Roland Earnst Archives

August 20, 2026August 17, 2026

Sardis: Dead Faith or Victorious Faith

In chapters 2 and 3 of the book of Revelation, Jesus addresses seven churches in Asia Minor, today’s Turkey. Archaeology in modern Turkey has uncovered artifacts in the ruins of those ancient cities, including Sardis.

Sardis was one of the seven cities Jesus addressed, and archaeologists recently uncovered a statue of a young man with well-preserved details. The statue is more than seven feet tall and dates to the fifth century B.C. Because it was buried face down, the face’s details were preserved. Although the statue was carved 2,500 years ago, during the Roman period it was used as part of street paving, with its back and the back of its head serving as paving stones. Details of the clothing are visible, and he appears to be holding a fruit in his hand.

Sardis was once the capital of the Lydian Kingdom and later became an important city in the Persian Empire. In the first century, when Revelation was written, it was part of the Roman Empire known as Asia Minor. Sardis was home to a Christian church that Jesus addressed in Revelation 3:1-6.

Jesus told the church in Sardis that they had a reputation for being alive, but they were dead. He said, “Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die.” He calls for them to obey and repent. Jesus reminded them that they did not know when He would come, but it was certain and would be like a thief taking them by surprise.

What would Jesus say to the Church today? He told the church in Sardis that a few people had not “soiled their clothes,” and they would walk with Him dressed in white. To those who overcome the world (are victorious in their faith), Jesus said He “will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life, but will acknowledge that name before my Father and His angels.”

Today, when our faith in God is tested by things of the world, Jesus encourages us to have a victorious faith. No matter how bad things may seem, God is still in control.

Reference: foxnews.com

August 19, 2026August 17, 2026

Random DNA Mutations

In the 1960s, Japanese biologist Motoo Kimura introduced the neutral theory of molecular evolution. It advanced the idea that most random DNA mutations are not driven by survival of the fittest but by pure chance. Now a team of scientists at the University of Michigan has published a new study saying that beneficial mutations arise more frequently than Kimura had believed. However, they say that a changing environment often prevents those mutations from spreading through an entire population. In other words, environments change more quickly than mutations can spread through populations.

Random DNA mutations arise by chance, and natural selection removes the unhelpful ones. The new study determined that only 1% of amino acid mutations are beneficial. That doesn’t sound like a very big percentage, but it is larger than what Kimura suggested. Even then, those mutations don’t spread to the entire population of a species.

To conduct this study, researchers at the University of Michigan used yeast cells, which live for only 3 hours. That brief generational time allowed them to study 1320 yeast populations over 800 generations using 100 different growth media to create different environments. Environmental changes effectively erased a mutation’s advantage before it could spread through an entire population. In addition, mutations that are beneficial in one environment are usually harmful in another.

In all research, random DNA mutations have not been shown to create new species or higher orders, but they do change and refine existing species. Even with mutations in yeast populations, whether they were beneficial or otherwise, the result was still yeast. The same could be said in other cases, such as dogs or cattle, where we can see mutations resulting in new variations among those animals, but they still remain dogs or cattle.

As we have said before, microevolution does not prove macroevolution. Even if the uncommon mutations are beneficial, they are often lost because they don’t spread through the entire population. Evolution cannot explain the diversity of life on planet Earth.

Reference: msn.com

August 17, 2026August 17, 2026

Trees Are Good for Your Health

Trees are good for your health. That’s the conclusion of various studies, including recent research in Chicago. Over 11 years, researchers analyzed annual satellite measurements of Chicago’s tree canopy and more than 220,000 death records from the health department. They found a correlation between tree canopy coverage and the number of deaths in those neighborhoods. The results were published in the journal GeoHealth in August 2026.

Trees bring us comfort, coolness, and beauty. The study found that in neighborhoods where the tree canopy was shrinking, death rates were climbing, and where the tree canopy was increasing, death rates fell. The researchers noted that you can’t say for certain that losing trees causes more people to die, but it’s interesting that the trends move together.

One reason increased tree canopy could lower summer death tolls is the cooling effect trees provide. In neighborhoods where trees provide more shade, the streets and homes are cooler. But other factors seem to be involved, because, according to the study, year-over-year percentage-point increases in tree canopy were tied to roughly a 10% drop in mortality.

The greatest reduction in health-related deaths was in three areas. Not surprisingly, two of those areas were cardiovascular and respiratory, which could be related to heat. The third area was mental-health-related deaths. What effect can trees have on mental health?

Could it be that the beauty of trees provides a certain amount of mental comfort to ease anxiety? Trees are good for your health, not just physical health. Trees provide shade, but they can also create a soothing, peaceful atmosphere. Trees absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen into the air. God has given us trees for many uses, including construction materials, fruits and nuts, and beauty. We could not live without trees.

Reference: livescience.com

August 13, 2026August 10, 2026

Helpless Newborn Babies

Anyone who has raised a child from infancy knows it’s a lot of work over several years and can be exhausting. When humans are born, they are far less developed than virtually any other mammal. Even the great apes are more developed at birth than humans. Helpless newborn babies have weak neck muscles, soft skulls, and underdeveloped brains. These traits change as the human brain becomes far more developed than that of any other animal, including the apes.

Helpless newborn babies require parents to spend much more time holding, caring for, and working with their infants. Why should human babies have soft heads and underdeveloped brains? One factor is the size and shape of the birth canal through which the skull must pass. Of course, the much larger brains that develop later give us the ability to do many things–not just walking upright but also reasoning, creating, and living out the life for which God designed us.

Gorillas, orangutans, chimpanzees, and bonobos are born more physically independent than human babies, and they also have less cranial deformity at birth. God must have a reason for requiring humans to be more involved in raising their offspring than other animals and primates. The responsibility of childcare and support is an essential part of becoming a human created in God’s image.

The Bible contains instructions for parents because God has given us a great responsibility. Raising those helpless newborn babies into productive adults is a great challenge for two parents in a solid marriage. It is not up to “the village” or the educational system or social media to bring our children to a point where they can be all that God intends for them to be. Parents can be thankful to God that He has allowed us to help form the next generation. (See Deuteronomy 6:5-7 and Ephesians 6:4.)

August 12, 2026August 10, 2026

QT45 and Origin of Life Research

Researchers at the Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, England, have synthesized an RNA polymerase, an enzyme that assembles RNA molecules. RNA is ribonucleic acid, an organic molecule necessary for replicating DNA, which is found in every living cell. QT45 is hailed as a step toward understanding the origin of life, but is it really?

Researchers called this RNA polymerase QT45 because it is “Quite Tiny” and has only 45 organic molecules called nucleotides. Most RNA polymerases have over 150 nucleotides. The researchers proudly point out that this RNA polymerase can replicate itself with “high accuracy.” UK Research and Innovation posted an article titled “Scientists’ chemical breakthrough sheds light on origin of life.” But that may be an exaggeration.

If the origin of life happened by chance without intelligent intervention, then this discovery proves nothing. Creating QT45 required several steps, at least three of which used advanced laboratory techniques. First, the researchers had to generate trillions of random RNA molecules. Then they had to apply eleven rounds of mutation and selection to obtain a few RNAs that could link a growing chain. Then they had to apply seven rounds of selection to improve performance. The bottom line is that this did not happen naturally. Furthermore, it could not have happened naturally.

As reported in Science and Culture in February of 2026, “Such highly specific conditions and highly orchestrated steps do not resemble any environmental conditions that could have ever existed.” Even if such conditions could have happened and QT45 formed naturally, it is still far from being a living cell. Life requires much more than the ability to replicate. It is far from a “chemical breakthrough” that “sheds light on the origins of life.” The origin of life remains a scientific mystery for those who reject the Bible. For more on this issue, use the link below.

Reference: scienceandculture.com

August 11, 2026August 10, 2026

Solar Eclipse Design

On August 12th, 2026, a total solar eclipse will pass over Greenland, Iceland, and northern Spain. A partial eclipse will be visible across parts of the northeastern United States just before 2:00 pm Eastern Daylight Time. Within the band where totality is visible, it will last up to two minutes and 18 seconds.

A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon blocks our view of the Sun. Because of the Moon’s unique size and distance from Earth, its shadow can almost precisely cover the Sun when they align. That precision allows us to briefly see the Sun’s corona, the outer atmosphere that extends millions of miles from the Sun’s surface. Normally, the corona is invisible because the bright light of the Sun’s photosphere, the visible surface, overwhelms it.

During a total solar eclipse, the corona and white streamers extending far from the Sun become visible. At the same time, pink loops, or prominences, can appear around the Moon’s edge. These are giant structures of ionized hydrogen plasma suspended above the Sun’s surface by its magnetic field. I know from experience that witnessing a total solar eclipse is exciti n g. More than that, it’s also an opportunity for scientific investigation. During such an eclipse in 1919, scientists confirmed Einstein’s theory that gravity can bend light.

We earthlings are blessed by the design of the Sun and Moon and their locations, allowing us to witness and be inspired by a total eclipse of the Sun. How can we know exactly when and where a solar eclipse or a lunar eclipse will appear and how long it will last? Only because of the design of our solar system. We can see solar eclipses and predict when they will occur because God has created a solar system that is predictable and well organized.

August 3, 2026August 2, 2026

The Pale Blue Dot

The picture above is the “Pale Blue Dot” photograph, taken by the Voyager 1 spacecraft on Valentine’s Day, February 14, 1990. At the time, Voyager 1 was 3.8 billion miles (6 billion km) from Earth and moving away. The camera was about to be shut down to save power, since it was not going to fly close to any planet as it was leaving the solar system. Before shutdown, the mission commander ordered the probe to take 60 images to form a “Family Portrait of the Solar System.” Thirty-four minutes after it took this picture, the camera was shut down forever. In the picture, the Sun is below, and the pale blue dot you can barely see in a sunbeam is planet Earth.

This year, prominent atheists became upset by astronaut Victor Glover’s words aboard Artemis 2 during its historic trip around the Moon. Some even expressed concern about the “separation of church and space.” However, when he spoke from space, he seemed to receive approval from the other astronauts, but not from atheists on the ground. Some of Glover’s words that apparently upset atheists include, “You’re on a spaceship called Earth that was created to give us a place to live in the universe. You are special. In all of this emptiness, this is a whole bunch of nothing, this thing we call the universe, you have this oasis, this beautiful place that we get to exist together.” The pale blue dot is not insignificant.

Why should those words distress anyone? Many early scientists explored creation because they believed in an orderly universe created by an intelligent God. Many astronauts have said that being in space gave them a spiritual experience as they realized that Earth reveals design and purpose. Many leading science popularizers have tried to tell us that science destroys Christian belief. Richard Dawkins, Bill Nye, Michael Shermer, Lawrence Krauss, and others have written popular books arguing that science makes belief in God unnecessary and implausible. The truth is that scientific discoveries continue to support belief in God and challenge atheism.

Astronomer Carl Sagan was partially responsible for the picture of the pale blue dot, and he popularized the term in his book by the same name. He wrote, “Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all its vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves.” He also said that Earth is such a tiny pale blue dot in the universe that it shows we have no privileged position in the cosmos. Sagan was a brilliant man, but he overlooked the fact that Someone did come from elsewhere to save us. Victor Glover knows that is true. He said that we are not a lonely cosmic accident, but instead, we are loved, and those who believe in Jesus Christ agree.

July 15, 2026July 14, 2026

How Many Insect Species?

You probably think insects are everywhere, and you would be correct. You will not find a single home in the United States, or anywhere else, that does not have ants, beetles, or spiders. The truth is that we could not live without insects because they fill many beneficial roles in the ecosystem. For the past four decades, scientists have estimated that there are about six million insect species. However, a new study published in June 2026 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) has revised that estimate upward – a lot! How many insect species are there?

Nobody knows for sure, but the new research estimates that there are 14 to 20 million species. That is SPECIES, not the total number of insects. There are “thousands of billions” of individual ants crawling around the planet. Coming up with a total number of individual insects would be impossible, but the number far exceeds the number of people. Don’t let that bother you because they are essential to life on this planet.

The diversity of insects is also amazing. Some are so small we may not even see them. Some fly, and others crawl. We never see some of them because they live as parasites inside other insects. Many clean up organic waste in our environment. Others pollinate our crops. I am sure there are some that you would rather do without, such as flies and mosquitoes, but even they have a purpose. At the same time, you probably appreciate the beauty of butterflies.

One thing is certain. Insects are the most diverse and pervasive group of animals. Only God knows how many insect species there are, but those who study them are discovering new species every year.

Reference: popsci.com

July 14, 2026July 13, 2026

What Is a Star-Filled Sky Worth?

What is a star-filled sky worth? When David wrote his psalms, he sat under a star-filled sky without the problem of light pollution from city lights, satellites, or reflective mirrors in the sky. What would it be like if there were tens of thousands of mirrors in low Earth orbit reflecting sunlight down onto various dark areas of the planet?

A California company called Reflect Orbital (we reported on it earlier) hopes to put at least 50,000 mirrors in orbit by 2035 to reflect sunlight onto various customers on Earth’s surface. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has just given them permission to test the idea by launching their first space mirror into orbit.

Ben Nowak, the CEO of Reflect Orbital, suggests endless possibilities with sunlight not limited by geography or time of day. His company’s website says it could help search-and-rescue teams locate a missing person much more quickly. Another suggestion is that a city could have evenly lit streets without carbon emissions from electric-powered streetlights. Furthermore, construction projects could be completed in half the time because the crews could work safely through the night. And, of course, they also suggest mirrors reflecting sunlight onto solar arrays could extend their electricity-generating ability and reduce the use of fossil fuels.

The question is, what is a star-filled sky worth? Many people visit dark-sky locations to enjoy the stars and the Milky Way at night. The Colorado Plateau in the southwestern United States spans Colorado, Arizona, Utah, and New Mexico and is home to many of the best dark-sky locations. Places like Grand Canyon National Park, Zion National Park, Great Basin National Park, Arches National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, Canyonlands National Park, and Natural Bridges National Monument are locations where visitors see the night sky without major light pollution.

So far, the emphasis has been on the economic advantages that could be derived from placing mirrors in space to direct sunlight into various locations. But a team of researchers is attempting to put an economic price on the cost of the loss of dark skies and the impact on tourism. They’re concerned about the “decline in visitor satisfaction when environmental quality deteriorates.” Another factor that must be considered is the effect on wildlife in areas where those mirrors are beamed and the circadian rhythm of animals, plants, and people from the diffused light that is scattered out into a larger area. God has given us a beautiful night sky that the psalmist was able to enjoy thousands of years ago. It is already disappearing. Will that be completely lost to coming generations? What is a star-filled sky worth?

References: space.com HERE and HERE

July 13, 2026July 11, 2026

Creating Synthetic Life

On July 1st, 2026, the New York Times science story of the day was titled “This Cell Feeds, Grows and Reproduces. And it’s Manmade.” The story described a new effort to create a living cell from nonliving materials. Dr. Kate Adamala, a synthetic biologist, and a team of researchers at the University of Minnesota developed a synthetic cell with some of the capabilities of living cells. She calls it a SpudCell because, under the microscope, it looks like a potato, though much smaller, of course. Is this the breakthrough to creating synthetic life?

This project involved selecting about 100 protein types and simple molecules required by living cells and combining them into a molecular soup under laboratory conditions. The researchers also added genes borrowed from a virus and from E. coli bacteria. They selected 36 genes to perform basic functions, including copying DNA. After mixing these ingredients in the soup, they added building blocks to form membranes, since cells need them to hold their contents together. The bubbles that simulated membranes sometimes enclosed the right mix of genes, proteins, and other molecules needed to initiate some of the chemical reactions that occur in cells.

Then the researchers added “food.” As the cells were fed, they began to grow. Finally, the scientists added a special protein that caused the cells’ surface to bend, splitting them into two and producing a pair of molecules that kept growing. To simulate evolution, the researchers created mutated cells and mixed them with the original SpudCells. The mutated cells competed for food until the mutants eventually outnumbered the originals, thereby driving evolution.

Perhaps the biggest problem with the SpudCells is that they cannot make ribosomes, which are necessary to produce new proteins. The researchers had to add ribosomes, but in five to 10 generations, the ribosomes became defective and the cells “died.”

The result of this procedure for creating synthetic life is a very simple, cell-like structure capable of some of the functions of living cells. However, this “cell” came into being only because of the hard work of several researchers who supplied the necessary materials, none of which they had created. It seems to show that, with enough pre-created materials and precise scientific procedures, a simple cell-like structure can be created by intelligent agents. It does not show that life can create itself. The Bible told us long ago that an intelligent Agent has created time, space, and matter/energy and assembled some of the matter into living beings.

Despite what The New York Times or any other media outlet might indicate, this project does not make faith in God obsolete or disprove His existence. It demonstrates that the creation of life is not an accident. Dr. Adamala and Dr. Drew Endy, a synthetic biologist at Stanford University, have created a nonprofit organization called Biotic. The purpose is to share this process for creating synthetic life with other scientists to further improve it. Biotic will likely be in the news for years as it tries to perfect a living cell. Their first meeting of scientists is scheduled for Philadelphia in September 2026. Hundreds of leading scientists are expected to join, and Dr. Edy estimates they will spend hundreds of millions of dollars over the next decade to create synthetic life.

References: nytimes.com, biotic.org, and biorxiv.org