creation Archives

May 15, 2026May 14, 2026

The Creativity of Chance

I’m sitting by my window, looking out at the beautiful trees, green grass, flowers, birds, groundhog, and squirrels, and I’m thinking about Darwinism. According to Darwinism, all living things have evolved from a common ancestor, a single-celled creature about four billion years ago. I’m thinking that it takes a lot of faith to believe in the creativity of chance.

People often cite similarities among living things as evidence that all life originated from a single common ancestor. In their book I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist, Norman Geisler and Frank Turek consider how much faith it takes to be a Darwinist. To believe in Darwinism, you must be able to explain the dissimilarity among living things. I think that may be more difficult than explaining the similarities.

Think about the variation among the millions of life forms. Geisler and Turek point out that if you believe in Darwinism, you must explain the dissimilarity between “the palm tree, the peacock, the octopus, the locust, the bat, the hippopotamus, the porcupine, the sea horse, the Venus flytrap, the human, and mildew.” The question is, how could those and all other species have descended from the first unicellular life by mere chance and without intelligent intervention?

As you ponder that, you must also realize that if you’re going to leave God out of the picture, how did nonliving chemicals organize into that original single-celled organism from which all life sprang into being? Furthermore, how can you explain the existence of the fine-tuned universe that makes life, and especially advanced life, possible? Could chance and time have created all of this, or does it require an intelligent Designer? Believing in the creativity of chance takes more faith than I have.

May 14, 2026May 13, 2026

Space Aliens and Disclosure Day

There has been an explosion of comments in the news media and on social media about space aliens and Disclosure Day, following President Trump’s order to release previously classified information on UAPs (UFOs). At the same time, a “blockbuster” movie by Steven Spielberg is set to be released on June 12, 2026. Its title is Disclosure Day, based on a story by Spielberg, a firm believer in extraterrestrials.

Social media contains comments that the government’s disclosure of information about UAPs will challenge traditional religious beliefs. The current print issue of Moviemaker magazine features an interview with David Koepp, the screenwriter of the Disclosure Day movie. When the interviewer asked him if he believed in aliens, he compared aliens to God or religion. He said, “My personal belief is the same as my personal belief in God, which is why I think religion is an important part of Disclosure Day.” He goes on to say that his favorite theory about aliens is, “Yes, other intelligent life forms exist. Yes, they’ve been here. They may even be here now. We can’t perceive them.”

Thus far, what the government has released from its secret files is not much more than grainy pictures of objects in the sky that seem to move erratically, filmed from a distance. There doesn’t seem to be anything different from what we have seen before. Concerning space aliens and Disclosure Day, Spielberg claims that the movie will contain “more truth than fiction” and will “upend all established order.” That sounds to me like overblown promotional hoopla designed to sell more tickets.

What if the government released materials that conclusively demonstrated that aliens are visiting our planet? Would it mean the end of Christian faith? Would it refute the Bible? The answer is no and no. The Bible deals with the creation of the universe (Genesis 1:1) and the creation of life upon the Earth (the rest of Genesis 1 and 2). It also tells us that God created spiritual beings. It does not tell us whether God created physical creatures elsewhere within the universe. Even if God created life on other planets within the universe, which is questionable, and even if we learned that aliens have visited Earth, that would not refute the existence of God. Those other creatures would have to have been created by God. Only an intelligent force outside of the universe could have created what is within the universe.

Fred Hoyle and other scientists have advanced the idea of “panspermia,” meaning that life on Earth was seeded by aliens from elsewhere in the universe. There is absolutely no evidence for that, but even if true, it would not explain where those intelligent beings came from. It has been scientifically established that the universe had a beginning. That was the beginning of time, space, matter, and energy, so whatever caused the universe’s origin was outside of time and space and not material. That is the way the Bible describes God. Don’t let space aliens and Disclosure Day interfere with your faith in the one who created all things. (See Colossians 1:15-16.)

Reference: moviemaker.com

May 12, 2026May 11, 2026

The Thymus Has an Essential Purpose

A mysterious organ of the human body lies behind the sternum (breastbone) and in front of the heart. It’s called the thymus. Almost 2000 years ago, the Greek physician and surgeon Galen of Pergamon called it the “seat of the soul.” However, as recently as 1961, Nobel Prize-winning British biologist Sir Peter Medawar called the thymus the graveyard for dying cells and “an evolutionary accident of no very great significance.” Today, scientists know that the thymus has an essential purpose in establishing the immune system during childhood and continues to be beneficial throughout life. Since the thymus has been known for thousands of years, why did it take so long for science to discover that it has a purpose?

Recent research at Massachusetts General Hospital has shown the role the thymus plays in a person’s health. It helps regulate aging and immune health. It appears to play a crucial role in a person’s longevity, protecting against cancer, autoimmune disease, and even cardiovascular risks. Medical scientists have found that people with healthier thymuses are less likely to develop lung cancer or die of heart disease or other causes.

The thymus has sometimes been removed because it can get in the way of heart or chest surgery, and the removal is called a thymectomy. In the past, thymectomy was not considered a problem because people seemed to get along very well without the thymus. The research team found that people receiving a thymectomy were more likely to die of any cause within five years than people with a healthy thymus. People without a thymus were twice as likely to develop cancer and were also more likely to develop autoimmune disease.

The thymus has an essential purpose and is not a vestigial organ, as some have thought in the past. It is not a mistake of evolution. A healthy thymus is a predictor of good health in many respects. People with healthy thymuses are less likely to develop lung cancer or die of heart disease. They are also more likely to respond positively to cancer drugs. The research has led to interest in finding ways to slow the thymus’s natural deterioration, which occurs in adulthood.

Too often, we have been led to believe that something is a vestigial organ, leftover from the process of evolution, when, in fact, it plays a role in our health. (For example, tonsils, appendix, and so-called “junk DNA.”) Looking at medical research from an evolutionary viewpoint can sometimes lead to neglect of important health issues. If we believe our bodies are intelligently designed rather than merely accidents of evolution, we have a reason to look for that design. The thymus has an essential purpose because God designed it that way, but science overlooked it for way too long.

References: washingtonpost.com, and New England Journal of Medicine HERE and HERE

May 11, 2026May 10, 2026

The Amazing Bird Migrations

Spring and fall are busy times for bird migration. As I write this in May 2026, there are more birds migrating over the United States than there are people in this country. The amazing bird migrations provide evidence of design in nature, not of survival of the fittest by chance. That is especially true because those migrations often benefit other species more than the migrating birds, and especially migrations that go beyond where the birds could find warmer weather.

Birds migrate to find food, to find a place to reproduce, to avoid unpleasant weather, and even to benefit other species of life. In the Northern Hemisphere, birds travel north in the spring because there is an abundance of insects and plants that provide food. The weather is also suitable for raising chicks. When the weather becomes colder in the fall, they fly south to avoid freezing temperatures. As birds migrate, they benefit life in the various zones they pass through. Thankfully, many birds don’t migrate and remain in one area all year.

Factors that influence the number of birds traveling on any particular day include weather and light pollution. One factor that has dramatically affected the amazing bird migrations is sky glow. Lights from vehicles, homes, and businesses cause light pollution that has become a major problem for birds, especially in metropolitan areas. Excessive upward-directed light in the evening hours can cause birds to go off course and even run into buildings or other structures. We can help the birds by restricting stren oetlights to face the ground and keeping lighting to a minimum, especially during migration seasons.

how many birds are in the sky over the United States today and to learn more about the Audubon Society’s “Lights Out” program. It is essential for us to be good stewards of God’s gifts and to protect the birds from danger. Birds are essential to all other forms of life on Earth, including humans.

May 8, 2026May 4, 2026

Creating a Smell Map

It is easy to overlook the importance of the sense of smell. Smell affects human health and safety. The sense of smell plays an essential role in the taste of food. It can also warn us of spoiled or unsafe food by its rancid odor. Smell can give pleasure, as with the fragrance of flowers, or make us nauseated, as when we smell a foul odor. Fragrances can bring back pleasant memories. The loss of smell can cause depression. With those things in mind, researchers are creating a smell map.

Maps of the receptors for vision, hearing, and touch have been developed previously, but this research was the first to create a detailed map of the receptors for smell. The research began by studying the smell receptors in mice. The challenge in creating a smell map is that it is more complex than the other senses. There are only three main receptor types needed for color vision, but mice have 20 million olfactory neurons and more than 1,000 types of odor receptors that detect unique subsets of odor molecules.

Before creating a smell map, the prevailing theory was that the smell receptors were randomly placed. The study showed that smell receptors form horizontal stripes from the top of the nose to the bottom, and the order matches the brain’s olfactory bulb. Further study will explore human olfactory receptors to compare them with those in mice.

This research is important because it will help scientists develop therapies for people who have lost their sense of smell, as has sometimes been the case with COVID-19. As we learn more about how the sense of smell works, we see evidence of design. The bottom line is that we are “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalms 139:14). The design of life, and especially the human body, shows evidence of a Designer, not random chance.

Reference: Harvard Medical School hms.harvard.edu

May 7, 2026May 4, 2026

Humans Are Viruses on the Earth – or Not

Humans Are Viruses on the Earth – Influenza Virus — Influenza virus 3D illustration

Perhaps you have seen posts or comments online claiming that humans are viruses on the Earth. The argument is that human numbers are growing, and we “feed parasitically on the body of the Earth.” They say we are swarming over the Earth and leaving no part of the planet “untouched by our pollution and destruction.”

The mantra is that humans move into an area, multiply until they consume all the natural resources, then move on to another area, like a virus. Critics suggest that all other mammals live in equilibrium with their surroundings, whereas humans behave like viruses that spread and consume resources. So the question they ask is whether humans are a disease, a cancer, or a virus on the Earth, what are we going to do about it? How can we stop this human virus?

As Christians, we believe that humans were made in God’s image and that God entrusted the first humans and us with taking care of the planet and ruling over it (see Genesis 1:28). Perhaps we’ve done a better job of ruling over the planet than of taking care of it. Some have pointed out that even though the Bible says we were created in God’s image, we are also the ones who introduced sin into the world.

Hosea 4:1-3 is a Bible passage sometimes quoted by those who insist that humans are viruses on the Earth. In this passage, Hosea tells the children of Israel that because they have been swearing, lying, killing, stealing, and committing adultery, God will punish them by allowing them to waste away along with the animals, birds, and fish. You could say that applies to us today, but that might be stretching the context.

It is true that God gave humans the job of being stewards of the Earth, to rule over and protect or conserve the creatures that live here. It is also true that we have often failed in that job, but God always gives us another chance to do better. As for humans introducing sin into the world, God also gave us a second chance on that. The most amazing thing we read in the Bible is that God became a human being to live a perfect life, to show us what that is like, and to bear the punishment for our failures.

As we consider whether humans are viruses on the Earth, we must consider our relationship with the Creator. Perhaps if we can accept what God has done through Jesus Christ to restore us to a right relationship with Him, we will find that we can have a right relationship with the Earth God gave us to live on. Remember that God is the giver of every good and perfect gift (James 1:17).

May 4, 2026May 3, 2026

Secrets of the Bees in National Geographic

On April 28, 2026, Roland Earnst published an article about bees living in an upstate New York cemetery. The May 2026 issue of National Geographic carried an article titled “Secrets of the Bees,” which complements Roland’s article in several ways.

The complexity of hives is the first point. Bees design their hives to suit the climate where they live. Many have nests below ground, with some bees excavating as deep as three feet. A typical nest will have a vertical burrow with tunnels leading to areas waterproofed with glandular secretions, floral oils, or plant materials. The larvae develop in areas called brood cells, which are stocked with food. In dry areas, a bee called “Ulke’s Pebble Bee” will gather pebbles and bind them together with a mixture of saliva and mud, or resin if these materials are not available.

A second point in the National Geographic article that complements Roland’s article is that bees can learn. Bumblebees can learn to associate certain colors with rewards. Researchers have found that bees can look at a new landscape and navigate around the changes. In other words, bees are not robots that can be stopped by changing the landscape.

A third area of interest is that bees can figure out the most efficient way to reach a flower in a field, allowing them to maximize nectar gain. In describing “Secrets of the Bees,” the National Geographic writers use words like “hidden genius,” “brightest thinkers,” and “remarkable ways” to explain what bees can do. These are words that describe properties God would have given the bees, not accidents of chance. We still have a lot to learn from the smallest of God’s creatures.

Reference: “Secrets of the bees: Revealing the sneaky genius of nature’s b rightest thinkers” in National Geographic, May 2026

May 1, 2026April 29, 2026

Cleanliness on the International Space Station

Keeping your house clean can be challenging. Consider what it would be like to have several people confined to a small space on the International Space Station (ISS). You might think that keeping that environment perfectly clean and sterile would ensure the astronauts’ health. That is not necessarily the case. Excessive cleanliness on the International Space Station may cause health problems.

According to a new study, the ISS may be more sterile than it should be. Microbes can be beneficial to our health, and research indicates that low microbial diversity on the ISS may be contributing to immune dysfunction, skin rashes, and other inflammatory issues. The new study suggests that introducing more Earth microbes may help prevent astronaut health problems.

For the study, astronauts were asked to swab 803 surfaces on the ISS and return the samples to Earth for analysis. The returned samples contained chemicals from cleaning products and disinfectants, as well as microbes. Researchers examined how the bacteria and chemicals interacted. Particularly important were the dining, food-prep, and toilet areas.

Microbes in our natural Earth environments may help strengthen our health and resistance to infections and skin problems. We have millions of microbes on our skin and in our gut that are not harmful and actually help us digest our food and fight diseases. While on Earth, we have beneficial microbes all around us, but excessive cleanliness on the International Space Station may not be entirely positive. The researchers suggested introducing microbes from Earth to give a more natural balance without posing any health risks to the astronauts.

Sanitized living spaces may not be as healthy as we think. There are far more microbes on planet Earth than there are people, and we can be thankful that God has placed them here for the benefit of life.

Reference: Discovermagazine.com

April 29, 2026April 29, 2026

A Natural Tendency to Believe in God

An international research project found that humans have a natural tendency to believe in God. Directed by academics at the University of Oxford, the project involved 57 researchers examining diverse cultures across 20 countries. The project was not intended to prove or disprove the existence of God but to determine whether the concept of God, or gods, is learned or a basic aspect of human nature.

The studies were conducted in both traditionally religious countries and atheist societies. Among the findings were that children as young as age three believed in “all-seeing, all-knowing supernatural agents.” It seems normal for a child to have a natural tendency to believe in God, but atheism must be taught. The research also indicated that adults instinctively believe that some part of their mind, soul, or spirit lives on after death. In other words, people find it natural to believe in the separation of the mind and the body. Project director Dr. Justin Barrett of Oxford University said, “Interestingly, we found that religion is less likely to thrive in populations living in cities in developed nations…”

Project co-director Robert Trigg said, “We have gathered a body of evidence that suggests that religion is a common fact of human nature across different societies. This suggests that attempts to suppress religion are likely to be short-lived as human thought seems to be rooted to religious concepts…” Why would people want to “suppress religion,” or a natural tendency to believe in God? That question is especially significant since the research also found, not surprisingly, that people with religious ties are more likely to cooperate in societies.

This research project was conducted over three years, and the results were published in 2011. Despite the years that have passed, I suspect the results would still be the same today. The bottom line is that people everywhere naturally believe in God and in an afterlife. They have to be convinced otherwise. Are most members of the human race confused and wrong, or is there an inherent truth behind that belief? “He (God) has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end” (Ecclesiastes 3:11 NIV).

Reference: phys.org

April 27, 2026April 27, 2026

Underground Bees in a Cemetery

A cemetery in Ithaca, New York, not only has a large number of graves but also an even greater number of bees. Researchers estimate there are perhaps 5.6 million underground bees in that plot of land. It is the largest known aggregation of ground-nesting solitary bees, known as miner bees or mining bees, in the family Andrenidae.

The Andrenidae family of bees consists of more than 1300 species. They don’t build hives, and they don’t swarm. They are solitary bees that live out their lives, build their nests, and raise their young underground. The species of bees that have found a home in the Ithaca cemetery is Andrena regularis. This particular species pollinates crops such as apples and blueberries.

Bees in the Andrenidae family of underground bees are designed to carry pollen on their legs. Various species within this family tend to pollinate specific plant species. We often think of honeybees as essential pollinators, but we tend not to think about or even know about the bees that don’t make honey but are still important pollinators

These underground bees emerge for a short period in the spring and do their pollination work. As temperatures get warmer, they go back underground. Because of the pollen-carrying features of these solitary bees, they can deposit more pollen than individual honey bees. This cemetery discovery is unusual because of how many of them are concentrated in one area. Researchers estimate that there are more than 800 bees per square meter.

God’s amazing web of life is often overlooked because many creatures are largely out of sight and therefore out of mind. These underground bees remind us that there is a lot of life underground, even in a cemetery.

Reference: Discovermagazine.com