Tag: Roland Earnst

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Can’t Get That Song Out of My Head

Can't Get That Song Out of My Head -Yellowhammer Singing
Have you ever had a song stuck in your head? Sometimes we hear a song, and it seems to keep ringing in our brains for days. It may be a song we love. Sometimes it’s an annoying song that we can’t stand but can’t forget. Advertisers often use jingles in their commercials hoping that their little songs will keep haunting us until we buy their products. Whether good or bad, I can’t get that song out of my head.

I can be thankful that whatever the song is, it will eventually go away–and be replaced by another one. Imagine what it would be like if you had only one song for your whole life. More than that, imagine that your children and future descendants still had that same song. That could be the description of the life of a songbird.

We love to hear songbirds, and with a little effort, we can learn to identify different species of birds by their songs. That’s because, for the most part, each species has its unique song that it passes on from generation to generation.

Songbirds are born with a song stored in their brains. As the birds grow, they learn to match their vocal patterns to the song in their heads. Even if a baby bird never hears its parents sing, and although surrounded by the songs of other species, it will still learn to sing the song that its parents sang. There are a few species of birds that can imitate the songs of other birds, or even human voices and other sounds. Those birds are born with a different program built into their brains that gives evidence of a creative Designer of life.

When I can’t get that song out of my head, I can start singing or listening to a different song. Humans have that ability because the Designer has given us a creative capacity. That’s part of being created in the image of a creative God. But what if all people made their houses precisely the same way? Besides singing the songs of its parents, a bird will build only the same kind of nest its parents made. You would have to say that Someone also stored the nest-building instruction book in the bird’s brain.

Is it possible that an intelligent Designer drew up the nest plans and created the songs and placed them in the bird’s DNA? Generation after generation, the song and nest data are pre-programmed for the birds to follow. Remember that the One who drew the nest blueprints and wrote the songs and programmed them into the tiny brains of those birds is the One whose, “eye is on the sparrow” and furthermore, “I know He watches me.” (Matthew 10:29-31)
–Roland Earnst © 2018

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Crop Circles and Design

Crop Circles and Design
“It’s hard for me to believe that we are alone in this vast collection of stars in our universe. This could be the expression of consciousness itself or perhaps a communication from intelligent life letting us know we are not alone.” That was a statement made by someone concerning crop circles as reported by National Geographic.

Crop circles are patterns, generally circles, that appear mysteriously overnight in farmer’s fields. The photograph shows one in Switzerland. They are made by pressing down the crops, usually wheat or another grain, to form a geometric design that can be seen from the air. Some people believe that aliens from some other planet must have made them. They do seem to defy the ability of someone on the ground to create the intricate patterns without being able to see the whole thing.

Other people believe that mystical forces beyond our understanding created them. “The expression of consciousness itself” as the person quoted above expressed. Still, others know how they were made because they made them. The same National Geographic article showed a picture of a team of self-confessed crop circle artists in Dorchester, England.

Crop circle artists accomplish their work with surveyor’s measuring tape, ropes, and sometimes lasers. They smash the crops flat with boards. Many times the artists want to keep their work secret because they are trespassing on private property and injuring a farmer’s crop.

In some areas such as Wiltshire, England, crop circles have become a tourist attraction. Wiltshire is the home of Stonehenge and the Avebury Stone Circles, and you can buy crop circle postcards in the Henge Shop in Avebury. It isn’t just the stone circles that attract tourists, and money, to Wiltshire. Thousands come to see the crop circles. Farmers are not always happy to have people wandering in their fields, but others are making money, including documentary filmmakers and travel agencies.

The point is that everyone recognizes that an intelligence of some kind has created the crop circles. They may think that it was intelligent space aliens or some mystic consciousness, or they may know the human artists who actually made them. When we see obvious design, we know that it could not have happened by accident. Crop circles give evidence of design and therefore intelligence.

How much more is that true of the universe and our planet and the life on it. Can we believe that everything around us, which is much more complex than crop circles, shows no evidence of design? Or is a better explanation that the universe was designed by an Intellect far beyond what it takes to create crop circles?
–Roland Earnst © 2018

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Multi-purpose Robot Design

Multi-purpose Robot Design
The versatility of the human body is truly amazing. Think of all the things that humans can do. We can walk, jump, climb, and run. We can lift, throw, catch, and push. Our fingers, hands, arms, and legs can do many wonderful things. They can even do multiple different kinds of things, sometimes at the same time. Consider all of the things your mouth can do. You use your mouth to talk, sing, eat, drink, blow, kiss, and smile. Robot designers have not been able to create a robot that can do everything the human body can do. Perhaps taking a cue from the “Transformers” movies, some engineers want to develop a multi-purpose robot design.

The job is not easy. Some are experimenting with the idea of creating heat-activated origami suits that serve as exoskeletons for a robot to allow it to do different tasks. The robot would change costumes to “transform” itself. Just as crawling caterpillars morph into flying butterflies, the goal is to create a robot that transforms itself by taking on a different form as it applies a different suit. The director of the project at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory said, “With this metamorphosis-inspired approach, we can extend the capabilities of a single robot by giving it different accessories to use in different situations.”

It sounds like a very challenging task to create a self-morphing robot. However, changing an outer shell to give the robot different functions is not the same as the metamorphosis of a caterpillar. In a way that is beyond robot engineering, the caterpillar dissolves into mush then reorganizes into something completely different. It doesn’t merely take on a new shell. This worm with no real brain does something that the brightest engineering designers can’t accomplish.

Getting back to the versatility of the human body, that has to be the most significant engineering accomplishment ever. We can do a countless number of different things. Then using the brain that God gave us, we can create tools (even robots) to accomplish the tasks we don’t have the strength or stamina to do. Multi-purpose robot design is a worthy challenge requiring the versatile abilities that only God could give us.

The Journal Science Robots reported on “Robotic metamorphosis by origami exoskeletons” which you can read HERE.
–Roland Earnst © 2018

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Colorado Civil Rights Commission Is Targeting Jack Phillips – Again!

Colorado Civil Rights Commission Is Targeting Jack Phillips – Again!
The state of Colorado refuses to stop harassing Jack Phillips for his Christian faith. A few months ago we reported on how the Colorado Civil Rights Commission is targeting Jack Phillips. Mr. Phillips owns a business called Masterpiece Cakeshop. Jack is an artist, and he expresses his art in finely-crafted cakes for special occasions. Jack and his wife are also deeply committed Christians, and the “Master” in the cakeshop’s name reflects his master, Jesus Christ. He wants every piece of art he designs to reflect his faith as he serves others.

Six years ago a same-sex couple asked him to create a cake for their wedding. He respectfully declined because doing so would violate his deeply-held religious conviction that marriage is between a man and a woman. He would create a cake for those customers for another occasion, but not for their wedding. The Colorado Civil Rights Commission punished him severely and accused him of acting like the Nazi’s or the segregationists of the past. You can read our report on that HERE.

After years of litigation, in June 2018 the United States Supreme Court ruled in favor of Jack Phillips by a vote of 7 to 2. (We reported on that HERE.) Phillips was freed from years of legal troubles. But not for long. The Colorado Civil Rights Commission is targeting Jack Phillips again.

On the day the Supreme Court took up his case in June of 2017, an attorney called the Masterpiece Cakeshop. He requested Jack to create a cake for him that was blue on the outside and pink on the inside to celebrate his gender transition from male to female. Jack’s Christian faith told him that he could not do that, and he politely declined. The lawyer filed a complaint with the Colorado Civil Rights Commission. The commission did not act on that complaint until after they had lost the first case before the Supreme Court.

After losing the first legal battle, the Colorado Civil Rights Commission is targeting Jack Phillips again. Obviously, the lawyer who requested the blue and pink cake was setting him up. (The lawyer later called requesting a cake celebrating Satan.) It is just as apparent that the state of Colorado is out to destroy Jack’s business and attack his faith. The Alliance Defending Freedom has filed a lawsuit against the state officials and filed a preliminary injunction with a federal court to stop the harassment by the state.

You can read more about this on the ADF website HERE and HERE.
–Roland Earnst © 2018

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Natural Disaster and God

Natural Disaster and God Every time natural disaster strikes anywhere in the world, people tend to blame God for what happened. The current examples are the hurricane in the panhandle of Florida, and the catastrophic earthquake in Indonesia. What atheists and skeptics fail to realize about natural disasters is that the vast majority of catastrophes are due to human ignorance and mismanagement. Both of the current crises demonstrate that point.

The major loss of life and devastation in Indonesia is in an area that was built on a restored landfill. Gravel, sand, and dirt were brought in to make living space for what were mostly poor workers and laborers. Engineers have warned for a very long time that the land under the highly populated area was unstable, and the earthquake was enough to cause that land to move in a significant way. You could call this a human-designed natural disaster.

In America, we have the same situation in New Orleans and Los Angeles. New Orleans is built on an area that is soft and prone to flooding, and part of the city is even below sea level. Los Angeles is built in an earthquake active area riddled with faults. It isn’t a question of whether a severe earthquake will happen in the Los Angeles area, it is just a question of when. There will be a catastrophe when that happens, and God will be blamed for causing it.

Hurricane Michael is a demonstration of another human-caused natural disaster. One of the designs of our planet is the method which brings water to areas that would otherwise be a desert. At the equator, the direct sunlight evaporates ocean water which falls as rain causing tropical rain forests. The remaining dry air moves north or south in what is called the “Hadley Cells.” When that dry air cools and returns Earth’s surface at 30 degrees latitude, it produces desert conditions. Most of the world’s great deserts are found at 30 degrees north or south latitude–the Sahara, the Australian Outback, the Mohave, etc.

In the southeastern United States, 30 degrees north latitude runs through northern Florida. That area would be a desert were it not for hurricanes. The heating of the ocean in the summer is sufficient to lift massive amounts of water which are then carried to the land restoring lakes, rivers, and underground aquifers. Without that large water supply system, that area would be a desert like the Sahara. The land area around the Gulf of Mexico in its pristine state had barrier beaches and mangrove forests that moderated the wind and storm surge. When I was a child living in Alabama, we looked forward to “hurricane parties” when we would “button down” and enjoy not having to work. The storm’s damage was limited, and even the storm surge was never a problem. That was 80 years ago.

Since that time, we have modified the shoreline stripping the barrier beaches of vegetation, and building houses where they are easily destroyed by water or wind. Even the vast mangrove swamps that were a buffer to storms have been removed, and channels have been built lined with aluminum houses, golf courses, and boat facilities. It was an invitation for a natural disaster.

We are sympathetic to those who have suffered because of the greed and foolishness of city planners and real estate salespeople. But don’t blame God for the foolishness of human actions.
–John N. Clayton © 2018

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Does God Exist?

Does God Exist
Perhaps the most important question you will ever ask is, “Does God exist?” The answer you give to that question determines your purpose and outlook on life.

When we look at our universe, our galaxy, and our planet rich with life, we are looking at things that were designed for a purpose. Design gives evidence of a Designer. Purpose gives evidence of a reason for our existence. To believe that everything in the universe came into existence and achieved its present state by chance requires more faith than believing in an intelligent Creator God.

Fifty years ago this month a former atheist, John N. Clayton began the DOES GOD EXIST? project. John is a professional science teacher who came to believe in God as a result of his study in science. The project has continued for half-a-century through lectureships, seminars, publications; and, most recently, websites.

Three years ago, we began a Facebook page which reaches people all over the world with a daily reminder of the amazing design and purpose in the world. In January of 2017, we began daily postings on this website DoesGodExist.tody? About a year ago we started sending weekly emails to those who request to be on our email list. The emails are called “The Best of the Week from DOES GOD EXIST?” They feature links to the previous week’s most popular posts on our Facebook page and this website. This gives people who may not have time to read our posts every day a chance to see what others think are the six best posts from the previous week.

DOES GOD EXIST? is a non-profit program that never asks for money, although we gladly accept donations. This project has continued through the faithful support of many people who believe that God does exist and that Jesus Christ came as God in human flesh to open the way to a relationship with our Creator. If you like our daily Facebook postings, there is just one thing we ask–click the “share” button to share our posts with your friends. If you like our daily posts on this website, tell others about them. We also have other websites and a quarterly printed publication.

We want to continue to remind people daily that there is meaning and purpose in life because we were created by a God who loves us and put us here for a purpose.
–Roland Earnst © 2018
For access to videos and other materials, click HERE.
For our children’s publications, click HERE.
For our Facebook page, click HERE.
To donate, click HERE.

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Design In Nature

Design In Nature
When a person says that the mindless forces of evolution can easily explain everything that appears to be design in nature, you have to wonder if that person understands the principles of statistics.

From a statistical standpoint the more parameters that exist, the less likely it is that a desired final result will occur. The odds of a single coin flipped into the air and landing on heads is one in two or 1/2. What are the odds of five flipped coins landing heads up? That would be 1/2 multiplied by itself five times. The answer is one in thirty-two or 1/32. If you throw fifty coins up at the same time, the chance of all fifty showing heads is so small as to be considered impossible. (Multiply 1/2 fifty times.)

In nature, we see situations where the odds would be equivalent to throwing a million (or more) coins up and having them all land on heads. There is no way that an open-minded, thinking person can begin to entertain the idea that blind chance can explain such events.

Books and movies on nature often use a phrase like “nature planned…” or “evolution engineered…” or “genetic forces created…” some natural phenomenon. If you truly believe that the forces that created and designed the universe with our planet and everything on it are “mindless, blind, mechanistic chance,” then you can’t attach words that indicate wisdom, purpose, design, engineering, or creativity.

The design in nature is hard to miss. It has to be rooted in the mind of a Designer. Some things are just beyond what mere chance can do.
–Roland Earnst © 2018

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See Through Objects

See Through Objects
How is it possible for us to see through objects (like air, water, and windows) and not through others (like wood, steel, and window blinds)?

Light is a form of electromagnetic wave energy oscillating in a particular frequency range and energy level. There are many more frequencies (and energy levels) in the spectrum of electromagnetic waves. X-rays are electromagnetic waves at a higher frequency than light. Radio waves from cell phones, radio, and Bluetooth devices are also electromagnetic waves at a lower frequency than light. We can’t see the waves that are above or below light frequencies because our eyes were not designed to see them.

We say that an object is opaque if we can’t see through it and transparent when we can see through it. When some light passes through an object, we say that it is translucent. Wood is opaque to visible-light frequencies, but it is transparent to electromagnetic waves in other frequency ranges. For that reason, we can listen to the radio or use our cell phones or wi-fi inside our houses. Our bodies are partially transparent to X-rays. That allows doctors to use X-rays to check for broken bones.

If our eyes were sensitive to radio waves and not light frequencies, we would be able to see through most solid objects. Then we would not only lose our car keys, but we would also lose our car–and our house too! The things we need to see would be invisible, and all of the electromagnetic waves around us would fill our vision with confusion.

Electromagnetic waves of different frequencies can pass through some materials but not others because of their wavelengths and the energy levels of the electrons in the atoms of the materials. So X-rays can pass through skin and muscle better than through bones. Radio waves can pass through wood, but not through steel. Light can pass through clear glass, but not wood or steel or cookie dough.

The complexity of this system allows us to see those things we need to see, like solid objects that our bodies cannot pass through. It also enables us to see through objects that we can pass through, like the air or water. It even allows us to see through objects which can protect us, like glass windows in our homes and cars. At the same time, it enables us to have cell phones, MRIs, and wireless headphones which use electromagnetic waves that can pass through objects without being seen. This very complex system took some incredible engineering by a Master Engineer.
–Roland Earnst © 2018

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CLEVER Planets

CLEVER Planets Include Earth
We have often mentioned many of the conditions that must exist to make a planet habitable. The number is large and growing as science learns more about Earth’s special life-supporting features. Now NASA has awarded $7,700,000 to Rice University to conduct a five-year study to see what it takes to create a “recipe for a habitable planet.” The project has been named CLEVER Planets, an acronym for Cycles of Life-Essential Volatile Elements in Rocky Planets.

The award comes from NASA’s Nexus for Exoplanet System Science (NexSS). The research team will include experts in astrophysics, atmosphere and climate science, geology, geochemistry, geophysics, and organic chemistry. The investigators are from Rice University, NASA’s Johnson Space Center, the University of California-Davis, UCLA, and the University of Colorado-Boulder. This will be the most in-depth study of what it takes to create a habitable planet.

The lead investigator of CLEVER Planets, Rajdeep Dasgupta of Rice, wrote: “A recipe for life as we know it requires essential elements like carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen, phosphorus, and sulfur.” Of course, that is not all that is required to create a recipe for a life-supporting planet. There are also many other conditions including liquid water, the right temperature with stable conditions, a proper atmosphere, and shielding from dangerous radiation. Having an atmosphere requires a planet of the right size to have the right amount of gravity to sustain an atmosphere. To have liquid water and the right temperature requires that the planet must be the right distance from the right kind and size of star. The planet needs a magnetic field to shield from dangerous particles coming from the star. To have a magnetic field, there must be magnetic elements inside the planet. The list goes on and on.

We look forward to seeing the results of the CLEVER Planets study five years from now. The bottom line is that it is very, very difficult to get all of the right ingredients required to create the recipe for a habitable planet. Earth is an exceptional place in the universe.

It seems doubtful that we will find any other planet similar to Earth. But as we have said before, if there is any form of life anywhere else in the universe, that has nothing to do with the existence of God. We believe in a God who can do anything He chooses to do in keeping with His nature.
–Roland Earnst © 2018

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What Is Light?

What Is Light?
A question that scientists cannot fully solve is the nature of light. What is light? Is it a wave or is it a particle?

Light has wave properties. It travels in straight lines, but it can be reflected from objects like mirrors, or refracted as it travels through objects like water or glass. Different frequencies of light waves are bent in varying amounts by a prism to show the colors of the spectrum. Light, like sound waves, can travel through gases (air), through liquids (water), or through solids (glass).

But light can also do something that waves normally cannot do. Light can travel through empty space. Because of that and other properties of light, we say that light consists of particles called photons, which act as if they have mass. Photons can knock electrons out of crystals in what we call the photoelectric effect. That’s how solar panels generate electricity from sunlight. So light in motion seems to have mass since it can pass through a vacuum or knock electrons out of their orbit. However, when we stop light, it has no mass. If you shine a light on an object, the light doesn’t make the object any heavier.

What is light? While science ponders that question, we use light every day, and we couldn’t live without it. The question of how light can have properties of both a wave and a particle has baffled scientists for centuries. Even though that answer to that question may never be fully understood, we continue to enjoy and use it every day.

We can see that the simple phrase “let there be light” (Genesis 1:3) is an incredibly complex command.
–Roland Earnst © 2018