Several Items of Interest

"You have lost a dear child.  Was there not a word of the Lord to cheer you?  You lost your property: was there not a passage in the Scriptures to meet the disaster?  You have been slandered: was there not a word to console you?  You were very sick, and withal depressed: had not the Lord provided a comfort for you in that case?  I will not multiply quesitons: the fact is that you never were high, but the Word of the Lord was up with you; and you never were low, but what the Scripture was down with you."     Charles Spurgeon


Study: 26 Percent of American Children Grow Up in Single-Parent Homes

A newly released study by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development found that 25.8 percent of American children live in single-parent homes, WORLD Magazine reports.  That number is particularly troubling when considering that of the 26 other countries surveyed, the average was 14.9 percent.  Among African-Americans, the rate was much worse: 72 percent of black children grow up in single-parent homes.  No-fault divorce and social welfare policies are among the possible explanations for the high rates of single-parent homes in the U.S.


Supreme Court Won't Block Contraception Mandate

U.S. Supreme Court justice Sonia Sotomayor has denied a request to immediately block part of Obamacare that requires employers to provide the "morning after pill" and similar drugs, CBN News reports.  Hobby Lobby and a sister company sued the government over the requirement, saying it violates their religious beliefs.  But Sotomayor said there was no legal ground to block the requirement on an emergency basis, adding that the company can continue its lawsuit in the lower courts.  Hobby Lobby officials must now decide if they will violate their faith by going along with the regulation, or pay a daily fine of $1.3 million starting Jan. 1 if they ignore it.


Putin Set to Ban Americans From Adopting Russian Children

Russian president Vladimir Putin said Thursday he would sign a bill banning American families from adopting Russian orphans, apparently in retaliation for U.S. criticism of his nation's human rights record, Fox News reports.  The law would block dozens of Russian children expected to be adopted by American families from leaving the country and cut off one of the main international routes for Russian children to leave orphanages.  Russia is the single biggest source of adopted children in the U.S.,with more than 60,000 Russian children being taken in by Americans over the past two decades.  According to UNICEF estimates, there are more than 700,000 Russian orphans but only 18,000 Russians waiting to adopt a child.  The U.S. State Department has expressed deep concern about the Russian measure. "The welfare of children is simply too important to be linked to political aspects of our relationship," said spokesman Patrick Ventrell.


Some Scientific Facts from Creation Moments, Inc

There are mountains on the bottom of the ocean floor (Jonah 2:5-6).  Only in the last centruy have we discovered that there are towering mountains and deep trenches in the depths of the sea.

Joy and gladness understood (Acts 14:17).  Evolution cannot explain emotions.  Matter and energy do not feel.  Scripture explains that God places gladness in our hearts (Psalm 4:7), and ultimate joy is found only in our Creator's presence  - "in Your presence is fullness of joy" (Psalm 16:11).

Blood is the source of life and health (Leviticus 17:11; 14).  Up until 120 years ago, sick people were "bled" and many died as a result (e.g. George Washington).  Today we know that healthy blood is necessary to bring life-giving nutrients to every cell in the body.  God declared that "the life of the flesh is in the blood" long before science understood its function.

The Bible states that God created life according to kinds (Genesis 1:24).  The fact that God distinguishes kinds agrees with what scientists observe  -  namely that there are horizontal genetic boundaries beyond which life cannot vary.  Life produces after its own kind.  Dogs produce dogs, cats produce cats, roses produce roses.  Never have we witnessed one kind changing into another kind as evolution supposes.  There are truly natural limits to biological change.
   (101 Scientific Facts and foreknowledge, www.creationmoments.com)