Creation Moments on Oneplace.com

How long does it take to petrify wood? Scientists who believe in those millions and billions of years that evolutionists are always talking about have never tested the answer to this question. They simply assumed that it must take hundreds or thousands of years to petrify wood. It wasn't until the 1970s that scientists bothered to explore this question.Bone, wood, and other once-living materials become petrified when silica replaces the original organic material. It has always been assumed that silica is not very active at temperatures below the boiling point of water. And for the same reason, silica rock formations were thought to take thousands of years to form.In the early 1970s, a paper was published showing that silica crystals could be grown in backyard conditions in only three years! This means that wood or bone can turn into stone within a few years. It also means that rock formations once thought to take thousands of years to form could have been formed in a relatively short time. All that’s needed are silica and water.Here is an example of how belief in evolution has retarded science. If no one had ever questioned the long ages claimed by evolution, we would still be ignorant about how silica works in nature around us. This research also helps uphold the Bible's claims that the Earth and life have only been around for thousands, not millions, of years. The truth of God's Word remains unchallenged!1 Corinthians 10:4“And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.”Prayer: Dear Lord Jesus Christ, I thank You that Your Word to us can be trusted. Man's word can mislead, for men are easily misled. Help me to apply Your Word to my life so that I may be led by You and not by human error. Amen.REF.: Chittick, Donald E. The Controversy. Multnomah Press. Image: Lizard perched on petrified tree, Envato. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1232/29?v=20251111

Today, it is considered scholarly to reject the Bible’s account of a worldwide flood. Some try to compromise by saying that the flood recorded in the Bible was only a local event. The problem with these scholarly claims is that there were too many witnesses who disagree with them.We can test these scholars’ claims. If the Bible’s account of a worldwide flood is true, it was witnessed by every person on earth. The story of this event would have been passed down to their descendants and spread across the whole face of the earth.Researchers have catalogued some 270 stories of an ancient, destructive flood in various cultures around the world. A large majority of these stories have been shown to predate any Christian influence. As one would expect, details differ after such a long time. What’s remarkable, though, is that where the details of these stories agree with the Bible, they also tend to agree with each other. For example, the ancient Greek flood hero was told to build and stock an ark because the god Zeus wished to destroy humanity. The Aztec story of a universal flood says it took place 1,716 years after the creation of the world—almost the same as the Bible’s date! The Babylonian flood story shares seven major details with the Bible’s account. Similar stories are found around the world, including Australia, India, Scandinavia, and China.The universality of the flood stories and their similarity to the Bible cannot be explained unless they are based on an event that actually took place.2 Peter 3:5-6“For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:”Prayer: Dear Father in heaven, I thank You that Your Word is sure and true and that it has been accurately preserved to our day. Help me to live Your Word in my life and tell others about the wonderful things You have done. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.REF.: Roth, Ariel A. Flood stories—can they be ignored? Origins, v. 17. Image: Manabozho in the flood, R. C. Armour, PD, via Wikimedia Commons. + British Museum Flood Tablet (from the Epic of Gilgamesh), Photograph by Mike Peel, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. + Manu and Saptarishi, PD, Wikimedia Commons. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1232/29?v=20251111

The world is a frightening place without God. This alarm can be seen today in fears that modern people often confuse with science.Years ago, stories of gloom and doom about a greenhouse heating of the earth were starting to fill the media. We at Creation Moments looked at the scientific basis for these claims. We wanted to know if the greenhouse warming of the earth was a true threat or just another fear of a godless people. We then published the conclusion that the thin and conflicting evidence for greenhouse warming most likely came from the heat island effect of growing cities around some of the temperature-measuring sites.Knowing the elegance with which God designed everything in creation, creationists suspected that God probably designed the earth with built-in thermostats that help keep it from warming up too much. When the Pacific Ocean warms more than normal, it sends increasing amounts of water vapor into the air. If heating continues, the water vapor will actually cause the heating to increase until vapor is forced higher into the atmosphere, creating icy cirrus clouds. These clouds reflect enough incoming sunlight to shut down the temperature increase and return things to normal.We are called to be good stewards of the earth. We can be good stewards in joyful service, freed from the fears that afflict those who don’t know God.Jeremiah 10:2“Thus saith the Lord, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them.”Prayer: Dear Father, it is very easy for us to pick up the fears of those around us who don’t know Your personal love and care. Forgive me when I, too, have shared the fears of the unbelieving world and strengthen my faith. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.REF.: Clouds keep ocean temperatures down. Science News, v. 139. Image: Stratocumulus clouds over pacific ocean, ISS Expedition 34 CrewImage Science & Analysis Laboratory, NASA Johnson Space Center, Derivative work including grading, lens profile correction and noise removal, Julian Herzog, PD, Wikimedia Commons. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1232/29?v=20251111

Many textbooks tell young people today that birds are modified reptiles. Suppose, they say, that millions of years ago the scales on some reptiles began to fray along the edges. In time, they say, the frayed scales turned into feathers and birds were born.The elegance and beauty of the feather make this story hard to believe. Can sticking a feather on a lizard produce a peacock? The bird’s feather is only a small part of the complete flying system of the bird. Even with very careful planning and redesigning, a reptile doesn’t have what it takes.A bird needs massive breast muscles for flight. In some birds, 30% of the body weight of the bird is breast muscle. By comparison, in humans, breast muscles are only about 1% of body weight. A bird also needs an extremely high metabolism and blood pressure to deliver the energy those muscles need for flight. Birds have a higher metabolism than any other creature; they also have the necessary high blood pressure. Finally, as is well known, birds need light skeletons. The man-o’-war has a wingspan of seven feet. But its entire skeleton weighs only a few ounces—less than its feathers!Even the most clever rebuilding of a reptile cannot produce a bird. In fact, birds have very little in common with reptiles. The entire being of the bird, from body to brain, has been specially designed for flight by a Creator who clearly knows everything there is to know about flight.Job 39:26“Doth the hawk fly by thy wisdom, and stretch her wings toward the south?”Prayer: Dear Father in heaven, the beauty, grace, and huge variety of birds You have created are some of the most beautiful creatures on earth. As I thank You for them, fill me with new wonder over the wonderful work of Your hands. Amen.REF.: Vandeman, George. The miracle of flight. Signs of the Times. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1232/29?v=20251111

Spider silk begins as a liquid protein made by silk glands on the spider’s abdomen. Spiders make many kinds of silk for different uses. As the liquid silk is forced through the spider’s spinnerets, it begins to dry. The spinnerets pull and stretch the silk, creating just the right kind of silk for the spider’s use. Though the result seems thin and weak to us, ounce for ounce, spider silk is stronger than steel.Web-building spiders make two types of silk for their traps. The basic structure of the web is made of strong, nonsticky silk. Then the spider adds a sticky, elastic silk to trap its prey. Some webs are irregular, others are flat and sheet-like, while still others are shaped like funnels. All of us have admired the beautiful orb web.However, spiders also have many other ways in which they use their silk. The ogre-faced spider makes a net that it throws around its intended victim. The European water spider builds its web underwater. It stores its air supply in the web. The lasso spider twirls a single strand of silk over its head. A tiny drop of sticky silk at the end of the lasso captures its prey when the lasso is thrown. Probably the most creative use of silk is by the young of some species. When they hatch, they produce long loops of silk that catch the wind and send them floating off to new places.The spider’s skill in producing and using silk had to come from Someone wiser and more clever than the spider. Clearly, the spider has been well-equipped and instructed by its Creator.Romans 11:33“O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!”Prayer: Father, I thank You for the intelligence and wisdom You have so freely given to Your creatures. Help me to treasure, most of all, Your wisdom in the work of Jesus Christ for my salvation so that my life, too, may glorify You. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.REF.: Pinkston, William S., Jr. BIOLOGY for Christian Schools. Greenville, SC: Bob Jones University Press. Image: 257-11 Pardosa spp ballooning, WanderingMogwai, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons + Ballooning spider, Cho M, Neubauer P, Fahrenson C, Rechenberg I (2018), CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikipedia Commons. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1232/29?v=20251111

How many different scents do you think your nose is able to smell? The answer is about 10,000. How does your nose tell the difference between a rose and a skunk? Until only recently, scientists really weren’t sure.Now we know that humans and mammals detect smells by using at least 1,000 different genes. These genes are located in every cell in your body, but they are active only in your nose. This discovery, say scientists, gives them their first insight into how smell works. Before this, said one scientist, “We had almost no knowledge of the olfactory system and this really opens up the molecular study of smell in a very fascinating way.”They say that each of the different genes seems designed to respond to a small group of odors. As each group of genes does its part, the entire system is able to recognize everything we can smell. These genes pass signals from the nerve cells in the nose to a small region of the brain called the olfactory bulb. Now that smell genes are identified, researchers say they can begin to understand how odors are detected and how the brain interprets those signals.Our sense of smell relies on a very elegant and sophisticated system. Imagine, 1,000 genes lie at the heart of that system. Each one of those genes is information—a programmed code that is designed to make sense of what we smell. Information, programming and decoding are all terms that assume that we have a highly intelligent Creator who designed our sense of smell!Genesis 27:27“And he came near, and kissed him: and he smelled the smell of his raiment, and blessed him, and said, See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which the Lord hath blessed:”Prayer: Dear Father in heaven, I thank You for my ability to detect scents. As scientists continue to learn how You have designed our sense of smell, cause them to recognize Your genius and so be drawn to the cross of Jesus Christ. Amen.REF.: Scientists find genes that let nose make scents of what it smells. Minneapolis Star-Tribune. Image: Head Olfactory Nerve Labeled, Patrick J. Lynch, medical illustrator, CC BY 2.5, Wikimedia Commons, background replaced. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1232/29?v=20251111

Mastodons were distant relatives of the elephant. Modern science says that one of the main parts of their diet was conifer needles. Supposedly, they died out at the end of the Ice Age because conifers became scarce as the world warmed.Now the discovery of the last meal of one mastodon calls this theory into question. Living bacteria have been found in a mastodon that died during the Ice Age. The bugs were found in the remains of a mastodon’s last meal, preserved with a skeleton that was discovered while preparing a golf course in Ohio. Scientists think the bacteria normally lived inside the mastodon, working as part of the mastodon’s digestive process.What scientists discovered about the mastodons’ diet could upset some theories about what drove them to extinction. The scientists said the four-ton mastodon had spent its last day eating a salad of swamp grass, moss, and leaves, a bit of seed, and a garnish of water lily. What was left of these plants, as well as the bacteria, were separated from a mass of reddish-brown matter found near the mastodon’s ribs and vertebrae.Scientists who believe in evolution claim that the animal died 11,000 years ago. But how sure can we be about that? After all, evolutionary scientists were wrong about the mastodon’s diet. As a result, their theories about why mastodons became extinct seem to be wrong. The facts that the bacteria were still alive and the stomach contents were not fully decayed tell us that this evolutionary date, too, is greatly exaggerated.Joshua 24:15“…but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”Prayer: Dear Lord, so many people prefer to reject Your Word and then do their own speculating about things You have clearly revealed to us. I ask that through Your Holy Spirit, You would help me not to speculate where Your Word has spoken so clearly. Amen.Image: Mastodon excavation, Burning Tree Golf Course, Ohio, James St. John, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1232/29?v=20251111