No Simple Forms of Life?

Ain't nothing simple about bacteria! In fact, much to my own surprise, a bacterium is a tremendously complex creature that thinks! Who knew there was no such thing as a 'simple form of life?'

Scientists have discovered that bacteria actually have molecule-sized sensors. Some of these sensors act as eyes, while others act as ears. A dozen other proteins have been discovered that receive the information gathered by the bacteria's 'eyes' and 'ears.' The collected information is then processed the same way your brain gathers and makes sense of information.

Bacteria have specialized senses and a brain. In fact, bacteria are better at sensing some things than you and I are. A bacterium can, for example, sense the difference between two parts and one part in 10,000.

This is the same as if you could tell the difference between one jar with 9,999 pennies and another jar with 10,000 pennies!
The idea that bacteria are just 'simple' forms of life comes from evolution. Growing research is showing that even one-celled creatures are not simple at all.

Think of it. Every single-celled bacterium must accomplish, within that one cell, all the tasks we accomplish using the trillions of cells in our bodies. Eating, digestion, metabolism, waste removal, reproduction – and even thinking – all take place within a single cell! There is no such thing as a simple form of life.

What's simple about that?

Notes: Science Digest/Creation Moments

2011 Christian Nature

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Loud Voice of Nature

Isn't Autumn beautiful and noisy? It's as if I can hear trumpets sounding as nature breaks out her best colors! All of those Fall colors gloriously delight our eyes and our ears, and then, sadly, drop their leaves one-by-one. Well, most of them lose their leaves during Fall. But there are some which hold their leaves until Spring. Oh, the leaves wither and turn brown, but they do not drop until Spring when they are pushed out by the new leaves.

Years ago, I had two Japanese Maples in my yard, and, at first, I thought something was wrong with them. All of the other trees were dropping their leaves, but not my Japanese Maples!

Then as I studied more, I discovered there were several trees that didn't drop their dead leaves until they, too, were pushed out by the new leaves of Spring.

That's so analogous to our spiritual lives! We come to Christ and receive new life in Him, and one-by-one, our old habits are pushed out by our New Life! We don't knock off this habit, or pluck off that attitude. It just happens as The Holy Spirit transforms us through our New Birth!

No wonder God's Creation thrills me so much! Nature is a picture of God in all His glory! St Augustine said it best:

“Some people, in order to discover God, read books. But there is a great book: the very appearance of created things. Look above you! Look below you! Read it. God, whom you want to discover, never wrote that book with ink. Instead He set before your eyes the things that He had made. Can you ask for a louder voice than that?”
— St. Augustine (354-430)

2011 Christian Nature

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” 2 Corinthians 5:17

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Plants vs Insects

What I love most about creation is that it was deliberately planned with evidence of Great Personal Love. Take, for example, the world of plants vs insects.

Many plants, especially orchids, offer different ploys to fool insects into pollinating them. Each of these ploys shows planning, design and the ability to create the design that will work. That there are so many examples makes it impossible for any rational person to believe that mindless, impersonal forces could have made these plants.

Four different groups of orchids produce flowers that look so much like the female of the insect that pollinates them that pollinators will try to mate with them. The Brassia orchid found in southern Florida produces a flower that mimics the prey of its pollinator, the spider wasp. The flower is so designed that as the wasp stings its supposed prey – really the flower – pollen is deposited on his head. The pollen is then carried to a nearby female flower and deposited in just the right place during another attack.

Another orchid imitates an aggressive swarm of bees as it blows in the wind. The strongly territorial bees that live in the area swarm and attack the flowers. In the process, they transfer the pollen from male to female flowers.

The female flowers of at least 50 species of Mexican orchids offer fake pollen to lure pollen-eating insects that have been feeding on male flowers.

Many of these insect-orchid relationships are so tightly interlocked that neither could survive without the other.

This speaks of a planned creation. It also bears witness that all forms of life came into being in a relatively short time, not over millions of years!

How could I not love both The Creator and His Creation?

2011 Christian Nature

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Shih Tzus and Humans - Nature vs Nurture?

Her name was 'Peanut' and like her Mother, she had an abundance of self-confidence. In fact, when I purchased her mother, I chose her because she didn't let any of the other litter mates push her around. I liked her spirit!

When Niecie had her first litter, the first puppy to make her entrance was a mere 3 ounces, and I fell in love with her on the spot. I named her 'Peanut'. The wonderful thing about this precious Shih Tzu was that she never recognized how small she was! I had to actively protect our Basset Hound from this hunk o' dynamite!

The longer mother and daughter hung out together, the more alike they became. Oh, Mama was always 'lead dog' but Peanut was definitely second-in-command, even when there were 6 to 8 other dogs around.

It got me thinking about the old argument: nature vs. nurture. Why, exactly, were these two dogs so much alike? Was it their genetic link, or was it because Mama Dog was such an attentive mother, imprinting Peanut from the get-go?

When my daughter (now a mother, herself), was 13 days old, I saw her for the first time, fell in love with her and adopted her. Even as a young child, people used to say how much she looked like me! How could this be? We had no genetic link at all! It has always amused us.

It wasn't that my daughter looked like me. She acted like me! She has brown hair/eyes, and I have blonde hair and green eyes. We look nothing alike; however, our personalities are very similar.

We are both comedians, extremely exuberant, prone to discouragement when people take advantage of our kind natures, and we have the same belief system on most issues. We make each other laugh every day of our lives because we know how important laughter is to our health.

My daughter's nature is very much like mine, and I have to give myself props here - I was a good mother and I still am. I was attentive, understanding, playful (but strict with the rules), and very loving. I prayed for a daughter for years, and God answered my prayers through the adoption process.

I like to think my mothering had something to do with her excellent mothering. And I know my authentic faith in God had a positive effect on her. She came to her faith on her own, but she did have me as an example, just like Peanut had her Mama as an example. Examples are so important with all of God's creatures.

Whether nurture or nature, the result is 'Like Mother, Like Daughter' in a very positive way.

2008-2011 Christian Nature

For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. Romans 1:20

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Soil Preparation and Lessons On Timing

Oh, the lesson I learned through nothing but soil!

Years ago, I decided to plant a garden, knowing nothing about soil preparation. I purchased the vegetables and got out the shovel. I was not prepared for the soil that was hard as concrete. No one told me that you needed to prepare the soil for planting and/or keep it in good condition.

I finally got the holes dug. My daughter and I decided to add the fertilizer, to water, and to pray. Possibly these vegetables would survive.

God didn't audibly speak, but in my spirit, I heard Him say, "Child, you're like this ground. If you neglect Me, you too will become hard." I thought about this. It wasn't like I did anything to the ground. I had just neglected it.

I hadn't thrown trash in it. The problem was I had not done anything to it! I spoke with a friend who is an avid gardener, and found out from him that at least once a year the soil needs to be turned and the fertilizer added. Timing is everything for the soil.
Farmers know that after the harvest it is time to begin preparing for the next one. They don't wait for planting time to till the soil and add the fertilizer. We should do the same with our lives.

We need to spend time with the Lord, letting Him till our mind. Praying, listening, and reading God's Word are part of the process. When we come to a problem, we can't expect to see God's answer if we've never spent time with the Lord. In fact, we probably wouldn't even know to go to God if we weren't prepared to do so. Preparation gives us the opportunity to help others.

Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have (I Peter 3:15).

Now I'm a little wiser, and I pray you are, too. Timing is everything for that hard soil!

(c) 2007-2011 Christian Nature

And I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts as you trust in him. May your roots go down deep into the soil of God's marvelous love. And may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love really is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is so great you will never fully understand it. Then you will be filled with the fullness of life and power that comes from God. (Ephesians 3:17-19 NLT)

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African Grey Super-Parents!

Their names were Ozzie and Harriet and they were super parents against all odds. They were African Grey Parrots.

We had to be very careful what we said around them because they were magnificent imitators and loud talkers! They mimicked the ringing phone, the microwave, the ticking clock, the Grandfather Clock chime, and any other noise they heard. They also understood the meanings of several phrases, and mimicked all of us with human-sounding speech.

Ozzie and Harriet were Congo African Grey Parrots, hand-trained and they were "married for life". They were much like ducks who mate for life, and each one would fight for the other if need be. They were our breeder pair and had indoor perches as well as a chain link outdoor cage. (In Southern California weather, most breeders keep their pairs outdoors since we don't have freezing weather.)

African Grey parrots are considered to be the most talented talking parrots. Unlike other parrots, wild African Greys have been documented imitating the calls of several other species, much like Mockingbirds. African Grey parrots have been tested using rigorous scientific standards, and are classified along side the most intelligent animal species. Ozzie and Harriet were sometimes too intelligent for their owners! :-}

Dr. Irene Pepperberg's extensive research with captive African greys, famously with a bird named "Alex", has documented the ability to associate human words with meanings, and to intelligently apply the abstract concepts of shape, color, number, zero-sense, etc. In many cognitive tasks they perform at the level of dolphins, chimpanzees, and even a human toddler.

Vocal ability and proclivity may range widely among individual birds, often owing to its early socialization. Ozzie and Harriet were well-socialized from birth, so they were excellent pets, as well as prolific breeders.

Certain Amazon Parrots of the Yellow-headed variety are usually regarded as the next-best talkers among pet parrots.

One fateful day, new neighbors moved in with two pitt bulls. We were naive enough to believe that wouldn't be a problem, but, of course, we had all of our breeding pairs insured.

About a week later, we came home from church and found dead macaws, cockatoos, cockatiels, and Amazon parrots in our yard. The only survivors were Ozzie and Harriet. But Harriet's leg had been chewed off, leaving her with only one leg.

We were devastated. But Ozzie and Harriet seemed to handle the whole thing better than we did. Evidently, the pitt bulls had chewed holes in our tall wood fences - not between the boards, but right through the wood. Then they chewed through chain link cages and killed the birds.

Within a month, Ozzie and Harriet were taking turns sitting on a nest of eggs! I couldn't believe it! How would Harriet care for baby birds with only one leg? But she did. Every single egg hatched, and between the two of them, they took meticulous care of those precious babies.

Then the day came when it was time to separate the babies from the parents, and Harriet had no more will to live. She died that night. Just fell off her perch like she knew her purpose for living had been fulfilled. She was the best mother I ever knew, and her mate actually mourned for weeks. He became aggressive, combative, and we finally had to sell him. He would not accept another mate.

I think about Ozzie and Harriet as I hear, more and more, how many human parents are being arrested for child abuse. I've got to admit, there are many times in my life when I have noticed human beings coming out on the short end when compared to other creatures God created. It's shameful.

I'm grateful for all of my experiences with nature, though, because it has given me a well-rounded image of the Creator. He's awesome!

2011 Christian Nature

For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. Romans 1:20

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Animals DO Use Tools!

Do animals have the ability to use tools? Yes! Animals DO use tools!

For generations, evolutionists said that the humans' use of tools was all that made them different from animals. Creationists who objected, saying there was obviously more of a difference than that, were ignored as unscientific.

It wasn't so long ago that evolutionists scoffed at creationists who showed them that there are animals who use tools – and, therefore, the evolutionists' definition was wrong.

Elephants often take sticks in their trunks to scratch their backs.

Galapagos woodpeckers use cactus spines, held in their beaks, to probe insects out of cracks in trees.

Chimpanzees even use sticks as levers to move heavy objects. They also make tools out of sticks by shaping them to the right size to poke into termite nests. The stick full of termites they pull out of the nest offers them a tasty snack.

West African chimps actually use stones as hammers to crack nuts.

So today, evolutionists recognize that some animals not only use tools, but also make them! Only now they claim that animals who use tools prove their theory. Which only goes to show that evolution is not science that can be disproved. It is a faith that will be believed even when the facts contradict it. The facts say that there is an unbridgeable difference between humans and animals.

So, I conclude that evolution devalues humanity. It tries to find the most unflattering way to describe human beings to try to counter the Bible's claim that they were created in God's image.

Notes: Science Digest and Creation Moments

2011 Christian Nature

"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them." Genesis 1:27

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Oxymoron of Evolution by Christians

I have never understood Christians who believe in evolution. Why? Because evolution does not allow for the supernatural. Our God is supernatural! So to say God created, but he 'used evolution to create' is an oxymoron!

What is the definition of 'create'? It means to cause to come into being, as something unique that would not naturally evolve or that is not made by ordinary processes.

If I create a painting, I start with a blank white palette. Then I systematically add swishes of color until I have 'created' either a scene or
an image. It came from nothing but my mind. If it evolved,
I am the one who 'evolved' it into something
(such as this Frederic Kohli painting)!

Evolution is built on the principle that natural laws determine what happens in the physical world.

Evolution rules it out of bounds for God to get involved in the workings of a reptile egg to produce the first mammal-like creature.

Evolution says there is no need for supernatural intervention to modify some ape-like creatures into the first human being. As far as evolution is concerned, God's supernatural intervention could not happen.

There is no physical evidence to support the idea that God periodically intervened in evolutionary development. Nor does the Bible talk about this kind of activity.

A person might accept that God created through evolution. But this belief would not be faithful to the physical evidences that evolutionists claim to have. Nor is it faithful to the statements we find in the Bible.

Evolution does not allow the supernatural action of God. Even the Bible itself cannot be God's Word if there is no supernatural action of God. Thankfully, the Bible is God's revealed Word, and it does offer you an intelligent alternative to evolution.

Believe what The Word of God says, brothers and sisters!

2011 Christian Nature

A Psalm of David.
Psalm 14:1a The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.”

For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. 1 Corinthians 1:18

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Cloning No Stranger to Plant Life!

We hear a lot about cloning a human, but as of yet none has been cloned. However, cloning is no stranger to plant life!

Many plants reproduce simply by cloning. The most obvious example of cloning that comes to mind is the dandelion. Unless you get all of the main dandelion root out of the ground, each piece of the root can sprout another dandelion, identical to the parent.

The walking fern reproduces by cloning too. It 'moves across the countryside', albeit slowly, by producing new plants. A new plant is generated wherever the tips of its leaves touch the ground. Each new plant is identical to the parent.

The bamboo reproduces through underground stems. The different species of bamboo live anywhere from 20 to 120 years. During their life spans, they produce only by cloning. Then they flower – once.

When it's time for a particular species to flower, every member of that species, no matter where in the world it grows, flowers gloriously. Each flower can have as many as 100 pollen-producing stamens. Once the seeds are ripe and scattered, every member of that species in the world dies. At this point, the entire species exists only in the scattered seeds. Awesome!

This is brilliant testimony to a recent creation of all bamboos at the same time. If evolution produced them and the forces of change worked on them for millions of years, one would think that all members of the same species would no longer be in perfect synchronization.

Looks like Genesis got it right on creation!

2011 Christian Nature

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Good News for Pooper Scoopers! - Video

OK, you're walking your dog and he (or she) poops on the sidewalk. What do you do? Pick it up with a plastic bag? Well, with the stores here in California banning plastic bags, what's left? A new innovation - and very good news! - called the AshPoopie! Curious?

AshPoopie is a pooper-scooper with a critical difference: After it gathers the droppings, it turns them into odorless, sterile ash within seconds. All the dog-walker has to do is push a button to release an activation capsule from the cartridge inside the unit. (video below)

Recently, AshPoopie earned patents in Europe and the United States. Ramat Gan-based Paulee CleanTec, the company founded to develop this and related products, is working with engineers to finalize the design ahead of a 2012 US launch.

Apparently, American retailers can't wait to start stocking the product. "Where have you been all this time?" was the reaction most often heard by executives of the privately funded company when they introduced AshPoopie in September at SuperZoo 2011, the major US pet products exhibition in Las Vegas.

With about 75 million registered dogs in the United States and the same number in Europe, it came as no surprise that some of the biggest pet product manufacturers and retailers were clamoring to talk with Paulee CleanTec about partnerships, licensing agreements, joint ventures and sole marketing rights.



I'll update this post when the AshPoopie makes its debut in America!

2011 Christian Nature

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God Deals In Seasons

This photo on the left is Summer at a mill in Idaho. See how happy the tree leaves look? And why shouldn't they be happy? They are well-watered, have plenty of sunshine, and they have been programmed by The Creator to "show off" their plumage! it's like every thing is wonderful and will never change.

Now, the photo on the right is of the same mill, but the Season is Autumn.What few leaves are left are either gold, red, or crusty brown. Are these trees full of angst over the changing season? Are they depressed unto death? No! Without any faith on their part, they're just accepting the inevitable!

With the changing of Daylight Savings Time, most of us (except those in Arizona) have been made acutely aware of our energy levels. It's dark so early, and because our bodies are so influenced by the energy of the sun and moon, we automatically FEEL tired earlier! It's easier to get depressed or upset now. We don't like change! There is a spiritual lesson in this for me.

Solomon said, "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven..." Ecclesiastes 3:1 And in Proverbs 15:23, "A man has joy by the answer of his mouth, And a word spoken in due season, how good it is!"

Psalm 104:27, " These all wait for You,That You may give them their food in due season." So, with just a few of the references to "due season" and "time" I begin to understand that God does deal in Seasons.

And those of us who live by faith in His sovereignty must understand that faith is not about "what could be" or what should be". Faith is believing in what IS. Whatever the situation right now, it is as it should be in the grand scheme of God's will. It may not feel like it, but it is! Here's an example.

When my marriage of more than 25 years ended unexpectedly, my faith had to learn to say, "Lord, I don't understand this, but I accept what is right now and I trust You with it."

God is neither constrained by time, nor blind to it. He foreknew I would be left alone, and He had already set in motion several miraculous avenues of support and provision. All He required of me was to accept "the season" and trust Him with it.

I think plants are lucky. They don't, to my knowledge, wonder and worry about all the changes in their lifetime. They just go with the flow, fit in with the current season, and grow deeper roots during the cold leafless Winter Season. I'm a human and I find it much harder to deal with constant change. It requires strong faith on my part. And "faith comes by hearing, and hearing by The Word of God." (Romans 10:16)

Thank You, Lord, for the seasons!

(c)2007-2011 Christian Nature

¹ There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:

² a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot,

³ a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build,

⁴ a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,

⁵ a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain,

⁶ a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away,

⁷ a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak,

⁸ a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.

Ecclesiastes 13

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Land of Enchantment - New Mexico Nature

I spent my childhood in The Land of Enchantment, New Mexico. As my bio states, I grew up in the pristine majesty of the Gila National Forest. It is one of the more remote and least developed National Forests in the southwest.

Covering 3.3 million acres of publicly owned forest and range land, the Forest is the sixth largest National Forest in the continental United States. The Gila National Forest has spectacular scenery ranging from high cool mountains with aspen and Douglas fir to warm semi-arid lowlands with juniper, oak and cactus. It is, indeed, an enchanted forest with an enchanted legacy: a beautiful and unique forest with majestic mountains; a complex interwoven fabric of all living things.!

But my favorite place in all of New Mexico was The City of Rocks! It was the most enchanted place on earth! Church outings took us to many places of nature in New Mexico; but as kids, we loved hiding in the "rock houses!"

The City of Rocks State Park is located in Grant County, in southwestern New Mexico in the southwestern United States. The City is a geologic monument consisting of large sculptured rock columns (pinnacles) or boulders rising as high as 40 feet and separated by paths - wonderful for exploring by children! It provides opportunities for camping, picnicking, wildlife viewing, and dark night-sky viewing (including a 14-inch - 36 cm telescope). The park is open all year. At least 50,000 people visit the park annually. Nearby are the communities of Silver City (where I studied voice, piano, and drama) and Deming (where the best flat enchiladas on earth are sold!).

Other features of the park include hiking trails, picnic areas and a desert botanical garden.

Chapter 110 of the 1953 Laws of New Mexico, created City of Rocks State Park on March 20, 1953. This legislation provided for the lease of 640 acres of land from the Commissioner of Public Lands, New Mexico State Land Office for the purpose of a State Park and recreation area.

The Mimbreno (Spanish: 'people of the willows') Indians settled in the area about 750 - 1250 AD. Pottery, arrowheads, and other artifacts show evidence of prehistoric indians in the area. Indian wells, or conical holes, are found in the rocks where water would be allowed to collect.

Supposedly, the City was created 34.9 million years ago by a volcanic eruption. Then over millions of years, erosion sculpted the rock formations seen today. The eruption was from the Emory Caldera, centered near Hillsboro Peak at the southern end of the Black Range. The eruption was estimated to be a VEI 8.5 eruption. Also related to the eruption was the Kneeling Nun Tuff. For excellent information on the Kneeling Nun Tuff, click here. It is where I grew up!

I remember going to Indian Festivals about six times a year, so I was definitely raised with ethnic diversity. As children, we learned the different Indian dances and were required, by law, to study Spanish during the first five years of school. As a Caucasian I was definitely a minority!

New Mexico is definitely The Land of Enchantment, which probably accounts for some of my writer's imagination. It provided wonderful opportunities for falling in love with nature and stoking the fires of a child's imagination!

(c) 2009-2011 April Lorier

For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. Romans 1:20

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How Do Tree Frogs Survive?

Ever wondered how tree frogs survive in the desert? After all, they need water to reproduce! So how do they survive?

For a tree frog, the trip from the treetops to a nearby pool is a long and dangerous journey. However, the Creator cares about all of His creatures.

The leaves of the bromeliad that grows in the branches of many trees in the tropical forest form a private pool far above the ground. As a result, mama frog can raise her young without ever leaving the treetops! (Remember: bromeliades hold water in their cup-like leaves.)

The desert would seem to offer an even greater challenge for a frog. However, since it pleased the Creator to place frogs in the desert, He has also provided for their needs. It may rain only once every two years in the deserts of central Australia. When it does rain, the water-holding frogs emerge from their underground hideaways to lay their eggs in the puddles. Before the puddles disappear, not only do the eggs hatch, but the young grow and develop into frogs that are able to store water until the next rain.

As the desert again takes over, the frogs dig themselves back into the ground and go into suspended animation until the next rains come. A year or two later, the new generation will emerge after the next rain to raise their young.

Neither chance nor the smartest frog in the world could design or create these abilities. Only a wise Creator could. And if the Creator has provided this much care for frogs, just think of how much more He cares about you and me in our everyday lives!

Notes: Science Digest

2011 Christian Nature

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Annoying, But Amazing Winter Moths

As fall comes to the temperate regions of North America, Europe and Asia, many birds head for warmer climates, and insects enter suspended animation. While it might appear that nature is shutting down for the winter, amazing things are happening.

About 50 species of moths are awakening from spending the summer in suspended animation. Winter is when these moths are active, despite the fact that they don't have any of the biological antifreeze that some other creatures do. The metabolic costs of such chemicals would hamper their way of life.

Winter moths can live as they do – even though they freeze below 32 degrees Fahrenheit – because they emerge from the leaf clutter on the forest floor where temperatures almost never fall below 37 degrees. But when the air temperature rises above freezing, the moths emerge, shiver for several minutes to warm up, and look for food.

Maple sap is among their favorite foods. One stomach full of this high-energy food provides enough energy for one of these moths to hibernate all winter!

When active, they are able to increase their metabolism by over 8,000 times, using the same amount of energy that sustains them all winter, in a mere 30 minutes. Summer moths shed heat from the thorax, while winter moths conserve their heat with an entirely different heat exchange system.

Winter moths illustrate that there are no limits to what God can do. So if you are ever tempted to wonder how God could have made the entire creation in six days, just remember His winter moths.

References: "Some Like it Cold," Natural History, 2/94, pp.42-48 Creation Moments 2008

2009 Christian Nature

I know that You can do everything, and that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You. Job 42:2

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Vine Guarantees No-Cost Butterflies!

Did you know there are vines for sale, and if you buy them, the butterflies are a guaranteed free bonus? Who wouldn't love flurries of no-cost butterflies?

Two groups of tropical vines rely for reproduction on the world's only known species of pollen-eating butterfly. Neither vine has very showy flowers, nor do their flowers have any scent. However, they don't need to attract pollinators because the Heliconius butterfly depends on the pollen produced by the vines for its food. So the butterflies don't go far from their food source.

Since the butterfly depends on the pollen, the vines produce many more male flowers than female. This keeps its army of pollinators well fed. Being messy eaters, the butterflies end up with pollen all over them.

But what would attract the butterfly to the female flower, which can be up to 20 feet away? Two tricks are used.

First, a female flower usually grows close to where a male flower has just withered.

Second, the female flower, while producing no pollen, looks just like the male flower to invite the butterfly's attention.

Did you see the intelligence in this arrangement? If only chance were involved, why would the only known species of pollen-eating butterfly be found with the only known vines that rely on their services? This is a very big planet!

If there is no design in this arrangement, why should these vines offer female flowers that look like the males so that they will be pollinated?

It is so clear that these butterflies were custom-made for these vines, and the vines were made for the butterflies.

Only God Himself could have designed this combination!

2011 Christian Nature

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Nature| Christian Wisdom Through Animal Love

I cannot remember a time when I have not had loving relationships with a variety of animals. They filled in the love gaps I had as a child, gave me solace when I was a teen, and gave me a reason to keep on going through the hard times. God has used many of them to teach me what He wanted me to learn.

He taught me the truth about the nature of man, including my nature, through a squirrel in Big Bear God taught me the truth about the heart (mind, will, emotions) of all human beings - His truth, not the world's truth, and it has helped me immensely.

And through what I saw as a terrible problem - possums returning every year to have their young under my house and eating up my television cables - the importance of not playing possum when it comes to children. The analogy between the possum's supposed catatonia and the long-lasting effects of child abuse were astonishing to me.

So what I thought was an annoying problem turned out to be one of biggest 'aha' moments.

I learned through my experience with mules in New Mexico about true stubbornness. In fact, between you and me, the Lord convicted me of my own stubbornness and taught me how He lovingly disciplines me as I disciplined my own children.

Through an unforgettable video of a mother elephant's anguish over her baby's death, I asked myself why I was crying over her anguish when 1.5 Million babies are being aborted every day. I saw how we are living in a time that was spoken of in the Bible where the people would worship the creation instead of the Creator.

I learned the truth of 'God is in the details' with the most incredible marsupial on earth (in my opinion), the mother Kangaroo and her 'Joeys'. Learning the details involved in whether or not she spends her entire life in perpetual pregnancy filled me with such wonder at an all-powerful Creator Who cared so much about her that He was extra-detailed in her design. How could I not worship such a God?

But I think I learned the most about God, man, and sheep when I read and re-read Dr. W. Phillip Keller's book called A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23.

The rod I had known as a child was redefined by Dr. Keller, and for the first time I understood the entire 23rd Psalm, especially "thy ROD and staff, they comfort me." It was a liberating moment for a woman who had been severely abused as a child.

God is so good to me! He knows the shape of my soul, what I need in order to be made whole, and He gives freely to the daughter He loves. Sometimes He uses animals to teach me, and that's a good thing. He knows how much I love animals.

2011 Christian Nature

(Please note: This is a nature blog, not a science blog. The name of this blog is Christian Nature. Notice "Christian" is the first word and "Nature" is the second.)

I am not a pantheist. In pantheism the Universe (Nature) and God are equivalent. I am a Bible-believing Christian who believes God is the Creator of nature. When He created humans He placed them into nature. It was called "The Garden of Eden."

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Sun Is Really Shrinking?

Have you heard the news? Supposedly, the sun is shrinking. Huh? Naturally, this is debated. But whatever results from this debate about the sun, we need to remember that God, as Creator, is in charge. Remember: the sun must obey His wishes!

In recent years, a number of news articles have announced that our sun is shrinking. Scientists have been examining records kept since 1750 at the British Royal Observatory. They have concluded that the sun appears to be shrinking at the rate of one-tenth of one percent per century.

If the sun is shrinking at this rate, it would have been twice as large as it is now only 100,000 years ago.

And 20 million years ago, the surface of the sun would have touched the surface of the Earth! The dinosaurs, or more accurately their descendants, would have been baked, to say the least. No life would have been possible on Earth! This obviously poses a huge problem for evolutionists.

Evolutionists wanted to escape the hot water created by too large a sun. So they suggested that perhaps the sun alternately shrinks and expands. There is evidence of a very small pulsation, but overall the shrinkage is undeniable, and at any rate of shrinkage, this places the maximum age of the Earth sustaining life at only thousands of years. Some evolutionists have now suggested that the earlier studies were wrong and the sun is not shrinking at all.

Surprise, surprise! 'The matter is still under study'.

2011 Christian Nature

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Spitting Fish!

Yes, this is about a fish who spits to catch dinner. He's an Archer Fish. How does this fish do it?

The yellow-and-black-striped archer fish shops among the insects that land on branches overhanging his pond in the peaceful waters of the East Indies. Sometimes he will wait under a branch until something that would make a good lunch lands on it.

When the archer fish finds a tasty-looking insect, he shoots an accurately aimed stream of water at his prey, knocking the insect into the water. Before the insect has a chance to recover, the archer fish has eaten him and is looking for dessert.

The archer fish has a deep groove in his mouth. When he places his tongue against this groove, he ends up with a blow tube that is about 1/16-inch in diameter. Compressing his gills forces pressurized water through the blow pipe. The rounded tip of the archer fish's tongue acts as a valve so the fish can shoot a few small bursts or one long stream of water at his prey. The archer fish seldom misses if his prey is within four feet.

This simple but elegant arrangement is testimony to a wise and skillful Creator. Neither mindless chance evolution nor any fish could be smart enough to design this system. Nor could any fish redesign his normal mouth tissues into this unique tool. Here we see that our Creator even cares about providing the needs of a fish. We know that He cares even more about our lives! In fact, He has said so!

2011 Christian Nature

"But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee: Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee: and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee." Job 12:7-8

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Video Week End

This weekend is 'video weekend'. Enjoy!

Creation Calls! Are you listening?
Music by Brian Doerksen







2011 Christian Nature

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Bees Smarter Than You Think!

They say that a picture is worth a thousand words. While that is often true, they also say that it takes a highly evolved brain to picture objects and remember them.

Science is learning that this bit of evolutionary myth is indeed fiction. One insect, in particular, is smarter than you think!

As far as the honeybee is concerned, not all flowers are created equal. Some flowers are a good source of nectar while others are a waste of time. Alfalfa flowers can kill a honeybee because they are designed for pollination by larger insects. When an insect lands, a central petal in the flower releases the stamen and sweeps pollen upward to aid pollination.

Honeybees can be tossed off the flower or trapped inside by this action.

Scientists always thought that honeybees solved the problem of finding safe and productive flowers by remembering a list of characteristics. They believed the honeybee was evolutionarily too simple to remember mental pictures of favored flowers.

However, recent experiments have convinced scientists that bees actually store a mental picture of productive flowers. In these experiments, bees were rewarded with sugar water for visiting some patterns and not others. Their reactions showed that they remember images, not simply patterns.

What's more, the experiments showed that bees are quite intelligent and good learners. One scientist noted that these experiments showed that evolution's assumptions about so-called higher and lower creatures are false.

Those who believe in evolution are having to rethink their view of the world. Meanwhile, we can give thanks to God for so generously giving the gift of intelligence to so many of His creatures.

2011 Christian Nature

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Archeology Discovery Important to Believers

Most Christians accept the Bible's account of King David's rule in Israel over a large united, then divided, kingdom. But, there is a group of people who subscribe to a "Minimalist" school of theology that believes David was simply a mythical figure.

As reported in Popular Archaeology, "With the discovery of the House of David stele at Dan, the Minimalists had to grudgingly concede that David could exist but [still believed] he was a minor chieftain who ruled over a limited area..."

Now, however, with the recent discoveries at a dig at Khirbet Qeiyafa in the Elah Valley, Professor Yosef Garfinkel of Hebrew University is convinced he has uncovered a Judean town whose existence had to have required a centralized government, such as King David's. (Photo: Popular Archaeology)

According to the report, Khirbet Qeiyafa is the only archaeological site discovered in Israel so far that has two gates.

Says Garfinkel: "Even cities three or four times its size, such as Lachish and Megiddo, have only a single gate."

Based on location, dating and the two gates Garfinkel is quoted as identifying it as Shaarayim (Hebrew for two gates) mentioned 3 times in the Bible.

Shmuel Browns - Popular Archaeology

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Females More Valuable!

How much do you know about orchids? If you know a lot, then you understand why females are more valuable than males to bees!

There are five known groups of orchids that throw their pollen. These flowers are designed with mechanical flower structures that work as triggers. Some types use a bee's back to trigger the pollen discharge. Another uses, yes, the bee's knees.

The Catasetum orchid produces a few male flowers that have a strong scent that attracts a male bee. When the bee lands and trips the pollen trigger, it is showered with that flower's entire hope for the next generation. Then the flower stops producing any scent and begins to wither and die. Now it's up to the bee to find a female flower for the pollen.

It's not easy for the bee to find a female flower because the Catasetum orchid produces even fewer females than males. But the female flower has an even stronger scent than the male, and it lives longer.

If the bee finds a female flower, the future of this orchid is bright because the fruit that results produces three million seeds! That's as if nearly half the population of New York City had the same mother and father!

Because the designs of the Creator are carried out amid such beauty and with such careful planning, evolutionists often talk about evolution as if it were a living being. However, the truth is clear.

God is not merely a distant God up in His heaven. Think of it for a moment. If He is so concerned about such detail even among plants and insects, how much more concerned is He about the details of our lives!

I am so grateful to serve a caring, detailed God!

2011 Christian Nature

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Major Breakthrough for MS!

There has been a major breakthrough for people with Multiple Sclerosis (MS)!

A glucosamine-like dietary supplement suppresses the damaging autoimmune response seen in multiple sclerosis, according to a UC Irvine study.

UCI's Dr. Michael Demetriou (photo), Ani Grigorian and others found that oral N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc), which is similar to but more effective than the widely available glucosamine, inhibited the growth and function of abnormal T-cells that in MS incorrectly direct the immune system to attack and break down central nervous system tissue that insulates nerves.

Study results appear online in The Journal of Biological Chemistry.

Earlier this year, Demetriou and colleagues discovered that environmental and inherited risk factors associated with MS—previously poorly understood and not known to be connected—converge to affect how specific sugars are added to proteins regulating the disease.

"This sugar-based supplement corrects a genetic defect that induces cells to attack the body in MS," said Demetriou, associate professor of neurology and microbiology & molecular genetics, "making metabolic therapy a rational approach that differs significantly from currently available treatments."

Virtually all proteins on the surface of cells, including immune cells such as T-cells, are modified by complex sugar molecules of variable sizes and composition. Recent studies have linked changes in these sugars to T-cell hyperactivity and autoimmune disease.

In mouse models of MS-like autoimmune disease, Demetriou and his team found that GlcNAc given orally to those with leg weakness suppressed T-cell hyperactivity and autoimmune response by increasing sugar modifications to the T-cell proteins, thereby reversing the progression to paralysis.

The study comes on the heels of others showing the potential of GlcNAc in humans. One reported that eight of 12 children with treatment-resistant autoimmune inflammatory bowel disease improved significantly after two years of GlcNAc therapy. No serious adverse side effects were noted.

"Together, these findings identify metabolic therapy using dietary supplements such as GlcNAc as a possible treatment for autoimmune diseases," said Demetriou, associate director of UCI's Multiple Sclerosis Research Center. "Excitement about this strategy stems from the novel mechanism for affecting T-cell function and autoimmunity—the targeting of a molecular defect promoting disease—and its availability and simplicity."

He cautioned that more human studies are required to assess the full potential of the approach. GlcNAc supplements are available over the counter and differ from commercially popular glucosamine. People who purchase GlcNAc should consult with their doctors before use.

Lindsey Araujo and Dylan Place of UCI and Nandita N. Naidu and Biswa Choudhury of UC San Diego also participated in the research, which was funded by the National Institutes of Health and the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

2011 Christian Nature

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Mysterious "It"

It was first discovered in 1855, but many scientists debated its existence for another 50 years. Once its existence was finally proven to everyone's satisfaction, it was another 50 years before science had any tools to begin studying it.

Finally, in the late 1980s, scientists began to learn a little about the secrets of one of the tiniest, yet most amazing structures in the body - the mysterious "it".

At the back of the eye, between the deepest layer of the retina and the cells beneath it, lies a tiny moat made up of about 10 drops of a mysterious fluid. The entire moat is thinner than a sheet of cellophane.

It seems that the clear fluid in the moat serves the surrounding light-sensing tissues of the eye in place of blood, bringing in nutrients and carrying away waste.

It also transports light-sensitive chemicals needed by the light-detecting cells in the eye. In addition, it seems to glue the retina in place. More than that, the moat is rich in a growth factor.

This fact makes scientists believe that the gel may also be important to repairing injuries to the retina, keeping the cells of the retina young and active, as well as helping in the growth of new cells. As one researcher said, the more they study this tiny structure, the more unexpected abilities they find – something like a bottomless suitcase.

Charles Darwin, who didn't even know about the moat, was right when he said that it was impossible to believe that natural selection could have produced the eye. Ah, Charles, but He did and it's amazing!

Notes: "Eye diving." Science News

2011 Christian Nature

"Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter's clay: for shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not? or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, He had no understanding?" Isaiah 29:16

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Amazing Procreation!

God The Creator put into place an amazing plan of procreation, even among different members of the living kingdom!

The Bible teaches us that sex is a wonderful gift of God. So why do evolutionists believe that sexual reproduction should not have evolved? According to evolutionists, if sexual reproduction were to develop, evolution is supposed to get rid of it.

To make matters worse, immobile plants - just dumb ole' flowers - use sexual reproduction. This creates a problem in transferring the male genes to the female for fertilization.

Just to confound things even more, God uses insects and even mammals to transfer the pollen. Since evolutionists believe that plants were around for many millions of years before animals, evolutionists have yet another problem.

The European family of the Arum lilies attracts beetles and flies. When one of the insects lands on a flower, he finds a slick, oil-coated surface and ends up sliding down into a chamber filled with small hairs. Imprisoned, he finds a sweet sap that makes good eating. While he is gorging himself on the sap and getting sticky in the process, the male part of the flower showers him with pollen. The next day, the sticky, pollen-coated insect finds that the doors to his prison are open. So he flies off to another flower to unwittingly deliver his load of pollen!

It sounds like science fiction to say that a flower figured out how to do this. And it certainly doesn't sound very scientific to say that nobody designed and made this complex arrangement.

As we learn more about these arrangements in nature, it becomes even more clear that an all-wise Creator designed these beautiful, symbiotic relationships between different members of the living kingdom.

Once again, I am amazed by the Creativity of The Creator!

2011 Christian Nature

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. Genesis 1:27

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