Posted on February 1, 2014
Deep Earthquakes, Part 2
Last week we started talking about the recent earthquake that occurred bellow the Sea of Okhotsk (950 miles north of Japan). What was incredibly striking about this earthquake was how deep it was. Usually earthquakes only go to a certain depth and then stop because of the tremendous pressure of the earth above it pushing down on the lower layers.
Remember that this earthquake is happening because an oceanic plate (the Pacific plate in this instance) is sinking below another plate. Of course, where you have oceans you have water that gets involved in whatever is going on and plate tectonics under the ocean is no exception. Water the most awesome substance I know of (water is actually the topic of the latest issue of CCK which will be released shortly, Lord willing). If magma inside of a volcano is exposed to water it can make the eruption much more explosive. This happens because water turns to steam at a relatively low temperature compared to other substances. Similarly, if water gets trapped in the sediments of an ocean plate as it is getting subducted under another plate, the water turns to steam because of both heat in the mantle and heat from the friction of the sinking plate. Try to picture this: a huge hunk of rock is being forced down below the surface while a surge of steam is trying to work its way up and out of the heat. This actually causes the plate to sink down faster.
This idea applies mostly to more shallow earthquakes, so scientists still don’t know exactly how earthquakes as deep as the one below the Sea of Okhotsk get that deep. Scientists think that maybe heat from the friction caused when a subduting plate slides under another plate makes some of the plate melt (it has to get pretty hot to melt rock -we are talking about hundreds of degrees F). Like the water, this would make the subduucting plate sink down faster, resulting in what we call “runaway subduction”. Dr. John Baumgardner and others have used the idea of runaway subduction as it would apply to the global flood of Genesis.
According to the journal “Science”, the already subducted part of the plate being relatively cold (as compared to surrounding mantle) could be the main reason why this earthquake was able to get so deep. With this idea of a “cold” subducted plate, the earthquake would act more like a shallow earthquake as we see. A “cold” plate also brings up an important point. Plates don’t stay “cold” for very long when surrounded by the hot mantle. If the plate had really begun subducting millions of years ago, we would expect the subducted plate’s temperature to be closer to the surrounding mantle’s temperature. This fits the Biblical model of a young earth much better. There will be more on this incredible earthquake next week before we talk about a more tropical subject.
Reference: Clarey, Tim. (2014, January). Runaway Subduction and Deep Catastropic Earthquakes. Acts & Facts 43(1), 18-19. Institute for Creation Research. Dallas, TX.
Posted on January 25, 2014
Deep Earthquakes, Part 1
For the past couple of weeks we have been talking about some of the basics of plate tectonics and how this theory relates to the world wide flood mentioned in the Bible. One of the most important concepts in plate tectonics is subduction – where one “plate” of earth’s surface rock sinks below another plate. We are talking about enormous chunks of rock here. Which, of course made me (and perhaps you too) wonder what kind of forces would drive such a breath-taking, huge system of sinking rocks and how it all got started.
In my first geology course, I learned that there are three main forces that drive plate tectonics –slab pull, ridge push, and convection. If the engine of a train goes over a cliff, the weight of the engine will end up pulling the other cars and eventually the caboose over the cliff with it. The same kind of physics applies for slab pull, the strongest force driving plate tectonics – the edge of the plate has already been subducted, so its weight helps pull the rest of the plate down with it. Ridge push is the force of plate #1 riding over plate #2, pushing it down. Convection is the heat that moves the asthenosphere, like a boiling pot of water, underneath the plates working almost like a conveyer belt.
Recently, a very intense and interesting earth quake happened about 950 miles north of Japan below the Sea of Okhotsk. This is an area where the Pacific Ocean plate is getting subducted under another plate. This earthquake was an 8.3 on the Richter scale (a measure of how intense an earthquake was, the highest possible is 10.0), but this wasn’t the only thing that made it interesting to scientists who study earthquakes and plate tectonics.
This earthquake is being called the deepest earthquake ever recorded. It’s power shook what scientists call the “mantel transition zone” (between 250 and 450 miles below earth’s surface), which normally does not get shook up by earthquakes because of the intense pressure of all the rock on top of it. This earthquake also moved very fast, at a speed of nearly 10,000 miles per hour. Next week we will discuss this earthquake more and how it relates to the global flood.
Reference for specific information on earthquake: Clarey, Tim. (2014, January). Runaway Subduction and Deep Catastropic Earthquakes. Acts & Facts 43(1), 18-19. Institute for Creation Research. Dallas, TX.
Posted on January 17, 2014
Moving Plates, Part 2
Last week we talked a little bit about plate tectonics and the global flood. Today I want to talk a little bit more about this topic so that next week we can get into some more specific evidence for the catastrophic global flood. Remember how I mentioned that earth is broken up into plates of “lithosphere” and that dense ocean plates sink under the less dense continental plates? Well, for the rest of our time talking about plate tectonics we will pretty much just be talking about ocean plates.
People didn’t really know much about what the ocean floor looked like before submarines became important in war (honestly, we still have a lot of underwater exploring to do with all of the incredible creatures and the vastness of the ocean). Scientists used sonar attached to ships to measure how deep the ocean floor was at different places. When a complete map of the ocean floor could be made, the results were surprising. Instead of finding that the ocean got deeper toward the center, like a bathtub, they discovered underwater mountain chains and trenches.
The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is an underwater mountain chain that runs through the middle of the Atlantic Ocean almost from pole to pole. The reason why we have the Mid-Atlantic Ridge is because two sections of ocean plate are moving away from each other and towards the continents on either side where the plates are getting subducted. It’s like the continental plates are sucking in the ocean plates. When the two sections of ocean plates get pulled away from each other this leaves a gap between them. Hot magma from the mantle comes to the rescue, filling up that gap and cooling to form new additions to the ocean plates.
Because the newly cooled magma is still warmer than the rest of the ocean plate, it sticks up further than the rest of the ocean plate (which has had a little more time to cool), creating a mountain chain underwater. This is an important idea for the flood. What if plates were moving faster, being subducted faster (a concept called “Runaway Subduction” – more on that later), and consequently adding on new, relatively hot ocean plate faster during the catastrophic flood?
Think about it a little bit: new and relatively hot ocean plate rises up higher than cold ocean plate. During the flood this process would be happening rapidly, which would mean that you might get a higher and wider mid-ocean ridge, causing the ocean to become shallower and displace water onto the continents. There is enough water in the oceans to cover the entire earth two miles deep, if mountains and oceans were completely leveled. Also, such extreme plate tectonic activity would also create a lot of underwater volcanos, like the “fountains of the great deep” that we read about in the Biblical flood account.
This is just a theory, and not all creationists agree with it entirely. Creationists are scientists so you can’t expect them to completely agree on things like this. In the next few weeks we will talk about another ocean plate – the Pacific plate, and several evidences in support of this idea. I hope you are enjoying this series. If I am going over your head, please ask questions for clarification.
Posted on January 10, 2014
Moving Earth, Part 1
Earthquake. The word alone can make people tremble. Today I want to tell you a little about earthquakes, what causes them, and what they have to do with the Bible. I’ve been reading some very interesting articles recently, packed with finds I would love to share with you. However, before I can explain those things, you are going to need some basic background information, which is why we are talking about earthquakes today. If you already know some of these things, just bear with me; you might never have thought of them in this way.The main scientific theory for what causes earthquakes, as well as many other geologic phenomena, is called plate tectonics. In my first college geology class, I was taught that there are three main ideas in geology: deep time (belief that earth is billions of years old), evolution, and plate tectonics. I do not accept the first two of these because they are based on a worldview with wrong assumptions that bring people to the wrong conclusions. Plate tectonics, however, is an observable theory with plenty of good evidence in support of it. Let me explain how it works.
Earth is made up of rock layers. There are two main layers, called the lithosphere (outer layer) and asthenosphere (inner layer). The lithosphere is broken up into sections along earth’s surface, called plates. These plates of lithosphere move around on top of the softer asthenosphere. When plates slam into each other, causing earthquakes, the denser ocean plates get subducted under the less dense continental plates, causing the plate to start sinking into the asthenosphere.
It is easy to misunderstand plate tectonics and think that earth’s crust is made up of plates floating on top of something like magma. While the lithosphere does include earth’s crust, it also includes the upper part of earth’s mantle and the asthenosphere is made up of both the lower mantle and core of earth. Also, the asthenosphere is softer than the lithosphere, mostly due to the extreme heat and pressure in the asthenosphere, but it is still rock, just a little softer than the layer on top of it.
In the next several weeks, we will be talking about catastrophic plate tectonics. This week I hope you are starting to get a picture of what plate tectonics really is about, and how the world wide flood, mentioned in the Bible, would completely re-shape our world forever. I’m sure that you have heard about the kind of destruction that earthquakes and tsunamis do today. Compared to what happened in the flood with plate tectonics, the kind of movement and destruction we see today is small. We will be talking about what was probably the driving physical force for the most catastrophic event in earth history.
Posted on January 4, 2014
Memories
Did you make any resolutions or goals for the new year of 2014? I actually did not think about making new goals this new year, but I made several last year. One of my goals for 2013 was to make a “journal quilt”, creating one eight inch square block for every week of the year. This idea didn’t go quite as smoothly as my goal of reading the whole Bible in 2013, but it will get finished eventually, Lord willing. I have had to change up my original idea a little bit, including the dimensions of the final quilt (fifty-two quilt blocks is not an ideal number for a rectangle). I’ve enjoyed seeing the vast array of colors, patterns, and embellishments that are in the finished quilt blocks. Each one reminds me of something I did or felt in 2013, bringing back floods of beautiful memories.
Our memories are gifts from God. We smile, laugh, roll our eyes, shake our heads, blush, frown, and cry over those memories. They are really the stories of our lives and relationships with God – things from which we can learn much. We all have some bad memories and things we wish we could simply forget ever happened. However, it is often the most painful memories that are also the most valuable. When one person is hurt by another, remembering is part of the healing process, the road to forgiveness and hope for the future.
Forgiveness really is not possible until you are willing to open up those awful memories and acknowledge that yes, they really did happen and hurt. You have to choose forgiveness – choose to let go of all the bad things that happened, let God heal your heart, and move on, regardless of whether or not the person who offended asks for forgiveness. The person that bitterness really hurts the most is the person who is bitter. It’s only when you chose to forgive that you can truly enjoy and have hope for the future in this life. I know that I am looking forward to all the exciting new things of 2014.
Posted on December 27, 2013
Julie Cave Mystery Trilogy
Do you like mystery, excitement, and intrigue? I do. When I first found Julie Cave’s mystery trilogy I was pretty excited at the prospect of reading some good fiction, bogged down with textbook assignments and informative magazines and books as I am. Like many other adventure readers out there, I tend toward the sin of reading gluttony, reading an entire book in a day or two just to realize that I’m out of good reading material again. When I bought this mystery trilogy (on sale), I determined to make myself enjoy each book and take my time reading and I’m proud to say that I took over six months to read the entire trilogy.
The first book in this trilogy is Deadly Disclosures. In this book, I was introduced to the main character, Dinah Harris, who is an FBI agent trying to figure out the scandalous mystery behind the disappearance of the secretary of the Smithsonian. In spite of her strong and intelligent character, Dinah struggles with guilt, loss, and an addiction to alcohol in her personal life, which soon causes trouble in her work as an FBI agent. Dinah also makes a dangerous archenemy that follows her through the remainder of the trilogy. The book is not merely a story, rather, it also gives the reader personal experience in the importance of the Biblical age of the earth.
The second book I read is The Shadowed Mind. Dinah tries to track down a serial killer who is motivated by the eugenics movement which is strongly rooted in his evolutionary worldview. Meanwhile, the heart filled story of a family struggling with the ideas behind eugenics plays out and eventually weaves its way into Dinah’s case. In their personal lives, the characters struggle with forgiveness, healing, and moving on.
The final book of the trilogy, Pieces of Light, was probably my favorite of the three. In this book, Dinah is called upon to track down a bomber who is targeting churches, constantly asking “why?” throughout the mystery. A family struggling with the aftermath of domestic violence and the issue of hypocrisy in the church also end up working their way into the mystery. In the end, Dinah puts herself in a high risk situation as she confronts the bomber and offers hope. One minor thing that slightly offended me in the previous books was that the author remarkably described most of the bad guys as possessing blue eyes (yes, I’m a little bit biased because I also possess this trait), but Pieces of Light gave me a good guy with blue eyes, so I will not let the previous descriptions offend me.
Over all, I thought it was an excellent series, but it is more descriptive of violence and other crime scenes than I am usually comfortable with. Julie Cave writes beautifully, helping the reader feel as if he or she were actually there and her character depictions are very detailed and easy to invision. However, it is this same descriptive and beautiful writing ability that makes some of the scenes a little too real – real and very much like our world today. I do not recommend these books for family read-aloud or even pre-teens, though they do send vital messages.
Posted on December 20, 2013
Christmas – Forgiveness and Hope
Christmas. It’s a time of joy, love, and family. It’s a time to remember the amazing things God has done for us in coming to us in the form of a man. Sometimes it’s easy to get “wrapped up” with all of the gifts, parties, and people and forget about the serious – even painful – parts of Christmas. Yes, Christmas is about love, joy, and family, but it is primarily about Jesus and there is a lot more to Jesus than simply the things that make us smile.
Jesus is God. Just think about that for a few minutes. Who was this Baby born in a barn? God. Yes, the same Person Who created everything – the stars above, the hay He slept on, and the people who rocked Him to sleep. This is an incredible concept; it is wonderful to think that the God Who created the universe cared enough to become one of us and live among us. Not only live among us with our selfish, sinful ways, but to walk through it all with no sin for Himself and to take our well-deserved punishment for those things. The mere mention of Jesus should fill us with awe.
We should be glad that Jesus to came to take our punishment for sin, but in order to be truly grateful for what He has done, it is important to look at the hard side of this marvelous grace. God humbled Himself from being King of Kings to a peasant baby born in a barn. How can you and I choose to humble ourselves, both during Christmas and the rest of the year? Jesus gave His life to pay the price to justly forgive you and me. Have we fully accepted His complete forgiveness, or are we still depending on our own merit or strength? Just as Jesus has forgiven us, so we should forgive those around us (Ephesians 4:32). Who can you show this forgiveness and grace to today?
It is through God’s gracious gift of Jesus’ blood that we can have not only forgiveness, but also hope. Because we are forgiven, if we accept this gift of salvation, we have the hope of eternal life instead of eternal punishment. God offers hope for our lives here on earth as well as eternity, as it says in Romans 8:28, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to His purpose.” Recently I have thought quite a bit about why I’m involved in creation ministry. At times I think it would have been easier to be an atmospheric scientist (i.e., a non-TV meteorologist) who doesn’t believe in man-made global warming than a creationist who is simply trying to work with other creationists. Life will not be easy, but He promises to walk beside us all the way, “. . . and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world . . .” (Matthew 28:20)
Posted on December 16, 2013
The Gift of Time
Last week I had finals for the fall college semester. It’s always hard for me to adjust to life after finals – I realize just how much extra time I seem to have when I don’t have to drive back and forth to the college, sit in classes, or study. Since I think I have so much extra time on my hands, I start agreeing to go places and do things. Historically, I’m more likely to go along with some crazy plan right after finals than at any other time of the year. Crazy plans like working an out-of-town conference, spontaneously going to California for a week, or going out to a theater until 2:00 am to watch a new movie that I don’t even particularly like with one of my best friends. Before I know it, my once-luxurious sounding break gets so full that I’m actually glad to get back into class.
Time is one of the most precious gifts that God gives us. Every breath that I take is only by the grace of God. Really and honestly, I don’t deserve to be alive today – I most certainly don’t deserve to live such an incredibly blessed life either. My time really isn’t mine, rather, God has given each of us time to use for His glory and we will all some day be held accountable for how we used “our” time.
One of the things that people try to bring up against the Bible is millions of years worth of time that they think things like distant starlight “proves”. However, a big mistake that many people make when they bring up the question of distant starlight is that they misunderstand the physics of time. Time does not travel at the same rate everywhere in the universe. In fact, time (just like everything else in our universe) was created by God. An atheist once asked me, “who created God?”, so I tried to explain to him that God does not have a beginning or an end – He is not bound by time because He created time!
Several years ago, I used to wonder why God leaves Christians here on earth for so long. Life sometimes gets rough down here. He hasn’t forgotten His promise to come for us, has He? Would He let us suffer on earth without a good reason? No, God gives us each moment we live on earth for a reason, whether or not we understand it at the time (or ever). Life is too short and fragile to waste, so we must use our time wisely. At the same time (no pun intended), life is too long to take too seriously and go through without enjoying the little things. God has a sense of humor, as I know from all of the funny things He does in my life. He wants us both to use our time for His glory and enjoy it!
This is a song that I’ve enjoyed about life and time. I hope you enjoy it too!
Posted on December 6, 2013
A Beautiful Poem
This is a beautiful poem that a dear friend of mine wrote. She gave me permission to put it on my blog, but asked to remain anonymous. It is a poem about the heart of woman. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
Ever since your childhood
You’ve dreamed of your wedding day.
You would find your one true love,
And he’d steal your heart away.
———————
You’d look just like a fairy princess,
Like the one in your story book,
And you’d be happy, oh so happy,
Beaming each step you took.
———————
Down the aisle, toward your love,
All you’d see was his face,
He would take your hand in his,
And then your heart would race.
———————
You’d promise him your whole heart,
Your love, your strength, your life,
Because you’d wish for nothing more,
Than just to be his wife.
———————
Oh these are the dreams of childhood
Written on every girl’s heart,
We want to be beautiful, loved, and cherished
We want to play our part.
———————
But as you grew you began to lose
The hope of the dream come true,
No longer did you feel beautiful
And the pain within you grew
———————
You believed the lies that were told to you:
“Beauty is shiny hair
And tall, slim bodies, flawless skin,
And in the clothes you wear”
———————
But then one day you heard a voice
Call your name, soft and clear.
It was the voice of your loving God
Whispering in your ear.
———————
He said, “My beloved, lovely daughter
You are beautiful to Me,
My love for you does not depend
On anything man can see.”
———————
And then you knew that it was true
You are lovely in His eyes
You are desired, His spotless bride,
His most precious, valued prize.
———————
Oh the joy of being loved
Not for what you do,
Or how you look or what you say,
But just for being you.
Posted on December 4, 2013
Thank YOU!
Over Thanksgiving this year I was, of course, thinking about some of the things I am most grateful for this year. I decided to share a few of my blessings here on my blog this year because it has a lot to do with my creation ministry outreach. In short, I am most thankful for the grace of God and the support of others, but part of being truly grateful is being specific. Let me expound upon my blessings.
This past year I have done a lot, including traveling in eleven different states, river rafting in the Grand Canyon, taking college classes & CLEP tests, and visiting the Answers in Genesis Creation Museum in Kentucky. I loved the experiences and am truly grateful for the lessons I have learned through them. I am especially grateful for the Grand Canyon adventure – it was an incredible experience.
I want to thank all of you who are reading this for your support and encouragement this year. I couldn’t do this without y’all. My distributers of Creation Clues for Kids and those who attended (or helped with) the summer kid’s workshops at Mt. Blanco have been a source of joy. I have also enjoyed getting to interact with other creationists/Christians both in the blog world and the “real world”. Most of all, I want to thank my family for their crucial support of my outreaches and tolerating me when I get overwhelmed and difficult to be around.
One thing that has really struck me this year is the incredible grace of God. I sometimes wonder what would have happened if I hadn’t grown up in a Christian family where we did things like read Dr. Gary Parker’s children’s books that talked about creation science. When I see angry atheists I can’t help but wonder if I would have been like them. It’s only by the grace of God that I am not like them. I am deeply grateful for all those who have gone before me to let me know the truth at a very young age. God has given me (and you too!) many amazing gifts. One of the best ways to show gratitude for these gifts is to use them. How has God blessed you, and how will you use those blessing to glorify His Holy Name?
