Friday’s MEGA List – Recommendations, Reviews, Suggestions: November 15th, 2019

Dear ones, welcome back to another MEGA list. There are only 6 Friday’s left in 2019, not including today. That’s almost impossible to believe, as another year comes to a close. Coming up on Tulips & Honey on Monday we will be addressing how, when, and why to rebuke one another as well as how we ought to be treating one another on social media. I know we’ve dealt with this already, however it’s come up yet again, only in a different way. On Thursday we’ll be dropping an absolutely fascinating interview with Professor Nancy Pearcey. That lady is truly one of the most interesting individuals we’ve had the pleasure of talking with. In fact, we talked for four hours! Don’t worry, we won’t be releasing a four hour long episode, the magic of the edit button!

Recommendations

I’ve recommended Librovox before, it’s a free website that offers audiobooks from the public domain. I recently learned that you can also listen to their audiobooks on iTunes! Isn’t that neat? Here’s a link to one that I’ll be listening to soon, Contra Gentes by Athanasius. They’ve also got the Institutes there, as well as a multitude of Charles Spurgeon works! Becca, my super sweet co-host, wanted to recommend this Spurgeon devotional, and this Primer her and her husband use as a family devotional.

Reviews

Today I’d like to review Ray Comforts newest movie Why Did the Dinosaurs Disappear. It follows the same pattern of his other movies, explaining a scientific, or moral, fact while sharing the Gospel with those he is speaking to. You know, beloved, that I have a love for dinosaur fossils. I was sad to leave our previous assignment where there was a fossil dealer who brought in new items weekly. I’m not sure is Bismarck has anything like that. For decades now the secular world has used dinosaurs as an excuse not to believe in the Biblical timeline. So far in this millennium we’ve found nothing but evidence refuting the evolutionary timeline within the fossil record. This movie is appropriate for all ages, and very fascinating.

Suggestions

My suggestion to you all, dear friends, is that you be uncommonly kind to your brothers and sisters-in-Christ this weekend. They will know us by our love, so give preference to one another, putting the other ahead of yourself. Do not esteem yourself above others, but rather, forgetting yourself, love each other with the love we have been given by the Father. In this way, we fulfill the law. I say this from a point of deep concern, what image are we showing our friends and family when we ignore this command? I also say this from a point of humility, as much reminding myself as I am admonishing you. As always, beloved brethren, be good Berean’s and study to show yourselves approved.

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Creation Science Monday – Humanities Family Tree: Homo Naledi

Hello dear ones! Please forgive my absence this week. We were told housing had a mix up, and was going to have to put us in a hotel for the final week of our assignment. After packing like crazy, they fixed the mix up and we’re staying in corporate housing the the week. In other words, it’s been a crazy week! Lord willing, this week will be an easier move due to the extreme packing from last week. Today, though, I’d like to briefly touch on the h. Naledi fossils. I’ve talked about these before, but they’re still touted as a human ancestor so I thought it best to add it into the tree.

It’s interesting, friends, that most scientists will admit there is a huge gaping hole in the fossil records, right where ancient apes should be. This is, obviously, because when paleontologists find ancient apes they insist they’re human ancestors. Like was done for so long with Lucy, and is now being down with Naledi. Often times articles will refer to Naledi as having many human like features, however that is debated even within the evolutionist and secular communities. The curvature of the hands, the hips, and even the strange attributes of the feet, in the Naledi fossils suggest these are ancient apes not deserving of the Homo title.

It’s worth noting that the cave these 1550 fossils were found in is extremely difficult to reach. It takes experts in spelunking to belly crawling half a mile, climbing a huge wall, then tunneling down a chute just to get to the chamber these were in. The bones themselves were found by spelunkers and cave enthusiasts. The jumbled mess of bones doesn’t seem to suggest burial, no were any tools found with them. It seems more likely, to me, that these bones were washed into the cave, than to assume some ancient human like species chose to dwell in such a difficult home. Either way, the bones show that these were clearly an ancient, extinct, species of apes. They also show the deep desire evolutionists have to bend evidence to fit their worldview. I hope this short post is a blessing to you all, and that you can continue to use this information to segue into the Gospel. As always, beloved brethren, be good Berean’s and study to show yourselves approved.

Creation Science Monday – The Human Family Tree: Homo Floresiensis

Today, dear friends, we are going to continue our series on our family tree. I certainly hope this post finds you all doing well! I’m admittedly too excited about today’s topic. Homo Floresiensis is simply put, my favorite member of the tree. There are two reasons for that, how the bones were found, and the obvious bias shown by the evolutionary community. Before we did into what h. Floresiensis is, in case you missed the previous post you can find a link to it here.

Answers In Genesis

Homo Floresiensis is a small group of skeletons found on the Indonesian island of Flore. These were found around the remains of an elephant barbecue! That has to be the oddest setting for paleontologists to discover. These remains were surrounded by advanced tools and what was a pretty epic meal. While not as small as originally touted, though most publications still use the erroneous numbers from early reports, LB1 is still uniquely smaller than the Homo Sapiens fossils it was found with. Oddly, while there have been other fossils found, and reports of their being small as well, I couldn’t find them. Anywhere. No picture, no articles, no labels, nothing. Considering how long ago these fossils were found I find it frustrating that there is no research anywhere on anything but the original fossils.

There are currently major debates happening between secular communities about these smaller bones. Anyone who disagrees with creating a new line in the family tree for floresiensis has actually been refused access to the fossils. Some suggest that LB1 had down syndrome, others malnutrition, or that this is simply a smaller subset of h. Sapiens. There is even some disagreement within the Creationist community. Of course, if you disagree with evolutionism altogether, regardless of your educational achievements, you’ll also be refused access. This, in my opinion, shows the lengths to which evolutionists will go to protect their beliefs. When you’re using speculation and storytelling in place of science, it’s much easier to be refuted. Thus, fewer voices not more will aid their cause.

https://streaming.answersingenesis.org/aud/am/v7-n2/when-did-cavemen-live.mp3

Either way, the coin is flipped, h. Floresiensis is not a missing link. We’re not surprised by the underhanded behavior by those who push evolution, it is after all what they get paid to do. Next week, Lord willing, we’ll move on to the next supposed ancestor in our family tree. As I said last week, dear ones, this is a subject that we can learn about to segue into the Gospel with. Most people are completely unaware that these fossils are fragmented, debated, and even sometimes tampered with. When we point these things out, we open a dialogue that allows us to share Good News! I pray that this series will continue to encourage and edify you. As always, beloved brethren, be good Berean’s and study to show yourselves approved.

Creation Science – Humanity’s Family Tree: First Man

Hello, and happy Monday, dear ones! I hope this post finds you all doing well. As you’ll recall, we’re in a new Creation series discussing the evolutionary perspective of mans creation in comparison to Gods Word. Today we’re going to look at what is thought to be the oldest ancestor, and some of the fossils found which are said to be precursors. Briefly, before we begin, I just want to remind you all that the paleontologists date these fossils based on the rock layers they are found it. Rock layers are dated based on the fossils found in them. In other words, the time scale given on fossils is purely arbitrary. We talked about dating methods last Monday, if you missed it you can check it out here.

Some mentionable, but clearly not human, fossil findings include Orrorin tugenensis, Ardipithecus, Australopithecus afarensis, to name a few. All of these, and the rest who are thrown into the family tree have been debated by secular scientists as to whether or not they were just extinct ape kinds. Even the famous Lucy has been removed from her high place, and is now said to be outside of the human lineage. The need to show some sort of missing link has driven many in the scientific community to ignore evidence, and even a few to hide or change it. There is, to date, absolutely no reason to scientifically claim we evolved from these extinct creatures. Many colorful fairytales have been written, but no observable, or repeatable, scientific facts have been found.

That being said, we do see in the fossil record upright, obviously human, people groups. The oldest is believed to be homo erectus, with some argument about whether or not ergaster should be separate or included. For the purpose of this post we’ll just assume the latter. The most frequently used claim to suggest erectus is different than Homo sapiens is the skull size. This is a problem throughout historical science, variations within the kinds. Without having been alive during the time the fossils were its impossible to say for sure why they had smaller skulls. However, what we do know is that the skulls we’ve found are well within the span of skull sizes seen in modern man.

There are a host of other fossil fragments said to differ from sapiens, and if you’d like a good deal more information on the subject this article here has much more detail than I can give in this short post. Beyond the variation found within our family tree, there is also the issue of fossils found out of place, or with other so-called homo species. This happens frequently, and shows just how deep the bias within historical science goes. The timeline becomes even more arbitrary as new fossils are found in places they weren’t expected to be, or with fossils they weren’t supposed to be in contact with. This is why, each year, several articles can be found titled ‘evolutionary timeline changed after recent discovery’ or something similar.

The long story short is that homo erectus is a fully human people group, they differ from other people groups in the same way many of us differ today. Without any hard data, or scientific evidence, historical science has declared these fossils a completely different kind as other homo species. Due to this, they placed them on a timeline where there was a gap in their evolutionary lineage. With catastrophism on the rise, and many scientists turning their backs on Darwinian Evolution, it’s only a matter of time before the ages of these fossils are revised, again. The creationists of the future will have a far different debate on their hands then the ones we have now. Until then, though, we need to understand how flimsy this house of cards really is. From time to time we can use the articles, and the evidence, to introduce the Gospel to our friends, family, and co-workers by explaining Gods timeline.

Adam and Eve were created by God in a perfect world. They were disobedient and sinned against God, throwing our universe into a fallen place. Gods plan from the beginning was to redeem this fallen world, and His people. He did this by sending His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. Fully man, fully God, Jesus lived a sinless life, and yet died in our place so that we could be forgiven. What we see in the fossil record is death, disease, and decay. It’s not possible to combine the evolutionary worldview with Gods Word, they are incomparable, as God said His creation was very good. Death did not enter His creation until after Adam and Eve fell. I hope these posts help you, and encourage you, to share your faith with the lost who have bought into a bankrupt belief that everything came from nothing. As always, beloved brethren, be good Berean’s and study to show yourselves approved.

Back to Fossils – Travels

Beloved, I waited (not so patiently) all weekend long to share these pictures with you! If you’ve followed my blog for a while you already know I have deep respect for science, and a genuine love for fossils. You also know we homeschool, and one of my favorite parts of homeschooling is field trips. Last week we went on a field trip to visit some fossil foot prints.

I actually have a rather extreme fear of heights. One of my goals when we began traveling was to face that fear, which I’ve attempted as often as possible. I can now stand on a chair without feeling like I’m going to faint. Baby steps right? Not this time. The drive up to see these foot prints is a one way up the mountain with absolutely no rails. We’ve traveled through mountains many times, but never like this. The idea is to get a better clue of what the gold rush was like.

Once at the spot where the dinosaur path is visible, you park a little up the road and enjoy a short hike back. Or you can hike up to the peak…which we did on trembling knees. After going up to the peak we went down to the fossils.

I don’t care for peaks, hikes, or railless roads up mountains, and the only nature I like to admire is from the comfort of my air conditioned room looking out a window. In other words I’m not an outdoorsy kind of person. Along with an intense fear of heights, is a sincere disgust for bugs. I would brave all that for fossils!

Besides being a fascinating look into the past, fossils are one of the best evidences for a world wide catastrophe. Take these fossil foot prints, for instance, it takes specific conditions to fossilize footprints. When you or I walk along a muddy road we might leave tracks, but they won’t fossilize unless they’re buried rapidly. The idea that these prints were made and thousands of years passed before they were covered is complete nonsense. Erosion would have destroyed them long before sediment could incase them.

One dinosaur track would hardly be evidence for a world wide flood, however these tracks are found all over the globe. As I took this tremendous opportunity to go through several lessons with Kayliegh, we also talked about the implications of Noah’s Flood. We often, in Sunday School, show pictures of a little bath toy boat with giraffes sticking their heads out to depict Noah and the Ark. This is essentially the same thing as beginning Genesis with ‘once upon a time’. Noah’s ark was massive, having enough space to fit well over a hundred thousand animals, although the estimate for the ‘kinds’ Noah would have had is around 16,000.

For a better explanation by a much more intelligent brother in Christ, I give you Founder and President of Reasons for Hope, Carl Kerby…

Beloved friends, the reason the world wants to ignore the flood is the clear evidence of God’s sovereignty that lies within it. Peter warned us that there would come a time when people would deny the flood, and we’ve seen that over the past hundred and fifty years. Dear ones, as in the days of Noah, when the door was shut all hope of escaping the wrath of God was lost to humanity, so will the day of judgement be. While we have the light, the hope of the world, the only path to salvation, Christ Jesus, let us share that hope with the lost. Salvation is of the Lord, we can not save anyone, but we can tell others to flee the wrath to come, and pray God opens their hearts and minds. What do we need to do then? Pray, study, and share the Good News! And as always, be good Berean’s and study to show yourselves approved.

Friday Fossils – Carbon 14 Dating

I almost named today’s blog ‘The Impossible Possibility’. This is what we’ll be discussing, dates that are supposedly impossible, but accurate.

We’re going to be talking about Carbon-14. There is Carbon-12, Carbon-13, and Carbon-14, the only difference being the number of neutrons. These three are isotopes that decay into a more stable element. Carbon 14 is a parent element that decays into Nitrogen-14, the stable daughter element.

Carbon-14 has a half life of 5,730 years, which means that nothing over 100,000 years old should show any detectable signs of it when tested. This is why it is not a reliable means for dating rock, and that rock does not contain carbon, thus it has none to decay.

What can you date with radiocarbon dating? Creation scientists have been sending samples to reputable labs for years now and their findings are amazing. Whether it is 40 million or 300 million-year-old coal samples when tested they all had detectable amounts of carbon 14 in them. Most radiocarbon dating labs have recorded carbon 14 in coal, limestone, and even fossils. Shells from rocks 120 million years old were tested and also came back with detectable amounts of Carbon-14.

Coal

These samples often give a similar age, tens of thousands of years rather than millions. Understanding that the Earths magnetosphere was stronger in the past, they can make calculations on how it would affect the rate of radiocarbon decay. This brings the scientists to the conclusion that the current rates of decay are faster than they would have been in the past. This explains why they see rates that are inflated, after making the proper adjustments the dates come back as 4-5 thousand years old. Thus we can not assume the present is key to the past.

To all this research the secularist has one thing to say in response. The samples were contaminated, without doing any research into the matter. So creationists radiocarbon dating on the hardest substance they could find, one that could not be contaminated, diamonds.  Keep in mind that diamonds are, according to evolutionism, 1-3 billion years old. Yet, when tested for Carbon-14 they came back with ten times the detectable limit.

Diamond

If the Earth were billions of years old, or even millions, there shouldn’t be Carbon-14 left at all, yet scientists have found it in fossils, coal, shells, and diamonds. It would seem that this would be the nail in the coffin for evolution and deep time. However, as I’ve stressed many times before, the evidence is not the problem.

The problem is sin, and that those who refuse to acknowledge God suppress the truth in unrighteousness. The world view of evolutionism is merely the desire not to be held accountable by God, and the deep desire to maintain some sort of control over their lives. The evidence is fascinating, and we need to have an answer when someone questions these things, but we can never assume the evidence will change hearts. Only God can change a heart from stone to flesh.

This is why I implore you all, as often as I can, be good Bereans and study to show yourselves approved! God bless you, beloved, and keep you.

Friday Fossils – Layers of Rock

Last Week I promised a Friday post on the rock layers dinosaurs are found in. Here it is, brethren, the long wait is over!

I’ve been trying, for a few weeks now, to show the secular understandings of fossils being laid down by water. This is important, though it’s not given the fan fair that the latest evolutionary ‘proofs’ are given. Why not? Because from as far back as Charles Lyell, there has been push back against anything that would suggest Noah’s flood ever happened. We need to keep in mind, as we read scientific articles or learn of new discoveries, that scientists are human beings. As such, they have their own world views, through which they view all evidence. Their world view of evolutionism is opinion, based on assumption, not testable science. There is no reason we should allow their world view to hinder our trust in the truth of the Bible.

So, what about these rock layers we find fossils in? The most important evidence of the flood is that these layers are filled with marine fossils, only .01% of fossils found are dinosaur fossils, 95% of fossils found are marine life. Marine fossils are found on every high mountain, and sedimentary rock layers spread across every continent, some even connecting continents.

I’ve written about some of the odd fossils found that give evidence for rapid burial, soft tissues, jelly fish, foot prints, but that’s really just scratching the surface. All that evidence aside, the rock layers themselves give evidence of rapid formation.

Once the secularists admitted the fossils did not take millions of years to fossilize, although it’s still taught that way in schools and museums, they chalked the millions of years up to the layers. This, again, dates back to Lyell, counting each layer as if it were years. However, we now have plenty of observable evidence with Mt. Saint Helens to show rock layers that were laid down in a matter of hours. Along with this issue, there is the lack of erosion between layers. Each layer is laid down one on top of another, beautifully uniform, without signs of years and years of erosion.

Now secular scientists are between a rock and a hard place here. They can no longer claim fossilization or rock layers take long periods of time. Remember the circular reasoning in the method used to date dinosaurs relies on old rock. They date the rock based on the dinosaurs found in them. They date the dinosaurs based on the rock they found them in. What happens to this scenario when the rocks can no longer be considered millions of years old?

This is one of the many reasons I was so disenfranchised with science. I loved science, and I had a tremendous amount of respect for scientists growing up. I want to tell you all, beloved, that there are thousands of scientists who are honest, they do recognize the errors in evolutionism. They just aren’t given the fan fair that the scientists who fall in line with the secular darling, evolution, are given.

We need to have an answer for the hope we have. That’s the point of Monday’s and Friday’s here, to edify the body, to give you all more confidence in Gods Word. Also, to give you all examples you can take with you when you evangelize. Creation science can not save, I would never suggest that however, these answers to often asked questions can soften a hard heart to hear the gospel message. It is important, brethren, that we study to show ourselves approved. Be good Bereans, friends!

Fossil Friday – Dinosaur Tracks

We’ve been traveling for a few years now and have yet to make our way to some of these fascinating tracks. Mostly medical reasons, and poor planning on my part. Hopefully, before we settle somewhere we’ll get the opportunity.

Dinosaur-Tracks

I’m amazed by the tracks left behind by these creatures. How is it that erosion didn’t destroy them before they were covered up layer by layer over long periods of time? The tracks found in Australia began to erode almost immediately after being uncovered. The obvious answer is that they were covered quickly. There are a couple problems with this, from the evolutionary standpoint.

1. These tracks are found all over the planet.

2. The tracks are found in layers of rock with marine life.

This brings me back to the point I’ve made before. Both creationists and evolutionists are looking at the same data, uneroded tracks clearly found in sediment laid down by water. From the worldview that Noah’s flood could not have happened, this is just the result of many large floods worldwide. I say large floods because of the amazing distance these tracks cover. To the person who holds to Gods Word these tracks are yet another example of the great flood of Noah. Each side has come to the same conclusion, flood, but their perspective on how and why the flood happened differs.

Dinosaur-track

Evolutionary geologists have, in recent decades, admitted that rock layers do not take long periods of time to be laid down. Now, for the most part, they suggest the time is found between the layers. It’s only a matter of time before they change this position, as there is simply no evidence of erosion between layers.

Genesis-1:25-Dinosaur-Fossil-Behind

We’ll go over the layers of rock in more detail next week. Until then, beloved, stand firm on the Word of God. As always, be good Bereans and study to show yourselves approved.

Fossil Friday – Polystrate Fossils

These are my favorite types of evidence for creation, the ones that make for gorgeous pictures! When you drive past great ridges of every color you get the feeling that the God we love is an artist of tremendous magnitude.

What evidence am I referring to? The fossilized trees found standing upright in the middle of layers of rocks. These rock layers should have taken millions of years to be laid down. How is it possible for a tree to withstand millions of years all while lying upright? No geologists question the impossibility of this. Yet, they see no reason to change their theory, they have faith in evolution despite evidence otherwise.

What do these trees really show? Quickly laid down layers from a great flood. Why do so many both within the church and without want to refute the validity of Noah’s flood? To those unsaved Noah’s flood relates Gods judgement on the wicked, and their own complete inability to stand in the face of His wrath. To the saved, or those claiming to be saved, Noah’s flood seems as though we serve an angry God so they choose to ignore it, or in more serious cases, refute it.

There are two questions then, did the flood happen? And, do we serve an angry God?

As a believer we must accept the truth, Jesus Christ Himself spoke of the flood as a true event. Even if there were not massive evidences all over the world got a global deluge, the Messiahs testimony would be all I needed to believe.

Are we serving an angry God? This question is confused by mankinds seemingly endless ways to misunderstand God Himself. God is not sometimes omniscient, He is always omniscient. He is not sometimes loving, His loving kindness knows no end. Psalms 7:11 says God is angry with the wicked everyday. God is always all the things He is, He is not man that changes emotions like they were going out of style. He is always loving, always just, always merciful, and always angry with the wicked.

How can that be? Let me ask you this, friends, why do you find murder so deeply disturbing? When someone abuses a young child, why does that make you righteously indignant? Because you love Gods creation, the young innocent particularly. If you had no love for humanity you would find no angry in the murder of innocents. Gods love for His creation is the very evidence for His anger against the sin which corrupts them.

Beloved, Gods Word is true. We can stand on it firmly.

Monday Fossils – Fooling the Foolish

A cold bug has found its way into our house, so my dear ones are sick.  I wish I had more time to write this really well, maybe we can go back over each of these individually when everyone gets to feeling better. I’m just going to mention a few things for everyone to research, in their free time, to help edify the body and build up your faith.

These are just a few short points, in a long list, where evolutions got…creative? That’s probably putting it too kindly for most of these.

Albert Einstein

Particularly for the Piltdown man, and the Archeaoraptor.

The Piltdown man was a forgery introduced in 1912 that took over four decades to be revealed as a hoax. Artist renderings were drawn up, this was the missing link.

by James Howard McGregor

There’s Nebraska man, whose entire family was even rendered with him, all from a single tooth. One tooth is all was found of him. That is some creativity friends.

Whale Evolution Update

Even “Lucy” has been found to have been a knuckle walker. The facial reconstruction of other bones even looks an awful lot like Chuch Norris. These findings are more clearly being labeled, the further science goes, as either ancient apes or people with bad diets.

Picture’s of fetus’ growing in the womb are replaced by horse evolution, which has been replaced with whale evolution.

This is not to say that Evolutionists are all purposefully trying to trick people. They are human beings, they get excited, this is their life. These are the very things they have searched for. When the announcement is made it makes big news, the link has been found! It’s quietly found out two or three plus decades later that there is disagreement or new evidence, and it’s refuted without fanfare.

The point is that Evolution is not fact, and the ‘evidence’ used to ‘prove’ the theory is always changing. As one point is refuted, another comes up to take its place. We should not base our faith in something so flawed. Put your faith in God’s Word, and science will eventually catch up. Don’t be dismayed, or discouraged, when the new missing link is found. Look carefully, take it with a grain of salt, they’ve been wrong before. Foolish people have been and still are, fooled by the multitude of ‘evidences’ which have been proven false. Enjoy science, read, learn, and pay attention…but stay watchful. Never let your faith be shaken, particularly not by something which is so often proven wrong.

Hold fast to the full counsel of God’s Word, run the good race friends!