When a honeybee finds a good source of food, she returns to the hive to tell fellow bees where it is. Her dance tells nest mates the direction of the source from the nest and how far away it is. Researchers have long puzzled over how the bee knows the distance she has traveled. Several theories have been proposed, but until now, none have been proven.

Several years ago, an international research team convincingly demonstrated how bees know how far they have traveled visually. Researchers trained bees to fly through a 30-foot tube by placing food at the far side. Then they placed a checkerboard pattern inside the tube designed to make the bees think they had flown farther than they really had. Researchers found that the pattern made the bees think they had flown 31 times farther than they really had. After watching the bees that had gone through the tricky tube, researchers calculated that for every 18 degrees an image travels across the bee's eye, she will dance for one millisecond as she communicates her discovery. As one researcher put it, they have calibrated the bees' odometer.

Bees themselves are a wonder of design. The way they communicate their finds with one another are even more difficult to explain by those who accept evolution. These are all designs of the Creator Who wishes to guide us to Himself. He communicates with us through His Word that tells us of salvation through the forgiveness of sins that is found in His Son, Jesus Christ.

Prayer: Lord, continue to teach me to understand and believe Your Word. Amen.

References: Science News, 2/5/00, p. 87, "Bees log flight distances, train with maps."

Unfortunately, many biblical archaeologists do not accept the Bible's account of the period of the judges. They believe that there was no distinct Israel during this time.

In a talk at Northwestern University, however, William Dever severely challenged these views. Dever is professor of Near Eastern archaeology and anthropology at the University of Arizona. He pointed out that during the period of the judges, about 300 new villages appeared out of nowhere in the central hill country of Palestine. The distinctly different design of the houses and villages match the living arrangements practiced in Israel at this time. Evidence, he noted, points to an increase in population that could only be accounted for by a rapid influx of people.

Furthermore, while pigs were a common staple at this time in Palestine, these new towns are unique in that they contain no pig remains. Farming also changed rapidly as hillsides were terraced. The introduction of iron affected daily life. And pottery styles changed rapidly as the culture developed. Moreover, the Egyptians artifact of the time conclusively proves biblical history. A monument erected in Egypt during the period of the judges mentions Israel as a distinct people.

While science can illustrate many details found in the Bible, we don't believe what the Bible says because of science. Therefore, science can never "prove" the Bible to be in error. Faith convinces us of the Bible's truth.

Prayer: Dear Father, I rejoice for the faith You have given me that Your Word is without error. In Jesus' Name. Amen.

References: Biblical Archaeology Review, 3/4/00, pp. 28-35, 68, "Save Us From Postmodern Malarkey."

While the word "fossil" is a modern term, people thousands of years ago may have known about fossils. If they did, they didn't know what fossils were. That's the new theory proposed by a group that includes a folklorist and some paleontologists. Their theory is based on the figures painted on a 2,500-year-old Corinthian vase.

The colorful vase was made about 550 B.C. Called the Hesione vase; it shows the mythical woman, Hesione, being rescued from the monster of Troy by the Greek hero Herakles. Only the monster's head is shown emerging from a cave. The head looks very much like a giant skull with a tongue and a lizard-like eye socket. Those behind the new theory conclude that these details were added to what was really a very common fossil in the area. The monster was evidently perceived as a sea serpent. However, paleontologists say that the area around the Aegean Sea and western Turkey contains many fossils of large giraffes, camels and horses. Sometimes these fossils become exposed as the rocky hillsides weather. When the ancient Greeks found these large fossils, they thought that they were the bones of gods and monsters.

While this may seem superstitious to us today, we should be careful. Today's great superstition is that life evolved from non-living matter over millions of years. Belief in evolution is no less an attempt to escape acknowledging our Creator God than the legends of the ancient Greek gods. St. Paul himself wrote that the eternal power and divine nature of God are evident through the creation.

Prayer: Dear Father, I thank You for the light of Your Word. Amen.

References: Science News, 2/26/00, p. 133, "Vase shows that the ancients dug fossils, too."

It wasn't until 1839 that cell theory was first described by Theodore Schwann in basically its modern form. By 1858, researcher Rudolf Virchow had learned enough about the cell to conclude that every cell must come from a preexisting cell. But Charles Darwin wasn't paying attention. The very next year he published a book, On the Origin of Species, which theorized that the first cell was formed from non living matter.

In Darwin's day, the cell was thought to be just a simple sac filled with jellied carbon. This concept is the origin of the term protoplasm. However, nearly 150 years of cell research has shown us that even protozoan and fungi cells are hugely complex. Today we know that even the simplest of these cells, eukaryotes, have an estimated 100,000 parts. Many thousands of different operations are taking place continuously within each of the cell's many parts, called organelles. Furthermore, the cell cannot live until all these parts are working properly. Even the simple E. coli bacterium has 4,000 genes. If we were able to magnify the DNA of the E. coli to the thickness of a clothesline, it would be five miles long!

There is no such thing as a "simple cell." The fact that a cell cannot live without all these thousands of parts shows that cells were created in their finished form, just as the Bible says. Even bacteria declare the glory of our Creator!

Prayer: Lord, I glorify You, for even the simplest cell testifies to Your glory. Amen.

References: CRSQ, 3/99, p. 228, "The Putative Evolution of the Animal Eukaryote Cell Ultrastructure."

Scientists have learned that the eye is a multipurpose organ. They have long tried to figure out how our internal biological clock is set. This amazing clock is located in the brain and follows a period of almost exactly a day. It controls many of the body's rhythms, so it's important that it is properly set.

Scientists do know that the clock is set by light. They also know that your clock is not set by the rods and cones in your eye that see color and images. They had conclusively shown that the eye's rods and cones have nothing to do with setting the clock. Several years ago, researchers bred mice whose eyes lacked rods and cones. As they shifted light periods, the mice still adjusted their biological clocks to the new periods. Now researchers are convinced they have found how our eyes adjust our biological clock after studying, of all things, the African horned frog. While studying the frog, scientists discovered a photoreceptor called melanopsin. This photoreceptor is found in the skin, eyes and brain of the frogs. They then decided to test for melanopsin in our eyes. They discovered that a form of the photoreceptor is produced in the inner retina of our eyes. The rods and cones of our eyes are located on the outer retina. The human eye, and those of mammals, is a multi-purpose organ!

The intricate and precise ways in which we have been made increasingly glorify our Creator as we learn more about how we have been made. Surely it takes more faith to believe that such an elegant system as our biological clocks evolved by chance.

Prayer: I, too, glorify You, Lord, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Amen.

References: Science News, 2/19/00, p. 120, "Protein may help the eyes tell time."

Some people think that they can believe in Jesus Christ as their Savior and at the same time believe God created through evolution. These people are called theistic evolutionists or progressive creationists. What kind of nature would a god have who creates through the death that is essential to evolution?

First, death would have to have begun from the very moment of creation. Death, disease, pain and suffering would have had to originate with this god. Long before man, according to evolution, dinosaurs were eating other dinosaurs, and entire species were dying out. Rather than loving us, such a god would be indifferent and capricious. The god that would use evolution to make living things would have no right to punish sin. He would have had no right to bring a worldwide Flood to punish sinful man. This kind of god would be nothing more than a bully. Such a god would not be likely to have given us his word. And nothing the Bible says about him could be true. If the Bible really is from him, it is full of untrue claims. Any god who created using evolution is not the God of the Bible. If you think about it, the god of evolution sounds surprisingly like the devil.

What's wrong with believing that God created through evolution over millions of years? Any god that uses evolution and death to make us is extremely cruel. More importantly, if there was no first Adam to bring sin and death into the world, there was no need for Christ, Whom the Bible calls the last Adam, to die and save us from sin and death.

Prayer: I rejoice, dear Father, because you are gracious and merciful to me. Amen.

References: Creation, 9-11/99. pp. 42-45, "The god of an old Earth."

There are 13 species of a brightly plumed little songbird known as the fairy wren. The birds are found in Australia and New Guinea. So colorful are their feathers that the various species go by names like "superb," "splendid" and "lovely." However, even more noteworthy is the birds' unusual behavior.

A male courting a female will bring her a flower petal. The petal usually matches his color or is a deeply contrasting color. Normally a perky little bird with an upright tail, when courting he lowers his tail and creeps around close to the ground. As he twists his body back and forth, he puffs out his cheek feathers. If the female accepts his courting, she builds their nest alone, lining it with bright parrot feathers. While they mate for life, they are not known for fidelity to their mates. When mature, females will go off on their own, but males may stay with their parents for a year or more. Their main duty is to guard the family nest. If danger approaches the nest, the guard will puff up his wings, lower his tail and scuttle through dry grass, pretending to be a mouse. The idea is to lure the predator away from the nest.

The beauty and unusual behavior of these little birds testifies to more than God's creativity and love for beauty. They remind us of the beauty that was lost to God's creation when it was tainted by man's sin. Thankfully, some of that beauty that was lost can return to our lives through the forgiveness of sins that is found in Jesus Christ.

Prayer: Dear Father, I thank You for the beauty of Your creation and for giving me the forgiveness of sins in Jesus Christ. Amen.

References: Natural History, 11/94, pp. 56-62, "Faithful Philanderers."

If you own a car, you know that it has an engine, doors and, of course, wheels. There are some engineering solutions to transportation problems that are clearly better than others, and no matter who makes the car, designers eventually arrive at the same solutions because they work best.

The same pattern holds true in creation. If you were designing genetic material that did one thing in one type of creature and a similar thing in a completely different type of creature, you would use the best design for both. That would result in similar genetic material in both creatures that was subtly different enough to do its unique job in each creature. As a result of using the best design solution, rather than chance, two very different creatures would have similar genetic material. And that's what we are finding as we learn more about genetics. For example, we know that a particular gene in a developing mouse embryo influences the development of the back part of its brain. A very similar gene in the fly influences the development of its antenna, which are sensors that are tied into the brain. Another gene that is similar in people, fish and flies, influences the unique development of eyes in those creatures.

Similarities like these argue against the chance development of the genetic code. The same Designer that invented the genetic code also gave us His Word, which He also intelligently designed to bring us the knowledge of salvation in Jesus Christ.

Prayer: Lord, I thank You for bringing Your saving Word into my life. Amen.

References: Creation Research Society Quarterly, 9/99, pp. 62-67, "Embryology and Evolution."

Charles Darwin recognized that ants challenged his theory of natural selection. He even mentioned it in his Origin of Species. He even asked how the situation with the lowly ant could ever be reconciled with his theory. He never did come up with an answer, and neither have modern evolutionists.

Darwin's problem was with the worker ants. Even though they are products of sexual reproduction, they differ greatly from their parents. They are each specialized with features their parents don't have so they can carry out their designated tasks in the nest. The problem is that these workers are sterile females, so they cannot pass on the traits that are unique from their parents. Modern evolutionists theorize that perhaps there were some lucky mutations that took place in queen ants through their evolutionary history. However, this explanation is not very credible since the oldest fossilized ants are identical to today's ants. That means that there is no evidence of evolution in ants over a period of 70 million "evolutionary" years. Of course, we at Creation Moments don't accept claims that the world is that old.

Perhaps God, in His foreknowledge, designed ant society this way to foil Darwin and those who have thought like him throughout history. Whatever the case, here is evidence that the ant neither evolved nor could have possibly evolved.

Prayer: Dear Father, with wisdom You have designed Your creation to bear witness to You. I, too, praise your Name. Amen.

References: CRSnet, 2/9/00, "Evolution, Sex and the Ant."

On recent Creation Moments programs we have talked about several evidences that strongly suggest contact between Europe and the New World before Columbus. Some evidence even suggests that knowledge of the New World was common before the Dark Ages. Now, mainstream science has concluded that the Romans made it nearly as far as Mexico City by the second century A.D.

Anthropologist Roman Hristov studied a black terracotta head that was uncovered near Mexico City in 1933. It had been unearthed by professional archaeologists, documented, and then stored away in a Mexico City museum. Hristov removed material from the head and sent it to the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics in Heidelberg, Germany. After testing, scientists concluded that the material was 1,800 years old. Hristov also had the figure evaluated by art experts. They concluded that it matches figures that were created by the Romans in about 200 A.D. Hristov and other scientists agree that the figure is solid proof that there were indeed Romans wandering about Mexico as early as the second century A.D.

Ships and sailing are documented early in the Old Testament. While these sailors didn't have all the tools we have today, they were just as intelligent as today's sailors. They were also filled with the same drive to explore and subdue the Earth as we have today, a drive that was placed in us when our forefather Adam was created.

Prayer: Lord, help me to learn more about Your world and praise You for it. Amen.

References: The Province, 2/10/00, p. A38, "Romans said first to find New World."

Evolutionists often claim that evolution can produce living things that look as if they are designed. This is their way of answering arguments that things that look designed don't need a Designer. However, in January of 2000, a paleontologist and an astronomer teamed up to publish a book that says that conditions on Earth are so unique, there is probably no other life like us in the universe. (We do need to keep in mind, however, that they write from an evolutionary perspective.)

Scientists Peter D. Ward and Donald C. Brownlee concluded that conditions could exist elsewhere in the universe that could support microbes. However, there may be nowhere else in the universe that life above that level might exist. First, they say, we can rule out life near the centers of galaxies because lethal levels of several types of radiation exist there. The scientists conclude that the Earth is perfectly placed for intelligent life. Our moon is just the right size to control our climate, tilt and tides. The planet Jupiter acts as a giant shield to protect us from meteors and asteroids, and it, like the Earth, has an orbit that does not threaten other planets. Our sun is a heavy-element star with a rare elliptical orbit. And earth's atmosphere has a carefully balanced mix of elements with just enough carbon to support life.

Biological evolution cannot explain these delicate and unusual designs, but the designs can easily be accounted for if they came from the hand of an all wise, all knowing Creator.

Prayer: In wonder and awe, I praise You, dear Father, for Your creation. Amen.

References: World, 2/19/00, p. 8 "Custom made Earth: OK, but who made it?"

Here at Creation Moments we have mentioned a few examples of fossils that, without argument, were formed recently. We have been trying to show that when you see a fossil or hear the word, you should not automatically think millions of years. In an attempt to maintain the illusion that fossils automatically must be millions of years old, evolutionists dismiss the examples of young fossils as freaks of nature. However, there are many examples of recent fossils.

It was low tide when a circular rock was discovered on a western Australian beach. A little over two feet in diameter, the wheel-shaped rock weighed 165 pounds. It was hard and solid, even ringing like a bell when struck. Examination proved that the rock was a dense high-calcium sandstone. Even before it was cut open for study, the rock seemed unusual. Once it was cut open it became clear that this was fossilized fence wire. Further analysis identified the wire as "Number 8" fence wire that was used at a nearby sheep station between 1920 and 1970. It was standard practice that after 10 years, old fence wires were replaced. The old wire was coiled and often thrown into the sea. This fossil could have been only about 30 years old and not more than 80 years old!

The existence of fossils does not disprove the Bible's account of history that dates the Earth at only about 6,000 years old. If fossils can form in a relatively few number of years, 6,000 years are more than enough time to form all the millions of fossils discovered.

Prayer: Lord, protect me from being misled by those who doubt Your Word. Amen.

References: Creation, 6-8-98, p. 6, "Fascinating Fossil Fence-Wire."

Researchers at Purdue University are demonstrating that parrots are capable of intelligent communication. Their carefully designed experiments have convinced even skeptics that the two parrots under study are not just giving conditioned responses. Their results are challenging the accepted scientific knowledge about animal intelligence and the evolutionary claim that intelligence is one of the traits that separate us from animals.

The parrots' names are Griffin and Alex. Researchers can show Alex two triangles, one red and one green. They ask what's different about them. Alex will answer, "Color." When asked what's similar about them, he will answer, "Shape." If there is nothing similar, Alex even understands the concept of nothing. Asked what's similar about the shapes, he will answer, "None." Researchers say that about five percent of the time someone will mistakenly tell Alex that he has given a wrong answer when he has not. Alex, however, insists that his answer is right until the questioner discovers the mistake.

Both parrots can identify a wide range of objects. Both parrots are even picking up words they have not been systematically taught and are using them correctly. Once, when Griffin was having trouble pronouncing a new word, Alex turned to him and said, "Speak clearly."

Evolutionists are now having to rethink the idea that intelligence separates us from animals. The fact that we were created in God's image to have a relationship with Him is what really separates us from the animals.

Prayer: I rejoice, dear Lord, that I can have a relationship with You. Amen.

References: Discover, 1/00, "Polly Want a PhD?"

You may remember the "ice man" discovered in a glacier in the Alps in 1991. His frozen body had been preserved in the ice for thousands of years. Even his hair, beard and skin were largely intact. While there is some debate about when he lived, he is easily dated, in the biblical framework, to within several centuries after the Flood.

Researchers at the University of Graz in Austria have been studying his body in hope of learning more about life in the distant past. They found that the ice man has 15 groups of tattooed lines on his body. They could find no reasonable explanations for the tattooed lines until they compared the tattoos to the traditional acupuncture points. The ice man's tattoos corresponded to the acupuncture points used to treat stomach upset and backache. X-rays of the ice man's body showed that though he was only middle-aged, he did indeed have arthritis in his hips, knees, ankles and spine that would produce backache. Further study showed that he had a high level of parasites called whipworms in his intestines! The ice man lived 2,000 years before any known use of acupuncture by the Chinese. Could it be that acupuncture is ancient knowledge that came into use today by way of Noah himself?

Any medical treatment that works is a blessing in this life. However, only the healing provided by the Gospel of Jesus Christ can bring true spiritual health now and in eternity.

Prayer: I praise You, dear Lord, for the healing You have given me. Amen.

References: Discover, 2/00, p. 61, "The Ice Man Healeth."

The Bible tells us that at the beginning of the Israelites' 430-year stay in Egypt, they were well respected for Joseph's sake. Later, when the Egyptian leadership forgot how Joseph saved Egypt, it began making their lives difficult.

One of the most enlightening archaeological finds from the period of Israel's captivity is a settlement called The Village of the Place of Truth. Excavators at the city have found homes, letters, notes, court records, work diaries and wills dating from this period. The village was home to those who built the royal tombs. While there is no evidence that the Israelites ever lived in the village, what has been found has revealed much about life in Egypt when Israel was there. We learn that Egypt had a tradition in which every citizen put in at least one year of service to the government. Those out of favor could be forced into years or even a lifetime of forced labor. However, it was considered an honor to work on the royal tombs, and it seems unlikely that the Israelites had much to do with them. The Bible tells us that the Israelites did, however, make bricks. That could include the very bricks that built the Village of the Place of Truth. Finally we learn that pigs were a staple among such workers, which certainly would be repugnant to the Israelites.

Archaeologists have concluded that the biblical record of Israel's stay in Egypt has too many accurate details about Egypt to be nothing more than a legend.

Prayer: I thank You, Lord, for knowing my sorrows and bringing me salvation. Amen.

References: Biblical Archaeology Review, 1-2-99, pp. 36-45, "Pharaoh's Workers."