Stop being bitter and angry and mad at others. Don’t yell at one another or curse each other or ever be rude. Instead, be kind and merciful, and forgive others, just as God forgave you because of Christ. Ephesians 4:31-32 CEV https://bible.com/bible/392/eph.4.31-32.CEV
A good article from Creation Ministries about why snakes adapting to cane toads is natural selection not evolution
When leading public institutions repeatedly broadcast as fact that ‘we see evolution happening today’,1 it’s not surprising that many people believe it.
One example is a recent prime-time breakfast radio segment on Australia’s national broadcaster, ABC Radio National. The University of Sydney’s Professor Richard Shine told the presenter Fran Kelly that he and his co-researchers studying snakes have observed ‘genuine evolutionary changes’.2
What were they? Allegedly snakes are evolving to cope with the spread of cane toads across the Australian continent. (Cane toads were introduced to north Queensland in the 1930s, and have steadily expanded their range, moving south into New South Wales and west into the Northern Territory.) The changes are making snakes ‘much less vulnerable’ to the toxin in the toad’s skin. (One reason that the cane toad has spread so rapidly is its toxic gland that can kill native predators that eat it.)Creationists do not dispute natural selection—indeed it is an important part of the biblical creation/Fall/
Flood/Dispersion model, and was theorized by creationists even before Darwin!
But as the interview progressed, the discerning listener would have picked up from Professor Shine’s own words that he and his colleagues had not observed evolution at all. Rather, it was an example of natural selection acting to favour certain already-existing genetically determined traits in the snake populations. Creationists do not dispute natural selection—indeed it is an important part of the biblical creation/Fall/Flood/Dispersion model, and was theorized by creationists even before Darwin!
The researchers had firstly been able to rule out learned behaviour as a factor in this case. ‘We’ve done a bunch of trials to see if it could just be that the snakes are learning and so forth but they seem to be remarkably stupid …’, said Professor Shine, going on to emphasize the genetic basis to snake behaviour:
‘Basically you’ve got a strong genetic component to feeding responses, and some snakes really go mad on eating frogs and others really want to eat nothing but mammals and so forth, and it’s actually pretty sophisticated. And there’s a lot of work overseas showing that even within a single litter of baby snakes you’ve got genetic variation in what kinds of things they treat as prey. And it’s just that the only snakes that survive after the toads arrive are the ones that happen to be born with a set of genes saying: “If it looks and smells like a cane toad, don’t eat it.”’
And genetically-determined physical attributes such as the snake’s head dimensions and body size are key factors too.
‘Essentially the size of the toad you can eat depends on the size of your head, so if you’ve got a small head you can’t eat a very big toad.’
So, if you’re a snake, having a small head stops you eating big toads, which have more poison, therefore helps you to survive. And having a big body helps as well:
Read the full story here
The fourth key, two-way journaling or the writing out of your prayers and God’s answers, brings great freedom in hearing God’s voice. Mark Virkler
And if your Lord and teacher has washed your feet, you should do the same for each other. John 13:14 CEV https://bible.com/bible/392/jhn.13.14.CEV
Scripture
“The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest field.”
Observation
Two blind men call to Jesus, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!” Jesus heals them and warns them not to tell anyone, but they spread the news about Him everywhere.
A mute demonised man is brought to Jesus, and He drives the demon out. The crowd is amazed.
Jesus goes throughout Israel preaching the Good news and healing the sick. He looks at the crowds with compassion and tells his disciples they must pray for the Lord to send out his workers into the harvest field.
Application
There are so many people who are desperate for salvation. The harvest is plentiful.
There was a time when this scripture was applied to what used to be called “the mission field.” Over recent decades we have discovered that it applies here at home also.
In Australia a little under 20% of people attend church at least once a month. This is a fairly low bar to describe what it means to be a christian. Yet about 60% identify as “christian” in the census.
The harvest is plentiful, even if we start a the easy place of sharing with the huge number of people who claim to be christian but don’t ever go to church and are not living in the Way of the Lord.
Jesus tells us to pray. We are not necessarily all called to be evangelists, but we all called to pray for the Lord to release workers into the harvest field.
Jesus also tells us to make disciples. We must share the gospel with our friends and family members. The people closest to us can judge whether the God stuff works in our lives.
We are not responsible for results, just to pray and witness.
Prayer
Father, please send your workers out into the harvest field. Show me who to talk to about you and how to do this. May the harvest be great. Amen.
The third key to hearing God’s voice is recognizing that God’s voice in your heart often sounds like a flow of spontaneous thoughts. Therefore, when I want to hear from God, I quiet my mind so that these can come through. Mark Virkler
Then he told them: Go and preach the good news to everyone in the world. Mark 16:15 CEV https://bible.com/verse-of-the-day/mrk.16.15/70510
Scripture
“No one puts new wine into an old wine skin. For the old skin would burst from the pressure, spilling the wine and ruining the skin. New wine is stored in new wine skins so that both are preserved.”
Observation
Some disciples of John the Baptist ask Jesus why His disciples don’t fast like they and the disciples of the Pharisees do. Jesus replies that this is a wedding feast and not a time for fasting. It is time for new wine and new wine skins, so the old seasons are passing away.
The leader of a synagogue comes and pleads with Jesus to raise his daughter who has just died. As Jesus is going to his house, a woman who has suffered prolonged bleeding comes and touches the hem of his garment. Instantly, she is healed.
At the synagogue leader’s house, Jesus removes the mourners. He then takes the girl by the hand and she stands up alive.
Application
The kingdom of God is a new age, a new era. The new wine, representing the Holy Spirit, is poured out on all who will receive it.
To contain this new wine, a new wine skin has been created. It is called the church.
The people of the Holy Spirit, the followers of Jesus, are birthed into a new way of living, a new way of relating to the Father that was not available in the old ways.
Religious practices such as prayer and fasting are repurposed. In the old age, people prayed and fasted to impress God, but now we pray and fast to draw near to God. Worship was once to a God “out there”, but now it is to the God who is “in here.”
In the past, the Holy Spirit was only available to a few people. But now He is in all of us.
We are the people of the new wine! Drink in all that He wants to give you.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, please forgive me for old wine skin thinking. Thank you for the Holy Spirit who gives me new life in all its fullness. Amen.
New Life Narrabri 