|
Is this Noah's Ark?
Click the image for the full-sized picture. Read the supporting article here. Read a longer analysis on a linked website here.
Darwin's Nemesis: Phillip Johnson and the Intelligent Design MovementEdited by William A. Dembski
18 powerful essays by today's leading critics of
Darwinism
In honor of their mentor, Phillip Johnson
Not long ago, it was unthinkable for a respected scientist or academic to publicly challenge the dogma of Darwinian evolution. That all changed in 1991, when UC Berkeley law professor Phillip Johnson published Darwin on Trial. For many young intellectuals, Johnson's critique of Darwinism on both scientific and philosophical grounds was a revelation -- spurring some of them to launch their own assaults from within their scientific or academic specialties. Now, in honor of their mentor, 18 of Johnson's most eminent "disciples" review and celebrate the man and the movement he founded. Read Charles Colson on this book Is there life on Mars?—latest
The last lander did not find any life. The current lander is at this moment digging into Mars' soil to look for life. We don't think they will find any. Read the latest below: The Phoenix mission landed a telerobot in the polar region of Mars on May 25, 2008. One of the mission's two primary objectives is to search for a 'habitable zone' in the Martian regolith where microbial life could exist, the other goal being to study the geological history of the water on Mars. The lander has a 2.5 meter robotic arm that is capable of digging a 0.5 meter trench in the regolith. The arm is fitted with an arm camera able to verify that there is material in the scoop when returning samples to the lander for analysis – this overcomes an important design flaw in the Viking landers. The craft has a mass spectrometer capable of detecting organic volatiles up to 10ppb, an optical microscope and an atomic force microscope. There is an electrochemistry experiment which will tell scientists about ions in the regolith and show the amount and type of antioxidants on Mars, if the device works. NASA scientist Carol Stoker reports that oxidants on Mars vary with latitude, noting that Viking 2 saw fewer oxidants than Viking 1 because of its more northerly position. Phoenix has landed further north still. Rates of sediment-ation at the Phoenix landing site are hoped to allow the probe to sample layers that date back at least 50,000 years, and maybe up to a million years. [They say!]. This is important because the climate of Mars has been much warmer in the past and any life could have been more active and widespread, says Stoker. Unlike the Mars Pathfinder Sojourner rover and the Mars
Exploration Rovers, which used airbag-cushioned capsules to land on Mars, the
Phoenix lander landed the same way that the Viking landers did, despite the
claims that rocket exhaust may have contaminated the Viking landing sites. Although more data collecting needs to be done, trace
levels of nutrients have already been detected. This, with the recent
discovery of water ice, has amazed mission scientists, likening these new
results to "winning the lottery." Taken from a scoop of top-soil, the robotic digger managed to excavate a 2 cm deep ditch, delivering the sample to the MECA where analysis could be carried out. The first results from the two-day wet-lab experiment are flooding in and mission scientists are excited by the results. "We are awash in chemistry data," said Michael Hecht of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and lead scientist for the MECA. Sources: Wikipedia and Universetoday.com |
The Asia Legacy project has been completed Inspiring stories of a former generation of Navigators This month, August 2008, the 20th life story of the pioneers of the Navigator ministry to Asia was published, completing the project. In 2002 I was commissioned by the Asia Navigator leadership team to visit the pioneers and interview them. The aim was to produce inspiring stories of another generation, and to commit the facts to writing—all for the benefit of future generations. I visited Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong, Canada and North America in search of the pioneers, whom I interviewed at length, sometimes renewing a friendship, sometimes meeting my subject for the first time. I returned after the two-month circumnavigation of the world and began immediately to write. As I began it became obvious that I should devote considerable space to each pioneer or couple. It was just not possible to condense their rich lives into a few pages, so the project was extended beyond expectations. Two years into the project I had a health crisis, was diagnosed with cancer, underwent an operation, followed by five months' aggressive chemotherapy. Although I did some writing that year, 2004, the project was delayed even more. But the commissioners and supporters of the project were understanding and generous. During these six years—a long haul—I was constantly concerned that I properly portray the life and works of the pioneers. I "lived" with each one of them in turn. Asian Navigator leader David Bok brought his Navigator ministry experience, expertise in English, and his understanding of Asian sensibilities to bear on the text as Editor, further enabling good communication with Asians, for whom the stories are primarily written. During the term of the project, five people whose stories are told died, and two became seriously unwell. Today, the 20 stories are circulating in two forms: a book of the first ten biographies, one chapter per pioneer, and all as electronic pdf files. It is hoped that NavMedia Singapore will be interested in publishing the second ten. One story about Waldron Scott was written by my friend and colleague, Paul Hensley, a former Navigator missionary in Malaysia and Indonesia. Paul knows Scott very well, and circumstances also pointed to his writing the chapter. "The end of a matter is better than its beginning, and patience is better than pride" (Ecclesiastes 7:8). —Sandy Fairservice, Christchurch New Zealand To the right is a facsimile of the cover of the book, which was designed by the talented Navigator designer and communicator, Angeline Koh. Chapters in Book One The titles of the 20 stories: New Zealand Navigator history Sandy's next task Sandy has been asked to write a history of The Navigators of New Zealand. One of the spiritual grandchildren of the founder of the New Zealand work, Joe Simmons, Sandy has a long memory, and accurate records and a store of photographs of much of the period from 1953, the year that Joe and Marie Simmons emigrated to New Zealand, encouraged by their mentor, Dawson Trotman himself. You can read the Simmons story in the Asia Legacy book. USA ministry visit 'God's appointment' The visit to the Kost congregation at North Branch, some way out of Minneapolis-St Paul was in retrospect God's appointment, Sandy reports. All the aims were met, enabled in part by the very receptive participants of the seven, two-hour workshops. His brief was to impart vision and some practical tools so that church members might become effective disciples and disciple makers. Sandy had many serious conversations, one-to-one and one-to-two. He was hosted by a number of couples. Sandy is encouraged that his workshops communicated well in the USA, and because they also represent 40 years' experience and practice in the Christian ministry of evangelism, establishing and equipping. What is God doing in the world? A recent Ipsos MORI, conducted for the BBC, and published on 26 January 2006, shows that evolution is believed by only 48% of the British public. Of the rest, 17% believe Intelligent Design and 22% say they believe creationism. These results are startling. The figure of 22% believing creationism is remarkable, when you consider that only 8.5% of the population are evangelical Christians—and many evangelical Christians say they do not believe in creationism. That only 48% believe
evolution is staggering, especially since that schools have taught exclusively
evolution for decades, and the media bombard the British public continually
with pro-evolution propaganda. This blanket evolutionism has clearly not
worked.—Answers in Genesis (UK) Christian conversions at a maximum Be encouraged. More people are coming to Christ today than at any time in human history. Popular media in New Zealand may not have recognised it, but the world is experiencing an extraordinary explosion of divine initiative—on a scale that has never been seen before. According to the respected Christian scholar and teacher, Dr Alistair Petrie, people around the world were coming to Christ at the rate of around 900 a day in 1900. By the mid-1980s the figure had leaped to 50,000-60,000 a day. By 2000, it had reached 200,000 a day. That's 140 people per minute.
It is broadly estimated that around a third of all people in recorded history who have made a commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ have done so in the past 10 years. Prayer is the key, said Dr Petrie. Around the world, people are praying as never before, and the world is witnessing an extraordinary harvest. Praise God! From Christian Resource Centre International News, July 2001 The gospel in Europe For some missionaries in Europe it is a time of reaping and expansion, while for others it is a time of patient sowing and cultivating. People are reported to be coming to faith in the Netherlands, Germany and Sweden. Norway, another country with a solid Christian heritage, is said to face many challenges to getting the gospel into the lives of non-believing students. The gospel is not being heard in Southern Europe, but Central and Eastern Europeans are responding, after having been dominated for over 40 years by communism. Evangelism success in Jericho JERICHO – This Arab town may look like a rocky, barren desert, but after five years of laboring in obscurity, American missionary Karen Dunham has seen it become an oasis of hope and salvation in the Palestinian territories. “Now Jericho is given into the hands of the Lord,” Dunham told Israel Today. “There isn’t anywhere you can’t talk about Jesus.” While most Palestinian towns—and Israel for that matter—are closed off to evangelism, Jericho has been plied open by Dunham’s ministry. She lived, with her teenage son, in a refugee camp, distributing humanitarian aid, killing scorpions and suffering water shortages and blackouts with the people while some Moslems tried to run her out of town. She runs a church attended by up to 300 Palestinians. No one leaves empty-handed—but no one gets humanitarian aid without also getting a tract and a Bible. Source www.israeltoday.co.il November 2007 Could there be ‘simple life’ elsewhere in space?
The Bible’s ‘big picture’ seems to preclude intelligent life elsewhere in God’s universe. But what about bacteria on other planets for example? It’s possible that God made these, but exceedingly unlikely. What would be their purpose? The entire focus of creation is mankind on this Earth; the living forms on Earth’s beautifully balanced biosphere are part of our created life support system. If bacteria are found elsewhere in the Solar System, it will be hailed as proof that life can ‘just evolve’. However, in such an unlikely event, the organisms will have earth-type DNA, etc., consistent with having originated from here as contaminants—either carried by recent man-made probes, or riding fragments of rock blasted from Earth by meteorite impacts. From Creation Ministries International with thanks Miscellaneous New Zealand society is becoming more conservative, attaching increased importance to marriage and family, according to researchers. In a study conducted by the University of Otago's consumer research group, New Zealanders were split into segments including Educated Liberals, Young Pleasure Seekers and Conservative Quiet-Lifers. Conservative Quiet-Lifers have taken over from Accepting Mid-Lifers as a major segment, indicating the country's ageing population, said the researchers.
Bad news for the Big Bang theory Evidence is mounting that the cosmic microwaves which have been thought to
be remnants of the Big Bang are not necessarily from far away. The 'Lucy Child' —another ape
|
