MAY 20, 2005:
The little spider is only mentioned once in the
whole Bible! Proverbs 30:28 says:
"The spider taketh hold with her hands, and is in kings'
palaces."
However I learned something about her a few days
ago.
Scientists have been studying the silk spiders
produce. You know, for their webs. It is quite
different from the silk produced even by silkworms.
Spiders not only produce more different kinds of silk ... but it
is stronger and more flexible than that of their little wormy
friends!
I have been told that spider silk is actually
stronger (ounce for ounce) that steel itself! Plus ... it
stretches!
It is believed that if man can ever crack the
"code" the little spiders use in making this substance ... he
might be able to so duplicate it for human use!
Like stronger and lighter building materials!
(Aviation engineers would like to hear about that! Lighter
and more durable airplanes!)
And even for clothing that is not heavy ... but
much tougher than anything we've ever worn ... maybe even
bulletproof!
My, what we can learn from the little animals God
CREATED!
Godless evolutionists have trouble explaining
such miraculous findings!
Of course their "stock" answer must be just these
words: "It happened by pure chance! Blind fate!
Natural selection!"
How about "Divine Creation!"
I believe I like God's explanation better!
"But ask now the beasts, and they shall
teach thee; and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee:
or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee: and the fishes
of the sea shall declare unto thee." (Job 12:7-8)
Tell us what?
About God and His mighty power and wisdom and
love!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
APRIL 15, 2005:
I was this week reading in a little science book
written by a Christian engineer who has an impeccable background
in astronomy.
He made this series of statements:
"Matter occurring in space is no different from
that of which the earth is made, but it is subject to conditions
unobtainable on earth. Pressure and density can be so
extreme as to be totally unknown on earth.
Matter (atoms and electrons) can be so tightly packed that the
total mass of the earth could be compressed into a thimble. On
the other hand, space can be so empty that a cubic meter (think
... a cubic "yard") contains only one atom of hydrogen!"
Did you get what he just said?
Putting all the earth (by compacting its
molecules and atoms) into a little thimble!
Or spreading it out to what looks like infinity!
Talk about pressure (or the lack of it)!
What makes the universe's pressure upon planet
Earth just right ... so that it perfectly holds together,
encircling the sun every 364.25 days and supporting life?
Why does not this sphere on which we live scatter
like dust throughout the solar system?
Well, the Bible has the answer to that question!
Then ... last year ... I read this. Again,
in a science book. The author said that if the speed of
the little electrons each circling their nucleus should decrease
marginally ... the atom would not hold together. It
would collapse!
Then he added that if those same electrons should
increase in speed ... infinitesimally so ... the
atoms would disintegrate, separating from the core outward!
Again I ask, what makes that electron speed just
right?
The answer to both questions:
The Lord Jesus Christ!
I'll prove that from the Bible.
Paul teaches us about Jesus in Colossians 1:17
and says --- "And He is before all things,
and by Him all things consist."
See that?
By Him ... "all things
consist!"
That little Greek verb "consist" is spelled "sunistao."
It combines their main verb for "stand" ("histemi") and the
prefix (preposition) meaning "with" or "together" ("sun" in
Greek)!
Jesus makes all things stand together!
Or hold together!
He's why they have "cohesion!"
He is the Reason the earth does not implode ...
or scatter!
He is the Reason atoms still function ... with
their little negatively charged electrons obeying His "speed
limit" every second of their allowed time!
Wow!
If one believes this ... Jesus is the very Source
of life! The very Center of the universe! He is All!
Everything! Very God of Very God!
And to that I'll say a hearty AMEN!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
JANUARY 19, 2005 (ON A COLD
WEDNESDAY MORNING FROM A MOTEL ROOM IN KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE):
Today I'd like to tell you about the little
animal we commonly call the "dragonfly."
Old American folklore also designates these
little creatures as "snake doctors." This is based upon a
legend that they could care for sick (nearly dead) snakes and
revive them to "health!"
They don't sting. They don't bite either
(not humans, anyway). But they do have teeth! More
about that later.
And they do fly. In fact, they are superb
aviators. They can outmaneuver any of their enemies in
aerial combat! They have been "clocked" at a flight speed
of 35 miles per hour! They can "take off" backward, turn "unbanked"
in an instant, come to a dead stop (hovering) in a split second,
and even somersault in the heat of aerial battle! (One
third to one half of their body weight is dedicated to its
flight muscles!) Wind tunnel tests have actually shown the lift
power of their little wings to produce a vortex similar to a
miniature tornado!
Technically girl dragonflies are called
"damselflies!"
They live in a small nesting area usually
overlooking a pond somewhere. And they "hunt" from the
air. They eat enough mosquitoes (300 or more a day) to
have earned the nickname "mosquito hawk!"
That's where their "teeth" again come into view.
They catch and "grind" flies and mosquitoes by the hundreds
every day! Read eating machines!
And what eyesight they have! They can see
nearly 360 degrees at once! Each of its little eyes has up
to 30,000 lenses!
There are about 500 known species of these little
fellows ... with a new one or two still being discovered every
year! God's creation is so vast that we have not yet (in
all 6,000 years of human history) fathomed it!
These amazing little insects are much too
complicated and intricately "designed" to have simply evolved as
a stroke of fate (or luck) or chance or whatever else the
Darwinian scientist might call it.
They argue for a living Almighty God Who is
Creator as well as Redeemer of lost mankind! More
accurately, the Lord will some day (upon His return) redeem this
whole earth, removing the curse of original sin!
These astounding little "dragonflies" are
certainly one of the growing arguments today used for what's
today coming to be called "Intelligent Design." They could
not have just "happened!" However I'll just keep calling
Him (That Intelligent Designer) my Lord and Saviour, Jesus
Christ!
But ... one more little thing. (And I
almost hate to mention it. This little being is so
"cute.") The dragonfly is an invertebrate! That
means he has no "backbone!"
He is harmless to you and me ... but has no
backbone!
He is a dynamic pilot ... but has no backbone!
He is a wonderful mate to his "wife" ... but has
no backbone!
He is lovely to watch as he skillfully operates
... but, again, has no backbone.
Did you know there are folks down at church (and
on your job and at your next family reunion too) who are
relatively harmless, kind and gentle in nature, pleasant
associates ... who also have no backbone?
Who will not "stand" for anything!
Who lack "conviction" and "strength" to do right
whatever the cost!
I must close this Article. In fact I may
have veered in a direction I had not originally intended here.
But let us all pray ... "Lord give us courage and
strength and backbone ... to stand for Thee in these present
evil days! In Jesus' Name, Amen."
Paul's famous words apply here I think:
"And having done all, to stand."
Ephesians 6:13
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
JANUARY 8, 2005, SATURDAY:
Some of the discoveries mankind is making seem
almost unbelievable!
I just learned they have found a little hornet
that generates electricity ... all on its own!
It's a member of the Oriental hornet family.
Scientists have wired six of them together and
tapped their electrical energy ... and then they ran a digital
watch for a short period of time. They (the hornets) became the
watch's power source, its battery!
This was discovered by entomologists at Tel Aviv
University!
The outer skeleton (or skin) of the hornet can
absorb sunlight, converting it into electricity, which it then
stores in other parts of its body!
They have also learned that this cuticle (skin
layer) best generates when the hornet is at its normal body
temperature, not too hot or cold!
Now, excuse me, but that sounds like "design" to
my ears!
I believe in God as Creator as well as Redeemer!
Voltages have ranged as high as several hundred
millivolts and current has actually been registered at several
tenths of an amp!
A living flying electrical generator!
Researchers do not yet know HOW the hornet does
this!
This makes me want to say along with Psalm 75:1
--- "Unto thee, O God, do we give thanks,
unto thee do we give thanks:
for that thy name is
near thy wondrous works declare."
And that little hornet is one of those "wondrous
works" of God!
Amen!
(By the way, the "sun" light that little hornet
ingests from the SUN is a picture of what we Christians are to
do with the Saviour, Jesus Christ the Sun of Righteousness!
That's what Malachi 4:2 calls Him! And once we Believers
have soaked in Jesus' love and warmth all day ... there should
be some power in our lives too!)
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
DECEMBER 14, 2004, TUESDAY:
It is a matter of recognized fact that the moon
is receding from the earth a small distance each year. It
is now measured to be about four centimeters annually. I
calculated that with my little measuring rod and learned that a
4cm span equals a little over an inch and a half.
So what, preacher?
A moon over 239,000 miles away (the average for a
twelve month cycle) distancing itself from earth less than two
inches a year is inconsequential to us all!
Maybe ... but here's something to think about.
Evolutionists say the earth is billions and
billions of years old.
If they are right (which they aren't) ... then they have a big problem!
That would have put the moon so close to the
earth it touched! Wow! That alone would have caused
something called "tidal friction" and would have "melted all the
earth's rocks" according to one science source I studied.
That didn't happen!
If the moon is getting 2 inches further away from
us each year ... that fact alone disproves an earth as old as
the Bible-denying evolutionists say!
We live on a earth (encircled by a moon) that was
created by an Almighty God just as Genesis tells us!
And one can begin to "prove" that fact with a
small measuring stick!
No wonder Job encouraged us to
"speak to the earth, and it shall teach
thee: and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee"
things concerning wisdom! (Job 12:8)
I believe I will just stick with the Bible ...
and not man-made theories on human origins!
Isn't it interesting that Psalm 148 tells the
moon to praise the Lord? (As it tells all of creation!)
"Praise ye the LORD. Praise ye the
LORD from the heavens: praise him in the heights. Praise
ye him, all his angels: praise ye him, all his hosts.
Praise ye him,
sun and moon:
praise him, all ye stars of light. Praise him, ye heavens
of heavens, and ye waters that be above the heavens."
And the moon simply obeys!
Amen!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
NOVEMBER 26, 2004 ... THE FRIDAY
AFTER THANKSGIVING:
Jesus promised that on this old earth "moth and
rust" would always exist and corrupt their surroundings!
See Matthew 6:19.
I read earlier today of a group of little
one-celled animals ("bacteria") that can eat their way through
nearly anything!
They take only six months to eat a hole through a
one inch steel pipe!
Even so-called stainless steel can't stop them.
(Nor can titanium!)
These metal eaters are called "sulfate reducing
bacteria" and each year cause billions and billions of dollars
of damage!
"Sulfate-reducing bacteria begin by sealing off
their colony from liquid particularly in a pipe or tank. Once
sealed off, bacteria begin forming hydrogen gas. Sealed under
the biosphere, the hydrogen accumulates and is absorbed by the
metal. The absorbed hydrogen begins to corrode and make the
metal brittle. Researchers using pipes coated with epoxy
couldn't stop the bugs." So says a Christian in a fairly
recent science review.
These little creatures just can't be eradicated!
They help illustrate before our very eyes the
Bible truth that this world is aging and weakening and will some
day just plainly "wear out!"
Here's how Paul puts it in Hebrews.
"And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast
laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works
of thine hands: They shall perish; but thou remainest; and they
all shall wax old as doth a garment; and as a vesture shalt thou
fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same,
and thy years shall not fail." Hebrews 1:10-12
Like a worn piece of clothing, some day our great
God shall lay aside this sin-cursed earth and create a new one
to further serve His purposes! (That statement would drive
the average environmentalist crazy, I guess!)
Yes, "moth and rust" will continue. We may
learn more about the process ... but it will never be stopped!
Christian, the next time you see a little rust
somewhere ... thank God for your eternal life in
Christ Jesus the Lord!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
OCTOBER 28, 2004 (THURSDAY):
The verse simply
says:
"All
thy works shall praise thee, O LORD; and thy saints shall bless
thee." Psalm 145:10
All God's works shall praise Him!
I am wondering if that includes
lakes and ponds!
I was reading a science article
early this morning and I discovered something.
It seems that scientists have
long suspected this, but they have now proved it as a fact.
Bodies of water,
lakes for example, "sing" when weather conditions are just
right!
Many people have
reported hearing this unusual musical concert!
In fact, some
experts say the lake makes different sounds as rain, snow, ice
pellets and other forms of precipitation hit its surface!
Canadian scientists
have experimented with this phenomenon.
By using
microphones, placed far enough from shore not to pick up land
noises, they have actually "heard" the lakes respond to the
weather!
They have now
literally recorded the sounds made by the lakes as rain, hail,
drizzle and even snow gently fell upon them!
The precipitation
hits the water and almost detonates! It gives off a "ping"
sound, like a tiny explosive charge! Billions of these pings
all over the lake literally emit a musical sound ... making the
lake "sing!"
(I have a feeling
the stars sing too! And the plants and trees! I know the birds
do! In fact, I'm sticking with today's verse! All God's works
praise Him!)
But, preacher
Bagwell, to Whom do the lakes" sing?"
Why, to their
Creator, of course!
Now let's realize
something else. Paul tells us that the noises of creation are
really "groans!" In Romans 8:22 he decleares:
"For
we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain
together until now."
Why does creation "groan" Paul?
It
is waiting for the coming Lord ... to deliver it from the curse
of sin!
Then (even Paul would admit) all creation will sing
gloriously to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Jesus
our Saviour!
When Jesus returns not only will the lakes sing gallantly, so
will the mountains and hills and trees join in the celebration!
"The mountains and the hills shall break
forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field
shall clap their hands." Isaiah 55:12 says so!
Jesus added that even the "stones" can cry out in glory to God!
That's in Luke 19:40. "And He answered
and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their
peace, the stones would immediately cry out."
Here's what I'm thinking early this Thursday morning ... if the
lakes and the weather and the winds and the stars praise the
Lord (plus all the rest of His creation), so should I! So
should you!
Praise ye the Lord!
(My heart is "singing" as I write this article! Is yours while
you read it?)
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
OCTOBER 20, 2004 (WEDNESDAY):
I was reading
recently and I came across these words: "The annelid worm can
turn its skin cells into brain cells."
Just that simple
statement caught my attention. I really have been unable to
forget it for several days.
There's a little worm
(thousands of them in the "annelid" category) that can convert
skin cells into brain cells.
The information I am
using is based on the country's best known encyclopedia.
Now I am not a
biologist. I have no idea how this is done organically.
But I would call it pretty good evidence of a
Creator!
I doubt the little worm figured that out by
himself!
But this minute fact prompted my spiritual
thoughts too!
I of course cannot turn any of my skin cells
into brain cells.
But I can tell you this dogmatically: I know
a BOOK that can be turned into brain cells! Well, really ... it
can be turned into Wisdom!
Truthfully!
By reading and studying and memorizing and
meditating on its pages (the truths within those pages) one can
become more and more discerning and skilled in wisdom!
You Christians know exactly what I mean!
THE BIBLE!
Listen to these verses.
"And that from a child
thou hast known the holy
scriptures, which are able to
make thee wise
unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus."
2nd Timothy 3:15 (A Book that can impart Wisdom!)
"And now, brethren, I
commend you to God, and to
the word of his
grace, which is able to
build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all
them which are sanctified." Acts 20:32 (A Book that
can build us up in the things of God!)
"All
scripture is given by inspiration of God, and
is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for
instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be
perfect, throughly
furnished unto all good works." 2nd Timothy
3:16-17 (A Book that can supply everything we need to achieve
"all good works!")
And listen to this paragraph of praise about
the Bible! "The
law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul:
the testimony of
the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. The
statutes of the
LORD are right, rejoicing the heart: the
commandment of
the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes. The
fear of the LORD
is clean, enduring for ever: the
judgments of the
LORD are true and righteous altogether. More to
be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold:
sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them is
thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is
great reward." Psalm 19:7-11 (Each of the
capitalized synonyms is another word for the Scriptures of
Truth! Also each comes with its own blessing! Summed up ... a
Book that brings "great reward!")
I would not trade places with that little
annelid worm ... as intricately created as it is! No sir! I am
satisfied being a old sinner ... SAVED by the Grace of God and
given a BOOK ... one that imparts wisdom and everything else I
need to serve my Lord and Savior!
Thank God for the Bible!
Meet us here daily ... with one in your hand!
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
OCTOBER 18, 2004 (MONDAY):
Genesis 1:21
tells us: "And God created great whales, and every
living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth
abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his
kind: and God saw that it was good."
The Lord made
the whales!
Scientists are
constantly learning more about these amazing creatures of God.
In the old classic story "Moby
Dick," author Herman Melville said that whales just must be
guided by "a secret intelligence from Deity!"
An intelligence from God!
At least some whales navigate
through the world's oceans using an echo-location system much
like that the bats use! Sonar ... would be a good word here!
Sound is emitted from the great fish and the reverberating
echoes are read by its brain and formed into a mental map
pattern! (Somewhat like radar!)
That's intelligence!
Also it has been established
that whales can talk to each other! They have a simple form of
language! Using certain "clicking" sounds ... in precise
patterns and sequences ... whales actually deliver and receive
messages! My science source tells me that they can "talk" to
other whales thousands of miles away!
In fact, here is a direct
quote: "Scientists believe that some of the frequencies used by
the whales allow them to communicate with other whales halfway
around the world!" (That would be about 12,000 miles away at
the equator!) Wow! Talk about "long distance" ... and before
Alexander Graham Bell too!
And they also "sing!" These
songs are believed to be "love" songs ... used during mating
season. One song can last up to 30 minutes! (Pretty good
memory!) A humpback whale's song will be identical to his
brothers' songs within a whole vast population ... and sometimes
the very same within a complete ocean basin! Amazing!
And if the researchers think
that today's information about whales is astounding ... they
ought to ponder what I believe about them!
I believe that one great whale
was especially prepared by the Lord ... to ride a preacher
around the Mediterranean Sea for 3 days!
I believe this particular
whale was equipped with "a secret intelligence" from God also!
(No, I never met Herman Melville!)
This whale was exactly in the
right place at the right time (middle of sea ... during fierce
storm) to pick up his passenger! (Excellent navigation system!)
He safely transported his
cargo just the right number of days! (What a sense of time!)
And emitted (ejected ...
disembarked ... de-whaled ... vomited) him upon the shore upon
command! (Add obedience to its traits!)
Where did you get all that,
preacher Bagwell?
From the Book of Jonah and the
mouth of Jesus!
Listen to our Lord in Matthew
12:40 --- "For as Jonah
was three days and three nights in the
whale's belly; so
shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart
of the earth."
I still believe God is the
Creator!
And that He made the amazing
whales too!
After all, that's where the
Bible starts: "In the beginning God
created the heaven and the earth." Genesis 1:1
--- Dr. Mike Bagwell
