Posted on May 29, 2015
Marvelously Made Music, Part 2
Have you ever sung a song that worked fairly well at first, but ended up getting too high-pitched for your range because someone started it uncomfortably high? Or maybe, like this writer, the opposite is more likely to happen to you – people start songs uncomfortably low for your voice. Have you ever thought about how this can be, that the same melody can be sung slightly lower or higher? It’s all about the musical key being used.
You may remember the relative seven note scale sequence, “Do-re-mi-fa-sol-la-ti”, we touched on last week (read about that here). Put simply, the musical key tells you which note of the musical alphabet (absolute note names, like “A” or “C”) is the “do”, or tonic tone, of that relative scale sequence. The musical key gives you all the information you need to know: where exactly to start, end and everything in between to get different types of sounds, making the music we enjoy. There is a vast depth of concepts, rules, symbols, terms, and ideas about musical keys – very similar to science and mathematics. Keys are pretty much the main part of what music theory is all about.
While a musical key, in and of itself, basically determines a relative sequence of sounds, each key also falls into specific sequences relative to all other keys. Keys are related to each other through a sequence we call the “circle of fifths” in music theory. This just means that each of the letter namesakes of the keys (that would be the tonic or “do” note of each key) are a fifth apart – for example, the “key of G” comes after the “key of C” because the note “G” is a fifth above the note “C”. If you were to put the five fingers of one of your hands on the white keys of a piano, with each finger touching a different note without skipping any, the notes you play with your thumb and pinkie finger are basically a fifth apart (see the picture to the left).
(uppercase Major keys, lower case minor keys)
Image Copyright Sara J. Bruegel, 2015
It’s not just the “circle of fifths” because we have five fingers, which land nicely on the piano. You seriously cannot get away from the circle of fifths in music. Did you know that each of the four strings on a violin is a fifth apart? I don’t think that’s a coincidence! The same is true for many other stringed instruments, like the cello. The strings on a guitar are actually a fourth apart, but that’ because there are five different strings on a guitar (plus the sixth string, which plays “E” like the first string, only higher). The four violin strings are a fifth apart and the five guitar strings are a fourth apart. It’s all pretty mathematical, you see!
You may be wondering what’s so important about fifths – why should it matter to anyone outside of a music theory class. That’s what I was thinking when I was first trying to grasp this topic! The circle of fifths isn’t just something people made up to keep music students busy, but merely the order and incredibly complex design created by God in the nature of music itself. Next time a song gets out of your comfortable singing range, remember God’s amazing design of musical keys and the circle of fifths!
Copyright Sara J. Bruegel, 2015
Posted on May 22, 2015
Marvelously Made Music, Part 1
Do you love music? Although music is often thought of as an art, there is really a lot of math and science involved in music. As a music-loving geek, I’ve noticed some rather incredible mathematical and scientific beauty in music that is often overlooked. Because of my love for music, I asked to start piano lessons around the age of eight and kept those lessons up for about a decade, later adding in classical violin (which eventually transitioned to fiddle). All those music lessons ended up giving me a pretty good background in music theory – the technical side of how music is read and put together. While there is a ton of information and technical nuances in music theory, I would like to show you just a few that stand out to me as proclaiming God’ s incredible design in creating music.
You’ve probably heard the song “Do-Re-Mi” from “The Sound of Music” that goes: “Doe a deer, a female deer; Ray a golden drop of sun . . . “ This simple sequence “Do-Re-Mi-Fa-Sol-La-Ti” is the relative sequence of sounds in a seven note scale. Keep in mind that these are relative sounds we’re talking about – it can be easy to get this scale sequence confused with the musical alphabet (A-B-C-D-E-F-G), which is an absolute naming system for every note. You could sit down and play a “C” on a piano (or most any other instrument), knowing that it will always be called “C” no matter what song you are playing. However, whether or not that “C” you played will have a “do” sound (or any other sound in the scale sequence) will depend on where it is relative to the other notes played around it. Technically, each sound the “Do-re-mi” sequence is a numbered scale degree.
A lot of music theory is just about how sounds are related to each other. This is why scales and scale sequences are so important in music. Just like science and math, there are a lot of rules about how things work in music theory. Most of these rules (like law of nature and mathematics) are not made up by people, but are merely explanation people have put together to understand how and why the world works in certain ways. One group of rules that I found especially interesting in some of the more advanced music theory I learned were rules about “cadences”.
A “cadence” is a resting point in the music, usually happening at the end of a song or musical phrase. If you’re singing, you often want to take a breath at some of those cadences because they are just natural stopping places. The most commonly thought of cadence is the “Amen Cadence” – like where a choir would sing “A-men” at the end of a hymn. Some types of cadences sound really open ended, like you can naturally feel that there should be more to the song. A good example of this is in the song “Happy Birthday” when it goes “happy birth day, dear [your name]” – it just wouldn’t sound right to stop there, so you finish it out with, “happy birth day to you” which sounds like what we naturally think the end of a song should sound like. There are different sets of rules dictating where each scale degree needs to go, relative to the other notes around it, depending on what kind of cadence you have.
Just as the laws of science and math show order and complex design in the creation all around livesus, music theory is a way of explaining the intricate, incredible design of our all-caring Creator. There are tons of natural laws that we could not survive without. We are in awe when realize God’s incredible care. However, our Creator cares about every detail of our lives, going far beyond our mere survival, even giving us precision and beauty in music, in spite of our fallen, sinful state. Praise the Lord – with a song – for His infinite mercy!
Copyright Sara J. Bruegel, 2015
Posted on May 15, 2015
Catastrophic Colorado Monument, Part 2
The precariously balanced enormous boulder towered ominously above us. “Careful! Don’t drive too slowly under that rock!” My younger brother anxiously piped up from the back of our suburban, full of friends and family members gathered together for my older brother’s wedding and enjoying the spectacular landscape of the Colorado National Monument in our free time. Those of us who are native to the vast flat-lands of Texas all breathed a little easier when we could appreciate this amazing rock formation from a more distant view.
Last week, we started talking about the geology of Colorado National Monument in western Colorado (read last week’s post here), especially
touching on the canyon and cross-bedding. There are several other especially interesting formations at the Monument, like precariously balanced boulder towers and bent rock layers. Balanced rock formations like the ones seen at the Monument can be quite interesting looking, often just standing up on a thin, high rock pillar based deep inside a canyon. It often makes people wonder why it formed that way and didn’t get swept away with the rest of the rock that was naturally excavated from the canyon by a catastrophic water event.
Often it has a lot to do with just the chemistry of the rock and the way it cracks in organized patterns as the rocks harden and cool. During some of the unstable weather towards the end of and shortly after the global flood (mentioned in the Bible), water and ice would have wedged into these cracks, spreading them farther apart. This would help break away the rocks that used to be right next to the ones we see suspended on high pedestals, leaving the balanced rock by themselves or in clustered groups. The famous “Kissing Couple” formation at the monument is a good example of one of these groups, and got its name because the two rocks towers touch at a couple of points. There is also an interesting “Balanced Rock” formation at “Garden of the Gods” in Colorado Springs (read about that here).
One of the things that fascinated me most about the monument was the tilting of some of rock layer sequences. These tilting were dramatized by the building of the Rocky Mountains in an event called the “Laramide Orogeny” (an “orogeny” is the geologic term for a mountain building event), which probably occurred towards the end of the flood when the waters were draining into the oceans. However, looking at the “Pre-Cambrian” basement rocks bellow (probably made during creation week, about six thousand years ago, based off Biblical genealogies), many of these features were already in place and just dramatized by the building of the mountains. Does that mean that God created this area with small mountains or hills? Possibly – the Bible does say that the flood covered the tallest mountains and high hills at the time (see Genesis 7:19-20).
It’ interesting to see that some of this creation-week (Pre-Cambrian) rock is exposed with flood layers on top of it. Seeing these two together is a somber reminder of both God’s gracious love in creating us as well as His righteous judgment against sin in the flood. One of the most beautiful pictures in the Bible that I know of is that of the Lion and the Lamb – the same Person, Jesus is both the Lion of Judah and the Lamb of God. He is both the ferocious, valiant Lion and the gentle, innocent Lamb of sacrifice. Let these incredible rock formations at Colorado National Monument remind you of that marvelous picture of both God’s righteousness and His grace together.
Copyright Sara J. Bruegel, 2015
References:
Lanny Johnson. Alpha Omega Institute. Private presentation for Bruegel wedding, April 3rd, 2015 in Fruita, Colorado.
Annabelle Foos. Geology of Colorado National Monument. 1999. University of Akron Geology Department. http://www2.nature.nps.gov/geology/education/foos/colm.pdf
D. L. Baars and G. M. Stevenson. Tectonic Evolution of Western Colorado and Eastern Utah. 1981. New Mexico Geological Society https://nmgs.nmt.edu/publications/guidebooks/downloads/32/32_p0105_p0112.pdf
Brian Thomas. Do Sand-Dune Sandstones Disprove Noah’s Flood? . Acts & Facts. 43(9). Institute for Creation Research. http://www.icr.org/article/8231
Steve Austin. Grand Canyon: Monument to Catastrophe, pg. 92-98, 103-104. 1994. Institute for Creation Research
Andrew Snelling. “Mysterious Natural Wonders” . Answers Magazine, Vol. 9 No. 3. July 2014. Answers in Genesis
Posted on May 8, 2015
Catastrophic Colorado Monument, Part 1
I drew in a sharp breath and held on tightly as we suddenly rounded a narrow curve and I got a good look down the steep edge at the spectacular, sharp rocks far below us. The chilly wind rushed through the open car window, playing with my hair as I tried to capture the ornate landscape at Colorado National Monument near Grand Junction, on the western side of the state. While traveling in Colorado several weeks ago, I enjoyed getting to see some especially magnificent geology, including towering mountains, balanced boulders, tilted layers, dramatic cliffs, quiet valleys, climbing canyons, and serene lakes.
The Monument was one of the most interesting places we got to see. The main scenic drive spirals dramatically up through the beautiful network of canyons, displaying a plethora of interesting rock formations. There are a few different theories of how these formations got there. Because of the relative sequence of rock layers and the historical account of the global flood in the Bible (many cultures around the world have legends of a great flood like this), I believe pretty much all of the layers exposed here were deposited during this flood. How some of the canyons got carved and other structures formed is definitely more ambiguous. There’s some pretty convincing evidence that this area was part of a large lake that formed at the end of and shortly after the flood, which later broke through its dam and catastrophically drained.
I enjoyed seeing the cross-bedded sections of sandstone up close. These features are best explained as being formed during the global flood mentioned in the Bible. Many geologists would tell you that these cross-bedded layers, with their zigzagged, lens-shaped patterns were formed by sand dunes as they migrated. They would say that these sand dunes formed because the Western United States was once covered by a vast “erg” – that is, a large region covered in deep, pure sand, like the Sahara Desert.
Yet, cross-bedding like this can also be caused by sandbars and waves under water. One of the main differences we can observe between desert and underwater cross-bedding today is that desert cross beds tend to be
significantly larger. Taking into account the catastrophic global flood,
underwater cross-bedding significantly larger than we see today would not be very surprising at all. The rock formation between two of these theoretically erg-formed cross-bedded formations also shows cross-bedding, but is considered to be formed from underwater dunes. This would mean there were dry sand dunes, then a lake, then sand dunes again after that, all in the same place. I think it makes more sense to interpret all three cross-bedded formations as having formed underwater during the global flood.
Read more about Colorado geology and the amazing Colorado National Monument in our “Clue of the Week” next week!
References:
Lanny Johnson. Alpha Omega Institute. Private presentation for Bruegel wedding, April 3rd, 2015 in Fruita, Colorado.
Annabelle Foos. Geology of Colorado National Monument. 1999. University of Akron Geology Department. http://www2.nature.nps.gov/geology/education/foos/colm.pdf
D. L. Baars and G. M. Stevenson. Tectonic Evolution of Western Colorado and Eastern Utah. 1981. New Mexico Geological Society https://nmgs.nmt.edu/publications/guidebooks/downloads/32/32_p0105_p0112.pdf
Brian Thomas. Do Sand-Dune Sandstones Disprove Noah’s Flood? . Acts & Facts. 43(9). 2014. Institute for Creation Research. http://www.icr.org/article/8231
Steve Austin. Grand Canyon: Monument to Catastrophe, pg. 92-98, 103-104. 1994. Institute for Creation Research
Updated on April 11, 2018
God’s Rock Garden – Creation Clues for Kids Vol. 4 No. 2
Giant Rock Garden
Have you ever seen a rock garden, or made one yourself? A rock garden can often look really cool, with different sizes and colors of rocks arranged in specific ways. There’s an enormous natural “rock garden” in Colorado Springs, Colorado called “Garden of the gods” that I got to see recently. There are enormous, jagged rocks sticking up out of the ground and huge boulders so delicately balanced on top of each other that they look ready to come tumbling down at any second
Garden of the ONE TRUE GOD
Does the name, “Garden of the gods” bother you a little? You may be thinking that there’s only One True God, not a bunch of gods who have to meet in a garden. And if that’s what you are thinking, you are absolutely right! Our Creator originally made us to love Him and to be loved by Him. Satan tempted Eve to disobey God in the Garden of Eden by telling her that eating the fruit would make her like a god. This is where the idea of false gods first came from.
Most of the Old Testament in your Bible was originally written in Hebrew, and later translated into English and many other languages. The Hebrew name for the One True God is “Yahweh”, often written “YHWH”. This is where we get the word “HalleluYAH”
Flood
All the enormous, cool-looking rock formations at “Garden of the gods” are better explained by the Bible’s account of the quick, disastrous, world-wide flood of Noah’s time than slow processes over millions of years. Many of the rock layers here were made by either mud or volcanos during the flood and all kinds of interesting things started happening to those rocks around the end of the flood and while the earth was recovering from the flood. While we will probably never know for sure exactly how all these neat rocks were made (because scientists are always changing their minds about the way things work) we can know that they were not made over millions of years, but by the world-wide flood the Bible talks about. You can’t always trust what scientists say (because they’re people, and people make mistakes) but you can always trust God and His Word, the Bible!
Since the Rocky Mountains of Colorado were probably lifted up toward the end of the flood (and for a short time after the flood), this would have caused a lot of pushing, shoving, squeezing, and bending of all the still-soft mud layers nearby
Jagged Rocks
At “Garden of the gods”, tall, sharp, jagged rocks stick up out of the ground randomly all over the place. Some of these rock formations are so big that people have to use ropes and other equipment to climb to the top. These rocks are best explained as being made by a soft mud layer getting squeezed (like toothpaste) into cracks and crevices of the layers around it and later hardening into rock. These are called “sandstone injections”. Later, the crazy weather, earthquakes, and other disasters at the end of and just after the world-wide flood would have caused some of the layers around these “sandstone injections” to break away leaving the tougher, jagged “sandstone injections” by themselves sticking up out of the ground.
Balanced Rock
Careful! Don’t breathe too hard, or else that giant rock might fall on you!!! One of the most famous giant rocks at “Garden of the gods” is called “Balanced Rock” and that’s exactly what it looks like: a huge rock
balanced on a small corner. It looks like it could fall down at any second. This rock wasn’t put there by people, but all the crazy weather at the end of and after the flood probably caused all the other pieces that used to be around this rock to break away from it. “Balanced Rock” is supposed to be perfectly safe to get up close to (many people stand right next to or under it for pictures), since all the math shows it can stand by itself, just like it has for the past four thousand years or so since the world-wide flood. However, there was another balanced rock similar to this one at “Garden of the gods” that fell over when no one was around that completely shattered when it fell.
Vertical layers
Some of the enormous rock layers you can see at “Garden of the gods” look like stripes going vertically (up-and-down) rather than horizontally (side-to-side). This had to have been done when the layers were still soft – it couldn’t have happened “millions of years” after the bottom layers were made, but while they were still soft and flexible, around the time of the world-wide flood.
Thoughts From Readers
CCK is written by Sara J. Bruegel. If you have a question or comment, please write to Sara at: CreationCluesForKids@gmail.com and it may get published in the next issue. Also, you can visit www.CreationClues.com to read a new clue each week or read past issues of CCK. Many thanks to Eva H. (age 12), who drew the cartoon for this issue of CCK! If you have made a cartoon or drawing about God’s creation that you want us to put in our “thoughts from readers” section, please send us an email!
Copyright Sara J. Bruegel, 2015
Print Friendly Version Here: Vol 4 No2 – April-June 2015
Click here to read more issue of CCK
Posted on May 1, 2015
Chemicals to Life?
How exactly did the first living things come into being were they formed by lighting electrocuting lifeless chemicals or were they spoken into existence by the Word of a Divine Creator? This topic came up in my historical geology college class a few times. When theories of how lifeless chemicals might have become the first living organisms were presented I was pretty skeptical. I often brought up my concerns that forming life out of lifeless chemicals would go against the scientific law of biogenesis (the principle that we observe life can only come from other living things) discovered by Louis Pasteur, the scientist who figured out how to “pasteurize” milk. I remember the answer my professor and textbook gave to these concerns was that the 1950’s experiments by Dr. Stanley Miller and others are supposed to show how life could have come into being in earth’s early atmosphere.
Here’s what my textbook said:
“To the experimenters, it seemed almost inevitable that amino acids would have developed in Earth’s pre-life environment. Because amino acids are relatively stable, they probably increased gradually to an abundance that would promote their joining together into more complex molecules leading to proteins”
~ The Earth Through Time, 9th edition by Harold Levin, 2010, pg 237-38
The way that the famous “Miller Experiments” are presented can often be a little deceiving – these experiments can easily be misunderstood as almost forming life out of lifeless chemicals. However there’s a lot more to these experiments that isn’t always fully explained. First, it’s important to understand that what they actually got out of the experiments were just amino acids – chemicals that are very important to living creatures, but are still merely chemicals. Different amino acids combine to make proteins in a living creature.
The amino acids that formed by the Miller experiment were not at all on their way to becoming life because almost all living creatures use only left-handed amino acids and the experiments created half left- and half right- handed amino acids (which is actually toxic to life). These right-handed amino acids would be a huge problem for life forming. It’s interesting to note that when a creature dies, the exclusively left-handed amino acids naturally turn into a balanced mixture of right- and left-handed amino acids; this means that what Miller created was like death, not life.
Another problem with the Miller Experiments is the chemicals chosen to run the experiment. They had to make a lot of assumptions about the climate of earth and use their intelligence in choosing those chemicals expecting certain results – this was no random-chance accident. Oxygen is important to life, but it would be destructive to the formation of life. Similarly, water is important, yet amino acids cannot for the chains necessary for life around water. To top it all off, the amino acids formed in the experiment had to be quickly removed from where they had formed because Miller knew they would be destroyed if they stayed in the conditions under which they formed.
Life doesn’t come from non-life. This means there must be an ultimate, eternal source of life with no beginning or end . . . . and that sure sounds like our Creator, God:
“For by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible . . . all things were created by Him and for Him: And He is before all things, and by Him all things consist” ~ Colossians 1:16-17
“All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made. In Him was life; and the life was the light of men” ~ John 1:3-4
“I am the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last” ~ Revelation 22:13
References:
The Earth Through Time, 9th edition by Harold Levin, 2010, pg 237-38
The Origin of Life: scientific evidence that demands a Creator God video by Mike Riddle. Answers in Genesis https://answersingenesis.org/store/product/origin-life/?sku=30-9-113
Posted on April 24, 2015
Finding Comfort in Creation
Have you been having a difficult day? Or one of those weeks where everything just seems to go wrong? Bad things happen in our sin-cursed world, ranging from small disappointments to major tragedies and everything in between. Tensions build, injustice happens, and time moves mercilessly forward. It doesn’t take long to realize that something is terribly wrong in our world – that thing is sin. When mankind originally chose to rebel against God, sin entered into the world and death by sin . . . and yet, for some reason we’re all given a second chance at eternal, joy-filled life. Because of our Creator’s great love for us, we are given hope.
When you are hurting and seeking hope and healing, where do you go to find it? There are many different people, places, or things you could turn to in troubling times, but my top resorts to turn to are the Bible, the created natural world, and music. The natural created beauty in the world all around us vividly illustrates the character of God revealed in the Bible. Just as Romans 1:20 puts it, “for the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made so that they are without excuse”.
A stunning sunset can remind us of the beautiful rest we can have in Christ. An awesome thunderstorm can remind us of God’s justice and mighty power. The vast, deep ocean or jungle, just waiting to be explored, can draw us to explore the vastness and depth of Who God is. Steady stars in the night sky can be beacons of God’s faithful, unchanging nature that reaches far beyond our grasp and is far bigger than we can comprehend. There’s a reason why the book of Job, the account of a man who suffered a lot of sudden loss, is one of the books of the Bible that talks about the natural created world the most. Yes, creation is full of brokenness, just like every one of us, but it can still be used to help us visualize more of Who God is and be filled with comfort and hope.
“Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not better than they . . . And why take thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: and yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall He not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?” ~ Matthew 6:26, 28-30
“Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labor of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls; yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The LORD God is my strength, and He will make my feet like hinds’ feet, and He wil make me to walk upon mine high places . . . “ Habakkuk 3:17-19
Posted on April 17, 2015
Evolution of Mammals & Musical Instruments (Or Maybe Not)
Did humans get here by the process of evolution over millions of years or were we supernaturally made in the image of God? Perhaps you wonder if both of these origins concepts could be true. However, with a plain reading of the first chapters of the Bible in Genesis, it becomes apparent that there are a bunch of major conflicts between the Biblical story of how people came into being and the stories using evolution and vast amounts of time that are commonly accepted today. Putting all other major issues to the side for a minute, let’s zoom in and take a look at just the idea of mammals evolving from reptiles, since this would be a very important step toward human evolution (if the evolutionary origin of man idea were true).
With the idea of reptile to mammal evolution, as in all other theoretical evolutionary transitions between kinds of animals, the paleontologist is always looking for fossils of transitional forms (missing links). They look for “mammal-like” characteristics in different reptile fossils, hoping to find a smooth transition of reptiles becoming more “mammal-like” over time. There are a number of interesting problems with this idea, two of which are 1) mosaic creatures, and 2) reversing characteristics.
Here’s an (imperfect) analogy that might help illustrate some of these problems: let’s theorize about the evolution of musical instruments. You could line up stringed instruments in an evolutionary progression. Starting with the harp, we progress to the more complex shape of a string base, gradually becoming a more graceful cello, progressing to a guitar, then advancing to a viola, and finally achieving the elegant and dominant status of a violin. We figure that the banjo, Ukulele, and electric guitar (definitely the result of a really strange mutation) must have all reasonably branched off from the guitar.***
It could really look like a rather convincing progression until we try to figure out where some other instruments fit. You can theorize yourself about where to put the steel guitar. The piano really throws us all off because it has characteristics of both stringed and percussion instruments. Even worse, the piano also has a few characteristics similar to the pipe organ, which we suppose must have originated from the completely different evolutionary branch of woodwind/brass instruments!
Just like the piano has characteristics similar to several other types of instruments, there are both living and fossil animals that have a mosaic of characteristics similar to several totally different kinds of animals. A squid eye has similarities to the remarkable human eye. In the words of Dr. Duane Gish, “does the possession by a creature of some characteristics which are possessed by a second class of creatures necessarily indicate that it is transitional between these two classes?”
Going back to our musical analogy, we notice that the harp lost a lot of strings when it progressed to a bass with just four strings but gained two more strings back to become a guitar a couple steps later. Then we went back to having four strings on the viola (our mosaic piano has 88 notes, using over 300 strings). This is similar to the reversing characteristics we sometimes see in the theoretical progression from reptiles to mammals. The “mammal-like” reptiles don’t fit into a clean, orderly progression because one creature may have a jaw that hints at being “mammal-like” but the next creature put in the progression has a jaw that is definitely reptile but teeth unlike the previous creature that hint at being “mammal-like”. In the words of John Woodmorappe, “it is sobering to realize that a given mammalian trait can appear, disappear, and then freely reappear anywhere throughout the entire evolutionary-constructed sequence of mammal-like reptiles”. In some sequences reversing characteristics are just as common as “progressive” characteristics, essentially canceling out any evolutionary progress.
There are many other reasons why mammal evolution can be shown as not being very reasonable or scientific, like how one bone in a reptile ear could somehow capture extra bones and include them into the three bones of our inner ear. How would transitional creatures be able to hear while these ear bones were evolving? In contrast to evolution, the Bible gives a clear account of where mammals (especially mankind) came from, reproducing in genetic variety within their created kinds. We are not animals, but spiritual humans intended to have a personal relationship with our Creator.
***No musical offence intended by the “evolutionary” order of instruments. The reader is perfectly free to theorize their own musical “evolutionary sequence”. The author apologizes if your favorite stringed instrument was not mentioned.
References:
Gish, Duane. Online article, “The Mammal-like Reptiles”. Evidencce for Creation. Institute for Creation Research. Accessed 4-16-2015. https://www.icr.org/article/184/
Woodmorappe, John. Online article, “Mammal-like reptiles: major trait reversals and discontinuities”. Creation Ministries International. Accessed 4-16-2015. http://creation.com/mammal-like-reptiles-major-trait-reversals-and-discontinuities
Posted on April 10, 2015
Trading your Dandelions
Have you been thinking about creation vs. evolution, age of the earth, and how science and the Bible work together? Maybe a lot of the scientific and Biblical evidence make sense to you, but you’re not quite sure if it’s worth the risk of taking on something controversial like this. Or maybe there’s some other decision or intimidating idea weighing on your mind and you aren’t quite sure if you’re ready to jump into the deep end just yet. Sometimes when we look up at the horizon of the path in front of us, it can look very daunting and dark. In times like that, it can be easy to let fear overwhelm and cripple us.
Yes, choosing to believe in a literal 7-day creation week just a few thousand years ago can be challenging, especially for students and scientifically involved people. You will be looked upon as a weirdo – I know that from my time in college (read about that experience here). But, throughout history, God seems to have a habit of calling His children to do things that seem strange, difficult, or don’t really make sense at the time. Knowing the truth isn’t about having an immediate, clear, concise answer for every question that comes up; rather, it’s about knowing the Person Who is the Way, Truth, and Life.
The simple peace of creation’s natural beauty is one of my favorite places to go to when I’m struggling with a decision or question of what is right or wrong in a given situation. Whether it’s looking up at starry night sky, kneeling to smell a flower, petting a kitten, or even holding a sleeping infant, the non-verbal language of God’s creation can help us understand things. Take for example the simple dandelion. What child doesn’t gather bouquets and blow puffy seeds off these weed-flowers? But dandelions aren’t a good thing to have in your garden. Sometimes we have to let the Creator rip up those dandelions in the gardens of our hearts to make room for the spectacular roses He’s planting. Getting roses over dandelions should be no real question – shouldn’t we be elated at such a prospect?!
Last weekend, I played songs on a church piano as my sister-in-law walked down the aisle to marry my brother. It was beautiful and made me think. When she said “yes” to marrying my brother, she was also saying “yes” to going very far away from the people and places she had grown up around. But, that fades in comparison to being with the person she loves most. Jesus is our Bridegroom, and sometimes He does ask us to leave our comfort zones to be closer to Him and delve into the miracles He’s doing in the world around us. If we are in love with our LORD and Redeemer let us rejoice and look forward with hope, rather than spend our time and energy weeping over the things we leave behind us. I’m not telling you what to do with your life or what decisions to make; merely to keep your focus on the only One Who can ever really be your True Love rather than on the issue at hand.
Posted on April 8, 2015
That Beautiful Storm Cloud Blue
When rolling white clouds grow dark,
And no one ventures to the park,
The sky is with its shade marked,
That beautiful storm cloud blue
In the calm before the storm,
When dark skies begin to form,
Comes that hue out of the norm,
That beautiful storm cloud blue
That color is hard to name,
Almost blue but not the same,
Yet with its greenish- gray fame,
That beautiful storm cloud blue
Following the heat of day,
Comes the cool wind on its way,
Only God can hold at bay,
That beautiful storm cloud blue
The soft and dewy smell,
Of far away rain that fell,
Of rain soon to come tell,
That beautiful storm cloud blue
A soft distant rumble sounds,
Coming in more frequent rounds,
Soon rain upon the roof pounds,
That beautiful storm cloud blue
Rain, lightning, thunder, hail;
Quite a show beneath its veil,
Such wonders in this great gale,
That beautiful storm cloud blue
The storm has dissipated,
Its visit long awaited,
Another storm’s anticipated,
That beautiful storm cloud blue
Poem copyright Sara J. Bruegel, 2011
