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Scientism’s pitiful substitute for this very logical declaration is, “In the beginning there was nothing. Once-upon-a-time, ‘nothing’ “gathered itself together, squared its shoulders, and decided to explode. There was a huge noise—and here we are, after billions of years, the proud offspring of a ‘Big Bang.’” Such is the preferred theory of many today, but no one yet has solved the problem of origins. The Big Bang must have required an almost infinite amount of energy. What is energy, and how did it originate? What about life? What is its origin? It is pointless to attempt estimates of the odds of life somehow coming into existence. The law of biogenesis very clearly states that life comes only from life. That brings us full circle: what is life and what is its origin?

The heart of the gospel is redemption, and the essence of redemption is the substitutionary sacrifice of Christ.

― C.H. Spurgeon (19th June 1834 – 31st January 1892. English Particular Baptist preacher. Spurgeon remains influential among, and to some of whom he is known as the "Prince of Preachers").

Can you teach an old insect, or even a young insect for that matter, any tricks at all? Science long assumed that insects were too stupid to learn even simple things. However, researchers have now proven that insects can not only learn, they can generalize knowledge into long-term lessons for life.

Researchers wanted to discover whether insects can learn, through a bad experience, to avoid certain bugs. They offered milkweed bugs to preying mantises. Milkweed bugs that feed on milkweed accumulate milkweed’s poisons in their bodies. The mantises ate one bug, and then vomited it up. Each mantis refused a second helping of milkweed bug. They even rejected bugs that were painted to look like milkweed bugs.

A second test was run to test the response of preying mantises who had never had noxious milkweed bugs. The milkweed bugs they were offered were raised on sunflower seeds so they would have no poison accumulation in their bodies. These preying mantises ate the bugs without getting sick. They continued eating the bugs when they were offered. These test mantises would only stop eating the bugs after they ate one that made them sick.

Learning from experience and later applying that knowledge to similar situations has always been considered a more advanced intellectual function. From the creation point of view, however, these abilities were given even to insects by the Creator because He knew they would need them.

“Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him” (Matthew:6:8Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.
See All...).

https://creationmoments.com/sermons/smart-bugs/

The first words in the despised and perpetually attacked book, the Bible, just “happen” to be: “In the beginning. . . .” The Bible certainly got that right long before science reluctantly agreed. This is either a massive coincidence, or it alone would seem to be proof that this book was indeed written by the Creator himself. For thousands of years, its wisdom has stood as a challenge to atheists and now to scientists as well. They still have no answer. Perhaps everyone, including atheists, ought to pay attention. The next two words offer the only rational solution to the problem of origins: “God created.”

Richard Dawkins admits that “Darwin’s answer to the question of the origin of species was . . . that species were descended from other species.” This is no answer at all! It’s a far cry from origin of species, as the title of Darwin’s first book promised, and as Dawkins claims Darwin achieved. What was the first species, and how did it come into existence? Darwin doesn’t tell us, nor does Dawkins. Atheism, no matter how scientific it attempts to be, has nothing to contribute to the question of origins. The answer to that question does not lie within the province of science.

The Lord is risen! He is risen indeed! [At the time of this writing] Christians around the world are remembering the resurrection of our Savior. If you are celebrating Easter in an English-speaking church (which is likely if you’re reading this blog), there is a good probability that you have sung or will sing the hymn “Christ the Lord Is Risen Today.”

For about 300 years now, this hymn and its variants have been sung in English churches to commemorate and celebrate that Sunday morning about 2000 years ago when Jesus Christ walked out of his tomb, demonstrating that he had forever triumphed over sin and death for both himself and all his people.

The earliest forms of the hymn can be traced back to a Latin text from the 14th century. In 1708 the four Latin stanzas were translated into English and published by J. Walsh in Lyra Davidica under the title “Jesus Christ Is Risen Today.” A few decades later, in 1739, a modified version was published by John and Charles Wesley in Hymns and Sacred Poems under the title “Hymn for Easter Day.” It is this version, later shortened and supplemented with the “Alleluia” refrain, that has become the hymn that remains so popular today.

Here are all 11 stanzas published by the Wesleys. It is worth reading through each one thoughtfully, and perhaps especially the ones that we no longer sing. They are rich with biblical allusion...

1. “Christ the Lord is ris’n to-day,”
Sons of Men and Angels say!
Raise your Joys and Triumphs high,
Sing ye Heav’ns, and Earth reply.

2. Love’s Redeeming Work is done,
Fought the Fight, the Battle won,
Lo! our Sun’s Eclipse is o’er,
Lo! He sets in Blood no more.

3. Vain the Stone, the Watch, the Seal;
Christ hath burst the Gates of Hell!
Death in vain forbids his Rise:
Christ hath open’d Paradise!

4. Lives again our glorious King,
Where, O Death, is now thy Sting?
Once He died our Souls to save,
Where thy Victory, O Grave?

5. Soar we now, where Christ has led,
Following our Exalted Head,
Made like Him, like Him we rise:
Ours the Cross; the Grave; the Skies.

6. What tho’ once we perish’d All,
Partners of our Parent’s Fall,
Second Life we All receive,
In our Heav’nly Adam live.

7. Ris’n with Him, we upward move,
Still we seek the Things above,
Still pursue, and kiss the Son,
Seated on his Father’s Throne;

8. Scarce on Earth a Thought bestow,
Dead to all we leave below,
Heav’n our Aim, and lov’d Abode,
Hid our Life with Christ in God!

9. Hid; ’till Christ our Life appear,
Glorious in his Members here:
Join’d to Him, we then shall shine
All Immortal, all Divine!

10. Hail the Lord of Earth and Heav’n!
Praise to Thee by both be giv’n:
Thee we greet Triumphant now;
Hail the Resurrection Thou!

11. King of Glory, Soul of Bliss,
Everlasting Life is This,
Thee to know, thy Pow’r to prove,
Thus to sing, and thus to love!

https://www.challies.com/hymn-stories/hymn-stories-christ-the-lord-is-risen-today/

He will not forsake His faith in God because he knows there had to be a Creator. But if the facts should prove evolution to be true, he would be willing to say, “I guess that’s the way God chose to do it”—even though that would make no sense. Francis Collins is evidence of this openness.

In contrast, the atheist cannot be this open-minded. He cannot “allow a Divine Foot in the door,” and that restricts his research and intellectual honesty. There is no such person as an “atheistic theist” who would be comparable to a theistic evolutionist.

In recent years, Iranians have launched countless uprisings, each filled with hope and courage, only to be met with violent repression from the regime, and mainly indifference from abroad. Each wave of protests saw the regime's security forces killing thousands of demonstrators, and imprisoning and torturing many more. These movements have shown the strength of the Iranian people's resolve, but despite their cries for freedom, support from the West— usually merely vocal, about the ideals of democracy — has remained disappointingly muted.

In the eyes of many Iranians, this silence from democratic nations that supposedly champion human rights stands in intolerable contrast to their principles and has repeatedly left Iranian protesters feeling abandoned in their struggle.

During the 2022 nationwide protests, sparked by the hijab laws, many Iranians, especially young women, took to the streets to protest against mandatory veiling and other repressive policies. The movement represented not only a push against strict Islamic dress codes but also a broader rejection of the regime's authoritarian rule. Even as the crackdown unfolded— with the regime arresting, beating, and even murdering protesters — the Western response remained largely passive and inert, instead of offering robust support.

In 2009, the Green Movement had erupted in Iran after a questionable presidential election. Millions of Iranians filled the streets, while chanting slogans, waving banners…Protesters sought recognition from world leaders, particularly from the Obama administration in the United States and European leaders, in the hopes that these democratic nations would support their call for a fair electoral process and an end to oppression.

Protesters chanted, "Obama, are you with us or the mullahs?" — a direct plea for then U.S. President Barack Obama to take a stand. Yet, to the disappointment of many Iranians, Western leaders remained largely silent, choosing not to intervene or offer any real backing. Obama later admitted that his administration's silence during this critical period was a "mistake," but even then, mentioned only ineffectual, verbal support: "In retrospect, I think that was a mistake. Every time we see a flash, a glimmer of hope, of people longing for freedom, I think we have to point it out. We have to shine a spotlight on it. We have to express some solidarity about it."

While most democratic nations have hesitated to align themselves visibly with Iran's pro-democracy movements, one country has stood out as an unwavering ally of the Iranian people: Israel. Despite the longstanding enmity between Israel and Iran's regime, Israeli leaders have boldly supported the Iranian people's right to freedom and self-determination. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, called "The Churchill of the Middle East," has not only addressed Iran's nuclear threats -- when the US did not totally undermine Israel by leaking its plans beforehand -- but has reached out directly to Iranians through social media, encouraging them not to lose hope. "There's one thing Khamenei's regime fears more than Israel," Netanyahu declared in a message shared on X. "It's you – the people of Iran." He added: "They spend so much time and money trying to crush your hopes and curb your dreams. Don't let your dreams die. Don't lose hope, and know that Israel and others in the free world stand with you."

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/21123/people-of-iran-seek-change

Question: Psalm:40:6Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required.
See All... reads, “Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required.” Why did David say this verse when a good chunk of Leviticus made rules on sacrifice?

Response: First of all, because he was inspired by the Lord to write this down. Secondly, he’s referencing 1 Samuel:15:22And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.
See All..., where Samuel was inspired to say, “Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.”

Further, he is speaking prophetically of the Lord Jesus. Verse 7 of Psalm 40 reads, “Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me.”

Hebrews:10:5Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me:
See All... explains further, “Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me….”

Simply put, David wrote this verse because he was inspired by the Lord to do so and it speaks emphatically of the end of the Levitical sacrifices. In Hebrews:10:9Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second.
See All..., God inspired the writer to say, “Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second.”