World Views

Adult Stem Cells, Intelligent Design and Reverse Engineering and Good Advice from 1948

Check out the link to World Magazine's "Roundups." This week in the Beginnings section which reports on science and intelligent design, includes several articles I thought would be of interest to you.

1. Another adult stem cell breakthrough treatment that has prevented blindness and paralysis in patients with a neurological disease in which the immune system attacks the body's own cells in the central nervous system. This is in contrast to using embryonic stem cells which so far have not produced anything of consequence to date.

2. This years Nobel Prize winning research on how cells use oxygen, is the result of using reverse engineering techniques. "Time and again, the use of the design inference to guide the study of living systems pays enormous dividends," says Michael Egnor of The Discovery Institute.

3. A public service announcement from 70 years ago (1948) regarding the spread of airborne viral illness's, is still sage advice today. The commercial is quite humorous.

Click to the World Magazine Link

Archaeological Work In The City of David

Sixteen feet under modern Jerusalem, archaeologist's have uncovered a road once trodden by ten's of thousands of Jews during the three annual pilgrimage festivals - Passover, Shavout and Sukkot. Construction started in 20 AD, by the Romans, and it was finished under the governance of Pontious Pilate in 30 AD. Forty years later it was thought have been destroyed along with Jerusalem, but was amazingly preserved under the rubble in mint condition.

Link to the article

Religion in the U.S. Is in Sharp Decline Reports Pew

The Pew data shows a major shift of the U.S. population away from Christianity and toward no particular religious affiliation at all. The youngest age group polled by Pew, the millennials, of which less than half identify as Christians and 40% are nonaffiliated (nones) .This is a stunning contrast when compared to the oldest generation studied, The Silent Generation, born between 1928 and 1945, 84% declared to be Christian and 10% unaffiliated.

The ramifications of an increasingly secular society have already been felt. That dark horse has left the barn and continues to gallop onward as we scramble to pick up the detritus of Christianity left behind in it's wake. The assaults on religious liberty's are at an all time high, the defense for the slaughter of the unborn has become more shrill and ugly by the moment, political discourse has become more vitriolic and partisan ,while the lust to hold on to political power is the ultimate goal, deaths from drug overdoses and suicides continue to plague us as they steal the souls of our young, we call evil good and good evil, as evidenced recently by the NBA and some of it's players in their defense of Communist China's human rights abuses, for fear of losing lucrative contracts. Need I go on?

This surely paints a bleak picture, now and for the future. Remember one thing though, God is still in control. I find  great comfort and solace in the blessing we receive as we depart from our worship service each and every Sunday. "Go out into the world in peace. Have courage! Hold fast to what is good. Render to no one evil for evil. Strengthen the faint- hearted, support the weak, help the suffering. Honor all men and women. Love and serve the Lord your God, rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit and do this all, until Jesus comes again." A tall order? No, this is our calling. "Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are already ripe for harvest" (John 4:35) We have our work to do!

Click for Link to the Pew Report