Since today is the 100th anniversary of the great San Francisco earthquake... "There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are but the beginning of the birth pains." Matthew 24:7,8 ESV A common "fact" proclaimed in Bible end-times prophecy books (Hal Lindsey and others), radio broadcasts, and on numerous web sites is …
San Francisco Earthquake, April 18, 1906
Today is the centennial of the great San Francisco earthquake and fire of 1906, which killed at least 700 (perhaps many more), and was one of the first earthquakes to be the subject of intense scientific study. The San Andreas fault had displacement along 477 km of its length, compared to the 40 km displacement …
Asteroids galore
It's time to update my lecture notes. Based on information from probably about ten years ago, my PowerPoint presentation for the Physical Science unit on asteroids says that there are a total of about 6000 asteroids. I'm off by a whole bunch. According to the Wikipedia article on asteroids, they are now being discovered at …
The Science of Marital Bliss
I usually stay away from articles from the "soft science" fields of sociology and psychology, but How to Make Your Wife Happy at LiveScience.com got my attention. "The key ingredient to a woman's marital bliss is her husband's emotional commitment, suggests a new study based on a survey of 5,000 couples across the country." Commitment …
A Darkened Mind
A quote from C.S. Lewis which applies to many areas of life: All that is made seems planless to the darkened mind, because there are more plans than it looked for. From Perelandra, p. 218 in my edition.
One Flew Over the ID Nest
Does nature point to a Creator? The Scriptures teach that we should expect it to: "The heavens declare the glory of God, the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard." …
Inclusive Exclusivity
The greatest put-down in today's postmodern society is to accuse someone of intolerance or exclusivity. Because of this, any person who states that Christianity is the only true religion is accused of bigotry. So how do I respond if someone accuses me of being judgmental, intolerant, and narrow for saying that Jesus Christ is the …
Urban Legends
Hopefully there is no need to tell you, but wild stories circulate on the internet—on web pages and via email. My web site of the week is Snopes.com, which is devoted to uncovering the truthfulness or falsehood of these "urban legends". What would make one suspect that a story received in one of those emails …
Textbook Selection
I have been working on selecting a new textbook for high school Biology for next year, and I have chosen Prentice Hall Biology by Miller and Levine. When asked why I chose this book over others, including books from Christian publishers, I gave the following reasons: Most Christian textbooks include what I consider to be …
The Value of Human Beings
A couple news items have come to my attention lately regarding perspectives on the value of human life: Earlier this year, a street dog in Bucharest, Romania bit a Japanese businessman in the leg. The bite broke an artery, and the man quickly bled to death. The city government has once again begun a program …
Beauty in Stone
For the web site of the week, I have chosen Igneous rocks in thin section. In order to identify minerals and interpret the history of a rock, geologists will often make a thin section. A thin section is made by slicing and polishing a rock until it is only about 30 micrometers thick (human hair …
Science and Prayer Part 2
I had a couple of Scriptural insights into yesterday's post and article regarding the scientific study of prayer. And the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and to test him they asked him to show them a sign from heaven. He answered them, "When it is evening, you say, 'It will be fair weather, for the sky …
Science and Prayer
The headline reads "Study fails to show healing power of prayer." Has science proven that prayer makes no difference? Here are a few preliminary thoughts: God cannot be put in a box. I believe He acts in answer to prayer, but as He pleases, and not necessarily to prove Himself through a $2.4 million scientific …
Simple Cells?
Prominently displayed in the back of my science classroom at Bucharest Christian Academy is an oversized poster showing biochemical pathways—the enzyme-mediated processes that occur in all cells, in organisms ranging from bacteria to humans. The poster presents an incredible amount of information, outlining processes such as electron transport in the mitochondria (in eukaryotes), and the …
The Purpose of the Universe
Galaxies, Hubble Space Telescope ultra deep field, NASA/JPL There are an estimated 1021 stars in the universe. Doesn't this make Earth, and the humans who inhabit it, seem rather insignificant? Yes, and no. Consider this quote from John Piper: "Sometimes people stumble over this vastness in relation to the apparent insignificance of man. It does …
Spring Cleaning? What to do with hazardous wastes
With the advent of Spring, it may be time to clean out the garage. Leaves that blew in over the winter are piled in the corner, mud has been tracked in, and the lawnmower is buried beneath the kids sleds. Being highly motivated, you may want to clear the garage of all the old paint …
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Christianity Today Global Warming Poll
Christianity Today has an online poll, surveying its readers with the question "Should evangelicals lobby on global warming?" The results of the survey so far are: I'll just make a few comments: I'm encouraged by signs of a growing awareness among Evangelicals about environmental issues. By far, the most common answer was, "Yes, it is …
Good Advice on Bad Arguments
For my web site of the week, I have chosen Arguments we think creationists should NOT use, published by Answers in Genesis, the young-Earth creationist organization led by Ken Ham. I am not a young-earth creationist, but have friends and coworkers who are, some of whom are trained in the sciences. This AiG page reports …
The Bad News of the Gospel
I got an "F" on a test today. I have become increasingly aware that, for whatever reason, some of my children do not have a good grasp of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Because of this, I am directing more conversations in our family to this critical topic. Before one can comprehend the good news …
Global Warming Posts at Scientific American’s Blog
For those of us who follow the global warming debates, there have been some interesting blogs on the Scientific American web page. The first post was called "Are You a Global Warming Skeptic?" and it has 170 comments that reflect the range of arguments against human-caused global warming. The follow-up post is called "Are You …
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