MOMENTUM

Yesterday we watched an excellent video on YouTube … but we’re not going to suggest that you watch it. In this video, atheist Richard Dawkins interviews a Christian creationist who successfully debates the issues with Dawkins for over an hour. Why, then, aren’t we identifying the video so you can watch it? Because hundreds of comments have been posted by atheists who mercilessly attack the interviewee and use every four-letter word in the book to describe the vile and violent acts they’d like to do to her. The comments are horrific - beyond anything we ever expected to see.

But WHY should we not have expected to see something like this? After all, the godless philosophy of evolution leads inevitably to a society made up of people like this - unloving, unwise, vile, violent and vicious people who have no sense of right and wrong. As Dawkins himself confessed toward the end of the interview, “I agree with you that Darwinian beliefs would not make for a good society. I’ve said that they’ll make for a bad society.”

At last - something that Dawkins has said that we can agree with! The contemptible comments made by atheists on YouTube is just one more example of how vicious our culture is becoming, thanks, in part, to godless evolution. Atheism, of course, is nothing new. But because of evolution, atheism is now respectable and growing like a deadly cancer.

In the world that atheists envision - a world without God - there can be no morality or objective “right and wrong.” There’s only one rule - survival of the fittest. Creation Moments believes that the days of worldwide Christian persecution and even martyrdom are near at hand. And that’s why we believe it’s more important than ever to seek God’s favor and stand strong for the Bible, biblical creation and the Gospel!

We recently came across this unretouched photo of an unusual cow and wanted to bring it to your attention … as well as a question for any evolutionists who might be reading this. (Okay, so we’re joking about it being unretouched!)

Our question for evolutionists is this: Wouldn’t you agree that this cow was designed by an artist with Photoshop? If so, why won’t you agree that the actual cow - which is so much more complex than its coloring - was designed as well?

To be consistent as an evolutionist, you have to agree that this photo might indeed show an actual cow that has not been retouched by a designer. But you won’t do that, will you? There’s just something about a picture like this that screams PHOTOSHOP!

So yes, you’ll agree that the pattern of the cow’s spots was designed, but you won’t agree that the cow itself was designed. Why not? Because you are committed to your faith built on the premise that there is no Designer. And that leaves you with only one conclusion: that the complexities we see all around us are nothing more than the result of natural processes.

And that’s why Darwinists have a cow whenever they hear a creationist say that things that appear to be designed actually ARE designed. Here at Creation Moments, we’ll continue to assert that Design requires a Designer. And that’s why we believe that the arrangement of the cow’s spots as well as the cow itself were designed!

Those are our thoughts. What are yours?

“Darwin simply didn’t have access to the information we have,” explains William Parker, Ph.D., assistant professor of surgical sciences at Duke University Medical Center and the senior author of a new study on the appendix. “If Darwin had been aware of the species that have an appendix attached to a large cecum, and if he had known about the widespread nature of the appendix, he probably would not have thought of the appendix as a vestige of evolution.”

A few days ago the evolutionary website ScienceDaily ran a story titled “Evolution of the Human Appendix: A Biological ‘Remnant’ No More.” According to the article, “Duke scientists and collaborators from the University of Arizona and Arizona State University conclude that Charles Darwin was wrong: The appendix is a whole lot more than an evolutionary remnant. Not only does it appear in nature much more frequently than previously acknowledged, but it has been around much longer than anyone had suspected.”

Parker added, “Maybe it’s time to correct the textbooks. Many biology texts today still refer to the appendix as a ‘vestigial organ.’”

Maybe, Dr. Parker? Maybe? We know how difficult it must be to finally come around to what creationists have been saying all along, but why should there be even the slightest hesitation about correcting a known mistake in biology textbooks? (more…)

In “How Deceptive Can an Orchid Be?” - an op-ed piece posted today at the ABC News website - Lee Dye reported that scientists have found an orchid on the Chinese island of Hainan that’s even trickier than most orchids in deceiving pollinators.

Unlike many other orchids, the Dendrobium sinense doesn’t produce an aroma that will attract bees. That’s because this white orchid depends on hornets rather than bees for pollination.

“The orchid releases a chemical that produces an aroma that is identical to the smell made by bees that are under attack,” writes Dye. “The hornet normally captures bees to feed to its larvae, so when it smells the alarm pheromone it figures bees are inside the orchid, and they are in distress and thus would be easy victims. So the hornet plunges into the orchid like a cruise missile. But there are no bees there. Only pollen, which clings to the body of the hornet. The hornet moves on, getting nothing for its efforts, and it spreads the pollen to other orchids in the Bawangling National Nature Reserve in Hainan.”

So why do we say that the orchid deceived the scientists studying it? The article begins with this sentence: “Charles Darwin would have loved it.” To the writer of the piece - as well as the evolutionary scientists studying it - the orchid gives clear evidence of natural selection. They seem to have overlooked another and more plausible explanation - that an Intelligent Designer created the orchid this way. Why more plausible? Because the orchid would have died out long before it developed its unique ability to mimic the scent of bees in distress.

In the new book Already Gone, creationist author Ken Ham points out that a large percentage of kids who attend Sunday school will quit the church by the time they’re in their twenties. That’s not surprising since kids spend one hour a week in Sunday school and 30 hours or more in school classrooms where they are being told that the things they learned in Sunday school are not true.

The science curriculum in most schools could be restated in the words - “Indeed, has God said…?” With these words, Satan set the wheels in motion that brought about the fall of mankind. Since that strategy was so successful in tricking Eve, he has been using that very same approach ever since. In fact, whenever anyone calls into question the plain truth of God’s Word, they are saying, in effect, “Indeed, has God said…?”

That’s what we see happening today whenever the Bible is reinterpreted in light of the latest scientific pronouncements. That’s why so many church-going kids will soon be asking: “Indeed, has God said He created everything in six 24-hour days?” “Indeed, has God said He didn’t create everything through evolutionary processes?” “Indeed, has God said we must interpret Genesis in a literal rather than allegorical way?” “Indeed, has God said we must believe in a worldwide flood?”

As Christians, we need to help our kids stand firm and refuse to compromise. When the first chapter of Genesis is reinterpreted according to man’s “wisdom,” other Bible truths can - and will - be discarded. Besides, compromise is so unnecessary! Let your kids know that there is a great deal of evidence that supports a young earth and a worldwide flood. So the next time they hear someone say, in effect, “Indeed, has God said…?” they’ll be able to say: “YES, that’s exactly what God said!”

Many Christians are rejoicing that President Obama has appointed Dr. Francis Collins as head of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). After all, Collins is both a respected, accomplished scientist - who achieved fame as head of the Human Genome Project - and he is an evangelical Christian. But here at Creation Moments, we’re not overjoyed by the president’s pick.

Why? As Chuck Colson pointed out in his “Breakpoint” commentary yesterday, Collins “is an evolutionary theist who believes in the common descent of all life. His book, The Language of God, tries to harmonize evolution and Christianity in a way that I simply cannot agree with…. He also is in favor of certain kinds of embryonic stem cell research. Again, I could not disagree with him more.”

And neither could we. While we do not doubt Collins’ sincerity and love for the Lord, we know the damage that can be done by someone who attempts to straddle the fence between two opposing worldviews. Just look at his stance on embryonic stem cell research. Our prayer is that Collins will eventually make a choice between the two worldviews and that he will end up as an evolution-rejecting, Bible-believing creationist. But until that time comes, Collins will only give added respectability to theistic evolution, a viewpoint that we feel is just as harmful as pure Darwinism itself.

It has taken only two months for paleontologists to discover a new fossil proving that “Ida” is not the missing link it was claimed to be in The Link documentary shown on The History Channel in May. This just in from ScienceDaily.com - a website supporting evolution:

According to new research published online in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B (Biological Sciences) on July 1, 2009, a new fossil primate from Myanmar (previously known as Burma) suggests that the common ancestor of humans, monkeys and apes evolved from primates in Asia, not Africa as many researchers believe.

According to Dr. Chris Beard - a paleontologist at Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and a member of the international team of researchers behind the Myanmar anthropoid findings - the new primate, Ganlea megacanina, shows that early anthropoids originated in Asia rather than Africa. These early Asian anthropoids differed radically from adapiforms like Ida, indicating that Ida is more closely related to modern lemurs than it is to monkeys, apes and humans.

So it’s taken only a couple of months for Ida to join Cro-Magnon Man, Neandertal Man, Java Man, Piltdown Man, Nebraska Man, Nutcracker Man, Homo habilis and Lucy as another failed “missing link.” Now we wonder how long it will take for Ganlea megacanina to be added to the list.

Today’s blog entry comes from Gary Hupfer, a friend of Creation Moments who happened to notice something unusual going on outside his house the night before last. We’ll let Gary tell it in his own words:

Just when you think you’ve seen and heard it all, a program like Creation Moments opens your eyes and shows what you are missing. Where we live, there are small frogs, about the size of the tip of one’s thumb, called spring peepers. They have special feet that enable them to climb walls and even glass windows. We observed one last night that climbed the side of our house, up to the motion-sensor floodlights, then moved across the sensor which turned on the lights. It then sat on top of the sensor, happily eating insects that were attracted to the light. When the lights “timed out” and turned off, the little frog moved across the sensor and turned them back on again. This went on for over an hour, until the bloated frog climbed down the house and went back to the pond!

To those of us who believe in biblical creation, a story like this just underscores the fact that even a frog the size of a thumbnail can bring glory to the awesome God who created it!

Don’t let the science establishment and the media fool you into thinking that creationism is a pseudo-science believed by only a handful of people. According to Gallup polls taken over a 26-year period, between 43% and 47% of Americans agreed with the creationist view that God created human beings pretty much in their present form within the last 10,000 years or so. Another 35% to 40% believe in other forms of creationism, including theistic evolution. But we’re not rejoicing over these figures. In fact, it’s the vast number of theistic evolutionists that reminds us at Creation Moments that we still have so much work to do!

As we’ve pointed out on previous occasions, theistic evolution is simply evolution wearing a more respectable suit of clothes. So while only 9% to 14% of Americans believe in godless evolution, when you add the 35% to 40% who believe in theistic evolution, you find that Darwinism is the predominant position in America today.

Evolutionists are confident they will eventually win the war of worldviews. After all, they are well funded. They control the mainstream media, public schools, colleges and the science establishment. And they are adept at silencing anyone in their own ranks who dares to disagree with them. That’s why those of us who believe in the authority of the Word of God need to boldly proclaim and defend biblical creation - not just to atheistic evolutionists but to theistic evolutionists as well. To help you do that, take advantage of the thousands of free resources at the Creation Moments website.

If Creation Moments is a blessing to you or your church, won’t you prayerfully consider making a tax-deductible donation to this ministry? Make a one-time donation or become a Creation Partner today!

Here at Creation Moments, whenever we view breathtaking photos from the Hubble Space Telescope, we are filled with awe and praise for the God who created the universe. Atheists, however, can look at the very same photos and sing praises, not to the Creator but to the things He created. Here’s just one example of what we’re talking about:

“How can someone inspect the grandeur of the universe, the complexity that arises explosively out of simplicity and STILL believe in a divine creator? We live in an age where we have access to these beautiful images; we should be proud to shrug off our past superstitions and embrace the beauty of science and atheism. Atheism isn’t a dirty word, it’s a promotion of our species out of the dark, ghost-haunted world. We know now, for the first time in our existence, that there’s no need for the God hypothesis!” [posted June 9 at the Hubble Space Telescope iGoogle site]

While we are saddened to read things like this, we are not surprised. After all, Paul wrote about this worldview two thousand years ago: “For they exchanged the truth of God for a  lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.” (Romans 1:25)

So even when an atheist posts a message like this on the Internet, all he’s doing is inadvertently underscoring the truths found in the pages of Scripture.