Phelps breaks Olympic medals record;
Uganda Ebola outbreak spreads;
Opening statements given in Peterson trials;
World's biggest power outage hits New Dehli.

Since the destruction of the Second Temple, Jews have observed Tisha B’Av (meaning ninth of Av) as the day of mourning over their loss. The practice began after the destruction of the First Temple by the Babylonians and was reestablished in 71 A.D, for the first and second temples were destroyed on the same day, 655 years apart. The observance falls in July or August of the Gregorian calendar.

   This year it is on July 28, so the observance is deferred until Sunday July 29. On Tisha B’Av, the Torah is draped in black. There is fasting and mourning  with various rituals and the reading of the book of Lamentations and Jewish poetry called kinnot. In some Jewish communities the book of Job is read. Orthodox Jews believe that Tisha B’Av will be kept until the Messiah comes, at which time it will become a celebration. 

(Friday Church News Notes, July 27, 2012, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143)

2 Samuel 2:18
"And there were three sons of Zeruiah there, Joab, and Abishai, and Asahel: and Asahel was as light of foot as a wild roe."

When a gazelle sees a creature that threatens, it springs straight up into the air. If you have a house cat, you've probably seen your pet do something similar when someone tries to sneak up on it. This strange behavior is called stotting.

Scientists are well aware that features found in nature have purpose. This is not to say, however, that all scientists necessarily believe in a Creator.

At first glance, it would seem that stotting is counterproductive. Time and energy that might be used in running away from a predator seem to be wasted by springing up and making the prey even more noticeable. Is stotting an animal's attempt to warn others of its kind about danger? Is it an attempt to get a better view of the danger? Or, could stotting be an attempt to confuse the predator? After watching 250 incidences of gazelle stotting, naturalists believe they have come up with a solution. They believe that stotting is a creature's way of letting a would-be predator know that the predator has been seen. The message is, don't try to sneak up on me because I know you're there. Researchers noted that stotting does seem to discourage cheetahs from continuing to stalk a gazelle.

Even though most scientists don't believe in the Creator, they sometimes recognize that there is intelligent purpose and design in the creation. How contradictory it is for those who would deny the Creator to then use what He has made to try to deny Him!

Notes: "Verily, Gazelles Leap After They Look." Discover, Sept. 1986. P. 13. 
Photo: Lambs in New Zealand stotting. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

Copyright © 2012 by Creation Moments, Inc., P.O. Box 839, Foley, MN 56329 www.creationmoments.com

Colo. suspect charged with 24 counts of murder;
Civilians flee Aleppo;
Romney camp defends comments;
Franklin gets gold, Lochte falters.

Christian rock’s one-world church building enterprise was in full steam at the recently concluded 14th annual Lifest in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. On hand were popular CCM groups such as Switchfoot, Newsboys, Underoath, Building 429, Norma Jean, Steven Curtis Chapman, Tammy Borden, Love & Death, Casting Crowns, and Disciple. 15,000 enthusiastic fans gathered to celebrate ecumenical unity through the sensual power of rock & roll.

   Participants could choose from three worship services, including a Catholic Mass led by Bishop David Ricken, who officially approves of the “Marian Apparitions” at the Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help in northern Wisconsin. The apparition appeared to Adele Brise in 1859 and said, “I am the Queen of Heaven, who prays for the conversion of sinners,” plainly identifying itself as a demon, since the only Queen of Heaven mentioned in Scripture is an idolatrous goddess that was condemned by the prophet Jeremiah (Jer. 7:18).

   That Christian rock is intimately associated with such things is clear evidence of its apostasy. None of the aforementioned popular CCM groups and “artists” condemned Roman Catholic participation in the festival. (See The Directory of Contemporary Worship Musicians for extensive documentation of CCM’s one-world church building efforts. It is available as a free eBook from the Way of Life web site -- www.wayoflife.org ) 

(Friday Church News Notes, July 27, 2012, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143)

Romney courts donors, raises cash in Israel;
Colorado shooting suspect faces formal charges;
What to do about protecting distracted pedestrians;
Loaded field to swim `Race of Century'.

In 2008, film critic Jenny McCartney warned about the growing darkness and violence of the movie industry and the fact that children are watching this soul-corrupting trash. The following is excerpted from “Our Attitude to Violence Is Beyond a Joke,” The London Telegraph, July 26, 2008: “But the greatest surprise of all--even for me, after eight years spent working as a film critic--has been the sustained level of intensely sadistic brutality throughout the film [Batman: The Dark Knight]. ... The Dark Knight, however, has been rated 12A by the British Board of Film Classification, which means that although the BBFC believes it is best suited to children aged 12 and over, any under-12 can see it provided he or she is accompanied by an adult. Cinemas are even holding parent-and-baby screenings.

   The 12A certificate, a relatively recent innovation, is a piece of fudge designed to deflect responsibility from the BBFC on to British parents. ... In 2002, the BBFC took a stand on Spider-Man, a hugely hyped Hollywood release: it decided that it contained unsuitable levels of violence for under-12s, and therefore awarded it a ‘12’ certificate, meaning that under-12s should not be allowed into cinemas to see it. A public storm erupted; children and many parents were furious; and a number of councils announced their intention to defy the ban.

   At first the BBFC stoutly defended itself, saying that ‘Hollywood has carried out an aggressive worldwide marketing campaign aimed at young children when the film is not suitable for them.’ And then, fed up with being everyone’s most hated Aunt Sally, it invented the 12A certificate, which translates as a fed-up, institutional shrug of the shoulders. It’s been busy shrugging ever since. Spider-Man now looks like Bambi when set next to The Dark Knight. ... The intensity of violence in The Dark Knight is a grimly logical progression from the sort of distilled brutality that has rapidly become the norm in films rated 15 and 18: the only difference is that now small children are permitted to watch it, too. ... Increasingly, extreme screen violence is used not as a necessary adjunct to a greater point, but as the pleasurable point in itself.” 

(Friday Church News Notes, July 27, 2012, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143)

Exodus 31:17
"It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed."

Back in the 1990s, new fossil discoveries in China were greeted by evolutionists as among the most spectacular of the century. The fossils, said evolutionists, represented some of the earliest multicelled creatures. Evolutionists publicized these fossils as evidence for evolution. However, it's not difficult to see how these fossils support creation rather than evolution. Evolutionists admit that the fossils show that the first multicelled creatures appeared suddenly. This confirms creationist claims that life appeared suddenly and without evolutionary ancestors.

These "first" multicelled creatures were complex and complete. There were no fossils with partially developed eyes or other organs. They include trilobites that had some of the most complex eye structures of any creature that ever lived. There are also fossils of shrimp-like creatures and creatures with hard shells. Some of the animals were over two feet long. Now that's a big jump when you remember that the previous step was a single-celled algae!

There are no evolutionary missing links. The evolutionists said that the creatures all belong to groups that still exist. This means that science has now documented the history of some kinds of creatures alive today right back to the very first record of multicelled life. In other words, these creatures never evolved! Also of interest is how evolutionists explain the size of this fossil deposit, which is miles across. One evolutionist said, "A violent storm probably stirred up the sea bottom and the mud settled over a large area…"

Notes: Wilford, John Noble. "Fast Evolutionary Jump Led to Complex Life, Study Says." Star Tribune, Wednesday, April 24, 1991. P. 4A. 

Copyright © 2012 by Creation Moments, Inc., P.O. Box 839, Foley, MN 56329 www.creationmoments.com

Romney says differences between U.S. and Israel embolden adversaries;
Arkansas killing suspect claimed to be mentally ill;
Syria accuses neighbors of conspiracy;
Olympic seats unfilled.

The heart is the source of one’s actions. God’s Word says, “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life,” and,” For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he” (Proverbs 4:23; 23:7). The corruption of the imagination was one of the first steps in the downward slide to idolatry and moral perversion in man’s early history as described in Romans 1. “... when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened” (Romans 1:21).

   The same thing happens in the lives of individuals. What the mind dwells on is what will eventually control the life. If the imagination becomes perverted, the life will reflect this. This is a loud warning in an age when individuals can connect 24/7 in the most private manner with any aspect of the pop culture, and there are a great many dark and perverted things with which one can fill the imagination. In fact, dark and perverted is an apt description of much of today’s music, video games, novels, and movies. Science fiction and the superhero genre, for example, have grown ever darker, stranger, more sensual and godless, and many people are living a dark fantasy world.

   Consider James Holmes, who murdered a dozen people and wounded nearly 60 more last week in a movie theater where Batman: The Dark Knight Rises was premiering. Jesus taught us that murder is an acting out of the impulses of the sin nature (Mark 7:21-23), but the fallen nature can be inflamed. Holmes had dyed his hair red and said he was The Joker, the clownish, ultra-violent enemy of the superhero Batman (“NYC Police Commissioner Said Alleged Shooter Calls Himself The Joker,” Fox News, July 20, 2012). These are vile movies. In the 2008 movie Batman: The Dark Night, a man’s face is filleted by a knife, another’s is burned half off, a man’s eye is slammed into a pencil, a bomb is stitched inside of a man and exploded, a man is bound to a chair and set afire, a child is threatened by a man with a melted face, and clowns are shot point-blank in the head.

   In the comic book “Batman: The Dark Night” The Joker murders an entire television audience. Thirteen years earlier, not far from where Holmes acted out his perverted fantasies, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold murdered 13 and wounded 21. They, too, were acting out demonic fantasies that had been enflamed through violent music, video games, and dark movies. 

(Friday Church News Notes, July 27, 2012, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143)