by accident and were not created. So this seeming ability to ‘think’ that has now been found in birds is just an accident. NOT!

Anyway, it is news that has to do with smart birds. So, Hmm. A ‘birdbrain’ might not be so bad after all.

In what way are they smart? Well, they might not actually play the card game of “Rook” or the game of Chess, but ‘Rook Birds’ do seem to be able to figure things out in order to get food, etc. Imagine that! But, I am giving too much away. You will enjoy reading this for yourself, if you haven’t already.

So, to read the article on yahoo, HERE’S THE LINK

And the article on BBC gives even more details, so to read it, HERE’S THE LINK.

And to see a 54 second video of the Rook in action at the task, HERE'S THE LINK

Astronomy Picture of the Day Archive

For the past couple of days we have been thinking about astronomical things (and I am not referring to the gov. debt). So, staying on the topic of astronomy for one more day. Let me ask you....

Do you know about NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day Archive? Hopefully you do, but if not, you are going to love this !!!!

And, yes, this is one realllllly good example of ‘your taxes at work’.

Each day a new, fascinating, and astounding (to me) picture is posted. Sometimes the pictures are of a scene on earth such as an aurora, sunrise, etc., but most of the pictures are from deep space. And, of course, the comments have the expected secular worldview. But, ignore that and just look at the pictures. You will be thrilled at what is ‘out there’.

The Horsehead Nebula in the upper left corner of this blog entry was the ‘Picture of the Day’ for July 21, 2009.

And one more thing. If we can see these distant nebula, stars, galaxies, etc. why can’t we see the Oort cloud? Oh well, just a thought.

Anyway, to see some fantastic views of the Universe that God created, HERE’S THE LINK

The Oort Cloud. Does it really exist?

Yesterday, we posted an article about “Comets not being the cause of extinctions”. In that article was a reference to the “Oort Cloud”. And, as we indicated, the Oort Cloud is hypothetical.

What? There is no proof that the Oort Cloud is real? How can this be? It is taught to be a ‘fact’ in our secular schools, textbooks, on TV, etc.

Well, amazingly, the Oort Cloud is a still a ‘figment of imagination’, has not been proven to exist, and has never been seen, even with the fantastic Hubble and other high powered telescopes. Wow. Imagine that !

So, that being said, and to find out more about the Oort Cloud, or the lack thereof, today, as promised, here is some more information about the hypothetical Oort Cloud.

First, let’s listen to a 1 minute 30 second audio recording. It is titled “The Oort Cloud - does it exist?” HERE’S THE LINK

And to read a short article about the “Oort Cloud” written by Dr. Danny Faulkner, HERE’S THE LINK

Finally, if you want to know even more about the hypothetical Oort Cloud as well as a lot of fascinating information about Astronomy in general from the Biblical perspective, there is a very interesting article written by Dr. Jason Lisle. The information about the Oort Cloud is about half way down the page.

But before I link you to it, let me add that

This article by Dr Lisle was in an excellent publication which you can still obtain from Answers In Genesis. It was in the “Astronomy Issue” of Answers Magazine. You can buy this issue as a stand alone purchase. But, better yet, why not also subscribe to this Magazine. It comes 4 times a year and I consider it to be worth its weight in gold re the information it provides in each issue. Information re how to subscribe is given in a click through link on the page with the article. You will find that link near the top of the page and just to the right of the opening paragraph of the article.

So, without further ado, to read the article by Dr. Lisle and to find out how to subscribe to the Answers Magazine, HERE’S THE LINK

“Comets ‘not cause of extinctions’”

This is another “Oh Oh” for the ‘long agers’ / ‘old earthers’, and the evolutionists.

According to a recent article on the internet, “Comet strikes are an unlikely cause of past mass extinctions on Earth, according to computer simulations.”

Oh, No! You mean that the dinosaurs who supposedly lived long long ago, before man existed (contrary to what the Bible teaches) were NOT killed (extinguished) by an asteroid strike 65 million years ago? Horrors!

And, by the way, the Oort Cloud referred to in the article, which is supposedly the source of these comets, has apparently never been seen and is not a proven ‘cloud’. Hmmmm. In tomorrow’s posting, we will give you some links which will provide more information about the hypothetical ‘Oort Cloud’, so be sure to return to this blog tomorrow.

In the meantime, to read the article about “Comets are not the cause of extinctions” HERE’S THE LINK

10 Lost Cities of the World

A recent article in the Telegraph.co.uk tells of 10 ‘Lost Cities’ with a picture of each.

These are not places that most people visit so this should be an interesting armchair journey for all of us wanderlust travel folks.

I love to travel! Indeed, it has been one of my all time ‘favorite’ things to do. But of these 10 cities, I have to admit, I have only been to one of them. Sigh.

But, hmmm, they are not really ‘lost’ or we wouldn’t have these pictures or be able to go to them, would we?

Anyway, the article opens with the first picture. To see the rest, one at a time, look on the right hand side of the page near the top and click on the NEXT arrow. It took me a while to find the place to click so thought I would save you some time.

Well, enough of this rambling (pun intended). You surely want to see the pictures so HERE’S THE LINK.

Oh, wow, evolution has done it again. Not !

What is it this time that is so amazing, you ask.
Wellllll....
A recent article, written, of course, from the secular, ‘it just happens by chance’ view of evolution
tells us that
“honey bees sterilize their hives with antimicrobial resin...”

Amazing. Astounding. But most amazing of all is how anyone could think that this happened by accident, oh, excuse me, by evolution.

Of course, it couldn’t.

And talk about chutzpah (hutzpah), this information was originally published in the Journal Evolution. Since I do not subscribe to that journal, I only read about this finding on the BBC website.

Anyway, read this BBC article. It is amazing what GOD (not evolution) has designed for His creatures. Amazing.

HERE’S THE LINK

Personal Submarines?

I thought we were having some kind of depression or recession or whatever.

Well, maybe not. At least these folks must not be worried because they are making these recreational machines.

So for those of you with a million or two to spend, you could get a Personal Submarine and tool around in the lake, river, whatever.

HERE’S THE LINK

Satan’s Strategy

This ‘thought for the day’ came in an email and though I know who sent the email, I have no idea who actually wrote this particular ‘strategy’. But, it sounds a lot like a 21st Century version of Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis.

If you have not read that classic book, Screwtape Letters, you really should. I checked on the web and apparently this classic book is still ‘in copyright’ so there are no free versions on the web. Sigh. So, I guess you will have to borrow it from a friend or check it out from a library, or whatever.

In the meantime, it would be very instructive if you would read this short and succinct version of the overall concept that is in Lewis’ book.

So, to read the email with shorter version of the same concept, CLICK HERE.

90 Minutes in Heaven

This is an excellent book written by Dan Piper. I read the book awhile back but had forgotten about it until tonight when I got an email from a friend who had recently ‘read’ it. Well, actually she listened to it as an audio book since she is now having vision problems. You know how it is when you get ‘old’.

Anyway, her book review is so succinct, that I decided to just cut and paste it so you could get her take on it.

So, here is what my friend said about this book:

“I recently "read" a book you might enjoy. I get them on tape, so miss all the pictures. Anyway, the name of it was 90 Minutes in Heaven by a Texas Baptist minister who's name, I believe, is Dan Piper. When he wrote this he was minister at a Pasadena, TX, church that had 10,000 members.

“He'd gone to a Baptist conference and on the way home was crossing a bridge when an 18 wheeler ran over his car. The medical people said he was dead, covered him with a tarp, and sent away the ambulances.

“90 minutes later another minister came by and went to see what had happened. He got as close as he could to him and prayed for him a lot, then he discovered that he was alive and told the rescue people, who said that he wasn't, but it turned out that he was and he wrote all the things he'd seen when he was out for this 90 minutes. It also talks about all his rehab .... He and one of his children had also graduated from LSU. It was an interesting book.”

Well, there you have it, the ‘book review’ by my friend. She is a graduate of LSU, which is why she picked up on his education and that of one of his children.

And, Yes, she is so right. This is an interesting book and she and I highly recommend it to you. The experiences which he recounts during his 90 minutes in heaven are very interesting, believable, and encouraging.

Really Unusual Vacation Hotels and Hostels

As you know, from time to time on this blog we suggest places to go or things to do for vacations. But, the link posted today tells of “the Top 5 Incredible Eco-Hotels and Hostels of the World”. And indeed they are incredible!

Having traveled with family and friends to many really interesting locations and having stayed in some really unusual places in the past, I think it is safe to say that we have never done anything quite as unusual as these.

I am not necessarily suggesting that you go to these hotels and hostels, but it is interesting to know about these new ‘options’ for ‘unusual places’ to stay. And, thanks to the internet, we can check them out even if we don’t make the trip. HERE’S THE LINK

Blind border collie has is own guide dog

You have probably already heard about this, but just in case you haven’t, this is really a heart warming story and I knew you would be interested. And, no, no dog dies in this story so it is safe to read it.

Seems that there is a Blind border collie named Clyde who has a dear dear dog friend, Bonnie, who takes care of him and actually serves as a guide dog for Clyde.

These were strays who “were rescued after being abandoned on a street in the middle of a storm three weeks ago.” They are up for adoption in England. It is truly amazing.

So, without further ado, HERE’S THE LINK

New Webpage Online !!

Wow ! It has finalllllly happened. After a long and often frustrating few weeks, the Web page snafu for BibleStudies.Net has been resolved and the new shiny web page is now on line.

The new website is not yet complete and is a work in progress but the exciting new changes have begun.

You will notice that some 'click throughs' take you to our mirror site. But not to worry. That is a 'real' site and you are still on Bible Studies Net.

Anyway, soooooo excited about this development and just had to let you know.

If you would like to see the new site HERE'S THE LINK

Mini Scale model of Solomon’s Temple

An article on the Arutz Sheva Newspaper website tells of a Mini-scale Model of Solomon’s Temple. This model is located in, of all places, England!

The builder has been working on this model for 30 years. Some say this is the most accurate model of the temple in existence today.

There is a Sunday School Class in the Atlanta area that will find this article exceedingly interesting as they have been studying about the Temple and its components for months, perhaps even years.

And, by the way, if you live in the Atlanta Area and would like to attend this class which obviously does a truly in-depth study of the Word of God, email me and I will tell you where it is and how to find it. Email address written to prevent spamming is BibleStudiesNet (at) yahoo (dot) com.

Anyway, that class will find this article interesting and so will you. So, HERE’S THE LINK

The Hamster dance and Singing Horses

Well, after that scary picture yesterday, today let’s have some fun and ‘silliness’ (is that a word?). And tomorrow we can get back to 'serious' for awhile.

While looking at Cards the other day (birthday cards, graduation cards, etc) I noticed that a lot of them these days play music when you open them. (Guess I need to get out more as this is probably not a ‘new’ thing).

Anyway, upon opening one, it played, you guessed it, the Hamster Dance. Wow. The Hamster dance. Hadn’t heard that ditty in years.

Have you missed it? Well, good news, the Hamster dance is still out there on the net in all its ‘glory.. HERE’S THE LINK

And another ‘great one’ is the Singing Horses. It is one of my all time favorites. Surely you have seen it. But, if not, HERE’S THE LINK

Oh Wow. Talk about scary

There were several things that were in the ‘running’ to be the post for today but then, pow, I found this picture and well, you just have to see it.

It was aptly titled “Dude, how did you get up there?”

I don’t know who took it, though a caption on the click through said it was made in Glacier National Park in Montana.

Well, where ever it was made and whomever took it, this is amazing.

HERE’S THE LINK

“Green Beetle’s super-shiny secret”

Guess what, the green “jewelled beetle” has cells which are almost identical to hi-tech liquid crystals. Then when polarised light shines on them the light causes the cells to have different colors, including green. Yet, the beetle does not have green pigments, just these interesting cells.

This and more is detailed in a recent BBC article.

I guess this is just another evolutionary ‘accident / chance innovation.’ Not!

To read this interesting article, HERE’S THE LINK

The Toucan uses its big Beak/Bill to regulate heat ? !

Hmm. This is very interesting!

A recent article in ‘Science’ proposes that the purpose of the humongous beak on the Toucan bird is a mechanism for the bird to regulate its temperature and to cool off. Apparently some studies have been done using infrared cameras to detect heat radiation from bills of Toucans.

”The scientists found that as the surroundings got warmer, the toucan's bill would rapidly heat up, effectively acting as a radiator to draw heat away from the bird's body, allowing it to stay cool. Conversely, in cooler temperatures, little heat would radiate from the bill, letting the bird conserve its warmth.”

What a great idea ! Using the huge beak to regulate heat! Makes sense to me.

But, did this just happen by random chance? Again, I don’t think so. Rather, it looks like another example of design and a Creator.

Anyway, thought you would be interested in this. So, HERE’S THE LINK

The Days Do Matter

Henry Morris, Ph.D has written a very interesting review of the book, “A Matter of Days” by Hugh Ross, PhD.

You have probably seen and heard Dr. Ross articulate his views on various TV and radio programs and perhaps have visited his website.

Thus, you probably know that Dr. Ross does not believe in the literal 6 days of Creation as presented in the Bible. Instead, he is a proponent of the Day Age Theory.

Bottom line: this book by Dr. Ross is not one that I would recommend for you to read (unless you are doing research on various views, etc.). Life is too short to read it since there are so many other books that we like to recommend on this site that you do need to read and they will surely keep you busy. : )

But, you do need to know what Dr. Ross believes and teaches-- and this short, concise, to the point book review by Dr. Henry Morris adequately covers what is in the book and clearly explains why the views presented by Dr. Ross do not line up with what the Bible teaches.

So, rather than reading the whole book, I suggest you read this excellent book review.
HERE’S THE LINK.

The 21st Century’s Longest Eclipse

The 21st Century’s Longest Eclipse occurred July 22, 2009.

We didn’t see it here in America but it was seen in Asia as it tracked over India, China, and the South Pacific during the daylight hours bringing near darkness to the areas involved. This was a Total Eclipse of the sun.

“At its peak over the Pacific, the total phase of the eclipse lasted 6 minutes and 39 seconds. That made it the longest-lasting total eclipse since July 11, 1991, when a stretch of totality lasting 6 minutes and 53 seconds was visible from Hawaii to South America. There will not be a longer total eclipse ... until 2132.”

“The next total solar eclipse is due to occur on July 11, 2010, and will be visible from the South Pacific and parts of South America. That dose of totality will last no longer than 5 minutes and 20 seconds. The continental United States isn't due for a total solar eclipse until Aug. 21, 2017, but on that day, the track of totality will stretch from Oregon to South Carolina.”

MSNBC has an article about it, pictures, and some video.
HERE’S THE LINK

Why Recent Creation?

Well, AIG has done it again. This time it is a really good article about Recent Creation and why it is important.

As you know, most of our schools today teach an old earth and long long ages. But, the Bible teaches a young earth of approximately 6000 years in age.

Because of the teachings in our current secular educational system, "...many scholars today do not believe that the Bible is historically accurate prior to the time of King David in ancient Israel, despite archeological evidence that confirms biblical information from the times of Abraham, Joseph, and the conquest of Canaan.”

This article, which was posted on the AIG website on June 16, gives a clear and easy to understand explanation of these different world views (old earth vs. young earth), their implications, and why Recent Creation is important. I think you will find it very interesting.

HERE’S THE LINK.

Vacation Suggestion

Well now I think I have heard everything. Talk about a vacation suggestion.

When my siblings and I were young, our mother used to take us to interesting places such as a Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Plant and we watched the making of aspirin tablets, cough tablets, etc. Really fun. We also went to other factories to see such things as Newspapers and Magazines being printed, patterns (for dresses, etc) being made and folded, Chili and other foods being made and canned, etc etc etc. It was such fun and very educational and I still remember the scenes as if they were yesterday.

But, Wow, if we could have seen this ! Seen what? you ask. Welllll....

It seems that there is a dairy farm, located in Fair Oaks, Indiana, about an hour south of Chicago, just off I 65. It has an ‘Adventure Center’ with all kinds of exhibits, electronic figures, etc.

At this humongous farm 32,000 cows are milked daily! And believe it or not, about 80 calves are born daily !!! And they say you can see it all happen.

There is a 5 minute 2 second video on You Tube that tells about it. I have not been to this place but, if I were in the area, it would be on my list of things to do, especially since they have Senior Citizen admission fees. : )

Anyway, to see the video, HERE’S THE LINK.

And to go to the Webpage for this amazing farm HERE’S THE LINK.

D.L. Moody - Hero of Faith

A few weeks ago, we mentioned that the Moody Church (Chicago) puts its Sunday Worship programs on the internet to hear or view. And they keep having very interesting, informative, uplifting, God-honoring services. This week and last week are no exception.

Why? Well, Moody Church, as you recall, was started by D.L Moody in the late 1800s and still exists today. Its current pastor, Dr. Erwin Lutzer, preached this excellent, most informative, and spiritually uplifting 2 part series about the life of D.L. Moody.

You might think that it would be boring to hear 2 sermons about one person. But, think again.

D.L. Moody only had a 5th grade education but was powerfully used by God to preach to MILLIONS of people in America and in England, Scotland, etc.

This 2 part series is a MUST listen (or see, depending on your computer). Each part is 1 hour since it includes the music, Scripture reading, etc.

Note, I tried to watch the video but it seemed to link to a previous week. But the Audio links worked fine. So if you have the same video problems, just cancel and load the Audio.

Please take the time to listen. You will be glad you did.

To Listen to 7/12/09 D L Moody A hero of Faith Part 1 HERE’S THE LINK

To listen to 7/19/09 D L Moody A hero of Faith Part 2 HERE’S THE LINK

Moths outwit bats by Jamming Sonar

There is a most interesting article on the web that tells how some moths can “outfox bats by jamming their signals”.

Apparently “Aaron Corcoran, a graduate student at Wake Forest University, was intrigued by a species of moth that also makes ultrasonic sounds. He wondered if this was some kind of bat deterrent. The moth, a 1- to 2-inch-long orange species called Bertholdia trigona, has organs on its body called "tymbals."

This article even has a 15 second video that shows the “tiger moth jamming the sonar of the big brown bat”. Wow! Amazing.

But did this just happen by evolutionary processes? Ultrasonic jamming of the bat’s ‘radar’ using ‘tymbals” just happened by accident?!? You have got to be kidding me.

Of course this news release was written with the assumption that this all ‘just happened’ by evolutionary processes.

But think about it. Could this realllllly just happen by chance? Or, gasp, could there be a Divine Creator God who programmed this into the moth’s DNA? Which view seems more plausible? Think about it.

Even though this article is written from a secular worldview, it is very interesting. And, when you cut through the fog of that worldview, it reveals another awesome design that the Creator God has placed in His creations, even the little creations such as a moth.

I encourage you to read this article on the NPR website. HERE’S THE LINK.

Marathon .. "What kind of nut?"

This is one of my all time favorite articles written by the Sports writer we have referenced before on this blog. You surely recall his great article posted here on May 12, 2009, “When the Phone Rings”.

Well, he has done it again, this time with an article about his first Marathon.

Even if you are not a runner, (and I most definitely am not, never will be, nor want to be... “what kind of nut...”), you will love this most honest telling of his first Marathon.

Usually folks make this out to be an “oh, no problem, it was a piece of cake” type of experience. Well, this article tells you in a humorous way what really happens in a Runner’s mind and body. And, big hint, just as you suspected, running a marathon is not a 'piece of cake'.

You must read this even if you are not a runner. HERE’S THE LINK

It’s flying! Pet Airways, that is

You will recall that a few weeks back, we mentioned that there was going to be a special airline for Pets only. Well, it has launched and is flying.

To read the article, HERE’S THE LINK.

Book Review: “Already Gone” by Ken Ham & Britt Beemer

A few days ago we mentioned on this blog that a new book, Already Gone, had been published. I also said that I was looking forward to reading it.

Well, I have now read it - not once but Twice, which is unusual for me as I usually only read something once.

As you can suspect from my reading it twice, it is definitely a very important book and one that I highly recommend that you also read especially If you are a Pastor, Youth Director, Music Director, Sunday School Teacher, Bible Study Leader, Deacon, Elder, Administrator, Department Director, Parent, or ‘just’ a concerned lay person, such as I.

Why should you read it? Well, to read my "book review" telling why I highly recommend this book and why I think it is so important that you read it also CLICK HERE

More archeological evidence

“Old Testament 'proof': Royal seal discovered."

Well, hmmmmm. This seems to be turning out to be an 'archaeological week’ or something.

But, I always find it exciting to find articles that shed light upon the Biblical accounts. Having heard so many skeptics for so many years say that the events in the Bible were ‘just stories’ and can’t be taken literally, it thrills my heart to read about the many various archaeological discoveries which continue to confirm the validity of the Biblical accounts.

This time the ‘find’ is that archaeologists have unearth an ancient relic. a Royal Seal, from a prince (Gedaliah) mentioned in Jeremiah.

To read about it and see more pictures HERE’S THE LINK

David’s palace has been found !!!!

More archaeological evidence confirming many Biblical historical accounts has been unearthed.

This time it is the Palace of King David that has been discovered by Dr Eliat Mazar. She said it was amazing to find this after it has been lying undisturbed for 3000 years. A picture of part of the excavation site is in the upper left corner of this blog entry.

Yes, as we mentioned the other day, there are many archaeological discoveries which attest to the validity of the Biblical accounts. And this recent ‘find’ of King David’s Palace is one more very significant archaeological discovery.

To enable you read more about this, I found two really interesting articles and I encourage you to read both of them.

So for article one, HERE’S THE LINK

And for article two, HERE’S THE LINK

Don’t make the mistake of thinking you have more time!

“D.L. Moody called it the biggest blunder of his life.

It happened on October 8, 1871, during a preaching series in Farwell Hall, Chicago. His text was “What then shall I do with Jesus which is called Christ.”

At the conclusion of the sermon Moody said he would give the people one week to make up their minds about Jesus. He then turned to Ira Sankey for a solo, and Sankey sang “Today the Saviour Calls.”

But by the third verse Sankey’s voice was drowned out by the noise outside the hall. The great Chicago fire had begun, and the flames were even then sweeping toward the Hall. The clanging of the fire bells and the noise of the engines made it impossible to continue the meeting.

In the years that followed, Moody wished that he had called for an immediate decision for Christ.”

(The source of the above quote is http://woundedheart.org/1-2.htm)

The Great Chicago Fire of 1871 burned about 1,200,000 acres, destroyed about 17,450 buildings, killed about 250 people and left about 90,000 homeless.

Are you ready to meet God?

Just as those at the time of the Chicago fire, you may not have a week or a day or even an hour before disaster strikes and possibly even your death.

Bottom Line:

Now is the time to repent of and confess your sins and accept The Lord God Jesus Christ’s free gift of Salvation!

Not next week, next year, next month, or any time in the future. NOW is the time.

Who made God if God made everything?

This is a question that has likely crossed your mind. And it certainly is one that I hear posed from time to time by skeptics and others.

Recently I came across an article that does a good job of addressing this question.

I heard the author, Jonathan Sarfati, speak at a conference a few years ago. In addition to being a good speaker and writer, he is really a ‘sharp cookie’ with a PhD. And, he is a Chess expert and Champion.

At that meeting, he sat blindfolded and played simultaneous Chess games with 15 people! He would call out his move and a person would make the move for him on his board. Then the others would do their moves and the person would call out their moves so Jonathan would know what they did. Guess who won all 15 games? You guessed it. Jonathan Sarfati. I was soooooo impressed that whenever I see a book or article that he has written, I read it.

So. with that said, by way of introduction, to read the article that was first published in Creation Ex Nihilo Technical Journal 12(1):20-22, 1998., HERE’S THE LINK.

Archaeology and the Bible

You have probably heard folks say that the Bible, especially the Old Testament, is just a bunch of myths and stories and the people and places named didn’t ever exist and were just made up. Then, they usually add that because those places, peoples, kings, etc. never existed, they don't believe the Bible.

Well, guess what! Archaeological digs have repeatedly turned up (pun intended) evidence affirming the validity of the Bible.

Archaeological evidence now confirms that many, rulers, nations, Kings, cities, etc. that were previously thought to have be ‘made up’ were real and actually existed, just as the Bible said. And more and more such confirming evidence is being found as the digs continue.

The evidence is now extensive and many actual sites and artifacts are available for anyone to study and admire.

For example, the picture in the upper left corner of today’s blog entry is of an Assyrian Winged Bull which was unearthed in a dig at the Palace at Khorsabad, the palace of Sargon. Previously folks had contended that Sargon never existed, nor his palace. So they said the Bible can’t be true. But, the Palace has been found (in Iraq) and many artifacts such as this winged bull have been unearthed and placed in various museums around the world. This particular “Winged Bull” is in The Louvre in Paris.

But, don’t just take my word for it. There is a short but very interesting article that tells of other similar finds. The article is titled: “In what ways have the discoveries of Archaeology verified the reliability of the Bible?” I think you will find it most interesting and will aid you in further affirming your confidence in the validity of the Bible. HERE’S THE LINK.

David Barton -- Wall Builders

Most of you know about Charles Stanley, the Pastor of First Baptist Atlanta who has the weekly TV program “In Touch”.

But, are you familiar with David Barton and the Wall Builders Ministry?

Well, you should be because he is probably the most knowledgeable historian today regarding the history of the United States. He has many articles, books, videos and a daily radio program -- all of which are all excellent and informative.

So what does Charles Stanley have to do with David Barton?

Well, David Barton was the guest speaker on Stanley’s July 5, 2009 TV program. Barton presented an outstanding talk about America’s founding fathers. The title of the talk is “Is America a Christian Nation?” and it gives fascinating details about the founding of this Nation that you probably do not know but should.

This is the July 5, 2009 sermon on the “In Touch” website and you MUST watch it. It is about an hour in length but the time will literally fly by. You will be enthralled, amazed, and stunned at the historical information presented (with pictures, books, documents, etc. to support and illustrate what he is saying). This is a fast paced, lively, and most interesting presentation.

Be SURE to listen to this asap. HERE’S THE LINK.

Note: I assume that the sermons on the In Touch website are updated weekly. So, if another sermon has replaced the above link when you decide to watch, then go to the following link (to the video archives) and look for the July 5, 2009 sermon “Is America a Christian Nation?” HERE’S THE LINK TO THE ARCHIVES.

And, to go to David Barton’s Wall Builders website for even more articles, information, etc. HERE’S THE LINK

The Incredible Egg

Kirk Cameron has written a great article about the incredible egg.

But instead of the famous phrase “The incredible edible egg”, he calls it the "The Incredible Evangelistic Egg."

Why? Because it is not just an egg, it is a “Space Capsule.”

Now that should have your attention. It got mine.

Read this brief article. You will never look at an egg in the same way again. HERE’S THE LINK

1600 year old Codex Sinaiticus Bible online

Well, after that distressing news yesterday on the blog, here is some good and really interesting news.

According to an article on the BBC website, “About 800 pages of the earliest surviving Christian Bible have been recovered and put on the internet.”

Originally this Book, the Codex Sinaiticus, written in Greek, had about 1,460 pages according to the BBC article.

The 800 pages of this 4th Century Book which are available and online are not all complete pages. Indeed, many are just fragments but sill this is an very exciting find.

To read a more detailed and very interesting and informative article about this which was published on the Breitbart.com website, HERE’S THE LINK.

To read the short and very limited information in the BBC article, HERE’S THE LINK

And to go to the website where the pages and fragments are posted, HERE’S THE LINK.

Heads up re a movie to NOT see!!!!

Today I received an email from a friend telling about a website advertising a movie which is indicative of what is wrong with our society today.

What is this movie, you ask? Well, it is titled “The God Who Wasn’t There” and apparently is now available on DVD. I assume it has already been in theaters and, if so, it has already corrupted many minds and will be sending folks to Hell who believe what it is teaching.

I tried to find some movie reviews on the Christian movie review sites we suggested awhile back. But, alas, there were none. I guess they correctly figured no review was needed since just reading the promo on the website would let you know that this is not a movie to see.

There were a lot of movie reviews by atheists and secular sites that, of course, loved this movie, which is all the more reason to give this movie a wide wide berth.

But, actually, you don’t need a ‘review site’ to advise you about this movie. All you have to do is read /scan the info on the webpage advertising and selling the DVD and you will know to NOT recommend or even think about seeing this movie!

Let me say this again -- This is a movie to definitely NOT see!

And, if you know anyone who has seen it, you need to first pray for guidance and then confront them with the facts that Jesus IS God, that He IS ‘there’/here, and that He came, lived, died, and rose again so that they could have their sins paid for .... etc, In other words, witness to them, tell them the TRUTH, and help rescue them from an eternity in Hell.

Caveat !!!. If you do go to the webpage for this awful awful movie, just scan the page. Don’t waste your time reading and putting the heretical details in your mind and for sure don’t waste your time looking at the trailer and etc....just glance at the page and grieve at what society has come to ! HERE’S THE LINK

Coach Gran and his family

This is a touching and God-honoring story about a coach at UT and his daughter, Sydney. She had “a rare disease called Holoprosencephaly, which caused Sydney's brain to stop developing within the first three months in the womb.”

Likely and understandably you think it odd to have a link to a sports article and, yes, in the middle of the article there is a lot of sports info that will be of interest only to SEC fans (and UT fans in particular). So if you are not one of those folks, you can skim through that middle part. Although even the middle part has some really interesting and God honoring information.

But, It is the beginning and ending of this article (the ending beginning with the section titled “A Prayer Answered”) that is mainly the reason for today’s post.

Bottom line: Whether you are a College football fan or not, this is still worth your time to read.

So, with that said, HERE’S THE LINK.

Two Thirds of Teenagers Don't believe in God!

An article on the Telegraph.co.uk website posted Thursday June 22, 2009.... says
two thirds of teenagers don’t believe in God !!!

Yes, you read that correctly . TWO THIRDS !

And there are several more similarly dismaying statistics in that article.

Read it and weep and then pray! HERE’S THE LINK

It is the 4th of July. Is your flag flying?

Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men
who signed the Declaration of Independence?

Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died.

Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned.

Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army; another had two sons captured.

Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War.

They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.

What kind of men were they?

Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists.

Eleven were merchants,

nine were farmers and large plantation owners;

men of means, well educated,

but they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they were captured.

Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the British Navy. He sold his home and properties to pay his debts, and died in rags.

Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly. He served in the Congress without pay, and his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him, and poverty was his reward.

Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton.

At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson, Jr., noted that the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters. He quietly urged General George Washington to open fire. The home was destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt.

Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months.

John Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she was dying. Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill were laid to waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his children vanished.

So, take a few minutes while enjoying your 4th of July holiday and silently thank God for these patriots. It's not much to ask for the price they paid.

Remember: freedom is never free!
... patriotism is NOT a sin,
and the Fourth of July has more to it than ...
picnics, fireworks, and baseball games.

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The Doctrine Debate

From time to time, as you have noticed, I have posted poll results and various articles pointing out the fact that there are serious problems in the Christian Church today. And this is not just a little minor problem. This is a major problem concerning Fundamental Foundational Doctrines.

Specifically, many Foundational Fundamental Doctrines are being ignored, dismantled, dismissed or rejected.

Thus, The Pure Gospel is no longer being preached in most churches.

And, as this has happened, the results are beginning to be visible in society.

What results? Well, such things as significant changes in the individual Christian’s Worldview, in the way a person lives and makes decisions, in the ways that ... well, I could go on and on.... but ... recently I read a great article by Sean McDowell that explains all this in detail.

For those of you in or leading Bible Study Classes and or Sunday School Classes, or who are Pastors or Youth Directors, please consider sharing this article with your group and addressing its concepts.

This is definitely a Must Read Article. HERE’S THE LINK.

God’s Cake

This came in another email and I have no idea who wrote it though I have seen the concept several times in the past. But, today it seems especially appropriate because a nephew has had yet another ‘disaster’. For him and his family, it is getting to be a ‘when it rains, it pours’ situation. You, also, may be experiencing repeated trials and problems. Hopefully this illustration will help him and others in their attempts to understand ‘why’.

So with that by way of ‘why’ this post today, here is the email:

“Sometimes we wonder, “What did I do to deserve this?” or “Why did God have to do this to me?”

Here is a wonderful explanation!

A daughter is telling her mother how everything is going wrong:

She’s failing algebra.

Her boyfriend broke up with her.

Her car (truck re my nephew) broke again!

AND her best friend is moving away.

Meanwhile, her Mother is baking a cake and asks her daughter if she would like a snack, and the daughter says,

“Absolutely, Mom, I love your cake.”

“Here, have some cooking oil,” her Mother offers.

“Yuck,” says her daughter.

“How about a couple raw eggs?”

“Gross, Mom!”

“Would you like some flour then? Or maybe baking soda?”

“Mom, those are all yucky!”

To which the mother replies:

“Yes, all those things seem bad by themselves.

But when they are put together in the right way, they make a wonderfully delicious cake!

God Works The Same Way.

Many times we wonder why He would let us go through such bad and difficult times.

But God knows that when He puts these things all in His order, they always work for good to those who love the Lord! (Romans 8:28)

We just have to trust Him and, eventually, they will all make something wonderful!

God is CRAZY about you.

He sends you flowers every spring and a sunrise every morning.

Whenever you want to talk, He’ll listen.

GOD can live anywhere in the universe and for those who accept his free gift of salvation, He choses to live in your heart. WOW.

I hope your day is a piece of cake.”

Breaking the Sound Barrier

You probably have heard the BOOM that happens when a jet plane hits Mach 1 and breaks the sound barrier. But, I didn’t know till just recently that there is often also a dramatic visual phenomenon that occurs as well.

The picture on the upper left shows one of the several visual appearances that happens. Wow. Amazing. Who would have thought.

Anyway. There was a recent article telling about this. To read the article HERE’S THE LINK

And to see 14 more pictures HERE’S THE LINK

The Movie UP

Several of us went to see the Disney Pixar movie, UP, a few days ago.

And, believe it or not, it was a fun and well done movie with no hidden messages.

Several really young kids (3 or 4 years old) sitting behind us were scared in some of the scenes but older kids would not find this scarey and older kids and adults will find this to be a fun and charming movie.

As you surely know by now, I am not much ‘into’ movies but this one has no dark undercurrent and no hidden messages. It is just a fun fun movie. So, if you get a chance, this would be a good movie to see.

But, as always, don’t just take my word for it. Check out some of those movie links we mentioned awhile back just to be sure it is what you want to see. But I liked it! And that is saying a lot because there are verrrrrry few movies that I like or will recommend.

For one of those reviews from the movie links CLICK HERE

Veggie Flutes and other Musical Instruments

Ok, we have had some pretty ‘heavy’ posts recently -- what with folks dying and the AIG State of the Union Address and the update about the Providence Training Center in Kenya.

So, today, this will be a ‘fun thing’.

I got another email (oh no, not another email) from a couple whom I have known for years and who are accomplished professional musicians. So, the fact that they clued me into this is even more amazing.

What is it this time? Well, they told me about a guy who makes instruments out of vegetables and plays them! No Kidding! There are several YouTube videos of him doing this. I have selected 3 for you to see. So, watch them in this order.

First, a 2 minute 30 second video about how he makes the ‘instruments’.
HERE’S THE LINK.

Then, he plays “London Bridge is Falling down” on a Carrot Ocarina. 1 Minute 31 seconds. HERE’S THE LINK.

Finally, the big finale and my friend’s favorite of all he does. Are you ready for this? It is “Angels we have heard on high” played on a broccoli. 1 Minute 47 seconds.
HERE’S THE LINK.

Providence Training Center - Kenya Update

Friday May 22, we posted an article about the Providence Training Center in Kenya and requested prayers for the folks that were traveling there to assist in its ministry.

Well, that group is back and my friend has sent an email report of the trip and how your prayers were answered. Here are excerpts of that email.

“My Dear Friends & Family...

“It’s been a busy three weeks since we returned from Kenya as there has been a lot of “carry-over” business from the trip... plus life in general.

“First I want to thank you for your effective prayers. Because of them the trip was the most seamless one yet... no lost luggage, no sickness, no accidents, no delays, no vehicle problems, no mud, no relationship problems, etc. ... ...

“Next I want to apologize for the lengthy report I have attached. My daughter keeps telling me never to send more than one page because nobody will read it, and I’m sure she’s right. However, in order not to reinvent the wheel, I am sending you the report requested by my church ... with all its details. It has subtitles so feel free to read only what interests you, but don’t miss the last section on “Property Search” for the big news of the trip. The pastors’ comments in the “Celebrating with the Pastors” section also highlight the need for the school.

“Things continue to move along one step at a time. What a thrill it is watching God work! ... ... “Go ye into all the world” has taken on a personal meaning for me (Mark 15:16).

“Thanks for going along with me.”

Well, that was the ‘short version’ of the trip report. To read the more detailed report that was prepared for the Church, CLICK HERE.

The AIG State of the Nation address

The AIG State of the Nation address is now online.

Thursday night June 25, Ken Ham of Answers In Genesis presented a live internet video address about the State of the Nation.

I tried to watch it along with about 85,000 others. But, alas, even with a high speed connection, there was a lot of ‘starting and stopping’ of the feed. Finally, I gave up and hoped that they would repost it. Well, good news. It has been reposted and is now available to view for free. It still does some stopping and starting, though not as bad as previously. I guess the current s & s is because lots of folks are still trying to listen to it.

So, you ask, What is it about? Why are so many still watching it?

Well, as stated on their website: “...It is important to realize that although America has more Christian resources and Bible colleges than ever in its history, the nation is on a spiritual downward spiral. What has happened? Why is the church not reaching the culture today as it has in the past? ...”

This video is about an hour in length and well worth watching. I don’t know how long they will keep this online, so don’t put this in your “I think I will do this later” category. Watch it now! HERE’S THE LINK

Dogs ! And what we can learn from them!

Emails, Emails. What would we do about emails ?

The other day I got an email about what dogs can teach us regarding relationships.

For example, if a dog was the teacher you would learn things like:

• When loved ones come home, always run to greet them.
• Never pass up the opportunity to go for a joyride.
• Allow the experience of fresh air and the wind in your face to be pure Ecstasy.
• Take naps.
• Stretch before rising.
• Run, romp, and play daily.
• Avoid biting when a simple growl will do.
• On warm days, stop to lie on your back on the grass.
• On hot days, drink lots of water and lie under a shady tree.
• Delight in the simple joy of a long walk.
• Be loyal.
• Never pretend to be something you're not.
• If what you want lies buried, dig until you find it.
• When someone is having a bad day, be silent, sit close by, and nuzzle them gently.
• Enjoy every moment of every day !

Then today, I got an email about Monk, the Kingdom dog, who understands obedience and what a dog’s obedience can teach us concerning our relationship to God and authority. You will love this video. It is about 4 minutes long. HERE’S THE LINK.

And while looking at that video, I saw another really amazing video, about 2 minutes long. In it, the dog is not only obedient, It can even count! HERE’S THE LINK.

3 More “Famous’ Folks have Died and entered Eternity!

Ed McMahon Dead at 86