China Takes Down 1,200 Crosses

It seems that the mere sight of a cross atop a church offends those who do not know the Saviour who died on a wooden one.





Joel Kontinen

The cross divides. While Christians will gladly sing about the old rugged cross and won’t hesitate to survey the wondrous cross, some others tend to see red.

For us, it is a sign of hope, but for others it is something to be afraid of.

American atheists have a nasty habit of litigating against outdoor crosses or anything that looks like one, or even a statue depicting Christ.

They are not the only ones who take a dislike to symbols that characterise Christianity.

Within a two-year period Chinese leaders have sanctioned (and probably ordered) the removal of over 1,200 large crosses from churches in the Zhejiang province. This has prompted protests from Christians whose religious freedom is being curtailed.

This reminds us that following Christ has never been easy – but it is incredibly rewarding, both for this life and the next. No other religion can offer us friendship with the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.


Source:

Phillips, Tom. 2015. China's Christians protest 'evil' Communist campaign to tear down crosses. The Guardian (27 July).

“Sport’s Dirtiest Secret”: IAAF's Doping Scandal: Worldview and the Culture of Cheating

Canadian sprinter Ben Johnston was not the only doped runner. Image courtesy of Bandeetdesign, Creative Commons.



Joel Kontinen

“How the mighty have fallen!” (2 Samuel 1:27, NIV).

We used to think that only a few rogue types would succumb to cheating in athletics but obviously we were wrong. The Sunday Times and German broadcaster ARD/WDR published data that have caused consternation for sports fans, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) and the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada), and probably also caused a few athletes to loose their sleep.

Here’s the BBC’s summary of the findings:

“· A third of medals (146, including 55 golds) in endurance events at the Olympics and World Championships between 2001 and 2012 were won by athletes who have recorded suspicious tests. It is claimed none of these athletes have been stripped of their medals.
· More than 800 athletes – one in seven of those named in the files – have recorded blood tests described by one of the experts as ‘highly suggestive of doping or at the very least abnormal’.”

Just when the sporting world had begun to recover from FIFA’s bribery scandal, we got to know about another, more serious case of cheating.

They haven’t fared much better in other areas: Scientific misconduct is rampant, and Planned Parenthood’s heinous crimes have tarnished its reputation beyond repair.

Could all this say something about our times and the world we’re living in? I suspect it does. If we believe that no one sees us and that we’re not accountable to anyone, we’ll be more prone to do things we otherwise wouldn’t.

But the supernatural realm is real. Whether we acknowledge it or not, God our Creator sees us and knows what we do. Like Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, many try to hide from Him, but they cannot.

He came to seek and find the ones who were lost.

Source:

Roan, Dan. 2015. Leaked IAAF doping files: Wada 'very alarmed' by allegations. BBC (2 August).

New Enigma for Long Agers – Saturn Looks 2 Billion Years Too Young

Saturn looks too young for an old solar system. Image courtesy of NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute.




Joel Kontinen

While most astronomers would say that the solar system is 4.5 billion years old, many planets, moons or other foreign worlds don’t look their assumed age.

A recent article in phys.org addresses the problem:

"Planets tend to cool as they get older, but Saturn is hotter than astrophysicists say it should be without some additional energy source.

The unexplained heat has caused a two-billion-year discrepancy for computer models estimating Saturn's age. 'Models that correctly predict Jupiter to be 4.5 billion years old find Saturn to be only 2.5 billion years old,' says Thomas Mattsson, manager of the high-energy-density physics theory group at DOE's Sandia National Laboratories.”

Researchers suggest that the young looks of Saturn could be due to helium rain. What they did not question was the age of the solar system, which is even more suspect, as Mercury, Venus, Jupiter’s moons Io and Europa, Saturn’s moons Titan, Mimas and Enceladus, and Pluto also look too young for a “4.5 billion-year-old” solar system.


Source:

Hurst, Darrick. 2015. Sandia's Z machine helps solve Saturn's 2-billion-year age gap. Phys.org (14 July).

70 Years After Hiroshima: Still No Peace in Sight – But There’s Hope

70 years after the mushroom clouds over Hiroshima (left) and Nagasaki (right), there’s no end to wars and rumours of wars. Image courtesy of Charles Levy, Creative Commons.





Joel Kontinen


Ideologies played a major role in most if not all the devastating wars of the 20th century. We had Nationalism, Colonialism, Nazism and Communism as well as some other isms.

Historians will tell us that the German leaders drew inspiration from Darwinian evolution. Their struggle for existence led to World War I and the lust for revenge prompted them to start the second major conflict that turned out to be even deadlier than the first.

Nazi death camps illustrated the words that Jesus said: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy” (John 10:10a, NIV).

Then the former allies used other nations to fight a number of proxy wars in Asia, Central America and Africa.

However, worldwide, the abortion industry has probably killed more people than the other wars combined.

Now, 70 years after the devastating bombs dropped over Hiroshima and Nagasaki, is there still hope for mankind?

Yes, the Prince of Peace has promised to give us His peace, provided we accept His conditions.

I would say that the only remedy is a return to biblical ethics that compels us to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, strength and mind and our neighbour as ourselves. (Luke 10:27)

Bringing Biblical History to Life: Archaeologists Find Monumental Gate in Goliath’s Hometown

The ruins of Gath or Tel Zafit. Image courtesy of Ori~, Wikimedia Commons.




Joel Kontinen

Even if people are often reluctant to defend biblical history, old stones do not share our hesitation.

Archaeologists tend to find ruins and old monuments in just the places where the Bible indicates they should be. The most recent example is the city of Gath where the Philistine giant Goliath used to live.

Archaeologists from Bar-Ilan University, led by professor Aren Maeir, excavated the fortifications and entrance gate of the city. They uncovered “a monumental city gate.”

They also found early Philistine inscriptions and evidence of an 8th century B.C. earthquake that seems to be the one mentioned in Amos 1:1.

Far from being myth, the Old Testament records real history – it describes real people who lived at real places at a real stage of human history.

It is a book we can trust, even when it speaks about human origins.

Source:

Archaeologists uncover a monumental city gate and fortification of the biblical city of Philistine Gath (home of Goliath). Bar-Ilan University press release (4 August).

Another Great Bio-Inspired Invention: “Nature’s Super Sunscreen”

This might be a good place to use nature’s super sunscreen.



Joel Kontinen

We humans are creative. However, when we look at – or learn about – the ingenious solutions around us, we have to admit that Someone much wiser than us thought of it first.

A recent paper published in the journal ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces presents a new super sunscreen that is biodegradable and environmentally friendly. It is an entirely natural product that makes use of mycosporines and mycosporine-like amino acids mixed with a chemical called chitosan that is obtained from the shells of shrimp and other crustaceans.

Reporting on the innovation, New Scientist attempted to introduce an evolutionary spin on the story:

“Some species of algae, bacteria and fish that spend a lot of time in the sun have evolved sun shields that absorb the DNA-damaging UV rays in sunlight. These chemicals, known as Mycosporine-like amino acids, have now been turned into a material that can be applied like a sunscreen to skin, as well as objects such as outdoor furniture that are at risk of UV damage.”

The Darwinian storytelling is entirely superfluous, as animals can’t decide what they evolve or don’t evolve, and Darwin’s watchmaker is supposed to be blind.

But the paper is yet another reminder of the wonderful design seen in the animal kingdom. The sunscreen is by far more effective than any others.

Biomimicry or copying design seen in nature has become a lucrative field of engineering. (Read more here, here, here and here.)

Design, one might suggest, implies a Designer.


Source:

Slezak, Michael. Mix fish secretions with shrimp shells to make super sunscreen. New Scientist (31 July).

Cecil the Lion vs. Planned Parenthood’s Commercial Baby Parts

Last year, Cecil looked like this. Image courtesy of Vince O'Sullivan/Flickr, Creative Commons (CC BY-NC 2.0).





Joel Kontinen

An American dentist killed a famous lion in Zimbabwe. Many were furious, and understandably so, as luring Cecil the Lion outside a national park and shooting it with a bow was not a humane thing to do. The badly wounded animal was killed the next day.

Some were calling for the dentist to be hanged.

In contrast, when it became obvious that Planned Parenthood was engaged in a profitable business selling organs harvested from aborted babies, the criticism was much more muted.

One might suspect that this has something to do with evolutionary thinking that attempts to downplay human exceptionalism and treat us as animals and animals as persons.




Source:

Bomberger, Ryan. 2015. Cecile Versus Cecil: One is the World’s Top Predator, The Other is a Lion. Life News (July 30).