Updated on April 11, 2018
Where Do Fossil Ages Come From? – Creation Clues For Kids Vol. 2 No.1
Radioisotope Dating
Have you ever heard someone at a museum or on TV say something like this “ . . . this T-rex lived 65 million years ago . . .” and wonder how they come up with an age like that for something that we know from the Bible is positively not that old? Scientists get these dates through radioisotope (pronounced radio –iso-tope) dating, which can sound like a very frightening thing to study, and it very well can be if you study it in detail. However, we will not be going into too much detail about it here, so don’t worry.
What is a Radioisotope?
The word radioisotope is just short for radioactive isotope. Radioactive means very tiny bits of stuff that shoot out even smaller pieces very quickly, like a BB-gun shooting out little BB’s, just much faster and smaller. This is why radioactive things are sometimes dangerous. Isotopes are like a jar of jellybeans. There are many different colors but they are all jellybeans, not M&Ms or Skittles. Carbon-14 would be like red jellybeans and Carbon-12 would be like blue jellybeans. The name, Carbon, tells you what it is (jellybeans, M&Ms, or Skittles) and the number tells you what kind it is (red, yellow, or blue).
Case of the Jellybean Jar
Imagine that you have a jar of jellybeans mixed in with cereal and nuts. You can count how many jellybeans of each color you have in the jar, but that’s all you can know for sure about the jellybeans. You can guess how many were in the mix at first, but you can’t know for sure because you did not put them in the jar and have not been watching them all the time. Also, someone else might have eaten a bunch of red jellybeans before you got the jar, or someone who didn’t like the white ones might have put some extra in the jar. You may know how fast people are taking the jellybeans out now, but they may have been taking them out faster or slower before you got the jar. When a scientist uses radioisotopes to “date” a rock that he or she found, they have the same problems with knowing what happened in the past to the rock that we had about knowing what happened to the jellybeans in the jar before you got the jar.
Dated Dinosaurs
Carbon-14 dating is a special kind of radioisotope dating that can’t come up with ages more than about 50 or 60 thousand years because this kind of radioisotope runs out fairly quickly. A man named Hugh Miller and several other people sent several dinosaur fossils to well-known Carbon-14 labs. But, they didn’t tell the people at the labs that they were dinosaur bones until after they did the tests. They ended up getting “ages” of about 45 thousand years for all the dinosaur bones, which means that dinosaurs can’t be millions of years old.
Carbon-14 is made high in the air where harmful rays from the sun hit Nitrogen. Because the magnetic field, earth’s shield against these rays, was much stronger before the flood, Carbon-14 dating gives us older dates than 6,000 years
Fingerprints of the Flood
Granite is a freckled rock which is often used as kitchen countertops and in special buildings. The black specks in granite have marks of radioactive decay in rings, just like an onion. However, some of the rings are missing in some of these “onions”, which means that water from Noah’s flood moved the radioisotopes at the same time that they were shooting out particles. This means that granite can’t be millions of years old.
If you’re a girl with a birthday in December, your birthstone is zircon, which is in the middle of the rings in granite.
Balloons and Radioisotopes
Have you ever had helium balloons for a birthday party? They float to the ceiling at first, but after a few days they sink low and sit on the floor instead. This is because the helium inside the balloon is slipping out. Some radioisotopes shoot out helium which gets trapped in the rock and then starts sneaking out, just like it does in balloons. Some scientists measured how much helium was in granite, and they found out that it had way too much helium in it to be millions of years old.
The Rocks Cry Out
Jesus said that even if people are not willing to praise God the rocks will cry out His praises (Luke 19:40). Sadly, many people don’t praise God, our Creator and thank Him for His gifts. However, as you’ve seen, the rocks do cry out and remind us that the Bible is true.
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. Cartoon drawn by Eliza Haley. Special thanks to all of y’all who “kid tested” this issue.
“Why is there Helium in the rocks?” ~ Cora P. age 11
Cora, thank you for your question. In the section, “What is A Radioisotope?” we talked about radioactive things shooting out tiny pieces very quickly, like a BB-gun. If you imagine that the radioisotope in granite is a BB-gun, little bits of helium are the BB’s it shoots out. Strange as it sounds, the same stuff in a birthday balloon floating up to the ceiling can also get trapped in granite and make tiny rings like onions.
Originally Published January-March 2013. Digitally re-formatted November 2014. Copyright Sara J. Bruegel.
Print Friendly Version Here: CCK Vol.2 No.1
Posted on November 7, 2014
Isaiah Scrolls
I gently opened the elegant wooden door, internally bursting in anticipation, and stepped into the cool, quiet room. I reverently drew in my breath at the sight directly in front of me: a stunningly accurate replica of a tattered ancient scroll of the book of Isaiah rolled out beneath the glass of a graceful wooden display case. Last week, I enjoyed getting to see a Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit near my local area. One of the most interesting things they had there was a facsimile of the Great Isaiah Scroll containing all 66 chapters of the book of Isaiah.
There are at least 22 Isaiah manuscripts represented among the Dead Sea Scrolls (including a total of over 200 Biblical scrolls), but the Great Isaiah Scroll is the only complete manuscript of a Biblical text found in these caves. Although there are some differences, these Isaiah manuscripts help support the Masoretic Text from which we get our English Bibles. An especially interesting thing about comparing the Masoretic Text the Great Isaiah Scroll is that Hebrew language did not have written vowels until the Masoretes started adding vowel markings, called “neqqudot”, around the year 600 AD to preserve traditional pronunciation. Before this time, they had the consonants written out and the vowel sounds were just understood by a reader who would presumably already be fluent in the language. These “neqqudot” are little marks that look like a cross between Braille and Morse code placed below, above, or to the left of the Hebrew consonants so that the original words are not altered.
Finding the entire book of Isaiah is important not only because it confirms the reliability of the Scriptures, but also because the book of Isaiah prophesies extensively about the Messiah – Jesus. According to a presentation by Dr. Michael Martin of Lubbock Christian University, there are three main parallels among the books of Isaiah, Exodus, and Mark: subduing the sea, wilderness experience, and a mountaintop experience. In Exodus the subduing of the sea is the parting of the Red Sea, while in Mark Jesus calms the Sea of Galilee and drowns the enemy (the legion of demons in the swine), and in Isaiah 43:1-2, 16-18 we are reminded that the Lord will be with us when we pass through the waters. Similarly, in the wilderness God feeds the children of Israel with manna, Jesus feeds the five thousand, and Isaiah 49:9-12 speaks of God gathering and providing for His people. The mountaintop experiences are Moses on Sinai, the transfiguration of Jesus, and the mountain where the Lord holds a feast in Isaiah 25:6-8
As Christians, saved by grace, it can be easy and comfortable for us just to focus on reading and studying the New Testament and books like Psalms or Proverbs in our personal lives. But the whole Bible is the Word of God, and there is a great depth of richness that we can glean from even some of the more difficult to understand verses (yes, even the genealogies). Although we are not under the law or Old Testament sacrificial system, there is a lot beauty, depth, and even practicality to many of the things we read about in the Old Testament.
Reference:
Dr. Michael Martin in public academic presentation, The Gospel according to Isaiah: Mark’s Portrayal of Jesus as the Fulfillment of Isaiah’s New Exodus, given at Lubbock Christian University on October 25, 2014.
Basics of Biblical Hebrew, Second Edition, by Gary D. Pratico and Miles V. Van Pelt
Updated on April 11, 2018
World Wide Flood! – Creation Clues For Kids Vol.1 No. 3
World Wide Flood!
Rain poured down in ultra-heavy torrents, like no one had ever seen before and no one would ever see again. Every bit of land was covered in dark greenish-brown water with large chunks of wood, plants, and even rocks being churned around. The tallest mountain peaks around the entire globe were covered by this water. Underwater volcanoes heated the water to boiling so that it shot huge plumes of water high into the air, replenishing clouds with more moisture to rain down. Alone among the fierce winds and overwhelming waves, a strong ship containing the only breathing animals left in the world as well as eight faithful people.
No Cute little Ark
Frequently, Noah’s Ark is made out to be a cute, chubby, little boat with a little window on top where Noah sticks his head out smiling with a dove on his hand. He has a two smiling Giraffes (one with a pink bow and the other with a blue one around his neck), two happy lions, two zebras . . . you get the idea. However, in reality, Noah’s ark was more like a battle ship than a charming little boat. The ark was huge. There was more than enough room for all the animals he needed. It was constantly being violently tossed about – imagine how seasick Noah and his family must have been! It stunk, it was hard work caring for all those animals, it was loud (you have probably seen a dog get really upset about thunder, just imagine what it would be like confined with hundreds of animals!), and it lasted for about a year!
John Woodmorappe with the Institute for Creation Research did an in-depth study on the feasibility (strength and dependability) of Noah’s Ark in the mid 1990’s. As it turns out, the ark is just the perfect size for maximum strength, stability, comfort, and size.
Did Noah Take Dinosaurs on the Ark?
Since dinosaurs are land-dwelling air-breathing animals, Noah must have taken two of each kind of dinosaur on the ark. Many people say that Noah could not have fit dinosaurs on the ark because they were so big. However, because they were supposed to replenish the earth with their kind, Noah would have taken baby dinosaurs that would live longer than an adult dino. Besides, the average size of a dinosaur is only the size of a sheep. A few dinosaurs survived in the ark, but because the climate after the flood was so much harsher than before the flood, it was a lot harder for dinosaurs to survive. Humans also killed these savage beasts, as we know from the many legends of dragons (which are just dinosaurs by a different name) like the stories found in the Beowulf manuscript.
Most of the dinosaur fossils that paleontologists discover were killed by the flood and then buried in the rapidly moving underwater mudflows.
Local Flood?
Many people have wondered if maybe Noah’s flood was just a really big local flood, that did not really cover the entire earth. They say that although it killed every living thing, animals were all in the same place, so the flood only covered a small area, not the whole world. However, there are several problems with this. First of all, there would be no reason to build a boat when God could just tell Noah to move away for a while. Second, animals are designed to sense danger coming and evacuate the area. And third, it does not fit the description given in the Bible.
How Could One Flood Do So Much?
There is no such thing as calm flood, and Noah’s flood was certainly no exception. Just take a look at all the damage that a single hurricane like Hurricane Katrina of 2005 can do, and try to imagine how much more damage a much more intense global flood lasting about a year would cause. This flood completely reshaped the entire globe, building mountains, carving valleys, burying fossils, and even splitting whole continents apart. However, God has promised never to send a global flood again, and He gave us the rainbow as a reminder of His promise. The biggest problem with believing that the flood was only a local one is that there have been many local floods since Noah’s flood. God cannot lie and He never breaks His promises, so Noah’s flood must have been global. Next time you see a rainbow, remember that global 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. Cartoon drawn by Eliza Haley.
Most scientists date dinosaurs to millions of years ago. And from what little I know of the evidence, I would tend to agree with them. ~ Comment from Anonymous Blogger
Blogger friend, thank you for commenting on dinosaurs. Yes, dinosaurs are generally thought to be millions of years old, but truth is not determined by scientists voting. Mary Schweitzer (an evolutionist) discovered living blood cells and Hugh Miller (and others) discovered radioactive carbon in dinosaur fossils, neither of which can last for millions of years. God created dinosaurs about 6,000 years ago, just like the Bible says.
Originally Published October-December 2012. Updated 2014. Copyright Sara J. Bruegel.
Print Friendly Version Here: CCK Vol. 1 No. 3
Posted on October 31, 2014
Sacred Scrolls
One day in the winter of 1947, a shepherd in the desert near the Dead Sea threw a rock. Happens every day, right? Maybe, but God had a unique plan for this shepherd-thrown rock. This rock landed in a cave where it broke a piece of ancient pottery. Hearing the unexpected sound of breaking pottery, the shepherd and his friends went into the cave, discovering what is thought of as the most important discovery of 20th century archeology – the Dead Sea Scrolls.
This cave that the shepherds discovered was the first of eleven caves that have been found containing parts from more than 900 scrolls dating from a few centuries before to several decades after the time of Christ. Of those scrolls, over 200 are Old Testament books of the Bible. The finding of the Dead Sea scrolls helps confirm the accuracy and reliability of God’s Word because they are some of the oldest, most complete Old Testament manuscripts ever found. They show how well the Bible has been preserved, copied, and translated over time.
“The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the Word of our God shall stand for ever.” Isaiah 40:8
This past week I have enjoyed getting to see a temporary exhibit of the Dead Sea Scrolls in my area. The exhibit included several facsimiles (replicas) of scrolls and scroll fragments found in caves near the Dead Sea as well as a real fragment from the book of Amos. My favorite part of this exhibit was getting to see a facsimile of a scroll fragment of the first few verses of Genesis. Although it wasn’t the original document, it was really inspiring to see those verses that I defend written on a piece of a scroll that was nearby when Jesus, my Savior, gave His life for our ransom.
Updated on April 11, 2018
How Did God Create Everything? – Creation Clue for Kids Vol.1 No. 2
Did God Use Evolution to Create Everything?
The Bible says in the very first verse of the very first chapter that “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth”. Some Christians have thought that maybe God used evolution and millions of years to create everything in the universe, but as you will see in this issue of CCK, that is simply not true. The Bible not only tells us that God did create the universe, it also tells us how He created it and about how long ago He created it.
As Christians, we know that the universe was created about 6,000 years old based on genealogies found in the Bible. Genealogies are family history facts – who your parents are, and who their parents are . . .all the way back to Adam and Eve!
Drawn by Eliza Haley, 2012.
Order of Creation vs. Order of Evolution
Genesis 1 tells us all about the order of creation and that order does not line up at all with the order of evolution. God created the earth before other planets, moons, the stars, or even the sun. On the other hand, evolutionists say that stars and the sun came long before the earth. Genesis 1:2 says that the earth was covered in water originally, but evolutionists say that the earth started out as a fiery mass. God created birds before He created reptiles (lizards, snakes, and even dinosaurs!). Evolutionists say that birds evolved from reptiles. How could birds have evolved from reptiles if reptiles were not created yet? They couldn’t have! A person cannot logically believe in both the Bible and evolution.
Exploring!
Do you enjoy exploring your back yard or park? Or maybe you like finding rocks, feathers, flowers, bugs, or toads? There are all sorts of amazing things to see throughout God’s incredible creation! This may sound a little bit funny, but exploring the world around us is actually part of God’s first command to people, the dominion mandate. In Genesis 1:28 God commanded Adam and Eve to “have dominion” over the earth and every living thing. Because God created people in His image, more special than any animal or even the largest galaxy we should learn about and explore the world around us to take care of it and be in charge of it (but under God) just like He commanded.
All Things Good?
You have probably heard before that when God created the universe, He said that His creation was very good. But, in your exploring, you have probably seen a bird egg that fell from its nest, killing the baby bird inside, or possibly fossils (which are basically the remains of a once-living animal). How can the perfect, loving God that the Bible talks about call animals and people dying good? If so, how can we trust Him when He says that Heaven is good? The truth of the matter is that we live in a fallen, sinful world. God originally created everything good, but when Adam and Eve disobeyed God, everything changed.
Fallen, But Beautiful
As the warmth of the sun reaches the early morning grass, still wet with dew, water begins to evaporate and transpire. Since warm air rises, the air at the surface that has a lot of vapor in it rises high in the sky, until it cools down and the water vapor turns back into droplets of water, and condenses into clouds. As more warm and moist air goes up to the clouds, they grow into incredible, towering cumulonimbus (pronounced “Cume-you-low-nim-bus”) clouds. This is how a thunderstorm forms. Thunderstorms can be scary and dangerous, because we live in a fallen world, but they are also beautiful and magnificent, giving plants and animals the water they need to survive.
Evaporation & Transpiration: Evaporation is when water droplets turn into water vapor due to heating. The steam that forms above a pot of boiling water is an example of evaporation. Transpiration is the evaporation of what is basically plant sweat
Evolution & Death
Back to the original question: Did God use evolution to create the universe? I have already mentioned how the order of creation in Genesis does not line up with the order of evolution, but there is a much bigger reason why God could not have used evolution. Evolution requires suffering and death to weed out the “unfit” and allow the “fit” ones to survive. Death is bad, and God, who cannot lie, called His creation good before Adam and Eve sinned. That means that if God had used evolution Adam and Eve would have had to sin before any evolution could happen and yet they could not have sinned before any evolution could happen (which it never really could) because they would not have evolved yet! Do you see the problem here? God could not have used evolution to create the universe.
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. Cartoon drawn by Eliza Haley.How old is the earth? ~ Jonah P. age 9
Answer: Jonah, the earth is only a few days older than the rest of the universe, which is about 6,000 years old. This is one of the problems we have if we try to fit evolution into the Bible; we know from the genealogies in the Bible that the earth is only about 6,000 years old, but evolution tells us that the earth is 4.54 billion years old. Evolutionists say that the earth is that old because of the many layers of rock and incredible canyons we find. However, we know that under extreme conditions, these rocks and canyons form very quickly. Always remember that we should trust God rather than imperfect people!
Originally Published July-September 2012. Updated 2014. Copyright Sara J. Bruegel.Print Friendly Version Here: CCK Vol. 1 No. 2
Posted on October 24, 2014
Digging Up Bones, Part 2
“Ka-BOOM!” The dynamite exploded in the distance, not clearing the way for miners, but destroying large dinosaur fossils at a recently abandoned dig site. This damage wasn’t the scheme of some 1800’s fossil cynic, but the result of a bitter competition between the two most prolific pioneers of paleontology in North America – Othniel Marsh and Edward Cope. Both of these men were gifted paleontologists and their work has made a tremendous impact on science. Cope and Marsh should have been allies, working together to discover new dinosaurs, but instead they were rivals – even to the point of destroying their own dig sites so that the other would not get the fossils.
These two men did start out as friends, but things changed after Cope made a big mistake and Marsh underhandedly got fossils from one of Cope’s dig sites. Cope was a very prolific science writer, writing 1,400 articles in his relatively short lifetime, but he had the tendency to be a little too quick to write about his discoveries. When Cope was figuring out the anatomy of a new species of plesiosaur, which is a creature like “Leviathan” mentioned in the Bible, found in Kansas (in the same rock layers I was digging in earlier this year), he made the mistake of switching the position of the head and tail on the creature. Marsh was the first to point out Cope’s mistake, and was later confirmed by another scientist. Although Cope tried to fix his mistake – even trying to buy every published copy of his finding – his pride had been greatly wounded, and these two scientists would never be friends again.
That was just the beginning of a crazy dinosaur discovering race. Marsh sent out spies to check on Cope’s progress. Cope rushed to be the first to publish new dinosaur discoveries. They both slandered each other and had their own competitive connections. Marsh was aggressive and cold; Cope was bitter and prideful. Their rivalry escalated for years. They are a very good example of what scientists should not do. Their bitter bone war led to the destruction of good scientific information and their personal lives.
Their final efforts to destroy each other left them both without family or funding and with permanently ruined reputations. Because of a government funding scandal, many of Marsh’s fossils were even taken away. Cope died at the young age of 56, and Marsh at the age of 67, just a few years later.
I would like to think that, as Christians, creationists would not get into nasty disputes with each other like Marsh and Cope did, but being Christians doesn’t mean we aren’t sinful humans. It’s important to remember that we are all inclined to pride, selfishness, and bitterness like Marsh and Cope. We are all in desperate need of God’s mercy for our daily lives. Let us learn from these pioneers of paleontology and choose to live more humbly like our Lord and Savior Who took the punishment we rightfully deserve.
“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Hi the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of me: and being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” ~ Philippians 2:4-8
Fact references came from 2013 college class notes and textbook The Earth Through Time, 9th ed. by Harold Levin, as well as PBS documentary “Dinosaur Wars” http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/biography/dinosaur-rivalry/
Updated on April 11, 2018
Worldview Glasses – Creation Clues For Kids Vol. 1 No. 1
Worldview Glasses
Have you ever tried on a pair of glasses with red colored lenses? Or 3D glasses? They make everything look strange shapes and colors. Every scientist, and in fact, every single person in the world uses a kind of glasses to help them see and understand the world around them, only these glasses are inside our brains, so we can’t see them. These glasses are worldview glasses – they are the lenses that help us make sense of everything around us.
The problem is, just like the pair of glasses with red lenses and 3D glasses, our worldview glasses can sometimes make us see things the wrong way. If we do not have on the right pair of worldview glasses, we will believe lies and deceptions (things that seem to be true, but are not). Many scientists believe some lies, and even make up some, all because they do not have the right worldview glasses. If they did, God’s creation in the world around them would make much more sense.
Cartoon Drawn by Eliza Haley, 2012
Joey’s Glasses
Meet Joey. He’s ten years old, and is supposed to be wearing the glasses the eye doctor gave him to help see, but instead, Joey is wearing a pair of those glasses with the red lenses. After all, they are still glasses, right? Well, Joey’s friend Charlie wanted to show Joey his new room. “Charlie! Why are your walls pink, purple, and fuzzy?!” Joey asked his friend. “Joey, what are you thinking? My walls are blue and white, and they are not fuzzy”, replied Charlie. If only Joey had worn the right glasses!
The Right Kind of Glasses
You may be asking yourself by now what the right kind of worldview glasses are. What pair of glasses will help you make the most sense out of the world around you? Well, God has given us a very special pair of worldview glasses, if we are willing to put them on – the Bible. The Bible is our pair of glasses that we can see the world through, because it never changes, and is perfect because God is perfect. Because it is our pair of worldview glasses, we should never ever take what other people say over the Bible. God knows a lot more than any human, no matter how smart he or she is. What scientists and other people say changes all the time, but God’s Word never changes, so we can trust it to be our pair of worldview glasses.
Properly Placing Planets
Have you ever had a chance to look at the stars, planets, or moon through a telescope? Well, for a while, people thought that the sun and all the planets go in circles around the earth. But, the math of moving planets just didn’t work out that way. Instead, the math showed that all the planets, including earth, circle around the sun. The moon is really the only thing that circles around the earth. People make mistakes in science, but God can never make a mistake.
Caves and Worldviews
Have you ever visited a cave before, and seen the stalactites and stalagmites? Carlsbad Caverns is a huge network of caves in New Mexico. 90 years ago, there was a visitor’s sign that said that the cave was at least 260 million years old. But, just 26 years ago, after seeing that the stalactites and stalagmites formed much quicker than they thought, they took that sign down, replacing it with a sign saying that the cave was 7-10 million years old. For a little while, there was a sign that said the cave was 2 million years old, but now that sign is completely gone. You see, because they had on the wrong worldview glasses, they could not tell how old the cave actually was.
Stalactites and Stalagmites:
Stalactites are the pointy columns of rock that seem to hang down from the ceiling of a cave. Stalagmites are similar, but they point up and sit on the floor of the cave. You can remember “c” for ceiling and “g” for ground. They form because there are minerals in the water dripping in a cave.
Tornadoes and Windows
More recently, atmospheric research scientists used to think that if you opened up windows on different sides of the house, the air would flow through, and not tear up the house as badly if it was hit. However, after a lot of research and tests, scientists discovered that opening the windows of your house is actually more harmful than leaving them closed during a tornado, because the air will come inside the house and blow down the walls, collapsing the house.
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. Cartoon drawn by Eliza Haley.
Is this supposed to be about God? If it is, then what do tornados have to do with it?
~ Nathan B. age 9 ~
Answer: Nathan, yes, this is about God. Tornados, caves, and the shape of the earth have a lot to do with God because He created them. Although tornados can be very scary (for a good reason too!), they are amazingly intricate structures designed by God. Many people wonder why God, who is good and loving, would create things that hurt people. They wonder why God didn’t create everything good. But, He did, we just ruined it by disobeying Him! “And God saw everything He made, and behold, it was very good.” Genesis 1:31
Originally published April-June 2012. Updated 2014. Copyright Sara J. Bruegel.
Print Friendly Version Here: CCK Vol.1 No.1
Posted on October 20, 2014
* Changes Coming for Creation Clues! *
I am excited to announce that there are a few changes under way with Creation Clues! In August the Clue of the Week started being published on The Creation Club website as well as here on Creation Clues. The Creation Club is a network of young earth creationist writers created by David Rives Ministries . If you have enjoyed what you have read here on Creation Clues, you will probably enjoy many of the articles and videos on the Creation Club as well.
We are also working on making some changes to our Creation Clues for Kids page so that this resource will be more accessible and easier to read or print. The original goal for Creation Clues for Kids was (and still is!) to equip parents in the church with resources that will encourage kids to be well grounded in our faith. One of the main ways we do this is by providing print copies of CCK to local Christian schools and churches. Our hopes are that these new updates on the CCK page will make it easier for you to print for your own family, church, and/or, school. You are welcome to print or link to CCK, but all of these resources are copyright by Sara J. Bruegel so they may not be sold or altered in any way. Feel free to contact us if you have any questions.
Since there are now eleven issues of CCK, we will be re-releasing them one issue a week, every Wednesday, for the rest of the year starting this week. Creation Clues for Kids is also being re-published one issue per month on The Creation Club.
We also have a Facebook Page, so be sure to go like it! We will be sharing ministry updates, prayer requests, and words of encouragement.
I would like to extend a special thanks to those who have been an encouragement to me during this time of change with the Creation Clues Ministry: thank you especially to my family, several of the families in my church, one of our local private schools, David Rives Ministries, and The Creation Club. Most of all, I would like to thank my LORD and Savior Who has blessed me beyond measure! To Him be glory forever!
Updated on February 4, 2020
Digging Up Bones, Part 1
Sometimes life doesn’t quite go the way we planned it. But I sure am glad it doesn’t because I’m way too realistic to have ever planned some of the things I’ve ended up doing. Getting involved in paleontology was one of those things that I never would have thought of, but it just happened and I ended up enjoying it. Earlier this year I had the chance to go on a paleontological dig in Kansas (more on that here).
Being on a dig made me think about what it would have been like to discover some of the first dinosaur fossils in North America. Some days I felt like I had no idea what I was doing (and I had experienced people directing me); just imagine what it would be like to figure out fossil excavation completely on your own from scratch like many of the pioneers of paleontology had to do! Although there were several others involved, the two men who are considered the main pioneers of paleontology in North America during the 1800s are Othniel C. Marsh and Edwin D. Cope.
Marsh and Cope were both very gifted and passionate about discovering new dinosaurs. Othniel Marsh grew up on a farm in the New York countryside until his wealthy uncle sent Marsh to a boarding school and eventually to Yale University. Edwin Cope, who grew up in a wealthy Philadelphia Quaker family, was also a gifted scientist from a young age, publishing his first scientific article at the age of eighteen. Marsh and Cope met each other while researching in Germany and quickly became friends (even naming newly discovered dinosaurs species after each other), little knowing they would eventually become iconic bitter enemies.
While Marsh and Cope didn’t quite do things the right way, as you will see more of next week, their discoveries sparked a passion for paleontology in North America. Sadly, these men did not intend to use their discoveries for the glory of God (which is probably part of their problem). Charles Darwin actually wrote a letter to Marsh in 1880 saying that Marsh’s “work on these old birds on the many fossils of N. America has provided the best support to the theory of evolution”*. Now, over a century later, we know that fossils of dinosaurs and other creatures do not support evolution (all those “missing links” are still missing!), but provide an awe-inspiring reminder of the global flood mentioned in Genesis.
“And He answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these would hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.” ~ Luke 19:40
Read Digging Up Bones Part 2 Here
*Quote from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/primary-resources/dinosaur-letter/
Fact references came from 2013 college class notes and textbook The Earth Through Time, 9th ed. by Harold Levin, as well as PBS documentary “Dinosaur Wars” http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/biography/dinosaur-rivalry/
Posted on October 10, 2014
Burdened With Blessings
Did you grow up in a good Christian home? One where you go to church every week to sing praise songs and listen to a sermon, where you read your Bible (your preferred translation and format) in the comfort of your own bedroom, and you knew the answers to some of life’s biggest questions before you graduated from high school. If so, I’m sure you’ve heard over and over again that you are incredibly blessed.
Unfortunately, many young people resent having grown up in a “sheltered” home with “over-protective” parents and rebel by rejecting their parent’s faith. This is truly a tragedy, because these kids know better. They have been heavily blessed, but don’t really appreciate their blessings. On the other hand, many Christian young people do keep the faith of their parents, but keep it to themselves. Friend, we have been blessed that we might be used to bless others! We have been given the Light that we might share it with the dark world around us. It’s a huge and heavy responsibility (but one we don’t bear alone, for He is with us).
” . . . For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more” ~ Luke 12:48
I frequently hear my good Christian friends talk about Jesus’ second coming when they hear of another natural disaster or war. Yes, Heaven is our true Home and we want all the problems in the world to come to an end, but it’s important to remember that it’s by God’s grace that He hasn’t come yet. Once, I was having a series of conversations about spiritual things with a younger girl and she asked me, “why are we all still here?” I remember looking her straight in the eye and telling her, “because He wanted you.” The Lord Who created the universe loves you and me so much that He wanted to give us a chance.
“The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” ~ 2 Peter 3:9
He wants to give others a chance too, and He wants to use us as tools to reach them. You have been burdened with blessings – whether you grew up in a comfortable conservative home-school family or as a lonely orphan in a third-world country. God has given you the precious gift of time . . . and it’s ticking away! Maybe we should spend less time wondering if the second coming will happen in our life time (if you’re a Christian, you know where you’re ending up, regardless of when and how you go) and spend more time praying for and reaching out to those who still need another chance before the end comes.
