The Living Rock Blog

A "New" Missing Link?

2009-10-02T09:37:57.484-07:00

Here we go again.

You have probably heard about the "new" missing link found in Ethiopia. It is interesting to note that every time their dying Darwinian theories are challenged - in this case, just recently by Kirk Cameron and his ministry - the God hating Darwinian sects dust off old stuff and modify it to make some quick news to mock their critics. After the Homo habilis skull discovery messed up their nice Darwin based "evolution" charts (that now have to be revised in all the school books) - the hard core Darwinians have been scrambling to recover. Now they are blindly reaching for straws.

Have you seen the "artist concept" drawings of this so called "new" discovery? Who draws these things? How do they know how these broken small pieces of bone looked like as a whole or, even more difficult, on the outside (skin, hair, etc)? The fact is ... they don't. But boy ... do they have a creative imagination:

"Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man--and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things." (Romans 1:22-23 NKJV)

We know that God created all kinds of beasts on the earth and that some have gone extinct (including whatever this poor creature was).

Please talk to your kids or young family members that may be seeing some of this on the news. Satan is a faith crusher ... and he especially likes to target baby Christians and children. The macro-evolution of Darwinian faith has been one of Satan's most favorite toys.

Discuss the flawed history of the Darwinian religion (a history filled with fraud and deception - pig's teeth and glued modified skulls from different animals). Discuss the racist concepts of Darwinian thought and philosophy. Discuss the lack of transitional fossils. Discuss the Cambrian explosion. Discuss the complexity of creation and the laws of science. Discuss the facts ... not the fairy tales about the frog that turned into a human prince (or better known as macro-evolutionary theory).

Here is an article put out by the Discovery Institute regarding this latest PR stunt by the atheistic Darwinists (by the way ... like always ... stay tuned as the real scientists begin to write articles dismissing this as a joke (like they always do after these hyped-up and phony media blitz press releases - but unfortunately many people will be hurt before all the facts are truly presented (because the media is so selective about what it promotes and what it hides):

-START OF ARTICLE-

Artificially Reconstructed "Ardi" Overturns Prevailing Evolutionary Hypotheses of Human Evolution
Evolution News & Views: Discovery Institute
By Casey Luskin
October 2, 2009

The missing link presently being touted in the media, Ardipithecus ramidus, has had more reconstructive surgery than Michael Jackson. Assuming that their "extensive digital reconstruction" of its "badly crushed and distorted bones" is accurate, what does A. ramidus (or “Ardi” as the fawning media is affectionately calling it) really show us that we didn’t already know? We already knew of upright walking / tree-climbing, small-brained hominids—that’s what Lucy, an australopithecine, was. We already knew that there were australopithecine fossils dating back to before 4 million years, and this fossil is only a little bit older. So what does this fossil teach us? Assuming all the reconstructions of Ardi's crushed bones are objective and accurate, this fossil teaches us at least one very important thing: prevailing evolutionary explanations about how upright walking supposedly evolved in humans, confidently taught in countless college-level anthropology classes, were basically wrong.

In particular, A. ramidus casts doubt on the long-repeated hypothesis that humans evolved upright walking on the African Savannah where taller creatures had an advantage to see over tall grass by walking upright. A. ramidus walked upright in a “grassy woodland with patches of denser forest.” Time magazine’s article on A. ramidus explains the implications:

This tableau demolishes one aspect of what had been conventional evolutionary wisdom. Paleoanthropologists once thought that what got our ancestors walking on two legs in the first place was a change in climate that transformed African forest into savanna. In such an environment, goes the reasoning, upright-standing primates would have had the advantage over knuckle walkers because they could see over tall grasses to find food and avoid predators. The fact that Lucy's species sometimes lived in a more wooded environment began to undermine that theory. The fact that Ardi walked upright in a similar environment many hundreds of thousands of years earlier makes it clear that there must have been another reason. (Michael D. Lemonick and Andrea Dorfman, Excavating Ardi: A New Piece for the Puzzle of Human Evolution, Time Magazine (October 1, 2009).

In fact, this is an old argument. It’s rarely discussed, but there are a number of upright-walking, forest-dwelling ape-like species known from prior to 10 million years ago that are thought to be far removed from human ancestors. This implies that bipedalism does not necessarily qualify an individual as a human ancestor, and it also casts doubt on classical explanations for the evolution of bipedalism.

There is one other option: A. ramidus wasn't bipedal. In fact, one Science article is reporting some serious scientific skepticism about A. ramidus being bipedal:

However, several researchers aren’t so sure about these inferences. Some are skeptical that the crushed pelvis really shows the anatomical details needed to demonstrate bipedality. The pelvis is “suggestive” of bipedality but not conclusive, says paleoanthropologist Carol Ward of the University of Missouri, Columbia. Also, Ar. ramidus “does not appear to have had its knee placed over the ankle, which means that when walking bipedally, it would have had to shift its weight to the side,” she says. Paleoanthropologist William Jungers of Stony Brook University in New York state is also not sure that the skeleton was bipedal. “Believe me, it’s a unique form of bipedalism,” he says. “The postcranium alone would not unequivocally signal hominin status, in my opinion.” Paleoanthropologist Bernard Wood of George Washington University in Washington, D.C., agrees. Looking at the skeleton as a whole, he says, “I think the head is consistent with it being a hominin, … but the rest of the body is much more questionable.” (Ann Gibbons, "A New Kind of Ancestor: Ardipithecus Unveiled," Science, Vol. 326:36-40 (Oct. 2, 2009).

Likewise the Chronicle of Higher Education is reporting:

Mr. Johanson, founding director of the university's Institute of Human Origins ... said, he expected the team's initial interpretations "will undoubtedly generate widespread debate," perhaps even including the question of whether Ardi is actually a human ancestor. Mr. Johanson said he was not among those who would raise that question. But, he said, "there must have been very rapid evolutionary change" for the human form to transform so quickly from Ardi to Lucy.

Of course, virtually none of this serious scientific skepticism about bipedality or ancestral status in A. ramidus is being reported in the mainstream popular media, where the species is essentially being universally reported as an upright-walking hominid. Ardi thus leaves us with 2 options: either he wasn't an ancient upright walking hominid and isn't anything close to a human ancestor, or our previous confidently touted theories about how bipedality evolved in humans were wrong. Take your pick. >

So what do we have with “Ardi”? We have an extremely crushed “Irish stew” fossil that has undergone extensive reconstruction in order to become part of a PR campaign to make bold claims of ancestral status to the human line, even though at base its qualities are very similar to previously known fossils, and there's a lot of skepticism about the claims being made. In other words, we have the typical media circus that we find every time a new "missing link" is found.

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Prove to me that there is a God!

2009-03-12T11:40:43.982-07:00

“For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse …” (Romans 1:20 NKJV)

Many skeptics and atheists want Christians to prove that there is a God. My initial response to that challenge is to make a challenge of my own: Prove to me that there isn’t a God!

As Bible Believing Christians, we have all of creation on our side. Creation is something that all people can see, touch, and smell. God’s creation proves the reality of His existence. God’s “invisible attributes” hangs the earth, the moon, and the stars on nothing.

The laws of nature shine light on the fact that an intelligent creator being, outside of our known dimension of space and time, set the laws of science into motion.

The complexity and beauty in nature, from the one cell organism to the great dinosaurs of the past, all give a commanding testimony to the existence of an intelligent creator being.

The fact that we can think, act, and create also gives a living testimony to the remarkable engineering and design that we see in the mirror every day.

God’s eternal power is the glue of the universe … from the atom to the planets … God holds everything together. Deep inside, all people “understand” that there is a God by the “things that are made”. But not all people want to admit that their evil deeds are recorded and noted by a prefect and just Creator God.

We are all without excuse! No one can deny the existence of creation. Creation must have a creator. Laws must have a lawgiver. Art must have an artist. And love must have a lover.

But God is also 100% holy and He will, must, judge one day.

But since God is love, He has provided a way, the way, for imperfect people to obtain forgiveness, mercy, and grace from the Day of judgment to come.

That way, that truth, and that life is Jesus Christ.

You can accept Him or you can reject Him ... but you cannot make Him go away!

To you skeptic, with all due respect, prove to me that there isn't a God … go on … I will wait …

Pastor Lou

Living Rock: Valley Life Free Church >

When is a baby a baby?

2009-02-02T15:33:04.708-07:00

"You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother's womb. Thank You for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous--how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in Your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. How precious are Your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered!" (Psalms 139:13-17 NLT)

As we learn more about our inner workings through cell and DNA research, we stand amazed at the true complexity of it all. We are truly wonderfully made. It is very important to note that God "saw" us before we were even born! This Biblical fact should lay to rest any argument regarding when a human soul (personality) is considered a human child with full rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Based on Psalm 139:13-17, once the ovum is fertilized God begins the knitting of the flesh. As the child develops in the womb, God is watching the infant form in the utter seclusion of the mother's womb. God is there from the very beginning.

How precious is the hand of God in the formation and development of our physical soul! Our country has supported and promoted the killing of the unborn for too long. As we enter a new era of anti-Biblical political agendas and worldviews, we must stand united as one body of Spirit and Truth. We are to be the salt and light of the world so that others may be blessed and given the opportunity to live a life that is pleasing to God.

It is not popular or politically correct to be a Bible believing Christian in this world. But please believe me when I say that God is our strength and our shield. We must stop being fearful of the pop-culture crowd of sexual sin and death.

Our battle is not with a person or a group of people ... our battle is in a spiritual place. We are to be ambassadors of Christ and messengers of good news. And we are to participate in this spiritual battle knowing that the victory already belongs to the Lord (Proverbs 21:31)!

So ... let's stay united in God's ways and He will lead us to a place where a baby can feel safe in the arms of a loving parent.

Pastor Lou

Living Rock: Valley Life Free Church