Daily Devotional – March 21

History

Evolutionary ideas can actually kill people. In 1893, based on the belief in evolution, there were 83 human features considered to be useless leftovers from our ancestral past. One of these was the thymus gland. The thymus gland is located behind the breast bone in the upper chest. In babies and children, it is quite large and active, but this gland shrinks with age.

One of the functions of the thymus gland is to produce white blood cells called T lymphocytes, which attack foreign invaders such as bacteria and viruses. The white blood cells leave the thymus gland and settle in the spleen and lymph nodes where a new batch of white blood cells is produced. The thymus serves throughout life but is most active during childhood. Throughout the 1930’s, the thymus was considered a useless evolutionary leftover that was harmful to infants because of its large size. In misguided preventive measures, infants were exposed to x-rays in order to reduce the size of this “unnecessary evolutionary leftover” from the past. Follow-up studies found that infants who received the radiation treatment had abnormal growth and higher rates of infections that persisted longer than normal. In addition, the unintended consequence of the x-rays was cancer in the nearby thyroid gland - resulting in the death of many of these children from thyroid cancer some 10-15 years later. The misguided belief in microbe-to-man evolution is not only wrong, it is dangerous!

All of this unfathomable pain caused to these children and their parents could have been avoided if it had been acknowledged that we have a Creator who had a purpose in creating the various parts of our bodies. There are no junk leftover vestigial organs in our bodies; all parts have been created to serve a purpose. Your child’s ability to fight disease is in large part due to God’s creative design of the thymus gland.

There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.

~ Proverbs 14:12

Source: "Pearls in Paradise" by authors Bruce Malone and Jule Von Vett

References for this devotional.

Daily Devotional – March 20

History

Drawings or descriptions of two-headed dragons seem to strain credibility. But we have seen many examples of snakes and turtles with multiple heads. About 400 cases of two-headed snakes have been recorded in modern times. A two-headed reptile was even discovered fossilized in China. Perhaps two-headed reptiles gave rise to the idea of multi-headed dragons – like the Hydra that Hercules conquered.

The Bible even mentions a multi-headed dragon in Revelation 12:3. Having two heads is a detrimental developmental abnormality. The accident does not occur due to permanent mistakes in the DNA code (mutations) but in the process of forming the embryo. In this case, the embryo partially splits into two individuals, creating the two-headed reptile. If the embryo did split completely, it would result in identical twins. No new genetic information has been added to create a two-headed creature.

The two-headed creatures remind us that there are two ways of interpreting evidence - evolution or the Bible. Evolution believes that twoheadedness is a natural part of biological variation; evolution in action. The Bible on the other hand, teaches that suffering, sickness, death and two-headedness are a result of man’s rebellion in the Garden of Eden against their Creator.

For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.

~ Romans 8:22

Source: "Pearls in Paradise" by authors Bruce Malone and Jule Von Vett

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Daily Devotional – March 19

Biology

Why are elephant’s tusks shrinking? African elephants and Asian elephants (living in India) have smaller tusks today than those measured in the 1850s; in fact, they average half the length. Ivory trade statistics and hunting records have revealed this fact. Why is this happening?

Hunters target elephants with large tusks and have been doing so for decades. This has culled out the elephants with large tusks, leaving only the elephants with smaller tusks or no tusks to propagate.  Tuskless elephants are ignored by hunters and so survive to pass on their genes to the next generation. This is not evolution but selective pressure by hunters; you could say artificially-imposed selection. The consequences of trophy hunting are also impacting the antlers of moose and the wild bighorn sheep, as they are also experiencing smaller antler sizes. When trophy animals are culled out of the population, their genes are not passed down to future generations; there is a loss of information. Once the genes for larger size are lost, they are gone forever! New useful, functioning information is never added to the DNA. What nature reveals is a deterioration and reduction of information and features. The world is indeed in “bondage to decay” (Romans 8:21 NIV).

For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption….

~ Romans 8:20-21

Source: "Pearls in Paradise" by authors Bruce Malone and Jule Von Vett

References for this devotional.

Daily Devotional – March 18

History

Evolution always has been, and always will be, inherently racist. The foundational concept of evolution is that mankind evolved from some sort of ape-like creature, and since some groups of humans are still genetically more closely related to their ancestors than others, more evolved humans are superior and therefore of more value. Modern evolutionists like to downplay this inherent nature of their belief, but it was widely acknowledged early on. For instance, the full title of Darwin’s classic book is The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection—or The Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life (emp. added). Imagine the response to any scientist today who wrote the following (excerpted from Darwin’s book):

“At some future period, not very distant as measured by centuries, the civilized races of man will almost certainly exterminate, and replace, the savage races throughout the world. At the same time the anthropomorphous apes, as Professor Schaaffhausen has remarked, will no doubt be exterminated. The break between man and his nearest allies will then be wider, for it will intervene between man in a more civilised state, as we may hope, even than the Caucasian, and some ape as low as a baboon, instead of as now between the negro or Australian and the gorilla (p. 521).” (Emphasis added)

Clearly, Darwin was convinced that the more “civilized races” (e.g., Caucasian) would one day exterminate the more savage races (e.g., African Negroes and Australian Aborigines), which he considered to be less evolved (and thus more ape-like) than Caucasians. The chief promoter of evolutionism in the 1800’s was Thomas Huxley who wrote:

“It may be quite true that some Negroes are better than some white men; but no rational man, cognizant of the facts, believes that the average Negro is the equal, still less the superior, of the white man. And, if this be true, it is simply incredible that, when all his disabilities are removed, and our prognathous relative has a fair field and no favor, as well as no oppressor, he will be able to compete successfully with his bigger-brained and smaller jawed rival, in a contest which is to be carried on by thoughts and not by bites.” (Emphasis added)

The fact is that a historical understanding of evolution implies that some groups of humans are closer to our alleged ape-like ancestors in their mental faculties than others. Thus, some groups of humans supposedly are superior to others. The Bible teaches exactly the opposite. There are not different species or races of men; there is just one race, the human race. All people were created by God “in His image” from the very beginning of creation.

And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth…

~ Acts 17:26

Source: "Pearls in Paradise" by authors Bruce Malone and Jule Von Vett

References for this devotional.

Daily Devotional – March 17

Biology

You have probably have heard of the monarch butterfly migrating some 4,000 miles round trip, but have you heard of the painted lady butterfly migration? This butterfly migrates between Europe and Africa, flying an incredible 9,000 miles round trip. Why has this not been discovered until recently? People have not spotted these butterflies migrating because they fly at altitudes up to 3,000 feet and at speeds of 30 mph. Radar recently discovered millions of these butterflies migrating high up in the atmosphere. More than 60,000 sightings of painted lady butterflies have also been made as far north as the Arctic Circle.

The 9,000 mile migration takes six generations to complete. A butterfly might fly from Norway to Britain where it will breed and die, and then the next five generations will carry on the migration, breeding, flying, dying in an effort to fly all the way to Africa and returning to Norway. This is amazing! The tiny creature, weighing less than a gram, with a pin-sized head, having no opportunity to learn the migration route from older butterflies, undertakes and succeeds at this epic migration. How do they know where to go? Evolution says this all happened by chance. How could it? How would the painted lady evolve the ability to fly to a place it has never been before? God set this up from the beginning to show His great power. God has woven this information into the genetic code of each butterfly so that each generation “knows” what stage of the migration cycle the butterfly is in. This information is passed on to each generation. Such a delicate mechanism shouts intelligent design!

Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times; and the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming...

~ Jeremiah 8:7

Source: "Pearls in Paradise" by authors Bruce Malone and Jule Von Vett

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Daily Devotional – March 16

Paleontology

In Peru, there is a 370 acre deposit containing at least 346 wonderfully preserved fossil whales. A whale graveyard! These bones are buried in a sedimentary rock called diatomite. Diatomite is made from theremains of diatoms - or single-celled algae. Today when diatoms die, their microscopic glass-like skeletons accumulate on the ocean bottom. It takes about 400 million skeletons to make one gram of diatomite. An inch of diatom skeletons on the ocean bottom would currently take about 1,000 years to accumulate. These whales are buried in 260 feet of fossilized diatoms.

That means--if the evolutionary timeframe of the earth is correct--it would have taken millions of years for these whales to be covered. If it took millions of years to cover these bones, there is no possibility that they would exist! Scavengers and bacteria would have decayed these whale bones long before they could have been covered, yet we find them well-preserved and intact - with no evidence of decay. Along with these 346 whale fossils, fossils of porpoises, turtles, seals, ground sloths, and penguins are also found. For these dead creatures to avoid decay, they had to have been buried rapidly, deeply, and catastrophically. The biblical model of a recent catastrophic Flood of Noah’s day would fit such evidence far better than the millions of years of slow sediment accumulation. This whale graveyard shouts that the Flood of Noah’s day was a real event!

And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

~ Genesis 6:13

Source: "Pearls in Paradise" by authors Bruce Malone and Jule Von Vett

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Daily Devotional – March 15

Cosmology

One of the greatest mysteries of science is the exact structure of creation. What keeps electrons moving? What is light? What is space? What is a charged particle? Why is there so much energy contained within empty space at absolute zero (zero point energy)? Why are galaxies commonly found in a spiral shape? Why are red shifts in distinct bands (quantitized) rather than a continuous smear of shifted values? Why does the speed of light, the mass of atomic particles, and Plank’s constant all seem to have a changing value with time? Who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain. – Psalm 104:2

These are profound mysteries, and even the observation of changing values for atomic constants are frequently denied or ignored because of the implication upon traditionally accepted physics. The primary reason modern physics is helpless to adequately explain these type of inquiries is because it starts from the wrong assumption. Modern physics accepts an enormous age for the universe and attempts to explain everything based on this starting assumption.

Thus, it needs a very weak force (gravity) and lots of time to explain all of reality. Yet, this explanation cannot even explain the formation of a single star and relies on unseen faith in things like “dark matter” and “multiple universes” in an attempt to explain the impossible. A brilliant physicist from Australia, Barry Setterfield, has developed a plasma model of physics that seems to unify the anomalies that arenot explained by the Big Bang model. Setterfields’ theory accepts the scriptural teaching that God stretched out the heavens and realized that this must have been accompanied by enormously accelerated radioactive decay, red shifting of light in quantized bands, and energy added to the fabric of space (analogous to how a stretched rubber band is filled with energy). According to Setterfield, this process “wound up” the universe, providing the energy necessary for star and galaxy formation – all within a very brief period of time.

Who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain.

~ Psalm 104:2

Source: "Pearls in Paradise" by authors Bruce Malone and Jule Von Vett

References for this devotional.

Daily Devotional – March 14

Biology

Electric eels are not eels but fish that live in the murky waters of South America. They can reach 6 feet long and weigh 45 pounds. All living things generate electrical charges in their cells. The electric eel has thousands of modified cells in its tail that are lined up like batteries in a flashlight. Each cell can generate only about 0.15 volts, but stacked together, the 6,000 cells make one giant battery that can generate as much as 600 volts. In comparison, a car battery generates 12 volts yet has enough power to start a large car engine.

Pure water is a very poor conductor of electricity, but the waters where electric eels live have enough salt and other minerals to make the water a good conductor. To shock their prey, electric eels bring their positive end, located in their head, close to the negative end, located in their tail. The electric shock is sent out from the positive end to the negative end of the “battery.” How did the eel know to trap its prey between its head and tail such that the electrical discharge would stun or kill its prey? Basic physics teaches that bringing two opposite electrical poles together concentrates the electric field. Evolutionists call eels “primitive creatures”, but creationists studying eels are not “shocked” by their level of sophistication. God created these creatures to glorify Him.

I will speak of the glorious honour of thy majesty, and of thy wondrous works.

- Psalm 145:5

Source: "Pearls in Paradise" by authors Bruce Malone and Jule Von Vett

References for this devotional.

Daily Devotional – March 13

Geology

For more than 100 years, oil or “black gold” has fueled our cars,  trucks and economy. But how did these vast fields of oil form? The chemistry of oil offers some important clues. One of the chemicals in crude oils is porphyrin. Most petroleum geologists believe crude oils form mostly from plants, such as diatoms (single-celled marine and freshwater photosynthetic creatures), and beds of coal (huge fossilized masses of plant debris). The moderate heating of brown coals in the lab can produce crude oil and natural gas containing porphyrin. Keep in mind that animal blood also contains porphyrins. Oil can be made from animal slaughterhouse waste within two hours.

For porphyrins to be present in today’s crude oils means they have been kept from the presence of oxygen because porphyrins break down rapidly in the presence of oxygen. We do not see oil containing porphyrins forming today because oxygen destroys them during the oil formation. Yet worldwide, we find vast petroleum deposits that do contain this chemical. This supports the conclusion that much of the world’s oil reserves are the direct result of a worldwide catastrophic flood covering trillions of pounds of vegetation and animals. They were buried so rapidly that oxygen was not present to destroy the porphyrins. Deep rapid burial by additional sediments would have created sufficient heat to generate crude oils and natural gases. Subsequently, these migrated, became trapped in reservoir rocks, and accumulated to form gas and oil deposits. So, from what is oil made? Primarily squished vegetation and animals that were rapidly buried in the Flood of Noah’s day.

And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth….

~ Genesis 6:17

Source: "Pearls in Paradise" by authors Bruce Malone and Jule Von Vett

References for this devotional.

Daily Devotional – March 12

Geology

How old are diamonds? Scientists have found carbon-14 in diamonds. Carbon-14 (C) has a half-life of 5730 years, and so anything older than 100,000 years should contain no detectable levels of C. Finding C in diamonds means they are less than 100,000 years old. Yet all diamonds contain measurable amounts of C even though they are the hardest known naturally occurring substance, which is impervious to outside contamination. C in diamonds means they are young. There are also other clues revealing the actual age of diamonds.

Kimberlite is a volcanic rock which often contains diamonds. These carrot-shaped rocky tubes begin at the earth’s mantle and rapidly carried diamonds from deep within the earth to the surface. A wooden log that was fresh and unpetrified has been discovered deep within a Canadian kimberlite pipe. There have been other such reports of finding unpetrified wood in kimberlite pipes. How did this wood get deep within the earth, and why is it not petrified or rotted if it has been there for millions of years? Scientists think the logs got there by local catastrophic forces. Fresh unpetrified wood in the same rock as diamonds means diamonds are young. Also, consider that artificial diamonds are rapidly made by the exact same processes of high pressure and temperature as natural diamonds. An artificial diamond can be made in the same amount of time that it takes to wash a car! If we can make artificial diamonds so rapidly, why would we assume it takes billions of years to make natural diamonds?

The evidence of C in diamonds, fresh wood found in kimberlite, and the ability to rapidly make artificial diamonds all cry out, “The earth is young.”

[Mankind] putteth forth his hand upon the rock; he overturneth the mountains by the roots…where shall wisdom be found? and where is the place of understanding?

~ Job 28:9, 12

Source: "Pearls in Paradise" by authors Bruce Malone and Jule Von Vett

References for this devotional.