Senate to vote on rival budget plans;
On video: South African police drag man, who later dies;
Benedict's final day as pope;
Smart watches gain interest.

Pope Benedict XVI begins last day as pope;
Italian village ready for arrival of retired pope;
Secretary of State Kerry arrives at meeting to discuss Syria;
Crowd funding champ launches new smart watch.

“In a political asylum case involving a German family that fled to the United States to be able to homeschool their children, the U.S. Justice Department is arguing that the freedom to choose to educate one's own children is not a fundamental right. If the Romeike family, who are evangelical Christians, lose their case and are deported back to Germany, they could face fines, jail time, and their children could even be taken away from them. Homeschooling is illegal in Germany. The Romeike’s did not agree with some of what was taught to their children in the public schools, so they began homeschooling in violation of the law. After paying about $10,000 in fines and watching the police apprehend their children and take them to the public school, they sought political asylum in the United States and immigrated to Tennessee. The Home School Legal Defense Association helped them with the move and now represents them in court. The Romeike’s were granted political asylum by a federal district court judge in Tennessee. Political asylum is granted to refugees who can demonstrate that they are being persecuted for religious reason or because they belong to a ‘particular social group.’ The U.S. government protested the judge's decision and appealed to an immigration appeals court, which ruled against the Romeike’s. The case, Romeike v. Holder, is now in the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. ... The Justice Department argues that governments may legitimately use its authority to force parents to send their kids to government sanctioned schools. Since it takes the position that Germany may do that, it follows that the administration believes it has the right to do that in the United States as well.”

(“Homeschooling Not a Fundamental Right,” Christian Post, Feb. 14, 2013)

Job 15:8
“Hast thou heard the secret of God? and dost thou restrain wisdom to thyself?”

God designed and made the universe from nothing. That’s creation. Man takes what God has made and simply rearranges it to make things that help him. That’s building. The wonderful abilities that God built into plants and animals come from the genetic information that God built into them. Man has now started to use the genetic information created by God to build harmless creatures that better serve our needs.

For example, the silk of the golden orb spider is five times stronger than steel, yet more elastic than any similar material we could manufacture. It could be used to make light and comfortable bulletproof vests and helmets. The problem is, it takes over half a million spiders to make a pound of silk. So scientists have taken the spider gene that makes the silk and put it into a harmless bacterium. When that bacterium divides, it makes more bacteria, complete with the gene. Today there are millions of bacteria making usable amounts of spider silk.

This technology has resulted in what has been called the greatest revolution since industrialization. Bacteria are now making insulin, vaccines and even chocolate. Today, bacteria are mainly used to manufacture medicines.

Man has learned a great deal about how to make use of the creation. However, the genetic information that makes this all possible in the first place is a product of the genius of our Creator.

Notes: Doug Stewart. “These Germs Work Wonders.” Readers Digest, pp. 83-86.
Photo: A cape made from Madagascar Golden Orb spider silk exhibited at London's Victoria and Albert Museum in June 2012. Courtesy of Cmglee. Licensed under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2.
Creation Moments, Inc., P.O. Box 839, Foley, MN 56329 www.creationmoments.com

Chuck Hagel takes the helm at the Pentagon;
Rosa Parks statue unveiled;
Senate hearing on banning assault weapons;
Deadly shark attack in New Zealand.

Pope in final audience thanks crowds;
Hagel swearing in;
Supreme Court to mull voting rights provision;
On the menu: Family-style lunch for students.

“The words ‘mother’ and ‘father’ will be dropped from Scottish matrimonial law under First Minister Alex Salmond’s plans to redefine marriage. Official consultation documents which accompany the Scottish Government’s draft Bill spell out the changes to terminology. Where current matrimonial law refers to ‘mother’ and ‘father’, the Scottish Government plans for legislation to use the gender-neutral term ‘parent.’ The proposals have been described as “politically stupid” by Gordon Wilson, the former leader of the Scottish National Party. Mr. Wilson said: ‘The politically correct elite are going mad. They are going far beyond what people envisage.’ Norman Wells of the Family Education Trust said: ‘The Scottish Government’s plan to introduce a new lexicon for family relationships shows just how far its proposals to redefine marriage extend. It is engaging in a linguistic revolution to accommodate the wishes of a tiny minority of same-sex couples who want their relationships to be recognized as a marriage. Under these proposals, marriage is not so much being extended to same-sex couples as being taken over by them.’”

(christian.org.uk, Feb. 11, 2013)

Matthew 15:19
“For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.”

Scripture warns us that how we occupy our minds affects our behavior. Unfortunately, modern voices have said something else. They oppose the public expression of Christianity and decency because they say that it may have a negative effect upon people. At the same time, they tell us that when children study New Age religions, homosexuality and situation ethics at school or see violence on television, these influences will not have a negative effect upon them!

In recent years, parents have been subjected to conflicting “scientific findings” about the effect of television violence on children. Most Christian parents have had a clear sense that television violence has a bad effect on their children even if their children don’t show any effects right after watching a violent program. Research clears up this seeming contradiction and supports what our Lord taught us.

Researchers from the University of Illinois showed that children who are already violent don’t show much increase in their violent actions after watching violent television. Children who are not normally violent and who watch violence on television do not show much increase in violent behavior either, unless they are faced with a frustrating situation. Then, instead of reacting with little or no violence, they react with a much greater degree of violent behavior.

As the Lord who created us said, what we put into our minds will be reflected in our behavior.

Notes: B. Bower. “Kids’ Aggressive Behavior Linked to Watching TV Violence.” Science News, Vol. 126, p. 190.
Creation Moments, Inc., P.O. Box 839, Foley, MN 56329 www.creationmoments.com

Hagel gets a vote;
Obama: Flexibility won't help with spending cuts;
NYPD has man in custody in dismembering of woman;
Rodman in North Korea.

Hot air balloon crash in Egypt kills 18 foreigners;
Obama warns of risks over budget cut uncertainty;
C. Everett Koop, 'rock star' surgeon general, dies;
Dennis Rodman worms his way into North Korea.