The Amazing Power of God

The amazing power of God is shown through Esther's life. I was reading about her the other day, and I am just so amazed at how God had everything planned and everything happened like he wanted it to, even when it looked like Satan was going to prevail. (Of course God defeats Satan.)  Esther is one of my favorite books in the whole Bible. No where do we see God's name mentioned anywhere, but we see his handiwork throughout. I wanted to write about my favorite chapter in the whole book of Esther. Here's just a little overview of what has happened so far in chapters 1-5. King Ahasuerus had a feast and commanded that Vashti come to his banquet so he can show her to the people present. When she refused, he banisheed her. Esther was chosen queen soon after. Mordecai told Esther of a plot to take the king's life, and she told the king, who had the conspirators hanged.  Haman rose to power and the king commanded everyone to bow to Haman when he passed. But Mordecai wouldn't bow to Haman, and of course, that ruined Haman's day. Haman went in before the king and told him about a people that didn't keep the king's laws; he asked that a law be made and signed with the king's ring: that the Jews would be killed on a certain day.
Mordecai asked Esther for help and she went in before the king, even though he didn't call her. King Ahasuerus and Haman went to a banquet Esther had prepared and he desired her to tell him what she really wanted. Esther asked that both of them would come back tomorrow night and she would tell the king what her desires were.
This is my favorite part:  Haman went away happy, but his happiness turned to anger when he saw Mordecai not making any move to bow to him. His wife and friends advised him to make a gallows and then go in before the king to ask that Mordecai might be hanged.
 God's perfect timing is shown in chapter 6:1. "On that night could not the king sleep, and he commanded to bring the book of records of the chronicles; and they were read before the king. " Notice the phrase "on that night could not the king sleep..."  It wasn't the night before, and it wasn't the next night. It was that night and that was the night the king could not sleep.  I think God kept him awake so his plan would be played out. At first, Esther didn't understand why she was chosen queen. But when she was needed to save her people, she knew why God had placed her there.
So the chronicles are read to the king, and it's found out that Mordecai had not been rewarded for saving the king's life.  It's kind of funny, because Haman was in the court waiting to talk to the king about hanging Mordecai, and the king was wanting to honor Mordecai for his brave act. I would have loved to see Haman's face when the king told him to lead Mordecai through the street and say, "Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delighteth to honor." His expression was probably a mixture of shock, anger, disbelief, and "you got to be kidding me."
Then the downfall of Haman ( and Satan) comes. King Ahasuerus and Haman join Esther at another banquet and Esther reveals that Haman is trying to destroy her and her people.
You know, if Esther had not listened to Mordecai, and told the king that she was a Jew, God's perfect plan would not have worked out. And she might not have been chosen queen.
Just as Esther was a willing vessel, ready to be used by the Master, so we should be too. She wasn't sure what God was going to do with her life, but she was willing to be used. If you're willing to be used by the Creator, he will mold and shape your life and do amazing things with it- things you wouldn't have ever imagined!!!!  Be ready and wanting to be used by God day by day.
Isaiah 64:8  But now, O Lord, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all 
are the work of thine hand. 

Luring With Light

2 Corinthians 11:14-15

“And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.”

 

 

 

 

The spider’s web is more than simply a sticky net that catches insects. Scientists have recently learned that the spider’s web is also a clever lure that uses ultraviolet light.

Unlike humans, most insects can see ultraviolet light. They use this ability to locate the sun when it is behind clouds as well as to locate certain flowers that offer rich ultraviolet hues. Spider silk is able to reflect ultraviolet light. This is especially true of silks used for web-making, as opposed to silks created by the spider for lining burrows or protecting eggs. The garden spider even weaves decorations into its web that increases ultraviolet reflection. In fact, webs that have extra decorations increase ultraviolet light reflection and increase the garden spider’s catch by 58 percent. Scientists also think that extra reflective decorations in the web serve as a warning to birds that can also see ultraviolet light and are not welcome in spider’s webs!

Just as the spider’s web is as much a lure as it is a trap, the devil too, uses lures to catch us in his traps. He lures us to them with things that will catch our attention. The knowledge of how he works is given in the Bible. God gave us His Son that He may teach us how to effectively spot, avoid and escape the devil’s traps.

 

www.creationmoments.com

 

The Hunting Wasp

Creation Corner.
Today's Creation Moment: The Hunting Wasp

Job 21:22

“Shall any teach God knowledge? seeing he judgeth those that are high?”

 

 

What if your refrigerator stopped working . . . in August? It would be a real mess! Without refrigeration, we would have to get fresh food almost every day. While the hunting wasp doesn’t build refrigerators, it has solved this problem.

It is during the hottest months of the year that the hunting wasp is most active. However, the hot summer months are not the best time to store food that could spoil, especially in the nursery! Hunting wasps eat a very specific species of caterpillar – and caterpillars spoil easily.

When it’s ready to lay its eggs, the hunting wasp will capture a caterpillar and, instead of killing it with one sting, will carefully paralyze each of the caterpillar’s 13 segments one at a time. It then carefully bites the base of the caterpillar’s brain, not to kill it but just to keep it permanently disabled. Then it lays one egg on the caterpillar. As its young grow, the wasp continues to provide specially prepared caterpillars – just enough to keep the young fed and not so many that there will be any spoiled food in the nest.

The hunting wasp’s system seems to be based on far more knowledge than a wasp would be expected to discover all by itself – especially since the cost of failure is the death of the next generation. This certainly looks more like the work of an intelligent, personal Creator than the work of mindless chance!

www.creationmoments.com
 

God bless ya'll and have a great day!!

Walking with the King,
Ashley

Happy Memorial Day

Isaiah 55:8

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.”

 

When we discover the unexpected in the creation, we are reminded that reality is much bigger than our small thoughts. That’s a hint! God Himself says in the Bible, “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways” (Isaiah 55:8).

This means that when we study our world, we must keep in mind that nothing forced God to make things a certain way. He was completely free. While God made an orderly creation, His logic and His creativity are far above ours. Those who believe in a Creator learn to expect delightful surprises in God’s world. For those who want to say that the world is a result of mindless natural forces, many of these surprises leave them with little idea of how to explain them according to their system.

One of these surprises is found in the strange relationship between the pagurid crab and the sea anemone. The pagurid crab lives in a shell that is really too small to hold it. So the anemone molds itself to cover the crab and attaches himself to the crab. This gives the crab plenty of freedom or movement because part of his living “shell” is pliable. However, the anemone takes advantage of his position by stealing much of the crab’s food. But if the crab is removed from this species of anemone, the anemone will die.

This strange relationship is vital to both these creatures - so far apart on the evolutionary scale. This relationship makes no sense at all unless there is a Creator!

  

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY!!!!         

Thank you to all those who served our country. God bless you.                                 

 

Saved by Grace,
Ashley

 

www.creationmoments.com

Wet N Wild // Homeschool Convention

Hey Everyone!!!!  You may be wondering why there hasn't been a post since Wednesday. That's because we went on a mini vacation!!! The surprise ( that was supposed to be for Lauren's birthday, ) was Wet n Wild!! We left Thursday morning, and got in the park around 10:30 to 11. We were really excited on the way there, but even more so when we got to the park. :)


This is the " welcome entrance", I guess you could call it. The main one where we got our tickets was farther down the sidewalk. We had to park in a parking lot across the street and walk. ( It wasn't that far, just in case you were wondering. )
At Wet n Wild, they have some wild rides that you can get really wet on. :)







The first water ride we went in was the wave pool. (It's not really a ride, but since the waves come and you ride them...I guess it's a mini ride. ) The waves come on for probably 10 or 15 minutes, then they go off. And you have to wait 10 or 15 minutes for them to come back on.




 

This is a picture I took from the parking lot. We went on this tube ride called "The Black Hole. Four people can fit in 1 tube. You go down and it has a couple of drops in it. It's very dark, too.  Then all of a sudden, you fell some heat. When you get to this point, it's like a funnel. You go around until you drop into the little hole. Sometimes, I would go down backwards, and that was very scary. We didn't go around the funnel many times because strong waters were pushing us toward the hole. At the beginning, where the lifeguard would push your tube down, someone would go down backwards, and it felt like you were dropping from a high point. That is the scariest part. Lauren is such a fun person to go with on a scary ride. She went down backwards one time and she just screams so loud. :) It's really fun though. This Black Hole Ride was our favorite ride.
So then when you go through the whole, you get pushed out into the small pool where you exit the tube and get out.  Another ride like this one, but all open, was very scary. When you first start out, there's a gigantic drop!!! I mean, it's a really big one. Then you go up on the sides and it feels like you're going to tip over. And you get water sprayed in your face. This one ride sprayed water at you and in your face a lot.
Then there's a racing ride. It's like the ride that you lay on a mat and slide down and see who gets to the bottom first. It's like that but with water pushing you. I went down the middle slide 2 times and I think it goes the fastest. I really liked that ride too.

 This is another picture I took from the parking lot of a tube ride.

 

 Daddy and Sarah went down this ride where you lay on your back with your hands crossed over your chest. It drops you straight down and you slide into the water at the end. It was really scary. I have been on one of those before, but not quite that high. It feels like you're dropping out of the sky. Right next to that was one just like it, but where you stand on this square, and the bottom opens up and you drop down. ( It's like this: you're standing up and the floor opens up. ) That is the most scariest ride there, I think. Nobody went on that ride.  After the waterpark closed, we ate supper and stayed the night at Quality Inn and Suites. They had a continental breakfast, which was very yummy.


Then on Friday and Saturday, we attended the homeschool convention that was held at the Gaylord Palms. It is a gigantic hotel and the convention is held there every year. This is the entrance to the Gaylord Palms.

The Gaylord Palms has a huge convention center where a lot of vendors come and set up their booths. They sell curriculum, books and homeschool material. Multitudes of people come to this convention to look at books and buy their curriculum for the school year.

This is a part of the hotel. To the right they have a huge swimming pool and a water play area.

This is the first booth you see when you walk into the convention hall. Each booth has a number and there are over 900 booths.  It is so much fun to come to this convention and walk around, looking at all the booths.

So many booths are in one row. You may notice people are pulling suitcases and carts around. They put their stuff in them, like information, books, and whatever else you want.

There are so many people. Here is a booth that tons of people are at. This booth is called Rainbow Center and they sold books, games, kids building toys, and other things. I found a book called Tirzah at this booth. It's about a girl and her family when Pharaoh was making them find their own stuff for building. Her family sees the plagues being poured upon the Egyptians and their family goes through the Red Sea with Moses. The book is basically going through the Exodus. It's pretty neat.

The people that ran this booth were missionaries to Israel. I asked the man what Yahweh means, and he said that it's another name for Jesus. (Jews call Jesus, Yahweh. ) He said the name Jesus is a translated name from something, and that's translated from the Greek and that's translated from the Hebrew. In the Old Testament, the translated name is Joshua, which means Salvation. That's why the angel told Joseph to call Jesus' name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. (Matthew 1:21)

These are coins from Israel, which they were selling.

This is a figurine of the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant.

This is a replica of the Torah- the first 5 books of the Bible.  In Israel, when the scrolls are opened up and read, the priests (or whoever reads them) are very careful with them. No one is allowed to touch the scroll (like in the middle where the words are written) because it's hand written; and if it's touched, it gets ruined.

At one table, they had a microscope and you could look at different slides. I took a picture through the microscope of this ant. ( Sorry you can't see the whole thing. It was kind of hard to get my camera focused enough to see the ant. ) It's amazing how different things look when magnified.

Here's a picture of magnified wool.

I thought this was very cool. I have never seen wool under a microscope.

This is a picture of a sponge. I can't remember what kind it is. (This is the type of sponge you find in the ocean. )

This fountain is the first thing you see when you go up the escalator. If you go to the left, it will take you to the Averies. They have 4 different parts you can stay in: Everglades, Key West, and two other ones I can't remember.

In the avery, there is a little section of alligators. I thought these looked funny. One has his head on the rock and the others are sleeping on top of each other.

Here is another picture of the alligators.

This is the section where the alligators were. They are all on the middle rock and some were on the bank.

This is a pretty waterfall.

 

This video was taken on Saturday evening after everyone had left and cleaned up their booths. You don't realize how big the convention hall really is until you see it when it's empty.

 

This is the Food Court. You could either buy your lunch or bring it. We brought our lunch and got Get n Go meals for supper. This place was full of people at supper time. ( As you can see in the video.)

 

 

This booth was my favorite one, because of all the books.  ( I really liked the Rainbow Center booth I mentioned above.) These books are written by Janet and Geoff Benge, and they are excellent. I have a bunch of these, and I got Francis Asbury and Klaus-Dieter John at the convention. I can't wait to read about these men. Janet and Geoff Benge wrote all of these books, and they even got to meet some of the people they wrote about: Klaus-Dieter John, David Bussau and many others.

 

We also had a candy contest to see who could collect the most candy. Here are the results.

Team 1: Sarah and Lauren

Team 2: Ashley and Deborah

And the winner is...

TEAM 2!!!     This is what our candy pile looked like. (That doesn't include team 1's candy pile.)

 

We left the hotel this morning around 9:50 and got home around 1:20. And so ends our fun-filled, mini vacation.

Hope ya'll had fun reading about our little journey. If you would like to, please leave a comment. :)

Love Ashley  

 

This week's Bible verse:

Psalms 119:9-16

Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word. With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments. Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. Blessed art thou, O Lord: teach me thy statues. With my lips have I declared all the judgments of thy mouth. I have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies, as much as in all riches. I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways. I will delight myself in thy statues: I will not forget thy word. 

The Sea Slug's Borrowed Defense// Sarah's hairdo

Creation Corner.
Today's Creation Moment: The Sea Slug's Borrowed Defense.

Job 12:7a, 8b

“But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee…and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee:”

 

 

Of all the creatures which walk, crawl, creep or grow on Earth, which one invented the organ transplant? I’ll give you one hint, it wasn’t the human being.

Actually, several creatures perform organ transplants, and the inventor must be God because mindless natural forces could never have worked out the amazing transplants we see in our world.

Sea slugs feed mainly on sea anemones. Sea anemones have stinging cells which, upon the slightest touch, explode, sending a poisoned dart into the intruder. None of this seems to phase the sea slug, who will tear up the anemone and eat it without exploding even one of the stinging cells. The stinging cells do not even explode in the slug’s stomach, nor amazingly, are they digested.

The sea slug’s stomach has narrow channels which lead from the stomach to small pouches in the fluffy spurs on its sides. These channels have moving hairs which sweep the stinging cells out of the stomach, up the channels and to the pouches where they are arranged and stored so that the sea slug can use them for defense. Should a fish try to nip  sea slug, he would be stung by the very stinging cells which had once protected the anemone.

Science tells us that things must have causes. It is hardly scientific to credit an organ transplant, which is more complex and elegant than anything we could devise, to blind natural principles. The Bible has a better and more logical answer!

www.creationmoments.com
 

 

 This was Sarah's hairdo a couple of week ago.

 It looks really nice and is pretty easy to do. ( Though I have not done it on my hair yet,  I would like to, soon. Maybe Sarah will do it for me the first time. )

 

Have a blessed day!!

Ashley

 

Ants Who Garden

Creation Corner.
Today's Creation Moment: Ants Who Garden!!!

Genesis 2:15

“And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.”

 

 

 

Farming and gardening are said by evolutionists to be very advanced activities. They say that primitive humans did not do these things, and that gardening developed only recently in human history. But if there is a Creator, we would expect that He would have taught many kinds of creatures to care for plants or even trees.

Guess what? There are even ants who garden. There is a particular type of fierce ant that cares for the South American bull’s horn acacia tree. While the ants don’t need the tree for their survival, they do eat portions of it. But they never eat enough to cause damage to the tree. In fact, the ants protect their tree – they snip off vines or other growth that comes too close to the tree, maintaining plenty of growing room for their tree. The ants are aggressive enough to keep other insects or even birds or larger animals away from their tree.

In studying this amazing relationship, researchers have removed the ants from some of these trees. Within two to fifteen months, the tree is dead. Without the ants’ care, animals eat off all the leaves and surrounding plants overrun it.

Who taught these ants to be gardeners? How could two so very different kinds of life develop such a close relationship? This results in a great mystery for evolution. Without ants you couldn’t evolve the tree, and without the tree, the ants couldn’t learn to care for it. You can’t get around it. Both were created fully formed, and the Creator taught the ants how to care for the tree.

Copyright © 2014 by Creation Moments, Inc., P.O. Box 893, Foley, MN. 56329

 

When I saw this article, I was very excited. I would love to see this ant fighting off the other animals that want to eat the leaves. It's amazing that this tree can't live without this wonderfully created ant. ( But the ant can live without the tree. ) I wish I could see a picture of it. If I find one, I will put it on here. :)
I hope you enjoyed this article.

Have a good day!
Love Ashley

 

Deep-Frozen Squirrel

Creation Corner.
Today's Creation Moment: Deep-Frozen Squirrel

Job 37:8-10

“Then the beasts go into dens, and remain in their places. Out of the south cometh the whirlwind: and cold out of the north. By the breath of God frost is given: and the breadth of the waters is straitened.”

 

 

Researchers have discovered a species of mammal that can actually survive being frozen for several weeks.

Scientists were amazed to find that the little Arctic ground squirrel can allow its body to drop to 27 degrees F – that’s five degrees below the freezing point of water – for up to two weeks at a time during its unusual eight-to ten-month hibernation period. After the two weeks at this very low temperature, the squirrel rouses itself, returns to normal body temperature, takes care of a few bathroom duties, and then returns to a state of nearly frozen hibernation for another two weeks. The squirrel usually comes out of hibernation for its short summer in June. It has only two or three months before the ground freezes again and it returns to hibernation, so the squirrel is very busy eating and mating for two short months. You could say that the Arctic ground squirrel sleeps most of its life away.

Scientists say that the Arctic ground squirrel is the only mammal that is able to allow its body temperature to fall below freezing. If they can find out how the squirrel does it, they believe the same method might be used to preserve transplant organs for longer than a few hours. So once again, scientists expect to learn new medical methods by studying how the Creator does the same thing.

 

This is so amazing!!! I really want to see this squirrel!!!

Here are some more amazing creatures.

  This is a very cool spider. I wonder if they can swim.

 It would be neat to see a baby kangaroo this small. And even neater to hold it!!

 

 

 

 

Verse of the week:

Titus 2:11-15

For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee.

 

Have a great week!!

In Christ alone,

Ashley

 www.creationmoments.com
 

 

Sunday Messages

This morning's messages by Pastor Blalock were awesome: the one in Sunday school and the regular church service message!!! Here are the notes I took from Sunday school. I think this one is my favorite.

Ezekiel 8:12  "Then said he unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the chambers of his imagery? for they say, The Lord seeth us not; the Lord hath forsaken the earth. "
Notice the phrase, "...in the chambers of his imagery..." That means your heart and your mind; what you think.

1. Only you can invite the guests in to your chambers of imagery.  There are no uninvited guests. You can invite them in by what you let go in your ears and eyes.
Proverbs 23:7  "For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he..."
Matthew 15:18-19  "But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornication, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:
Guard your heart.

2. What you invite in your mind will determine what you do in later life.
If you invite evil things to come into your mind, and you ponder them, they will determine what you will do in the future. The same with good and wholesome and godly things.
You can pick up a book and open it. You might see a bad picture or bad words. You can close it and say "NO"!!! The same thing with what you watch and what you listen to.

3. Your guests will eventually come out.
There's a saying: Garbage in, garbage out. Well, your brain in like that. If you continually feed your mind ungodly things, ( garbage ) and watch bad things, and read bad things, then in 10 years or in 15 years, garbage will come out.




Here are my notes from the regular morning service.

Nehemiah 5:14-17  "Moreover from the time that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year even unto the two and thirtieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that is, twelve years, I and my brethren have not eaten the bread of the governor.
 But the former governors that had been before me were chargeable unto the people, and had taken of them bread and wine, beside forty shekels of silver; yea, even their servants  bare rule over the people: but so did not I, because of the fear of God.
Yea also I continued in the work of this wall, neither bought we any land: and all my servants were gathered thither unto the work.
 Moreover there were at my table an hundred and fifty of the Jews and rulers, besides those that came unto us from among the heathen that are about us. "

4 words that show what it means to live a life honoring and glorifying to God: so did not I.

Title: So did not I
verse 15- "...even their servants bare rule over the people: but so did not I, because of the fear of God."
 3 reasons why Nehemiah did not conform to the world. [ God calls his people to be bold and courageous. ]

1. He esteemed others more than himself.  verses 16-18

Nehemiah continued to care for others for 12 years. He still did not use the taxes of the people to eat the food or buy land. ( like the other governors did )
Here's a saying:  Lord, help me live from day to day in such a selfless way. So when I kneel to pray, my prayer will be for others.

2. He esteemed God more than others.      
Why????   Because of the fear of God.  verse 15 ( the end of the verse )

• The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever. Psalms 111:10
• The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe. Proverbs 29:25    It's a trap.
• Don't seek the applause or fame of the flesh.
• God owns everything.
• The fear of God and the love of God is almost identical.  ( verse 9 )
• Oswald Chambers said, "It's remarkable that when you fear God, you fear nothing else. But when you don't fear God, you fear everything else. "
• Don't be like a jellyfish. They move with the current and they 'go with the flow.'
• Your walk should match your talk.

3. He esteemed truth more than traditions.

• Instead of being conformed to the world, be transformed by the renewing of your minds.
  Romans 12:2  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Hope you enjoyed these notes. No creation moment today since this is such a long post already. Sorry!! :) Tomorrow morning there will be one, though.
Love Ashley
ps. You can comment and tell me which post you like the best. I mean, I think they're both pretty good, but the first one is the best. ( that's only what I think. :)

Isaiah 40:8

The other day, I was sitting on our front porch and I saw this flower that had fallen from the Gardenia bush. It made me think of this wonderful Bible verse:

  Isaiah 40:8

The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.

 

It's really neat how everything in this life, in this world will fade away and die. But God's Word will last forever, and ever, and ever. It will never change, fade away, or die. One day, everything will be fulfilled. It's so amazing to think about; prophets prophesied things that would happen over 400 years later, like the birth of our Saviour, his death, that he would come into Jerusalem riding on an ass and so many more. They came to pass, but then some prophets prophesied things that would happen over 2,000 years later: when Jesus comes back and the end times. Those things haven't happened yet, but we know they will because we have  a more sure word of prophecy. ( 2 Peter 1:19 ) And a God that cannot lie. ( Titus 1:2 )

These are just some neat things I saw this week about God and his everlasting Word.

Have a godly weekend.

Love, Ashley

Colossian 2:6-7

As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.

                                                            

Peru's Marvelous Hummingbird

Creation Corner.
Today's Creation Moment: Peru's Marvelous Hummingbird

Isaiah 28:5

“In that day shall the LORD of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty, unto the residue of his people.”

 

 

In 1835, when scientists first saw Peru’s most unusual hummingbird, they were so overcome with its beauty that they gave it the name “Marvellous”.

This little bird treats the eye to iridescent green, yellow, orange, and purple feathers. But its most unusual feature is its tail. While most birds have eight to twelve tail feathers, the Marvellous hummingbird has only four. Two of these are long, pointed, thorn-like feathers that don’t seem to help much in flying or landing. The other two feathers are truly marvellous. They are six inches long, three times the length of the bird’s two-inch body. On the end of these two long narrow feathers are large feather fans that nearly equal the surface area of its wings.

Astonishingly, the Marvellous hummingbird has complete control of these feathers. At rest, the bird perches with these two feathers hanging down an inch or so from its body, and then crossing them until they are horizontal. In flight and landing, they provide remarkable maneuverability. During mating, the hummingbird moves them as semaphores. Interestingly enough, evolutionists admit that they are stumped as to why these unusual feathers should have evolved.

One look at our creation clearly shows that our Creator appreciates beauty. But even the beautiful Marvellous hummingbird is but a poor and cloudy hint of the beauty of our Creator Himself.

 

This is really cool!!!
Love, Ashley
Copyright © 2014 by Creation Moments, Inc., P.O. Box 839, Foley, MN. 56329
  

Fungus that Blows Its Top

Creation Corner.
Today's Creation Moment: Fungus that blows its top.

Genesis 1:11

“And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.”

God doesn’t make cheap things! While we speak of “simple” forms of life, the more we learn about living things, the more clearly we see that there are no simple forms of life.

Evolution has long theorized that life began with simple forms that gradually, over millions of years, became more complex. Evolutionary scientists say that the “simple” forms of life still around today prove their claim. The problem is, there aren’t any simple forms of life! Take the “lowly” fungus, for example. The cap throwing fungus has a number of dandy designs that enable it to spread its reproductive spores. First of all, the cap throwing fungus has a built in clock. The fungus bends through the day in response to the sun’s movement. It also throws its masses of spores out in order to spread them over the widest possible area.

The built in clock of the cap throwing fungus waits to blow its top until the fungus is turned at the best angle to produce the widest possible spread of its spores. The light sensing system in the fungus releases the spores at about nine in the morning – aiming the spores at an area that is most likely to be open, so the spores can be spread even further by animals. But whether the spores land where animals pass or on a leaf, they are coated with a glue to aid in further dispersion.

The lowly fungus reminds us that there aren’t any simple forms of life. Even this fungus has been given sophisticated ways to carry out its command to reproduce after its kind.

 

 

This article is really cool. I would like to see this fungus throw its spores.

Love, Ashley
www.creationmoments.com
 

Clean the Blushing Fish

Job 36:22

“Behold, God exalteth by his power: who teacheth like him?”

Many types of animals help each other – an activity called “altruism” – even though some of these animals would normally eat each other. Different kinds of animals that help each other pose a serious problem for those who deny an all wise Creator. Evolution has lots of reasons why natural enemies would not cooperate to help each other. But consider the example of the yellow tailed goat fish.

The yellow tailed goat fish is a mostly white fish that swims in small schools. They often cruise around reefs where the yellow French angelfish live. The angel fish hide from the goat fish who might eat them. However, the goat fish are often bothered by parasites that lodge in their scales and gills. When this happens, the goat fish swim to the reef in which the angelfish live and blush a bright rust red color.

When this happens, the angelfish knows that the goat fish has not come for lunch but to be cleaned. So the angelfish swims out and cleans the goat fish of his uncomfortable and unhealthy parasites! When the goat fish is clean, he stops blushing and swims off to leave the angelfish in peace.

Is it possible that our wise Creator has provided for the needs of His creatures in a way that could provide these unexplained mysteries for those who want to explain things without Him? We think so. We think this is one of the ways in which His glory, power and wisdom are made evident to those who don’t want to admit an intelligent Creator.


www.creationmoments.com
 

Wow! This fish is amazing. I would love to see one blushing up close.

They're designed to do what they do do, and they do do what they do do well!!!

Have a "fishtastic" day!   :)

Love Ashley

12-Foot-Long Earthworm Spotted!

Creation Corner.
Today's Creation Moment: 12-Foot-Long Earthworm Spotted!!

Psalm 104:30

“Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created: and thou renewest the face of the earth.”

There are certain things in creation that people seldom talk about, including earthworms.

There are over 170 species of earthworms. Most of us are familiar with those that pop up from our lawn, but did you know that Australia has some earthworms that grow up to 12 feet long! Every earthworm has a well-developed nervous system – not a simple system as evolutionary theory would expect. The earthworm also has five pairs of pumps that serve as hearts and microscopic bristles to help it crawl through the soil. While considered to be among the lowliest of creatures on Earth, it is nevertheless very important for our soil. They prevent it from compacting, help nitrogen and water reach plant roots, help vegetable matter to decay and increase those good bacteria that further enrich the soil for plant growth. That makes earthworms important.

Psalm 104:30, mentions how God renews the creation with new spiritual life through His Holy Spirit. In the same breath He tells how He renews the soil to support material life. Earthworms are God’s small workers designed specifically to renew the soil. How wonderful to see God’s Hand everywhere we look!

This is the Creation Moments website:  www.creationmoments.com
They have a new creation moment every day. Ian Taylor talks about the different creation topics on the radio.   I thought this was a very cool article. Have a good and godly day.

Love Ashley

 

The Giraffe's Wonder Net

Creation Corner.

Today's Creation Moment: The Giraffe's Wonder Net

 

 Job 9:10 "Which doeth great things past finding out; yea, and wonders without number."

 

 

Did you ever stand up a little too quickly and get dizzy? It can happen because by standing, you may have temporarily lowered the blood pressure in your brain. Can you imagine what might happen when the giraffe swings its head from the ground to a treetop?

The giraffe’s heart and the rest of its cardiovascular system is very different from ours and most other creatures. The giraffe’s heart pumps at twice the pressure expected for a creature of its size in order to get the blood all the way up that long neck. However, since the giraffe’s brain is very sensitive to high blood pressure, there is a special structure that has been called the “wonder net” where the blood supply enters its brain.

Even if the giraffe quickly drops its head from treetop to ground level, the wonder net keeps the blood pressure in its head exactly where it should be. Furthermore, to prevent used blood from draining back into its brain when he lowers its head, the giraffe has a special set of one-way check valves in its neck.

When we talk about our Creator, we need not be afraid that some people will think we are talking about worthless things. Truly, the wonders that the Creator has made are great and worthy to be told to people far and wide!



Copyright © 2014 by Creation Moments, Inc., P.O. Box 839, Foley, MN. 56329

Creation Moment

Creation Corner.
Today's Creation Moment:  The Woodpecker's Amazing Tongue

Deuteronomy 4:28       

"And there ye shall serve gods, the work of men’s hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell."

The beautiful creation in which we live is not only filled with testimonies to the wisdom of God, it is also filled with special designs that deny the   possibility of mindless evolution.

Consider the woodpecker. Its tongue can stretch from three to five times its normal length in order to fish bugs out of trees. Of all places, that tongue is rooted in its right nostril. Going backwards, the tongue splits into two parts, wraps around its head between its skull and the skin, passes on either side of the neck bones and then comes up through its lower jaw and exits through the beak. This gives the woodpecker a long enough tongue that will stretch far enough to do an effective job of pest control on bug-infested trees! Now, how could that happen by blind evolutionary chance?

Even evolutionists admit that it’s silly to suggest that gradually over thousands of years the woodpecker’s tongue got longer and began to grow under his skin. As one evolutionary scientist said about the woodpecker’s tongue, “There are certain anatomical features which just cannot be explained by gradual mutations over millions of years. Just between you and me, I have to get God into the act, too, sometimes.”

Why wait to call on God as a last resort? Why not begin with our wonderful Creator!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Copyright © 2014 by Creation Moments, Inc., P.O. Box 893, Foley, MN. 56329

 

 

  

Hope you liked this article. I am always fascinated at the woodpecker.
What animal are you most fascinated with? Leave me a comment and tell me. :)

Have a fantastic day walking with the Saviour.
Love Ashley

iChaperone

This is a Jostie Flicks video called iChaperone. It's funny; hope you enjoy!!

 

 

Creation Corner.

Today's Creation Moment:

Hebrews 3:10

“Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways.”

People sometimes wonder why, with all the marvels science can design and build, it cannot build a good replacement for the heart. As medical science learns more about the heart, it becomes clear that replacing this complex mass of muscles is more difficult than might be imagined.

Your heart is about the size of your fist, really surprisingly small for the job it does. The heart is a pump with valves, tubing and an electrical system. Its four chambers are carefully designed to make sure that used blood goes to your lungs for oxygen and that blood from your lungs takes that oxygen to the rest of your body. In order to do this, your heart must pump 2,000 gallons of blood through more than 60,000 miles of soft tubing every day.

But the heart is much more than a pump. Researchers describe it as “an incredibly intelligent organ.” The heart is smarter than we are. When you need more circulation, it senses this and speeds its pumping action. It doesn’t matter whether the need for more pumping action comes from increased exercise, or something you thought about that might require more heart action, the heart responds. Even when transplanted, the heart is able to respond to its new environment.

Like everything else God has created, the heart is not a simple organ, limited to only one job. The heart is custom designed to do many jobs well. And to this day doctors cannot tell you why one apparently healthy heart stops beating and another does not. Life itself is more than an organ; it is a gift from our Creator to each of us.

 

Bible verse of the week:
Psalms 95:1-6
O come, let us sing unto the Lord: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms. For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods. In his hand are the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills is his also. The sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land. O come, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker:

Have a good and godly week everyone!!!
Love Ashley

www.creationmoments.com

Happy Mother's Day

To all the moms: Happy Mother's Day!!!! I hope you have a fun and special day spending time with
  your families. :)
Proverbs 31:10
Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.

Love Ashley

Volleyball Game

Hi Everyone,
Last night, we had a volleyball game. My team, the Gators, won 3 out of 3!!! :) I had a lot of fun.
We have some great servers on our team. I love serving. That's how you win most of your points. If you serve the ball and the other team doesn't get it or they just stand there and let the ball touch the ground, then you get the point.

Here are a couple videos I took of my sisters playing volleyball.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Creation Corner

                                                    Today's Creation Moment:
Genesis 1:25

“And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.”

We all like to live at a comfortable temperature. Excavations from the most ancient human sites show that homes and entire cities were often positioned to catch the prevailing winds in the summer or to avoid cold blasts in the winter.

In a similar way, honey bees like to keep their hives at a constant 95 degrees F, and their way of doing it is quite ingenious. When the weather is cold, bees collect at the center of the hive where they generate extra heat by increasing their metabolism through rapid breathing. Other bees position themselves around the sides of the hive to serve as insulation. If it remains cool outside, the bees at the warm center of the hive rotate with the bees at the cooler walls of the hive. If the weather gets too warm, some of the bees act as fans, circulating outside air into the hive. If this does not provide enough cooling, other bees leave the hive to bring water back that will be spread on the hive walls by other bees. Now the fanning of the other bees will actually cause the walls of the hive to cool by evaporation of the water.

The intelligence we see at every level of the creation offers strong evidence against the claim that intelligence is a product of evolution. Intelligence is a gift of the Creator to His creatures!

 

I hope you enjoyed this little creation article. If you would like, leave me a comment and tell me what you find most fascinating about the bee.

Have a good and godly day; for what good is a good day if it is not also a godly day???
It's a no-good day!!!   :)

Love Ashley 

 

Hebrews 1:10-12

And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands: They shall perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment; And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail.

www.creationmoments.com