Daily Devotional - January 18

Christian Truth

God commanded us to “have dominion over [creation].” The original word translated as “dominion” means to study, understand, and control. This is the essence of science. So do you want to be a science detective? First, let’s define science. There are two broad categories of science:  operational and historical.

Operational (or observational) science is the type of science that one might do in a laboratory. It is about experiments that are repeatable. For example, at sea level, water will always boil at the same temperature:  212 degrees F. Operational science builds stuff like rockets, smart phones and other inventions.

Historical science deals with what happened in the past. No scientist has a time machine. No scientist can go back into the past to perform experiments. The past cannot be directly observed or tested, so interpretations are involved. For example, suppose a dinosaur fossil is dug up. How long ago did it live? We don’t know for sure. But Christians have an eye-witness report through which to interpret the present. God is the eye-witness, and He recorded it in the Bible. There was a great Flood, and this flood would have recently buried the dinosaurs that would have rapidly become fossils. But this is still historical science.

So, when you go on vacation to places like Yellowstone National Park, you will see signs such as, “Over the course of 16.5 million years, approximately 15-20 massive eruptions have left immense calderas (craters) to dot the landscape…”, have fun separating interprtation/historical science (millions of years) from observation/operational science (immense calderas). Remember, it is only the observable that can be tested. All else is opinion, based on starting beliefs. Spend your next vacation being a science detective!

…have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

~ Genesis 1:28b

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

Daily Devotional - January 17

Biology

How do fish swim in murky water or schools without running into each other? It’s the fish’s lateral line. On either side of the fish, running from the gills to the tail, is a line of small pores that are filled with hairs (neuromasts). These sensory hairs pick up very tiny vibrations and pressure changes traveling through the water and convert them to electrical impulses that are sent to the brain. With a line of many hair clusters (neuromasts) picking up information at different points on the lateral line, the fish has the ability to figure out what is happening around it.

Scientists have successfully copied the fish’s lateral line and hope to install them on submersibles and other underwater vehicles. These scientists used great engineering skills to develop this new technology. It would be an insult to their intelligence to say their artificial lateral line happened by accident and chance. Then why would we say the fish’s lateral line happened by accident and chance? It was created by the Great Engineer Himself, God. So the next time you pick up a fish, look for the lateral line (on some fish it is hard to see) and praise the Great Engineer for His great design.

Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee: and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee. Who knoweth not in all these that the hand of the Lord hath wrought this?

~ Job 12:8-9

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

Daily Devotional - January 16

History

Since the discovery of their bones in the 1800’s, Neanderthals have been presented as ignorant, evolving, humanoid ancestors to modern man. Yet over the last few decades, anthropologists have discovered that Neanderthals demonstrated sophisticated human behavior. For example, they traded jewelry, made cosmetics, developed sophisticated glues, cooked with utensils and spices, and had grave rituals. Creationists have long taught that Neanderthals were just post-Babel, fully-human descendants of Adam and Eve. They were nomadic hunters with sophisticated javelins living in shelters of hides on wooden frames and occasionally in caves.

The Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology has recently found and analyzed a specialized bone tool used in leather working at two French Neanderthal sites. Microscopic analysis of the tools revealed wear and tear consistent with today’s tools used to make supple, lustrous hides. In other words, Neanderthals were also great leatherworkers! Once again, science is confirming the biblical viewpoint. Neanderthals were not some primitive, subhuman creature, but fully human nomads in Europe that lived a rugged life during the Ice Age.

Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.

~ Psalm 90:2

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

Daily Devotional - January 15

Biology

Did platypuses evolve in Australia? There are two monotremes (mammals that lay eggs) in Australia - the platypus and the echidna. These animals have all the normal characteristics of mammals (backbone, hair, milk glands), yet they lay eggs instead of giving birth to live young. We only find platypuses and echidnas in Australia. So how did they get there?

Noah took two of each kind on the Ark, which landed in the Middle East (Mt. Ararat). Echidnas and platypuses spread out to various parts of the world, yet it seems they only survived in Australia. During the Ice Age, the interior of Australia would have been well-watered and very lush, allowing the platypus and echidna to spread out and fill Australia. Only after the Ice Age ended did the enormously dry Australian desert areas develop. When the sea levels rose at the end of the Ice Age, Australia was cut off from Asia, isolating its unique animal life on this very big island.

Did platypuses evolve? Fossil platypuses are essentially identical to modern platypuses; no transitional forms have been found. The Bible says God created fully formed land animals on Day 6 of Creation week. When we look with our “biblical” glasses, we can understand why platypuses are found in Australia.

Bring forth with thee every living thing that is with thee, of all flesh, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth; that they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply upon the earth.

~ Genesis 8:17

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

Daily Devotional - January 14

Paleontology

News flash: Fossilized squid ink used in modern ink pen! Recently in Wiltshire, UK, a fossilized ink sac was removed from a squid fossil. The dried ink was ground up, mixed with an ammonia solution, and used to draw a picture of the extinct squid with its Latin name written underneath. How could a soft and sloppy ink sac fossilize? How could it still be black? Evolutionary dating puts it at 150 million years old. No protein structure could survive that long!

Obviously, this squid was not slowly covered with sediment over millions of years; it had to be covered recently, rapidly, and deeply in order to preserve such a find. The worldwide Flood of Noah’s time (about 4400 years ago) is a far better explanation for the preservation of this fossil squid ink.

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

Daily Devotional - January 13

Biblical Accuracy

Have you ever tried to count the clouds? At any given moment, about one half of the earth’s surface is covered with clouds. These clouds are either made of water droplets or ice crystals. Of the three types, the cumulus or “cotton ball” clouds last from 5-40 minutes. The number of clouds in the sky is constantly changing - yet at every moment of time, God knows the number of clouds!

God asks Job a rhetorical question in Job 38:37, “Who has the wisdom to count the clouds?” By implication, God is telling us that He is capable of exactly that! Just as God knows the number of hairs on our head; He knows the number of clouds in the sky at a given moment. God is all-knowing concerning his creation. He also knows every desire of your heart, every thought in your mind, every temptation you face, and every challenge you have to overcome. So take a moment, look up into the sky, marvel, and trust your Maker.

Who has the wisdom to count the clouds?

~ Job 38:37

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

Daily Devotional - January 12

Biology

One of the weirdest creatures in the ocean is the sea cucumber, which looks like a cucumber with small spines. Some sea cucumbers eat sand with other small pieces of food, while others filter food out of the water with their tentacles. But the weirdest behavior of a sea cucumber occurs when under attack - it spills its guts, literally!

The sea cucumber throws up long, sticky threads - which are its own internal organs. These sticky threads can glue a predator’s throat shut, which will eventually kill the predator. Does the sea cucumber die? Of course not. His body parts are soon regenerated, and he continues on without harm. How did the first sea cucumber survive the first time he spilled his guts? From the very beginning, he had to have the ability to vomit out his sticky organs and then have the ability to regrow them. Evolution would have us believe that this defense method came about by slow stepwise processes. If this were true, there would be no sea cucumbers today.

Lord, You are God, who made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them.

~ Acts 4:24

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

Daily Devotional - January 11

Biology

A wonder of the ocean is the porcupine fish. This creature has three lines of defense. If a predator comes too near the porcupine fish, it quickly gulps a large amount of water, almost doubling its size. Hopefully, the fish is now too large to be swallowed. If the predator persists, the second line of defense kicks in, and 2 inch long spines stand out in every direction, making the fish look like an underwater porcupine.

The third line of defense is poison within its body. If a predator eats the fish, it will get sick and won’t likely eat one again. The porcupine fish does not have many predators!

How do evolutionists explain the way these three lines of defense came about over millions of years? Even Darwin in his book The Voyage of the Beagle did not try to explain how the porcupine fish got its three lines of defense. We know! The Creator designed this fish to survive in this manner.

Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; And His greatness is unsearchable.
~ Psalm 145:3

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

Daily Devotional - January 10

Botany

The bunchberry dogwood plant has a built-in trebuchet. A what you ask? A trebuchet is a medieval projectile-launcher. Envision it as a complex catapult. During the Middle Ages, trebuchets were designed using the principles of leverage to propel large objects faster and farther than a simple catapult. Bunchberries carpet the spruce-fir forests of North America in late April to May. The flower centers (where the pollen is produced) are only 0.1” tall so the pollen needs to be propelled upward to reach other flowers. High speed video cameras were needed to see how this plant sends its pollen flying. Scientists first tried with a camera that was able to take 1,000 pictures a second, but this proved to be too slow to capture the trebuchet’s speed. So they brought in cameras capable of capturing 10,000 pictures a second. What they saw amazed them.

As bunchberry flower petals open, each petal is separated and flipped backwards (out of the way). Almost instantaneously, the stamen unfurls, catapulting pollen into the air and sending it off to pollinate other bunchberries. What is so amazing is the speed at which this process takes place. The unfurling of the petals to the launching of the pollen takes only four-tenths of a thousandth of a second. This causes the pollen to be subjected to 2,400 times the force of gravity. This is quite a projectile launcher!

Building a trebuchet took planning and design in the same way the bunchberry’s miniature trebuchet took planning and design. When you see a design, you know there must be a designer. It is difficult to imagine how a plant evolved to have each of its individual petals rapidly flip down and out of the way at just the right time. If the stamen’s miniature trebuchet was not ready to fire, nothing would happen. In the same way, a rapid fire pollen launcher would not be needed unless the petals burst open at the right time. Everything has to be coordinated perfectly from the beginning to do exactly what is needed.

Great is the Lord, and most worthy of praise.
~ Psalm 48:1

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

Daily Devotional - January 9

Design

Imagine you are an engineer working for Tupperware and given the following assignment - design a new container and its food with the following characteristics(1):

• The container is one color when the contents are not aged sufficiently for peak taste, then changes to a different color when the food is perfect to eat, and changes to a third color when the food inside has gone bad.
• The container is hard to open when the food is not ready to eat and easy to open when the food is ripe.
• The food inside changes texture as it ages. During transport the food is hard and durable. At peak taste the contents will soften to a perfect texture, and once past prime, it will become soft and gooey.
• The food inside naturally contains a wide variety of vitamins and minerals.(2)
• It is so easy to produce that billions can be sold at a few pennies per unit.
• The shape allows for single-handed handling, opening and eating while talking on the phone or conversing with a friend.
• The serving size is perfect for one average adult without waste.
• One last specification is that the food and container are capable of reproducing themselves. A team of thousands of engineers, working for their entire career, might as well quit and find other jobs because they have been assigned a humanly impossible task. Yet, we already have it - the banana! God shows His power through what He has made; He truly is the Master Engineer!

O taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man that trusteth in him.

~ Psalm 34:8

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