For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. (Romans 1:21-25 ESV)
Here is an article I found in www.sciencedaily.com about Hox genes.
As suggested in the article's title, Hox genes provided a "blueprint" for the body. Blueprints are designed purposefully, not evolved mindlessly.
QUOTE
Title:
Ancient genetic program employed in more than just fins and limbs:
Hox genes provide blueprint for a diversity of body plan features
Date:
November 19, 2014
Source:
San Francisco State University
Summary:
Researchers have found that the Hox gene program, responsible for directing the development of fins and limbs, is also utilized to develop other body part features of vertebrates, such as barbels and vents in fish. The research indicates that this genetic program, which dates back at least 440-480 million years, is older and more widely utilized than previously thought.
Article:
Hox genes are master body-building genes that specify where an animal's head, tail and everything in between should go. There's even a special Hox gene program that directs the development of limbs and fins, including specific modifications such as the thumb in mice and humans. Now, San Francisco State University researchers show that this fin- and limb-building genetic program is also utilized during the development of other vertebrate features.
The discovery means this ancient genetic program is employed in a variety of features beyond fins and limbs. For instance, this Hox program helps to pattern the barbels in paddlefish -- sensory organs near the fish's mouth. In addition, the limb-building program had previously been observed in a cluster of genes called the HoxD genes. But SF State Associate Professor of Biology Karen Crow and her colleagues demonstrated for the first time that the program also operates in the HoxA cluster of genes during the development of the vent, a structure in all ray-finned fishes that is similar to a urethra, indicating that the regulation of this expression pattern is older and more widely utilized than thought.
Together, these new findings "really expand our view of this Hox limb-building program," said Crow. "Now we think it could be associated with all kinds of features that arise in different species."
"There is tremendous interest in animal diversity and how novel features arise in evolution," she added, "and we're just beginning to understand the genetic basis of morphological diversity."
Hox genes are the master regulatory genes that specify the identity and position of body parts during an animal's development. Hox genes are expressed at different times and places in the developing embryo, and that pattern of expression "acts like a code that sets up an address system for body parts," Crow explained.
One kind of Hox expression pattern establishes the "address" for the head-to-tail locations of body parts. But a reversal of this pattern, for some Hox genes, creates a code that specifies body parts that extend out away from the body, like fins, limbs, or now even barbels or vents. Evolutionary biologists have been intensely interested in this limb-building program, because it is part of the genetic basis of how fins evolved to become limbs, and how specialized structures arose in human evolution, such as the genetic code that specifies the thumb should be different from the other digits.
Researchers know that this limb-building program has operated at least since the origin of jawed vertebrates, some 440-480 million years ago. "So we wondered if this Hox repertoire is being utilized in all kinds of other features that people haven't yet looked at," said Crow.
Since discovering this particular Hox program in barbels and vents, Crow's lab has found the program operating in the development of claspers in skates and rays. They are now looking to see if the program helps direct the patterning of other appendages, like the manta ray's distinctively curled head fins called cephalic lobes, or the brood structures where seahorses and pipefish carry their young.
"I think this genetic program is deployed in all kinds of vertebrate features that have yet to be discovered," Crow said. "We're just beginning to understand the underlying genetic basis of different structures in different animals. And, surprisingly, some aspects of those genetic instructions are shared."
UNQUOTE
Yes. This is just the beginning of understanding. When we know more, evolution will be dead. Evolution thrives in ignorance.
Saturday, April 18, 2015
Friday, April 17, 2015
Languages - Bible vs Koran
Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. And they said to one another, "Come, let us make bricks, and burn them
thoroughly." And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with
its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be
dispersed over the face of the whole earth." And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built.
And the Lord said, "Behold, they are one people, and they have all one
language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And
nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another's speech." So the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city.
Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused
the language of all the earth. And from there the Lord dispersed them
over the face of all the earth. (Genesis 11:1-9 ESV)
In the beginning, mankind is one community. Remember Adam and Eve? How many communities is Adam and Eve? One family, one language, right? And it was so until after the flood, when God confused the languages of men (Genesis 11:7-8) because they were trying to build the tower of Babel. In the Quran, Allah seemed to have forgotten that mankind was originally one community. He talked as if mankind was never one community. (Quran 11:118).
Surah 11:118 (Sahih International)
And if your Lord had willed, He could have made mankind one community; but they will not cease to differ.
As usual, Allah seemed to have forgotten what he had done by the time he gave the Koran. He forgot about Adam and Eve!
In the beginning, mankind is one community. Remember Adam and Eve? How many communities is Adam and Eve? One family, one language, right? And it was so until after the flood, when God confused the languages of men (Genesis 11:7-8) because they were trying to build the tower of Babel. In the Quran, Allah seemed to have forgotten that mankind was originally one community. He talked as if mankind was never one community. (Quran 11:118).
Surah 11:118 (Sahih International)
And if your Lord had willed, He could have made mankind one community; but they will not cease to differ.
As usual, Allah seemed to have forgotten what he had done by the time he gave the Koran. He forgot about Adam and Eve!
Thursday, April 9, 2015
Abraham - Faith, Works, Justification
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9 KJV)
He took him outside and said, "Look at the sky and count the stars, if you are able to count them." Then He said to him, "Your offspring will be that numerous." Abram believed the LORD, and He credited it to him as righteousness. (Genesis 15:5-6 HCSB)
What then shall we say that Abraham, our ancestor according to the flesh, has discovered regarding this matter? For if Abraham was declared righteous by works, he has something to boast about - but not before God. For what does the scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness." Now to the one who works, his pay is not credited due to grace but due to obligation. But to the one who does not work, but believes in the one who declares the ungodly righteous, his faith is credited as righteousness. (Romans 4:1-5 NET)
Foolish man! Are you willing to learn that faith without works is useless? Wasn’t Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? You see that faith was active together with his works, and by works, faith was perfected. So the Scripture was fulfilled that says, Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him for righteousness, and he was called God's friend. You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone. (James 2:20-24 HCSB)
Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? (Matthew 7:16 KJV)
He took him outside and said, "Look at the sky and count the stars, if you are able to count them." Then He said to him, "Your offspring will be that numerous." Abram believed the LORD, and He credited it to him as righteousness. (Genesis 15:5-6 HCSB)
What then shall we say that Abraham, our ancestor according to the flesh, has discovered regarding this matter? For if Abraham was declared righteous by works, he has something to boast about - but not before God. For what does the scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness." Now to the one who works, his pay is not credited due to grace but due to obligation. But to the one who does not work, but believes in the one who declares the ungodly righteous, his faith is credited as righteousness. (Romans 4:1-5 NET)
Foolish man! Are you willing to learn that faith without works is useless? Wasn’t Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? You see that faith was active together with his works, and by works, faith was perfected. So the Scripture was fulfilled that says, Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him for righteousness, and he was called God's friend. You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone. (James 2:20-24 HCSB)
Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? (Matthew 7:16 KJV)
Sunday, April 5, 2015
Jesus, The Only One Who Came Back
In an interview done on 1st September 2010 with Seth Mydans for the New York Times and the International Herald Tribune, the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew spoke on what happened after death. "Well, what is next, I do not know. Nobody has ever come back."
This is not true. One person did come back. He is Jesus. The Bible testifies that "And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: (1 Corinthians 15:4 KJV)" The resurrection of Christ was recorded by all the four Gospels in the Bible and also by Apostle Paul in his epistles.
Christians henceforth worshiped on the first day of the week or the Lord's Day (Revelation 1:10), to commemorate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Thus whenever it is the first day of the week, now known as Sunday, we are reminded that there is one who did come back from the grave. Every year, we have 52 reminders.
Now that we know Jesus is the only one who had come back from the grave, would you not want to hear what He said? This was what He said:
Then he said to them, "These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled." Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. (Luke 24:44-48 ESV)
And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." (Matthew 28:18-20 ESV)
Why does Christ have to suffer?
Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. (1 John 4:10 KJV)
But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8 NASB)
Didn't Jesus said that "everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled. (Luke 24:44 ESV)" So here is one from the prophets, describing the suffering of Christ about six hundred years before it happened.
He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:3-6 KJV)
Here is one from the Psalms, talking about His crucifixion, nearly a thousand years before it happened.
For dogs have surrounded me; a gang of evildoers has closed in on me; they pierced my hands and my feet. I can count all my bones; people look and stare at me. They divided my garments among themselves, and they cast lots for my clothing. (Psalm 22:16-18 HCSB)
Finally, from the Law of Moses, about the Passover Lamb, establishing the concept of propitiation:
For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord. And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt. (Exodus 12:12-13 KJV)
Why do we listen to men, born of one man and one woman, fusion of sperm and egg, who after speaking great things, claiming to be somebody great, die and return to dust, like all men before and after him? He who cannot conquer death is like me, and no better than me. Why should I listen to him?
Why not believe in the only one in the world, who was born of a virgin, died and was resurrected, and will be returning again? Believe in Him who had conquered death, proving Himself to be different from all men.
Why believe in men who popped up without prior notice? Rather believe in Him, whose birth, death, resurrection and return, is already written in a book in advance.
And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. (John 17:3 KJV)
He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. (1 John 5:12 KJV)
He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him. (John 3:36 KJV)
And He shall return.
Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven. (Acts 1:11 KJV)
On that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west by a very wide valley, so that one half of the Mount shall move northward, and the other half southward. (Zechariah 14:4 ESV)
This is not true. One person did come back. He is Jesus. The Bible testifies that "And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: (1 Corinthians 15:4 KJV)" The resurrection of Christ was recorded by all the four Gospels in the Bible and also by Apostle Paul in his epistles.
Christians henceforth worshiped on the first day of the week or the Lord's Day (Revelation 1:10), to commemorate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Thus whenever it is the first day of the week, now known as Sunday, we are reminded that there is one who did come back from the grave. Every year, we have 52 reminders.
Now that we know Jesus is the only one who had come back from the grave, would you not want to hear what He said? This was what He said:
Then he said to them, "These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled." Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. (Luke 24:44-48 ESV)
And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." (Matthew 28:18-20 ESV)
Why does Christ have to suffer?
Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. (1 John 4:10 KJV)
But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8 NASB)
Didn't Jesus said that "everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled. (Luke 24:44 ESV)" So here is one from the prophets, describing the suffering of Christ about six hundred years before it happened.
He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:3-6 KJV)
Here is one from the Psalms, talking about His crucifixion, nearly a thousand years before it happened.
For dogs have surrounded me; a gang of evildoers has closed in on me; they pierced my hands and my feet. I can count all my bones; people look and stare at me. They divided my garments among themselves, and they cast lots for my clothing. (Psalm 22:16-18 HCSB)
Finally, from the Law of Moses, about the Passover Lamb, establishing the concept of propitiation:
For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord. And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt. (Exodus 12:12-13 KJV)
Why do we listen to men, born of one man and one woman, fusion of sperm and egg, who after speaking great things, claiming to be somebody great, die and return to dust, like all men before and after him? He who cannot conquer death is like me, and no better than me. Why should I listen to him?
Why not believe in the only one in the world, who was born of a virgin, died and was resurrected, and will be returning again? Believe in Him who had conquered death, proving Himself to be different from all men.
Why believe in men who popped up without prior notice? Rather believe in Him, whose birth, death, resurrection and return, is already written in a book in advance.
And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. (John 17:3 KJV)
He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. (1 John 5:12 KJV)
He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him. (John 3:36 KJV)
And He shall return.
Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven. (Acts 1:11 KJV)
On that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west by a very wide valley, so that one half of the Mount shall move northward, and the other half southward. (Zechariah 14:4 ESV)
Saturday, April 4, 2015
The Feast of Firstfruits
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, "Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you come into the land that I give you and reap its harvest, you shall bring the sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest, and he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, so that you may be accepted. On the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it. (Leviticus 23:9-11 ESV)
But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. (1 Corinthians 15:20-23 ESV)
But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. (1 Corinthians 15:20-23 ESV)
Friday, April 3, 2015
Passover
"These are the appointed feasts of the Lord, the holy convocations, which you shall proclaim at the time appointed for them. In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight, is the Lord's Passover. And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the Lord; for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall not do any ordinary work. But you shall present a food offering to the Lord for seven days. On the seventh day is a holy convocation; you shall not do any ordinary work." (Leviticus 23:4-8 ESV)
The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. (John 1:29 KJV)
The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. (John 1:29 KJV)
Wednesday, April 1, 2015
God's Will
Everything that happened, whether good or bad, is God's will.
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28 KJV)
Yet God does have His own will, which may be thwarted by men's will.
The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. (2 Peter 3:9 ESV)
God's will is also found in His moral law.
"And if you faithfully obey the voice of the LORD your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. (Deuteronomy 28:1 ESV)
"But if you will not obey the voice of the LORD your God or be careful to do all his commandments and his statutes that I command you today, then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you. (Deuteronomy 28:15 ESV)
Men have a choice to obey or disobey God.
The Spirit and the bride say, "Come." And let the one who hears say, "Come." And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost. (Revelation 22:17 NASB)
Yet our salvation is by God's grace.
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9 KJV)
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28 KJV)
Yet God does have His own will, which may be thwarted by men's will.
The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. (2 Peter 3:9 ESV)
God's will is also found in His moral law.
"And if you faithfully obey the voice of the LORD your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. (Deuteronomy 28:1 ESV)
"But if you will not obey the voice of the LORD your God or be careful to do all his commandments and his statutes that I command you today, then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you. (Deuteronomy 28:15 ESV)
Men have a choice to obey or disobey God.
The Spirit and the bride say, "Come." And let the one who hears say, "Come." And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost. (Revelation 22:17 NASB)
Yet our salvation is by God's grace.
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9 KJV)
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