John N Clayton Archives

February 4, 2026January 31, 2026

Ancestors of Modern Humans

The history of attempts to develop an evolutionary explanation for modern humans is filled with errors and assumptions. Some foot bones found in 2009 in the Afar Region of Ethiopia, along with other bones discovered since then, have led to the naming of a new “species,” Australopithecus deyiremeda. The Afar Region is also where the fossil known as “Lucy” was discovered, and these fossils have been celebrated as ancestors of modern humans.

The first problem with this type of report is that the word “species” is used very loosely. What exactly does “species” mean? When I took biology classes, species was defined as “a form of life that can breed and produce fertile offspring.” A dog and a cat are different species because they cannot breed to produce fertile offspring. Most of us remember the biological fact that a horse and a donkey can breed and produce a mule, but the mule is sterile because horses and donkeys are different species.

Today, we have two ape forms considered to be different species. The evidence includes a few foot bones, fragments of pelvis, skull, jaw, and teeth—not a complete skeleton. Because these bones were found in close proximity, researchers assumed they must belong to the same species, not to Lucy’s species, Australopithecus afarensis. Since these supposedly show a progression among the ancestors of modern humans, how much variation do we see in humans and apes today?

The name Australopithecus literally means “the ape from the south.” These are not humans but apes. None of this has any connection to the biblical account of God’s creation of humans. The statement in Genesis 1:26, “Let us make man in our image…” does not refer to God’s physical image. God is a spirit (John 4:24). Genesis 2:7 describes man’s physical creation from “the dust of the earth.” The Bible does not tell us what that man looked like, how he was made, or how long it took.

Biblical critics and believers alike should not be concerned about the latest discovery by anthropologists claiming to be the ancestors of modern humans. Like all human endeavors, anthropology is fraught with errors and assumptions. Humans are unique as the only beings created in God’s image, a fact that anthropology does not address.

Reference: Science News February 2026, page 13

January 23, 2026January 17, 2026

Marriage and Contentment

It has been said that people need three things to be content: someone to love, something to do, and something to look forward to. The biblical institution of marriage dates back to God’s statement in Genesis 2:18: “It is not good for the man to be alone.” A study conducted by Dr. Brad Wilcox, professor of sociology and director of the National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia, has confirmed that statement. There is a strong link between marriage and contentment.

The number of people living alone is increasing quickly, and the study finds that this is a major reason for the decline in national happiness. One possible cause for this trend is that some people see marriage as linked to religious belief, yet over 40% of Americans claim no religious affiliation. Additionally, there has been a rise in the number of divorced individuals.

The survey indicates that happiness is closely tied to marriage and family. Married men between 18 and 55 report being about twice as happy as their unmarried counterparts, whereas unmarried fathers are the least happy. Married women with children report the highest happiness levels, while single mothers are the least happy. The research shows a 30-percentage-point gap in happiness levels between married and unmarried Americans. According to the study, marital status has a greater impact on happiness than income, education, race, or location. It also notes that those who cohabited before marriage have a significantly higher divorce rate. Marriage was defined as a legal contract between a man and a woman.

In Matthew 19:4-6, Jesus responded to a question from the Pharisees about marriage and divorce. He said that God created humans male and female and that marriage involves the two becoming one flesh. This description is not sexual but pertains to God’s plan for contentment and happiness. The studies by Wilcox and others have confirmed the validity of God’s plan and demonstrate the connection between marriage and contentment.

Reference: “Who Is Happiest?” Institute for Family Studies

January 21, 2026January 17, 2026

Insects Use Static Electricity

One interesting fact about the insect world is that there is no common thread connecting how each insect gets its food. You might think that if all bugs had a common origin, they would show strong similarities, with some bugs being superior because they are more highly evolved. Diversity maintains balance in the insect world, preventing any one insect from dominating. Recent studies have shown that insects use static electricity in various ways.

Some parasitic nematodes, tiny worms about the size of a pinpoint, use static electricity to jump 25 times their body length to land on a flying insect. We’ve all seen insects being blown by the wind, but what most of us haven’t noticed is the role of static electricity. A little physics helps explain why static electricity can influence nematode aerial movements. Coulomb’s Law includes a constant that describes the strength of static electricity. The gravitational constant is 6.67 x 10^-11, while the Coulomb constant is 9 x 10⁹, making the static electrical force 10²⁰ times stronger than gravity.

When a flying insect flaps its wings, it generates a positive charge. The nematodes can use this charge to leap through the air and attach to the insect, where they lay their eggs. The faster the insect beats its wings, the stronger the positive charge, and the easier it is for the nematodes to attach.

Static electricity helps many insects in various ways. Bees can sense electric fields around flowers and use them to guide their foraging. Spider webs deform toward positively charged flying insects, trapping them. Ticks are attracted by the static electricity in the fur coats of animals. Researcher Sam England expects to find that electrostatic effects “play countless roles throughout the natural world.”

The complexity of Earth’s biosystem is immense and hard to explain as a product of blind chance. God’s creative genius is evident in the very large, but is especially clear when we study the very small.

Reference: “Static Launch” in the January 2026 issue of Scientific American (pages 18-19) and scientificamerican.com

January 19, 2026January 17, 2026

The Curse of Minimalism

OK, you may not find “minimalism” in your dictionary, and Alexa didn’t like it. However, it is a problem in today’s world and an issue that Jesus Christ addressed. In Matthew 22:37, Jesus quoted Deuteronomy 6:5: “Love the Lord your God with ALL your heart, soul, and mind.” In today’s world, that kind of statement is frowned upon by many people. We hear things like: “Do I have to go to church to be saved?” “How much do I have to give when the collection plate passes?” “Am I going to hell if I drink a beer?” etc. Questions like these show a very poor understanding of what Christianity is all about and a great ignorance of what the Bible teaches. That is what I mean by the curse of minimalism.

Minimalism can also be destructive in other areas of our lives. How many of us would think or say, “What is the least I can do to have a happy marriage?” What would be the result if a parent does the minimum required in parenting? What happens in the workplace when employees do only what’s necessary to get by? Every manager or business owner knows how harmful attitudes like that can be.

The biblical teaching is very clear about the importance of avoiding minimalism. In ancient Israel, everyone was expected to set aside one day each week for prayer, study, and worship. The Sabbath was not a day of sleep, but a day away from the demands of everyday life. Imagine the impact of a person spending one-seventh of their time in service to others. We all have 168 hours each week, and one-seventh of that is 24 hours, or nearly 4 hours each day dedicated to serving others. The remaining 20 hours could be used for work, sleep, eating, and doing things we enjoy.

Most of us don’t really know what we do with our time. Try budgeting your time for a week. Set aside time to serve God and others, and make sure you get enough sleep, eat well, work, do chores, and enjoy your hobbies. You will find great rewards in escaping the curse of minimalism and in appreciating the gift of time that God has given us.

January 16, 2026January 14, 2026

The Ignorance of Modern Churchgoers

Postmodern America is searching for answers in all the wrong places, and this is evident both in churches and in the secular world. The Family Research Council (FRC) and the Cultural Research Center (CRC) surveyed 1,000 churchgoers, adults who attend Christian church services at least once a month. The survey found that the ignorance of modern churchgoers is significant.

Only 54% of churchgoers said they believe that the Bible is the true, inspired, and error-free Word of God. Only 61% can say that they believe in the God described in the Bible. Only 51% said the Bible speaks clearly on abortion, and only 47% said it is clear on homosexuality. When asked whether they prefer capitalism or socialism, 32% of churchgoers favored socialism.

Although 30% of those surveyed claimed to have a biblical worldview, the survey shows that only 11% actually do. CRC research director George Barna remarked, “This generation of churchgoers is increasingly unsure of what they believe—or why.” The challenge for church leaders is how to modify their education programs to confront this ignorance. Currently, the tendency is either to deny the problem or to offer a simplified, outdated explanation that doesn’t meet the needs of today’s young people.

The FRC findings indicate that there is “widespread confusion about the most basic truths of the Christian faith—about who God is, what sin is, and how someone is saved.” I would add to this list confusion over WHAT God is. The ignorance of modern churchgoers is troubling, and clearing up this confusion is what this ministry is about.

References: frc.org and arizonachristian.edu

January 14, 2026January 2, 2026

Butterfly Timing Discovery

If you read a textbook on the evolution of butterflies, you will see that the evolutionary model holds that butterflies appeared after flowering plants provided the pollen needed for their survival. There was no fossil evidence to definitively prove this model, but it made sense and fits the evolution model well. A recent discovery, however, has changed scientists’ understanding of butterfly timing.

New studies of coprolite from prehistoric plant-eating animals challenge this model. Coprolite is fossilized animal dung, and one such fossil found in Talampaya National Park in Argentina contains butterfly remains. This fossilized feces predates the existence of flowering plants. The question then is: what did the butterflies eat? The answer appears to be that plants of that era—mainly conifers and cycads—secreted droplets of a sugary substance that would have been an ideal food source for butterflies.

The key point is that the timing of butterfly emergence, based on the fossil record, does not support the traditional evolutionary model. There are many instances where accepted models of life development are contradicted by evidence, and this is another example. Insects are a vital food source for higher life forms, so the creation of various insects laid the foundation for later life. Like all of God’s timing in creation, butterfly timing was perfect.

We can learn much about the history of life on our planet by reading the biblical account, and even more by combining that with insights from the fossil record. One of our publications, titled “God’s Revelation in His Rocks and in His Word,” is available free at doesgodexist.org.

Reference: discovermagazine.com and Discover for January 2026, pages 10-11.

January 13, 2026December 31, 2025

Downy Woodpecker Dynamics

One of the interesting birds we see here in Michigan is the downy woodpecker. We have discussed before how woodpeckers avoid brain damage while hammering out insects embedded in trees. Watching downy woodpecker dynamics as they pound hundreds of times per minute with a force 30 times their body weight, you would expect them to have concussions. But the design of the woodpecker’s head and brain prevents brain damage.

Behavioral psychologist Nicholas Antonson at Brown University, with the help of colleagues, captured eight downy woodpeckers and examined the muscular and vascular systems that enable their unique behavior. The researchers found that these woodpeckers exhale with each strike, and their muscular system is coordinated with this breath control, resulting in consistent hammering.

Downy woodpecker dynamics require a complex muscular system, as neck muscles activate to pull the head back even before other muscles complete the forward motion. A hip muscle controls the power of the strike, while tail muscles brace the bird just before impact.

The muscles and breathing systems work at a rate of 13 times per second, with a 40-millisecond inhale period between each strike. This coordination of muscles and breath allows the woodpecker to find food, control insects, and communicate territorial claims to other woodpeckers. It also reflects God’s creative design of the systems in living things.

Reference: “Woodpecker hammering is a full-body affair” by Anna Gibbs in Science News, January 2026, page 21

January 12, 2026December 31, 2025

Water Stewardship in America

What is the most vital compound for human survival on Earth? The answer is water. We see water shortages in underdeveloped countries, and we know that water was a major concern for every nation in ancient times. The Roman government built massive aqueducts to transport water to its people, and ancient Israel’s kings survived by constructing tunnels and digging wells. How is our water stewardship in America?

How much water does it take to run an average home in America? The answer is 109,500 gallons per year, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The University of Montana reports it takes between 109,000 and 136,000 gallons of water to produce a ton of alfalfa hay for cattle feed. One gallon of milk requires 1000 gallons of water, but most of that goes toward growing the cattle feed. Producing a quarter-pound hamburger patty consumes 450 gallons of water, most of which is used to feed and water the cattle.

A significant portion of the water used in agriculture comes from wells in the Midwest, known as the “grain belt.” The Cambrian-Ordovician deep sandstone aquifer underlies this region. According to Wikipedia, “The water from the aquifer is being pumped up and drained by agriculture, commercial, and residential use that is unsustainable.” Many wells are drying up, and additional wells are being drilled deeper to meet the demands.

God told Adam, “Take care of the garden, dress it and keep it” (Genesis 2:15). Recently, humans have not been following that command. In some areas, injection wells are used to dispose of waste, often injecting it into the same aquifers that supply our drinking water. Can we become more efficient in our water use? There’s no doubt that we need to.

The teachings of Christ urge us to serve and care for others. Providing food and water to those in need is part of that. Christianity isn’t about church buildings or political activism. Taking care of the garden involves responsible water stewardship. God has given us the resources and wisdom to address this issue. We must live out Christian principles of love and service to others, and humanity’s future survival depends on teaching these principles to our youth.

January 7, 2026December 30, 2025

God’s Magic Bullet – Dsup

As scientists explore the design of life more deeply, they discover increasing evidence of God’s creative wisdom. God knew humans would encounter destructive agents like cancer and COVID and would require a weapon to overcome Satan’s work. Scientists may have found that weapon in a previously unknown protein in microscopic animals called tardigrades. This protein has been named “Damage Suppressor” or Dsup. We call it God’s magic bullet.

Tardigrades, also known as water bears or moss piglets, are incredible animals. Researchers have found these tiny creatures to be almost indestructible. Tardigrades can survive being placed in boiling water, frozen, or exposed to radiation levels 2000 times higher than what human cells can tolerate. They are the only animals known to survive in outer space. Scientists have wondered how this microscopic animal can endure conditions that would kill other animals or humans. The Dsup protein can bind along the entire length of the DNA molecule and act as a shield against attempts to damage it. That’s why it’s called the Damage Suppressor protein.

Dsup has enormous potential to treat diseases or disorders with a genetic component. Diseases that damage DNA include cancer, COVID, and even strokes and heart attacks. No Darwinian theory explains the origin of the tardigrade or the protein that could be key to curing diseases. Yesterday, we discussed the discovery of orphan genes that code for unique proteins that don’t fit the Darwinian pattern of small genetic changes leading to gradual evolution. The Dsup protein appears to be the result of one such orphan gene.

The Damage Suppressor protein might help us cure diseases, lessen DNA damage from chemotherapy and radiation, shield against radiation during space missions, and prevent crop damage on Earth. That’s why we call it God’s magic bullet.

Reference: TheConversation.com