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 the 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
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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.