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Post date: 5-18-2008
Telling it Like it is!!
I came across a refreshing web page today. I put a link to it below. (1)What was excellent about this story was the objectivity of it. It was a piece introducing new findings into the debate over “global warming.”
The web page was the University of Alabama Huntsville (UAH), and the article is titled:
Cirrus disappearance: Warming might thin heat-trapping clouds. (8/9/07)
It turns out that the hypothesis, on which the computer models for “global warming” predictions depend, assumes that tropical warming cycles would increase the density of cirrus clouds, causing them to trap more warm air in our atmosphere, thereby escalating the warming trend. This study shows that the reverse is true. This came as a surprise to scientist Dr. Roy Spencer. That was not what he expected to find.
The refreshing thing about it is that he reported it anyway. He apparently is not one to hold back information even if it does not have the result he expected. I applaud the group who worked on this project. Thanks for telling it like it is.
Commentary:
Because I believe that the universe was designed and not just a fluke, I am not surprised by these findings. If you follow what is considered logical thinking, then you could reasonably postulate that the cirrus clouds would increase under the above conditions. However, in the design of this cosmos, the decrease in cirrus clouds under these conditions is a mechanism that allows more heat to escape when it needs to, but holds in heat when more warmth is needed. It’s greater than an automatic thermostat.
Anomalies of Water:
This is not the only anomaly concerning the behavior of water. Here are just a few:
1. Why does ice, a solid form of water, float instead of sinking to the bottom? Other substances contract when they are cooled.
2. Why does water expand when cooled to freezing?
3. Why does water freeze at the exact same temperature that it melts?
4. Did you know that at 4 degrees C. water expands on either heating or cooling?
5. No other material is commonly found as solid, gas and liquid.
6. Liquid water exists at very low temperatures and freezes on heating.
Water is one of our most important commodities (arguably it might be considered the most important, since it is necessary for survival), but its properties that differ from other liquids are phenomenal. Design, design, design.
“It has often been stated that life depends on these anomalous properties of water.”
From “Forty-one anomalies of water” link below.
Scientists say they understand what makes water behave as it does, and it seems to be largely the behavior of the oxygen molecule. From the following article, you can see that they are still hard-pressed to explain it. It’s more complicated than even they think:
Some Other Anomalous Properties of Water:
As a gas, water is one of the lightest gases known.
As a liquid, it is denser than expected.
As a solid, it is much lighter than expected.
If you are interested in learning more about this amazing substance that we all take for granted every day of our lives, follow this link:
1. Take a look at this piece from UAH mentioned at the beginning of this article.
3. To see the difficulty in understanding the behavior of water, go here:
Look at some of the statements from this last link:
‘This work has led to a gradual refinement of our views about the structure of liquid water, but it has not produced any definitive answer. There are several reasons for this, but the principal one is that the very concept of "structure" (and of water "clusters") depends on both the time frame and volume under consideration.’
Another one states:
“Water is almost unique among the more than 15 million known chemical substances in that its solid form is less dense than the liquid.”
Did water just happen? Design, design, design!
J. B. Hartline
Environmental Concerns
Posted: 5-13-2008
Our Cyclical Universe
For some time, scientists have warned us that the sun is diminishing and will some day die or go into a “nova” (millions of years in our future). It’s not something we should really be concerned about, we are not causing it, and we can’t prevent it. I say that God, who put the sun there to begin with and made it out of nothing, can replenish it. He has plenty of “nothing” out there to work with.
Observable Changes
There are really observable changes in the sun. For example: “Sun Spots” which are on an eleven year cycle. There are thousands of other cycles that occur throughout the earth and the universe over long periods of time, too great for man’s observation. Even stars that are considered stationary have what is called “proper motion.” Such variations were built-in to the design of the universe to keep it in balance. The gravitational pull from all bodies in the universe are keeping things in their proper locations (balance). This is an amazing thing that should put us in awe of our creator.
Seasons
Because of the earth’s “tilt,” its orbit around the sun every 365 days causes seasons. Seasons have all kinds of benefits to the human race. This allows vegetation including our food crops to go through their cycles of fruiting, with seeds, going dormant, then becoming active again the next warm season. Also, their seeds springing forth in to new life and new food supply. It also keeps insects from becoming too numerous. We always have warming for a period of time, then, cooling again. There are all kinds of variations that occur naturally. Some cycles are over long periods of years, decades, centuries or millennia, making accurate analysis almost impossible (by short term observation) or at least, extremely difficult for mankind.
Wobble
Scientists say the earth’s orbit is “wobbling” somewhat. That too is a cycle that the earth goes through that brings corrections to the balance of the solar system. I don’t know how they know, but they say that each wobble takes 23,000 years. Again, I don’t think we will live long enough to have to deal with it.
Similar
The natural variations in the universe are similar to so called “global warming.” They require many years of observation, much longer than the lifetime of one individual, to understand the natural warming and cooling, or minor shifts that correct themselves over time. Why don’t we leave the BIG stuff up to God, THE ONLY ONE who can really handle it?
Information
The information on the following URL is what scientists believe concerning the earth.
If you ignore the time estimates of millions and billions of years, you can see that there are so many variables, that we have no control over, that the “Global Warming” scare is irrelevant.
Most of us were exposed to planetary information in our science classes in school, it’s nothing new, but I found it interesting as I reviewed it from this site:
http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/the_universe/uts/earth3.html
Of course, I believe the Genesis account of the creation of the earth, since all the fossil evidence, etc. confirms it. There are a great number of scientists that believe as I do. So the earth is not as old as the scientists who wrote these articles believe.
Things to worry about:
Tilt: The angle of the Earth's axis relative to the plane of its orbit changes about three degrees every 41,000 years.
Orbit: The shape of Earth's orbit around the Sun becomes slightly more and then less oval every 100,000 years.
Wobble: One complete wobble of the earth takes 23,000 years.
Posting Date: 5-20-2008
Environment:
The following lead-in to an Op-Ed piece, in the New York Times October 30, 2007, expresses some of my thoughts concerning what is being called “Global Warming”:
OP-ED COLUMNIST; Did We Do That? Thomas L. Friedman wrote (speaking of the recent wild fires in the western U.S.):
“We may have introduced enough CO2 emissions into Mother Nature’s operating system that we cannot determine anymore where she stopped and we started.” October 28, 2007
I refer to what I wrote earlier in my article on “Global Warming”, True or False. Man’s contribution to the temperature increase, (that has been observed over the last few years and the infinitesimal increase over a longer period) is almost none existent. In this article, I referred to the many forest fires that have occurred from antiquity, many when there was no one to extinguish them. Those fires and the wild fires today put far more CO2 into the atmosphere in a few days than all the activities of man would in a decade.
My point is that the temperature of the earth has many influences, the paramount one of them being the Sun itself. The Sun supplies all the heat we get. The Sun warms the surface and the waters of the earth. The waters retain heat and keep the temperature more constant through night and day. This is also true of all physical things such as rocks and lands that retain some of the heat during the night.
The evaporation of water from the oceans (75% of the earth’s surface is covered by water) contributes over 90% of greenhouse gases, and the vast majority of CO2 is from natural sources. Man has so little to do with it. Compared with the vastness of just our atmosphere, we and our emissions are very minute.
Don’t be alarmed by Al Gore’s “Global Warming.” It’s just another alarmist, making money and looking for fame through our ignorance.
Don’t let them get away with it. I haven’t seen the Al Gore movie and don’t intend to. I don’t want any of my money going into his pocket. The British have the right idea; make the school teachers explain the eleven wrong scientific facts that are included in the film, if they show it to their students.
J. B. Hartline
Post date: 5-18-2008
Buying the Presidency of the United States of America
The fund-raising for presidential candidates has become a nightmare. It is totally unfair compared to the way it was in the early years of this country. You didn’t have to be wealthy, or have access to wealth to be elected. Many of our finest former presidents couldn’t get elected today for lack of campaign funds.
Something needs to be done to rectify this situation. But who would do it? Certainly not our senators and congressmen, they would be impeding their ability to get re-elected. The way it is now, leaves it wide-open for people with vast sums of money to actually buy the presidency, i.e. to install the man he or she desires to be president.
Here’s how it happens: Presidents are actually elected by the people, but because big money can buy more media advertising and people respond according to what they hear or see, they may vote for a candidate that is less qualified and is diametrically opposed to their personal desires.
At the same time, the majority of the media is eating out of the hands of the party with the most liberal views. (Presently, the vast majority of news people are liberals.) This leaves it up to candidates with conservative views to raise enough capital to combat the advertising of the liberals. (Conceivably, this could be the reverse situation at times).
When the news media wants a candidate in office, they begin a long time ahead of an election shaping the thinking of their viewers to accept that candidate. They also play all sorts of trick, seeming to play-up one candidate while all the preparation is in place to switch at their prime moment to the other candidate that they want in office.
When the ones making the laws are the ones benefiting from them, instead of the public at large, something is drastically wrong. I have seen this building for all my adult life. It seems it couldn’t get any worse, but just watch it. There is corruption and lying almost everywhere.
As long as there are greedy self-serving individual running for office, or already in office, we can expect corruption at the highest levels of government. As long as there are men of great wealth that our candidates are beholding to (because of financial support from them) we are in big trouble. If a man can buy the presidency of a country and everyone is feeding (financially) from his hand, that man is really in control of the country. Might as well be the King.
My opinion,
J. B. Hartline
Post Date: 5-17-2008
On Blogs:
I believe that we have been misled into believing that blogs are the wave of the present for everyone. My brief exposure to blogging was a disaster. I blogged for a few weeks and had absolutely no response from anyone. So I did a post that asked anyone who read any of my blogs to send a comment. They could say they read it. Or they could say it stinks. They could even say they liked it. But NO! NO response at all. That really encourages me to keep it up, ha-ha.
This is not to say that blogs don't have a place. They are very good if you want to make a page and share it will family, or friends, or some other group that you notify to look at your work. Reaching the general public is not as simple on a blog unless you take a long time to get it established.
I have done web pages for years. The first one I did, an “end time” page, had 20,000 hits in the first year. (That’s a lot for a Christian site).
Close Line:
So, I will leave the posts up on my blog for a while and see if it picks up any. If not, that thing is gonna get wasted. When I spend my time writing something that I think will be of value to another person somewhere in the world, and it has a little humor that might give someone a chuckle, it’s like a slap in the face when there is no one out there. I have a limited amount of years to get it going. I don’t want to waste time posting stuff that no one ever sees. It’s like hanging out laundry. I’m looking for a new close-line in a place where people with see it and stop to take a look. Perhaps this is it.
I’m sure that some blogs do well. If you already have a well recognized name and are known for something, then your name would attract those who know who you are and like what you stand for. My only attraction is subject matter, so my titles are critical to attracting traffic.
Genealogy Site:
I have several web sites presently and the number of hits on them is diminished from what it used to be. I still get some hits, and on my genealogy page, the number of hits is limited because the viewers are relatives, and it is a subscription service. They want to know about their ancestry. The interest in genealogy tends to ebb and flow. It seems to increase in the later months of the year. Perhaps the autumn reminds us of the older ones in our family and the frailty of human existence. I guess it makes us more interested in knowing where we came from, and perhaps gives us some hope in where we are going. It’s nice to know who went before us. When we see photographs of our ancestors, it is interesting to see resemblances to others in our family in this generation. I understand that people do not spend all their time looking up ancestors. So, I am not too concerned about the slow down of traffic on that site. Actually, it has picked up as of late.
Health Site:
I have a “Health” page that has never had much traffic. It’s all good stuff, but it seems few are interested. I'm gonna change the background
color. It's quite obnoxious.
End-times Site:
I also wrote a book “After the Great Tribulation,” and built a web site for it that is focused on the “end-times.” It is not what most end-times pages have on them. I have spent a lot of time in the last thirty years studying the Bible and have learned that there is a lot of ignorance concerning these issues.
What Difference does it Make?
Concerning my teachings, a pastor once asked, “What difference does it make?” It really makes a LOT of difference to those who understand it, but for that pastor, it really means very little. If you are not willing to exchange your comfortable old tradition-based position that you learned from someone else for a deep understanding of the truth, then nothing makes much difference to you. Status quo is just fine.
A Lot to Share:
I know that I have a lot to share, and I am looking for the most effective way to share it. I have taught Bible studies in many places and for many years, but they are usually small groups and they come and go. Thank God for those who came for as long as they did. I know that affecting one person’s life in a positive direction is a very good thing. Yet, we don’t live forever, and my desire is to spend the rest of my days sharing what I know to be true with anyone who will listen or read what I have to share.
Not Free to Share:
I have not been free to share my understanding in churches, the pastors are afraid that it will cause some folks to leave the church and their financial base will be eroded. You might think I’m making that up, but it is the rule and when someone is open, it is definitely the exception. You see, I don’t teach the “rapture,” (an unbiblical concept), or the future coming of Jesus to take us away to heaven ”en mass.” The statements in those scriptures that are used to teach such subjects were spoken to the apostles and disciples of Jesus and were for that generation, not a future one. If you think I’m wrong, you haven’t read my material.
The “great tribulation” was prophesied by Jesus to occur in that Generation, and history records that it did occur. It wasn’t prophesied to be a world-wide event, which about ninety percent of all Christians seem to believe. Therefore, they cannot see that it has been fulfilled in the part of the world that was designated by Jesus and recorded in Luke 21. So it is necessary for us to search out the true meaning of those scriptures in order to know what they mean and understand the fulfillment. That is the job of a pastor, but not many will accept the task.
Many of the foundations of our beliefs are based on wrong understanding of the teachings of Jesus, and yet, our pastors don’t want to learn anything more than what they already know. What they are preaching keeps the people comfortable and satisfied, and even though the pastors may believe what I am saying, they aren’t willing to rock the boat just to tell the truth that is taught in the Bible. What a pitiful scenario.
ReExamining Christian Doctrine:
I have had many good responses to my web site on “ReExamining Christian Doctrine.” They have come from as far away as Germany, Africa, Australia and New Zealand. A site in Australia has put some of my articles up on their site because they agree with them. Responses have come from all over the U.S. as well. Many lay persons have agreed with me and responded to thank me for presenting the truth. Yet when I try to share it with anyone who has a “ministry” already going big, they don’t want to hear it. They really don’t want me around, because I might tell it to someone else in the church. God help them to understand the importance of truth over finances and popularity.
What Do I Teach?
What I teach is what I learned from studying in the original languages of the Bible and through much praying for understanding. It is also believed by thousands of people all around the world. There is a group in South Africa that uses my material as their text to study the “end times.” I didn’t start the group, but they asked permission to use my material.
The fact is if no one else in the entire world believed what I believe, I would still hold to it, because I know it is truth. Everyone who has really looked at it seriously has agreed that it is truth. Several have tried to prove to me where I am wrong and end up proving to themselves that I am right. Some are afraid to accept it for fear of what others might think.
Background:
One of my grandfathers was a Church of God pastor. He believed in the “rapture” and taught it to his congregation. I loved him and accepted his teaching. He died before I found the truth of the matter. He did the best he knew to do and I do not fault that. However, when others refuses to accept the evidence for the truth, I have a hard time reconciling that with the proper attitude you would expect from a servant of Jesus.
My other grandfather was very involved with the Church of Christ and I am told that they were of a similar view of what I have found. I was never exposed to the teachings of the Church of Christ, only that they believe that baptism saves you, which I do not agree with. Baptism is important to every believer, but I don’t believe one who truly trusts himself to Jesus Christ will be lost if he isn’t baptized.
J. B. Hartline
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END
Subject:
Do you believe in Evolution? 10-12-2008
Hands.
Look at your hands. Move them around. Bend your fingers. Turn your closed hands so your nails are up and look at the joints. Compare your left hand with your right. In most cases, they are very similar, though not identical. Try doing tasks without your thumbs and see how difficult it is. Man has yet to design a hand that will come close to performing like yours. They are making progress in this direction, but will never be able to exactly reproduce all the actions that you can do, and yet, billions of others on the earth have hands that can perform exactly like yours. Could you imagine such a thing evolving on its own with no intelligence driving it? If we evolved through a mutation process, there would be all kinds of variations, but we don’t see these.
Eyes.
I work with television and often with cameras, some of the finest ever designed by man. I have yet to see a camera that can perform like the human eye. It is awesome in its ability to look at a far away object and then immediately focus on a very nearby object. Your camera can’t do that, and it is designed by the best engineers out there. Look at how your eye adjusts to all kinds of conditions. You can look at an object in almost the same direction as the sun and still be able to see it. Your camera will streak and misadjust itself and may even damage the pickup devise in it under these same conditions. Do you believe your eyes evolved? From what?
Every cell in your body has enough DNA to construct a new “you.” How did that get there? Smart slime?
Finger Prints.
We all have different finger prints, eye “prints,” and other distinguishing traits that are not duplicated in anyone else on earth. How can that be? Design?
From Apes??
Similarities between apes and people are not to say that we evolved from them. If that were true, we would be dumber than apes and our brains would be reduced in size and thinking ability, not increased. Does your DNA trace back to apes?
Attrition.
Everything left to nature will degenerate. It is called the second law of thermodynamics. Things do not get more complex with succeeding generations, but actually degenerate to some, albeit very small, degree. That is called “devolution(1),” not evolution.
Good Design.
The similarities between humans and apes, i.e. two eyes, two ears, ability to stand upright, etc. is simple to understand. It is because that is a good design that was duplicated from the beginning in more than one species.
Number of Eyes and Ears.
Most creatures have two eyes. It gives depth perception. Having two ears allows the pinpointing of direction from which a sound is coming. Many of the organs in human bodies are similar to those found in various animals. This doesn’t mean that one “evolved” from the other. These are all good designs and worthy of use in various species.
Creatures.
Why do we call living beings “creatures?” Could it be because they were “created?”
Darwin could not say that man was created, he didn’t believe in God. He had to come up with another explanation so that those who do not think for themselves could be pulled into his miserable position. “Survival of the fittest,” “natural selection” and “mutations that improved the species” were his vehicles to try to prove what he hypothesized. Then, if you imagine that all this happened over millions of years, where there is no evidence of such a thing, and no way to investigate it, to some it sounds plausible.
Survival of the Fittest?
I have no problem with “survival of the fittest,” but that doesn’t prove evolution. Animals today sometimes fight and the weaker one gets killed, but they are not evolving by doing so.
Natural Selection?
“Natural selection” is giving some kind of personality to “nature,” which has no power of it’s own to do anything. Who does the selecting? Natural? Who’s that?
Mutations?
Over 99.9% of all mutations are degenerative (the second law of thermodynamics), and they are spread out and unpredictable, so that’s a very poor argument. Yet intelligent design acknowledges that there had to be an intelligent being to accomplish this. What’s wrong if that is God?
Big Bang?
Have you ever seen a “big bang” create anything? No, an explosion destroys everything in is path. That’s why bombs were developed. The only explosion that could create anything would be one that was controlled by super-intelligence and unlimited power. That’s design!
Smoke and Mirrors.
Those who do not want to believe in a creator will say all sorts of foolish things to try to explain how the world and mankind came to be. It’s all smoke and mirrors and really shows their bent against the truth and their rebellion against the one that gave them life and wants to bring them into His kingdom. They are power-hungry, wanting to be in control of their own lives, not under the rule of a God who loves them.
1-Definitions of “devolution.” Biology, Degeneration. Retrograde evolution : Degeneration.
